Friday, September 29, 2017

HS Internships in Electronics, Computer Science, Robotics, Materials Science and Environmental Engineering

We're welcoming new HS juniors and seniors for our 2017-2018 Thinkabit Lab internships.  No prior experience is necessary, but we do require curiosity, smiling faces, and a willingness to try all sort of new things.  Student replies only please: JimE at VT dot EDU

Jose, Aisha, Nina, Abian, Adem, Nicholas, Jim, Tommy

Thursday, September 28, 2017

Friday, September 22, 2017

Thinkabit Lab Intern is a National Merit Semifinalist



Virginia Tech Thinkabit Lab intern and resident meteorologist and mathematician Grace Young was one of Virginia's and Arlington's 20 students named as a semifinalist.  This program recognizes fewer than the top 1% students who took PSAT exams in their junior year of high school.


Thursday, September 21, 2017

Gov. McAuliffe in Our Parking Lot

from https://fcnp.com/2017/09/21/mcauliffe-visits-f-c-1-66-launch-city-officials-meet/

McAuliffe Visits F.C. for 1-66 Launch & City Officials Meet

SEPTEMBER 21, 2017 9:25 AM0 COMMENTS
VIRGINIA GOVERNOR Terry McAuliffe speaks in Falls Church Wednesday at a ceremony unveiling new transporation options along I-66 inside the beltway while Falls Church Mayor David Tarter (right) looks on. (Photo: News-Press)
Virginia Governor Terry McAuliffe came for his first visit to Falls Church yesterday since his election almost four years ago, and made the most of it with a ringing speech at a ribbon-cutting unveiling the first group of 10 new multimodal transportation options along the I-66 corridor inside the beltway, subsumed under an overarching “I-66 Commuter Choice” moniker. He then retired for a half-hour briefing by City of F.C. officials on the campus development project that will include a new high school (if a bond referendum passes in November) and 10 acres of economic development.
McAuliffe has only until the end of year to end his one term as governor (Virginia is now the only state in the union that restricts a governor to a single term). As of January, after four years in the governor’s mansion in

Wednesday, September 20, 2017

Traffic Engineering Game

Visit https://www.wired.com/story/freeways-traffic-engineer-game/

Freeways is a new release from independent game maker Justin Smith, who owns Captain Games. The objective is simple enough: build a road network that connects a series of highways and buildings. When you've finished, you'll be scored on three metrics: the average speed of cars on your network, how much concrete you used to build it, and how easy it is for drivers to get from one point to another.

You can make roundabouts, standard intersections, even send one road over another. But plan carefully. Too many merges and you slow everything down. Too many interchanges and you waste money on concrete. Too many intersections and you risk gridlock. Or, as the game puts it when everything grinds to a halt, "Jammed!"