ECE Ambassadors

Evan Allen

Academic: BSCPE - Major: Networking & Cybersecurity; BSEE - Major: Networking & Communications, 2023

Hometown: Virginia Beach, Virginia

Professional / Student Organizations: Hume Center for National Security and Technology, ECE Ambassadors, Cyber@VT, and Virginia Tech Outdoors Club

Projects: SailBOT Autonomous Sailboat Design Team, SEC Engineering Expo Volunteer, and Appalachian Trail Maintenance. I also like building / programming various things in my free time. Last year I got really into the idea of writing a simulation for "boids", which is a cool way to simulate flocks of birds. Now that we're in person again, I really want to make a group for the Big Event and help some people.

Internships: Software Engineering Intern, L3Harris Adaptive Methods

Favorite thing about VT: The atmosphere! Everyone I've met here in Blacksburg is so supportive - people want you to succeed, and will help you through if you're struggling. My friends and professors are what make this place feel like home. Campus is beautiful (especially at sunset on top of Perry Street Parking Garage), and the hikes are great too. VT makes me happy. Oh, and the chicken parmesan subs.

Advice Take initiative. See a professor doing cool research you would like to try even though you feel like you have no idea what you're doing? Talk to them about it anyway! Want to join a club or design team but feel intimidated or underqualified? Apply anyway!

There are so many opportunities at VT to make friends, learn new skills, or get new professional experiences, but you have to ask. I got my first internship because I asked a friend. I got my first research experience because I just showed up to an open house and applied. People might say no, but who cares? You're a Hokie, and you miss all the shots you don't take. Also - if you're beginning your time here and are struggling to find friends, don't worry. Keep trying. It was hard in the beginning for me too. I promise it will come, and this place will feel like home eventually.

Ramya Aluri

Academic:  B.S. Computer Engineering in Controls, Robotics, and Autonomy; Secondary Focus in AI & Machine Learning; Minor in Computer Science; Expected Graduation: May 2024

Hometown: Richmond, VA

Professional / Student Organizations: Hokie Electric Vehicle Team, Association of Women in Computing

Internships: This past summer I did an internship at the Boeing Company working as a Software Development Intern in the Flight Simulation Department where I still currently work part-time. Prior to that, I have done research at UVA in the biomechanics department study.

Favorite thing about VT: Finding all kinds of people to challenge and motivate you to better yourself. I love that you can find a second family here! The campus during fall is so pretty with all the fun activities and the football games.

Advice: Ask a lot of questions! Everyone is eager to learn and hear what you have to say. Also, take advantage of all the opportunities you come across during your time here and never undervalue yourself.

Yussef Ait-Bella

Academic:  Electrical Engineering: Controls, Robotics, Autonomy; Minor: Biomedical Engineering

Hometown: Stafford, VA

Professional / Student Organizations: Closing the Gap – President; Diggeridoos - Electronics Team Member; Therapeutic Ultrasound and Non-Invasive Therapies Lab - Undergraduate Researcher

Internships/Co-ops/Other Experience: Moog Inc. - Engineering Intern; Dominion Energy - Solar Project Construction Engineering Intern

Favorite Thing About VT: The vast opportunities available for every student to simply grow as a person. From design teams to random clubs, there is no shortage of opportunities to learn about yourself and other fields. Be very deliberate about exploring and finding your passion. You don't know what you don't like until you try it!

Advice for Prospective Students: Just ask! It can be overwhelming when you first come to VT, but ask your professor, student leader, or the random person in the elevator "Hey, do you know where/who ...". You will be surprised what opportunities can arise from a simple conversation!

Other/Fun Fact: I'm always willing to answer your questions, even if you don't know the question you're trying to ask :) Reach out!

Madeline Badger

Academic: BSCPE - Major: Controls, Robotics, and Autonomy, 2023

Hometown: Phoenix, Arizona

Professional/Student Organizations: ECE Ambassadors, Theme Park Engineering and Design Club (TPED), Eta Kappa Nu Honors Society, Salsa Tech Member

Projects/Community Service: Foreign Object Debris detection device for aircraft production lines. Virtual Reality applications for heavy machinery training. I also like to program in my spare time and I have an interest in unmanned aerial vehicles and autonomous applications of those.

Internships/Co-ops/Other Experience: Complex Systems Lab Research Assistant, Summer Technology Analyst at Accenture

Favorite Thing About VT: I have met some of my best friends on campus. I love how welcoming people are and how much is always going on. I can always find something to do!

Advice for Prospective Students: Don't be afraid to go to things. Especially in my first year, campus engagement events are where I met a lot of my friends. Also, talk to people in class. It's an excellent way to meet people in your major and possibly form study groups for harder classes. Approach professors you think are interesting and ask them about their research and go to office hours! They're very helpful.

Shreya Balaji

Academic: Computer Engineering; Minor: Entrepreneurship; Graduating: Spring 2024

Hometown: South Brunswick, NJ

Professional/Student Organizations: IEEE Industry Relations Chair

Projects/Community Service: Volunteer Teacher for Thiruvalluvar Tamil School; Tutor High Schoolers in Math

Internships/Co-ops/Other Experience: Controls Engineering Intern at Hitachi Energy in Summer 2022; Manufacturing Engineering Intern at Hitachi Energy in Summer 2021; Cooper Union Summer STEM Program in Summer 2020

Favorite Thing About VT: My favorite thing about VT is the people. I love how people are always willing to help, no matter what. Everyone is so kind and welcoming.

Advice for Prospective Students: Push yourself to go outside of your comfort zone. Be open to trying new things and don't restrict yourself. VT has plenty of opportunities so make the best use them. Keep an open mind and try out as much as you can!

Jess Beltz

Academic: B.S. Electrical Engineering 2024

Hometown: Coopersburg, Pennsylvania

Professional/Student Organizations: IEEE, ECE Ambassadors, Society of Women Engineers

Projects/Community Service: The Big Event

Internships/Co-ops/Other Experience: Supply Chain Engineering Intern - ABEC, Inc.

Favorite Thing About VT: I love how Tech gives a big school, small home feel. When I walk to my classes, I pass by people that I know every time. Also, Enter Sandman at Lane!

Advice for Prospective Students: Don't be shy and try new things. Maybe join a club, intramural sports team, or simply a new restaurant down town. The options are endless!

Nate Doggett

Academic: Computer Engineering & Electrical Engineering, 2023

Hometown: Poquoson, Virginia

Professional / Student Organizations: Class of 2023 Class Office, Student Endowment for Educational Development (SEED), ECE Ambassadors, Student Alumni Associates (SAA), First-Year Leadership Experience mentor

Projects: AMP Lab

Internships/Co-ops/Other Experience: AWS Summer 2022 (Software development engineer intern), Garmin Summer 2021 (Software engineer intern), Westrock Summer 2020 (Process controls intern)

Favorite thing about VT: The campus, the Hokie spirit/enthusiasm, good friends, good food, and great education.

Advice: College is a great time to focus on learning and exploring. Virginia Tech has a lot to offer as far as classes, clubs, and people so go out and explore while you're here. From the organizations I've joined, I've found the most enjoyment/fulfillment from the few that I really focus on, as opposed to just being someone who shows up for monthly meetings. My advice would be to explore freshman and sophomore year and then try to focus on a few of your favorite commitments!

Claire Doody

Academic: BSCPE - Major: Software Systems; Minors: Computer Science, Math, 2024

Hometown: Great Falls, VA

Professional/Student Organizations: Soulstice A Cappella, Student Alumni Association, Chi Omega

Internships/Co-ops/Other Experience: CACI - Software engineer summer 2022

Favorite Thing About VT: Virginia Tech has the best spirit ever! For any event going on around campus Hokies are always excited! The campus is also so beautiful and makes me smile everyday while walking around.

Advice for Prospective Students: Do not worry if you don't know what you want to study yet! There are great resources here to help you decide what academic path you want to choose. Also, there are classes that help guide this decision making process. I did not know what I wanted to do, but I found myself in ECE after taking the freshman courses!

Sarah Fox

Academic: Major: Computer Engineering; Minors: Human Computer Interaction & Music (Viola); Graduation: 2024

Hometown: Calvert County Maryland

Professional/Student Organizations: Alpha Omega Epsilon , VT Philharmonic

Projects/Community Service: I run a small business selling digital products and donate a portion to programs supporting different causes including promoting STEM education! I also help with Virginia Tech String Project, which teaches students k-12 how to play stringed instruments because of the lack of orchestra programs in Blacksburg and surrounding areas. I am helping organize STEM outreach throughout local middle and high schools to further their knowledge in ECE concepts such as programming Arduinos.

Internships/Co-ops/Other Experience: 2 summers as an intern at Johns Hopkins Applied Physics Lab

Favorite Thing About VT: The amazing people you meet and endless opportunities for whatever your passion may be

Advice for Prospective Students: Get used to feeling uncomfortable, and learn to love it! College and especially ECE is a lot to manage on top of countless of new experiences. There will be times that you may think that it is unmanageable, but learn to thrive (its very rewarding)! Also remember to eat sleep and have fun, those are important too ;)

Eashan Gupta

Academic: BSCPE - Major: Controls, Robotics & Autonomy; Minor: Quantum Information Science and Engineering; 2024

Hometown: Ashburn, Virginia

Professional/Student Organizations: Project Lead - SolarCar at Virginia Tech (SCAVT); Undergraduate Student Researcher at TREC Lab; ECE Ambassador

Projects/Community Service: Just a few fun self projects: Actively working on live image detection through webcam that records and sends text notifications when people are detected. (Basically a ring camera but for my desktop webcam!!)

Internships/Co-ops/Other Experience: Artificial Intelligence Intern at MITRE (Summer 2022)

Favorite Thing About VT: The opportunity to get involved with and learn more about almost anything that you find interesting!

Advice for Prospective Students: Be annoying. Send emails to professors, schedule appointments with advisors, apply to design teams, ask questions during lecture, go talk to people and make friends! Even if you may feel underqualified or unconfident, It doesn't matter! You'll rarely ever regret it, and everyone is just as confused and lost as you.

Rubas Khalid

Academic: Electrical Engineering; 2023

Hometown: Ashburn, VA

Professional/Student Organizations: MSA, RockSat-X, Delta Chi

Internships/Co-ops/Other Experience: Electrical Engineering Internship @ Thales DSI (Summer 2022)

Favorite Thing About VT: Endless opportunities within academics and socials.

Advice for Prospective Students: Networking and keeping contact is extremely important. Don't be afraid to put yourself out there (clubs, organizations, teams, etc.)!

Lucy Le

Academic: Major in General Electrical Engineering, Minor in Green Engineering, Graduating May 2023

Hometown: Williamsburg, VA

Professional/Student Organizations: ECE Ambassadors, Dominion Energy Student Ambassador, SWE

Internships/Co-ops/Other Experience: Fault Analysis Intern at Dominion Energy (2021), Systems Protection Engineering Intern at Dominion Energy (2022)

Favorite Thing About VT: I love the atmosphere! Everyone I've met has been friendly and welcoming. You'll meet so many people and have so many opportunities to try new things.

Advice for Prospective Students: Confidence is key! Imposter syndrome is common, and you will probably experience it at least once in your college career (trust me, I have). But, don't let that uneasiness dictate your capabilities or your end goal. We're all trying to figure out our own path in life. So, have some faith in yourself, because you got in here for a reason!

Jack Michaud

Academic: BSEE - Major: Energy and Power Electronics Systems; Minor: Green Engineering, 2023

Hometown: Virginia Beach, Virginia

Professional / Student Organizations: Martian Subsurface Analysis Team (MSAT), American Marketing Association (AMA), Engineers Without Borders (EWB), ECE Ambassador.

Projects: Mostly homemade projects: Speaker Cooler, Marx Generator, Windmill (in progress).

Internships: Electrical Internship with Kimley-Horn (Summer 2021).

Favorite thing about VT: Meeting people and learning about their stories, passions, and aspirations.

Advice Get involved in any way possibly! Design Teams, Big Event, Professional Organizations, Fraternity/Sorority, Squirrel Watching Club, whatever it might be. I strongly believe that the people you meet will make your experience here at Tech. If you get involved, you'll not only learn valuable skills but build communities and friendships along the way.

Arya Naren

Academic: Software Systems, Business, 2024

Hometown: Fairfax, VA

Professional/Student Organizations: Society of Indian Americans, IEEE, ECE Ambassadors

Internships/Co-ops/Other Experience: Systems Analyst Inten @ Visa - Summer 2022, Undergraduate Research Assistant @ Hume Center, Sophomore Year

Favorite Thing About VT: The scenery and opportunities available.

Advice for Prospective Students: Don't stress! Everything happens for a reason.

Gwyneth Steel

Academic: BSCPE - Major: Controls, Robotics & Autonomy, 2023

Hometown: Bel Air, Maryland

Professional / Student Organizations: Galileo and Hypatia LLC, Theme Park Engineering and Design

Projects: Galipatia Outreach Committee Liaison, Giving Tree, To Our House

Favorite thing about VT: VT has an excellent community full of supportive peers, faculty, and staff. Also, getting to live in the mountains with the conveniences of a big college town is pretty great.

Advice Push yourself outside of your comfort zone! Now is the perfect time to try new things and Tech has people who are interested in just about everything so there are definitely opportunities available if you look for them.

Daniel Stover

Academic: BSCPE - Major - Machine Learning, 2023

Hometown: Leesburg, Virginia

Professional / Student Organizations: (1) RockSat-X engineering student design team; (2) Swim Club at Virginia Tech; (3) American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics (AIAA) VT student chapter member; (4) Hyperloop at Virginia Tech engineering student design team

Projects: (1) FIRST Alumni Association at Virginia Tech volunteer; (2) Various engineering-focused personal (programming), internship (space focused), and academic (Sophomore design project - RF communications) projects

Internships: (1) NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory flight software systems engineering intern - Summer 2020; (2) Hume Center and Space@VT SmallSat cybersecurity undergraduate researcher - 2021; (3) Web development software engineering intern at Solution Street - Summer 2019; (4) NASA Langley electrical engineering intern - Summer 2018

Favorite thing about VT: As an individual interested in creating things with others, the mix of students at Virginia Tech is perfect because there is a large enough base of engineering students for several student-only design teams to coexist and focus on various fields, in addition to the plethora of students studying all the fantastic non-engineering majors as well.

Advice Take the time in your first semester to walk around campus and into random places such as the Ware Lab, or all the floors in Goodwin, and talk to anyone you run into because everyone here is so excited to share their passions with you. Additionally, go to Gobblerfest (Virginia Tech club fair) and join any of the clubs that sound interesting to you. I would also look into the Galileo Living and Learning Community if you are a prospective engineering student, as I was a previous community member and loved it. And remember, you don't have to be great to start, you have to start to be great - whether that be personal projects/hobbies or applying to clubs, internships, or scholarship.

Siraj Syed

Academic: Electrical Engineering: Energy and Power Electronics Systems)

Hometown: Glen Allen, VA

Professional/Student Organizations: ECE Ambassadors 

Internships/Co-ops/Other Experience: Summer 2022 Internship at NSWC-PD, Summer 2021 Internship at NSWC-PD, Numerous Undergraduate Research Positions

Favorite Thing About VT: The people I have got to know over the years

Advice for Prospective Students: Take it easy and enjoy your time, it goes by quick.

Ivan Torres

Academic: BSEE - Major: Energy and Power Electronics Systems; Minor: Business, 2023

Hometown: Woodbridge, VA

Professional/Student Organizations: Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers at Virginia Tech (IEEE@VT), Society of Hispanic Professional Engineers at Virginia Tech (SHPE@VT)

Internships/Co-ops/Other Experience: Engineering Intern with M.C. Dean Inc (2021)

Favorite Thing About VT: The pride of being a Hokie! Everyone wants to help out and motivate you. There are endless opportunities here at Tech!

Advice for Prospective Students: Anything is possible, the good or the bad.Be prepared for anything that lifes throws at you and stay resilient.

Jhonny Velasquez

Academic: Electrical Engineering; Major: Primary Focus: Controls, Robotics, and Autonomy; Secondary Focus: Machine Learning; Minor: Computer Science

Hometown: Manassas, VA

Professional/Student Organizations: IEEE@VT: Alumni Relations Chair; IEEE-HKN; SHPE@VT

Internships/Co-ops/Other Experience: Summer 2021: The Boeing Company (Instrumentation and Controls Engineer Intern); Summer 2022: Aurora Flight Sciences (Electrical Engineering Intern)

Favorite Thing About VT: The amazing community (and on-campus food)

Advice for Prospective Students: Figure out a system that helps you manage your time (and that works for you) early on. Also, try and find something you're passionate about and get involved, even if it's not technical, and do what makes you happy.

Maria Zakhem

Academic: Electrical Engineering May 2024

Hometown: Alexandria, VA

Professional/Student Organizations: Electrical and Computer Engineering Student Ambassador; CEED Peer Mentor; Global Engineering Ambassador; President of the Cedars of Lebanon Club; Active Sister in the Alpha Omega Epsilon Sorority

Internships/Co-ops/Other Experience: Quality Engineering Intern at The Goodyear Tire and Rubber Company Summer 2021; Instrumentation Engineering Intern at ExxonMobil Summer 2022

Favorite Thing About VT: The people, food, and campus

Advice for Prospective Students: Put yourself out there! Everyone is in the same position as you are