About 600 students from area K-12 schools visited downtown Roanoke on Nov. 15 to participate in Roanoke STEAM Day, an annual event aimed to inspire interest in science, technology, engineering, arts, and mathematics fields.

Students interacted with a variety of disciplines, including culinary arts, nursing, robotics, and more.

“STEAM Day is a true community event,” said Don Pizzullo, senior program support manager at the Virginia Tech Roanoke Center. Pizzullo spearheaded the event with several community partners, including Virginia Tech Carilion School of Medicine, Science Museum of Western Virginia, Taubman Museum of Art, Radford University Carilion, Roanoke Higher Education Center, and the Claude Moore Education Complex.  

“Community and host site partners came together to connect students with area experts, exhibitors, and emerging technologies,” Pizzullo said. “The event offered students an opportunity to explore the broader academic and professional opportunities, and we hope it inspires a lasting interest in STEAM and its ability to enhance and connect communities.”

The Roanoke Center, located on the seventh floor of the Roanoke Higher Education Center, connects the Roanoke Valley community with Virginia Tech’s vast resources and expertise. It serves as a hub of lifelong learning, including K-12 opportunities, graduate-level programs, professional development, and corporate training.

STEAM Day featured several Virginia Tech exhibits, including the Hokie Electric Vehicle Team, which represents the university in the EcoCAR EV Challenge competition. The team parked its GM-provided 2023 Cadillac Lyriq custom hybrid vehicle on the lawn outside the Roanoke Higher Education Center.

Meanwhile, engineering students demonstrated projects that undergraduate students are working on in the Ware Lab, a 10,000-square-foot space on Virginia Tech’s Blacksburg campus. Student teams — including Formula SAE, AISC Steel Bridge, Baja SAE, Astrobotics, AIAA Design Build Fly, Hybrid Electric Vehicle Team, ASCE Concrete Canoe, and Human Powered Submarine — participate and compete in world-class competitions throughout North America.

“Ware Lab students who participate in STEAM Day always return from the experience with more enthusiasm toward their project work,” manager Dewey Spangler said. “They have a heightened sense of accomplishment in that they are helping people who, otherwise, would never know about Virginia Tech. There is no better way to engage and encourage young people about engineering.”

At the Taubman Museum of Art, Ashley Sloan, the Roanoke Center’s lead STEM instructor, demonstrated the center’s Battle of ROA-bots program for students in grades 3-5. Through ROA-bots, students learn about iteration and programming processes using Edison bots with Legos attached to make battle robots. Students then face off in battles to assess their robots’ performance and make improvements.

“Battle of the ROA-bots brings out the students’ creativity, critical thinking, and competitiveness all at the same time. The students work to quickly create their own battle bot and test it against each other’s to see who will be victorious,” Sloan said.

STEAM Day participants toured the kitchens at the Claude Moore Education Complex, where Virginia Western Community College offers its culinary program, and the Radford College of Nursing’s simulation labs in the Roanoke Higher Education Center.

Written by Erin Doherty

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