Latest Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University Stories

BLACKSBURG, Va., Sept. 11 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- U Car Share is expanding its growth as it partners with Virginia Tech by launching the alternative to vehicle ownership in Blacksburg, Virginia. U Car Share allows members access to cars 24/7, thus eliminating the need to own a car or bring one to campus during the school year. Members pay only for what they use, in one low hourly rate starting at $4.95 per hour (plus $0.59 per mile). U Car Share takes care of fuel, insurance and...

A student team in the Virginia Tech College of Engineering is providing the blind with an opportunity many never thought possible: The opportunity to drive.A retrofitted four-wheel dirt buggy developed by the Blind Driver Challenge team (http://www.me.vt.edu/blinddriver/) from Virginia Tech's Robotics and Mechanisms Laboratory uses laser range finders, an instant voice command interface and a host of other innovative, cutting-edge technology to guide blind drivers as they steer, brake, and...

 Four researchers at the Virginia Bioinformatics Institute (VBI) at Virginia Tech and their colleagues at the Wake Forest University School of Medicine are advocating the use of systems biology as an innovative clinical approach to cancer. This approach could result in the development of improved diagnostic tools and treatment options, as well as potential new drug targets to help combat the many potentially fatal types of the disease.In an upcoming paper* in Biochimica et Biophysica Acta,...

Trevon Hughes scored with 1 second left Monday, letting Wisconsin slip by Virginia Tech 74-72 in the Big Ten/ACC Challenge. Hughes finished with 12 points for Wisconsin (6-1). Marcus Landry led the Badgers scoring with 18 points and Jon Leuer added 17. A.D. Vassallo scored 30 points for Virginia Tech (4-3). Victor Davila and Malcolm Delaney added 13 and 12 points, respectively.

A warning system designed to alert students and faculty at Virginia Tech, scene of a 2007 massacre, failed in its first test, school officials say. The alarm was sounded Thursday after a report of gunfire near a dormitory. The system is an electronic alert that transmits a text or voice message to mobile devices such as cellphones and classroom message boards, USA Today reported. Only some of the messages got through, the school said. University spokesman Larry Hincker said police...

By Donna Leinwand One of four methods Virginia Tech uses to alert students and faculty in an emergency failed Thursday when school administrators attempted to warn the campus about reports of gunfire in a dorm, the university said. This is the first time Virginia Tech has used its new emergency alert system since the April 16, 2007, massacre. That day, a student gunman killed 32 people and himself, and injured more than 20 others in a rampage that began in a dorm and ended in a classroom...

By Greg Esposito greg.esposito@roanoke.com 381-1675 Virginia Tech will be the center of the state youth environmental movement this weekend as host of Virginia Power Shift 2008. The gathering, which will include speakers, symposiums and 60 training sessions on environmental issues, was inspired by Power Shift 2007, a national youth conference on global warming held at the University of Maryland. About 6,000 students from across the country gathered at the event to discuss things such as...

By Anna L. Mallory anna.mallory@roanoke.com 381-8627 Two professors from Russia are visiting schools in Montgomery County this week to find out how local educators work with students, and others, with disabilities. Elena Nikolayevna Pryakhina and Marina Alekseyevna Shumskikh, both teachers at the Moscow City University of Psychology and Education, observed classes at Blacksburg High, Blacksburg Middle and Kipps Elementary schools Tuesday. The pair wants to take back proof that they...

By Christian Trejbal christian.trejbal@roanoke.com 381-1645 The shell of Christiansburg's new aquatic center looms above Franklin Street. Its brick walls, blue roof and gaping window holes carve a striking form against the sky. As construction continues, residents who drive by have to wonder whether the final product will be the promised economic engine and recreation facility or a white elephant. The town has pinned its hopes -- and a lot of money -- on the former. The aquatic center...

By Greg Esposito greg.esposito@roanoke.com 381-1675 A new academic year has brought another new security measure at Virginia Tech. Electronic message boards to notify students and faculty of campus emergencies have been installed in 165 classrooms. The cost to purchase 220 of the devices and install 201 of them is $243,700, Tech spokesman Larry Hincker said. Tech bought 19 backup message boards. The message boards were recommended by a committee formed by the university last year to...