Learn

The Engineering Technology Showcase is an annual event to bring together technology vendors, faculty, graduate students, research teams, other students from all colleges, and members of the public to learn about each others’ new products, progress, and achievements.

Why should I attend?

Connections! If you are a technology vendor, we connect you to Virginia Tech’s engineering faculty, students, and research teams, some of the highest-achieving and top-ranked in the country. If you are a research team, you get to show off your designs and attract interest and perhaps new team members. If you are a faculty member, we surround you with students who are genuinely interested in your work and vendors you can talk to in person. If you are an engineering student, all the best research and design teams will be there to show you what they do and why they do it. Whoever you are, the showcase will introduce you to people and things you haven’t seen before, providing opportunities that may not exist anywhere else in such a casual, personal environment.

History

The first showcase took place in 2006 as an outgrowth of the Student Technology Council’s mission of discovering new technologies for the curricula in the College of Engineering. We realized that instead of keeping all the new toys to ourselves, we should connect the creators directly to the users. That first year we hosted thirteen companies and eleven student design groups. More than four hundred people attended our inaugural event, and we have grown each year since then. By 2008, we included nineteen vendors and several different design teams; more than eight hundred people visited to see what the exhibitors had to show, twice the first year’s attendance. For more information, visit the individual showcase pages (2007, 2008).

Location

We use the Commonwealth Ballroom in Squires Student Center to host the showcase. The first event took place in Owens Banquet Hall, but it immediately grew too large for that venue, so we had to move. Commonwealth’s large size allows us to invite more exhibitors and to give each a larger area. RoMeLa can perform demonstrations of its autonomous robots, vehicle design teams can bring entire cars, and vendors can show off their larger products without difficulty.

Register

Thank you for your interest in attending the 2009 Engineering Technology showcase. To register, please fill out this online survey. When we receive the completed survey, we will contact you to confirm your reservation, discuss sponsorship options, and process your registration fee.

Sponsorship Opportunities

We welcome and greatly appreciate many types of sponsors for the showcase.

• Raffle Prizes

  In previous years, we have offered workstations and LCD monitors as large raffle prizes. Students receive tickets for these raffles during the weeks before the showcase. These raffle prizes will be heavily advertised both before and during the showcase, and the ads will include your company name and logo. A representative from your company will get to present the prize near the end of the showcase.

• Door Prizes

  Attendees receive tickets for these door prize raffles when they complete our exit survey. Examples from past showcases include iPod shuffles, flash drives, software, and even umbrellas. These prizes will also be advertised before and during the showcase, and will be presented by STC members throughout the showcase.

• Food for Exhibitors

  We offer for exhibitors a continental breakfast during the setup in the morning, a lunch (either catered or buffet), a continuous snack area during the showcase, and more refreshments during breakdown in the afternoon. We will name and thank the sponsors of each of these meals on showcase literature given to both attendees and exhibitors.

• Food for Attendees

  During the showcase, we will provide pizza for lunch and ice cream and/or cookies for dessert. The banners for the meal booth and advertisements to students will include the names and logos of sponsors of these meals.

• Donation

  If you do not wish to sponsor one of the prizes or meals, but would still like to donate to our showcase, we will thank you on our literature and during the showcase.

Meet

The Student Technology Council (STC) exists to demonstrate and advocate the uses of cutting edge technology for students and faculty. By exposing these groups to the latest in research, technology, and company innovations we hope to spark interest and advancement in all engineering fields for mutual enrichment and the evolution of society.

The STC draws its members from all of the engineering departments, though some departments promote more members than others. Each member is approved by his respective department head before joining the council.

During the fall semester, we review hardware and software for potential inclusion in and enhancement of the engineering curricula in each department, with a special focus on first-year courses.