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NHGS Peer Mentors

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Alejandro “Jandro” Venable-Croft

Research focus: Spine Biomechanics in the Department of Biomedical Engineering and Mechanics.

I am pursuing a PhD, currently in my 1st year.

Prior to attending Virginia Tech for graduate school, I attended University of Maryland, Collage Park in College Park earning a Bachelors of Science.     

Why did you continue / return to graduate school? I wanted to set myself up better for a career and develop new skills

How long have you been a mentor for NHGS? This will be my first time.

What do you wish you had known when beginning graduate school? That its okay to not know anything when you come in..

What are your hobbies and interests? Hiking, Camping, Going to the gym, and Photography.

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Amber Amaral-Torres

Research focus: Antimicrobial Resistance in Wastewater in the Department of Civil & Environmental Engineering.

I am pursuing a Direct PhD, currently in my 1st year.

Prior to attending Virginia Tech for graduate school, I attended Christopher Newport University in Newport News, VA earning a B.S in Biochemistry.     

Prior to returning to graduate school, I worked: After graduating I worked as a scientist at an analytical water testing laboratory, then in quality control at a nutraceutical/pharmaceutical company. After that, I worked as a laboratory technician at the Los Angeles Country Sanitation District. Then I worked as a post-baccalaureate researcher at Virginia Tech before starting graduate school.

Why did you return to graduate school? I wanted to do research and pursue an engineering degree.

How long have you been a mentor for NHGS? This will be my first year as a mentor.

What do you wish you had known when beginning graduate school? The weeks, months, semesters can seem very overwhelming but it is important to take one thing at a time to make things more manageable.

What are your hobbies and interests? I enjoy baking and also watching romantic comedies. I also like to listen to music and true crime podcasts. Currently, I am trying to find more hobbies that interest me!

What is a fun fact about you? Fun Fact: My husband and I spent a month driving across the country visiting different cities and national parks while living out of our Jeep!

Cherelle Connor

Research focus: Human Computer Interaction/Immersive Technologies in the Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering.

I am pursuing a PhD, currently in my 2nd year.

Prior to attending Virginia Tech for graduate school, I attended Bates College/Drexel University in Lewiston, ME/Philadelphia, PA earning a Bachelors/Masters.     

Prior to returning to graduate school, I worked: Yes, I previously worked as a freelance filmmaker. This involved me working in a variety of different departments on sets. I then worked at an emerging technology marketing company. At this company I worked as a VR reality specialist and developed prototypes and experiences for clients.

Why did you continue / return to graduate school? I returned to graduate school because I wanted to contribute to state of the art developments in immersive technology research. Specifically, how it contributes to our understanding of cognition in these spaces.

How long have you been a mentor for NHGS? This will be my first year.

What do you wish you had known when beginning graduate school? It took me a while to fully understand that unlike my undergraduate experiences I had a lot more control over the work I chose to do and who I chose to work with. Compromise is inevitable, but it is also important that you are getting some version of what you signed up for out of the experience.

What are your hobbies and interests? I enjoy watching movies and riding my bike. I have also practiced martial arts in the past.

What is a fun fact about you? One of the martial arts I previously practiced was Capoeira.

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Cory "Ike" Ilo

Research focus: Augmented Reality, HCI, Virtual Reality, Context aware user interfaces.

I am pursuing a PhD, currently in my 5th year in the Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering.

Prior to attending Virginia Tech for graduate school, I attended Rochester Institute of Technology in Rochester, NY earning a BS & MS.     

Prior to returning to graduate school, I worked: Intel, SoC Validation Engineer & Computer Vision Applied Scientist.

Why did you continue / return to graduate school? To become an industry researcher.

How long have you been a mentor for NHGS? 2 - 3 years.

What do you wish you had known when beginning graduate school? How to use Notion to plan out my PhD milestones ahead of time, the research process, how to write a literature review or related works section, properly tackling annotated bibliographies, the importance of reference managers , the amazing Remarkable 2 tablet.

What are your hobbies and interests? Lifting weights, motorcycles, video games, cool tech, and anime.

What is a fun fact about you? I've driven back and forth across the country multiple times. And I've been to 16 countries.

Headshot for Ilan Chueca

Ilan Chueca

Research focus: Bamboo Truss Structures in the Deaprtmen of Civil and Environmental Engineering.

I am pursuing a Master's, currently in my 1st year.

Prior to attending Virginia Tech for graduate school, I attended Virginia Tech in Blacksburg, VA earning a BS.     

Prior to returning to graduate school, I worked: I worked as an intern engineer for 6 months at a small structural engineering firm in Richmond, VA called Dunbar. I helped design and model gravity framing systems, lateral force resisting systems, foundations, and connections. The projects I worked on included new construction, adaptive reuse, and condition assessments of existing structures.

Why did you continue / return to graduate school? Career advancement. Many employers expect structural engineers to have at least an MS degree.

How long have you been a mentor for NHGS? This is my first time mentoring!

What do you wish you had known when beginning graduate school? It is totally normal to feel overwhelmed at the start of grad school. Don't freak out! All your classmates are in the same boat, and they can be a great support system for you.

What are your hobbies and interests? I love to listen to music, play guitar, and go to concerts! I also like to go to art museums, learn about architecture, learn new languages (I speak Spanish and Italian, and I'm trying to learn Catalan now), and ride motorcycles.

What is a fun fact about you? I studied at a grad school in Milan Italy for a semester before ultimately deciding to come back to VT! Loved living there and speaking the language (not to mention the amazing food and drinks), and I miss it all the time.

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J.B. Persons

Research focus: Machine Intelligence / Information Theory in the Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering.

I am pursuing a Direct PhD, currently in my 5th year.

Prior to attending Virginia Tech for graduate school, I attended Massachusetts Institute of Technology in Cambridge, MA earning a BS.     

Prior to returning to graduate school, I worked: Yes, as a Marine. I was an F/A-18 pilot and a science & technology program manager.

Why did you continue / return to graduate school? To learn about machine intelligence in order to better help solve problems related to decision-making.

How long have you been a mentor for NHGS? This will be my first year.

What do you wish you had known when beginning graduate school? The importance of selecting the right advisor. Grad school is very much a 'choose your own adventure' type of experience, and it is critical to have a trusted mentor who can help you make sense of your environment, surface the 'unknown unknowns', and help reduce your decision space.

What are your hobbies and interests? Historical reading, video games, and golf.

What is a fun fact about you? I used to fly fighter jets off aircraft carriers.

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Mia Riddley

Research focus: Ecosystem Health and Microbiomes

I am pursuing a Direct PhD, currently in my 1st year in the Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering.

Prior to attending Virginia Tech for graduate school, I attended Iowa State University in Ames, Iowa earning a B.S. in Environmental Engineering.     

Why did you continue to graduate school? Would like to pursue a career in research and devlopment and possibly academia.

How long have you been a mentor for NHGS? This will be my first time.

What do you wish you had known when beginning graduate school? Get to know other people in your program during the first semester so that you can make less mistakes.

What are your hobbies and interests? Reading, fiber arts (crochet. knitting, etc), and watching movies.

What is a fun fact about you? I have a twin sister.

Headshot for Paul Bigby

Paul Bigby

Research focus: Broadening participation in engineering through engineering identity

I am pursuing a PhD, currently in my 1st year in the Engineering Education Department.

Prior to attending Virginia Tech for graduate school, I attended VA Tech in Blackburg earning a B.S. in Mechanical engineering.     

Prior to returning to graduate school, I worked: Manufacturing engineering for General Motors.

Why did you continue / return to graduate school? To make engineering more accessible to minority students.

How long have you been a mentor for NHGS? This will be my first year.

What do you wish you had known when beginning graduate school? How focused the programs are on creating research professors.

What are your hobbies and interests? Travel, Tooking, and Hokie sports.

What is a fun fact about you? I spent 5 years working in Mexico.