Kevin T. Crofton Dept of Aerospace and Ocean Engineering at Virginia Tech

09/02/2026

After months of preparation and design improvements, Virginia Tech’s Human Powered Submarine Team achieved an impressive second-place finish at the European International Submarine Races in Gosport, England.

After months of engineering improvements, fundraising, and preparation, the team of engineering students scored big during its inaugural appearance at the European International Submarine Races.

08/28/2026

Senior Alexander Cundiff spent his summer working as a Flight Test Engineering Intern at Anduril, testing autonomous aerospace systems in live flight operations. He had the opportunity to operate and flight test systems ranging from small UAVs to Fury, an autonomous fighter aircraft, while working alongside engineers and government / industry partners to advance next-generation autonomy.

"The best part has been getting to work with cutting-edge autonomous aircraft and actually put them through their paces in the real world. Being able to see something go from an idea to simulation to a real aircraft flying has been an incredible experience. Also, the caliber of engineers I've had the opportunity to work with has been unreal!"
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08/27/2026

Senior Julia Effenberger worked as a Vehicle Integration & Test Engineer Intern at Relativity Space this summer. She was assigned as a manufacturing engineer on Terran R's thrust structure and had full ownership of a variety of different systems.

"I was supporting fluids integration by doing design review, creating work orders, working with technicians, resolving non-conformances that pop up during integration, contributing to testing, and more. My work directly contributed to flight 1 of Terran R which is scheduled to launch within the year! Beyond the technical work, I was on the greatest team with the best people. Each day was so fun and I truly learned so much from the engineers to the techs. The company culture at Relativity is so, so, so special!"

08/26/2026

Sophomore Walter Covert, IV spent his summer as an intern at NSWC Carderock in Bethesda with code 87 (Computational Fluid Dynamics and Propulsors).

"I wrote a vortex tracking script that reads in CFD data to calculate and analyze trailing vortex behavior. After running simulations, the data was put through my script for postprocessing of various control surface cases with different turbulence models. The best part was learning from experts, getting to dive deeper into CFD in a professional space, and building a true understanding of CFD solvers, turbulence models, and fluid dynamics in general."
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08/25/2026

This summer, junior Noah Seacrist tacked a personal project - designing and building an open-air, low speed wind tunnel at home. Hi tunnel was outfitted with a flow straightener, 9:1 compression ratio, pitot tube and barometric instrumentation, and a variable speed fan. The test section can sustain speeds of up to 40mph.

"In order to validate the wind tunnel, I ran velocity map tests collecting 75 data points across the tunnel’s profile at varying speeds. The measured velocity profile exhibited a maximum variation of 5.9% across the test region, often far less, around 2-3%. I learned a lot about electronic testing hardware and data acquisition."
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08/24/2026

Sophomore Nicholas Brechka served as a Product Development Engineering Intern at Cirrus Aircraft this summer, focusing on optimizing design and manufacturing workflows for general aviation aircraft.

"My primary responsibilities centered around creating specialized manufacturing tooling, establishing advanced skeleton models, and developing technical engineering documentation. By working closely within PTC Creo workflows, I helped streamline how core structural components are designed and integrated, reducing manufacturing friction and directly improving production efficiency for next-generation aircraft systems."

08/23/2026

Junior Devansh Trivedi spent his summer as an intern at Caterpillar Inc., working on trying to automate the multiple assembly lines that are present at CAT Decatur, IL. This included doing 3M studies, time studies, meeting with suppliers, contractors, etc. to try and find the best robots to do these jobs.

"I used to always wonder how big companies brought about huge changes, and here at CAT, I learned just that. The amount of planning, time and money goes into automating assembly lines is just huge. Its also a big challenge to automate these lines because CAT makes humongous machines, some of which can't even be assembled in the plant, their individual pieces have to be shipped separately and then assembled on site, because trucks and shipping containers can't load those things in a single piece."

08/22/2026

Senior Sarah Jacobs spent her summer serving as a Flight Test Engineering Intern with Lockheed Martin Aeronautics, to support the F-35 Flight Test program at Naval Air Station Patuxent River. In this role, she worked alongside flight test engineers to support the planning, ex*****on, and analysis of developmental flight tests for one of the world's most advanced fighter aircraft.

Developing test plans and test cards. Coordinating with multidisciplinary engineering teams to ensure test readiness. Supporting mission ex*****on as a mission scribe. Sarah did all of this and more, gaining firsthand insight into flight test operations, systems engineering, and the collaboration required to safely execute complex flight test missions.

"The best part of my internship has been experiencing the world of flight test firsthand. Getting to work alongside test pilots and engineers has given me a unique perspective on how developmental flight testing is planned and executed. Seeing the precision, teamwork, and technology behind each flight has reinforced my passion for flight test engineering and confirmed that this is the career path I hope to pursue after graduation."

And, a bonus was the fellow Hokies! "My office was full of Virginia Tech alumni, and one of my favorite parts of the summer was hearing "Go Hokies!" throughout the office. It made me feel right at home and reminded me just how strong the Hokie network is."

08/21/2026

This summer, senior Aidan O'Connor interned at Hanwha Philly Shipyard as a Project Planning Engineer - working on hull modification, design program optimization, and project scheduling.

Best thing about the internship? "Insight on ship engineering and the construction process, along with the many connections made."

08/20/2026

While supporting the U.S. Navy's mission as an ocean engineer at Naval Surface Warfare Center, Carderock Division’s Hull Response and Protection Branch (Code 664), James Duval also volunteers beneath