Engineering alumni reflect on their time spent since studying at Tech

Since the university’s creation, the College of Engineering at Virginia Tech has educated and graduated thousands of students who make major advancements in their fields. While the phrase “Once a Hokie, always a Hokie” keeps alumni connected to their alma mater, their life after graduation is often unknown by this community, leading many students to ask, “Where are they now?” 

Josh Lucas graduated in the class of 2011 with a bachelor’s degree in chemical engineering. He now works for Eastman Chemical Company in Martinsville, Virginia, as an operations area manager. He noted his ability to apply his degree to a wide range of career opportunities, including in other countries. 

“My job is broad where I get to be involved in everything from how we make products, coaching and developing others, creating new processes, setting direction and providing guidance on new investments, technology platforms, process improvements, etc.,” Lucas said. “Part of my role this year involves an international plant commissioning and startup. I was responsible for ensuring the machine was safe and could produce quality film at the desired rates, (working) on the training plans and directly developing operator skills … but also got to experience a new culture and explore Germany. It is a rewarding job that has stayed interesting.”

David Lohr is another chemical engineering graduate, receiving his degree in 1976. As a first-generation college student, Lohr was encouraged by his family and grade-school teachers to pursue higher education, and that support continued with the Tech community.

“Coming to Blacksburg and joining the Hokie Nation opened up opportunities that I never dreamed would have been possible for the son of a factory worker who grew up in a small town. My process for finding a job at graduation was actually pretty easy,” Lohr said. “I spent a total of five years at Virginia Tech but gained about two years of industrial experience with the chemical company DuPont. When I finished my final co-op work period, DuPont made me a job offer before I returned for my senior year.”

Additionally, Lohr earned his MBA in finance and venture creation from Xavier University and was an adjunct professor for the Pamplin School of Business. He currently serves as president of Navigation Point Advisors, LLC.

“Sharing my stories from being a practicing engineer and then a business executive with a new generation of Hokies was one of the most rewarding parts of my career,” Lohr said. “I am semi-retired but still do some consulting with entities interested in how to grow a local or regional economy through the nurturing and attraction of technology-based companies.”

A more recent Hokie graduate is Bryce Morrison, a civil engineering graduate from the class of 2021. He’s currently a design engineer at Hagen Engineering in North Carolina.

“I primarily work on residential and commercial land development projects, and designing the civil sitework for the projects,” Morrison said. “This can include laying out the building and parking locations, grading out the topography onsite to drain stormwater correctly, laying out water and sewer utilities, designing erosion control measures in construction and other items.”

Morrison expressed that he’s been able to create a career similar to what he’d hoped to achieve in college because of his Virginia Tech education. 

“While there was still a lot to learn once I started working, the daily responsibilities of my job closely lined up with the foundation I was taught at Virginia Tech, so I felt like I knew what to expect and could quickly learn the ropes,” Morrison said. “When speaking with some of my peers, I’ve heard that the skills they were taught in school may have loosely applied to their jobs, or were not directly applicable to working in their respective industries. However, in the civil engineering department at Tech, I was using the exact softwares and solving similar issues to what I do daily at work.”

2007 graduate Andrew Monk also went down the path of civil engineering, with an emphasis on environmental sciences and impacts. Upon graduating, he got a job with Thompson & Litton, Inc., and still works there today from Radford, Virginia.

“The deciding factor for me choosing civil engineering was my desire to use my creative thinking skills and see my designs constructed in the community I live (in). My current position is the director of site development and solid waste and I am an associate with the firm. Early in my career, I designed multiple site development and solid waste management projects,” Monk said. “My current responsibilities include leading a group of 10 to 14 engineers with daily tasks consisting of the supervision and training of my group, assigning tasks/projects, overseeing schedules, project management, business development, client interface, coordination with other disciplines within and outside the firm and setting department standards and goals. My degree and T&L (have developed) me professionally (and) personally to lead a group of fellow engineers.”

The alumni agree that Virginia Tech gave them a reliable community and opportunities to make their dreams their realities.

“I loved what the university offered me in how I learned, the opportunities I had around career exploration and the combination of theoretical and practical work with my professors. When you add in the campus setting, things to do — from intramural sports [to] the town of Blacksburg — you have a place where you can really learn, grow, and feel both comfortable and challenged in and out of the classroom,” Lucas said. “Tech creates someone who can be a strong practitioner of engineering but also be well-rounded socially to interact well with teams and peers. That ability to engage with others is the big difference in the professional world, more so than theory application.”

Whether it’s chemical, biomedical, civil, or environmental engineering, Virginia Tech School of Engineering offers its students an education ranked as one of the best in the nation. Alumni have reaped the benefits of this education with their career opportunities, but what they reportedly took away most from their time as a Hokie was the ability to live a fulfilling life.