Matthew Picard ’27 vowed he would never attend a military college. One of his teammates in high school ended up going to Virginia Military Institute and he was encouraged to investigate it.

Bruce Hay ’25, a mechanical engineering major with a concentration in aerospace engineering, completed his 10-week Summer Undergraduate Research Institute (SURI) project by designing an off-road laser measurement mapping system to forewarn drivers of trail conditions.

In addition to course work, VMI's nuclear concentration within the mechanical engineering degree includes two field trips — a fall trip to Dominion Energy’s North Anna nuclear power station in Louisa County, Virginia and a spring trip to Framatome, a nuclear industry supplier in Lynchburg, Virginia.

When Drew Menges '25 found Virginia Military Institute, it was nearly kismet. By attending VMI, he’d also be able to play soccer for the school while still having the opportunity to pursue serving his country.

Louis Wiltenmuth ’25, a mechanical engineering major, wanted to get ahead in classes this past summer, while also gaining some cultural experience. What started as a study abroad experience in Rome, turned into him becoming the cadet in charge of the program.   

A field trip to the NATO Defense College and test driving a prototype electric three-wheel vehicle? All in a week’s work for cadets participating in the VMI Engineering Summer Study Abroad program in Rome.

Virginia Military Institute's Spring 2023 Engineering Networking & Internship Fair — an engineering-centered event — was held in Preston Library Feb. 14, 2023.

Members of VMI's faculty have been hard at work not only on post, but also in providing off-post event support and leadership to cadets, as well as being featured on podcasts.

Through ongoing interviews and discussions, cadets in ERH 314 learned about and translated mechanical designs developed by the mechanical engineering cadets for open-source reports accessible to engineering departments at other colleges and universities.

One of the primary goals of this program is to give engineering cadets, who don’t often get the chance to study abroad due to their pre-requisite driven curriculum, the opportunity to develop cultural competency skills and learn to live and work in a multi-cultural, multi-national society.