VCU news

By Mike Frontiero, Barton Cregger and Linda Jones

WHAT:           Virginia Commonwealth University engineering students and Philip Morris USA officials will unveil the new VCU School of Engineering machine shop.  The metal working equipment will allow students to build working test models of their designs without leaving the School of Engineering.

The gift of eight heavy-duty machines from Philip Morris USA facilities in the Richmond area includes an engine lathe, three vertical milling machines, vertical bandsaw, two drill presses and a surface grinder. They have been installed in the school's High Bay lab and can be used for sophisticated fabrication and milling of metal.

WHO:              - Robert J. Mattauch, Ph.D., dean, VCU School of Engineering

                   -  Hector Alonso, vice president of product development and
technology, Philip Morris USA; member of the VCU Mechanical Engineering Industrial Advisory Board

- VCU engineering students

WHEN:           Friday, May 7 at 9:30 a.m.

WHERE:        VCU School of Engineering, 601 W. Main St., Richmond, Va.,
                 1st floor, High Bay lab

MORE BACKGROUND:
The VCU School of Engineering enrolled its first undergraduates in 1996 and moved into its new $40 million facility in the fall of 1998. The class of 2004 is the fifth graduating class.  The school�s chemical engineering, electrical engineering, mechanical engineering and computer science programs are accredited by the Engineering Board for Engineering and Technology (ABET).  In 2003, the school was inducted into the nation�s only honor society for engineering � Tau Beta Pi, which recognizes students of distinguished scholarship and exemplary character.