Name: Elizabeth Traut
Major: Mechanical Engineering
Minor: Spanish; Engineering Software and Computations
University: Virginia Tech

Project:
The Role of Technology in Sustainable Development and its Interplay with Society and Economics

Research Location:
Southern University and A&M College, Baton Rouge, Louisiana

Faculty Advisor:
Dr. Ghanashyam Joshi

REU Project

I am working with John Alston and JC Lewis on a project related to sustainability, technology, and policy. Dr. Joshi is interested in the interplay between technology and policy, and our project investigates the connections between these topics and sustainability decisions. We have chosen to concentrate on the area of transportation, and particularly on the area of road transportation and automobiles, in order to focus the topic. Although I am an engineer, I am working more with the policy side of the topic. Our objective is to have at least a draft of a paper on the topic, including examples of the effects of technology, policy, and sustainability on each other and on important decisions.

Personal Information

I grew up in Madison, New Jersey, and moved to Vienna, Virginia before my sophomore year of high school. I will be going into my third year at Virginia Tech next year, majoring in Mechanical Engineering with a Spanish minor and a concentration in Engineering Software and Computations. This coming fall, I plan to do undergraduate research related to fuel cells, sensors, and smart materials. Next summer I plan to research alternative energy with a professor at a university in Spain.
At Virginia Tech, I play piccolo in the Marching Virginians marching band, which plays at most of the football games. I am the webmaster for the Environmental Coalition and I am very active in the Society of Women Engineers, through which I have taught activities at Exploring Engineering days for Girl Scouts and other elementary and middle school students. I enjoy hiking in the mountains around Blacksburg some weekends, and in my spare time (mostly in the summer) I enjoy reading, especially science fiction, and doing various crafts including crocheting, cross stitch, and making wire and bead jewelry.