MAOP Student

For 10 weeks over the summer, Anna Ingram, a scholar in the Multicultural Academic Opportunities Program (MAOP) at Virginia Tech has been working with Dr. Hindman in the Wood Engineering Laboratory. Anna is a rising junior in Mechanical Engineering at Virginia Tech. While working in the Wood Engineering Lab, Anna helped with the testing of cross-laminated timber, and mycelium blocks. Anna also conducted an independent research project looking at non-destructive methods to measure the mechanical properties of iron bamboo. Anna used a non-destructive method called stress wave timing to measure the properties of bamboo, then Anna tested the same bamboo pieces in a destructive bending test according to ISO standards. “Using non-destructive methods to accurately measure bamboo mechanical properties can help in creating engineered materials from this renewable, plentiful source,” says Dr. Hindman.