Category: Education

Education Outreach 2024

On 9 September, James Stephenson taught about weather and how it affects sound propagation at a local elementary school. Discussion was focused on how we measure weather during experiments, and how it can change the noise we hear around us, like how far away we can hear local base’s ordinance disposal or helicopters.
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

VFS-HRC Scholarship Application

VFS-HRC High School Scholarship

Purpose:
The Hampton Roads Chapter (HRC) of the Vertical Flight Society International (VFS) sponsors an annual scholarship to recognize and assist high school seniors who wish to pursue a college education leading to a career in STEM related fields such as engineering, physics, mathematics, or computer science.

Eligibility:
High school seniors within the Hampton Roads Chapter Area (entire state of Virginia except Washington, D.C. metro area) are encouraged to apply. This includes, but is not limited to:
Chesapeake, Gloucester, Hampton, Isle of Wright, James City County, Matthews, Newport News, Norfolk, Portsmouth, Poquoson, Suffolk, Virginia Beach, Williamsburg, York County. Private and homeschool seniors are also encouraged to apply.

Award:
Three scholarships, $1,000 each, will be awarded to qualified recipient(s).

Deadline:

Applications must be postmarked by March 1. Late or incomplete applications will not be considered.

Mail Applications to:

VFS HRC

P.O. Box 22252

Newport News, VA 23609

The full scholarship application PDF is available at the below link.

VFS Scholarship Application

VFS Education Outreach 2023-10-03

On 3Oct23, Dr. Stephenson visited Tabb Elementary School to conduct a hands-on laboratory demonstrating how vibrations produce sound. Using a slinky he demonstrated transverse (side to side) and longitudinal waves (along the spring). He talked about differences in frequency, and how large items tend to have lower pitch than smaller items. He demonstrated this concept with tuning forks, and showed how we can see the sound being produced by watching the tips of the tuning fork vibrate back and forth.
 
Students then got to break into small groups and investigate the production of sound and vibration at various stations around the room. They got to spin Sound Tubes, test tuning forks, bang on Boomwhackers, and look at patterns that appear on a Chladni plate vibrated at different frequencies. The 20-minute lesson for each class addresses Virginia SOL 1.2.

 

2023 VFS HRC Scholarship Application

The Hampton Roads Chapter (HRC) of the Vertical Flight Society International (VFS) sponsors an annual scholarship to recognize and assist high school seniors who wish to pursue a college education leading to a career in STEM related fields such as engineering, physics, mathematics, or computer science.

High school seniors within the Hampton Roads Chapter Area (entire state of Virginia except Washington, D.C. metro area) are encouraged to apply. This includes, but is not limited to:
Chesapeake, Gloucester, Hampton, Isle of Wright, James City County, Matthews, Newport News, Norfolk, Portsmouth, Poquoson, Suffolk, Virginia Beach, Williamsburg, York County. Private and homeschool seniors are also encouraged to apply.

Three scholarships, $1,000 each, will be awarded to qualified recipient(s).

2023 VFS Scholarship Application

2022 VFS HRC Scholarship Winners

 

The Robert Powell Scholarship 

The Robert Powell Scholarship was established to honor the long-time treasurer of the Hampton Roads Chapter whose stewardship of the chapter’s financial assets originally enabled the chapter’s STEM outreach program, including its scholarship fund. The 2022 Robert Powell scholarship has been awarded to Leo Annett, the son of Mary and Martin Annett. Leo attends a York County Public School and is an exemplary scholar and leader. He has earned an excellent SAT score and GPA, while also continuing to work and volunteer. His documented perseverance has earned Leo the Robert Powell Scholarship for 2022. Leo plans to pursue a degree in Computer Science.  

The Edward ‘Ed’ Austin Scholarship 

This Edward ‘Ed’ Austin Scholarship was established to honor Ed’s many years as a chapter board member in various positions from treasurer to education director. In his retirement, Ed continued to support the chapter through staffing multiple events, encouraged the public outreach of our chapter by maintaining our website, and was a huge and continued proponent of our STEM outreach program including the scholarship program. The inaugural Edward ‘Ed’ Austin scholarship has been awarded to Juan Martinez-Medina, the son of Ana and Pedro Martinez. Juan attends a Chesapeake Public School and is an exemplary scholar who’s achieved much despite adversity. Juan intends to pursue a degree in computer engineering, where his impressive work ethic will pay off in spades. 

The Christopher Gavora Scholarship 

The Christopher Gavora Scholarship was established to honor the son of COL William Gavora, former Commander of the Aviation Applied Technology Directorate.  Chris was killed in a tragic high school baseball practice accident shortly after his family relocated from Hampton Roads to Texas.  The 2022 Christopher Gavora Scholarship has been awarded to Logan Richardson, a student in the York County Public School system.  Logan, the son of Channing and Don Richardson, is a proven scholar and school leader. As captain of 3 varsity teams, Logan has proven his leadership, while maintaining exemplary grades and scoring very well on the SAT. Logan plans to pursue a degree in Electrical Engineering. 

 

 

2022 TSEF Award Winners Announced

As it has for many years in the past, this year the VFS Hampton Roads Chapter presented multiple special awards at the Tidewater Science & Engineering Fair (TSEF). The Junior Division (Middle School) award winners received $200 for first place, and $100 for second place. The Senior Division (High School) award winners received $250 for first place, and $200 for second place. These awards are given to the students with the best projects supporting “the multidisciplinary fields of vertical flight, traditional rotorcraft platforms disciplines, and related support industries.”  The winners were judged to be the best versed with their work and performed the most unique experiments. Their teachers have also received a $100 award for supporting the STEM community and leading their students to these great achievements. Finally, the Tidewater Science Congress was also gifted $1000 to continue TSEF and help continue it well into the future. 

The Junior Division first place award winner was Nathan Shaw for his work on optical sensor performance under degraded visual environments. The second-place award winner was Gavin Fitzgerald, who investigated the performance effects of linear magnetic actuator arrangement. 

The Senior Division first place award winner was Erin Jones for her work studying the long-term effects of cognitive training. Her work investigated whether mental training tasks could improve cognitive performance in high schoolers. This work could lead to improved training for pilot focus and performance. Second place award winner in the senior division was Jack Shoemaker who investigated machine learning in weather forecasting. 

The awards were presented by the Chapter’s Education Director Dr. James Stephenson.