Lab members
Currently working in the lab. Click here for previous members.
Dr. Jake Socha
Principal Investigator
I am a professor in the Department of Biomedical Engineering and Mechanics at Virginia Tech. I am also a member of the Virginia Tech-Wake Forest School of Biomedical Engineering and Sciences, an affiliate of VT’s Department of Mechanical Engineering and Department of Biological Sciences, a member of VT’s Integrative Organismal Biology group, and the director of Virginia Tech’s BIOTRANS program. I also serve as Associate Editor for the journal Royal Society Open Science.
Research Associates and Postdocs
Dr. Hodjat Pendar
Research Assistant Professor
Dr. Pendar is a research associate of the lab, and also serves as an instructor for the department, teaching courses including Dynamics, Deforms, Statics, and Mechanics of Animal Locomotion. Hodjat received his Ph.D. in Engineering Mechanics from Virginia Tech, and was a graduate student in our lab, studying insect biomechanics. He has bachelor's and master's degrees in mechanical engineering from Sharif University. Prior to coming to VT, he spent several years in industry as an engineer.
Mary Salcedo
Postdoctoral fellow
Dr. Salcedo is a postdoc in the lab, supported by an NSF Postdoctoral Research Fellowship in Biology (PRFB). Mary earned her Ph.D. in the Department of Department of Organismic and Evolutionary Biology at Harvard University, co-advised by L. Mahadevan and Stacey Combes (U.C. Davis), studying the biomechanics of insect wings. She did her bachelor's degree in biology at U. Washington, and at one point worked with Tom Daniel. In our lab, Mary is working on circulation in insects, among other things.
Graduate students
Rod La Foy
Ph.D. candidate
Rod is a PhD student in mechanical engineering, working on new methods to measure three-dimensional flows. Rod has a BS in ME from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Rod’s primary advisor is Dr. Pavlos Vlachos (Purdue), and Dr. Socha is his co-advisor. Rod is an inaugural member of the NSF MultiSTEPS IGERT program (now BIOTRANS).
Talia Weiss
Ph.D. candidate
Talia is a graduate student in the School of Biomedical Engineering and Sciences, studying locomotion at the water interface in animals. Talia earned her bachelor's in bioengineering from the California Institute of Technology. She is also a member of the BIOTRANS program.
Joel Garrett
Ph.D. candidate
Joel is a PhD student in Biomedical Engineering and Mechanics, studying insect biomechanics and bio-inspired engineering. Joel earned bachelor's and master's degrees in biomedical engineering from Georgia Tech and Duke University. He is also a member of the BIOTRANS program. Click here for Joel's web site.
Jack Whitehead
Ph.D. candidate
Jack is a PhD student in Biology, studying the biological bases of navigation in birds and insects. Jack earned a bachelor's degree in biology from Juniata College. He is co-advised by Dr. Ignacio Moore of Biological Sciences. Jack is also a member of the BIOTRANS program.
Michelle Graham
Ph.D. candidate
Michelle is a PhD student in Biomedical Engineering and Mechanics, studying the mechanics of flying snakes. Michelle earned a bachelor's degree in physics and philosophy from Oxford University. She also played on the women's rugby team, so don't mess with her, or you'll get an ankle tap.
Josh Pulliam
Ph.D. student
Josh is a PhD student in Biomedical Engineering and Mechanics, whose research will most likely involve animal locomotion. Josh earned dual degrees in applied physics from Morehouse College and mechanical engineering from Auburn University.
Maria Gonzalez
Ph.D. student
Maria is a Ph.D. student in the Engineering Mechanics, whose research will most likely involve animal locomotion. Maria earned degrees in physics (major) and women's and gender studies (minor) from Wellesley College.
Undergraduates
Nicole Araujo
Biological sciences major
Nicole is studying vision in flying snakes with Dr. Sharri Zamore.
Cassi Basham
Mechanical engineering major
Cassi is studying an unusual form of tongue flicking in flying snakes.
Mela Coffey
ESM major
Mela is analyzing motion-capture data from our project on how flying snakes cross gaps.
Mariam Hasan
Engineering major
Mariam is helping with multiple kinematic analyses projects.
Evelyn Jens
Mechanical engineering major
Evelyn researches how ducks land on water with Jack Whitehead.
Dina Liacopoulos
Engineering major
Dina is studying how frogs hop on water with Talia Weiss.
Suinda Ossenkopp
Chemical engineering major
Suinda is helping to characterize an unusual form of tongue flicking in flying snakes. The data for this project were collected by teacher Phil Hernandez.
Brennan Rausch
Mechanical engineering major
Brennan is working on insect tracheal mechanics with Khaled Adjerid.
Abdul Shahid
Engineering major
Abdul is working on insect tracheal mechanics with Khaled Adjerid.
Terrell Worrell
ESM major
Terrell is analyzing high-speed video footage of ducks landing on water and helping Jack Whitehead with experiments in the field.
Animal technicians
Natalie Lovelace
Animal and poultry sciences major
Natalie is an animal technician working with flying snakes. She is also working on a breeding project.
Caroline Marti
Microbiology major
Marti is an animal technician working with flying snakes and frogs.
Jordan Proctor
Animal and poultry sciences major
Jordan is an animal technician working with flying snakes and frogs.
Summer researchers
Parker Broadnax
Applied physics major
Parker spent the summer of 2018 in the lab developing a new experiment to test the effect of flexibility on landing in flying snakes. He is a student at Morehouse College.
Ira Moore
Applied physics major
Ira researched duck landings in the lab during the summer of 2018 with Jack Whitehead, helping with experiments in the field and analyzing kinematic data. He is a student at Morehouse College.
Emily Graziani
Mechanical engineering major
Emily helped Parker Broadnax develop a new experiment related to flying snake landing in the summer of 2018.
Teachers
Michael Collver
High school teacher
Mr. Collver teaches science and technology at Blacksburg High School in Blacksburg, VA. He worked with Dr. Sharri Zamore to set up a new snake vision experiment as part of our NSF RET (Research Experiences for Teachers) program "Biomechanics from molecular to organismal scales." He is the lead teacher for the district-wide FIRST Robotics Competition team, Team 401 Copperhead Robotics.
Nitika Sood
High school teacher
Nitika teaches math at Pulaski High School in Pulaski, VA. She was measuring mechanical properties of insect tracheal tubes as part of our NSF RET (Research Experiences for Teachers) program "Biomechanics from molecular to organismal scales." Prior to teaching, Nitika lived and worked in Kenya for a decade.
Mascots
Beckett
Kid
Beckett goes to school, does Tae Kwon Do, plays soccer, and does theater.
Kylan
Teen
Kylan goes to school, runs track, plays soccer, and does theater.