From A to B - Atlanta to Blacksburg
By David Mee; Analytical Technician in the Faculty of Engineering, University of Nottingham
On
the Monday morning I had a pleasant walk through the campus of VT to the office
of Dr Nino Ripepi, Assistant Professor in the Department of Mining and Minerals
Engineering. We spent most of the day looking at their facilities, the work
they are doing and discussing ideas to further our joint venture. The following
day I was taken on the ‘short’ drive (150 miles each way) to the field site, to
look at how they obtain their samples. Nobody told me we were in bear country
until we spotted a little baby black bear up a tree! Strangely enough I do not
have a photograph of this as I was more concerned about the location of Mummy
bear.
On the way back from the field site we met up again
with Dr Ripepi and I was treated to a couple of hours fly fishing in the Southern Appalachian Mountains. I even
managed to land a Native American Brook Trout.
Did you know?
Our GERC Director, Professor Matthew Hall, visited Virginia Tech in October 2015 to discuss the research relationship between VT and the University of Nottingham. He wrote a blog about his visit, you can read it here
My first
ever trip to the USA started by landing in the world’s busiest airport of
Atlanta. I was met from the airport by Micromeritics, the company who were
providing the training course I was out there to attend. Their hospitality was
out of this world. Their slogan is “Why We’re Here: Your Business, Our Family” and
I was certainly treated like family with all that Southern Hospitality.
During the
five day training course our evenings were kept free, and on one of the
evenings we were taken to a minor league baseball game to watch the Gwinnett
Braves versus Lehigh Valley IronPigs. Of course we all had homework to do
before the game as we were not fully aware of the rules of the game. I managed
to catch a foul ball, much to the amusement of my host, after beating a local
to it on my first ever visit and only the second ever international guest to do
this.
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| Gwinnett Braves versus Lehigh Valley IronPigs Baseball Game |
Another of
the evenings we were treated to the sights and dizzy heights of Downtown
Atlanta. We were taken up 73 floors and 723ft in a glass elevator, Willy Wonka
style, to the Sundial Restaurant and bar. The views were absolutely amazing and
it was only up there that I finally realised the true size and space of the
country. From there we made a short walk to the Centennial Olympic Park built
in 1996. Today it serves as Georgia’s
lasting legacy of the Centennial Olympic Games and it anchors efforts to
revitalize residential and commercial development in Georgia’s capital city of
Atlanta.
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| Looking up at and down from the Sundial Restaurant in Downtown Atlanta |
Oh and the course !!!! Operator
Training on the 3Flex a High Resolution, High-throughput Physisorption and Chemisorption
Instrument recognized as the most advanced instrument in the field for material
surface characterisation. This was five days of intense laboratory and
classroom activities. At the end of it I was left with a mind full of
information and ideas on how to further advance the work back in Nottingham and
possibilities to develop the GERC international partnership with Virginia Tech (VT)
and the Virginia Center for Coal and Energy Research (VCCER) further.
So with all
this information I boarded a plane to my next destination; Blacksburg, Virginia
(home of Virginia Tech). I fully expected another big and brash place similar
to that of Atlanta, but I was in for a pleasant surprise. A small town with
people actually walking.
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| Me at the gates to the Lane Stadium - home of the Hokies |
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| Left: Fly fishing in the Southern Appalachian Mountains. Right: Native American Brook Trout |
Our GERC Director, Professor Matthew Hall, visited Virginia Tech in October 2015 to discuss the research relationship between VT and the University of Nottingham. He wrote a blog about his visit, you can read it here
*You can keep up to date with GERC activities on our social media channels*
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