Reminder! Enrollment opens on Mon., Oct. 1 at 6 pm for VT Southwest Center KTU program in Abingdon, VA!

KTU is a semester-long educational research program developed by the Virginia Bioinformatics Institute at Virginia Tech in partnership with the Virginia 4-H, that puts scientists and engineers in front of children to encourage the exploration of intriguing topics in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics.

After the success of KTU in 2009-2012, we are excited to announce the 2012-13 program happening at the Virginia Southwest Center, located in the Southwest Virginia Higher Education Center in Abington, VA for kids between the ages of 9 and 12 (on September 30, 2012). Hands-on activities follow each interactive session and an online component continues the interest and excitement after the campus activities have been completed.


Registration Procedure• Online enrollment begins at 6 p.m. on Oct. 1, 2012
•100 children will be accepted into the program
•Those accepted will represent a geographically diverse area.
•For enrollment information, please visit http://kidstechuniversity-swvac.vbi.vt.edu/
•Registration is on a “first-come, first-served” basis that is open to children satisfying the age restriction, regardless of place of residence or academic achievements. A waiting list will be available after registration is full for a county or for the program.

Registration Fee- In order to keep up with the costs of providing a quality program, there will be a registration fee of $100.00 per child, payable upon registration (no refunds). The registration fee must be paid for by check; further directions will be given at the time of enrollment. Scholarships are available. Lunch cards and a KTU t-shirt will be given to all children who attend KTU.


2012/13 VT Southwest Center KTU Schedule (in Abingdon, VA)

Oct. 27, 2012 - “Patterns are Everywhere! How and Why?” An interactive session led by Dr. Reinhard Laubenbacher, Professor at Virginia Bioinformatics Institute and of the Department of Mathematics, Virginia Tech

Did you know that we are surrounded by patterns--everywhere? For example, farmers need to understand weather patterns to plan their harvests. Your parents need to understand traffic patterns to drive you to school safely. Music and dance excite us through patterns of sounds and movement. Some patterns are pretty easy to spot, like the pattern on a seashell, or the pattern on a snowflake. However, other patterns around us aren’t so easy to see, like the patterns on a pine cone, or the patterns of ocean waves. I’ll bet you wouldn’t guess patterns exist in clouds! To discover some of these patterns, we need to be very, very observant. So join me and together we’ll hunt down some patterns in the world around us--and as we investigate how these patterns form and why they’re there, the answers may surprise you!

April 20th, 2013- "Why Is Antarctica So "Cool" To Geologists?" An interactive session led by Cristina Millan, Ph.D. student in the School of Earth Sciences at the Ohio State University

Geologists are scientists that study the Earth in order to understand what our planet looked like in the past, how it changed to its present form and what it will look like in the future. These are important issues for all of us so we can better predict and prepare for any changes that may occur and can affect our way of life. Antarctica is a great place for geologists to work, because it is a very old continent that has experienced a lot of changes and can help answer some of these questions. Scientists have drilled for rocks in Antarctica to learn how mountains and volcanoes formed and how they might be related to earthquakes or what kind of plants and animals lived there in the past and why and when they disappeared. Rocks can also tell us why there is so much ice in Antarctica, when it all formed and, ultimately, how its melting will affect the rest of the world.