Lab support and safety

The Machine Shop, Electronics Shop, and Laboratory Staff at the Department of Aerospace and Ocean Engineering are dedicated to providing support services to faculty, staff and students for a broad range experimental research activities and laboratory education. In this page you will be able to find links to documents and forms covering a range of laboratory related activities

Laboratory Support & Safety Information

All AOE personnel (faculty, staff, graduate students, wage employees and undergraduate researchers) are required to have core safety training from Virginia Tech Enviromental Health and Safety (EHS). To obtain you must register on the EHS Training webpage, enroll in and then pass the 6 required classes. These classes are:

Electrical Awareness
HazCom Right to Know
Fire Extinguisher
PPE Awareness
Lockout-Tagout
General Laboratory Safety

Before personnel can begin work in any AOE Experimental Workspace they must have the explicit permission of the faculty or staff member responsible for that space (see table below), be listed in the Safety Management System site for that space, and have met all the safety form and additional training requirements for that space.

Each experimental workspace must have a current safety form that can be found on the door to the space. The form includes documentation specific hazards that users need to be aware of, training that is required before they begin work in that space, the chemicals present in the lab and the location of their safety data sheets, and any rigs within the space that have their own safety requirements (and form).

Copies of the safety forms for all AOE experimental workspaces, and experimental rigs are also linked in the following table. At the bottom of this page a second table is provided with links to documents or webpages with other relevent safety information.

Experimental Workspaces and Safety Forms

A full copy of each safety form listed below should be prominently posted next to the facility listed

Location	Lab/workspace safety form	Responsible faculty/staff	Safety forms for experimental rigs
Mitchell Hall	Stability Wind Tunnel	William Devenport, 1-4456,devenport@vt.edu	Stability Wind Tunnel Test Section Particle Image Velocimetry System
VTSS 133	Assured Vehicle Autonomy (AVA) Lab	Mathieu Joerger, 1-6707, joerger@vt.edu
VTSS 145	Intelligent Design Optimization (IDOpt) Lab	Darshan Sarojini, 1-6707, sdarshan@vt.edu
VTSS 150	Cavitation Lab	Olivier Coutier-Delgosha, 1-3168, ocoutier@vt.edu	Cavitation Rig 1 Cavitation Rig 2 Single Bubble Generation
VTSS 150	Marine Robotics Lab	Mingi Jeong, 1-7061, mingijeong@vt.edu
VTSS 158	Experimental Aeroacoustics Lab	William Devenport, 1-4456,devenport@vt.edu	Anechoic Wall-Jet Wind Tunnel ONR Rotor Rigs Anechoic Open Jet Tunnel
VTSS 158	Unsteady Fluid Mechanics and Acoustics (UFMA) Laboratory	Justin Jaworski, 1-1977, jaworski@vt.edu
VTSS 235	Model Building Center	Michael Philen, 1-2548, mphilen@vt.edu
VTSS 235	Intelligent Multiscale Mechanics for Predictive Advanced Computational Technology (IMMPACT)	Sourav Saha, 1-3372, souravsaha@vt.edu
VTSS 237	Autonomous Aerospace Systems (A2Sys) Lab	Ella Atkins, 1-5940, ematkins@vt.edu
VTSS 239	Space Communications, Optics, Payloads, and Engineering Lab (SCOPE)	Samantha Parry Kenyon, 1-5963, spkenyon@vt.edu
VTSS 239	Space Systems Lab	Bradley Denby, 1-2618, bdenby@vt.edu
VTSS 245	Shared UAV Motion Tracking Lab	Mathieu Joerger, 1-6707, joerger@vt.edu
Surge 118A and 109A	Electronics Teaching Lab and Support Shop	John Burleson, 1-4430, jburles@vt.edu
Surge 118E	Aerospace Structures and Materials Lab	Michael Philen, 1-2548, mphilen@vt.edu	Instron Impact System Instron Uniaxial Testing Frame
RB2 100	Aerospace Structures and Materials Lab (Composites and Materials)	Gary Seidel, 1-9897, gary.seidel@vt.edu	Scanning Electron Microscope Charpy Impact Frame
RB2 100	Solid Rocket Propulsion Lab	Greg Young, 1-5222, gyoung1199@vt.edu
RB2 100	Materials for High-Temperature and Corrosive Environment Laboratory	Yao Fu, 1-8722, yaof@vt.edu	ATS creep machine Instron Fatigue machine Tabletop drill and lathe Bridgman furnace Polisher Cortest_SSRT Thermofisher Furnace
RB2 101	Vortical Flow Lab	Todd Lowe, 1-7650, kelowe@vt.edu	Portable Laser Doppler Velocimetry System
Norris 5	Hydro-Elasticity Lab	Christine Gilbert, 1-9428, cikeda@vt.edu	Tow Tank Carriage Tow Tank VPMM Water Tank Slamming Tank
Goodwin Hall 140	Showcase Undergraduate Lab	Aurelien Borgoltz, 1-1959, aborgolt@vt.edu	Open Jet Wind Tunnel 3D printer
AEDL	AOE Machine Shop	James Lambert, 1-6752, jalamber@vt.edu
Kentland Farm, Whitehorne Rd.	Kentland Experimental Aerial Systems Laboratory	Craig Woolsey, 1-8817, cwoolsey@vt.edu

Blank Forms & Information

Document/Link	Description
Experimental workspace safety review form	This form must be completed for any experimental workspace in the department by the responsible faculty or staff member. The form integrates the HazCom plan and has been approved by EHS.
Experimental rig safety review form	This form must be completed for any any potentially hazardous piece of equipment whose safe operation requires more detailed instructions and procedures than can be included in the Experimental Workspace Safety Review form for the area in which the rig is housed.
EHS Training website	Examine your official training record and training requirements (VT PID logon required.)
Environmental Health and Safety Website	EHS is responsible for safety university wide, and provides safety training and advice in many areas relevant to laboratory safety.
Door Sign with Emergency Contacts	This form should be filled out and posted on all lab doors. PIs must include there information at the top of the form.
Employer's Accident Report Instructions	If a student or employee suffers an injury on university-owned or occupied space that requires, or might require medical attention, an "Employer’s Accident Report" must be completed by the responsible faculty member or supervisor. Instructions for completing the form are here.
Universal Checklist for Safety Inspections	This checklist provides a high-level summary of the issues EHS would inspect for during an evaluation of our labs. It is a valuable tool for judging your own lab/workspace.
PPE Hazard Assessment Checklist	This list is to be used for assessing new or newly identified risks

Lab support and safety

Laboratory Support & Safety Information

Lab Support and Safety Director

Machine Shop Director

Electrical Engineer

Machine Shop Supervisor

Senior Mechanical Designer

Machinists