These UVA Engineering alumni and faculty have one thing in common: professional football.
Alumni Charles Way and Leland Melvin both spent time with the NFL. Way, who played with the New York Giants for five seasons, later went on to become an NFL executive before branching out into financial management. Although Melvin’s time as a professional football player was cut short due to an injury, he beat the odds to become a NASA astronaut.
Silvia Blemker, professor of biomedical engineering, co-founded a company that has helped an NFL player use targeted training to better repair his muscles and avoid future injury. Similarly, associate professor of mechanical and aerospace engineering Baoxing Xu and his team developed a new form of nanofoam, which can help better protect players from head injuries.
Richard Kent, professor and chair of the Department of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering, and former deputy director of UVA's Center for Applied Biomechanics, appeared in a TV spot for the 2017 Super Bowl where he discussed his research on cleats. And recently, ESPN's Stephania Bell and her camera crew visited the center to understand more about turf and the center's turf research.
Read more about UVA’s Engineering ties to football below.
