Dr. Sean McGinnis

Dr. Sean McGinnis is the Director of the Green Engineering Program at Virginia Tech. He has bachelor’s degrees in Chemical Engineering and Materials Science from the University of Minnesota and a doctorate from Stanford University in Materials Science. After working in various research and development positions in industry, Dr. McGinnis went back to academia in 2005 to focus on the education of students, especially engineers, in the area of environmental sustainability. Dr. McGinnis teaches courses on Materials Selection and Processing, Life Cycle Analysis, and Earth Sustainability. He lives in Roanoke and is active in local community organizations including the SWVA USGBC, Citizens for Clean and Green, and the Roanoke Valley Cool Cities Coalition. how improving the performance of homes and neighborhoods (audit, set goals, verify) fits into our Region's prosperity (health & IAQ) (energy & new power plants) (house as a system within an ecosystem) (other): Overview of Life Cycle Thinking and Cradle to Cradle.

The Virginia Tech College of Engineering, and its Green Engineering Program, support the efforts of the Southwest Virginia chapter of the US Green Building Council to educate professionals and the public regarding the environmental impacts of buildings as well as methods to minimize these impacts. Many of the design philosophies and technologies to create environmentally-conscious buildings require a deep understanding of engineering and systems across disciplines. The Connect The Dots town hall event creates an excellent opportunity for education, dialogue, and networking with the goal to make our building systems and communities more sustainable.