John Casali, of the Grado Department of Industrial and Systems Engineering, has helped ensure funding by delivery giant UPS for the college every year since 1996.

A donation from the United Parcel Service Foundation was awarded to Virginia Tech’s GradoDepartment of Industrial and Systems Engineering for the 17th consecutive year. The $40,000 grant will support students in the Human Factors Engineering Ergonomicsgraduate program. John Casali, of the Grado Department of Industrial and Systems Engineering, is responsible for ensuring funding from UPS every year.

Here is the press release from Virginia Tech.

BLACKSBURG, Va., March 12, 2013 – The United Parcel Service Foundation has for the 17th consecutive year awarded an academic grant to Virginia Tech’s GradoDepartment of Industrial and Systems Engineering in the amount of $40,000 for 2013.

Thus far, the Atlanta-based delivery giant has given approximately $800,000 to support doctoral students in the department’s Human Factors Engineering Ergonomicsgraduate program.

“The principal use of the UPS award is to support Ph.D. students who are undertaking practical, applied research in ergonomics and human factors engineering,” said John Casali, the John Grado Professor of Industrial and Systems Engineering. “We recognize that these areas of workplace safety and health have long represented hallmarks of UPS. The UPS grant allows our human factors program to attract and retain graduate students of the highest caliber, and to perform cutting-edge research during their tenure at Virginia Tech.”

Casali made his first UPS grant proposal in 1995, and has since served as the foundation’s coordinator at Virginia Tech. He estimates that more than 40 doctoral degree students have received funding to continue their studies and research because of the support from UPS.

Casali’s relationship with UPS also has resulted in other areas of support. Don Wittke, UPS corporate engineering manager, continues to serve on the Grado department’s advisory board. As with past years, he was again instrumental in assisting with this year’s grant, Casali said, adding that representatives from UPS have served on the board for the past 30 years.

Established in 1951, the UPS Foundation identifies specific areas in nonprofit effectiveness, economic and global literacy, encouraging diversity, community safety, and environmental sustainability in issuing its grants.

The College of Engineering at Virginia Tech is internationally recognized for its excellence in 14 engineering disciplines and computer science. The college’s 6,000 undergraduates benefit from an innovative curriculum that provides a “hands-on, minds-on” approach to engineering education, complementing classroom instruction with two unique design-and-build facilities and a strong Cooperative Education Program. With more than 50 research centers and numerous laboratories, the college offers its 2,000 graduate students opportunities in advanced fields of study such as biomedical engineering, state-of-the-art microelectronics, and nanotechnology. Virginia Tech, the most comprehensive university in Virginia, is dedicated to quality, innovation, and results to the commonwealth, the nation, and the world.