[{"id":1747,"date":"2026-09-16T08:00:00","date_gmt":"2026-09-16T08:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blogs.vcu.edu\/engineering\/?p=1747"},"modified":"2026-09-15T18:02:48","modified_gmt":"2026-09-15T18:02:48","slug":"little-ram-pantries-receive-upgraded-technology-to-help-address-student-food-insecurity","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blogs.vcu.edu\/engineering\/2026\/09\/16\/little-ram-pantries-receive-upgraded-technology-to-help-address-student-food-insecurity\/","title":{"rendered":"Little Ram Pantries receive upgraded technology to help address student food insecurity"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

New sensors can show the inventory of each location and help monitor usage while preserving privacy.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

By Brian McNeill<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Sixteen Little Ram Pantries<\/a> located across Virginia Commonwealth University\u2019s two campuses have received a technology upgrade, allowing students to view real-time photos<\/a> of the pantries\u2019 contents before visiting.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Launched in 2021, the Little Ram Pantries provide free food and essentials for any VCU student who needs it. Contents typically include shelf-stable snacks, grab-and-go items, canned goods and personal hygiene products.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Inspired by the concept of Little Free Libraries, the Little Ram Pantries are a miniaturized extension of VCU\u2019s Ram Pantry<\/a>, which has provided food and other items to VCU students in need since 2014. Both the Little Ram Pantries and the Ram Pantry aim to mitigate food insecurity, which is estimated to affect more than one-third of college students nationwide.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Over the summer, upgraded sensors were installed in Little Ram Pantries , including inward-facing cameras that show current inventory at each location, a \u201cheartbeat\u201d indicator that indicates the location is online, and improved overall stability. The new technology enhances the ability to monitor usage and gather useful data.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cI really hope students bookmark the website and use it to see what\u2019s [available in the Little Ram Pantries] and go grab what they need,\u201d said program creator John Jones<\/a>, Ph.D., an assistant professor in the School of Life Sciences and Sustainability<\/a> in the College of Humanities and Sciences<\/a>. \u201cThe pictures are the current inventories of each of the locations. So, say you were looking for a box of pasta, for instance. You could visit the website and see, \u2018OK, well, Harris Hall has some macaroni and cheese.\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Engineering students play key role<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n

The sensor technology was developed by two cohorts of VCU College of Engineering students\u2019 capstone projects, along with Lauren Linkous, Ph.D., a VCU engineering research scientist who has worked on the project for more than six years.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cI\u2019ve been with the Little Ram Pantry project since the start of my graduate program, when I met John Jones through another project,\u201d Linkous said. \u201cI was brought on to build the initial prototype, just to see if we could quantify what we were working with. That first device was simple: It wrote to a spreadsheet whenever a pantry door opened and closed. But we got data, and the data was telling us a story. Students were using these pantries, and now we had a record of engagement to bring with us to secure more resources.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The project grew from there, she said. Within a few years it included capstone teams, student collaborators and more people anchoring every aspect of the work.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cFrom the technical side, the sensor systems give us a way to put numbers to need without ever identifying a student,\u201d Linkous said. \u201cThat data is how we justify the program, grow it and get more food where it\u2019s needed. It\u2019s been a major interdisciplinary effort, and I\u2019d love to see more problems solved that way, especially ones with this kind of immediate community benefit.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Josh Hayes, who graduated in 2024 with a degree in computer science, helped develop the Little Ram Pantries technology.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cChoosing the Little Ram Pantries as my capstone project was one of the best decisions I made during my time at VCU,\u201d he said. \u201cDeveloping and iterating over this technology, first as a student among a group of peers and then for John with Lauren\u2019s mentorship, has not only taught me so much but has allowed me to give back to my community in a way I never initially imagined. I am grateful to have helped develop technology to solve a real problem and strengthen a program that provided me with assistance when I was a student in need. I hope that the upgraded technology inside the pantries allows for more people to have access to food.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The technology at work<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n

The sensors track usage, based on when the box\u2019s door opens and closes. The camera snaps a picture of the box\u2019s inventory a few seconds after the door closes. The camera never takes a photo of a person who is getting food from a Little Ram Pantry.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The data feeds to an online dashboard<\/a> that provides a variety of insights into how the Little Ram Pantries are being used. For example, in the past three months, there have been 1,328 visits to the locations, with the busiest day occurring on Aug. 12. The Little Ram Pantry located at the School of Dentistry received the most visits, with 244 interactions.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Little Ram Pantries are Jones\u2019 ongoing research initiative to reduce food insecurity for VCU students. Food found in the pantries flows through donations and purchasing by the main Ram Pantry on Grace Street, and Jones\u2019 undergraduate students distribute it across both campuses on a monthly basis.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Individual administrative units \u201cadopt\u201d a pantry near their space. Generally, on Wednesdays, adoptees will restock the pantries and check to ensure the pantry is functioning as intended.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Little Ram Pantries project often seeks feedback from students. Several have told the team that they are reluctant to take food when only one or two items remain, as they believe someone else might need it more. In response, Jones encouraged students to take the food if they need it.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cIf they have that thought, they should just go ahead and take it,\u201d he said. \u201cWe\u2019ve done a lot in the last couple years to increase the supply of food coming onto campus to stock both the main Ram Pantry as well as the little pantries, and now that we have the cameras, we\u2019ll have a better sense of when they\u2019re empty so we can go refill them. If you feel you need it, it\u2019s for you. Take it.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u2018This is an experiment\u2019<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Jones\u2019 central research question behind the Little Ram Pantries is whether decentralized, anonymous food pantries can mitigate food insecurity among college students.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThis is an experiment,\u201d Jones said. \u201cWe\u2019re trying to see: Does this work? Is this an effective way of connecting food resources with food insecure students?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

A 2024 paper \u2013 \u201cSmart Little Campus Food Pantries: Addressing food insecurity at Virginia Commonwealth University<\/a>,\u201d published in the Journal of Agriculture, Food Systems, and Community Development and led by Jones \u2013 found that users interacted with Little Ram Pantries roughly 7,700 times during the 2021-22 and 2022-23 academic years. About 10% of users frequented the pantries in the middle of the night.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

For both technical and ethical reasons, data from the pantry sensors cannot identify unique users, but Jones believes the data pattern, as well as focus group data, suggests students are using the pantries.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Over the past several years, the program has expanded to more locations on both campuses. And in fall 2024, Jones launched Ram Fridges \u2013 essentially refrigerated Little Ram Pantries \u2013 in response to student requests for more fresh food, including fruits and vegetables.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Supported by a three-year, nearly $500,000 grant from the USDA\u2019s Sustainable Agriculture Research and Education program, the Ram Fridges mitigate food waste and help feed students by diverting unsold food from Shafer Court Dining Center to refrigerators in Cabell Library and the Cary Street Gym. Two additional Ram Fridges are planned: one on the sixth floor of the STEM Building and one in the College of Health Professions.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Ram Fridges do not currently have the upgraded sensor technology. Additionally, the Little Ram Pantry in Cabell Library does not yet have the new sensor. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

What and how to donate<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Anyone is welcome to donate shelf-stable food items into the Little Ram Pantries. Anything that can be stored safely in a cupboard for a long period of time is acceptable. Examples include canned goods; dry boxed food like pasta, rice and beans; bags of dry cereal grains as well as easily consumable snacks like granola bars.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Individuals or groups interested in making larger donations are encouraged to make a donation to the Ram Pantry. For more information about how to assist with Ram Pantry\u2019s operations, visit the pantry webpage<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\n\n\n\n

Originally posted on VCU News: https:\/\/news.vcu.edu\/article\/little-ram-pantries-receive-upgraded-technology-to-help-address-student-food-insecurity<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

New sensors can show the inventory of each location and help monitor usage while preserving privacy.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2033,"featured_media":1748,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[30],"tags":[1152],"class_list":["post-1747","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-general-college","tag-smee"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.vcu.edu\/engineering\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1747","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.vcu.edu\/engineering\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.vcu.edu\/engineering\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.vcu.edu\/engineering\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2033"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.vcu.edu\/engineering\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1747"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.vcu.edu\/engineering\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1747\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1749,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.vcu.edu\/engineering\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1747\/revisions\/1749"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.vcu.edu\/engineering\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/1748"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.vcu.edu\/engineering\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1747"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.vcu.edu\/engineering\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1747"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.vcu.edu\/engineering\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1747"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}},{"id":1744,"date":"2026-09-16T08:00:00","date_gmt":"2026-09-16T08:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blogs.vcu.edu\/engineering\/?p=1744"},"modified":"2026-09-15T17:57:05","modified_gmt":"2026-09-15T17:57:05","slug":"driven-to-close-the-gender-gap-in-heart-research-vcu-student-takes-next-step-toward-a-ph-d","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blogs.vcu.edu\/engineering\/2026\/09\/16\/driven-to-close-the-gender-gap-in-heart-research-vcu-student-takes-next-step-toward-a-ph-d\/","title":{"rendered":"Driven to close the gender gap in heart research, VCU student takes next step toward a Ph.D."},"content":{"rendered":"\n

For Simone Chapman, a summer internship is about more than research \u2014 it’s a step toward improving heart health for women.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

By Sophie Tran<\/p>\n\n\n\n

When Simone Chapman first became interested in cardiovascular research, they expected to learn how the heart works. What they didn’t expect was how often women’s hearts were missing from the conversation.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Chapman, a senior at Virginia Commonwealth University, first became interested in women’s health during their freshman year, when they wrote a research paper about disparities in pregnancy and childbirth complications between Black and white women. An applied physiology course later sparked their interest in the cardiovascular system.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cAs I learned more about the cardiovascular field, I realized even though the area is vast and has a lot of research, there is little research being done that specifically pertains to women,\u201d said Chapman, who is majoring in biomedical engineering in the College of Engineering.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

That interest has shaped Chapman’s plans for the future. They hope to pursue a Ph.D. focused on cardiovascular research, with an emphasis on women’s health.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

This summer, Chapman took a step toward that goal through the Cardio4U program at Worcester Polytechnic Institute in Massachusetts, where they conducted cardiovascular research in partnership with the American Heart Association.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The program gave Chapman a clearer picture of the questions they want to pursue in graduate school. One of those questions is how cardiovascular research can better account for differences in how heart disease affects women.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThis specific program is doing research in the cardiovascular area, which is the same topic that I want to pursue for my Ph.D. research,\u201d Chapman said. \u201cIt has been a very informative experience learning more about the different types of research being done in the cardiovascular area and has allowed me to narrow down my interest to cardiovascular research with an emphasis on women’s health.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In the lab, Chapman helped researchers explore ways to keep blood vessels healthy and reduce the risk of heart attacks and strokes. Their work focused on designing and 3D-printing a specialized system that mimics blood flow, allowing researchers to study how different materials interact with the cells lining blood vessels.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Although the lab initially expected her to leave behind only the foundation of a prototype during the 10-week program, Chapman and her team completed a fully functional, leak-proof system, allowing future implementations for research.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThey were fully expecting me not to have a ready-to-use system by the time I left,\u201d Chapman said. \u201cThey’re very surprised and very happy that we were able to get a full system running.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Chapman will bring their research to the Biomedical Engineering Society’s annual conference in Orlando, where they will present a research poster at a national conference for the first time.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

They also hope to connect with faculty and potential Ph.D. advisors as they prepare to apply to doctoral programs during their senior year.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The opportunity almost didn’t happen.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Unlike many summer research programs, Cardio4U covers most participant expenses but requires students to pay for their own housing. Chapman had already been accepted when they applied for VCU’s Internship Funding Program.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

“My parents told me we’d find a way to make it work,” Chapman said. “But there would have been a lot of sacrifices. The Internship Funding Program made it possible for me to accept this opportunity without putting that kind of strain on my family.”<\/p>\n\n\n\n

For Chapman, the internship represents more than one summer of research. It’s a chance to gain experience in the field they hope to dedicate their career to while building connections that will help shape the next chapter of her education.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

These programs are highly competitive, Chapman said, but persistence often pays off. They have applied to more than a dozen research programs over the past two years and have earned opportunities both summers. Some programs even remembered their previous application and encouraged them to apply again.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Chapman\u2019s advice to other students is simple: \u201cDon’t count yourself out before you’ve even applied.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cEven if you get rejected, you’ve shown that you’re interested,\u201d they said. \u201cSometimes that’s enough to open the door the next time.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

VCU\u2019s <\/em>Internship Funding Program<\/em><\/a> is funded by a combination of VCU funds from the <\/em>Strategic Enrollment Management and Student Success<\/em><\/a> and the<\/em> School of Business<\/em><\/a>, donor funds from the <\/em>Student Life and Learning Fund<\/em><\/a>, and grant funds from the <\/em>State Council for Higher Education of Virginia<\/em><\/a>.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

\n\n\n\n

Originally posted on VCU News: https:\/\/news.vcu.edu\/article\/driven-to-close-the-gender-gap-in-heart-research-vcu-student-takes-next-step-toward-a-phd<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

For Simone Chapman, a summer internship is about more than research \u2014 it’s a step toward improving heart health for women.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2033,"featured_media":1745,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2,13,1127],"tags":[1190],"class_list":["post-1744","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-bme","category-students","category-ugrad","tag-internships"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.vcu.edu\/engineering\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1744","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.vcu.edu\/engineering\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.vcu.edu\/engineering\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.vcu.edu\/engineering\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2033"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.vcu.edu\/engineering\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1744"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.vcu.edu\/engineering\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1744\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1746,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.vcu.edu\/engineering\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1744\/revisions\/1746"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.vcu.edu\/engineering\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/1745"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.vcu.edu\/engineering\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1744"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.vcu.edu\/engineering\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1744"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.vcu.edu\/engineering\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1744"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}},{"id":1739,"date":"2026-09-15T08:00:00","date_gmt":"2026-09-15T08:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blogs.vcu.edu\/engineering\/?p=1739"},"modified":"2026-09-14T14:23:28","modified_gmt":"2026-09-14T14:23:28","slug":"vcu-to-celebrate-15-notable-alums-at-biennial-alumni-stars-event","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blogs.vcu.edu\/engineering\/2026\/09\/15\/vcu-to-celebrate-15-notable-alums-at-biennial-alumni-stars-event\/","title":{"rendered":"VCU to celebrate 15 notable alums at biennial Alumni Stars event"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Honorees will be recognized at an Oct. 9 event at the Science Museum of Virginia.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

By Mark Newton<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Virginia Commonwealth University will honor 15 of its most accomplished alumni at the 2026 Alumni Stars ceremony. The biennial event, hosted by VCU Alumni<\/a>, celebrates alumni from across the university\u2019s academic units for their extraordinary personal and professional achievements.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Honorees are selected through faculty recommendations and alumni committees. Recipients will be honored Oct. 9 at the Dewey Gottwald Center at the Science Museum of Virginia.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

This year\u2019s Alumni Stars are:<\/p>\n\n\n\n