Join IDAB

The Virginia Tech Industrial Design Advisory Board is looking for people to help lead and grow our work.

IDAB is a volunteer board supporting the Industrial Design program at Virginia Tech. We raise money for student awards, connect alumni with students, and help the program stay close to industry. We meet virtually eight times a year, and the rest of the work happens between meetings, at whatever pace the people doing it set.

Who We're Looking For

The open roles vary, but the people who thrive on this board tend to share a few traits:

Self-starters. You see something that needs doing and move it forward without waiting to be asked.
Builders. You’d rather shape a program and help it grow than just keep it running.
Community-minded. You care about VTID students and alumni, and you like connecting people.

If that sounds like you, we’d love to talk, even if none of the roles below are the right fit. You don’t need to be a VTID alum.

Email us at vt.idab@gmail.com with the role you’re interested in and a little bit about yourself. We’ll set up a video call from there. Interested, but unsure whether you have the time or the right background? Reach out anyway. We're happy to chat and figure it out together!

Open Roles

Fundraising Lead

Why this role exists

Right now, Giving Day is the only fundraising we do. It's a 24-hour university-wide campaign every February, and everything we give students comes out of it. Last year we set a goal of $8,500 from 100 individual donors.

Giving Day funds every student award we give, so it matters that it works year after year. Right now, each campaign takes a big push to pull off. We want to grow it into a reliable, grassroots effort with a broad base of donors who come back every year, so our support for students never depends on one big gift or one big push.

We need someone who can think about this differently than we have.

What you'd do

Year one

Run Giving Day for February, working from what we've built so far
Diagnose what isn't working about the current approach and change it
Coordinate with the university's advancement office, mostly for numbers and follow-up

Beyond that

Build fundraising that doesn't depend entirely on one day in February
Develop relationships with companies and firms who want to support design education
Explore approaches we haven't tried, like involving students directly in outreach. We've long suspected the ask lands harder coming from a student than from a board member.

Who we're looking for

Someone strategic who also executes. Project management experience helps a lot. Most of all, we want a builder, someone who sees a program with untapped potential and wants to rebuild it rather than maintain it.

No fundraising experience needed, just curiosity and a willingness to learn as you go.

Student Awards Lead

Why this role exists

These are direct financial awards for students. They work like scholarships, but because they're funded each year through grassroots giving rather than a large endowment, every dollar we raise goes straight to students. We currently have four awards:

Travel Awards, covering costs for immersive and study-abroad experiences
Needs-Based Assistance, direct financial relief for students facing hardship
Service Recognition, for students who strengthen the community through leadership
Incoming Student Award, helping make the program accessible to first-year students and their families from the start

These awards have made a real difference for students, and we think they can reach more of them. That's what this role is for: growing the program and making it something students know about and look forward to.

What you'd do

Year one

Run the spring awards cycle. It begins around February with drafting award descriptions, moves through student applications and nominations, and ends with selection.
Coordinate selection. The board selects most awards, while the program chair and faculty select needs-based assistance, since they have context we don't.

Beyond that

Build fundraising that doesn't depend entirely on one day in February
Make the process smoother for students and the board, and make the awards better known among VTID students so more of them apply.
Work with the Fundraising Lead to turn supporter interest into more direct financial support for students

Who we're looking for

Someone organized and proactive who wants to shape a program and help it grow. You'll work closely with the Fundraising Lead, since what we can give depends on what we raise. Spring is the busy season, when the awards cycle and Giving Day overlap.

This role comes with a close-up view of what students are doing and the difference the board's support makes. You'll read their applications, see their work, and help celebrate them.

No awards or grants experience needed, just good judgment and a commitment to students.

Thesis Mentorship Support

Why this role exists

Each year, IDAB pairs Industrial Design thesis students with alumni and industry mentors who guide them through their final project. The program closes with thesis presentations reviewed by jurors from industry. It's one of the most direct ways the board puts students in the room with working designers.

The program runs almost the entire academic year, and a lot has to happen on time: faculty coordination, mentor recruitment, matching, check-ins, and juror logistics. This role helps keep all of it moving, working alongside the Thesis Mentorship Lead.

What you'd do

Year one

Work with thesis faculty in the fall to collect student participant information
Promote mentor sign-up in November, recruit mentors from the alumni network, and help match them with students
Share matches in January, run check-ins through the spring, and troubleshoot any pairings that aren't working
Recruit jurors for final presentations in [month] and coordinate the schedule
Close out the program by thanking mentors and jurors, sharing student work, and collecting feedback from participantsntext we don't.

Beyond that

Grow the mentor pool so every student gets a strong match
Use participant feedback to improve how matching and check-ins work
Take on a larger role in running the program, with the option to lead it in future years

Who we're looking for

Someone organized with strong follow-through who's comfortable reaching out to people they don't know yet. You'll be writing to alumni, coordinating with faculty, and checking in with students, so clear communication matters more than any specific experience.

The pace is steady but light most months, and busier around matching and final presentations. Along the way, you'll see thesis projects develop over the year and build connections with alumni and industry designers.

This is a good fit if you want meaningful involvement without owning a full program, and the best way to learn it if you'd like to lead it someday.

What to Expect

Commitment

The board meets eight times a year, with project work happening between meetings. Terms are two years, and all roles are volunteer.

How the roles work

Leads own an area of the board's work. They set the direction, run the year's key efforts, and shape how the work grows over time. Leads have real independence, and they work closely with other leads whose areas connect to theirs.

Support roles work alongside a lead, helping keep a program running smoothly. It's a way to get meaningfully involved without owning a full program, and the best way to learn one if you'd like to lead it someday.

Either way, no one works alone. You'll have contributors who can pitch in, and you'll collaborate with the executive committee, other team leads, the Industrial Design program, the university, and committees like community engagement and the newsletter. If you'd rather join with someone and share a role, we're open to that.

Why join the board

You'll be the one making things happen for the VTID community: the reunions that bring people back, the mentorships that turn into jobs, the awards that open doors for students. It's work you can see the results of for a community we all love. Along the way, you'll stay connected to the program and to alumni across every path, and you'll have real room to shape where the community goes next.