What is your affiliation with Virginia Tech, and how long have you been a Hokie?

I'm actually currently a faculty member in mechanical engineering, but I was also an undergraduate here in the 80's in the aerospace engineering department, and then I switched to mechanical. As a master's student, I left Virginia Tech for a while, worked on my Ph.D. in Switzerland, and started a career at Boeing in northern Virginia. Fast forward twenty years, and I'm back at Virginia Tech as a parent dropping off my two daughters! At that point, I was starting to be interested in teaching at the college level. Before you know it, I was "retiring" from Boeing and starting to teach here at Virginia Tech. In a lot of ways, its a full cycle -- It's a dream come true to be here. It's like I can't go around campus without getting hit with memories from back in the 80's.

How did you first get involved with WUVT? What is your show called? What kind of music do you play?

When I was a student here, I was playing in bands around town, and I actually did some recordings and performances with WUVT's Local Zone! Since then I've been privy to the station, and I'd listen in sometimes. I had a friend of mine during undergrad that was a DJ, but I never thought about being a DJ at that point. It wasn't until I started teaching, and I had students like you and Nate Burroughs come to me urging me to get involved, that I felt compelled to join WUVT. You guys encouraged me to do the training and I haven't looked back since then. My show is called Dr. Grind's Office Hours, which came from a student poll. I just asked students What should I call the radio show? And office hours was a popular one. I thought my name, Dr.Grind would be a good match, as in working hard. I like my pseudonym, it gives me a little anonymity. My music is all over the place. My favorite genre is probably seventies funk: Parliament Funkadelic, Sly and the Family Stone, and James Brown, but I'm also a big jazz fan. When I was here at Virginia Tech, I played in the Jazz ensemble, so I love jazz. Now that my kids are older, especially my son, they've started to put me onto hip hop and indie stuff. Now my taste is all over the place, and it's only getting even crazier since I'm in WUVT now and listening to all the new music and what other DJs play. I keep discovering new music all the time, and that's something I love about being here at the studio.

Do you have any shows that you've had that have stood out since you started being a DJ?

Definitely my Radiothon show. It was called Not Hot for Teacher. I just printed a bunch of actual bad reviews I got on Rate My Professor and SPOT surveys, and I had some students come into the studio to read them like they were real students. For every donation I got we read more bad reviews, and were some super hardcore reviews.

Do you like to attend WUVT events? Do you have a favorite WUVT event you've been to?

I've been to Rising Silo for the Vinyl Nights, but I really want to go to more events. I want to go to the Milk Parlor or a house show. On the inside, I'm 21, but on the outside I'm an adult and a professor, so I have to be a bit careful about that. I love live music, though, and I've found that, especially compared to the 80's, there are way less live music venues here in Blacksburg. I mean we had the Balcony, which is now TOTS, The South Main Cafe, which is now Cabo Fish Taco, and The Marriott, which is now a Chipotle. I really want to go to more events, though.

How do you think your WUVT experience differs from other DJs?

I really needed something completely outside of engineering, so even if I'm not playing any music, it's still nice to be in a space where music is the priority-- WUVT's a great community to me for that reason. Also, It's nice to hang out with such laid back people. I come in a bit early before my show, chat with the staff and DJs. I like how calm things are here, it's not like engineering where everyone is so tense and the schedule is so rigid. My age makes a difference, for sure, but I think that's one of the great things about WUVT. It's like I'm trying to fit in, but it's not hard because music crosses generations, and it's like all of a sudden I have a strong connection to people all because we love the same music even if we're different ages.

Have any of your students or fellow faculty member been surprised about your involvement with WUVT?

Well one of the first things that I tell my students is that I DJ with WUVT. At this point, I just want students to know that there's a radio station here. They're surprised, but they hear me play music before class and make that connection pretty quick. It's also nice to have a common factor between me and some of the DJ students, and I really love turning kids onto the opportunities here. Everyone loves music, so a it's great to have a connection to people in that way, even if its a small, personal one.

Catch Dr.Grind's Office Hours live on WUVT 90.7FM! To check the schedule, click here!

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