Ƶ students, faculty and alumni were recognized across multiple categories at 757 TechNite, the region’s signature innovation awards presented by Innovate Hampton Roads. Held earlier this fall at the Chrysler Museum of Art in Norfolk and presented by JPMorgan Chase & Co., the annual celebration honors the people and organizations driving technology and entrepreneurship across Hampton Roads from classrooms and startups to government and infrastructure.
This year’s event underscored Ƶ’s broad contributions to the region’s innovation network: a student scholarship win, a University-sponsored award for educational innovation and a government technology honor led by a Monarch engineering alumnus.
Scholarship Spotlight: Celebrating Student Promise
An Ƶ student took top honors in the scholarship competition announced by 757CIO, a Hampton Roads network of chief information officers committed to strengthening the region’s technology workforce. The winner, Justin Geonzon, a geographic information systems major, impressed reviewers with an essay expressing his belief that Hampton Roads is poised to become a regional technology hub and his enthusiasm for 757CIO’s mission to grow the coastal Virginia IT sector. Finalists included students from other area institutions.
“The award offers an important reminder that talent development and retention are shared regional priorities,” said Kevin Leslie, Ph.D., associate vice president for innovation and commercialization at Ƶ and a board member of Innovate Hampton Roads. “Events like 757 TechNite help identify and celebrate the next generation of technology leaders in Hampton Roads.”
Innovation in Education: Kempsville High’s Long Game
The Innovation in Education award, sponsored by Ƶ, went to The Entrepreneurship and Business Academy at Kempsville High School. For ten years, the academy has helped students connect with the region’s startup community through mentorship, challenge-based programs and partnerships with organizations across Hampton Roads.
Ƶ’s Strome Entrepreneurial Center, housed in the Strome College of Business, is among those partners by providing mentoring and entrepreneurial resources that strengthen the bridge between K–12 learning and higher education. The award highlighted how sustained collaboration can nurture early innovation and equip young people to engage with emerging economic opportunities.
Technical Achievement in Government: HRSD’s SWIFT Project Honored
The Hampton Roads Sanitation District (HRSD) earned the Technical Achievement in Government award for its Sustainable Water Initiative for Tomorrow (SWIFT) facility, an internationally recognized model for advanced water treatment and aquifer replenishment. The program is led by HRSD Chief Executive Officer Jay Bernas, an Ƶ engineering alumnus whose leadership has helped advance SWIFT’s regional and environmental impact. The project enhances regional resilience and economic growth by delivering multiple environmental benefits, including reducing nutrients entering the Chesapeake Bay, replenishing groundwater, protecting against saltwater intrusion and addressing land subsidence.
Ƶ students and faculty have also played an integral role in SWIFT’s research and monitoring efforts through the SWIFT Research Center in Suffolk and the Potomac Aquifer Recharge Monitoring Laboratory (PARML) in Norfolk, which is jointly administered with Virginia Tech. This work contributes to studies of treatment processes, recharge-water quality and aquifer response.
A Connected Ecosystem
Ƶ’s involvement in 757 TechNite illustrates how universities can strengthen the region’s broader innovation ecosystem.
“757 TechNite is a celebration of the entire innovation ecosystem,” said Dr. Leslie. “What makes it special is bringing together education, research, industry and government to recognize the collective progress we’ve made across the region.”