Ricardo Ramon Rangel

Ricardo Ramón Rangel González is a senior from Caracas, Venezuela, majoring in Industrial and Systems Engineering, with a minor in Philosophy, Politics, and Economics. That combination of academic pursuits tells you something about his curiosity. But a look at his resume tells the rest of the story:

• RA for the Mozaiko living learning community
• Tutor at the Student Success Center in calculus, physics, and principles of microeconomics
• President of LASO, the Latino Association of Students Organizations at Virginia Tech
• Member of the Society of Hispanic Professional Engineers
• Member of the Catholic Campus Ministry
• Recipient of numerous scholarships
• Honors student
• and leader for Campus Kitchen at VT.

Curiosity, Ricardo said, is the hunger for a new challenge. He said, “In the small picture, it is the motivation of all new learnings. In the big picture, it is what has brought the human race to make the impossible, possible. All advances we know today started with somebody being curious. I think humanity does not have a ceiling to the discoveries that will come, and this excites me about living all these advances.”

At an early age, Ricardo’s curiosity was nurtured by his family, who always made time to answer his questions. He said, “Any time I learn something new I think about the next cool thing for me to learn or do. I also value the international perspective and am motivated to learn about as many different cultures as I can. This has led me to know places I did not think I would, eating flavors of different origins, and practicing activities I would only be able to watch on TV as I grew up.”

Ricardo said he would love to keep growing in his understanding of the world. Among his dreams is to and to see the northern lights sometime soon.

After graduating, Ricardo will work in manufacturing. He hopes to play a role in building up his country, to help spread opportunities like the ones he has lived at Virginia Tech.

Ricardo – congratulations on receiving the Aspire! Award for YOUR COMMITMENT TO UNWAVERING CURIOSITY.