Hokies Thank the World Project

From concept to design to action, Peter Sforza was the man behind the scenes orchestrating Virginia Tech's message of gratitude, making this Thanksgiving one of positive reflection.

It took seven months for geographer and satellite artist Peter Sforza to realize what he had to offer in return for what he felt he had received during the difficult times following the tragedy.

"Part of my dealing with 4-16 was the enormous amount of support I received from people, both at home and when I traveled," said Sforza. "I realized that I wanted to create a message that would celebrate the Hokies and send a message of thanks to the world for that support."

Like most creations, the project that became "Hokies Thanks The World" began simply with an idea. This time, however, Sforza's idea happened to be a very bold one. He would arrange a message on the drillfield, take a picture of it from a satellite, and broadcast the image to the world. Bold indeed.

"I tracked down the e-mail of the CEO of Geo-eye at two a.m. that night with my idea," Sforza said, referring to the Virginia company that owns the IKONOS satellite that took the photograph. "By four a.m. he got back to me giving me the green light."

It was not fate or lucky speculation that allowed Sforza to gain access to some of the world's best, and most expensive, technology. He knew where to look because he works with satellite images on a daily basis as a member of the Geography Department's research faculty at Virginia Tech. One of his current projects involves producing map-collections for Virginia public school students. For another he applies images of land and water to analyze for quality issues. And this is not to mention his work as a budding satellite artist.

He chose the IKONOS imaging satellite because it is one of the best, and Geo-Eye because they are based in Virginia.

Geo-Eye was cooperative from the beginning due to the non-profit nature of "Hokies Thank the World". They gave the project unrestricted license over the image so that it will be available to the public for free.

"Given that it is of high interest, [and] that we are continually looking to hire young talented people, we thought that getting our imagery out in a university environment would bring us value across the board," said Mark Brender, Vice-President of Communications and Marketing for Geo-Eye.

"Sometimes there's a lot of value in serendipity," he added.

With the image capture scheduled to occur November 17, five days before Thanksgiving, Sforza had his message, and an idea for how to form it in a way that would be visible from space. But it would take thousands of people to form the letters "Thank You", and organizing a group the size of small army was no easy task, so he enlisted engineering professor Randy Dymond to direct the layout of the message.

"He was aware of the work I've done in the past surveying, and also the work I've done designing corn mazes for local farmers," Dymond said, speaking of Sforza. "Our department was hit very hard in April, and I think that was another reason he came to me."

To fill in Dymond's letters with as many Hokies as possible, he brought in Meredyth Kenney, Director of Public Relations for the Student Government Association.

"The SGA is big on campus, and Pete contacted me to encourage as much student participation as he could get," said Kenney, who also organizes VT's relay for life cancer fundraiser. "What a great idea, tons of Hokies out there making that thank you, [it is] such a profound way to give back."

The kickoff for the home football game versus Miami was scheduled for 3:30 that day too, so rounding up Hokies to pose for a picture probably wouldn't prove that difficult.

Did someone say something about serendipity?

Sforza wasn't always a geographer and satellite artist. His background in plant pathology and biology spawned another idea involving Virginia Tech's nearby agricultural fields.

"The plan is for the engineers to line out a big VT, and we would spray to create a chemical lowering of weeds to give a temporary color differential that would hopefully be visible from space," said Scott

Hagood, professor of plant pathology and weed science who regularly works in Tech's agricultural fields. Hagood, who is an expert on the subject of pesticides, emphasized the fact that the spraying would be very safe and not harmful to the environment.

"Basically, I'm just drawing on the ground," Hagood added. In a Robert Burns poem there is the famous line: "The best-laid plans of mice and men go oft awry." Having worked with satellite imagery before, Sforza knew what could go wrong, and it would worry him until the day of the event.

Clouds.

Even the best satellites in orbit can't obtain a good image through cloud cover, and Sforsa's image from the IKONOS spacecraft was at the whim of weather patterns. But he was prepared.

"Pete is a good friend of mine, and he enlisted me to obtain air photography on the day of the event," said David Lee Robinson, a local pilot. "And I really liked the idea of being involved with capturing multiple perspectives."

Sforza also asked former Virginia Tech faculty member and helicopter pilot Stethen Booth to aid in the low level photography of the event.

Robinson beamed about his old friend for seeing an idea through to the end.

"Big props to Pete. He decided he was going to do it, and then did it. I can commend him for his efforts. A lot of people just talk about what they're going to do. He shows a lot of determination as both a scholar and a human being."

Like many initial reactions to Sforza's project involving thousands of people, a satellite, a plane, a helicopter, and crop formations, geography colleague John McGee was dubious at first.

"We were sitting in a conference room, and he started telling me about it, and it was one of those 'aye carumba' moments," said Mcgee. "I thought, he'll be a wizard to pull all of this off."

McGee is now working with Sforza to broadcast "VT Thank You" to the world. He'll be utilizing the aerial photos in conjunction with geographic coordinates to make the image available on Google Earth.

The creation of the formation on the drillfield will be captured by a time lapse camera on top of Burruss Hall as well, and local film production company Horse Archer Productions will film some of the groundwork. A special track was recorded at the Virginia Tech recording studio (see page 14) to accompany a video documentary of the project.

Four days before the event, Sforza was still worried about the weather and the numerous other things that could go wrong. When asked over the phone how he thought he would feel when all was said and done, h e laughed and mentioned the fact that he hadn't really thought about it, and how he would surely be relieved.

"I hope that people do gain a chance to do some healing, and reflection," said Sforza, 32, who has a wife Florence and a three-year-old daughter Meghan. "And I also hope to remember to give thanks for everything that we do have."

Holidays are tough times for those who have suffered losses. This Thanksgiving, Sforza has helped to remind us what we do have, and what we have received from, and can give back to, those who shared our pain and healing in this most difficult year.

The imagery will be unveiled on the jumbo-tron at the VT vs. Miami football game. Coverage will also be available on ABC-TV.