Douglas Juanarena of Blacksburg, Va., is the 2005 recipient of Virginia Tech’s College of Engineering Distinguished Service Award.

Juanarena, a 1975 graduate of Virginia Tech’s electrical engineering program, has actively served the college and his home department for the past three decades. A member of the College’s Committee of 100 since 1983, he has completed several terms on its advisory board. He also is a past chair of the Virginia Tech Bradley Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering’s advisory board.

He is a participant in the Institute for Critical Technology and Applied Science’s (ICTAS) Task Force, and was critical to the successful launching of the Materials Characterization Laboratory, the first ICTAS building scheduled to break ground.

“Since my arrival in Blacksburg, I have had several meetings with Doug, and I have found him to be particularly devoted to his alma mater, said Richard Benson, dean of Virginia Tech’s College of Engineering. “The college is greatly appreciative of all of his efforts.”

In 1977, Juanarena founded Pressure Systems, Inc., based in Tidewater, Va., to further develop a technology developed by the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA). Juanarena was a member of the team at NASA-Langley that developed a unique sensing system for electronic communication and measurement of wind tunnel model pressures.

In 1995, he sold Pressure Systems, Inc. to The Roxboro Group PLC of Cambridge, England. Eventually, Juanarena moved his family back to Blacksburg, and he became the vice chairman of Luna Innovations. He is the vice president of the Blacksburg Partnership, a group dedicated to enhancing the quality of life in Blacksburg by enabling full service commercial and retail districts within the town limits.

Juanarena and his wife Sue have three children.

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