Class of 2025: Casey Munk is cracking the code for biomedical engineering and mechanics
Name: Casey Munk
College: College of Engineering
Major: Biomedical engineering
Hometown: Chesapeake, Virginia
Plans after graduation: Move to the Alexandria campus in August to complete the accelerated master’s program in computer science in one year, while working part-time as a human performance engineer.
Favorite memory: "I've really loved my senior design team and working with them. We all spend so much time there — we're building a 15-foot, instrumented uneven walkway, all made of wood. I think just the scale of it requires us to put in a lot of time together. We have to do everything as a team, and it's caused us to become really close."
A family affair
As if it were written in Hokie Stone, Casey Munk seemed destined to be a Hokie engineer. Both her parents graduated from Virginia Tech's College of Engineering, with degrees in aerospace engineering and electrical engineering. Her older sister is also an alum, with a degree in biochemistry and animal science.
Growing up, Munk regularly attended football games, cheering on the Hokies with her family. It was on the way to one of these games that 13-year-old Casey walked by the window to the Helmet Lab.
“Oh my gosh, Dad, what major would I have to be to work in there?" she asked.
Her father replied, “Probably biomedical engineering. But that's kind of a new field. You might want to do mechanical instead.”
It was a piece of parental guidance she would not be following. "All I could think was 'No, no, I think biomedical engineering is the one for me.' I knew I wanted to do biomedical engineering," Munk said.
Coding for the future
During COVID, Munk began teaching herself coding, which led to a deeper interest in computer science, particularly the realm of human performance that mixed biomedical engineering and computer science. "I thought predicting how humans would perform in extreme environments was super interesting,” Munk said.
Once on campus as a freshman, she joined the Quality of Life+ student association, working on prosthetics, which deepened her interest in biomedical applications. Her passion for coding also led her to join Associate Professor Ryan Senger's lab in biological systems engineering, where she has helped develop analysis techniques for biomedical data, working on projects ranging from analyzing urine samples to developing predictive models for human performance in extreme environments.
She also worked at the Rec Sports Field House as a facility monitor. “I'm very interested in fitness, the gym, and staying active. That was my way to get involved with that space apart from academics,” Munk said. She’s been there four years and now serves as Field House supervisor.
Reaching for the stars and jumping at opportunities
The summer before her junior year, Munk had her first internship with NASA in their Human Performance Laboratory. Later, she interned with consulting firm Booz Allen Hamilton, where she explored research and systems engineering roles tied to defense and spaceflight applications.
As a senior, she became a sports science intern with the Virginia Tech football team. Working about ten hours a week, she conducted performance testing and used her coding skills to help with data collection and analysis.
Ready for what’s next
Though her time in Blacksburg is drawing to a close, Munk isn’t leaving Virginia Tech just yet. After graduation, she’ll be relocating to Alexandria to complete a Virginia Tech master’s degree in computer science. Munk plans to pursue a career in industry focused on human performance enhancement for astronauts, military members, or healthcare workers. She hopes to work on wearable technologies and data-driven tools that help individuals thrive in physically and mentally demanding environments.
Having practically grown up a Hokie, Munk emphasized the importance of finding a supportive community of family, friends, and faculty as a student.
She specifically mentioned Lizette Zeitzman, her freshman math professor, sharing, “Her philosophy was to believe in ourselves, that it didn’t matter what grade we're getting. She would ask, 'Are you learning? Just because you struggle with one thing here doesn't mean you're not going to go on to do amazing things. It doesn't mean you're not learning. Don't let that hinder you from anything.'"
It's sage advice that Munk has taken to heart. She lets nothing stand in her way.