Class of 2026: Kasey Bounkong thrives through endless change

Name: Kasey Bounkong

Major: Industrial and Systems Engineering

College: College of Engineering

Hometown: Riverdale, Georgia

Plans after graduation: Joining Alpine Consulting Partners in Washington, D.C., as an analyst

Favorite Hokie memory: It was my first semester as a declared industrial and systems engineer, and I was roaming the halls of our departmental home, Durham. I was looking through all of the composite photos of each class and came across the class of 1988. At the top of the frame was the portrait of my late aunt, Bo Bounkong. My aunt was an '88 graduate in industrial engineering and operations research, and she has been my inspiration throughout my entire life. It was such a bittersweet moment knowing I was walking through the same halls she had been in and pursuing the same career.

Her whole life, all Kasey Bounkong knew was change. 

“When I was growing up, home was not a specific location for me — it was wherever my family was,” Bounkong said. 

Early in life, she moved various times, starting in Georgia, then heading to California, Virginia, Muscat, Oman, and then back to Virginia. At age 13, Bounkong moved to Buenos Aires, Argentina, a place that had a lasting impact on her. 

“For the first time in my life, I knew what it felt like to be so different from everyone else, but I still managed to find my way into friend groups and find peace in a country that I would call my home away from home for three years,” she said. 

While moving so frequently presented Bounkong with challenges, the self-understanding, strong identity, and view of the world she gained helped her thrive at Virginia Tech.

As a first-year student, Bounkong struggled with feeling like a “small fish in an ocean.” A physics major, she fell behind in her studies as she worked three part-time jobs. Bounkong wondered if she would ever be able to exit survival mode. 

But at the end of her freshman year, she changed her major to industrial and systems engineering (ISE) — a decision that changed her experience at Virginia Tech. 

Taking ISE by storm 

After changing majors, Bounkong immediately got involved in the ISE department. 

“I remember attending my first ever ISE-specific class after being accepted into the major," Bounkong said. "The professor announced an undergraduate research project to help the department with graduation rates and student improvement. I jumped at the opportunity to share my perspective. This ended up being one of the first moments that someone decided to take a chance on me. From that day, doors began opening for me.”

From there, Bounkong became involved in leadership roles in the Virginia Tech chapter of the Institute for Industrial and Systems Engineers, becoming president in April 2025. She also served as a project manager for the Hybrid Electric Vehicle Team and joined the Student Engineers’ Council executive board. 

“Kasey is a phenomenal student leader,” said Eileen Van Aken, department head of the Grado Department of Industrial and Systems Engineering. “A distinct element of her leadership style is that she is gracious. She is a deeply unselfish leader — one who is mature and trustworthy.” 

As a junior in the role of professional development chair of IISE, Bounkong procured $10,000 in corporate sponsorships — a chapter record that helped make the VT IISE chapter the most financially healthy in the country. “After a few years of some financial hits to the chapter’s budget, Kasey’s leadership has helped significantly,” Van Aken said. "She's gotten the chapter back on track to be able to host the IISE Mid-Atlantic Regional Conference in 2028, with the last time VT hosted it being early 2020.”

In her time as IISE president, Bounkong led the chapter to other landmarks, including a record number of attendees at this year’s Torgersen Leadership Summit, an annual conference that the chapter organizes for students, alumni, faculty, and industry professionals. She also guided students to a record number of certification training opportunities. 

On top of roles as a project manager for the Hybrid Electric Vehicle Team and as an undergraduate teaching assistant, Bounkong excelled professionally. She landed top summer internships at Boeing, Pratt & Whitney: RTX, and NASA. 

Finding her way home

Bounkong noted that while she once felt lost, Virginia Tech became a place of growth, opportunity, and success. 

“I want to represent the students who took the long path here, who doubted themselves, who worked multiple jobs, who changed paths, and who stayed despite challenges,” she said.  

After graduation, Bounkong plans to join Alpine Consulting Partners in Washington, D.C. While she is thrilled by the move, she’ll always hold Virginia Tech and ISE close to her heart. 

“After a lifetime of moving, Blacksburg is the home I choose to return to at the end of every chapter,” Bounkong said.

Written by Sarah Shrader, a senior majoring in multimedia journalism and a communications and marketing intern for the Grado Department of Industrial and Systems Engineering