Undergraduate builds hand-carved guitar in university lab

My name is Payson Kelley and I'm majoring in building construction and commercial real estate. Building things, making things has always been an interest of mine. I started off in high school woodworking, making, like, cutting boards and, like, furniture and stuff like that. And definitely the best thing that I think that I've made—and by far my favorite thing—is the guitar here. From hand carving it to soldering in the hookups and the pickups, everything that was on the guitar was done using the resources here in the BuildLAB at Virginia Tech. We are a student‑run lab where students from all majors can come in and work on personal projects or class projects. It's a huge resource, and if you're in building construction, it's pretty general knowledge that you need to know how to work a drill, or use a table saw or bandsaw, or how to read a measurement. At some point in our careers, we're going in as superintendents and project managers, and you have to have some kind of idea of how to do those things. The amount of resources here is unbelievable.

campus experience 1:19 Undergraduate builds hand-carved guitar in university lab

By:

Luke Hayes

4 May 2026 147

Payson Kelley, a building construction and commercial real estate double major, has made use of resources in the BuildLAB to design and build everything from a hand‑carved guitar to custom furniture using professional‑grade tools. These hands‑on experiences help prepare future construction leaders to understand the craft behind the work they’ll one day manage.

Academics

Campus Experience

Culture

Impact

Research

Global Impact