<strong>Virginia</strong> <strong>Tech</strong>’sBIGArlington footprint ByAndrea Brunais and Barbara Micalecrowd of more than 60 people from the greater Washington,D.C., science and technology communityAgathered in February at the <strong>Virginia</strong> <strong>Tech</strong> Research Center— Arlington for the inaugural lecture of the Leaders inScience and <strong>Tech</strong>nology Seminar Series. At the same time,more than 250 miles away in Blacksburg, graduate studentsand faculty also assembled to watch the live broadcast.The speaker was internationally known Ben Shneiderman,founding director of the Human-Computer InteractionLaboratory.<strong>Outreach</strong> NOW 6“The popularity of the new seminar series symbolizes whatwe’re trying to accomplish here,” says Don Leo, vice presidentand executive director for National Capital RegionOperations. “Arlington’s proximity to legislators, theNational Science Foundation, other leading federal researchagencies, and foreign embassies is helping <strong>Virginia</strong> <strong>Tech</strong>reach out to the community and create collaborations.”Ten <strong>Virginia</strong> <strong>Tech</strong> institutes and centers share space in theseven-story, LEED-certified green building that opened inPhotos by Jim Stroup
<strong>Virginia</strong> <strong>Tech</strong> research institutes and centers with a major presence in Arlington:• Advanced Research Institute• Arlington Innovation Center: Health Research• Center for Geospatial Information <strong>Tech</strong>nology• Center for <strong>Tech</strong>nology, Security, and Policy• Computational Bioinformatics and Bio-imagingLaboratory• Institute for Science, Culture, and Environment• Hume Center• Institute for Critical <strong>Tech</strong>nology and AppliedScience• <strong>Virginia</strong> Bioinformatics Institute• <strong>Virginia</strong> <strong>Tech</strong> Applied Research CorporationJune 2011, creating what <strong>Virginia</strong> <strong>Tech</strong> President CharlesW. Steger describes, metaphorically, as a “nucleus for discovery.”Offices are arranged so that researchers mingle, whetherthey’re working for the <strong>Virginia</strong> Bioinformatics Instituteor the College of Science. “The center is unique in that wedidn’t assign space around silos,” Leo says. This type ofopen atmosphere is designed to command recognition inthe greater Washington, D.C., area. “We want to engage inways that highlight the research strengths of our faculty andgraduate students.”The Hume Center is a case in point. Part of the College ofEngineering, with support from the Institute for Critical<strong>Tech</strong>nology and Applied Science, it focuses on developingfuture leaders for the U.S. federal government. CharlesClancy, director, says, “Our goal is to lead the country inholistically developing the elite science and technologyhuman capital for the intelligence community.” Facultyand students will address the national security community’scritical needs.The Hume Center will work with L-3 Communications,which moved more than 50 people to the Arlington center.Both parties will benefit from the collaboration. <strong>Virginia</strong><strong>Tech</strong> students can look forward to L-3 internships andfaculty to endowed fellowships. <strong>Virginia</strong> <strong>Tech</strong> and L-3 willalso jointly apply for grants and carry out research.Arlington-based research gives <strong>Virginia</strong> <strong>Tech</strong>’s graduatestudents the opportunity to work with such professors asClancy and Yue “Joseph” Wang, the Grant A. Dove Professorof Electrical and Computer Engineering and directorof the Computational Bioinformatics and Bio-imagingLaboratory.Wang describes the sort of research students might tackle:“Our research has evolved from comprehensive characterizationof gene and protein expression patterns to the computationaltheory of systems biology and to advanced imagingand image analysis. We are striving for scientific discoverieswhile pursuing engineering innovations for the molecularanalysis of human diseases.”<strong>Virginia</strong> <strong>Tech</strong> research in the greater Washington, D.C.,area extends beyond Arlington to centers in Falls Churchand Alexandria. Water research is conducted in Manassasand equine research in Leesburg and Middleburg.The strategic location of the 144,000-square-foot Arlingtoncenter makes it attractive to many nearby organizations.Demand is already high for the second-floor conferencearea known as the VT Executive Briefing Center —Arlington. Continuing and Professional Education, a unitof <strong>Outreach</strong> and <strong>International</strong> <strong>Affairs</strong>, manages the meetingspace.“Our goal is to lead thecountry in holisticallydeveloping the elitescience and technologyhuman capital for theintelligence community.”– Charles ClanceyIn addition to theLeaders in Science and<strong>Tech</strong>nology SeminarSeries, the center hashosted various groups,including the university’sboard of visitors,British Embassy representatives,an internationalmeeting of theCommonwealth Centerfor Advanced Manufacturing,and alumni business groups, such as VT-IDEA(Intelligence and Defense Executive Alumni).“My goal is to have the center reflect the strengths ofresearch throughout the region and have it connected to allof <strong>Virginia</strong> <strong>Tech</strong>, regardless of where a particular building,faculty, or student is physically located,” Leo says.A view of the Arlington conference rooms with National Capital Region Operations Vice President and Executive Director Don Leo<strong>Outreach</strong> NOW 7
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