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‘The Wild West’
From an outsider’s perspective, it may appear as if technology is improving and changing almost daily — especially sparked by pandemic-driven remote work. But according to a 2021 study by the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, more than 80% of technologies improve in performance at a rate of less than 25% per year. Virginia Tech, however, […]
Va. Tech extends president’s contract through 2027
Metallica won’t be playing “Exit Sandman” anytime soon — Virginia Tech President Tim Sands will stay on as the university‘s president though the 2027 academic year. The university’s board of visitors voted unanimously to extend Sands’ contract during a quarterly meeting Tuesday, according to a news release. Sands is Tech’s 16th president and has served [[...]
Torc Robotics names new CEO
Blacksburg-based self-driving truck company Torc Robotics has named Peter Vaughan Schmidt its next CEO, the Daimler Truck AG subsidiary announced Thursday. Currently head of Daimler Truck’s Autonomous Technology Group, Schmidt will take on his new role Oct. 1 and succeeds Michael Fleming. The company produces software for self-driving commercial vehicles and was started by a […]
‘Brainy’ couture: Biomed grad designs high-tech fashion
Leah Thomas became a fashion designer to cap off her undergraduate degree in Virginia Tech‘s biomedical engineering program. A member of the university‘s first cohort of 40 undergraduate biomedical engineering students who graduated in spring 2022, Thomas designed a dress and headpiece fitted with biosensors for a biotech couture fashion show. She collaborated with another […]
Va. Tech business school dean retires, interim named
Virginia Tech‘s Pamplin College of Business has named Roberta “Robin” S. Russell as its interim dean, effective July 1. Russell, who heads Pamplin’s Department of Business Information Technology, succeeds Robert Sumichrast, who has retired. Russell will serve while the college conducts an international search for a new dean. In May, Tech hosted in-person and virtual [&helli[...]
Va. Tech receives $1M gift for learning accelerator
Virginia Tech on Tuesday announced that it will establish a new learning accelerator at the university‘s Pamplin College of Business through a $1 million gift from an alumnus and his wife. Omar Asali, a 1992 Virginia Tech graduate and chairman and CEO of Ohio-based Ranpak Holdings Corp., made the gift with his wife, Rula, through […]
Boeing partners with Va. Tech on veterans’ center
When Virginia Tech‘s $1 billion Innovation Campus opens in Alexandria in 2024, it will include a hub to connect veterans and their families with career resources and employment opportunities. It will also carry the name of one of the commonwealth’s largest defense contractors, The Boeing Co. The Boeing Center for Veteran Transition and Military Families, […]
Va. Tech names 2 engineering department heads
Two departments in Virginia Tech‘s College of Engineering will have new leaders beginning this summer, the university announced this week. Suneel Kodambaka has been named head of the Department of Materials Science and Engineering and will start July 1, and Ella Atkins will be head of the Kevin T. Crofton Department of Aerospace starting Aug. […]
Skanska to construct $69M Va. Tech building
Virginia Tech‘s $69.5 million Undergraduate Science Laboratory Building will be constructed by Skanska and completed by April 2024, the Swedish builder announced Monday. Virginia Tech announced plans for the building in late March, and construction started in April. The 102,000-square-foot building will provide teaching and laboratory space on the university‘s Blacksburg campus. It wil[...]
West Falls Church on track for $1.2 billion transformation
Developers are expected to break ground this month on the first of three mixed-use projects near the West Falls Church Metro station with a total investment of about $1.2 billion. Each piece comes together to complete a puzzle that will transform about 40 acres of vacant land, parking lots and Virginia Tech‘s Northern Virginia Center […]
Va. Tech to lead cybersecurity workforce initiative
Virginia Tech has received a $1.5 million award to lead an initiative that could help close a gap in the cybersecurity workforce. The award, announced April 5, comes from the nonprofit Griffiss Institute, a New York-based STEM and defense technology incubator that runs the Department of Defense’s Virtual Institutes for Cyber and Electromagnetic Spectrum Research […]
FOR THE RECORD
CENTRAL VIRGINIA AutoZone Inc. plans to build a $185.2 million warehouse and distribution center in New Kent County, creating 352 jobs, Gov. Glenn Youngkin announced in February. The 800,000-square-foot facility will serve as the auto parts company’s East Coast distribution operation. Based in Memphis, Tennessee, AutoZone has more than 6,000 stores nationwide and reported $14.6 […]
