The rise of Virginia Tech made, the Center for Advanced Manufacturing

Housed within the Institute for Critical Technology and Applied Science (ICTAS), Virginia Tech’s Center for Advanced Manufacturing (Virginia Tech Made) brings together faculty and labs across campus for a unified purpose: To revolutionize U.S. manufacturing through interdisciplinary research, industry partnerships, and next-generation workforce training.¹ This move coincides with the broader shift among U.S. companies to onshore production, supported by government incentives introduced on April 2, 2025 (Liberation Day) to strengthen domestic manufacturing.² With Virginia Tech Made launching in early 2025, the center arrives at a pivotal moment in manufacturing history.  

The center connects Virginia Tech’s world-class labs scattered across campus into an ecosystem to accelerate research at speeds far beyond that which any lab could produce on their own. This collaboration connects researchers in Advanced Materials, Data Driven Intelligence, Digital Integration and Connectivity, Human-Machine Integration, Robotics and Autonomy, and Engineering Education. This diverse field of specialties will give students opportunities to pursue graduate work in a variety of real-world applications. The center includes over 30 innovative faculty members from four Colleges at Virginia Tech. In engineering, these individual’s specialties include mechanical engineering, chemical engineering, aerospace engineering, and industrial engineering among others.

As Virginia Tech continues to grow, the new Mitchell Hall, which is in construction to replace Randolph Hall, will include facilities for Virginia Tech Made. Mitchell Hall will contain dedicated manufacturing suites, high-bay research spaces for advanced robotics, and specialized infrastructure to assist with the center’s mission. The center also includes equipment for nearly every modality of 3D printing, with state of the art technology to drive research and innovation.³ The center’s collaborative efforts bring together some of Virginia Tech’s top labs including the DREAMS lab for advanced manufacturing, the LAMPS lab for digitally twined and machine learning based manufacturing, and the SMART lab with an AI-based closed loop control system, among others.

With an expanding infrastructure, the center will need to attract students from even more disciplines including electrical engineering, computer engineering, and computer science. Some of the specific technology includes digital twins, predictive maintenance, and cybersecurity in the digital landscape. Much of today’s innovative technology has an AI-centric focus and students in the machine learning sector could seek valuable research opportunities at the intersection of AI and manufacturing.

Isaac Rogers works with a 3D-printed piece in the Design, Research and Education for Additive Manufacturing Systems (DREAMS) Lab at Virginia Tech. Photo by Alex Parrish for Virginia Tech.

The center also strengthens the University’s continued industry partnerships with aerospace, defense, and energy sectors. These partnerships should attract prospective students as they will bring in private funding for graduate positions and research projects. Industry partnerships can also create internship and co-op opportunities benefiting both undergraduate and graduate students.

With an abundance of disciplines housed under one roof, students pursuing higher education in manufacturing will be served well by this new initiative. But those interested in manufacturing are not the only ones who will benefit. With labs and research in spaces such as AI or advanced materials, students from other disciplines including electrical engineering or materials science could find opportunities to service their education, too.