Thinking Outside the Box

Beyond the Scope of Blacksburg?

Virginia Tech holds its ranking as a top institution for its diverse selection of disciplines and learning opportunities. On campus, there are many research opportunities, part time jobs, career fairs, and overall availability of services to propel students' learning curve at a rate comparable to top universities. Extending beyond the campus of Virginia Tech, there are also many opportunities beyond what is available to students on campus.

Students on campus. Taken by Stella Bryant.

Design Thinking ImpACCt

Design Thinking ImpACCt is an interinstitutional, interdisciplinary design team across the Atlantic Coast Conference (ACC) region. The one semester program is a collaboration of students of all disciplines between Virginia Tech (VT), Clemson University (Clemson), North Carolina State University (NC State), and Boston College (BC). This is the second year that Virginia Tech is partaking in this program under the guidance of Collegiate Assistant Professor, David Gray, and it has proved to be exciting to work with students from other universities to build something that can contribute to making an impact on a real world problem today. As a student who is on this year’s team, it has been an innovative opportunity working with students of other disciplines from different universities. This year, students from Virginia Tech had the opportunity to kick off the project at Clemson University, and will have the honor of hosting the other universities the weekend of the 21st. The program will conclude before Thanksgiving with a final presentation of what the teams have learned and prototyped at a final presentation at Boston College. So, beyond the opportunity to talk about your most recent research endeavors, it is a great way to understand and learn the process of working with peers and seeing how students of different backgrounds and disciplines can create something beyond your imagination.

Fralin Biomedical Research Institute at VTC

Fralin Biomedical Research Institute at VTC

While Virginia Tech’s Biomedical Engineering major is relatively new, the Innovative campuses under the Fraling Biomedical Research Institute in Roanoke and Washington DC have been ever expanding since 2010. Recently, there have been many breakthroughs about the rapid growth and development of knowledge from the campus in Roanoke, the main institute for the Fralin Biomedical Research. The research conducted there is oriented around the causes and effects of diseases that induce death or suffering in the United States, including brain disorders, heart disease, and cancer. Over the past couple of years, there has been unprecedented growth in the research faculty and facilities. Virginia Tech has begun to expand its push for research to the Northern Virginia and Washington D.C. area. One of the most notable investments that the Fralin Biomedical Research Institute is looking into is the expansion of brand new laboratories on the Children’s National Research & Innovation Campus in Washington D.C.

Virginia-Maryland College of Veterinary Medicine

Virginia Tech is starting to move towards their vision in a brand new campus for graduate education in Computer Science and Computer Engineering in Alexandria, VA. Adjacent to the nation's capital, the new campus will begin to unite industry, government, and academia in a project-based learning and research to pave the path for emerging technologies in the metro area. The initiative to begin a new campus in Alexandria, VA began in November 2018 as part of the Virginia Commonwealth bid to attract Amazon's second major headquarters. The first 11 story academic building is set to be opened in the year 2024, and will soon be home to many more Hokies in Virginia.

Virginia-Maryland College of Veterinary Medicine