Lance Collins, vice president and executive director of the Virginia Tech Innovation Campus in Northern Virginia, outlined the project’s progress to the university’s Board of Visitors during the BOV’s Nov. 15 information session in Blacksburg.

Collins, who joined the Virginia Tech Innovation Campus in August after 10 years of leading Cornell University’s College of Engineering, told the board he wants to build the most diverse graduate tech campus in the country – attracting world-class faculty and students with an experiential project-based curriculum as a central feature of all master’s degrees.

Bringing academia, industry, and government together will create impactful programs, tangible research, strong leaders, and the next generation of tech companies, Collins said.

His presentation to the board also included the following highlights:

Virginia Tech’s Innovation Campus will anchor a 65-acre innovation district that JBG SMITH is developing in Potomac Yard, building a foundation for a stronger tech talent pipeline for the region and fostering Virginia Tech’s ability to collaborate with industry and surrounding federal agencies.

Construction of the first academic building is on track to start next year and open in August 2024. Within a decade, Virginia Tech expects to have up to 750 master’s degree students enrolled at the Innovation Campus, along with hundreds more doctoral students and postdoctoral fellows.

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