Virginia Tech to Break Ground in New Biosciences Precinct

Virginia Tech will break ground on the first building in the new Biosciences Precinct later this month.

 

The building will provide 93,860 square feet of research facilities for the biological systems engineering and food science and technology departments. Facilities will include several new features for researchers and graduate students — including open-plan laboratories, pilot plant research space, a sensory/flavor-testing suite with individualized test panels, prep kitchens, and group debriefing and discussion rooms. There will also be a number of new offices for researchers, as well as work spaces for graduate students.

 

“The new building will incorporate laboratory and support facilities focusing on a wide range of microbiological and biochemical research,” said Saied Mostaghimi, the H.E. and Elizabeth F. Alphin Professor of Agriculture and Life Sciences and associate dean for research and graduate studies. “Our researchers will greatly benefit from the expanded space, which will house research programs on food safety, food packaging and processing, environmental quality analysis, bioenergy and biomaterials, systems biology, and nanotechnology, among other areas.”

 

The planned Biosciences Precinct will support the College of Agriculture and Life Sciences, and when completed, is expected to consist of four new laboratory buildings. It will include more than 400,000 square feet of research in the college. In addition to the four buildings, the precinct will also have a full-scale chiller plant and a greenhouse complex. 

 

Construction on the first building is expected to take about 24 months and will cost $53.7 million, all of which is funded by state funds through the Agriculture Experiment Station and Cooperative Extension Division (Agency 229).

 

Nationally ranked among the top research institutions of its kind, Virginia Tech’s College of Agriculture and Life Sciences focuses on the science and business of living systems through learning, discovery, and engagement.