Live: 2018 Virginia Tech State of the University address
And. Please give it up one more time for the Haiti tidy storm line. Good afternoon, and, welcome to the 2018, state of the University, address my, name is Rachel I Wiki and I am a senior studying mechanical engineering. And Russian language I also, currently serve as the undergraduate representative. To the Board of Visitors hello. My name is Omani, I'm a PhD student in public administration of, public affairs I currently, serve as a graduate student representative. To the Board of Visitors thank. You all for being here today, now. Please, welcome, Virginia Tech 16th, President Tim sands. Thank. You. Thank. You so and Rachel good afternoon and, welcome, to a great new year at Virginia Tech thank. You for taking some time out of your busy week, to be here today I also. Want to welcome those, joining us from our campuses, in Roanoke, the National, Capital Region and online. From anywhere in the Commonwealth, or around the world where Hokies reside. Welcome. To members, of the Board of Visitors who, are with us today Ct. Hill and Robert C Beck as well as zou, and Rachel, and to. The staff the staff representative. To the board I also. Want to thank dr. Laura sands for being here today and for her tireless support, for Virginia Tech over the last four years. We. Are very pleased to welcome the. Mayor of Blacksburg, Leslie Hager Smith and vice mayor Susan Anderson. Princeton. Review just ranked a second, in the nation for town-gown, relations and. Blacksburg. Sleater ship is a big reason for that so please give them another round, of applause. Welcome. To the Corps cadets and thank you to the Heidi Titus for that outstanding opening, performance who's, got us revved up for tomorrow thank you. The. Corps is a living link to our founding, principles of Honor and service and the, quality of our students is evidenced, by the fact that Virginia Tech is the highest producing unit for air force officers, for, the past three years running, we. Have been the top source of nuclear engineering officers. For the Navy for, the past five years and the, top university, for Navy SEAL candidates, for the past two years the. Corps cadets commitment, to service goes all the way back to our founding more. Than a century ago. They. Inaugurated, the spirit of what prozium which is now a living motto for our entire campus, general. Fullhart thank. You for your inspiring commitment. To developing, the next generation of global ethical. Leaders and thanks. To all of our veterans among, our faculty students, and staff who, have already served as well. As those among our corps cadets who, have made a commitment to place country, above self knowing. They baby may be risking, their lives. That. Commitment, yes.
That. Commitment brings to mind US Navy ensign Sarah Mitchell who, graduated. From the Corps last year and tragically. Was killed in a training accident in the Red Sea over the summer let's. All take a moment to quietly reflect, on ensign Mitchell's all-too-brief. Life, and the sacrifice, that so many are willing to make for the rest of us. It. Will be an honor to add Sarah's, name to the approach on pylon, later this year. Every. Fall we welcome nearly 9,000. New Hokies students, faculty, staff to. Our extended, community if. You are still wondering what's a Hokie you are I. Would. Like to single out one member of a new class of Hokies though dr., Duane Pinkney joined, us last month as senior. Vice president, for operations, and administration, welcome, Duane. And, in. About a week we'll be welcoming Brian Gary as our, new vice president for human resources. Owen. Offers special welcome to the Virginia Tech Karelian School of Medicine, this past July the, School of Medicine officially, became Virginia, Tech's newest College this. Is a busy time for our medical students the first and second year students are in clinical skills training, this afternoon and, the, third and fourth years, are involved, in hospital, and clinical rotations. Fortunately. Fourth-year class president, Andrew Barr is able to join us this afternoon and represents, veetc along with dr., Aubrey night senior. Dean for student affairs. And, the Hokey Bird of course who has his white. Jacket. On I don't. Know where he is in his studies but thank, you for joining us soon, Andrew. And dr. knight welcome and please extend our greetings to the rest of the college and. Andrew. Were proud that, you and your classmates, will be graduating, as Hokies, I, want. To send a special welcome to the Virginia Tech class of 2022. This. Is our sesquicentennial class. Most. Of you will receive your degrees, as we celebrate, our University's, 150th, year, you. Are the most diverse entering, class we've had today with. More than 1/3 coming from underrepresented or, underserved, populations. You're, also one of the most academically, talented classes. Representing, some of the best students in Virginia across, the nation and around the world, embrace. The Virginia Tech experience, be. Engaged inside, and outside the classroom get. Involved in research find, a mentor run. For student office start, a company commit to an internship. I'm. Excited, to see what the class of 2022, will accomplish your, ideas your hard work and the, way you serve this community I look.
Forward To spotlighting, your achievements, as we celebrate, a hundred and fifty years of Virginia Tech excellence, but. No pressure no hurry I know you'll be outstanding because your Hokies I. Also. Want to extend greetings to those who are in town for the legacy Society, meeting and the, Alumni Association, leadership conference this weekend and welcome. To those who may, be here for tomorrow's, first home, game of the 2018, football, season what. A great weekend, to be at Virginia, Tech and, what a great year to be a Hokie. Now. We are here today because our history has prepared us to lead higher education, into the future, back. In 1872, the Commonwealth, of Virginia had the foresight. And commitment to create an institution, under the Morrill Act Charter to, provide an affordable education in, agriculture. And engineering an education. That supported, the Commonwealth's, economic, engine. We. Can now be the land-grant for the 21st, century, meeting. The needs of today's and tomorrow's workforce. The. College of Engineering and College of Agriculture, and life sciences and, Cooperative Extension are part of the foundation on which we build. To. Our faculty and staff I appreciate, the hard work that, all of you do you, are the backbone of this institution. Faculty. You've dedicated your lives to the Academy and are committed to teaching research, scholarship, and sharing. Knowledge with a purpose. Starting. With our founding faculty of three in 1872. And growing. To more than four thousand today you. Continue, to meet the evolving needs of this university, and the Commonwealth. Members. Are very faculties Senate, are, not able to be here today because they have a meeting this afternoon, however. I understand, they are pausing, the meeting to join us remotely you, see them just a few minutes ago so welcome, to all of you and thank, you for your service and leadership. I want. To especially thank those of you who are engaged in research. Researches. Courts of the mission of Virginia Tech and integral to our role as a land-grant institution. Many. Of you have come to Virginia Tech to undertake, and support the creation and dissemination of knowledge through. Research scholarship. And creative expression. There. Are a few universities in this country that have a portfolio like ours, with. Deep strengths and fundamental, discovery driven research and a, wide breadth of youths inspired research, and Technology Development we. Work in and across traditional academic. Disciplines, through colleges, institutes. And centers we, partner with a diverse network of country companies, we. Are currently ranked. Number 22, in industry support in the US and we're, one of the select group of universities, that support strong partnerships, with nearly all sectors, of the federal government from, the Department, of Health and Human Services to, the Department of Agriculture, to the Department of Defense. Our. Partners come to us because, we have one-of-a-kind, facilities, our researcher leading experts that value our partners goals and because, I love our students. Thanks. To the hard work and persistence of many our research environment, is ahead of the curve in promoting and investing, in interdisciplinary. Discovery. Research. Creates growth and impact raises. The university's profile, and helps, us recruit and retain the, best talent faculty. Staff postdocs, graduate, students and undergraduates, you. Are all a key part of the research engine. Supporting. Scholarship, and even philanthropy, many. Of the best things happening, at Virginia Tech start, with research it's. The fuel that powers our aspiration, to become a top global University. And as a catalyst, for economic, prosperity in the communities. We serve and while. We celebrate our research achievements we know that groundbreaking moments. Aren't always marked, with grand speeches. Alexander. Graham Bell's famous, first words into the telephone, mouthpiece. On March 10 1876, were. Not especially, remarkable mr.. Watson, come here I want to see you but. They signified, a world-changing, moment. We. Don't actually know what the first email said, because, the inventor, Raytown. Tomlinson. Who sent the test, message, to himself in 1971. Remember exactly what it was. That's. A reminder to our future inventors take good notes. The. Historical, record may. Also note the words spoken by two-year-old, Jack Smith one month ago in Montgomery, County Virginia. Airplanes. Brought me a popsicle. This. Marked the first long, distance residential. Drone delivery, in the United States by alphabets wing and the Virginia Tech mid-atlantic, Aviation, partnership. Jack's. Words signify, how, far and how fast the, digital revolution has advanced. Our. Cyprus physical, systems, all the distributed, interconnected, devices that, make up the Internet of Things are.
Exploiting. Vast amounts, of data learning. From experience, making. And informing, decisions and, changing. The way we communicate move. Shop work and play, the. Pace of change is unmatched, by previous such. Tech revolutions. It took 140, years for mr., Bell's discovery, to become the smart device you have in your hand today, things. Are moving a lot faster now our. Systems of finance, education health, care and transportation, are straining to keep up in our. Laws regulations, and public policies, are becoming unmoored, from reality. The. Truth is the world's not ready for, Jack's popsicle, but. Like it or not the popsicles, are coming and a whole lot more. The. Complex interfaces. Between the semi-autonomous networks. Of machines and networks of humans humans, cyber networks if you will are, enabling, a sort of collective autonomy. The, interfacing, of humans, and machines at every scale from. Biochemical. To, implants, to. Wearable. Devices all, the way to connected, populations, in rooms neighborhoods. And even the entire planet, the most. Familiar example is GPS routing. Applications. Of collective autonomy, such, as this have great potential to make our lives better freeing, up time and energy for the more human of pursuits. But. This new world also, presents existential. Challenges, including. A growing divide between, those, who are served by technology, and those who are not. Who. Better than Hokies, to ensure that the world of intelligent, machines and human cyber networks. Proves the human condition and does not destroy it. The. Arrival of collective autonomy, brings an imperative, for higher education which. Has been expecting a tsunami for years but as largely remain unchanged. We. Must prepare our students for the world that they're entering the. Balance must shift from simply acquiring knowledge to, developing, skills and abilities that, will endure, in a society that is supercharged, by intelligent, machines.
Those. Skills and abilities include effective, communication. Empathy. Intercultural. Competency, reducing. Data to actionable information. Dedication. To keeping abreast of technology and mastery. Of knowledge in, one or more fields through continuous, learning. Higher. Ed must also support the retooling and Retraining of the workforce that will be displaced by collective autonomy. This. Means careers, in designing building, training and protecting, autonomous, systems as. Well as careers that demand, interpersonal. And entrepreneurship. Skills that. Will support human needs and activities that, are enabled, as free time and resources increase. Everything. Else is subject to massive disruption, in higher. Ed must be ready to adapt quickly, higher. Ed must use the best of this revolution, to create the right environment to teach and build the necessary skills. Teamwork. Is moving to the core of the educational, experience. Students. Need the freedom to move and learn, anywhere, while. Still feeling connected, to their community. Students. Want to learn collectively with, others and have the ability to use adaptive, individualized. Machine assisted learning if. All this sounds familiar is because we've been talking about these things for the last four years, Virginia. Tech is adapting, to meet these challenges and we're in a position to lead, this. Is what envisioning, Virginia Tech beyond boundaries was created to address, we. Are at the forefront of the instruments, of human cyber networks and collective autonomy, our, researchers, lead the nation in autonomous, vehicles on land sea and air we. Helped deliver Jack's popsicle. We. Are modeling and simulating entire, populations. And global systems, we. Are developing security, for. Cyber physical systems and leading, the expo exploration. Of human decision-making at the biomolecular level. And we, are taking a humanistic, approach to, understanding, the impact of technology on individuals. And communities. Last. Week I had the pleasure of participating in, the official, launch of the Center for Humanities led, by Professor Sylvester, Johnson, which, will support a human centered approach to innovation discovery across, the university. The. Shape of the university is evolving to meet these challenges and, opportunities. Rooted. In our history and foundational, principles, our, destination, areas are creating, additional, cross-cutting. Transdisciplinary. Structures, to complement the Institute's, and interdisciplinary, programs. Destination. Areas and pathways general, education, programs, allow, students, faculty, and staff to, take on these grand challenges while remaining grounded, in the disciplines. Initiatives. Such as the Academy. Of integrated, Sciences, in the College of Science the, Center for Humanities in, the College of Liberal Arts and Human Sciences in, the, apex Centre for innovation and entrepreneurship, and Pampling, all live, in colleges, but serve the entire University. The. Graduate schools leadership, and interdisciplinary, graduate programs, or if's ensures, that we can attract, top global talent in emerging interdisciplinary, themes and a. New Calhoun honors Discovery, Program will serve as an incubator for our beyond boundaries future, and problem-based discovery. And learning with, high highly, engaged partners. We. Are changing the physical structure. Of the universe as well a universe, not, quite yet the, University, well get to that but. The university, is changing to. Grow where our key partners are located, including, Blacksburg, and the corporate research center the, Virginia Tech really in Health Science and Technology campus and in the Roanoke innovation, corridor the.
Tech Center in Newport News the. Global center for automotive. Performance simulation in Southside. The. Agricultural, research and experiment, stations, distributed. Across the Commonwealth. The. Steiger Center in Ticino Switzerland. BT. India. Research. Programs, in Botswana, and of. Course our urban living laboratory, of the National Capital Region just, to name a few, the. Binary star model for, our University. With a major presence, in Blacksburg, and rowed out connected. To our growing engagement, in the National Capital Region represents. A unique opportunity for Virginia, Tech to address the challenges, and bridge, the divides created, by collective, autonomy, which, will touch every aspect of our lives, with. Those thoughts as a backdrop, I want to take a few minutes to talk about our, remarkable. Progress in research the. Transformative, power of advancement, our, commitment, to inclusive, VT, new. Heights for athletics, and the growing. Impact, of our presence, in Roanoke in the National Capital Region I will. Finish by highlighting. Challenges, and opportunities, of the coming year and our. Commitments, for the future. Earlier. I mentioned research, were proud to be a top 25 public research institution, with, more than 500 million dollars a year in, research expenditures. Our. Position, today honors, the vision and drive of the late Charles Steiger, who, worked tirelessly to elevate. Our standing, among research universities. During. The first decade of the century we doubled our research enterprise as measured by expenditures. Growing, faster, than every other research, institution, in the country in. Fact we grew so fast we outstripped, our ability to support that large portfolio, over, the, past two years the. Office of the vice president for research and innovation under. The direction of dr. Teresa, Mayer has, set out to enhance, the infrastructure. To support the next doubling of our portfolio, and its impact and, we're already seeing the early indicators, of success this. Past fiscal year was, the best in Virginia Tech's history, in terms, of sponsored research expenditures. Overall. They increased 6% or 15 million over last year, some. Units made remarkable, progress this, year the, College of Engineering is up nine percent or seven million dollars the, College of Science is up 13% or three million dollars and a Virginia Tech Transportation Institute, is, up 9% over, three million three, million over last year. Congratulations. To our faculty students, and staff and all those who support them. This. Year Virginia Tech also had a record, number of faculty, receiving, the National Science Foundation, Career Award to. Fund their research, this is considered, the NSF's, most. Prestigious, early career, award it. Has given to faculty who have the potential to serve as academic, role models, and leaders in research and education, in. Recent years we've typically had about seven faculty members receive this award in. 2018. We have 16, for, a total of more than 4.4. Million dollars in grant funding, by. The way Virginia Tech has the highest total number of active NSF, career Awards in Virginia with 41, the, runner-up has 23. Their. Research projects, include coastal, erosion, and sea level rise cyber security and developing, computers, that work like our brains, at. Virginia Tech we're developing the research leaders of tomorrow who, are taking on the challenges and opportunities of the future, the. NSF also has a research initiative underway to develop smart, and connected communities. One. Of our researchers, has received, nearly a million dollars to develop resilient. Water systems, dr.. Kalyan Cary who studies freshwater, ecosystem. Science joins, us from the Kerry lab in Deering Hall welcome. Dr. Kerry. I'm. Particularly, interested in, in, the work you're doing at the Falling Creek Reservoir, in the, Roanoke Valley region can you describe this research Caitlin yes. I'm, leading, a large interdisciplinary. Team of Virginia Tech researchers, that are coming from across campus to improve drinking, water management, for romo to. Do this we've deployed sensors, at the reservoir that are measuring water quality, on the minute scale these. Data are streaming wirelessly to, the cloud where, they're being used to generate water, quality forecasts, so. Similar to weather forecasts. Where we might predict that there's rain tomorrow, we. Can predict the thirst for example, an 80%. Chance of an algal bloom next week this.
Is Critical, information for managers because. Once they have this information they, can make decisions today, to prevent that algal bloom occurring our our, water quality forecasting. System is the first of its kind and is, a model for other drinking water systems globally. How. Is water size science, evolving, at Virginia Tech tech, is a major multi discipline. Initiative. Virginia. Tech has recruited incredible. Talent in water sciences, there are over a hundred faculty, studying, freshwater, key early for. Example, in our project we have computer scientists, that are developing the whole cyber infrastructure, for running our forecasts, we, have engineers are developing new and better ways to monitor water quality and we, have social scientists, they're studying how best to get those forecasts, to the managers, this. Is just one project of many across campus, in which researchers, are coming together to tackle real-world, water problems, where. Does it fit within the the. Global, system science destination, area. Ensuring. The sustainability of, our water supply is a complex, global, challenge and we need to bring people together to, help us to train our students to tackle these problems the. Overarching goal of my research is, to improve drinking water for the Roanoke region yet our forecasting, system is now being shared with water utilities, and water supplies across the globe and I, think that this project exemplifies. Virginia, Tech's mission as a land-grant University, operating, at the global scale and, I'm thrilled to be part of a team of scientists, working together to make it happen thank. You dr. Kerry that's, fantastic. We, were hoping to have her out at Falling Creek reservoir but we couldn't get a good signal so next time we'll try to do that dr., carries work is an example of how destination, areas and strategic. Growth areas are combining, V t-shaped, learning and discovery, with disciplinary, strength and the land-grant mission. Global. System science is an example of a destination area that exists, at the convergence of public health animal. Health and environmental, health we. Are now in the second year of implementing, our initial destination area and faculty recruitment is. Proceeding. Well I want to thank interim, provost Sarah Clark for leading, this work as we, continue to advance the development and implementation of, the beyond boundaries vision. This.
Vision Also includes, our research, institutes, interdisciplinary. Graduate education programs and, the University's, commitment to community engagement and, experiential. Learning. Talent. And innovation are essential, but if you if you want to make a difference in the world you need resources, that's. Why the work of our division of advancement is, so important, and they're, doing an incredible job. Donations. To Virginia Tech have surpassed 150. Million dollars for the second year in a row more. Than 33,000. Individual, donors, corporations. And foundations made. New gifts or commitments, to the university this past year. Several. Colleges, and programs saw their gifts and commitments, increased dramatically. Donations. To the Pampling, College of Business more than doubled. Donations. To Virginia Tech athletics, rose nearly 60 percent. Major. Gifts, over the past year included. Twenty million dollars to launch the Calhoun honors Discovery Program, fifteen. Million dollars for a new student athlete Performance, Center and five, million dollars to establish the may Family Foundation pathway, for first-generation students. We. Are collaborating with block one a global leader in blockchain, technology, and her CEO Dan Larimer, who is a Virginia Tech computer, science alumnus block. One has committed three million dollars to hire faculty and staff and develop courses that will lead to an undergraduate minor or concentration, and blockchain development. Our. Alumni giving participation. Rate rose to thirteen percent this past year up from 12 and 2017. And we're working hard to increase our Alumni giving rate, to 22 percent by 2022. Thanks. To the work of our advancement, team the council, for advancement, and support of Education case. Recognized. Virginia, Tech with, a national, award for overall improvement. This year we. Are incredibly fortunate to have such a generous community and your gifts are making a real difference thank. You. Our. Beyond boundaries Scholars, Program for example is currently. Supporting, the success of more, than 200, underrepresented, in, high achieving students, the. Beyond boundaries Scholar Program is part of our goal, through inclusive, VT to increase, our undergraduate, population of, underrepresented and, underserved students. This. Will broaden our pool of talent and expand. Opportunities, for those who are historically underserved, in the spirit of our land-grant charter. In. 2016. We committed, to include as 40%. Of, the 2022. Entering class those, who are underrepresented or, underserved, including. First-generation students. And those from low-income families, we're. Making good progress in that direction the. Entering, class this fall includes, over 2000, underrepresented and, underserved students, that's, thirty four percent of the entering class up five percentage, points from last year. In. 2017. We were very proud to announce that we hired fifteen faculty members from underrepresented communities. This. Year were twice as proud because, we're welcoming 30, new, underrepresented, faculty members, to campus I, think. That's worth. And. We. Need to recognize individuals such, as Irving pedra Charles, Yates Marguerite. Harper Linda. Edmonds Turner and others, who had the courage to be the first black men. And women to come to Virginia Tech and pave the way we. Can now attract diverse faculty staff, and students from all over the world and welcome, our most diverse class in our history and we're. Continuing to work to remove barriers for both students, and faculty and staff and, create, a more diverse and inclusive environment that. Includes developing, more childcare options two. Years ago Virginia Tech partner with Blacksburg, and Christiansburg, Montgomery, County New River Community, College Karelian clinic the Corporate Research Center and several, businesses to, form the Alliance for better child care strategies, cleverly.
Known As ABCs. The. Goal is to increase the availability of, high-quality child care increase, the quality of current child care centers, and enhance, accessibility. We. Will have increased the availability of child care by 20%, this November, with the addition of two new centers we. Are increasing the quality of our child care workforce with. Scholarships, for individuals, seeking Child Development Associate. Credential credentials. We. Began fundraising, for these scholarship this past spring and last, month our Board of Visitors approved, paid parental leave which, is a big step forward. We're. Doing all this because it's essential, to our mission we. Need to attract and retain the best students, faculty and staff from the broadest, possible talent, pool if, we're going to deliver the diverse high-quality, experience our students, need, and that, employers. Expect. Thank. You for continuing to support inclusive, VT. Our. Second gallop survey conducted. Last fall among undergraduate. Students, affirms, the value of the Virginia Tech experience, and the, importance of improving inclusion, and diversity overall. Virginia, Tech students are more likely than their peers to be engaged with school involved. In co-curricular, activities, and thriving, in all elements of well-being the. Percentage, of Virginia Tech students who strongly, agree that their fellow students, look, out for one another is more than double that, of college students nationally, that. Being said black, and LGBTQ. Students, were less likely to say this is a good place for them we. Need to change that experience, and inclusive, VT is actively, engaged to, make sure all Hokies, feel, that this is home. Speaking. Of thriving congratulations. To Virginia Tech Athletics for achieving their highest ever finish, in the Learfield directors, cup competition. The. Competition measures. Overall, success in collegiate athletics, this, year we finished 28th in the nation the first time we've made the top 30, I'm. Proud but not surprised to see that coach, Justin, Fuente is, on the watch, list for the Bobby Dodd Coach of the Year award in 2018. And after, last Monday's. Win, at Florida State no, one else should be surprised either. Congratulations. To the women's golf team coach, Carol Robertson, and their first NCAA Tournament, appearance. And, a. Special thanks to coach buzz Williams for keeping us motivated, and grounded with his tweets, and for, encouraging us to get better in every way possible. Earlier. I mentioned the, new student athlete Performance Center and we're looking forward to seeing our new studio on the air when, the ACC Network launches. In about a year Witt, Babcock, and his team are doing a superb job in fact it was one of four athletic, directors honored, as ad of the year by the National, Association of collegiate directors of athletics. Gratulations wit, we're looking forward to another great year. Earlier. I mentioned our partnership, with Karelian clinic and a developing, health science and technology campus in Roanoke, Karelian, CEO Nash Nancy, AG is watching, this afternoon, with a group at VT CRI welcome. Nancy and thank you for your ongoing leadership. We're. Excited about the growth there including, the new 139. Thousand square foot building that will support the expansion, of the research institute. According. To a report, from the weld and Cooper Center for Public Service the. Addition of that building will create more, than 800, jobs and inject, 150.
Million Dollars annually, into the local economy over, the next eight years. Overall. Our Roanoke campus, and partnership, with Kirlian clinic will contribute nearly a half, a billion dollars, per year to the Commonwealth's, economy by, 2026. That. Growth is fueled by the innovation, and creativity of researchers, like, Carissa James a 5th. Year graduate, student who. Has invited us to visit her today at the Smith lab at VT CRI, hello Karissa. Hi. President Sanz thanks for joining me in the lab today, Chrissa. I know the Smith lab is focused on health, and your research is currently aimed at heart disease which, has been the nation's number one killer for almost a century tell. Us how your work is going to change that. We've. Known for a long time that heart cells talk to each other using electrical, signals, and that's what allows the muscle to beat rhythmically, about every second or so in a, patient who's suffering, from cardiovascular. Disease or who's had a heart attack those. Electrical, signals can't, pass between cells, and that's what causes the irregular, heartbeat, what, our lab has discovered, is a novel, protein, isoform. That actually restores, that communication. And we can use that as a drug target to repair the damaged heart. From. Your perspective, how is Beatty CRI unique. Why, did you decide it was a place for you to. Try. And make a difference, we. Have a lot of great technology here, like the microscope, that you can see behind me but what's really special about the VT CRI is the, people here they have a vision for applying, the knowledge that we gained with those powerful, tools in the real world and because. Of the open and collaborative environment. That we here researchers. Like me can work with people from different backgrounds. And diverse skill, sets to actually make that happen and that's, why we'll be able to translate our basic, findings, into real cures, and that's why I'm here Thank. You Karissa and we're all cheering you on so we're looking forward to seeing the results of your work thank you for joining us. We. Will also continue to increase and leverage our presence, in the National Capital Region which offers, a unique urban, living laboratory, and close, proximity to key partners, talent and resources, our. Growth there is supported, by Lync our Center, for advancing, industry partnerships, Lync, is a joint effort by, advancement, in research and the, work has led to several recent, announcements, we, have a partnership between the Calhoun honors, Discovery, Program and Boeing, which, will contribute three million dollars to support student, scholarships exponential. Learning grants, and faculty sours and we. Have an agreement with the arlington based company, deep sig to, develop artificial intelligence, technology created, by virginia tech to, protect wireless, devices essentially. An element of collective autonomy, that i spoke about earlier. Earlier. This year Virginia, Tech was selected to lead the Commonwealth, cyber initiative or CCI. CCI. Will build on an ecosystem of cyber related, research, education. And engagement to position, Virginia as a, world leader in cyber security at, the Nexus of data security, and autonomy. We. Were ready for this opportunity, because of work of. People. Like dr., Charles Clancy, the director of the human, ER dr.. Clancy joins, us from the NCR, to tell us a little more about the work underway there welcome, Charles thank. You. Now. Could, you describe briefly the Hume Center's progression, from a mission. To develop leaders in national security, to its role today as part of the integrated security destination. Area I. Joined. Virginia Tech in 2010. To help launch the Hume Center because, I was really inspired by the mission, that, it seeks to achieve at. Its core were focused on experiential, learning and research, opportunities for students, interested, in pursuing careers in national, security, whether, it be working, as an engineer for an aerospace company or, as an analyst at the CIA we, have a wide range of programs to help students prepare for careers in these areas. The, integrated security destination. Area has been a really exciting opportunity for us and we're excited to play a key role in, the. Building of that ecosystem, the. Integrated security destination. Area provides, a university-wide. Platform. For us to share our experiences. And, security. Experiential, learning programs, and we've learned a lot about how to build. Transdisciplinary. And interdisciplinary, programs, within, the human center because of the work of the integrated security destination, area what. Are some of the outcomes that you've seen so far Charles. This, past year we had over 400 students, involved in our programs that.
Ranges From graduate. Students who are working on sensitive, research in our laboratories, through. Interdisciplinary teams, of undergraduates, who. Are working with industry, partners on. Design. Projects, that, are uniquely tied to certain national security missions overall. It's been a great experience for the students and this year we're hoping to get that number from 400, up to 500, and, already have a lot of interest so far, great. What can we expect to see develop, with the Commonwealth, cyber initiative. Well. As you mentioned the Commonwealth cyber initiative is a major, investment by the state in cyber, in, the Commonwealth, and the. Hume Center is excited to be part of that investment. We. Expect that in the coming years where we'll be building an innovation, hub in Northern Virginia that will connect two spoke sites throughout the Commonwealth, at other partner universities, and. The goal really is to drive. Innovation startups. And technology commercialization across. The Commonwealth, right. Now we're building a world-class team, of researchers. To execute, on programs, that sit at the intersection of cyber security connected. Technologies, and artificial intelligence three. Areas that will be critical to our sort, of techno society in the future, personally. I'm excited about opportunities, for students, within this ecosystem ranging. From getting the opportunity to work on these cutting-edge research problems, to. Potentially, interning, with startup companies that are part of our ecosystem and, also, the ability to maybe even start companies of their own in this area overall. It's a really exciting time to be at Virginia Tech thank. You Charles. It's. Remarkable, to think that these advances. Led all the way back to the founders, of Virginia Tech who had the wisdom to know that education was the key to progress, as I. Mentioned earlier in 2022, we will mark 150. Years, since Virginia, Tech was founded and this is a milestone to celebrate I've, asked Vice President, Charles Pflueger to, identify, a campus-wide, team, to, guide the planning for a year-long celebration of, our sesquicentennial in, our, proud history of serving the Commonwealth of Virginia. We. Celebrated, our 125th anniversary, with, a giant cake and I, want to ask who was there but well you, will see by the reaction it, was shaped like the War Memorial Court, and weighed, 3400, pounds, so. Charlie let's see what you can do to top that. As. We plan to celebrate our anniversary we also need to think about our aspirations. For the university in 2022, what. Kind of university do we envision in four years when, today's sesquicentennial, class. Will graduate, or. We could ask what, kind of university will best serve the Commonwealth a. University. That is affordable, and accessible we. Need to manage the, cost curve and bring down undergraduate. Debt about. Half of our students graduate with debt the, average amount is about, 30,000. While. Their default rate is very low because, they make good salaries we. Need to do better part. Of the solution is embedding, in partnerships. With employers. Every, Hokie should, graduate, having completed a substantive, exponential. Learning program. Correctly. Designed these experiences, eliminate, debt develop. Professional, skills and open, the door to multiple career or postgraduate educational. Options I'm. Committed to making sure that Virginia. Tech takes a national leadership role in breaking down the barriers between college, and career in a manner that is scalable to the entire University. For. Our research impact to grow we, need to compete successfully to, attract and retain talent, our. Faculty, salaries are, ranked, in the 35th, percentile, of our peers up from 17th percentile, but far from where they need to be we. Must correct this competitive, disadvantage that, threatens our ability to retain into talent that we attract and develop. We, also need to transform, our research support, infrastructure, as we. Grew the research Enterprise over the first decade of the century we, outstripped, our capacities, to support, this mission central, enterprise, vice-president. Mayor Provost, Clark, the, deans and the Institute directors, have, started, the process of enhancing. Our infrastructure, to compete to support, the next wave of growth as I.
Mentioned Earlier link our Center for industry, partnerships, is up, and running under the expert direction, of brandy salmon, link. Will be joined by a new initiative called launch, which is spinning up as we speak launch. Will provide. Support for new ventures including, faculty led startups, working. Together with Virginia Tech intellectual, properties which continues, to manage our intellectual, property assets, we. Are enhancing, our scholarly integrity, research compliance and sponsored program functions, to. Support one of the most comprehensive research, programs, in the nation and align, our growth in health sciences, and technology. We. Just announced a new proposal support, team known as VT, fast the. Role of VT fast is to provide support that reduces, the burden of proposal, preparation on our, faculty investigators. Last. Year we started the VTC Innovation. Fund with Karelian clinic which, invests, in rapidly, growing country, companies to, create long-term value within. The Virginia Tech and Karelian clinic ecosystems. And the. Apex Center for Entrepreneurship and innovation is, serving our student entrepreneurs, and innovators by. Engaging our alumni to co-op to collaborate, with future generations of Hokie leaders I know. All this change can be disruptive, and confusing, but hard work and bold change will create the foundation, for doubling, the size of our the imp and impact, of our discovery, and innovation Enterprise. This. Is core to our mission as a research university and, critical, to the economic health of, the Commonwealth. How. Do we get there public. Funding for higher education is, not our entitlement, state. Appropriations. For student have plateaued, Virginia's. 42nd. Out of 50 states in funding, per student our. In-state, out-of-state mix. Is constrained. Changing. Government policies may, further, impact, enrollment, especially for international students, so, you might ask if public funding and government regulation, is so challenging then why is Virginia, Tech doing so well, we. Always have to remember that quality, and affordability, are lagging indicators. Complacency. About public, support will eventually, drag down all of our institutions, we. Must continue to make the case that what, we do matters to. Our communities, to the nation and to the world and. We, must heed the collective, wisdom that, is clearly demanding, change and. While. We are doing well now just. Being good is not enough to accomplish our mission we, must commit to being exceptional, our. Forbearers had a bold vision for this university, and so, do we our. Future is in our own hands, and if. We have the same grit and determination, as those who came before us and I, know that we do we. Will succeed. We. Commit to becoming the leading global, land-grant, research institution. Preparing. To address tomorrow's, challenges, and the Commonwealth's needs by, attracting talent, to Virginia, and distinguishing.
Our Approach through, deep partnerships, and a commitment to complementing. Disciplinary. Expertise. With a transdisciplinary, framework. For, Discovery learning and engagement, we. Commit to supporting our faculty and staff talent, through competitive compensation. Providing. An intellectually, stimulating environment, attention. To wellness and assuring opportunities, for professional development. We. Commit to continuous. Advancement, toward an inclusive and accessible. And, affordable, university. That lives, by our principles of community so. That all feel that this is home. We. Commit to expanding, our footprint within Virginia, and beyond. So that our impact, on the Commonwealth and the world can be magnified and the experience, of our students faculty and staff can be enriched and, we. Affirm, and strengthen, our commitment to our motto, but Pros them because, this is who we are and how, Virginia Tech distinguishes, itself. This. Fall we will continue, a conversation started. By dr. Minnie Pratt karke about, the pros indifference, and the, opportunity, it creates for diverse views ideas, and perspectives to, enhance and promote excellence. This. Conversation, is central touristy planning process and you'll be hearing more from dr. Pratt Clarke and the strategic planning, steering committee in the coming weeks, we. Need to make these commitments because two. Year old Jack Smith is growing up in a world where airplanes bring, you popsicles. What. Else will be possible, in the world of collective autonomy, will. You be ready for the opportunities, and the challenges. We're. Already seeing early examples, of those challenges, including, security, threats widening. Socio-economic. Disparities, incivility, and unethical behavior. However. Thanks to our history and those who came before us we have, the capability, and the responsibility. To address those challenges and makes Jack's world our world a better place so, let's, get started and let's go. Thank. You. You. You.
2018-09-14 10:25
