Virginia Tech is creating a bold, new vision for graduate education in computer science and computer engineering. Located in Alexandria, Virginia – just outside the nation’s capital – our new campus is situated in the heart of an inclusive and connected tech community and at the nexus of academia, industry, and government.

The Innovation Campus is committed to equipping graduates to become leaders in their careers while helping them gain real-world experience solving urgent challenges alongside researchers, industry executives, and national policymakers. With a research focus on Artificial Intelligence and Machine Learning, Wireless and Next Gen Technology, Quantum Architecture and Software Development, and Intelligent Interfaces, we are powering a pipeline of premier tech talent and building the foundation for a new era of technology.

Plans for the Innovation Campus were announced in November 2018 as part of the Commonwealth of Virginia’s successful bid to attract Amazon’s HQ2 to Northern Virginia. Construction began in September 2021 on the Innovation Campus' first building, an 11-story, 300,000 square-foot structure, which will open to the public in February 2025.

Read more in our strategic plan.

An immediate impact

The first Innovation Campus Class, about 75 students, started in the fall of 2020, and today the total number of Innovation Campus graduate students is approximately 455. Course instruction for Innovation Campus students was previously based out of an existing Virginia Tech location (now to become the Coalition for Smart Construction) in Falls Church while the new campus was being built in Alexandria.

Prime Location

The Innovation Campus, located at 3625 Potomac Ave, is situated on 3.5 acres in the first phase of a new mixed-use development and innovation district JBG Smith is developing near the future Potomac Yard Metrorail Station.

This strategic location, just south of Reagan National Airport, positions Virginia Tech and its future partners near the nation’s capital, diverse industries, and leading tech companies, including Amazon’s HQ2.

A look Ahead

Plans for the first academic building earned rave reviews and unanimous approval from the Alexandria City Council for its architectural design and environmental sustainability features.

Campus plans call for Virginia Tech to build two additional buildings, each about 150,000 square feet, as the campus grows. At its full build-out, the Innovation Campus will host approximately 750 master’s and 200 doctoral students and graduate 550 master’s and 50 doctoral candidates annually. 

Purpose Driven Research

The best innovations occur when talented people from disparate fields focus their skills on difficult problems that matter. Our research assembles around big ideas and broad themes and, in so doing, encourages creativity, risk-taking, and collaboration. Faculty will continue to pursue breakthrough technologies alongside corporate giants, public agencies, and innovative start-ups.

At its full build-out, the Innovation Campus will support about half a dozen research areas of excellence. Research areas of focus include artificial intelligence/machine learning, next-G wireless, quantum architecture and software development, and intelligent interfaces.

Attracting top talent

In August 2020, Lance R. Collins joined the university as vice president and executive director of the Virginia Tech Innovation Campus. Prior to coming to Virginia Tech, he served as dean of Cornell University’s College of Engineering for a decade. He was a key member of the leadership team that successfully bid to partner with New York City to build Cornell Tech, which opened in 2017.

Collins has earned national recognition for his commitment to increasing diversity in higher education. At Cornell, he significantly increased the diversity of the faculty and student body in Cornell engineering. From 2010-2020, Cornell Engineering more than doubled the proportion of students from underrepresented communities, from 8% to 19%. At the same time, undergraduate enrollment by women increased from 33% to 50%.

Twelve highly accomplished Virginia Tech faculty experts in computer science and computer engineering formally affiliated with the Virginia Tech Innovation Campus in spring 2022. Innovation Campus faculty play a vital role in shaping the new campus by helping to establish key research themes, enhancing the project-based curriculum, and developing the campus governance structure.

“This high-achieving faculty cohort will propel us to attract additional top talent from around the country to join in building a campus culture that is outward-facing, connected to the technology ecosystem, and impactful in identifying technology solutions to societal problems,” Collins said.

The Innovation Campus has also initiated national searches for faculty positions. At full build out in 2028-29, the campus plans to have 50 faculty members.

Visit this page for the full list of our faculty.

World-class advisory board

An advisory board of global business and industry leaders is providing strategic direction to Collins and the Innovation Campus Leadership Team. The Innovation Campus Advisory Board includes top executives from Boeing, KPMG, and Hunch Analytics, along with several tech pioneers and entrepreneurs.

Sanju Bansal, founder and CEO of Hunch Analytics, serves as chair of the Advisory Board. “This is an incredible group of leaders who will help shape and lead the campus,” he said. “Virginia Tech is making exciting progress on the construction plan for its new campus and ramping up with its first class of Innovation Campus students. We look forward to working with the leadership team to build on this momentum.”

Building pathways and partnerships

Virginia Tech is committed to creating new pathways that will drive interest in STEM fields and increase access to the Innovation Campus.

In spring 2021, Boeing was named as the first foundational partner of the Virginia Tech Innovation Campus. A $50 million, multiyear commitment from the company will help jump-start Virginia Tech’s effort to create the most diverse graduate technology campus in the United States. In fall 2021, Northrop Grumman became a key strategic partner of the Virginia Tech Innovation Campus by making a $12.5 million commitment to support research and teaching in quantum information science and engineering.

A new partnership program allows undergraduate students from select Virginia universities to apply early and earn graduate credits in master’s degree programs based at the Virginia Tech Innovation Campus. Find a full list of the these universities here.

Virginia Tech is partnering with Alexandria City Public Schools to enhance science, technology, engineering, and math opportunities for students and create potential pathways to higher education.