By Drew Thompson<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Joseph Lin has taken Virginia Commonwealth University\u2019s \u201cUncommon\u201d brand and sensibility to heart. The computer science major in the College of Engineering<\/a> graduates this spring after steering his academic pursuits in an unexpected direction \u2013 clear across campus.<\/p>\n\n\n\n This past fall, Lin was the first (and only) student to join Dayanjan Shanaka Wijesinghe<\/a>, Ph.D., associate professor in the School of Pharmacy<\/a>, in a project titled \u201cAI in Pharmaceutical Sciences: Bench to Bedside.\u201d<\/a> The initiative, which uses machine learning and artificial intelligence to find innovative solutions to pharmaceutical challenges, is on VCU\u2019s roster of Vertically Integrated Project<\/a>s, which offer students hands-on experience with long-term, faculty-led multidisciplinary projects.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The prospect of working one on one with a faculty expert was daunting, but Lin said his passion for AI\u2019s intersection with medicine made Wijesinghe an ideal mentor.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cWhen we got into this project, [Wijesinghe] gave me a lot of space to be curious, and he had this philosophy to approach learning that\u2019s unbounded,\u201d Lin said. \u201cHis mentorship allowed me to just get interested and dive deep into more of the research aspect.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n That research involved prompting AI as a collaborator in pharmaceutical science. Wijesinghe works in the Department of Pharmacotherapy and Outcomes Science<\/a>, and Lin explored AI\u2019s capabilities in distilling the search results of treatment-resistant mutations in cancer cells.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Lin first designed 150 possible resistance mutations based on chemistry, and he then narrowed the list to 25 with the assistance of AI. The methods have the potential to save months of trial and error when applied to real practices: The research, which is accessible and reproducible, could help labs with limited resources adopt and build on the results to make treatment more efficient.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Through the \u201cBench to Bedside\u201d VIP, Lin relished the chance to dive headfirst into a field he previously knew nothing about \u2013 a willingness that his mentor praised.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cThis is a very quiet guy who sits down and asks questions, subsequent questions and slowly figures out the answer and starts implementing it,\u201d Wijesinghe said. \u201cIt\u2019s his ability to follow his inherent curiosity and seek answers using the help of AI that distinguished him a lot from other students.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n Lin\u2019s path to VCU has its own uncommon elements. The native of Ashburn in Northern Virginia is the youngest of four brothers in a family with varied talents. Two of his older brothers are architects, one brother is a lawyer, and his father was a farmer in Taiwan.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Lin noted that his father was particularly interested in science, and the time Lin spent learning to garden with his dad influenced his path.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cI think naturally that shaped how I am and how I got interested in biology to begin with, and how I got interested with AI,\u201d Lin said. \u201cIt\u2019s like this balance of pragmatism and creativity that you have to balance to ask questions and to be meaningfully curious.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n VCU also shaped his approach to his VIP work. Lin said the diverse experience of an urban campus, and its many creative and spirited people, have inspired his pursuits.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cBeing around those people has really helped shape how I think and how I approach things,\u201d Lin said. \u201cI think it\u2019s taught me to be rooted in curiosity and to learn by asking more questions.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n Originally posted on VCU News: https:\/\/news.vcu.edu\/article\/class-of-2026-joseph-lin-brings-computing-power-to-cancer-research<\/a><\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" The College of Engineering student joined a School of Pharmacy faculty expert in taking AI from \u2018Bench to Bedside.\u2019<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2033,"featured_media":1580,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[4,13,1127],"tags":[1150,758],"class_list":["post-1579","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-cs","category-students","category-ugrad","tag-aasc","tag-vertically-integrated-projects"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.vcu.edu\/engineering\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1579","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.vcu.edu\/engineering\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.vcu.edu\/engineering\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.vcu.edu\/engineering\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2033"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.vcu.edu\/engineering\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1579"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.vcu.edu\/engineering\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1579\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.vcu.edu\/engineering\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/1580"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.vcu.edu\/engineering\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1579"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.vcu.edu\/engineering\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1579"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.vcu.edu\/engineering\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1579"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}},{"id":1576,"date":"2026-04-13T14:47:40","date_gmt":"2026-04-13T14:47:40","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blogs.vcu.edu\/engineering\/?p=1576"},"modified":"2026-04-13T14:47:41","modified_gmt":"2026-04-13T14:47:41","slug":"software-engineering-center-at-vcu-aims-to-train-engineers-that-build-robust-long-lived-applications","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blogs.vcu.edu\/engineering\/2026\/04\/13\/software-engineering-center-at-vcu-aims-to-train-engineers-that-build-robust-long-lived-applications\/","title":{"rendered":"Software Engineering Center at VCU aims to train engineers that build robust, long-lived applications"},"content":{"rendered":"\n With more than $3.5 million in NSF support, the center is developing software and AI solutions for critical industries, like healthcare<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n Developing software efficiently is an important part of software engineering, but it is only one part of the broader lifecycle. Ongoing maintenance and support can account for 65% to 85% of an application’s total cost, according to a 2024 analysis by the International Software Benchmarking Standards Group. The Virginia Commonwealth University (VCU) College of Engineering recently launched the Software Engineering Center to teach the next generation of software engineers the best way to build software.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cOur vision is to establish the VCU College of Engineering as a global hub for software engineering research, where new ideas, technologies and talent come together to redefine how complex software systems are built and trusted,\u201d said Rodrigo Sp\u00ednola, Ph.D.<\/strong><\/a>, associate professor in the Department of Computer Science. \u201cFrom foundational advances in software engineering to immersive solutions for healthcare, the center will drive innovations that shape the future of digital society.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n Supported by more than $3.5 million in National Science Foundation (NSF) funding, the Software Engineering Center at VCU reflects the growth of research and collaboration at the College of Engineering. Undergraduate and Ph.D. students at the center are forming strong interdisciplinary collaborations with groups like the VCU Department of Neurology, where researchers are developing both software and AI solutions for use in healthcare. International collaborations with the University of Salerno in Italy and Singapore Management University expand these partnerships to the global research community. The Software Engineering Center at VCU is currently preparing to host the International Conference on Software Analysis, Evolution and Reengineering (SANER 2027<\/strong><\/a>), bringing leading researchers from around the world to Richmond and establishing VCU as a hub for software engineering research, education and innovation.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cA Software Engineering Center is especially relevant today in the age of AI because software engineering is about much more than coding. It is about design, testing, validation and the disciplined development of real-world systems that people can trust. As AI helps us create software at a very rapid pace, these software engineering capabilities will become even more important,\u201d said Kostadin Damevski, Ph.D.<\/strong><\/a>, professor in the Department of Computer Science. \u201cA center like this provides the engineering expertise, methods and infrastructure needed to turn fragile project code into trustworthy, maintainable and high-impact software that supports research, education and real-world deployment.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n Additional partnerships with organizations like the Korea Creative Content Agency and Commonwealth Cyber Initiative allow the Software Engineering Center at VCU to advance research and education aimed at improving how complex software systems are designed, developed and maintained. It focuses on areas such as software evolution, technical debt, fairness in software systems, empirical software engineering and the engineering of AI-enabled systems, particularly in domains like healthcare. Through interdisciplinary collaboration and hands-on student involvement, the Software Engineering Center develops methods and technologies that make software systems more reliable, ethical and sustainable.<\/p>\n\n\n\n View more photos from the event here.<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n The Department of Computer Science provides undergraduate<\/a> and graduate<\/a> students with the opportunity to perform real-world research<\/a> as soon as they enroll. From designing algorithms to solving complex computing problems to working with cutting-edge AI technology, students gain understanding of many important computing topics. Browse videos and recent news from the Department of Computer Science<\/a> to discover how the College of Engineering at Virginia Commonwealth University prepares the next generation of scientists and engineers for the challenges of the future.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" VCU\u2019s new Software Engineering Center, backed by $3.5 million from the NSF, focuses on building robust, long-lived AI and software solutions for critical industries like healthcare through global research collaborations.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1829,"featured_media":1577,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[4,165,15],"tags":[1150,123,1121,1216],"class_list":["post-1576","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-cs","category-faculty-awards","category-grants","tag-aasc","tag-kostadin-damevski","tag-rodrigo-spinola","tag-software-engineering-center"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.vcu.edu\/engineering\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1576","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.vcu.edu\/engineering\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.vcu.edu\/engineering\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.vcu.edu\/engineering\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1829"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.vcu.edu\/engineering\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1576"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.vcu.edu\/engineering\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1576\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.vcu.edu\/engineering\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/1577"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.vcu.edu\/engineering\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1576"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.vcu.edu\/engineering\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1576"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.vcu.edu\/engineering\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1576"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}},{"id":1573,"date":"2026-04-03T16:27:06","date_gmt":"2026-04-03T16:27:06","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blogs.vcu.edu\/engineering\/?p=1573"},"modified":"2026-04-03T16:27:08","modified_gmt":"2026-04-03T16:27:08","slug":"first-robotics-day-at-the-vcu-college-of-engineering-champions-stem-education","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blogs.vcu.edu\/engineering\/2026\/04\/03\/first-robotics-day-at-the-vcu-college-of-engineering-champions-stem-education\/","title":{"rendered":"FIRST Robotics Day at the VCU College of Engineering champions STEM education"},"content":{"rendered":"\n Students, educators, legislators and industry leaders gather to highlight robotics education in the Commonwealth of Virginia<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n For Inspiration and Recognition of Science and Technology (FIRST) Robotics Day on March 31 highlights Virginia Commonwealth University\u2019s (VCU) 26-year commitment to advancing STEM education. Hosted by the VCU College of Engineering and FIRST Chesapeake, state legislators, corporate leaders, educators and student robotics teams celebrated FIRST Robotics Day with an event at VCU\u2019s Engineering Research Building.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cFifteen years ago, my son was the captain of a FIRST robotics team. I know firsthand the transformative impact events like this have on a young person\u2019s educational career,\u201d said Azim Eskandarian, D.Sc.<\/strong><\/a>, the Alice T. and William H. Goodwin Jr. Dean of the VCU College of Engineering. \u201cLike FIRST, VCU Engineering focuses on learning through hands-on opportunities and supports these teaching methods with degrees that address the needs of industry, like our new robotics minor.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n In his remarks, Eskandarian highlighted the VCU College of Engineering\u2019s commitment to experiential learning through several new initiatives in robotics and autonomous systems engineering, including the college\u2019s Robotics and Autonomous Systems (RAS) Research Team<\/a> and summer industry internships. Students can earn up to six credits, or the equivalent of two technical elective course credits, toward their degree through the summer program, which includes a structured evaluation process developed in collaboration with industry partners. Two endowed scholarships, the Karl Linn Scholarship and the FIRST Robotics Scholarship, also allow some FIRST Robotics participants to continue their education at the VCU College of Engineering.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Since the launch of the NASA\/VCU FIRST Robotics Competition, VCU has played a pivotal role in bringing <\/em>FIRST Robotics to Virginia. The program was created through a partnership between then-VCU President Eugene Trani, Motorola, NASA Langley and FIRST.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Ghazala Hashmi, the lieutenant governor of the Commonwealth of Virginia, emphasized the importance of STEM education for Virginia’s future.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cWhile we may be acknowledging the innovation and the technology and the creativity of robotics, what we are here to celebrate really are the people, all these wonderful students who are working so hard and all of their teachers and their mentors. We’re also celebrating the power of education and innovation,\u201d said Hashmi. \u201cThe work that each of you are doing today, as you focus on learning to think critically, to adapt, to solve complex challenges, are all the vital skills that are so essential to prepare you to lead us too, and some of the careers for which you are now preparing for we haven’t even imagined it to being yet.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n Virginia FIRST Robotics Day was first designated in 2024 through legislation proposed by students from the FIRST Robotics Competition team 422 at the Maggie Walker Governor’s School. The resolution recognizes robotics as “one of the most effective, compelling and engaging means for teaching and reinforcing fundamental science, technology, engineering and mathematics concepts.”<\/p>\n\n\n\n Projected to grow at nearly 20% over the next few years, the robotics industry is set to reach $27 billion worldwide, according to a Virginia General Assembly resolution.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cFIRST Chesapeake is incredible. The more I learned about it, the more I realized this isn’t just about robotics. This is about building skills, building confidence and building pathways,\u201d said Eric Lin, director of the Virginia Department of Small Business and Supplier Diversity. \u201cYou’re taking imagination and turning it into innovation. That’s powerful because programs like FIRST aren’t just extracurricular activities; they’re real-world learning environments. You’re learning how to solve problems, how to work in teams, how to fail, adapt and try again. Those are the exact same skills used by engineering firms, startups, government agencies and small businesses across the country.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n More than 1000 Virginia FIRST robotics teams are providing hands-on education for students. This includes \u200a286 FIRST Tech Challenge teams<\/a>, \u200a120 FIRST Robotics Competition teams<\/a>, \u200a494 FIRST LEGO League teams<\/a> and \u200a171 FIRST LEGO League Explore teams. Meeting across the commonwealth in \u200aschool classrooms, maker spaces, libraries and anywhere innovation happens, groups have gathered every weekend since August 2025 for the current competition cycle.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cTwo weeks ago, my mother judged her first FIRST event,\u201d said Alex Bryant, president of FIRST Chesapeake. \u201cEvery team she talked to gave her goosebumps\u2026She walked away asking when the next [event] was and when she could come back, because she had spent her weekend the most thoughtful, grounded, generous young people that she had ever met\u2026Students who were thinking ethically, students who lead with integrity and students who make everyone they interact with optimistic about the future\u2026That’s not extracurricular, that is education. That’s the kind of education that sticks, the kind that transfers. The kind that shapes the character of a person for the rest of their lives.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n FIRST Chesapeake<\/a> is a 501 (c) 3 nonprofit organization that operates the FIRST<\/em> Robotics program in DC, Maryland and Virginia. We work as a community to prepare young people for a STEM future and aim to ensure our programs have a lasting, positive impact on participants across all demographic groups.FIRST\u00ae<\/a> is a global robotics community dedicated to preparing young minds for the future, engaging teams of elementary, middle and high school students globally in various robotics challenges. Through its programs, FIRST aims to cultivate STEM skills, innovation, and teamwork among the next generation of innovators and problem solvers.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The VCU College of Engineering offers innovative undergraduate<\/a> and graduate<\/a> degree programs tailored to meet the demands of the rapidly evolving engineering field. As part of a premier research university, students are given the opportunity to perform real-world research<\/a> in our state-of-the-art facilities as soon as they enroll. Browse videos and recent news to discover how the College of Engineering at Virginia Commonwealth University<\/a> prepares the next generation of scientists and engineers for the challenges of the future.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" The VCU College of Engineering celebrated FIRST Robotics Day on March 31, 2026, highlighting a 26-year commitment to STEM education through hands-on learning, industry partnerships, and new academic initiatives like the robotics minor.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1829,"featured_media":1574,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[30,13],"tags":[1150,25,1167,1135,1215],"class_list":["post-1573","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-general-college","category-students","tag-aasc","tag-azim-eskandarian","tag-first-robotics","tag-robotics","tag-robotics-and-autonomous-systems-research-team"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.vcu.edu\/engineering\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1573","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.vcu.edu\/engineering\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.vcu.edu\/engineering\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.vcu.edu\/engineering\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1829"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.vcu.edu\/engineering\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1573"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.vcu.edu\/engineering\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1573\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.vcu.edu\/engineering\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/1574"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.vcu.edu\/engineering\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1573"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.vcu.edu\/engineering\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1573"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.vcu.edu\/engineering\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1573"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}},{"id":1568,"date":"2026-04-03T08:05:00","date_gmt":"2026-04-03T08:05:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blogs.vcu.edu\/engineering\/?p=1568"},"modified":"2026-04-06T18:58:13","modified_gmt":"2026-04-06T18:58:13","slug":"building-a-biotech-hub-part-ii-how-machine-learning-is-redefining-pharmaceutical-manufacturing","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blogs.vcu.edu\/engineering\/2026\/04\/03\/building-a-biotech-hub-part-ii-how-machine-learning-is-redefining-pharmaceutical-manufacturing\/","title":{"rendered":"Building a Biotech Hub, Part II: How Machine Learning is Redefining Pharmaceutical Manufacturing"},"content":{"rendered":"\n Charles McGill, Ph.D., is amongst the faculty leading innovation at VCU Engineering, using machine learning to explore a vast universe of chemical possibilities.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n Charles McGill, Ph.D.<\/strong><\/a>, isn\u2019t just improving pharmaceutical manufacturing\u2014he and other Virginia Commonwealth University (VCU) College of Engineering faculty members are upending decades of tradition to find a better way forward.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Historically, the development of a new or altered manufacturing process for small molecule pharmaceuticals is so expensive and slow that many companies are afraid to take big swings, sticking instead to known methods in order to avoid unforeseen failures.<\/p>\n\n\n\n McGill, an assistant professor in the VCU College of Engineering Department of Chemical & Life Science Engineering, is using machine learning (ML)\u2014a branch of artificial intelligence (AI) that enables computers to learn from data, identify patterns and make decisions or predictions with minimal human intervention\u2014to break this cycle. <\/p>\n\n\n\n By acting as a “first-pass evaluation,” McGill\u2019s AI models allow researchers to explore a vast universe of chemical options, from new solvents to optimized temperature settings\u2014all before a single drop of liquid is touched in a lab.<\/p>\n\n\n\n “I see machine learning as a way to evaluate a wider scope of options,” says McGill, who originally got his start in optical fiber manufacturing before pivoting to computational chemistry and later machine learning chemistry in graduate school. “It gets us to a place where we\u2019re able to free up the development process, creating faster, cheaper and more optimal pipelines.”<\/p>\n\n\n\n For pharmaceutical manufacturing companies, a more streamlined development process means organizations can easily pivot, lowering the barrier to entry for new processes and providing teams with significantly more flexibility in their planning and execution.<\/p>\n\n\n\n McGill\u2019s work focuses on two critical pillars of small molecule pharmaceuticals:<\/p>\n\n\n\n McGill\u2019s research is made possible thanks to key collaborations, including work with Director of Pharmaceutical Engineering Thomas D. Roper, Ph.D.<\/strong><\/a>, Engineering Foundation Professor in the Department of Chemical & Life Science Engineering, and Qingguo Xu, D.Phil. from the VCU School of Pharmacy. Several undergraduate students have contributed to the research, as well as doctoral student Zaher Alam, who is pursuing his Ph.D. in Chemical & Life Science Engineering from VCU, focusing his work on computation and machine learning implementation in the pharmaceutical industry. Starting in January 2026, Alam is also joining Johnson & Johnson for an internship with the Process Science Modeling and Data (PSMD) Team, where he will work on distillation modeling and complex thermodynamics.<\/p>\n\n\n\n McGill utilizes the VCU High Performance Research Computing core facility<\/a> for his work: a centralized university resource administered by the College of Engineering that provides the massive computing power necessary to run complex simulations. It would be impossible for a single lab to maintain this magnitude of computing on its own.<\/p>\n\n\n\n This type of facility doesn’t just benefit faculty; it serves as a training ground for students to learn how to manage the “big data” challenges that are now standard at industry giants like AstraZeneca, Eli Lilly and Merck. As pharmaceutical companies pour billions of dollars into Virginia’s manufacturing landscape<\/a>, the need for a knowledgeable workforce has never been higher. McGill is at the forefront of this mission, ensuring VCU students aren’t just engineers, but leaders in the digital transformation of the industry.<\/p>\n\n\n\n “Chemical engineering students enter a variety of fields, like energy or petrochemicals,” says McGill. “While pharmaceuticals isn\u2019t always on an undergraduate\u2019s radar, VCU\u2019s location at the heart of Virginia\u2019s growing pharmaceutical hub gives our students a distinct advantage. Because of our deep industry connections, they are more aware of\u2014and better prepared for\u2014these opportunities. It\u2019s an exciting time for chemical engineers to be engaging with this industry.”<\/p>\n\n\n\n The Department of Chemical and Life Science Engineering provides undergraduate<\/a> and graduate<\/a> students with the opportunity to perform real-world research<\/a> as soon as they enroll. From delving into the intricacies of pharmaceutical manufacturing to exploring the effects of climate change through heat studies, our students pursue a diverse range of cutting-edge research topics. Browse videos and recent news from the Department of Chemical and Life Science Engineering<\/a> to discover how the College of Engineering at Virginia Commonwealth University prepares the next generation of scientists and engineers for the challenges of the future.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Charles McGill, Ph.D., is amongst the faculty leading innovation at VCU Engineering, using machine learning to explore a vast universe of chemical possibilities.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2033,"featured_media":1569,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[1091,1151,32,1213],"class_list":["post-1568","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-clse","tag-charles-mcgill","tag-hm","tag-thomas-d-roper","tag-vcu-high-performance-research-computing-core"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.vcu.edu\/engineering\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1568","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.vcu.edu\/engineering\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.vcu.edu\/engineering\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.vcu.edu\/engineering\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2033"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.vcu.edu\/engineering\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1568"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.vcu.edu\/engineering\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1568\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.vcu.edu\/engineering\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/1569"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.vcu.edu\/engineering\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1568"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.vcu.edu\/engineering\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1568"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.vcu.edu\/engineering\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1568"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}},{"id":1571,"date":"2026-04-03T08:00:00","date_gmt":"2026-04-03T08:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blogs.vcu.edu\/engineering\/?p=1571"},"modified":"2026-04-06T18:58:29","modified_gmt":"2026-04-06T18:58:29","slug":"building-a-biotech-hub-part-i-how-vcus-industry-veterans-are-working-to-reshape-virginias-pharmaceutical-manufacturing-landscape","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blogs.vcu.edu\/engineering\/2026\/04\/03\/building-a-biotech-hub-part-i-how-vcus-industry-veterans-are-working-to-reshape-virginias-pharmaceutical-manufacturing-landscape\/","title":{"rendered":"Building a Biotech Hub, Part I: How VCU\u2019s Industry Veterans are Working to Reshape Virginia\u2019s Pharmaceutical Manufacturing Landscape"},"content":{"rendered":"\n Thomas D. Roper, Ph.D. is utilizing his years of experience in the pharmaceutical industry to help rewrite the narrative surrounding pharmaceutical manufacturing in the U.S.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n For decades, the path of a small molecule\u2014from a chemist\u2019s initial discovery to large-scale manufacturing of small molecule pharmaceuticals\u2014was a journey defined by high costs and manual labor. Today, the Virginia Commonwealth University (VCU) College of Engineering\u2019s Thomas D. Roper, Ph.D.<\/strong><\/a> is utilizing his years of experience in the industry to help rewrite the narrative.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Roper is both the graduate program director of Chemical & Life Science Engineering and the director of Pharmaceutical Engineering. A 1986 graduate of VCU himself\u2014a bachelor\u2019s degree in chemistry, followed by a Ph.D. in organic chemistry from the University of Virginia and a post-doctoral associate position at Harvard University\u2014Roper spent the first 22 years of his career in the pharmaceutical industry at GSK Pharmaceuticals (formerly GlaxoSmithKline). Having held positions such as the U.S. Head of API Chemistry and Analysis and Global Head of Exploratory Development Sciences, Roper was part of a division responsible for developing all manufacturing routes for small molecules for all compounds produced in the U.S.<\/p>\n\n\n\n When the opportunity arose to return to VCU as a faculty member in the College of Engineering, Roper was eager to help students understand the critical importance of how the pharmaceutical industry works. Little did he know that during his tenure, pharmaceutical leaders AstraZeneca, Eli Lilly and Merck would partner with the VCU College of Engineering and other Virginia universities to form the Virginia Center for Advanced Pharmaceutical Manufacturing<\/a>, a robust talent engine aimed at expanding Virginia\u2019s life science and biopharma ecosystem through education.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cComing to VCU was my chance to give back to the university and help students by imparting any experience and knowledge I had regarding how industry actually works,\u201d says Roper. \u201cAt the time, I had no inkling that these major manufacturing facilities would be built here. I\u2019m constantly pleasantly surprised and encouraged by what\u2019s happening in the state of Virginia.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n Today, Roper\u2019s work\u2014all centered around the advanced pharmaceutical manufacturing of small molecules\u2014is helping VCU position itself at the center of Virginia\u2019s burgeoning pharmaceutical corridor. <\/p>\n\n\n\n His research first focused on producing pharmaceuticals continuously, then transitioned to more engineering-intensive topics such as reactor modeling, where his team implemented modern techniques such as Process Analytical Technology to monitor the performance of the reactors and reactions. They built on this research by developing automated systems that would produce molecules with a push-button start and push-button stop. Most recently, they moved into machine learning in order to help optimize their work processes. <\/p>\n\n\n\n Beyond his technical research, Roper\u2019s work addresses a national strategic priority: competitiveness and availability in the pharmaceutical industry. <\/p>\n\n\n\n Because labor accounts for the largest portion of domestic drug costs, Roper\u2019s focus on reducing human effort through technology is the key to competing with lower-cost international markets. This vision extends beyond the Ph.D. level; by collaborating with local community colleges and Virginia State University, he is helping build a local workforce pipeline that supports the entire manufacturing hierarchy. This helps to ensure that as giants like AstraZeneca and Eli Lilly move into the region, these organizations are able to find a skilled, home-grown talent pool ready to get to work.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cBy using automation and machine learning, we\u2019re hoping to be able to run the processes with the correct quality systems, but have more of them automated,\u201d says Roper. \u201cWe\u2019d like to have more of an \u2018assembly line mentality\u2019 to putting these molecules together and purifying them.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n Roper partners with a number of VCU faculty members on his research, including Frank Gupton Ph.D.<\/strong><\/a>, the Floyd D. Gottwald, Jr. Chair in Pharmaceutical Engineering at the Department of Chemical & Life Science Engineering,<\/strong> and Charles McGill, Ph.D.<\/strong><\/a>, assistant professor in the Department of Chemical & Life Science Engineering, as well as Edwin J. C. G. Van den Oord, Ph.D. and Qingguo Xu, D.Phil. from the VCU School of Pharmacy. He also currently has a team of six graduate students assisting in his projects and is always eager to find ways for more students to get involved.<\/p>\n\n\n\n “Our goal is to involve as many students as possible in pharmaceutical research. There are opportunities for undergraduates and graduate students at both the master\u2019s and Ph.D. levels to engage in this work. One of the most positive things about VCU is that if a student has the desire to pursue undergraduate research, we can usually make that happen for them,” Roper said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The Department of Chemical and Life Science Engineering provides undergraduate<\/a> and graduate<\/a> students with the opportunity to perform real-world research<\/a> as soon as they enroll. From delving into the intricacies of pharmaceutical manufacturing to exploring the effects of climate change through heat studies, our students pursue a diverse range of cutting-edge research topics. Browse videos and recent news from the Department of Chemical and Life Science Engineering<\/a> to discover how the College of Engineering at Virginia Commonwealth University prepares the next generation of scientists and engineers for the challenges of the future.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Thomas D. Roper, Ph.D. is utilizing his years of experience in the pharmaceutical industry to help rewrite the narrative surrounding pharmaceutical manufacturing in the U.S.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2033,"featured_media":1572,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[9,1091,1151,32,1214],"class_list":["post-1571","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-clse","tag-b-frank-gupton","tag-charles-mcgill","tag-hm","tag-thomas-d-roper","tag-virginia-center-for-advanced-pharmaceutical-manufacturing"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.vcu.edu\/engineering\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1571","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.vcu.edu\/engineering\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.vcu.edu\/engineering\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.vcu.edu\/engineering\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2033"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.vcu.edu\/engineering\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1571"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.vcu.edu\/engineering\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1571\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.vcu.edu\/engineering\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/1572"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.vcu.edu\/engineering\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1571"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.vcu.edu\/engineering\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1571"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.vcu.edu\/engineering\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1571"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}},{"id":1566,"date":"2026-04-02T08:00:00","date_gmt":"2026-04-02T08:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blogs.vcu.edu\/engineering\/?p=1566"},"modified":"2026-04-01T18:01:27","modified_gmt":"2026-04-01T18:01:27","slug":"koerner-family-foundation-presents-fellowships-to-three-vcu-college-of-engineering-doctoral-researchers","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blogs.vcu.edu\/engineering\/2026\/04\/02\/koerner-family-foundation-presents-fellowships-to-three-vcu-college-of-engineering-doctoral-researchers\/","title":{"rendered":"Koerner Family Foundation presents fellowships to three VCU College of Engineering doctoral researchers"},"content":{"rendered":"\n From left: Logan Schorr, David Bordenkircher and Leia Troop<\/p>\n\n\n\n Their research is advancing science and engineering. Now, these three Virginia Commonwealth University (VCU) College of Engineering doctoral researchers have been named Koerner Family Foundation Fellows:<\/strong> David Bordenkircher, Logan Schorr and Leia Troop. The fellowship provides financial support to outstanding doctoral students pursuing research careers in science and engineering. Honorees will be recognized during the VCU College of Engineering Research Showcase on Wednesday, March 25, 2026<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cThe Koerner Family Foundation wants to inspire future generations of research oriented engineers. We recognize the role of academic engineering R&D at VCU for contributing innovation and for developing American talent. We hope that our fellowship awards will provide support and motivation to young engineers completing research and publishing their work,\u201d said Michael R. Koerner, president of the Koerner Family Foundation.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Each fellow\u2019s research explores solutions to complex engineering challenges \u2014 from regenerative medicine to intelligent sensing and safer manufacturing.<\/p>\n\n\n\n David Bordenkircher<\/strong>, a Ph.D. student in electrical and computer engineering, researches information-theoretic sensor management for improved target tracking. His work explores mathematically optimal ways to control and coordinate sensors so their measurements are as informative as possible.<\/p>\n\n\n\n In systems such as radar-based sensing, networks of sensors must often operate under power and bandwidth constraints. Bordenkircher\u2019s research aims to improve methods used to select and combine sensors so systems can produce more reliable estimates of a target\u2019s position.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Logan Schorr<\/strong>, who completed his Ph.D. in mechanical engineering in fall 2025, studies how collaborative robots can automate critical steps in metal additive manufacturing.<\/p>\n\n\n\n These manufacturing processes use fine metal powders to create complex parts but can pose safety risks during post-processing, when excess powder must be removed from finished components. Schorr\u2019s research develops tools that allow collaborative robots to perform tasks such as powder cleanup and part handling, improving safety while enabling greater automation in additive manufacturing workflows.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Leia Troop<\/strong>, a Ph.D. candidate in biomedical engineering, studies musculoskeletal tissue engineering and mechanobiology. Her research focuses on engineering anterior cruciate ligaments (ACLs) by recreating the physical environment of the human body in the lab.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Using three-dimensional cell cultures and mechanical loading that mimics everyday movement, Troop encourages cells to organize collagen into strong ligament tissue. The goal is to develop implantable ligament replacements that could address limitations associated with current ACL reconstruction methods, which often rely on cadaver tissue or grafts from the patient\u2019s own body.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The VCU College of Engineering offers innovative undergraduate<\/a> and graduate<\/a> degree programs tailored to meet the demands of the rapidly evolving engineering field. As part of a premier research university, students are given the opportunity to perform real-world research<\/a> in our state-of-the-art facilities as soon as they enroll. Browse videos and recent news to discover how the College of Engineering at Virginia Commonwealth University<\/a> prepares the next generation of scientists and engineers for the challenges of the future.<\/p>\n\n\n\n <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Three VCU College of Engineering doctoral researchers\u2014David Bordenkircher, Logan Schorr, and Leia Troop\u2014have been awarded Koerner Family Foundation fellowships for their innovative work in sensor management, collaborative robotics, and musculoskeletal tissue engineering.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2033,"featured_media":1567,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2,5,1128,6,13],"tags":[1212],"class_list":["post-1566","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-bme","category-ece","category-grad","category-mne","category-students","tag-koerner-family-foundation"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.vcu.edu\/engineering\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1566","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.vcu.edu\/engineering\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.vcu.edu\/engineering\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.vcu.edu\/engineering\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2033"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.vcu.edu\/engineering\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1566"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.vcu.edu\/engineering\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1566\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.vcu.edu\/engineering\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/1567"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.vcu.edu\/engineering\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1566"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.vcu.edu\/engineering\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1566"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.vcu.edu\/engineering\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1566"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}},{"id":1563,"date":"2026-03-31T08:00:00","date_gmt":"2026-03-31T08:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blogs.vcu.edu\/engineering\/?p=1563"},"modified":"2026-03-30T19:37:22","modified_gmt":"2026-03-30T19:37:22","slug":"graduate-students-awarded-top-honors-from-vcu-engineering-for-service-teaching-and-research-2","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blogs.vcu.edu\/engineering\/2026\/03\/31\/graduate-students-awarded-top-honors-from-vcu-engineering-for-service-teaching-and-research-2\/","title":{"rendered":"Graduate students awarded top honors from VCU Engineering for service, teaching and research"},"content":{"rendered":"\n From left: Caleb Wells, Lineth Perez and Santiago Bermudez Naranjo<\/p>\n\n\n\n Graduate students are integral to VCU Engineering. They advance the College\u2019s research objectives while also helping to educate our undergraduate students. The awards below recognize those who have exceeded expectations, going above and beyond to ensure their peers, students and the communities they reside in are well supported.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Congratulations to Lineth Perez, Caleb Wells and Santiago Bermudez Naranjo! We appreciate your hard work and commitment.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Perez is recognized for her commitment to mentorship and outreach. She has mentored undergraduate and high school students through research programs, helping them build technical skills, confidence and a sense of belonging in engineering. Through Perez\u2019s work with the Vertically Integrated Projects (VIP) program<\/a> and summer research experiences, she has created hands-on opportunities that support student growth and retention at the VCU College of Engineering.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The Outstanding Graduate Service Award is presented to a graduate student who is active in giving back to the community.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Wells is recognized for his strong commitment to student learning and engagement. He has taught and supported courses across the mechanical engineering curriculum, including large lecture courses where he uses interactive tools to gauge student understanding in real time and adjust instruction. His teaching approach emphasizes clarity, structure and meeting students where they are.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The Outstanding Graduate Teaching Award is presented to a graduate student who exemplifies what a teaching assistant should be: one who communicates complex topics effectively to students, is patient when working with students struggling to grasp course content, holds consistent office hours and goes above and beyond to help students. <\/p>\n\n\n\n Bermudez Naranjo is recognized for his impactful research in nanomaterials and radiation-related applications. His work focuses on improving materials for medical isotope production, radiation detection and nuclear systems, supporting advances in cancer diagnostics and treatment as well as next-generation energy technologies. He has collaborated with national laboratories and industry partners while mentoring junior researchers in the lab.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The Outstanding Graduate Research Award is presented to a graduate student who strives for excellence in research, shows leadership in the lab, mentors and acts as an example for undergraduate students in the lab.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The VCU College of Engineering offers innovative undergraduate<\/a> and graduate<\/a> degree programs tailored to meet the demands of the rapidly evolving engineering field. As part of a premier research university, students are given the opportunity to perform real-world research<\/a> in our state-of-the-art facilities as soon as they enroll. Browse videos and recent news to discover how the College of Engineering at Virginia Commonwealth University<\/a> prepares the next generation of scientists and engineers for the challenges of the future.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" VCU Engineering celebrates graduate students Lineth Perez, Caleb Wells, and Santiago Bermudez Naranjo for their outstanding contributions to service, teaching, and research, highlighting their commitment to mentorship, education, and innovation.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2033,"featured_media":1564,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1128,6,13],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1563","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-grad","category-mne","category-students"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.vcu.edu\/engineering\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1563","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.vcu.edu\/engineering\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.vcu.edu\/engineering\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.vcu.edu\/engineering\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2033"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.vcu.edu\/engineering\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1563"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.vcu.edu\/engineering\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1563\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.vcu.edu\/engineering\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/1564"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.vcu.edu\/engineering\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1563"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.vcu.edu\/engineering\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1563"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.vcu.edu\/engineering\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1563"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}},{"id":1562,"date":"2026-03-30T08:00:00","date_gmt":"2026-03-30T08:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blogs.vcu.edu\/engineering\/?p=1562"},"modified":"2026-03-27T20:19:39","modified_gmt":"2026-03-27T20:19:39","slug":"vcu-again-among-nations-top-100-universities-for-patents","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blogs.vcu.edu\/engineering\/2026\/03\/30\/vcu-again-among-nations-top-100-universities-for-patents\/","title":{"rendered":"VCU again among nation\u2019s top 100 universities for patents"},"content":{"rendered":"\n The National Academy of Inventors annual ranking highlights campus research and innovation and its importance in the marketplace to solving \u2018the most pressing challenges of our time.\u2019<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n By Emily Komornik For the third time in four years, Virginia Commonwealth University has been named one of the nation\u2019s top 100 universities for utility patents granted in 2025, according to new rankings by the National Academy of Inventors.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The NAI and its Top 100 U.S. Universities<\/a> ranking highlight academic institutions that advance innovation by securing their intellectual property through patents. In doing so, VCU promotes homegrown discoveries that can move beyond the laboratory and into the marketplace.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cEarning a spot in NAI\u2019s top 100 in three of the last four years illustrates that VCU\u2019s culture of innovation is not just thriving, it is sustainable,\u201d said P. Srirama Rao<\/a>, Ph.D., vice president for research and innovation. \u201cThis recognition reflects the relentless creativity of our faculty and our commitment to ensuring that VCU research doesn\u2019t just stay in the lab, but moves into the marketplace to solve the most pressing challenges of our time.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n Last year, through work conducted out of VCU\u2019s TechTransfer and Ventures<\/a> unit within the Office of the Vice President for Research and Innovation<\/a>, 16 U.S. utility patents were issued to VCU researchers. That figure placed VCU at No. 88 in the NAI list for 2025.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The TechTransfer team works directly with faculty to navigate the patent process, license technologies and launch startups, and \u201cbeing ranked in the top 100 is a celebration of our faculty\u2019s ingenuity,\u201d said Ivelina Metcheva<\/a>, Ph.D., VCU\u2019s assistant vice president for innovation. \u201cAt TechTransfer and Ventures, our mission is to create tangible societal and economic impact. It is a privilege to partner with our researchers as they transform their discoveries into patented solutions that serve the public good.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n This NAI ranking is driven by the work of individual faculty members whose collective inventions are shaping their industries and propelling VCU on the cutting edge of research and discovery. In recognition of those efforts, the NAI inducted one VCU researcher<\/a> this year as a fellow and five faculty members<\/a> as senior members:<\/p>\n\n\n\n For VCU, the latest NAI ranking is among a number of notable achievements recently for VCU\u2019s research enterprise:<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cThese accolades and our overall growth are simply not possible without our researchers, who have the drive and passion to make our tomorrow a better one,\u201d Rao said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Originally posted on VCU News: https:\/\/news.vcu.edu\/article\/vcu-again-among-nations-top-100-universities-for-patents<\/a><\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" For the third time in four years, Virginia Commonwealth University ranked among the top 100 U.S. universities for utility patents, securing 16 patents in 2025 to reach the No. 88 spot.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2033,"featured_media":1035,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[165,6],"tags":[1206,119,128,856,70,1166,135],"class_list":["post-1562","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-faculty-awards","category-mne","tag-casey-grey","tag-hong-zhao","tag-jayasimha-atulasimha","tag-national-academy-of-inventors","tag-ravi-hadimani","tag-vcu-techtransfer","tag-worth-longest"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.vcu.edu\/engineering\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1562","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.vcu.edu\/engineering\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.vcu.edu\/engineering\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.vcu.edu\/engineering\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2033"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.vcu.edu\/engineering\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1562"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.vcu.edu\/engineering\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1562\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.vcu.edu\/engineering\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/1035"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.vcu.edu\/engineering\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1562"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.vcu.edu\/engineering\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1562"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.vcu.edu\/engineering\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1562"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}},{"id":1560,"date":"2026-03-26T08:00:00","date_gmt":"2026-03-26T08:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blogs.vcu.edu\/engineering\/?p=1560"},"modified":"2026-03-25T13:47:01","modified_gmt":"2026-03-25T13:47:01","slug":"smart-fabrics-are-an-ideal-fit-for-christina-tang","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blogs.vcu.edu\/engineering\/2026\/03\/26\/smart-fabrics-are-an-ideal-fit-for-christina-tang\/","title":{"rendered":"\u2018Smart fabrics\u2019 are an ideal fit for Christina Tang"},"content":{"rendered":"\n The VCU School of Engineering professor explores how your clothes and other materials can incorporate biomedical benefits \u2013 and how invisibility cloaks ‘are getting closer to reality.’<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n By Anastasia Mineiro<\/p>\n\n\n\n What if your clothes could tell if you\u2019re hot or cold? What if you wore a bandage that could monitor how fast you\u2019re healing? And could invisibility cloaks from \u201cHarry Potter\u201d be real? At Virginia Commonwealth University, Christina Tang<\/a> has an eye for fashion and a mind for science.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Tang, Ph.D., an associate professor and researcher in the College of Engineering, specializes in \u201csmart fabrics<\/a>,\u201d which truly combine form and function. Imagine a shirt that changes from blue to red based on temperature.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cThe color change is to enable additional capabilities, such as camouflage, human motion detection, damage indicators, temperature indicators, etc.,\u201d said Tang, who is exploring \u2013 in the Department of Chemical and Life Sciences Engineering<\/a> \u2013 how fabrics can incorporate materials and sensors that serve biomedical or other purposes.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cBy leveraging our knowledge of materials and processing, we are interested in what other useful properties we could potentially develop.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n VCU News rolled up its sleeves and reached out to Tang, who joined VCU in 2015, for further insight.<\/p>\n\n\n\n They do seem a little bit like science fiction, but invisibility cloaks are getting closer to reality.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The technology is established for \u201cstealth\u201d aircraft \u2013 they are designed to avoid detection by reducing reflection\/emission of radar, infrared radio, frequency, etc. Products such as Quantum Stealth have been developed using arrays of lenticular lenses that bend light around an object so that it appears to disappear. For an invisibility cloak, by controlling the reflection from the fabric, it can be designed to mimic\/blend in with the natural surroundings.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Did you know that a single pair of jeans can use up to 3,800 liters of water in its lifetime? This high demand is due to, in part, growing the material \u2014 cotton \u2014 and also the dying process to add color. My research focuses on achieving colored fibers and textiles from nanostructures inspired by nature. Using wax derivatives, we have fabricated structures that show color when applied to textiles, and the color changes with temperature or strain.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Imagine these examples: smart masks with color indicators for proper fit or fever detection, bandages that monitor wound healing, thermal comfort \u2014 cooling fabrics that draw heat away from the body.<\/p>\n\n\n\n A liquid crystal is a unique material \u2013 it has properties like a liquid, but its molecules are well-organized. To achieve color, the molecules are organized into a helical pattern like a Slinky. The color that you see depends on the size of the helix \u2014 like if the Slinky is squeezed or stretched.<\/p>\n\n\n\n We process our materials by self-assembly: The components build a picture or pattern without instructions. On a molecular scale, this is like throwing all the pieces of a puzzle into the air and then landing in the solved puzzle.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Our research is performed in a controlled environment, and the materials we work with are sensitive to the environment \u2014 by design. A major challenge in applying the materials we are creating is understanding and predicting processing and performance when the scale is larger or the materials are used in harsh environmental conditions.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Originally posted on VCU News: https:\/\/news.vcu.edu\/article\/smart-fabrics-are-an-ideal-fit-for-christina-tang<\/a><\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" VCU researcher Christina Tang develops smart fabrics using liquid crystals. Her work explores materials that change color to monitor health, improve thermal comfort, and even enable advanced camouflage like invisibility cloaks.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2033,"featured_media":1561,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[118,1146,1211,1152],"class_list":["post-1560","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-clse","tag-christina-tang","tag-research","tag-smart-fabrics","tag-smee"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.vcu.edu\/engineering\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1560","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.vcu.edu\/engineering\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.vcu.edu\/engineering\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.vcu.edu\/engineering\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2033"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.vcu.edu\/engineering\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1560"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.vcu.edu\/engineering\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1560\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.vcu.edu\/engineering\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/1561"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.vcu.edu\/engineering\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1560"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.vcu.edu\/engineering\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1560"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.vcu.edu\/engineering\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1560"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}},{"id":1557,"date":"2026-03-20T08:00:00","date_gmt":"2026-03-20T08:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blogs.vcu.edu\/engineering\/?p=1557"},"modified":"2026-03-19T17:48:48","modified_gmt":"2026-03-19T17:48:48","slug":"strengthening-security-of-drinking-water-infrastructure-vcu-researchers-receive-support-from-commonwealth-cyber-initiative","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blogs.vcu.edu\/engineering\/2026\/03\/20\/strengthening-security-of-drinking-water-infrastructure-vcu-researchers-receive-support-from-commonwealth-cyber-initiative\/","title":{"rendered":"Strengthening security of drinking water infrastructure, VCU researchers receive support from Commonwealth Cyber Initiative"},"content":{"rendered":"\n The $100,000 grant supports development of quantum-enhanced infrastructure monitoring methods<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n Helping to protect drinking water systems from critical infrastructure failures, Thang Dinh, Ph.D.<\/strong><\/a>, associate professor in the Department of Computer Science at the Virginia Commonwealth University (VCU) College of Engineering, is developing quantum-enhanced monitoring methods to detect infrastructure flaws with support from a $100,000 Commonwealth Cyber Initiative grant.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cThe Richmond water crisis in 2025 showed us traditional monitoring systems that watch one sensor at a time are not enough,\u201d Dinh said. \u201cOur project aims to use quantum computing to analyze hundreds of sensors simultaneously, so utilities can identify problems earlier and respond faster. This approach will be able to detect patterns of failure across a utility\u2019s entire network.\u201d <\/p>\n\n\n\n Water utilities nationwide face growing challenges from aging infrastructure, extreme weather and increasingly sophisticated cyber threats, according to organizations like the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency and Virginia Department of Health. Incidents across Virginia,like the James River Treatment Plant failure and Richmond water crisis, have underscored how quickly such vulnerabilities can disrupt service for large populations.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Led by Dinh with support from co-Primary Investigator Jayasimha Atulasimha, Ph.D.<\/strong><\/a>, Engineering Foundation Professor in the Department of Mechanical & Nuclear Engineering at the VCU College of Engineering, and Laura Poe, Ph.D., assistant professor of information systems and cybersecurity at Longwood University, the project, named \u201cQuantum-AI Detection of Cyber-Physical Attacks on Smart Water Networks,\u201d is a collaboration that brings together expertise in quantum optimization algorithms, quantum device physics and cybersecurity.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The research will develop semi-quantum Restricted Boltzmann Machines, or sqRBMs, designed to identify mechanical failures, like burst pipes, and deliberate cyber manipulation of pumps and valves. By leveraging quantum annealing, researchers aim to overcome computational limits that constrain classical machine learning systems, enabling faster model training and more responsive monitoring. It builds on a strong foundation of prior work, like Dinh’s 2025 IonQ Research grant on quantum optimization and machine learning and 2025 Commonwealth Cyber Initiative grant on quantum-cloud security for cyber-physical systems. Dinh’s expertise is complemented by Atulasimha’s NSF-funded research on energy-efficient quantum control of robust spin ensemble qubits conducted in collaboration with UCLA.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Supporting two VCU Ph.D. students, one Longwood University master\u2019s student and three undergraduates, the project will give students hands-on experience with quantum computing hardware, machine learning for cybersecurity and critical infrastructure systems. Researchers also plan to host a quantum computing workshop to help strengthen Virginia\u2019s emerging quantum workforce.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The Department of Computer Science provides undergraduate<\/a> and graduate<\/a> students with the opportunity to perform real-world research<\/a> as soon as they enroll. From designing algorithms to solving complex computing problems to working with cutting-edge AI technology, students gain understanding of many important computing topics. Browse videos and recent news from the Department of Computer Science<\/a> to discover how the College of Engineering at Virginia Commonwealth University prepares the next generation of scientists and engineers for the challenges of the future.<\/p>\n\n\n\n <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" VCU researchers received a $100,000 grant to develop quantum-AI monitoring for smart water networks, aiming to detect cyber-attacks and infrastructure failures faster and more accurately than traditional systems.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2033,"featured_media":1558,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[4,165,6,15],"tags":[749,128,1146,1174,1070],"class_list":["post-1557","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-cs","category-faculty-awards","category-mne","category-grants","tag-commonwealth-cyber-initiative","tag-jayasimha-atulasimha","tag-research","tag-research-grant","tag-thang-dinh"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.vcu.edu\/engineering\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1557","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.vcu.edu\/engineering\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.vcu.edu\/engineering\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.vcu.edu\/engineering\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2033"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.vcu.edu\/engineering\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1557"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.vcu.edu\/engineering\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1557\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.vcu.edu\/engineering\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/1558"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.vcu.edu\/engineering\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1557"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.vcu.edu\/engineering\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1557"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.vcu.edu\/engineering\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1557"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}]
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\n\n\n\nA Legacy of Partnership<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n
A Bright Future for Robotics<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n
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\n\n\n\nOutstanding Graduate Service Award<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n
Lineth Perez
Department of Mechanical & Nuclear Engineering<\/h3>\n\n\n\nOutstanding Graduate Teaching Award<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n
Caleb Wells
Department of Mechanical & Nuclear Engineering<\/h3>\n\n\n\nOutstanding Graduate Research Award<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n
Santiago Bermudez Naranjo
Department of Mechanical & Nuclear Engineering<\/h3>\n\n\n\n
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Office of the Vice President for Research and Innovation<\/p>\n\n\n\n\n
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\n\n\n\nFirst, tell us something amazing about smart fabrics at the moment.<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n
Really? Invisibility cloaks?<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n
Now take us into your lab. Give us another relatable example that ties in directly to what you\u2019re doing.<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n
What are potential uses of such smart fabrics?<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n
The fibers used in smart fabrics are created from liquid crystals. What exactly is a liquid crystal, and how do you process it?<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n
What is the biggest challenge in translating your research from the lab to the real world?<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n
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