[{"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

A Legacy of Partnership<\/strong><\/h3>\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

A Bright Future for Robotics<\/strong><\/h3>\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

\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":"2026-04-02T15:22:53","modified_gmt":"2026-04-02T15:22:53","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