Virginia Tech to Build Ballston Research Hub

Virginia Tech plans to build a major research center in Ballston, part of an effort to expand the university's offerings and influence in the Washington area.

The center will use high-performance computing to delve into issues such as transportation, public health and national security, James Bohland, vice president and executive director of Virginia Tech's operations in the national capital region, said yesterday.

For example, bioinformatics researchers will analyze a vast amount of information to find new patterns and ways to understand the human genome.

Bohland said university officials believe that "Virginia Tech ought to have greater visibility and more presence" in the region.

The center will bring 150 researchers, faculty and staff members to the area, but that is just the beginning, said Bobbie Kilberg, president and chief executive of the Northern Virginia Technology Council. "It will really help us in promoting Northern Virginia as a destination for federal research dollars. Over time, hopefully . . . that means jobs."

Kilberg said the center will fit into an initiative called the Chesapeake Crescent, in which five universities plan to collaborate on research. "Clearly Virginia Tech having a major presence up here will help that," Kilberg said.

The center, which Bohland said will cost more than $80 million, will be funded by the Virginia Tech Foundation.

Plans call for the seven-story building, with 144,000 square feet of space, to open in late 2010 at Glebe Road and Wilson Boulevard. The first floor will be a science-themed discussion cafe, based on the Cafe Scientifique idea offered once a month at the nearby National Science Foundation. Next month, speakers there will talk about measuring the equator.

"We're trying to encourage networking and collaboration among the huge concentration of science workers located in Arlington, and particularly the Ballston area," said Kaye Breen, executive director of the Ballston Science and Technology Alliance.