New research building taking shape

   

Walls are up, the roof is on, and the first Hokie Stone is in place.

Construction on the new Human and Agricultural Biosciences Building 1 is moving along briskly and the new facility is on schedule to open in November. The newest addition to the College of Agriculture and Life Sciences will be home some of the most cutting-edge research happening at Virginia Tech.

“This will be a place where some of the biggest challenges of the world will be tackled and solved,” said Alan Grant, dean of the college.

Anyone driving by the corner of Duck Pond Drive and Washington Street on the Blacksburg campus can see construction crews working on the 93,860-sqaure-foot building that will house research laboratories for the departments of biological systems engineering and food science and technology.

Walls are being framed to create massive rooms that will house a biosecurity level 2 certified food-processing facility, allowing scientists to conduct experiments involving E. coli, salmonella, and other pathogens that require a heightened level of security and training.

Other laboratories in the environmentally friendly building will have scientists developing new biofuels and biomaterials, finding ways to combat addiction through novel vaccines, and working on keeping pathogens from contaminating water, among other things.  

“This building and its the state-of-the-art equipment will allow our faculty to explore new avenues of nanotechnology, bioenergy, biomaterials, food safety, and food packaging and processing that will make a real and meaningful difference in the world,” said Saied Mostaghimi, associate dean of research and graduate studies.

The new facility is the first of four planned for the new Biosciences Precinct, a quad of buildings for researchers in the college.