Corporate Engagement

Virginia Tech will accelerate the next digital technology revolution through transdisciplinary research and education along key themes in close partnership with industry and government partners to drive solutions from the research lab into real-world applications.  Together, we will ignite the ecosystem through talent, research, and innovation.  The Innovation Campus has created a tiered scaffold to support relationships with select industry partners.

Foundational Partner

Foundational partners (up to three) represent the highest level of engagement.  They are invited to participate in shaping the research and education themes across the entire campus.  They will be afforded opportunities to name spaces, programs and faculty positions depending on their interests and preference for investments.

Anchor Partner

Anchor partners (one per research theme) are the second tier of investors.  They are invited to participate in shaping one of the research themes.  Their funding can be used to support faculty chairs and student scholarships aligned with their research theme.

Ecosystem Partner

Ecosystem partners (up to 20) are significant supporters of research, facilities such as maker spaces, and the project-based learning program.  They are also invited to contribute to K-12 STEM programs administered by the Innovation Campus.

Innovation Partner

Innovation partners are contributors to existing programs on the campus.  Their support provides them a preferred position in terms of recruiting, the opportunity to organize and run hackathons, and invitations to participate in sponsored forums and meet-ups.

In addition to these more formal engagements, companies of all sizes (large, medium, small and startups) are invited to submit projects for the student teams to work on.  Companies will be required to contribute a fee (on a tiered scale based on the company size) and tech support to help oversee and guide the project.  The company sponsoring a project will receive a written and oral report, and are free to continue interacting with the team after the conclusion of the project.