The new leader of Virginia Tech’s billion-dollar tech campus project in Alexandria is laying out his vision for it.
Lance Collins comes from Cornell University, for which he helped open a tech campus in New York City. is being built in the Potomac Yard area.
鈥淚 think it鈥檚 just a fantastic, beautiful location,鈥� Collins said. 鈥淚ts proximity to Amazon is not lost on me. That鈥檚 also quite important.鈥�
The Innovation Campus was part of the effort to land Amazon鈥檚 HQ2, which will be in Crystal City.
Still, Collins added, “it鈥檚 not an exclusive relationship” with Amazon, and he said he looks forward to working with partner companies across multiple industries.
The program will begin in the fall, in Falls Church and other space in Alexandria.
The first Potomac Yard campus building is set for completion in 2024. When complete in about 10 years, the campus will enroll 750 master’s candidates, and hundreds of doctoral students and postdoctoral fellows, according to Virginia Tech.
The university also has said the Innovation Campus will triple its footprint in Northern Virginia.
Collins said the campus could offer education in the areas of computer science, computer engineering, electrical engineering, cybersecurity and policy.
鈥淭his is really a breakthrough, I think, for this area,鈥� Collins said.
