VCU news

By Samantha Wheeler Marrs
Development and Alumni Relations

Virginia Commonwealth University’s burgeoning “maker culture” received a boost when Richmond -based Fortune 200 company Altria Group awarded $1 million to the School of Engineering.

The gift supports the school’s proposed Innovation Maker Facility, a space for students from VCU’s engineering and business schools and the VCU da Vinci Center to practice creative analysis, design thinking, ideation, solution development and hands-on learning.

With flexible work areas and collaborative project spaces, team rooms and construction spaces, the Innovation Maker Facility will have the capacity to support more than 100 projects of varying sizes and complexity, from student-developed cars to nanodevices for medical applications. The facility will also feature specialized support spaces for welding and painting, a design studio and several team rooms to support collaborative design efforts.

“Experiential learning is a core attribute of engineering education and preparation for careers in research, industry and economic development,” said L. Franklin Bost, author of the facility’s strategy, director of the VCU Institute for Engineering and Medicine and executive associate dean for innovation and outreach in the VCU School of Engineering.

“The maker culture has transformed the way that industry approaches the product design, prototyping, testing, manufacturing and marketing process,” said Mark Cruise, vice president of Altria Client Services LLC. “The School of Engineering’s Innovation Maker Facility will equip today’s students with the experiential learning, entrepreneurial spirit and collaborative aptitude that will allow them to grow and develop as leaders and innovators before they even enter the workforce. Altria is proud to support the facility.”

The 8,000-square-foot facility will be on the first floor of the new VCU Engineering Research Building, scheduled to open on the Monroe Park Campus in 2020. Initially, VCU will recruit a program director to oversee the facility and the School of Engineering’s other maker spaces, as well as develop programmatic goals.

“The Innovation Maker Facility will support the School of Engineering’s culture of creativity, innovation and hands-on application of engineering and technical knowledge,” said Barbara Boyan, Ph.D., dean of the VCU School of Engineering. “As well as being a huge benefit to the students who will use it, it will also play a key role in the recruitment of the best and brightest new engineering students and help us engage more meaningfully with our industry partners.”

The Innovation Maker Facility aligns with a broader university commitment to the intellectual and academic success of a diverse student body and with cultivating discovery, creativity, inventiveness and talent, said VCU President Michael Rao, Ph.D.

“I am extremely grateful for Altria’s support of the School of Engineering’sInnovation Maker Facility,” Rao said. “The opportunities our students will receive as a result of Altria’s generosity and belief in the importance of a maker culture will prepare these students for an incredible future in which they will be well-prepared to be innovators and leaders we trust and respect.”