Advancing research in the greater Washington D.C. area through network connectivity projects

As Virginia Tech’s presence in the greater Washington D.C. area grows, the demand for network services increases. New facilities such as Academic Building One, which houses the new Institute for Advanced Computing, require consistent, reliable connectivity to facilitate research and communications. Network Infrastructure & Services (NI&S) was instrumental in the completion of Academic Building One, spending more than 16,500 personnel hours installing infrastructure to outfit the building for high-tech research including AI and machine learning, wireless and “Next Gen” technology, quantum computing, and more. This was the largest construction project NI&S has undertaken, and a particularly significant accomplishment considering the job site was 270 miles from home.

NI&S also implemented a new regional network that provides a more-consistent user experience and additional service redundancy to the Washington D.C. region. Duplicating connections and infrastructure for a number of services reduces the possibility of failure even if connectivity to the Blacksburg campus is lost. This important work underpins the research mission of the university and contributes to our path to Global Distinction.