Expanding Virginia Tech’s reach through research, innovation, and creativity

Virginia Tech faculty were honored last week for their efforts to impact the community, region, and the world through their research, innovation, and creativity. Their extraordinary accomplishments in achieving excellence and expanding Virginia Tech’s reach over the last fiscal year were acknowledged by university leadership and among peers.

“We had a record year in 2022 with research expenditures and awards — all credited to the hard work of our dedicated and talented faculty,” said Virginia Tech Senior Vice President for Research and Innovation Dan Sui, who welcomed Virginia Tech’s top researchers to the event. “With increased support from our research institutes, research development efforts, and overall improved infrastructure, our faculty are pursuing larger awards, an increased amount of awards, and more collaborative team-based projects as well as center-type projects.”

Researchers honored at the event earned the university’s largest sponsored research awards in fiscal year 2022, with anticipated award amounts between $2.75 million and $17 million from agencies such as the National Science Foundation, National Institutes of Health, Department of Energy, the U.S. Agency for International Development, and Department of Defense. The event also acknowledged faculty teams that pursued large proposals in 2022, submitting proposals with requested amounts ranging from $10 million to nearly $100 million.   

From prestigious Guggenheim fellowships to a first-time award of the National Institutes of Health Outstanding Investigator Award to Clarivate’s Highly Cited Research list to recipients of creative design awards, faculty were honored for their “exceptional years in your research, scholarship, and creative activities,” said Sui.

President Tim Sands and Executive Vice President and Provost Cyril Clarke commended the researchers at the event and spoke about the importance of high-profile programs, sustained excellence, prestigious recognition, and scholarship. Each highlighted the importance of research, innovation, and creativity to Virginia Tech’s land-grant mission.

In 2022, 13 faculty earned prestigious awards spanning six colleges and included three outstanding choices articles, two fellows of the American Association for the Advancement of Science, and two Fulbright Scholars. Also this year, Virginia Tech faculty were elected fellows of the Optical Society of America and the National Endowment for the Humanities. Additionally, 19 faculty won National Science Foundation CAREER awards and equivalent awards from other federal agencies.  

Virginia Tech faculty were honored who:

• Received significant recognition from national and international groups for their research, scholarly, and creative impact

• Were named on the 2021 Highly Cited Research list for demonstrating significant influence in their fields or across multiple fields through the publication of multiple highly cited papers during the last decade;

• Won major sponsored research awards to support their research, training, and impact

• Pursued a record size of sponsored research with a scale and scope to support transformational change through research and investigation

• Managed wide portfolios of sponsored research, providing impact and insight to diverse sponsors
  

• Propeled their technologies from the lab into the world through commercialization and new ventures, ensuring their discoveries reach the people who will benefit most

• Had significant achievements in creativity, arts, and design endeavors