From global giants to local startups, every manufacturer needs access to the tools, talent, and research that drive innovation. This month, Virginia Tech will show how it’s turning that vision into reality through three events focused on strengthening Virginia’s advanced manufacturing ecosystem.

“These events bring together industry, federal, and academic thought leaders to collaboratively shape the future of manufacturing — from emerging technologies to the skilled workforce needed to support them,” said Christopher Williams, the L.S. Randolph Professor of Mechanical Engineering and a national leader in 3D printing and advanced manufacturing. “It’s an opportunity to align Virginia Tech’s strengths with real-world challenges and future needs.”

From bolstering supply chains to preparing tomorrow’s workforce, Virginia Tech is partnering with industry, government, and community leaders to drive innovation and economic development. 

These events will offer hands-on lab access, opportunities for workforce strategy development, and direct engagement with manufacturers — while giving faculty and students a firsthand look at the challenges real businesses face. 

Scheduled for Sept. 15-18 in Blacksburg, the three events include:

  • Additive Manufacturing and Advanced Materials (AM²) Hub Conference, Sept. 15: A one-day forum bringing together manufacturers, researchers, and policymakers to explore the future of manufacturing — featuring expert panels, peer breakouts, and guided lab tours — and to accelerate collaboration, innovation, and the growth of Virginia’s advanced manufacturing ecosystem.

  • Future of Manufacturing Workforce Workshop, Sept. 16–17: This workshop begins with a hands-on session where industry and federal stakeholders will identify the skills they need most from the next generation of manufacturing professionals. Their input will shape a published report to guide curriculum development across academic institutions and in particular, inform Virginia Tech’s emerging Manufacturing Spine concept, which integrates experiential learning throughout the engineering curriculum. On the second day, participants will hear from College of Engineering faculty and students who will share research related to advanced manufacturing. Attendees will also tour some of the university’s cutting-edge labs to see that research in action.

Together, these events reflect a universitywide commitment to aligning research, education, engagement, and economic development, a key priority of the Center for Economic and Community Engagement, which supports regional innovation initiatives and helped secure a highly competitive federal Tech Hubs Strategy Development Grant. The center also serves as the support organization for GO Virginia Region 2, a state-led initiative to drive private-sector growth and high-wage job creation through such regional collaboration. 

“These events are about impact,” said John Provo, the center’s executive director. “They’re about helping businesses plug into Virginia Tech’s expertise, helping researchers understand real-world industry needs, and helping communities benefit from this growing hub of innovation.”

A catalyst for regional collaboration and innovation

That commitment drives the AM² Tech Hub, a consortium of more than 50 partners working to expand advanced manufacturing capacity across Virginia and beyond. The university plays a central role by connecting companies with emerging technologies, specialized training, and shared infrastructure.  

Designed to spark new partnerships and ideas, the AM² Hub Conference will tackle real-world manufacturing challenges, from scaling emerging technologies to strengthening supply chains. Through interactive sessions and behind-the-scenes lab tours, attendees will see how Virginia Tech and partners across the commonwealth are aligning to help companies stay globally competitive in a fast-changing industry.

Tours will include Williams’ DREAMS Lab, which focuses on additive manufacturing design, materials, and implementation, frequently in partnership with industry. Other featured facilities include the Kroehling Advanced Materials Foundry, the Soft Materials and Structures Lab, and more, all part of the region’s growing innovation ecosystem.

“These are places where you can see the future of manufacturing up close,” Williams said. “It’s not theoretical — it’s happening here.”

Shaping the workforce of tomorrow 

Technology alone isn’t enough. It takes people with the right skills to turn innovation into impact. That’s the focus of the Future of Manufacturing Workforce Workshop, a multiday session designed to identify the competencies manufacturers need most — not through lectures, but through listening.

“A lot of companies come to us looking to solve individual problems,” said John Ralston, associate director for business development at LINK: Center for Advancing Partnerships. “This is a chance to bring people together to solve shared challenges and for Virginia Tech to understand what industry really needs, directly from the source.”

Participants will contribute to a white paper outlining current and future workforce needs, with practical recommendations for curriculum and training. The goal is to create a road map that serves Virginia Tech and other institutions across the commonwealth.

“You hear about manufacturing in the news every day, and Virginia Tech is leaning into it,” Ralston said. “We have the capacity and the willingness to work across disciplines to take on the hard problems. That’s why Virginia Tech is the right university for this moment.”

Where strategy meets science

While the AM² conference sets the strategic direction, the NCFL Fall Workshop puts it under the microscope — literally. 

“If the AM² Hub Conference is where we set the vision, the NCFL workshop is where we test it, atom by atom,” said Matt Hull, director of the Nanoscale Characterization and Fabrication Lab and a research professor at the Institute for Critical Technology and Applied Science.

Participants will train on some of the most advanced materials analysis tools in the region, including a newly installed atomic resolution scanning/transmission electron microscope capable of imaging — and identifying — individual atoms.

“It’s like going from Hubble to the James Webb Space Telescope,” Hull said. “This level of detail allows us to validate materials, improve designs from the bottom up, and give our industry partners data they simply can’t get anywhere else.”

The lab supports about 300 users annually, including Virginia Tech researchers and external clients. 

“A small business can’t afford a $3 million microscope,” Hull said. “But they don’t have to. They can use ours — affordably, accessibly, and alongside our students and experts. That’s the power of a land-grant university.”

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