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Charles
W. Steger — President, Virginia Tech
Related
links:
- Hampton's tunnel vision
-
Q&A with George Newstrom,
Secretary of Technology
Born:
Richmond
Education: Virginia Tech
Degree: B.A., M.A. and Ph.D. (doctorate in
environmental engineering)
Prior job: Vice President of Development
and University Relations (Virginia Tech)
Current residence: Blacksburg |
Q:
Why did Virginia Tech decide to become a co-partner
in producing COVITS 2003?
A: As a leading technology-based university, technology
is fundamental to everything we do. We develop technology,
patent technology, educate our students in technology
and provide cutting edge research for everything from
agriculture to the Department of Defense.
We
also understand the important role that technology plays
in the local and state economies.
We
were a partner in the nationally recognized Blacksburg
Electronic Village, which marked the first time in history
the Internet was available to an entire community. This
initiative resulted in Blacksburg being deemed the “most
wired town in America.”
Virginia
Tech’s Corporate Research Center houses more than
100 private technology based companies, which specialize
in everything from software imaging to telecommunications.
Virginia Tech is moving into new areas like bioinformatics,
which combines the study of biology with high tech,
computer based analysis.
Q:
What role is Virginia Tech playing as a co-sponsor?
A: We will provide the perspective of the research
university, and illustrate ways in which university
research can assist industry and government in implementing
cutting edge technology. When you look around the country,
examples of the impact of technology-based research
universities are readily apparent. Boston’s Route
128, North Carolina’s Research Triangle and the
Silicon Valley were all developed as a result of the
technology expertise found at some of the nation’s
leading research universities.
Q:
What unique contributions does Virginia Tech bring to
the symposium?
A: Virginia Tech is a leader in computer networking
— a role we established during the creation of
the Blacksburg Electronic village.
Most recently, we were the lead university in the partnership
to establish Network Virginia. This project — in
collaboration with Virginia’s Community College
System, the University of Virginia, and Old Dominion
University and private telecommunications corporations
— created a leading broadband network across the
state, bringing Internet service to previously underserved
rural areas and providing the lowest cost bandwidth
per gigabit available. The program now has more than
1,000 sites across the commonwealth, and Virginia Tech
continues to manage the network for the state of Virginia.
This is a prime example of how collaboration and partnership
within higher education can spearhead improved technology
throughout the state.
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to Virginia Business - September 2003
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