Skip to main content
Add as a preferred source on Google

Virginia Tech Establishes New Facility for School of Construction

  • By Matt Jones
  • 10/21/24

Virginia Tech recently partnered with construction management firm Procon Consulting to establish the Procon Innovation Center on its campus in Blacksburg, Va., according to a news release. The facility inside the university’s newly built Hitt Hall will offer hands-on collaboration and learning opportunities for students in the Myers-Lawson School of Construction and College of Engineering. Procon Consulting’s co-founders, Mark Ilich and Kyu Jung, are Virginia Tech graduates.

The Procon Innovation Center comes with tech-focused resources including robotics and 3D concrete printers. Its purpose is to support large, student-led projects and provide an outlet for experiential and experimental learning, with the ultimate goal of creating new solutions for and approaches to building construction.

“Virginia Tech does a great job connecting students with industry, and we shared so many impactful experiences as students there, with influential professors like Yvan Beliveau and Thomas Mills, who gave us valuable hands-on real-world projects that launched our careers and inspired us to start Procon,” said Jung. “Repurposing a business plan we created in a graduate class as our foundation, we saw an opportunity to solve industry challenges with emerging technology. We want students to have those same opportunities for innovation and disruption in the industry and champion construction tech for the future.”

Procon offers construction management and custom solutions to new-build and infrastructure projects; past clients include NASA, the National Park Service, and the Architect of the Capitol, the news release reports.

“While technology has advanced quickly over the last 25 years, construction is right on the cusp of the biggest transformation the industry will see over the next 15 years, improving cumbersome processes with the adoption of innovations like artificial intelligence, robotics, building information modeling, 3D printing and more,” said Ilich. “The Procon Innovation Center will enable students to have hands-on experience in creating that transformation that shapes the future of the construction industry. The timing of the center’s opening is auspicious, as October is Careers in Construction Month and this facility will inspire students to explore what an amazing career you can have in construction.”

About the Author

Matt Jones is senior editor of Spaces4Learning. He can be reached at [email protected].

Featured

  • Phoenix High School Completes First Phase of Campus Renovations

    Metro Tech High School, part of the Phoenix Union High School District (PXU) in Phoenix, Ariz., recently announced the completion of the first stage of a campus renovation project, according to a news release. The school reopened a series of public-facing business operations spaces including credit union, daycare, floral, cosmetology, and culinary services. It also includes new CTE learning spaces for the school’s nursing assistant, pharmacy, and sports medicine programs.

  • Auburn University Debuts $224M STEM + Agricultural Sciences Complex

    Auburn University in Auburn, Ala., recently opened its new $224-million STEM + Agricultural Sciences Complex, the largest research construction project in the university’s history, according to university news. The facility measures more than 265,000 square feet and brings six departments from the College of Agriculture and College of Sciences and Mathematics together under one roof.

  • Charles R. Drew University Opens Health Professions Education Building

    Charles R. Drew University of Medicine and Science (CDU) has officially opened its new Health Professions Education Building (HPEB) in South Los Angeles.

  • Nashville Elementary School Receives LEED Gold Certification

    Goodlettsville Elementary School, part of Metro Nashville Public Schools in Nashville, Tenn., recently achieved LEED Gold Certification from the U.S. Green Building Council (USGBC), according to a news release. The 81,750-square-foot school opened in 2023 and was designed by Goodwyn Mills Cawood (GMC).