The future is now at the Innovation Campus of Virginia Tech in Alexandria, where 500 graduate students will be researching everything from next generation wireless technology and quantum information science to robots and drones. Nissi Otoo is a graduate student studying computer engineering with a minor in human-computer interaction.
"I want to incorporate a human aspect to machine learning because I feel like machine learning is centered on learning from the machines," Otoo says. "But if we could incorporate how humans interact with those machines, then we could develop solutions that both benefit the humans and the machines."
The location in Alexandria allows for academic research to work alongside corporate research and federal agencies as part of the Northern Virginia business community. Raphael Rodriguez is a graduate student studying computer engineering, and he's already working on a startup allowing barbers to book clients.
"To be able to use the power of AI to be able to recommend styles for specific personnel with language barriers or to be able to see a style on your face before you continue with a service or a potential new style you're trying out," Rodriguez explains.
The tech talent pipeline created here was part of the deal that landed a second headquarters for Amazon just across the city line in Arlington. That’s a stretch of land that some people are calling National Landing, although some of the students here are already calling it Hokie Landing.
This report, provided by Virginia Public Radio, was made possible with support from the Virginia Education Association.
