Spectrum - Volume 19 Issue 35 July 17, 1997 - Economic-development officials to tour campus next week

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Economic-development officials to tour campus next week

By Catherine Doss

Spectrum Volume 19 Issue 35 - July 17, 1997

Economic-development officials from the Roanoke area to the western-most region of the state, members of the New Century Council Board of Directors, and others involved in local economic-development initiatives will tour the Virginia Tech campus July 22. The annual campus tour is sponsored by Public Service Programs, a unit of the university's Outreach Division and American Electric Power.
"The presence of a major research institution can be a very strong incentive for companies to locate in a region," said J. Douglas McAlister, executive director of Public Service Programs. `We offer this event every year to showcase the latest technology and research conducted at Virginia Tech."
The day-long event will include visits to the Corporate Research Center, the university's Thomas Brooks Forest Products Center, the Center for Wireless Telecommunication, and an interactive demonstration of the university's virtual environment research and development (The Cave).
Topics for discussion will include emerging technologies, implications of the Smart Road, web systems as economic-development tools, the growing forest-products industry in southwestern Virginia, and future trends in packaging microelectronics.
Although the event is specifically targeted for economic developers, anyone is welcome to attend. The event is free. For more information, contact Ellen Miller, economic-development specialist at 1-6638 or e-mail her at eamiller@vt.edu .