School Expands in Biotech Eight

Richmond, VA (January 11, 2017)- In 2016, the VCU School of Engineering expanded in the Virginia Biotechnology Research Park, a 34- acre life sciences community that houses private sector companies, research institutes, non-profits and state and federal laboratories adjacent to the VCU Medical Center.

The research park’s Biotech Eight (BT8) is now home to many of VCU Engineering’s most advanced facilities. The school’s “wet labs” in BT8 are equipped with specialized instrumentation including nuclear magnetic resonance, gas chromatography-mass spectrometry and liquid chromatography-mass spectrometry. VCU’s artificial heart lab, which features a mock circulatory loop and flow visualization, is housed in this facility. BT8 also supports the school’s collaborative research programs with “dry lab” facilities including a Precision Imaging Research Laboratory (PIRL).

VCU’s Medicines for All and Pharmacy on Demand (see pages 14-17) laboratories are headquartered here. The VCU Center for Human Factors and Rehabilitation Engineering and VCU’s Center for Rational Catalyst Synthesis (CeRCaS) — the world’s first and only research center that focuses on understanding the chemical fundamentals of catalyst synthesis — are also in BT8.

In addition to labs, VCU’s BT8 facilities provide work areas that support the school’s culture of research, education and collaboration. It is the location of VCU Institute for Engineering & Medicine offices and conference rooms. It is also where the school’s new Ph.D. program in pharmaceutical engineering will be headquartered.