{"id":2044,"date":"2019-10-18T15:46:53","date_gmt":"2019-10-18T19:46:53","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.virginiawestern.edu\/news\/?p=2044"},"modified":"2019-10-18T15:46:53","modified_gmt":"2019-10-18T19:46:53","slug":"grand-opening-commemorates-new-stem-building","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.virginiawestern.edu\/news\/2019\/10\/18\/grand-opening-commemorates-new-stem-building\/","title":{"rendered":"Grand Opening commemorates new STEM Building"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p>Virginia Western Community College welcomed community members from across the Roanoke Region to celebrate the Grand Opening of its new $37-million STEM Building on Thursday. More than 300 attendees heard from local elected officials, business leaders and students about the impact the new facility will have on growing the local economy through collaboration and innovation.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>&#8220;This building will drive our region forward in the fields\nof STEM and health professions,&#8221; said Dr. Robert H. Sandel, President of\nVirginia Western. &#8220;It will be the home of innovation and the next bright idea.\nIt will help the Commonwealth of Virginia continue to be one of the best places\nin America to do business.&#8221;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The Grand Opening event had a student-focused feel as\nrecent alumni introduced each of the speakers and shared details on how their\nSTEM education at Virginia Western has impacted them. Following the speakers&#8217;\nportion, faculty members showed attendees the facility, labs and the\ncutting-edge new equipment.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>&#8220;To me, the building is about preparing students for jobs\nthat don&#8217;t exist yet,&#8221; said Amy White, Dean of STEM. &#8220;The space allows them to\nfocus on critical thinking, problem-solving skills and communication skills.\nIt&#8217;s not about the equipment. It&#8217;s not about the buttons on the machine. It&#8217;s\nabout why the buttons are on the machine, and how the students can solve\nproblems using the latest and greatest equipment.&#8221;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Speakers such as Delegate Terry Austin, Roanoke City Mayor\nSherman Lea, Roanoke businessman W. Heywood Fralin and Richard Farthing of\nVirginia&#8217;s Community Colleges spoke about how investment in higher education,\nand STEM in particular, will continue to drive the region&#8217;s economic growth.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>&#8220;One of the most important players in this [region&#8217;s]\nmovement to a knowledge-based economy is Virginia Western Community College.\nIts growth not only in size but also in stature has been remarkable and this\ngrowth has focused on quality,&#8221; said Fralin, a member of the Virginia Western\nEducational Foundation Board of Directors. &#8220;There has been a recent focus on\nrecruiting top business leaders throughout the region to serve on the\nFoundation&#8217;s Board of Directors, and [the college&#8217;s recent] accomplishments are\na result of the leadership of the outstanding administration of Virginia\nWestern Community College and the Foundation Board of Directors which has\nincluded visionaries like the late Charles Steger. Together they have produced\nfor this region one of the best community colleges in the entire system.\nNeedless to say, we are proud of Virginia Western Community College.&#8221;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Programs that will be located in the STEM Building include\nMechatronics, Engineering, Biology, Chemistry, Biotechnology, Physics and\nMathematics. New cutting-edge equipment includes a phase contrast fluorescence\nmicroscope, a multiphoton confocal microscope, a scanning electron microscope,\nfour new spectrometers, process control units, a 5 axis CNC milling machine, a\n24-foot water flume and a collaborative robot.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>To view photos from the Grand Opening, visit: <a href=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/pg\/VirginiaWestern\/photos\/?tab=album&amp;album_id=10156162237936534\">https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/pg\/VirginiaWestern\/photos\/?tab=album&amp;album_id=10156162237936534<\/a>.\n<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>To find out more about Virginia Western&#8217;s STEM programs,\nvisit <a href=\"http:\/\/www.virginiawestern.edu\/academics\">www.virginiawestern.edu\/academics<\/a>\nor call (855) 874-6690.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Virginia Western Community College welcomed community members from across the Roanoke Region to celebrate the Grand Opening of its new $37-million STEM Building on Thursday. More than 300 attendees heard from local elected officials, business leaders and students about the impact the new facility will have on growing the local economy through collaboration and innovation.&hellip; <a class=\"continue\" href=\"https:\/\/www.virginiawestern.edu\/news\/2019\/10\/18\/grand-opening-commemorates-new-stem-building\/\">Continue Reading<span> Grand Opening commemorates new STEM Building<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[17,23,26],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-2044","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-campus-news","category-foundation","category-roanoke-innovates"],"featured_image_src":null,"author_info":{"display_name":"Jaime Shetrone","author_link":"https:\/\/www.virginiawestern.edu\/news\/author\/jshetrone\/"},"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v27.3 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>Grand Opening commemorates new STEM Building - News from Virginia Western<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Article about Grand Opening commemorates new STEM Building\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.virginiawestern.edu\/news\/2019\/10\/18\/grand-opening-commemorates-new-stem-building\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Grand Opening commemorates new STEM Building - News from Virginia Western\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Article about Grand Opening commemorates new STEM Building\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.virginiawestern.edu\/news\/2019\/10\/18\/grand-opening-commemorates-new-stem-building\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"News from Virginia Western\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2019-10-18T19:46:53+00:00\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Jaime Shetrone\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Jaime Shetrone\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"2 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\\\/\\\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"NewsArticle\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.virginiawestern.edu\\\/news\\\/2019\\\/10\\\/18\\\/grand-opening-commemorates-new-stem-building\\\/#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.virginiawestern.edu\\\/news\\\/2019\\\/10\\\/18\\\/grand-opening-commemorates-new-stem-building\\\/\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"Jaime Shetrone\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.virginiawestern.edu\\\/news\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/7cfb3c96d52ff8cb058b1b0a8647cff9\"},\"headline\":\"Grand Opening commemorates new STEM Building\",\"datePublished\":\"2019-10-18T19:46:53+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.virginiawestern.edu\\\/news\\\/2019\\\/10\\\/18\\\/grand-opening-commemorates-new-stem-building\\\/\"},\"wordCount\":511,\"articleSection\":[\"Campus News\",\"Educational Foundation\",\"Roanoke Innovates\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.virginiawestern.edu\\\/news\\\/2019\\\/10\\\/18\\\/grand-opening-commemorates-new-stem-building\\\/\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.virginiawestern.edu\\\/news\\\/2019\\\/10\\\/18\\\/grand-opening-commemorates-new-stem-building\\\/\",\"name\":\"Grand Opening commemorates new STEM Building - News from Virginia Western\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.virginiawestern.edu\\\/news\\\/#website\"},\"datePublished\":\"2019-10-18T19:46:53+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.virginiawestern.edu\\\/news\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/7cfb3c96d52ff8cb058b1b0a8647cff9\"},\"description\":\"Article about Grand Opening commemorates new STEM Building\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.virginiawestern.edu\\\/news\\\/2019\\\/10\\\/18\\\/grand-opening-commemorates-new-stem-building\\\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/www.virginiawestern.edu\\\/news\\\/2019\\\/10\\\/18\\\/grand-opening-commemorates-new-stem-building\\\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.virginiawestern.edu\\\/news\\\/2019\\\/10\\\/18\\\/grand-opening-commemorates-new-stem-building\\\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.virginiawestern.edu\\\/news\\\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Grand Opening commemorates new STEM Building\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.virginiawestern.edu\\\/news\\\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.virginiawestern.edu\\\/news\\\/\",\"name\":\"News from Virginia Western\",\"description\":\"\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.virginiawestern.edu\\\/news\\\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.virginiawestern.edu\\\/news\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/7cfb3c96d52ff8cb058b1b0a8647cff9\",\"name\":\"Jaime Shetrone\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Grand Opening commemorates new STEM Building - News from Virginia Western","description":"Article about Grand Opening commemorates new STEM Building","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/www.virginiawestern.edu\/news\/2019\/10\/18\/grand-opening-commemorates-new-stem-building\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Grand Opening commemorates new STEM Building - News from Virginia Western","og_description":"Article about Grand Opening commemorates new STEM Building","og_url":"https:\/\/www.virginiawestern.edu\/news\/2019\/10\/18\/grand-opening-commemorates-new-stem-building\/","og_site_name":"News from Virginia Western","article_published_time":"2019-10-18T19:46:53+00:00","author":"Jaime Shetrone","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"Jaime Shetrone","Est. reading time":"2 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https:\/\/www.virginiawestern.edu\/news\/2019\/10\/18\/grand-opening-commemorates-new-stem-building\/#article","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.virginiawestern.edu\/news\/2019\/10\/18\/grand-opening-commemorates-new-stem-building\/"},"author":{"name":"Jaime Shetrone","@id":"https:\/\/www.virginiawestern.edu\/news\/#\/schema\/person\/7cfb3c96d52ff8cb058b1b0a8647cff9"},"headline":"Grand Opening commemorates new STEM Building","datePublished":"2019-10-18T19:46:53+00:00","mainEntityOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.virginiawestern.edu\/news\/2019\/10\/18\/grand-opening-commemorates-new-stem-building\/"},"wordCount":511,"articleSection":["Campus News","Educational Foundation","Roanoke Innovates"],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/www.virginiawestern.edu\/news\/2019\/10\/18\/grand-opening-commemorates-new-stem-building\/","url":"https:\/\/www.virginiawestern.edu\/news\/2019\/10\/18\/grand-opening-commemorates-new-stem-building\/","name":"Grand Opening commemorates new STEM Building - News from Virginia Western","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.virginiawestern.edu\/news\/#website"},"datePublished":"2019-10-18T19:46:53+00:00","author":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.virginiawestern.edu\/news\/#\/schema\/person\/7cfb3c96d52ff8cb058b1b0a8647cff9"},"description":"Article about Grand Opening commemorates new STEM Building","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.virginiawestern.edu\/news\/2019\/10\/18\/grand-opening-commemorates-new-stem-building\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/www.virginiawestern.edu\/news\/2019\/10\/18\/grand-opening-commemorates-new-stem-building\/"]}]},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/www.virginiawestern.edu\/news\/2019\/10\/18\/grand-opening-commemorates-new-stem-building\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/www.virginiawestern.edu\/news\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Grand Opening commemorates new STEM Building"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/www.virginiawestern.edu\/news\/#website","url":"https:\/\/www.virginiawestern.edu\/news\/","name":"News from Virginia Western","description":"","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/www.virginiawestern.edu\/news\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/www.virginiawestern.edu\/news\/#\/schema\/person\/7cfb3c96d52ff8cb058b1b0a8647cff9","name":"Jaime Shetrone"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.virginiawestern.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2044","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.virginiawestern.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.virginiawestern.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.virginiawestern.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.virginiawestern.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2044"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.virginiawestern.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2044\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.virginiawestern.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2044"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.virginiawestern.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2044"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.virginiawestern.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2044"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}