Center for Design Research partners with Historically Black Colleges and Universities

Center for Design Research awarded ICTAS Diversity & Inclusion Seed Investment Grant

The strategic goal of integrating teaching and research has matured and intensified in the continuing projects of the Center for Design Research (CDR). With that success, the CDR has adjusted its tacit involvement relating to diversity and inclusion to active participation. As part of that effort, the CDR has been awarded a $20 K ICTAS Diversity & Inclusion Seed Investment Grant. The objective of this program is to build direct faculty-to-faculty research partnerships between faculty at Virginia Tech and faculty at Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCUs) or other under-represented college programs.

Led by Dr. Nathan King, co-Director and Robert Dunay, FAIA, Director, the CDR is partnering with colleagues at Hampton University and Howard University. Two decades of projects have afforded the center explorations into new opportunities of design conceptualization and realization. Digital design, fabrication, and robotics have facilitated innovative applied research and yielded contributory coursework for the design disciplines. However, the tools enabling advancement of research and teaching protocols are often only used in the wealthiest of areas on the most expensive projects. The funded Initiative, Democratizing Design Robotics, is formulated to bridge the divide and expand access across the region, fortifying collaboration across multiple universities towards an inclusive research and academic environment.

For more information contact Dr. Nathan King ( nathanking@vt.edu )