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Research that Matters

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Research that matters.

From the medicine we take, food we eat, and roads we travel to the phones in our pockets, pets cured of cancer, and national security we enjoy, every experiment, analysis, and breakthrough is working together to make our world better, safer, and more enjoyable.

Virginia Tech research strengthens the economy, improves the workforce, and enhances everyday life.

Funding this work is critical to our efforts to drive health, technology, security, and more toward a stronger community, commonwealth, and country.

Learn how an investment in Virginia Tech research is an investment in making life better.

Virginia Tech's research is possible because of its world class faculty, organizations and expertise. The data speaks for itself.

Health: Revolutionizing Prevention, Treatment, and Care

Dick's Sporting Goods, Helmet Lab partner for a winning combination

In collaboration with Dick’s Sporting Goods, the lab’s peer-reviewed and published STAR helmet rating system is now available in all the store's retail locations.

Football helmet packaging featuring a player dressed in uniform wearing a black helmet.

Protection from brain injury

Since launching nearly 15 years ago, Virginia Tech helmet ratings have helped protect millions of athletes and transformed the helmet industry. Today, the team publishes ratings for helmets used in 11 sports. Most recently, the Virginia Tech Helmet Lab in Blacksburg updated its equestrian helmet ratings for fast-paced events and expanded into rating safety helmets beyond sports.

Two researchers working within the Helmet Lab, the researcher on left is operating a ratchet handle while the researcher on the right steadies the frame of an experiment.

Technology: Advancements for Improved Livelihoods

Harnessing ancient art to help people eat

Over 2 million adults living in the United States rely on a caregiver’s assistance to eat daily meals. Virginia Tech researchers are combining robotics, computer science, and an ancient Japanese art form to better employ robots to assist.

Maya Keely operates a robot equipped with Kiri-Spoon. Photo by Luke Hayes for Virginia Tech.

Security: Safeguarding the Homefront

New research center aims to elevate nation’s drone defense

Backed by a $5 million award from the U.S. Department of Defense, Virginia Tech’s Counter UAS Research and Testing Center will establish a one-of-a-kind ecosystem for drone research.

A drone flying in the sky, positioned in the upper right of the image.