About the Sites

The IUCRC program operates as centralized research sites. For the Center for AggReGate, Virginia Tech will serve as the Lead Site and the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign will serve as a Partner Site. Researchers at other institutions are permitted to be involved with research at the Center, including funded projects, without needing to serve as an additional site. 

Virginia Tech is home of the Charles E. Via, Jr. Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, which is ranked as the 7th best CEE program by US News and World Report. Virginia Tech also has world renowned programs in the Department of Mining and Minerals Engineering, Department of Geosciences, and Department of Materials Science and Engineering in addition to the state-of-the-art research facilities through the National Center for Earth and Environmental Nanotechnology Infrastructure (NanoEarth), the Institute for Critical Technology and Applied Science, and the partner site for the Center to Advance the Science of Exploration to Reclamation in Mining (CASERM). At least 60% of the graduates from the Department of Mining and Minerals Engineering are employed by the aggregate industry. 

The University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign has the #2 ranked Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering according to US News and World Report. Their program has world renowned expertise in aggregate, pavement, infrastructure, rail engineering, and transportation engineering research through the Illinois Center for Transportation and the Rail Transportation and Engineering Center (RailTEC). The University of Illinois is also home to cutting-edge research facilities at the Materials Research Laboratory. 

The combination of the unique capabilities and expertise at Virginia Tech and the University of Illinois will provide a synergistic collaborative environment for the Center for AggReGaTe. The Lead Site at Virginia Tech will focus more on chemical, geochemical, and mining aspects of aggregates while the Partner Site at the University of Illinois will focus more on pavement, railroad, and other engineering applications. With the inclusion of external collaborators at other institutions, the Center for AggReGaTe will be able to produce solutions for all issues facing the aggregate industry.