Facilities

This 3,227-square-foot high-bay pilot laboratory is situated on the first floor of the Human and Agricultural Biosciences Building 1 (HABB1) at Virginia Tech’s main campus in Blacksburg. This state-of-the-art facility is designed to support a wide range of processing activities for students, researchers, and industrial partners. The lab features flexible processing space with quick-connect utilities, including clean steam, process chilled water, compressed air, natural gas, and deionized water, and offers distributed 208V and 460V three-phase power. Additional amenities include three walk-in refrigerators (two at 4°C and one at -20°C), 100 linear feet of bench space, a large autoclave, a fume hood, a dedicated HVAC system, floor drains, safety showers, and eye-wash stations. A separate room is designated for equipment storage. The lab’s design emphasizes flexibility and safety, accommodating various pilot-scale research projects in biological systems engineering and food science technology.

This analytical laboratory is located in Room 117B of Seitz Hall on Virginia Tech’s main campus in Blacksburg. Spanning 344 square feet, this lab is equipped with a fume hood, a biosafety cabinet, a deionized water system, and ample bench space to support various analytical activities. These facilities enable detailed chemical and biological analyses, complementing the broader research initiatives within Dr. Wang’s Sustainable Environment Research Laboratory.

A field laboratory is established within the Arlington Water Pollution Control Plant. This facility is equipped with a pilot-scale CAMBI thermal hydrolysis system, anaerobic digesters, and sludge dewaterability research equipment, all housed in an environment-controlled setting. The field lab supports collaborative research among six Northern Virginia utility members of the Center for Applied Water Research and Innovation (CAWRI), led by Dr. Wang. This collaboration aims to develop and implement advanced biotechnologies for sustainable wastewater management and resource recovery.

Virginia Tech entered into a license agreement with Alexandria Renew Enterprises (AlexRenew), granting Dr. Wang’s research team access to a 212-square-foot laboratory space within AlexRenew’s facilities at 1500 Eisenhower Avenue, Alexandria, Virginia. This collaboration enables Dr. Wang’s research team to utilize the Centrate Pretreatment Lab in Building 69 for advanced research in wastewater treatment and resource recovery.