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Who We Are
The Coalition for Smart Construction is a Virginia Tech–led initiative advancing research, talent, and innovation toward a smarter, more productive built environment. The Coalition was created to help the construction industry address one of its greatest challenges: transforming an essential industry that has historically lagged behind others in research and development investment, technology integration, and productivity growth.
Our mission is to create a collaborative platform that accelerates productivity, integrates emerging technologies into practice, develops skilled talent, and aligns capital to scale solutions that transform how the industry works.
To that end, we’ve combined a virtual, industry-connected ecosystem with a state-of-the-art physical innovation hub to accelerate industry-driven research and deployment. The Coalition connects industry, academia, government, and technology partners to share expertise and advance workforce development and commercialization. Complementing this network, the Smart Construction Lab — opening in Spring 2027 in Falls Church, Virginia — provides a hands-on environment for prototyping, testing, demonstration, and training to validate emerging technologies and bring them to market faster.
By leveraging this unique environment, industry can move beyond isolated innovation efforts and collaboratively develop and deploy the next generation of construction solutions.
Our partners make it possible
We are building a Coalition that represents every part of the built environment — from technology and manufacturing to design, construction, materials, infrastructure, government, and research — because the industry's biggest challenges can't be solved by any one organization alone. Our industry, government, and academic partners are an integral part of the Coalition’s success.
Foundational Member Level
Steering Member Level
Affiliate Member Level
Meet our Coalition team
collaborators across Virginia Tech
Christine Williamson
Assistant Professor, School of Architecture
Alexander Brand
Associate Professor, Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering
Ryan Pollyea
Associate Professor, Department of Geosciences
Laura Freeman
Deputy Director of Virginia Tech National Security Institute
Chris Williams
Founding Director, Virginia Tech MADE
Dan Hindman
Associate Professor of Wood Engineering, Department of Sustainable Biomaterials
Ali Mehrizi-Sani
Director, Power and Energy Center
Our story continues to grow
Plans to build the Coalition for Smart Construction came into focus in 2023.
Since we hosted our first roundtable discussions in 2024, we've worked alongside industry partners to shape the Coalition's priorities, organize our research around the issues that matter most, and create a community driven by collaboration and shared impact. We’re excited to work with Coalition members in the years to come to chart out a successful future not only for our group but for the entire construction industry.