President Sands (right) speaks with Virginia Seafood AREC Director Mike Jahncke.

Virginia Tech President Timothy D. Sands recently visited the Hampton Roads Agricultural Research and Extension Center in Virginia Beach where he toured the facility and got a chance to meet researchers and students who work there. Just a few months ago, Sands visited the Eastern Shore AREC in Painter.

Sands was in the area for the Virginia Tech Hampton Roads Showcase, an event that encouraged cooperation between the university and local companies where the new Tech Center in Hampton Roads is being built. The center will function much like the Virginia Tech Corporate Research Center in Blacksburg, but it will also incorporate retail and living space. At the showcase, Sands met with researchers from the Eastern Shore and Virginia Seafood ARECs, along with faculty members of the Department of Food Science and Technology.