Ten officials took part in the ceremonial ground-breaking for the National Institute of Aerospace (NIA) on March 12. Pictured (left to right) are: Steve Mallon and Craig Davis of Craig Davis Properties, Inc.; Hampton Councilman Randy Gilliland; Bob Lindberg, president of the NIA; Carolyn Meyers, chair of the NIA board of directors; Rep. Bobby Scott; Gary Powell, chairman of the Hampton Industrial Development Authority; Hampton Mayor Charlie Wornom; Langley Research Center Director Roy D. Bridges Jr.; and Hampton City Manager George Wallace.

Photo by Jeff Caplan

NIA Breaks Ground

World-Class Institute Will Complement Langley’s Mission

By KATHY BARNSTORFF
Langley Research Center

The National Institute of Aerospace (NIA) broke ground on a 60,000 square-foot facility in Hampton on March 12.

The ground-breaking ceremony marks the formal beginning of development of the Hampton Roads Center North Campus: five buildings in a research and education campus setting, with NIA’s facility being the anchor building.

“Today’s ground-breaking is an important milestone in our partnership with the foundation, universities, researchers, students and faculty that make up NIA,” said Langley Research Center Director Roy D. Bridges Jr. “This state-of-the-art facility will help the Institute contribute to the Vision for Space Exploration as well as NASA’s mission to understand and protect our home planet, explore the universe and search for life, and inspire the next generation of explorers through aerospace and atmospheric sciences research.”

The NIA will initially lease approximately 30,000 square feet of the three-story building. The new facility will house office space for executives, administration, faculty, researchers and graduate students. Advanced technologies will be included for conducting meetings, workshops and symposia, as well as offering state-of-the-art, web-enabled classrooms for NIA’s graduate education program.

“The new facility will offer great advantages to our research and education programs,” said Robert Lindberg, NIA’s president and executive director. “Technology additions including wide-band communication equipment will enhance our distance-learning capabilities,” Lindberg said. “It will offer a research-intensive environment for our faculty and staff scientists to collaborate with NASA Langley researchers and our other partners.”

The NIA is a world-class research institute, located adjacent to Langley. It was created to complement Langley’s mission to do cutting-edge aerospace and atmospheric research, develop new technologies for the nation, and help train the next generation of scientists and engineers.

NIA is a private, non-profit research institute formed by a consortium of universities and the American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics Foundation. The roster of major research universities includes consortium members: Georgia Institute of Technology, Hampton University, North Carolina A&T State University, North Carolina State University, University of Maryland, University of Virginia, Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University and affiliate members: Old Dominion University and the College of William & Mary.

• For more information about the National Institute of Aerospace, visit: http://www.nianet.org.
  

Kathy Barnstorff is an employee in Langley’s Public Affairs Office.

Shannon Verstynen of the National Institute of Aerospace and Von Gilbreath of the Hampton Department of Economic Development also contributed to this story.

The NIA will initially lease approximately 30,000 square feet of the three-story building. The new facility will house office space for executives, administration, faculty, researchers and graduate students.