Director's Message

The Link Lab was established in 2018 as a center of excellence for research and training in cyber-physical systems (CPS). Housed in the University of Virginia’s engineering School, Link Lab has approximately 55 faculty and over 270 graduate student members from across engineering disciplines and computer science. Our research expenditures over the past five years are over $90M and our graduates have gone on to positions in leading academic, government, and industry institutions.

Link Lab’s mission is to advance knowledge in CPS fundamentals and its application to societal challenges, and to train students with the technical breadth and depth needed for expertise in CPS. Engineering fields have a long history in studying physical systems – medical devices, civil infrastructure, the natural environment, buildings, aircraft, cars, and the like. The rapid advancements in artificial intelligence, ubiquitous sensing and computing, and autonomy are transforming many of these engineered systems into cyber-physical systems.

Our research is organized around four CPS focus areas: smart cities, smart health, autonomous systems, and hardware for Internet of Things. Students work in one or more of these areas and have the opportunity to earn a graduate certificate in CPS alongside their master’s or doctorate degree. Link Lab faculty and students work in a newly renovated 17,000 square foot space in Olsson Hall in the heart of the Engineering School. Much of the research we conduct is in collaboration with leading industry and government agencies that provide pressing research problems for our students to work on.

We are excited to partner with industry working at the forefront of CPS. If you are interested in learning more about our industry partnerships, I encourage you to visit our website at https://engineering.virginia.edu/labs-groups/link-lab/partnerships/industry-partnerships and to reach out directly to me ([email protected]) if you have any questions. We would love to show you the Link Lab space and discuss ways to partner together to advance CPS research and provide world-class student training.

Jonathan L. Goodall, Ph.D., P.E., F.ASCE

Director of the Link Lab and Professor of Civil and Environmental Engineering