Center for the Future of Work�Places and Practices�(CFWPP)

The World of Work is Changing

• New technologies are poised to change the future of work and the workplace
• Artificial intelligence
• The Internet of things
• Robotics
• And more
• Toward an evolving human-tech ecosystem

The Future of Work after COVID-19

The Future of Work

• Future of Work at the Human-Technology Frontier (FW-HTF) is one of the 10 Big Ideas for NSF Investments
• FW-HTF supports convergence research at the intersection of future work, technology, and workers

Future of Work at Virginia Tech

• Since 2017, VT faculty have been awarded 14 awards worth almost $13M in total award amount from NSF’s “Human Technology Frontier” program

Vision of the Center

To be an international leader in research and education exploring the complexities of a future of work that is

• creative (in process)
• integrated (in discipline)
• inclusive (of identities and viewpoints)
• distributed (in space and time)
• equitable (in its distribution of ownership and income)
• symbiotic (with technological, institutional, organizational, and social innovation)

Goals of the Center

• Leverage existing research strengths across the university in a range of areas that will impact the future of work
• Develop new translational research areas
• Increase the opportunities for VT faculty to secure significant external funding
• Provide interdisciplinary educational and research opportunities for students
• Provide expertise to and develop partnership with the community

Future of Work at Virginia Tech

• Sarah Parker (Carilion): Future of work in health and healthcare
• Maaz Gardezi (Sociology): Responsible innovation in precision agriculture
• Sol Lim (ISE): Future of remote work in distributed manufacturing
• Ralph Hall (SPIA): Education on the future of work
• And many more…

Future of Work in Health and Healthcare

What can technology do to help create excellent health and healthcare work environments?

• How to know the current situations and whereabouts of your team members
• How to provide information to your team members
• How to know availability of personnel who can assist
• How to contact the right people at the right time

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Context, Awareness, Communication

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NSF - FW-HTF-P

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Pain points

National Panel

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DA 2.0

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Sensing

Burnout

Implementation Science

Responsible Innovation in Precision Agriculture

Future of Remote Work in Distributed Manufacturing

• Can we create an environment where multiple workers and multiple robots collaborate, remotely or directly, across distributed manufacturing facilities?

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ICAT Seed Major & NSF FW-HTF-P (#2222468; FW-HTF-P: Enabling Multifaceted Collaboration between Humans, Robots, and Remote Workers for Future Distributed Manufacturing): Lim (PI, ISE) sol@vt.edu, Nussbaum (ISE), Kim (ISE), Losey (ME), Hernandez (Psy)

Exploring the Many Angles of the Future of Work

Work/employment connects with all disciplines

Exploring the future of work through courses:

• Technology, Globalization, & Sustainable Development: Transforming the Industrial State (UAP 5784)
• Honors/SPIA SuperStudio (UH 4514 + UAP 4914)
• Special Study on the Future of Work (UH 2984)

Virginia Tech has a deep bench of expertise related to work/employment

When combined with Virginia Tech’s core values relating to diverse and inclusive communities, knowledge and innovation, etc., the potential to help shape the future of work is significant

“Everybody needs to think about this issue. … It’s not just about their own career, it’s about humanity. It’s really trying to ask the most fundamental question: what does it mean to be a human in the age of smart machines?” Prof. Daniel Sui

Daniel Sui, Senior Vice President and Chief Research and Innovation Officer

The Fourth Industrial Revolution & the Future of Work

Ralph Hall, Urban Affairs and Planning

Inequality, Sustainability, & Employment

Chris Williams, Mechanical Engineering

Potential Impacts of Additive Manufacturing & Digital Fabrication Technologies

Aki Ishida, Architecture

Future of Work for Clinicians in ICU

Sarah Parker, Fralin Biomedical Research Institute

Future of Work for Clinicians in ICU

Kurt Luther, Computer Science

Social Computing, Crowdsourcing, & Human-AI Teams

Suqin (Sue) Ge, Economics (Center Director)

Robots, Computers, and the Gender Wage Gap

Lisa McNair, Engineering Education

Transdisciplinary Collaboration: Teams and Processes; Future of Education, Outreach & Engagement

Tom Martin, Electrical and Computer Engineering

Wearable and Pervasive Computing + Transdisciplinary Collaboration: Teams and Processes; Future of Work for Clinicians in ICU

Sudipta Sarangi, Economics

Game Theory and the Future of Work

Sylvester Johnson, Religion and Culture

Race, Technonationalism, and the Ethical Future of Work

Tom Ewing, History

Historical Perspectives on the Future of Work

Zheng (Phil) Xiang, Hospitality & Tourism Management

The Emerging Digital Nomads: Trends and Traps

Ricardo E. Coleman, Office of the Undersecretary of Defense for Research and Engineering

Exploring the Unintended Consequences of COVID-19’s Acceleration of the Fourth Industrial Revolution

Faculty +

Course Topics

Special Study on the Future of Work (UH 2984, Fall 2021)

Get Involved: Future of Work SEAD Grants

• ICAT SEAD grants: support projects that are
• Creative
• Innovative
• Transdisciplinary
• Special project on Future of Work
• Projects start: July 2023
• Amount: $25,000
• Deadline: February 10, 2023, 5:00pm EST

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Get Involved: Become a Member

• Who: Faculty and graduate students whose research, scholarship, and teaching interests include the future of work policies, places, practices, and technologies

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• Benefits of membership
• Administrative assistance with proposal submission and award management through the center
• Access to spaces controlled by the center
• Having a voice in the center’s activities and strategic directions

The Future of Work is HERE and NOW

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Please join us!

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cfwpp.icat.vt.edu

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