A Vanderbilt University alumnus and his family broke ground this month on a 21st century development that will provide a training site and test bed for School of Engineering students and professors.

Sterling Ranch, a 12,000-home planned community south of Denver, includes its own commercial space, retail stores and schools. Its design is centered on sustainability and next-generation telecommunications, a focus that's creating internships and capstone projects for engineering undergraduates plus research opportunities for professors and their teams.

The partnership, which includes corporations Mortenson Construction, Siemens and IBM, started with Brock Smethills (BE'13) discussing his idea with David Kosson,  Cornelius Vanderbilt Professor of Engineering, and Doug Adams, chair of the Civil and Environmental Engineering Department and holder of the Daniel F. Flowers Chair. They brought in a number of other professors across all departments to advance the concept.