Science and Engineering | News

Purdue Opens West Coast Center To Connect with High Tech

• By Dian Schaffhauser
• 10/25/10

Indiana-based Purdue University will be opening a new west coast center in Mountain View, CA in NASA Research Park, the same base where Pennsylvania-based Carnegie Mellon also runs a university. The new center is intended to link Purdue's engineering and technology faculty and researchers with high-tech companies and entrepreneurs.

Purdue already has a strong tie to the state through its 18,000 California alumni, the largest group after Indiana and Illinois.

The new center will be run by John Boyle, a Purdue graduate with an MBA from Stanford and a work history that includes jobs with HP, GM, and 3Com and venture capital firms Worldview Technology Partners and Matrix Partners.

"There is a demand on the west coast for technology and engineering research and skills," said Boyle. "Purdue can be a supplier."

University representatives said they're hoping that the center will amplify the entrepreneurial activities of its researchers, including commercializing innovations and starting new companies in Indiana. "These activities are enhanced through partnerships with other entrepreneurs," said Purdue President France Córdova. "Extending our outreach to our entrepreneurial alumni and others in the Silicon Valley can enhance the impact of these activities and contribute to the growth of Indiana's economy."

The new center is being funded by Purdue Research Foundation and the Indiana Economic Development Corp. The foundation runs a research park in Indiana and also manages the intellectual property developed at Purdue.