The Technion Israel Institute of Technology and Cornell University will establish a new applied science and engineering campus in New York City's Roosevelt Island in the East River.
The NYC Tech Campus will combine the full spectrum of both institutions’ academic strengths, as well as Cornell’s entrepreneurial culture and deep connection to the city’s emerging tech sector and the Technion’s global leadership in commercialization and technology transfer. This partnership will transform New York City into a world hub of innovation and technology commercialization.
The Technion says that an integral part of the campus will be the Technion-Cornell Innovation Institute, which the two universities will own in equal shares to form a graduate program that will focus on commercialization of immediate relevance to the city’s economic growth. The campus will provide an interdisciplinary environment to better prepare students for careers in large and small technology companies, where the problems to be solved involve using technical knowhow and also expertise in other domains at the heart of the city’s key industries. For their degrees, students will be required to take courses that prepare them to be entrepreneurs and early stage investors, fueling the rapid expansion of the tech ecosystem in New York.
Technion President Peretz Lavie said, "We are very proud of the many strengths we bring to this endeavor, and we are excited to be a partner with another of the world’s great research universities. Cornell‘s globally recognized research and graduates are fueling new technologies and innovative start-ups at the center of New York City’s current tech boom. Cornell is uniquely positioned by its deep connection to the city’s emerging tech sector to serve as a catalyst for the creation of new technologies, jobs and industries in New York City."
Cornell President David Skorton said, "The Technion is the driving force behind the miracle of Israel’s technology economy." He added that the Technion has a history of commercializing new technology and sparking start-up companies in Israel, and that faculty from both Cornell and the Technion will conduct teaching and research in TCII.
The Technion said that the partners would join a full-scale campus - not a satellite of either school - to open in 2012, initially in either leased space or existing Cornell facilities in New York City. The NYC Tech Campus will eventually grow to more than 2 million square feet on Roosevelt Island, accommodating, at full build-out, nearly 2,000 graduate students and 250 faculty, as well as visitors and corporate researchers. Cornell and the Technion will collaborate in teaching, educating and advising students. The sustainable campus will include academic and commercialization space, as well as housing and community gardens.
Published by Globes [online], Israel business news - www.globes-online.com - on October 25, 2011
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