College launches Imperial Global USA in San Francisco
New Innovation Hub to “support science and tech partnerships” is Imperial’s first UK-US venture
Imperial College’s first physical presence in the US launched on Wednesday 30th October in San Francisco. The US hub will “support new science and techonology partnerships” as part of Imperial’s core strategy goal of Convergent Science.
The aim of the US Hub is to foster relations between “innovators partnering on both sides of the Atlantic” in order to target global challenges.
Imperial Global USA will be led by an External Advisory Board, chaired by alum Wendy Tan White, who is now CEO of software and AI robotics company Intrinsic.
Imperial aims for 100 new science and technology partnerships by 2025 through the Global USA hub.
Professor Hugh Brady, President of Imperial College London said: “Opening a physical presence in San Francisco is going to supercharge our capabilities to support world-leading British science and tech to collaborate with American partners. Our new hub will be a front door in the heart of the Bay Area to help spin-outs, academics and innovators create the kind of partnerships that will lead to world-changing scientific discoveries.”
The news follows the Labour government’s first budget, where it announced a commitment to funding research and development in order to boost the economy and growth. Peter Kyle, UK Science and Tech Secretary said: “ Imperial is the first UK university to set up a science and tech base in the US and its new hub in San Francisco represents a hugely exciting opportunity to bring together the great minds of UK and US research in driving forward discoveries that benefit both our nations and beyond.
“By building on existing successful partnerships, like advancing AI in healthcare and scaling up clean energy solutions, this hub can play a key part in accelerating new technologies that will fuel economic growth and deliver real-world solutions to global challenges for years to come.”
The opening of the USA hub follows the development of the WestTech Corridor, based around the existing campuses in London, as part of the current strategy Science for Humanity. Last year the College launched the Pears Cumbria School of Medicine in partnership with the University of Cumbria. The Global USA hub is the second of four regional hubs, with the first opening in Singapore earlier this year.
