THE driving forces behind Cambridge University’s ground-breaking Hauser Forum donned hard hats and high-visibility jackets at the West Cambridge site to see how work is progressing.
[Pictured: Dr Paul May, Dr Hermann Hauser, Professor Ian Leslie. CLICK ON ANY IMAGE TO VIEW / DOWNLOAD FULL-SIZE VERSION.]
The visitors, including donors Hermann Hauser and his wife Pamela Raspe, visited what will become the new home for Cambridge Enterprise, the University’s commercialisation office.
The visit coincided with the announcement that the East of England Development Agency (EEDA) has invested £2 million into the project which will create a state-of-the-art enterprise hub to stimulate “open innovation” - innovative collaborations between clusters of academics, start-up businesses and established industries.
The Hauser Forum will feature an ‘Ideas Space’ for emerging companies and a seminar centre used to promote Cambridge research to the business and investment community.
EEDA chairman Richard Ellis said: “The East of England - the ‘ideas region’ - has a global strength in innovation which has played a major role in making this region’s economy one of only three to make a positive contribution to the Exchequer year-on year. EEDA’s continued investment in stimulating innovation is absolutely vital to prepare for the inevitable upturn and help drive UK plc out of the recession. We are delighted to back the prestigious Hauser Forum project, which will build upon Cambridge’s world renowned innovation strength to stimulate even more R&D activity and knowledge transfer between business and academia across the region.”
Hauser, of Amadeus Capital Partners, and his wife, donated £8m last January to fund the hub’s building work. EEDA’s investment has been secured to provide specific business support services within the Hauser Forum. This will encourage multinational companies, start-ups, investors and academics alike to come together through networking, training and research collaborations.
Hauser said: “I am delighted that the EEDA has decided to support entrepreneurship in the region using the new facilities available in the Hauser Forum.”
Ian Leslie, Pro-Vice-Chancellor for Research at Cambridge University, said: “We are very excited to be working with EEDA to extend and develop our experiences with open innovation into the region as a whole. We hope this connects regional industry better into Cambridge and improves our understanding of the innovation capacity of the region.”
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