The Hauser Forum - a new focal point for entrepreneurship in the region – has been opened by the Chancellor of the University of Cambridge, the Duke of Edinburgh.
The Forum was funded by an £8 million donation from the Hauser-Raspe Foundation and a £2 million grant from the East of England Development Agency.
The Forum is the new home of Cambridge Enterprise, Cambridge’s University’s technology transfer office. The building has been designed to stimulate collaboration between clusters of academics, start-up businesses and established companies.
Lynn Gladden, Pro-Vice-Chancellor for Research, said, “The Hauser Forum will play a central role in setting the future agenda for innovation in the university, the region and for the UK economy.”
Teri Willey, Chief Executive of Cambridge Enterprise, said, “The incredible leadership of donors such as Hermann Hauser and Pamela Raspe has made this space possible. We are very fortunate to have such a unique purpose-built environment for innovation in Cambridge.”
The Hauser Forum will also feature an IdeaSpace to support emerging innovations and to link them with entrepreneurial activities within the university and around the east of England.
IdeaSpace Director, Stew McTavish, said, “The mix of people and companies from Cambridge, the east of England and beyond that will be brought together here is going to make a big change to the entrepreneurial community in the region.”
Meanwhile, the adjacent Broers Building, named in honour of the former vice-chancellor Lord Broers, provides a centre in which small and medium enterprises and international companies can lease space to work in partnership with researchers and commercialisation activities at the university.
The first tenants to take up leases are Nokia Research Centre, which develops nanotechnologies for mobile communication and ambient intelligence, and Base4 Innovation, a spin-out company from the Cavendish Laboratory that develops detection platforms for healthcare and the life sciences.
Hermann Hauser, a graduate of the university, founded Acorn Computers, one of the early personal computer makers, 30 years ago.
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