Purdue will leverage the grant and state funding with existing university funds, private donations and federal research support to create the $100 million park. Initial plans for the 40-acre site on the west edge of campus call for centers to house research in nanotechnology, bioscience/engineering and e-enterprises. The park also will include an entrepreneurship center to help transfer research findings into products and services.

Purdue President Martin C. Jischke said the announcement of the Endowment grant is part of the university's yearlong campaign to help Hoosiers "Discover Purdue."

The facilities in this park will not be designed around any existing academic disciplines, but rather around new interdisciplinary areas that hold great promise for new discoveries and new economic opportunities, Jischke said.

"Universities can make tremendous strides in discovery and create substantial entrepreneurial momentum by breaking down the traditional barriers among academic disciplines and between institutions," Jischke said. "Discovery Park will be designed around the assumption that all relevant academic areas will participate as teams in each initiative. Engineers, physicians, scientists, entrepreneurs and geneticists all might be a part of a project as it moves from the idea stage to the marketplace.

"If Purdue can rank among the world's leaders in cross-disciplinary teaching and research and in entrepreneurship, then our students and faculty will rank among the most respected and sought-after professionals in the world. That, in turn, should be a major boon to Indiana and its economy. We believe the creation of Discovery Park will be a transforming event, not only for Purdue, but also
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Contact: Jeanne Norberg
jnorberg@purdue.edu
765-494-2084
Purdue University
25-Oct-2001