Purdue successfully launches West Coast Partnership Center

November 5, 2010

President France A. Córdova takes part in the kickoff event for Purdue's West Coast Partnership Center on Oct. 29 at the Computer History Museum in Mountain View, Calif.

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More than 200 people packed the auditorium at the Computer History Museum in Mountain View, Calif., on Oct. 29 to help Purdue kick off its West Coast Partnership Center.
  
The center will serve to link Purdue's expertise in engineering and technology with the West Coast's high-tech companies and entrepreneurs.
  
"Along with the many alumni attending were West Coast technology executives, media representatives, local officials and parents of current Purdue students," said John C. Boyle, who is heading up the new office. "The majority were from the Silicon Valley area, but some came from as far away as Los Angeles and Oregon. I met alums who graduated as recently as last year and as long ago as 1958."
  
President France A. Córdova led a delegation of distinguished faculty and administrators who traveled to Silicon Valley and took part in the event.

John C. Boyle, who is heading up Purdue's new West Coast Partnership Center, speaks during the kickoff event for the center on Oct. 29. The center will serve to link Purdue's expertise in engineering and technology with the West Coast's high-tech companies and entrepreneurs.

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During an afternoon symposium, leading Purdue innovators discussed their work. Those on the program included:
  
* Philip Low, the Ralph C. Corley Distinguished Professor of Chemistry, who has five targeted cancer drugs currently undergoing human trials and a company in place to commercialize them.
  
* Michael Ladisch, Distinguished Professor of Agricultural and Biological Engineering, who directs multidisciplinary research efforts in bioenergy, bioprocessing, bioproducts, biorecovery and bionanotechnology.
  
* Alyssa Panitch, associate professor of biomedical engineering, who is developing innovative matrix materials to repair damaged bones, spinal cords, arteries and other tissues.
  
* Gerry McCartney, vice president for information technology, chief information officer, and the Olga Oesterle England Professor of Information Technology, who is overseeing innovative use of IT in higher education, including creation of the nation's largest campus cyberinfrastructure for science and engineering.

Philip Low, the Ralph C. Corley Distinguished Professor of Chemistry, discusses his work during a symposium at the kickoff of Purdue's new West Coast Partnership Center. Low has five targeted cancer drugs currently undergoing human trials and a company in place to commercialize them.

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Among those joining the president and faculty members as speakers at the event were Keith Krach, chairman of the Purdue Board of Trustees, CEO of 3Points Inc. and co-founder of Ariba; Tim Sands, executive vice president for academic affairs and provost; Joseph Hornett, senior vice president, treasurer and COO of the Purdue Research Foundation; Richard Buckius, vice president for research and professor of mechanical engineering, and Kirk Cerny, executive director and chief executive officer of Purdue Alumni Association.
  
Purdue already has a strong tie to Silicon Valley and California. The state is home to more than 18,000 alumni, the largest group after Indiana and Illinois.
  
The new center is designed to send Purdue technical expertise to the West Coast while bringing research and development dollars back to Indiana. It also will provide Purdue's faculty with new ideas for exploration.

Boyle holds a bachelor's degree in electrical engineering from Purdue and an MBA from Stanford University. He has worked for a number of corporations, including Hewlett-Packard and General Motors, as well as startups and smaller companies such as VeriFone and 3Com. He also has been a partner in two Silicon Valley venture capital firms, Worldview Technology Partners and Matrix Partners.
  
The office is located in the NASA Research Park in Mountain View.