Warwick joins New York University in bid to build 'Urban Sciences' campus in New York
The University has joined with a consortium led by New York University (NYU) bidding to build a new applied sciences and engineering campus in New York.
Alongside NYU, Warwick is part of a team which includes Carnegie Mellon University, University of Toronto, City University of New York (CUNY) and the Indian Institute of Technology (IIT) Mumbai, as well as industry leaders such as IBM, Cisco and Siemens.
The consortium has submitted its formal bid to create a new academic programme to research and develop solutions to the challenges that will face cities around the world.
Known as the Center for Urban Science and Progress (CUSP) the programme will be tied to five cities on three continents, aiming to become an epicentre of global thinking about how cities around the world can:
- become more energy efficient;
- reduce congestion and pollution;
- use increasingly vast amounts of data more effectively and quickly to make decisions and to inform their citizens;
- enhance safety and security;
- and ensure a high quality of life.
The Center would be based near one of NYU’s existing locations in Downtown Brooklyn.
The bid follows a call by New York's mayor Michael Bloomberg last year for universities to come forward with plans to build a new technology-focused education facility to stimulate the city’s innovation economy.
Warwick's Vice-Chancellor Professor Nigel Thrift said:
Warwick is a globally-connected university with links with institutions across the globe and staff and students from more than 140 countries.
This bid draws on Warwick’s long history of close working partnerships with businesses which range from multinationals like Jaguar Land Rover through to small and medium-sized firms, all of which benefit from access to the University's technology and knowhow and apply that knowledge to create new jobs and expand their businesses.
The aims of the Center for Urban Sciences and Progress are closely aligned with our research priorities of manufacturing, energy, food security and healthcare – all major themes with impacts on the lives of city dwellers in the 21st century.
Through building links with the US, not only will we have the chance to make an impact on the economic development of New York but we will also provide new opportunities for the West Midlands economy.”