Purdue international partner cuts ribbon for new science and technology park based on Discovery Park model
December 16, 2020
The Purdue University-affiliated Arequipa Nexus Institute for Food, Energy, Water and the Environment in Peru soon will be getting a permanent administrative home.
On Dec. 3, the Universidad de San Augustín (UNSA) held a ribbon-cutting ceremony to mark the start of activities for the Science and Technology Park of Arequipa (PCT), the first institution of its kind in the country. Modeled after Purdue’s Discovery Park, the research technology park will house headquarters for the Arequipa Nexus Institute, underlining the continued impact and long-term nature of the collaborative project.
“The park will provide the essential intellectual and physical infrastructure to ensure that UNSA plays a key role in Arequipa’s future,” said Theresa Mayer, executive vice president of research and partnerships, who recorded remarks for the ceremony. “These investments will also advance efforts to build regional economic resilience during a time when Peru and the world face common challenges.”
Located in southwest Peru, the Arequipa region is known for its cultural, geological, and ecological diversity as well as abundant mineral, water, and soil resources. In 2018, the Purdue Center for the Environment (C4E) and UNSA created the Arequipa Nexus Institute to explore research-based solutions to the equitable and sustainable use of those natural resources.
“The core idea of the Arequipa Nexus Institute is that science-based decision-making is essential to a sustainable and profitable future, which is the same driving force behind Discovery Park,” said Tim Filley, C4E director and co-principal investigator of the institute. In fact, Discovery Park — a hub of interdisciplinary buildings designed to promote research collaboration on global grand challenges — has been one of the principle inspirations for the creation of the technology park, designed to support a robust integrated research and commercialization program.
Rohel Sánchez Sánchez, UNSA president, noted, “in Arequipa we face challenges of climate, water, soil and food security. This science park, based on the Sustainability Sciences program, will address and help solve these problems. We currently have 21 projects that we are executing with Purdue University’s Discovery Park.”
During visits to West Lafayette, members of UNSA’s leadership team have met with Purdue and PRF officials to discuss the policies and mechanisms for developing the park, which will be administered by the UNSA Foundation and have multiple locations within Arequipa: Majes Pedregal, Characato, Sumbay and on the UNSA university campus.
The Arequipa Nexus Institute building will be located in Majes-Pedregal, and support the program’s numerous research projects, which are co-led by UNSA and Purdue investigators and focus on topics in areas including food, water, soil, renewable energy, and the environment.
“It was less than three years ago that Purdue and UNSA joined forces to create the Arequipa Nexus Institute,” said Filley, who is also a professor in the Department of Earth, Atmospheric and Planetary Sciences and the Department of Agronomy. “In that time, the 60 Purdue professors and 30 postdocs funded on this project have, along with their UNSA partners, engaged hundreds of stakeholders across Arequipa in outreach programs on sustainable resources management and food security, performed innovative collaborative research for the benefit of Arequipa resulting in numerous manuscripts and other scholarly products, created new academic curriculum at UNSA, co-designed new buildings and laboratories, and developed deep friendships and collaborations that will last for years to come.” UNSA and Purdue leadership are currently finalizing a 5-year renewal, to 2025, of the Arequipa Nexus Institute program.
To hear Theresa Mayer’s comments, visit: https://www.facebook.com/381406145269184/videos/931940220880676
To hear Timothy Filley’s comments, visit: https://www.facebook.com/381406145269184/videos/383860496159149
To hear Victor Maqque's comments, visit: https://www.facebook.com/381406145269184/videos/852182358948328
Contact Details
- Renata Ximenes
- c4e-nexus@purdue.edu
- 765-4942394
