University College Falmouth (UCF) has secured £9 million of funding for its new Academy of Innovation & Research (AIR).
The Convergence Programme is investing £6.74 million in the project, while the South West RDA’s single pot fund is contributing £1.554 million, and the Higher Education Funding Council £693k.
AIR is intended to benefit businesses in Cornwall with innovative ideas and high growth potential. In particular, it will aim to bring specialist expertise in the areas of sustainable design and the digital economy.
“[This investment] will enable UCF to develop a world class campus for the creative industries and has the potential to transform Cornwall’s economy”
A new AIR building will open at the Tremough Campus in spring 2012. Among its features will be an experimental space incorporating collaboration and visualisation software.
“AIR will help businesses to secure commercial advantage in the two spheres that are so significant to Cornwall’s economic and social future,” explained UCF’s rector and chief executive, Professor Anne Carlisle.
“Building on the significant investment that UCF has received so far, AIR will really make a difference to how we engage with businesses both now and in the longer term. AIR will not only create jobs in Cornwall but will also stimulate the growth of innovative businesses in the county.”
The South West RDA’s executive director Suzanne Bond, who will next month assume the chief executive post at Cornwall Development Company, said: “This investment is one of the last pieces in the Tremough jigsaw. It will enable UCF to develop a world class campus for the creative industries and has the potential to transform Cornwall’s economy in the coming years and decades.”
Congratulations to UCF – I know it’s been a long time coming!
But I hope they will remember that creative ideas are only one part of innovation; they will also need to be training up lots of technical ‘geeks’ to actually implement them! Cornish digital business need both…
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