Bayer to open space in Purdue’s Discovery Park
WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind. (Inside INdiana Business) – Purdue University announced Thursday that a global life sciences company is planning to open at Purdue’s Discovery Park District in West Lafayette. The university says Germany-based Bayer will open space at the Convergence Center for Innovation and Collaboration in the next several months.
When fully staffed, Purdue says Bayer at Convergence will employ students who will work to enhance and augment an agricultural innovation portfolio with additional capabilities like information technology, data science and engineering.
“As a life science company, we strive to live up to our vision ‘Health for all, Hunger for none.’ Through agricultural innovations, we can help provide farmers improved tools and solutions to sustain our growing world,” said Mike Graham, head of Bayer’s Breeding, Crop Science Division. “We are excited to become members of the Purdue University campus and enhance our efforts in agricultural innovation.”
The university says students will focus on real-world and social scientific challenges in areas like advanced analytics, operations research, phenomics, genomics, plant science and precision breeding technologies.
“Bayer’s interdisciplinary approach is what we envisioned for the Convergence Center for Innovation and Collaboration. This type of partnership fuels innovation for Purdue students, faculty, staff and our industry partners,” said David Broecker, chief innovation and collaboration officer for the Purdue Research Foundation.
Bayer will use digital tools and data to drive agricultural innovations, which Purdue says can increase the efficiency and reduce the amount of water, land, and energy necessary to meet the world’s food, fuel and fiber needs.
With the new space, the company intends to partner with Purdue faculty and researchers representing different colleges and disciplines.
Purdue alumna Susana Diaz has been tapped by Bayer to lead the new space.