California College and University to Team Up With NASA on New Research Campus

The University of California at Santa Cruz and the Foothill-De Anza Community College District have formed a partnership to set up an environmentally sustainable research campus at NASA’s Ames Research Center that will contribute to the economic vitality of the Silicon Valley region, project organizers announced. The project, which is expected to cost more than $1-billion, will be financed through a public-private partnership.

“We aim to establish world-class programs and facilities dedicated to preparing the work force of the future and to conducting research at the forefront of science and technology,” Santa Cruz’s chancellor, George Blumenthal, said.

Martha Kanter, chancellor of Foothill-De Anza, said the project “opens up exciting possibilities for preparing our students to enter Silicon Valley’s clean-tech green-tech work force or pursue advanced study in science, technology, engineering, and emerging career fields.”

As envisioned, the community would include research and teaching laboratories, classrooms, housing, and accommodations for industrial partners. Planners say it will be designed to have a minimal carbon footprint and will serve as a model site for new renewable-energy and resource-conservation systems.

Other universities — including Carnegie Mellon, Santa Clara, and San Jose State, which were involved in the planning — may eventually join the partnership, officials said. —Charles Huckabee