UC Berkeley has announced a new campus initiative, the Bakar BioEnginuity Hub (BBH), that aims to launch the world-changing startups of today, while cultivating the innovative leaders of tomorrow.
Opening this fall, BBH will focus on people working at the convergence of the life sciences with the physical, engineering, and data sciences. It will be located in Woo Hon Fai Hall, a 50-year-old Brutalist structure between Bancroft Way and Durant Avenue that previously housed the Berkeley Art Museum.
Amy Herr, a faculty engineer in the Biological Systems and Engineering (BSE) Division and UC Berkeley professor of bioengineering, has been named executive director of BBH. “Humanity is facing momentous challenges,” Herr said. “Across our campus, and beyond, we can find promising solutions that no longer sequester to one discipline, but are at the convergence of the life and physical sciences. That is ‘BioEnginuity,’ a nexus of those disciplines.”
BBH is collaborating with QB3, a UC-wide institute that supports entrepreneurship and research programs, to create Bakar Labs, a world-class incubator open to teams from around the globe. When it opens its doors later this year, the incubator will provide extensive equipment so that teams from up to 80 startups can test, develop and grow their game-changing ideas.
BBH will also launch a series of professional development and student-focused programs, including in-residence appointments for student teams in “The Studio,” a vibrant, shared working space. New fellowship and internship opportunities for graduate and undergraduate students will bring aspiring entrepreneurs and budding leaders to BBH, along with new opportunities developed in partnership with existing campus accelerator programs.
Herr said these programs will aim to create a seamless community where the exchange of ideas inspires students and faculty to become the entrepreneurs and change-makers of the future.
Read more in the UC Berkley News Center.
