Wednesday, October 8, 2008

Harvard’s largest gift of $125M funds biologically inspired engineering institute

By Mass High Tech Staff

Harvard University has pulled in a $125 million gift to build an institute dedicated to biologically inspired engineering, according to a recent report from The Harvard Crimson, Harvard’s  student-run newspaper.

The gift -- Harvard’s largest gift in school history, the Crimson writes -- was donated by 1965 Harvard Business School graduate Hansjörg Wyss, who retired from the CEO position of medical device firm, Synthes, in Switzerland. Wyss now runs the Wyss Foundation, a charitable donation organization serving environmental causes.

The institute, to be named the Wyss Institute for Biologically Inspired Engineering, will be built as part of the Allston science complex, where the Harvard Stem Cell Institute, the Stem Cell and Regenerative Biology Department and the Medical School’s Systems Biology Department will also be located, The Harvard Crimson reports. Completion of the institute is scheduled for July 2011.

The Harvard Institute for Biologically Inspired Engineering was originally created from seed funding by the Harvard University Science and Engineering Committee. Biologically inspired engineering refers to the technology developments that stem from, or are inspired by, the principles of natural living systems, according to the HIBIE website. The technology developments are in the fields of synthetic biology, biological control and living materials.