EXCLUSIVE: Microsoft exec: New international tech institute in Bellevue will redefine region
Jun 18, 2015, 12:59pm PDT Updated Jun 18, 2015, 1:55pm PDT
Jacob Demmitt
Puget Sound Business Journal
Microsoft and the University of Washington have joined together to create a tech innovative institute that brings universities, international students and industry giants together like never before.
In another big win, The Global Innovation Exchange will be located in Bellevue’s Spring District, the $2.3 billion mixed-use development on the east side of Interstate 405. GIX, as it’s known, will occupy 100,000 square feet of office space there during phase one, with plans to grow.
GIX, which was announced Thursday, will begin as a partnership between the University of Washington and China’s Tsinghua University. Program leaders are already in talks with “one of the great universities in Europe” and another from somewhere else in the world, both of which may join the partnership, said Microsoft General Counsel Brad Smith in an exclusive interview with the Puget Sound Business Journal.
The graduate school program has far-reaching implications for the region. It will attract top technical talent, research dollars and international attention from around the world as it becomes a hub for unprecedented collaboration and a new model for tech education.
GIX is being funded and built in collaboration with Microsoft (Nasdaq: MSFT) — something the company has never done before. It will pair UW students with international students to form teams. Those teams will work to solve real problems for real partner businesses. Microsoft, which has provided $40 million in initial funding, will be the first lead partner.
GIX will open in fall 2016 in a temporary location that's to be determined, and within a decade expects to enroll 3,000 students with an emphasis on master’s degrees for the technology industry. The Spring District building will not be ready until 2017.
“I do think this can be a place where the world comes together to learn together and solve problems together,” said Smith. “I think this has the potential of being every bit as important to the future of Puget Sound as the foundation of Stanford University became to the future of what became Silicon Valley.”
Several American universities have campuses in China, but this represents the first time a Chinese research institution has opened a facility in the United States, according to a UW release announcing the program.
The Puget Sound Business Journal first reported on the program when it was being developed as a way reshape the way universities train technology workers, UW Vice Provost for Innovation Vikram Jandhyala said in previous interviews.
Smith said GIX students won’t necessarily work on Microsoft’s campus, but they will be tackling Microsoft research problems, with mentors and close collaboration from the company.
The same will be true as other businesses come onboard.
“If this succeeds the way everybody hopes, I believe every technology-oriented company in Puget Sound will benefit — and Microsoft will be among them,” Smith said. “And 100 years from now, it may be one of the great crown jewels of this region. That’s what we should all hope to help create.”
