Penn Engineering Launches PERCH, a New Research Facility at the Pennovation Center
By: Evan Lerner | Posted: 11 April 2016
The School of Engineering and Applied Science at the University of Pennsylvania has launched PERCH, the Penn Engineering Research and Collaboration Hub, a new research facility in the forthcoming Pennovation Center.
As the centerpiece of Pennovation Works, Penn’s 23-acre hub for innovation, research and entrepreneurialism, the Pennovation Center advances Penn President Amy Gutmann’s vision for the University and the goals of impact, innovation and inclusion outlined in the Penn Compact 2020. Integrating knowledge across disciplines, the Center will bring researchers and students from across Penn together with private-sector tenants to promote innovative exchange, foster entrepreneurship and economic development and support impactful research and discovery.
At PERCH, faculty, staff and students will pursue fundamental research on robotics, embedded systems, the “Internet of Things” and other emerging domains of interdisciplinary science and engineering. This intellectually collaborative environment will accelerate the translation of fundamental engineering discoveries into useful technologies with broad applications and will develop products with immediate social and technical value.
“Our faculty and students are the agents of innovation, developing the fundamental knowledge and creating novel technologies.” said Vijay Kumar, the Nemirovsky Family Dean of Penn Engineering. “PERCH will bring together researchers and entrepreneurs to improve the lab-to-market pipeline and enhance the ecosystem for technology innovation in Philadelphia.”