New York / NY. (fcny) Forest City New York announced that Ferrero International S.A., the Italian confectionary group and one of the world’s largest manufacturers of chocolates, will take space at The Bridge at Cornell Tech. The Bridge is a first-of-its-kind building that will house an extraordinary mix of cutting-edge companies working alongside groundbreaking Cornell academic teams: from recent Cornell Tech graduates hustling to commercialize a new idea, to start-ups on the verge of explosive growth, and established companies developing leading edge technologies and products.
At The Bridge, Ferrero’s Open Innovation Science division will drive discovery, evaluation and integration plans of relevant external science, technology and entrepreneurial innovations. Their strategic approach will be based on the identification of opportunity areas at the intersection of technology, macrotrends, and Ferrero business priorities. Alongside Cornell University students, faculty, and other innovative companies at The Bridge, Ferrero will explore technologies and innovations that could improve Ferrero products and operations, deliver optimization of nutritional value, drive improvements to product protection and packaging, and identify biotech transformations.
«Technology has become integral to all industries, not just our tech sector», said MaryAnne Gilmartin, President and CEO of Forest City New York. «At The Bridge, we are closing the gap between academia and industry to drive new partnerships and accelerate new technologies and products to market. We are thrilled to welcome Ferrero to the building where they will be able to take advantage of working in close proximity to the talented students and cutting-edge researchers at Cornell Tech in our unique ecosystem of impact and innovation».
«At Cornell Tech, we are creating digital pioneers who are sparking innovation across sectors, not just at what you would consider traditional tech companies», said Cornell Tech Dean Dan Huttenlocher. «We are happy to have Ferrero join the campus for a chance to collaborate with students and faculty and they develop new ideas and technologies in their field».
«We are thrilled to join the community at The Bridge. With the opportunity to work with Cornell Tech and be among other companies committed to change and innovation, we will develop cutting-edge research and technologies that will have transformational effects on our products and business», said Giovanni Battistini, Vice President, Open Innovation Science at Ferrero.
«The ramp up of the Singapore Innovation Center last June and the New York new location at Cornell are two key milestones in our strategic approach to Open Innovation», said Aldo Uva, COO at Ferrero.
