Science Park - Examples

Examples

University research and science parks are found all over the world, but are mostly concentrated in developed countries; over 140 are found in North America alone. Prominent examples include the Purdue Research Park in West Lafayette, Indiana, Hsinchu Science Park in Taiwan, The Research Triangle Park in North Carolina, NanKang Software Park, The Advanced Manufacturing Park in Sheffield, Cambridge Science Park and NETpark in County Durham, England, Daedeok Innopolis in South Korea.

Centennial Campus at North Carolina State University is a case in point. In the 1980s, pressure for space at the main North Carolina State University (NCSU) campus in Raleigh led to exploration of nearby options, including substantial holdings by the state mental-health system and the Diocese of Raleigh on 1,000 acres (4.0 km2) surrounding the old Lake Raleigh Reservoir. Starting in the 1980s, the land was conveyed to NCSU in stages, and serious planning began with the appointment of a former dean of the university's School of Design to the position of campus coordinator.

Sandia Science and Technology Park, the NASA Research Park at Ames, and the Tri-Cities Science and Technology Park located close to the Pacific Northwest National Laboratory are examples of research parks that have been developed by or adjacent to federal laboratories. Another example is the East Tennessee Technology Park at Oak Ridge National Laboratory.

Other examples of U.S. science parks are the Cummings Research Park in Huntsville, Alabama, and the University of Wisconsin Research Park in Madison, Wisconsin. Begun in 1962, Cummings today is home to 285 companies which employ over 25,000 employees.

Brazil is one of the developing countries that has strongly encouraged the establishment of technology parks and business incubators, mostly for budding small high tech companies. Several dozens of such parks are now in existence. In the state of São Paulo, the state government has sponsored a technology park program for several cities which have a strong high tech base, such as São Paulo City, Campinas, São José dos Campos and São Carlos. These cities have strong research universities, such as the University of São Paulo, State University of Campinas, Federal University of São Carlos, pure and applied research institutes and high technology companies, such as Embraer, one of the largest aircraft manufacturers in the world. Campinas also boasts the largest number of high-tech business incubators and industrial parks (a total of eight), such as the CIATEC I and II, Softex, TechnoPark, InCamp, Polis, TechTown, Industrial Park of Campinas and others. Because of this Campinas has been dubbed the Brazilian Silicon Valley.