Tufts University collaborates with Somerville's Greentown Labs to support inventive clean technology solutions

MEDFORD/SOMERVILLE, Mass. (Sept. 7, 2017) – Tufts University has entered into an agreement with Somerville's Greentown Labs, the nation’s largest clean technology startup incubator, to share their collective expertise, resources and networks. The alliance furthers Tufts' commitment to sustainable innovation and entrepreneurship, while also serving as an example of the university's support of one of its host communities.

As part of the agreement, Greentown Labs and Tufts will collaborate on supporting a network of innovative startups and local entrepreneurs, and Greentown Labs companies will be able to work with the students and faculty of one of the nation's premier research universities.

The "Gigawatt Partner" arrangement also provides for:

• A member of the Tufts faculty to serve as a faculty-in-residence to Greentown Labs companies, advising fledgling businesses in the incubator;
• A recent Tufts graduate to serve in a rotating one-year position as a "Greentown Fellow," based at Tufts Institute of the Environment (TIE), who will be the primary liaison between the university and the incubator;
• Startups run by Tufts affiliates (students, faculty, postdoctoral associates, staff or alumni) to receive access to become Greentown Labs member companies;
• An opportunity for students at Tufts University's Gordon Institute – an engineering management and entrepreneurship program – and seniors studying engineering design to collaborate with Greentown Labs member companies; and
• Access for Greentown Labs companies to Tufts facilities, including the new Science and Engineering Complex on Tufts' Medford/Somerville campus.

"Tufts is excited to be working with Greentown Labs, especially since they are our neighbors in Somerville," said Linda Abriola, University Professor and director of TIE. "We look forward to collaborating closely with the innovative thinkers at Greentown toward our shared goal of supporting environmental sustainability."

Greentown Labs is a community of bold, passionate entrepreneurs creating game-changing energy technologies that transform the way we live, work, and play. Operating a 40,000 square foot facility that enables entrepreneurs to solve today's biggest energy and environmental problems, Greentown Labs hosts a constant stream of events and programs for the clean technology community and tours more than 10,000 visitors from around the world each year. Its mission is to enable a vibrant community of entrepreneurs to realize their visions by providing access to the resources, labs and funding they need to thrive. The incubator will expand its footprint in November 2017 when they open the Greentown Labs Global Center for Cleantech Innovation. For more information about the community and its new facility, please visit www.greentownlabs.com, or follow the incubator on Twitter, Facebook or LinkedIn.

Tufts demonstrates its commitment to sustainable goals through a variety of initiatives and programs, many overseen by the Office of Sustainability. Tufts is constructing a new, Central Energy Plant on its Medford/Somerville campus, which will replace a former inefficient plant and lower Tufts' greenhouse gas emissions by 14 percent annually. This June, the Grafton campus unveiled two new solar installations that generate 40 percent of the power for the Cummings School of Veterinary Medicine. In addition, Tufts houses or is affiliated with such research initiatives as TIE, Stockholm Environment Institute of the United States (SEI-US) and Global Development and Environment Institute (GDAE), which study environmental impact around the planet.

Tufts also supports entrepreneurship in a number of ways, having identified innovation as one of its core strategic themes.   

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About Tufts University

Tufts University, located on campuses in Boston, Medford/Somerville and Grafton, Massachusetts, and in Talloires, France, is recognized among the premier research universities in the United States. Tufts enjoys a global reputation for academic excellence and for the preparation of students as leaders in a wide range of professions. A growing number of innovative teaching and research initiatives span all Tufts campuses, and collaboration among the faculty and students in the undergraduate, graduate and professional programs across the university's schools is widely encouraged.