WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind. – Purdue University will open a West Coast Partnership Center in Mountain View, Calif., this month.

The center will serve to link Purdue’s expertise in engineering and technology with the West Coast’s high-tech companies and entrepreneurs.

Purdue already has a strong tie to Silicon Valley and California.The state is home to more than 18,000 alumni, the largest group after Indiana and Illinois.

John C. Boyle will head up the new office. He holds a bachelor’s degree in electrical engineering from Purdue and an MBA from Stanford University. He has worked for a number of corporations, including Hewlett-Packard and General Motors, as well as startups and smaller companies such as VeriFone and 3Com. He also has been a partner in two Silicon Valley venture capital firms, Worldview Technology Partners and Matrix Partners.

“I’m anxious to help bring Purdue’s expertise to the West Coast’s high-tech center,” he said. “There is a demand on the West Coast for technology and engineering research and skills. Purdue can be a supplier. There’s a natural fit for Purdue on the West Coast.”

While Purdue will contribute technical expertise to the West Coast, the partnership will bring research and development dollars back to Indiana. It also will provide Purdue’s faculty with new ideas for exploration.

“Increasingly Purdue’s researchers are engaged in entrepreneurial activities, including commercializing their innovations and starting new companies in Indiana. These activities are enhanced through partnerships with other entrepreneurs,” said Purdue President France A. Cordova. “Extending our outreach to our entrepreneurial alumni and others in the Silicon Valley can enhance the impact of these activities and contribute to the growth of Indiana’s economy.”

The West Coast Partnership Center is being funded by Purdue Research Foundation and the Indiana Economic Development Corp. (IEDC).

“In the past year alone, multiple California companies, including Scale Computing and Beckman Coulter, have been drawn to our state’s pro-business environment, talented work force and sound financial footing and have moved jobs and investment here,” said Mitch Roob, Indiana secretary of commerce and chief executive officer of IEDC. “With a strong network of Purdue University alumni, venture capitalists and entrepreneurs on the West Coast, our presence in California positions us to bring more economic opportunities home to Indiana.”

The office will be located in the NASA Ames Research Center in Mountain View.