Record-breaking donation behind £30 million Scottish innovation hub for health-tech, 5G, AI and space

Scotland is set for a £30 million “digital, entrepreneurial and social engagement hub” thanks to a record philanthropic gift.

The move will see the University of Strathclyde’s former student union building on Glasgow’s John Street transformed into a new hub providing additional research facilities for advancing areas such as health-tech, 5G communications, AI, fintech and space research.

The building will be named the Charles Huang Advanced Technology & Innovation Centre (CHATIC) in recognition of a £30m contribution to the project by Charles Huang, a global business leader and founder of private equity firm Pasaca Capital. The sum was part of a larger £50m donation he made through his foundation to Strathclyde in 2021, the institution’s largest-ever philanthropic gift.

An artist's Impression of the new Charles Huang Advanced Technology & Innovation Centre (CHATIC), which is scheduled for completion in 2026.

The 1950s’ building - situated in the heart of the Glasgow City Innovation District - has lain empty since the student union moved to its new home in the university’s learning and teaching complex on Richmond Street, in 2021, though part of the premises incorporates the institution’s combined heat and power district heating system.

University leaders said CHATIC would create a “critical mass” of companies, innovation support organisations, cutting-edge research and community engagement facilities that will deliver increased economic and social impact. Scheduled for completion in 2026, the refurbishment of the ten-storey former student union premises - built in 1959 - will emit some two-thirds less carbon when compared to a new-build, while retaining a building that “holds many memories for Strathclyders and Glaswegians more widely”, Strathclyde noted.

Sir Jim McDonald, principal and vice-chancellor of the University of Strathclyde, said the hub would “facilitate new opportunities to partner and innovate with industry, enhance research capabilities by actively developing our research leaders of the future, and grow entrepreneurial and social innovation opportunities open to staff, students and the wider community.”

He added: “We are hugely grateful to Charles for his very generous contribution to this project and are delighted to recognise this through the naming of the new building.”

The £50m donation from Huang also enabled the creation of the Stephen Young Institute for International Business, funded two professorial chairs in the institute and supported the establishment of the Stephen Young Entrepreneurship Awards and the Stephen Young global leaders scholarship programme.

Lina Tullberg, chief executive of the Charles Huang Foundation, said: “We are thrilled to see our donation to the University of Strathclyde come to fruition and meet with Dr Charles Huang’s original objectives. The CHATIC is the last piece of the programmes funded by the donation, with the other elements progressing well.”

The development of the hub will complement a number of other projects within Glasgow City Innovation District - including Love Loan and Candleriggs Square. The district has been held up as an exemplar in the sector and was recognised in the UK government’s 2020 research and development roadmap.

Strathclyde was awarded a Queen’s Anniversary Prize for higher and further education for its excellence in energy innovation in 2020, for excellence in advanced manufacturing in 2022 and for excellence in photonics research in 2023.

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