The Summit was hosted in partnership with the Sustainable Markets Initiative, founded in 2020 by the King – then the Prince of Wales – to help convene global business leaders, investors and innovators to accelerate the deployment of breakthrough technologies and strengthen collaboration between industry, academia and government.
World-leading innovation must be in harmony with our planet, and the new Hatton Professorship of Sustainability at Cambridge was also celebrated at the Summit. Established to mark the coronation of the King – an alumnus of Trinity College – and his championing of sustainability, the Professorship is funded through a £7 million endowment, made up of £5 million from Trinity College and the Hatton Trust, and matched by £2 million from the University.
As well as accelerating both innovation and economic impact, the mission of the New Whittle Laboratory, along with that of the Cambridge Institute for Sustainability Leadership, of which the King has been the Royal Founding Patron for more than 30 years, reflects His Majesty’s longstanding interest in how innovation, business leadership, and sustainability can work together to create prosperity and resilience.
The New Whittle Laboratory is the latest evolution of the Whittle Lab, which was opened in 1973 to place the UK at the forefront of the jet age. It was named for Sir Frank Whittle (1907-1996), the Cambridge alumnus and RAF officer who is known as the creator of the jet engine.
