Google To Renovate Cambridge Offices

Google’s Cambridge offices are ready for an upgrade—one that may provide job and research opportunities for Harvard students and faculty.

The company decided last month to renovate a 59,000-square foot space at Five Cambridge Center, near MIT, according to the Boston Business Journal. The new space will replace the company’s current 18,000-square foot Cambridge office and with the move, scheduled for early 2008, the branch will become Google’s regional headquarters.

Dean of the School of Engineering and Applied Science Venkatesh “Venky” Narayanamurti said having a company like Google nearby would mean a lot of research opportunities for students.

“Obviously Google is a forefront company at the leading edge of science and technology in the country,” he said.

But students might not be the only Harvard affiliates to benefit.

Venky said that he is also looking forward to research collaboration between Harvard faculty members and Google engineers and programmers.

According to Steve Vinter, the engineering director at Google’s Cambridge office, the new expansion will likely generate job opportunities for recent graduates.

The Cambridge office’s emphasis is “shifting toward hiring more new college grads and we’re actively encouraging interns for the summer of 2008,” he wrote in an e-mailed statement.

Kevin Ferguson ’08, an intern with Google last summer said, based on his experience with the company, opportunities at the firm will go well beyond computer science. “They have a variety of departments, so you don’t necessarily have to know how to program,” he said, mentioning offerings in business, sales, human relations, and corporate communications.

Vinter said the Cambridge office made significant contributions to Google’s recently revealed plans to expand into the cell phone market.

Android, announced Monday, is an open-source operating system for cell phones. The project is a collaboration between Google, Sprint Nextel, Qualcomm, Motorola, and other leading internet and communications companies.

“Cambridge has been long recognized as having a high concentration of both elite Universities and high-tech companies, so emphasis was placed on growing the Cambridge office,” Vinter wrote.