Attendees talk at the official launch of the new coworking joint venture between Sacred Heart University and Verizon, the iHub. Photo courtesy of Sacred Heart University | Tracy Deer-Mirek

Sacred Heart University has unveiled a new addition to the former General Electric headquarters, now its “West Campus” after the school bought the site in 2016 following GE’s relocation to Boston.

University administrators, faculty, community leaders, politicians, corporate representatives and entrepreneurs gathered Oct. 15 to celebrate the launch of SHU’s new innovation space iHub, a joint venture with Verizon. The 8,000-square-foot space offers hot desks, offices, conference rooms and amenities managed by a full-time community manager.

The iHub is intended to provide a space where students, corporations, small businesses and faculty can work together to fuel creativity and innovation. Businesses can collaborate with students and faculty through internships, team projects and other experiential learning programs.

“The iHub is part of the innovation ecosystem that we are building at our West Campus,” Rupendra Paliwal, provost and vice president of academic affairs at Sacred Heart University, said in a statement. “Companies and entrepreneurs that become members of iHub will have access to our faculty experts, student talents and state-of-the-art labs and facilities from wide-ranging disciplines to help them in various facets of business. Students will have an immersive learning experience with real projects right here on the campus. The iHub will further support a differentiated and distinctive SHU education.”

Five local companies already are making use of the iHub space. Among them is Al Dressler of FaceChecks.com, a forensic lab.

“We were the first to sign up, with the aim of improving our marketing and networking with people that can help our technology. We are making connections and have the ability to hire interns here,” he said in a statement.