Nokia Bell Labs Breaks Ground on New Headquarters

Nokia Bell Labs has a lot to celebrate. The research giant marked its 100th anniversary in May at its venerable campus in Murray Hill—part of New Providence, N.J.—where major technological developments have occurred, such as the Bellmac-32 microprocessor and the satellite Earth station known as the Horn Antenna, which helped prove the big bang theory.

The company also held a groundbreaking ceremony on 4 September for its new headquarters in New Brunswick, N.J., about 32 kilometers south of Murray Hill and 10 km from IEEE’s Piscataway office.

Construction of the 10-story, 34,374-square-meter building is scheduled to be completed by the end of 2027. The Health and Life Science Exchange 2 building, known as HELIX 2, is the second of three planned edifices being constructed in the city’s new innovation district, which is designed to attract research labs, workspaces, and office suites for startups.

Attendees at the ceremony included Thierry E. Klein, the Bell Labs solutions research president, and Peter Vetter, the Bell Labs core research president. Both men are IEEE Fellows. New Jersey’s governor, Phil Murphy, was there too, as were New Brunswick Mayor James Cahill and other state and local officials.

“Today’s groundbreaking marks a new and exciting chapter in Bell Labs’ long history in New Jersey,” Klein said. “As we build and move into the HELIX, this continues our legacy of excellence, pioneering spirit, and commitment to breakthrough research on the East Coast. The location offers unique advantages that will accelerate our innovation capabilities and provide greater proximity to academic centers of excellence and fantastic new startups and ventures.”

The new location, he said, “will give access to a vibrant and urban environment that will help us attract the next generation of talent. Access to universities such as Princeton, Rutgers, the New Jersey Institute of Technology, and the Stevens Institute of Technology is incomparable. This is not just a move for the next two, three, four, or five years; this is going to be home for Bell Labs for a very, very long time.”

A hub of innovation

Nokia Bell Labs could have relocated its headquarters anywhere in the world, Murphy noted, but it chose to remain in New Jersey.

“Our illustrious history of innovation in New Jersey could be summarized in two words: Bell Labs,” the governor said. “For over a century, Bell Labs has transformed our state, our nation, and the world. This is literally an iconic and globally unique institution. We break ground and start to establish a new foundation for quantum physics, generative artificial intelligence, and optical communications. Through partnerships, joint ventures, and spinoffs, Nokia Bell Labs will facilitate new products and companies that will [continue to] drive the innovation economy in New Jersey.”

To ensure New Jersey would be at the forefront of innovation, the governor in 2018 announced his intent to establish 12 innovation hubs throughout the state as a way to attract entrepreneurs, startups, and early-stage companies. The first hub—the HELIX 1 building, adjacent to Nokia Bell Labs’ new headquarters—is expected to open next year and include Rutgers’s medical school and translational research institute.

New Jersey’s governor, Phil Murphy, at the podium addresses attendees at the groundbreaking ceremony. Nokia

The facilities will offer furnished offices and labs outfitted with scientific equipment, officials say. Tenants will include Hackensack Meridian Health and Robert Wood Johnson Barnabas Health.

New Brunswick is no stranger to innovators, Cahill noted. The Johnson & Johnson pharmaceutical company is headquartered in the city and got its start in a local wallpaper factory. The Johnson brothers and Thomas Edison often ate at a nearby drugstore lunch counter, where they discussed advancements in manufacturing, the mayor said. Edison’s laboratory was in Menlo Park. Cahill also said that Albert Einstein, who worked at Princeton University and lived in the town, was often spotted strolling the streets of New Brunswick, about 30 km away.

State-of-the-art research facilities

The new Nokia Bell Lab offices will cater to the needs of research scientists and specialists in focused areas, Klein said.

“It’s an efficient, modern, and low-carbon facility providing sustainable power, heating, and cooling capabilities,” he said. “Our researchers will have access to the best facility possible. That is our dream.”

This is not the first time Bell Labs has moved its headquarters, Vetter noted. The primary R&D activities were set up in New York City in 1925. They moved to Murray Hill in 1941. Some of the biggest innovations were developed there during the following decade, including the transistor and the cellular network.

“I want to think that our move will again be a catalyst for breakthrough innovations to happen in the decade after we move in and will be in a variety of areas such as 7G, AI, quantum computing, and quantum network security,” Vetter said.

“As we build and move into the HELIX, this continues our legacy of excellence, pioneering spirit, and commitment to breakthrough research on the East Coast.” —Thierry Klein

“We also need to make sure the research goes into the real world,” he said. “We like to say that if somebody has a problem in the real world and you solve it in the lab but you don’t make that leap of technology into the real world, the problem still exists.

“It’s not just research or breakthrough technologies,” he added. “It’s also creating the companies that will commercialize these technologies and lead the next century of innovation.”

IEEE Milestones recognize Bell Labs innovations

Another celebratory event is scheduled for 21 October in Murray Hill. Several technologies developed there are to be designated as IEEE Milestones. The technologies include three Nobel Prize winners: super-resolved microscopy, the charge-coupled device, and the fractional quantum hall effect. IEEE Region 1 and the IEEE North Jersey Section sponsored the nominations.

Administered by the IEEE History Center and supported by donors, the Milestones program recognizes outstanding technical developments around the world.

Watch for The Institute’s article on the Nokia Bell Labs Milestone achievement ceremony in November.