Photo by James Sanna | Banker & Tradesman Staff

The head of an Cambridge “tough tech” incubator is headed to Boston City Hall to lead the Wu administration’s economic development strategy.

Emily Knight, CEO of The Engine in Cambridge, will succeed Segun Idowu as Boston’s permanent new economic development chief, Mayor Michelle Wu announced today.

“She’s helped bring some of the most ambitious ideas coming out of our research institutions to market, and she understands how to connect businesses to resources and talent to capital,” Wu said during an address to the Greater Boston Chamber of Commerce its annual government affairs forum.

Idowu has joined the Boston Ujima Project, the Boston Business Journal reported this morning.

Knight’s background at The Engine creates new connections between the city government and key emerging industries.

The incubator and accelerator at 750 Main St. in Cambridge includes wet labs, fabrication space and machine shops for startups in areas ranging from robotics to clean energy. The MIT spinoff has received funding from venture capital fund Engine Ventures, which has raised over $1 billion in the past decade and doled out funding to startups such as cleantech firm Sublime Systems. 

While Wu touted progress on downtown revitalization and housing production, she noted that she has reached out to local business leaders this year including executives from biotech platform Flagship Pioneering and WHOOP to ensure that Boston can compete for companies and investment.

In April, the city launched a new public-private initiative with seed funding from M&T Bank to attract global investment.