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CNSE's Smart System Technology and Commercialization Center to receive $5 million from Empire State Development
(Nanowerk News) Empire State Development today announced that the Smart System Technology and Commercialization Center (STC), formerly known as Infotonics' Technology Center, in Canandaigua will receive $5 million through the SUNY Research Foundation acting on behalf of the College of Nanoscale Science and Engineering (CNSE). The source of the grant is ESD's Upstate Regional Blueprint Fund. This grant will assist STC, which is now part of Albany based-CNSE, in the development of new high-technology development and prototyping capabilities that will both add and expand private investment and job creation in New York State.
The project is expected to be complete in July 2012. It is also expected to assist in retaining 40 employees and creating another 20 full-time, permanent high-tech positions at STC, plus an additional 50 jobs at Moser Baer.
"This investment strengthens New York State's role as a leader in the deployment of nanotechnology into real products and commercialization practices," said ESD President & CEO, designate, Kenneth Adams. "With ESD's assistance, STC will be able to develop its capacity to expand its commercial efforts in smart systems. The project will strengthen our innovation economy in the Finger Lakes Region."
"The UAlbany NanoCollege thanks Governor Cuomo and Empire State Development for this critical investment in CNSE's Smart System Technology and Commercialization Center," said CNSE Senior Vice President and CEO Dr. Alain Kaloyeros. "This funding from ESD will leverage more than $25 million in financial support from our private industry partners to enable the further development of high-tech infrastructure and capabilities at CNSE's STC, which in turn will drive new opportunities to attract nanotechnology jobs, companies and investment to the Greater Rochester Region."
"This funding from Empire State Development will provide essential resources and generate further momentum to accelerate the exciting growth of CNSE's Smart System Technology and Commercialization Center," said Paul Tolley, CNSE Vice President for Disruptive Technologies and Executive Director CNSE's STC. "The continued support of Empire State Development gives added impetus to our efforts to develop new partnerships with leading companies in the fast-growing smart systems sector."
CNSE's Smart System Technology and Commercialization Center will spend $8 million making improvements to approximately 10,000 square feet of existing cleanroom space, purchasing machinery and equipment to support pilot manufacturing of organic light emitting diode (OLED) panels and creating capacity for attracting other smart system technology applications. The ESD funds will be used for a portion of the cost of facility and infrastructure upgrades and the purchase of machinery and equipment, leveraging additional funding from private industry partners of CNSE's STC.
There are two major components of the project. The first is the fit-out of cleanroom space for STC on-site partner Moser Baer Technologies, which is investing $17 million in private funding as part of the initiative. The second component—relocating tools from the Center of Excellence in Nanoelectronics and Nanotechnology at the College of Nanoscale Science and Engineering (CNSE) in Albany to STC, procuring new tools and upgrading several existing tools—will enable CNSE's STC to tap the growing market for smart system technologies, estimated to be approximately $200 billion by 2015. Two adjunct but critical aspects of the program involve bringing in a new process called "Through Silicon Via" technology, as well as attaining the U.S. Department of Defense Trusted Foundry accreditation.
Infotonics Technology Center Inc. (ITC) is the name of a not-for-profit corporation formed in 2001 to operate New York State's Center of Excellence in Photonics and Optoelectronics, one of five New York State Centers of Excellence created under legislation to encourage partnerships between universities and industries in the development and commercialization of emerging technologies. On September 20, 2010, ITC merged with the Center of Excellence in Nanoelectronics and Nanotechnology at the College of Nanoscale Science and Engineering (CNSE) in Albany to become the Smart System Technology and Commercialization Center, a division of CNSE. This merger created a vertically integrated "one-stop-shop" for smart systems device development and process manufacturing, coupling CNSE's strength in nanoelectronics and R&D with ITC's expertise in integrating computer chips with hundreds of mechanical devices. The capabilities create immediate job and investment opportunities in all areas of advanced manufacturing, such as aerospace, defense, medical and energy industries.
The Research Foundation of State University of New York is a private, not-for-profit educational corporation that administers externally funded contracts and grants for and on behalf of the State University of New York. It is a separate, not-for-profit corporation and, as such, is not supported by state appropriated tax dollars, nor does it receive support services provided to New York State agencies. The Research Foundation provides the administrative flexibility to respond quickly to the special demands of externally funded contracts and grants in a manner that facilitates their scientific or technical execution.
Empire State Development is New York's chief economic development agency and administrator of the statewide business resource portal New York First (www.NYfirst.NY.gov). ESD is committed to being recognized on a global scale as the economic development engine driving job growth, strategic investment and prosperity in New York State. ESD is intent on paving the way for New York State to become the leader of the innovation economy and one of the most business-friendly, productive and competitive economic development climates in the world. ESD also oversees the marketing of "I LOVE NY," the State's iconic tourism brand. For more information on Empire State Development, visit www.esd.ny.gov.
Source: CNSE