Innovative Research and Economic Engagement

Research Highlights

SUNY Poly awarded $1.4M via Liberty Partnership Program to Deliver Research-Based Programming to Students at High-Risk of Dropping out of School

In July, SUNY Poly held a variety of summer programs for Herkimer County students as part of the Liberty Partnership Program. This comes after SUNY Poly was awarded more than $1.4 million from the New York State Department of Education through a Liberty Partnership Program grant in March to serve hundreds of at-risk students in the region who currently attend grades 5-12 by engaging them in a mixed-model school- and after school-based effort.  The initiative seeks to facilitate positive outcomes and decrease the chances of students deciding to drop out of school. To meet this critical goal, the program recruits and selects at-risk students to participate; employs family engagement and case management strategies; and engages students in career and educational goal-setting, civic-minded projects, and after school and summer activities. The five-year grant enables SUNY Poly students to serve as mentors and provide Liberty Partnership Program participants with information about various vocational careers they might choose. Participants include students from Little Falls City School District, Herkimer Central School District, Central Valley Central School District, Dolgeville Central School District, Frankfort-Schuyler Central School District, and Mt. Markham Central School District. In July, students participated in sessions where they learned how to build a self-driving car from Dr. Jiayue (Joyce) Shen and learned tabletop game board design from Mr. Matthew Powers.  Read more.

Dr. Hisham Kholidy Secures Largest Single-Investigator Grant in History of SUNY Poly

Associate Professor and Chair of the Network and Computer Security (Cybersecurity) Department, Dr. Hisham A. Kholidy, has been awarded a nearly $1.1 million contract from the Air Force Research Laboratory (AFRL) for a 36-month project that will help address the need for an advanced security system that can identify, assess, and protect against attacks across the 5G open architecture in a timely and accurate way without human intervention. The grant is not only significant in its total amount, but also because it is the largest single-investigator award ever received at SUNY Poly’s campus, which is located in Utica. Read more.

Two Grants Totaling $568K Will Establish Offshore Wind Training Team and Workforce Development Efforts at SUNY Poly

In June, SUNY Poly received two grants totaling $568,000. The first grant for nearly $400,000 will establish the SUNY Poly Offshore Wind Training Team (SPOWT²). The SPOWT² will prepare SUNY Poly students for careers in the offshore wind industry, enhance the faculty’s expertise on the subject, as well as fund scholarships for underrepresented and non-traditional populations interested in the field. The project is led by SUNY Poly Associate Professor of Civil Engineering, Dr. Zhanjie Li. The second grant, for $168,000, supports the development of a micro-credential program focused on offshore wind technology and training. This program is a collaboration between Farmingdale State College (FSC) and the College of Nanoscale Science and Engineering (CNSE), where Professor of Nanoengineering Dr. Haralabos Efstathiadis leads the program to facilitate students gaining hands-on training on state-of-the-art equipment to test materials used in the blades of the wind turbines. They will learn about the development of materials to prevent micro-cracks and also protect them from degradation and corrosion. Read more.

$500K Grant secured for 30-Minute COVID-19 Antibody Test in Partnership with Ciencia, Inc., NYS Dept. of Health, Wadsworth Center

A $500,000 grant from Empire State Development’s New York State Biodefense Commercialization Fund supported bringing a more affordable and accurate 30-minute COVID-19 antibody test to market in partnership with Ciencia, Inc. and the New York State Department of Health, Wadsworth Center. This research, led by Interim Vice President for Research and Empire Innovation Professor of Nanobioscience, Dr. Nate Cady, leveraging Ciencia, Inc.’s high sensitivity fluorescent plasmonic platform, and with the Wadsworth Center, could enable detailed immune profiling, allowing for the detection of COVID-19 antibodies that define vaccination status, prior exposure, and immunity against key variants. Read more.

SUNY Poly and UAlbany Receive $459,000 Award from the National Cancer Institute to Research How Lack of a Key Nutrient Promotes Aging and Cancer

SUNY Poly and the University at Albany’s collaborating research teams received a $459,000 grant from the National Cancer Institute (NCI), part of the National Institutes of Health, to investigate how a selenium deficiency can chemically modify RNA, which may promote aging and cancer. This research, led by Interim Dean of CNSE André Melendez and Thomas Begley, Associate Director of The RNA Institute in UAlbany’s College of Arts and Sciences, utilizes cutting-edge tools available for biomedical and life science-focused research at both institutions. Concurrently, undergraduate and graduate students attending CNSE and UAlbany gain firsthand lab experience and training opportunities in RNA science and technology throughout the grant’s three-year research term. Read more.

Dr. Woongje Sung Awarded $325K for Development of More Cost Effective and Reliable Power Electronics Devices

Associate Professor of Nanoengineering Dr. Woongje Sung was selected to receive $325,000 in total funding from Sandia National Laboratories for the development, process simulation, and eventual manufacture of bi-directional field effect transistors (BiDFETs) which ultimately bring significant benefits in terms of cost reduction and improved reliability to Silicon Carbide (SiC)-based devices, which are used in a range of applications, such as electric drive trains in electric vehicles. The first grant for $225,000 is a collaborative research endeavor with The Ohio State University and NoMIS Power, a CNSE spinoff led by post-doctoral researcher Adam Morgan, and the second grant of $100,000 is focused on BiDFETs for grid-tied energy storage. This project represents a seamless continuation of Dr. Sung’s ongoing effort where his research team currently engages in the development of 1.2kV SiC rugged metal-oxide-semiconductor field-effect transistors (MOSFETs), computer chip “switches” specifically designed for electric vehicle (EV) applications. The project is generously supported by the Vehicle Technology Office of the Department of Energy (DoE). Read more.

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Research Partnership Highlights

Menlo Micro Establishing Production Facility Outside Ithaca, NY

July 2023, Senate Majority Leader Schumer and New York State Governor Kathy Hochul announced that Menlo Microsystems, Inc. (Menlo Micro) finalized an asset purchase in Tompkins County, N.Y., which will house the company’s first domestic production facility, the Ideal Fab™. They said Menlo Micro will invest $50 million in the Ideal Fab over the next three years, creating over 100 high tech jobs at the site within the next five years. Built out of a decade-long effort at General Electric’s Global Research Center in Niskayuna, N.Y., Menlo Micro’s Research and Development arm is located at the Albany NanoTech Complex in Albany, N.Y. In addition to the work based at General Electric, New York-based Corning Glass was an initial investor and key R&D partner.

IBM – AI Hardware Center

In 2019, it was announced that IBM, a long-time anchor tenant at the Albany NanoTech Complex, plans to invest over $2 billion to grow its high-tech footprint at the site and throughout New York State. This includes the establishment of an “AI Hardware Center” for artificial intelligence-focused computer chip research, development, prototyping, testing, and simulation. The AI Hardware Center acts as the nucleus of a new ecosystem of research and commercial partners and further solidifies the Capital Region’s position as a global hub for innovative R&D.

Applied Materials – Materials Engineering Technology Accelerator (META Center)

Applied Materials Inc. partnered with New York State to establish the Materials Engineering Technology Accelerator (META Center) at the Albany NanoTech Complex. ESD is providing a five-year, $250 million capital grant for the Research Foundation for SUNY to purchase and install tools in an advanced research and development facility that will further position the Capital Region to be a global materials engineering research hub. Applied Materials will bring in $600 million in investments through the META Center. Additional high-tech partners are also expected to locate at the META Center.

Wolfspeed Marcy Nanocenter Fabrication Facility—and a Commitment to Opportunities

Wolfspeed, a global leader in silicon carbide technology, is investing $1 billion over six years to construct and equip a new, state-of-the-art, highly automated, 200 mm silicon carbide wafer fabrication facility, which had its ribbon cutting in spring 2022. This public-private partnership will provide 430 million dollars in research and development and plans to create 600 full-time highly skilled technician and engineering positions at the Marcy Nanocenter on SUNY Poly’s campus, which will provide internship and career opportunities for students and alumni.

Wolfspeed has also committed to a $2M scholarship program over ten years. This initiative is complementary to the announcement of the Dr. John Edmond and Dr. John Palmour SUNY Polytechnic Institute Endowed Faculty Chairs. The five-year, $1,500,000 funding underpins the continued expansion of science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) opportunities for students at SUNY Poly.

 SUNY, SUNY Poly, Griffiss Institute, Air Force Research Laboratory Partnership

With Innovare Advancement Center having launched in fall 2020, it is emerging as a global catalyst to converge world-class talent with cutting-edge facilities and focused technology challenges to accelerate the development of game-changing capabilities that protect and empower our country. SUNY Poly is looking forward to additional ways to partner through this innovative collaboration, with faculty already engaged in research opportunities.

Career Alignment Platform at the Advanced Manufacturing Performance Center to Advance High-Tech Workforce

The Advanced Manufacturing Performance (AMP) Center at SUNY Poly, in collaboration with Edwards Vacuum (Edwards), TEL Technology Center, America, LLC (TEL), DPS Group, and SEMI, continue to advance and deploy the Career Alignment Platform (CAP). This cutting-edge workforce initiative aims to attract and develop the highly skilled technical workers needed for digital manufacturing in the semiconductor industry. See additional news coverage from the Troy Record, which covered the CAP as part of the article, “Blueprint released for nation’s first national semiconductor technology center.”

SUNY Poly Highlights its Efforts to Build the High-Tech Workforce to Support the Nation’s Computer Chip Needs as Part of ASIC

It is critical to stand up the new National Semiconductor Technology Center (NSTC)—but a robust, diverse workforce well-versed in the latest semiconductor research, along with semiconductor experts, is undoubtedly required for its success. SUNY Poly has been addressing this need with its government and industry partners for more than a decade, and it is proud to support the American Semiconductor Innovation Coalition (ASIC) as it advocates for an effective, efficient innovation hub of the proposed NSTC.

CNSE cited as model for US-EU semiconductor collaboration by Center for Strategic and International Studies

CNSE was also cited as a key semiconductor research organization to drive NSTC success.