March 31,
2006
Collaborative Science and New Technologies
in the Finger Lakes Boosted by New Grant
The economic woes of Central New
York have been well documented during recent decades. But
if the leaders of the Finger Lakes New Knowledge Fusion
project have their way, Central New York will soon become
an economic powerhouse fueled by cutting-edge scientifi c
research, start-up companies, and an educated workforce leading
the region to new ideas and new prosperity. Thanks to a new
three-year, $600,000 National Science Foundation (NSF) grant,
the Finger Lakes New Knowledge Fusion project can do its
part to help revitalize the region with new technologies,
new businesses, a prepared workforce, and an informed community.
Cornell University researchers working in the biological
sciences at the Experiment Station will partner with microsystem
scientists at the Infotonics Technology Center in Canandaigua
to design innovative technologies to solve modern problems
faced by food and agricultural producers. Techniques to
monitor conditions affecting the safety of food on its way
from the fi eld to the family table or sensors built to measure
the way fruit grows in the orchard or vineyard could become
the basis for new business enterprises in the Finger Lakes.
"This
project will mobilize the knowledge, energy, expertise,
and innovative cultures at neighboring world-class research
institutions to create a unique new technology cluster to
meet 21st century food and agricultural challenges and fuel
job creation and economic growth," says Susan A. Henry,
the Ronald P. Lynch Dean of Agriculture and Life Sciences,
a lead investigator on the project along with Robert C. Seem,
plant pathologist at the Experiment Station and David R.
Smith, CEO of Infotonics.
Ontario County and the Cornell
Agriculture and Food Technology Park in Geneva will
lend business and fi nancial expertise and facilities to
help generate long-lasting economic development in the region.
The Finger Lakes Workforce Investment Board (FLWIB)
will work with schools and colleges in the region to build
on existing programs and curricula to prepare students or
retrain displaced workers for careers related to this cluster
of new food and agricultural industries.
The workforce-preparation
component of the Knowledge Fusion project will provide
a pipeline of qualifi ed scientists, entrepreneurs,
and technicians emerging from local public schools and colleges.
Teaching initiatives led by scientists at the NYSAES and
the Summer Science Camp run by Infotonics will be expanded.
"Job
creation in the 21st century can only happen with a 21st
century system of education," said Congressman Sherwood
Boehlert, chairman of the House Science Committee. "This
funding will help give the Finger Lakes Region exactly
that by helping train our local workforce and commercialize
new technologies in today's evolving high tech economy."
The
grant comes from the NSF's Partnerships for Innovation
program which funds projects based on their ability
to "stimulate
the transformation of knowledge created by the national
research and education enterprise into innovations
that create new wealth, build strong local, regional and
national economies, and improve the national well-being,"
according to the NSF's website.
Related World Wide Web sites:
http://www.nysaes.cornell.edu
http://www.infotonics.org
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