For Release:         Immediate – March 2, 2016

Contact:                Jerry Gretzinger, Vice President of Strategic Communications and Public Relations ­

(518) 956-7359 | jgretzinger@sunypoly.edu

One Hundred Fifty Elementary Students Attend ‘NanoDiscovery Day’ at SUNY Poly’s Albany Site to Gain a Hands-on Nanotechnology-Based Experience

Albany, NY – Supporting Governor Andrew Cuomo’s high-tech education pipeline, 150 elementary students visited SUNY Polytechnic Institute’s Albany site on Wednesday, March 2 to take part in an exciting “NanoDiscovery Day” program, a nanoscience-focused experience based on the institution’s popular “NanoCareer Day” initiative which immerses students in the science that is powering New York State’s growing high-tech ecosystem.

Participating students received a gentle introduction to the fascinating world of nanotechnology that included a brief, age appropriate tour of SUNY Poly’s Albany NanoTech Complex cleanroom facilities and hands-on, engaging activities that taught concepts in nanoscale science and engineering to empower the young students to see themselves unlocking the door to an innovation-centered future.

Students learned about the properties of electricity by creating magnetic, closed circuits that lit up; experimented with polymers; explored solar energy by making a solar robot grasshopper; and investigated hydrophobic coatings with magic sand that remained dry, even when it was splashed with water.

Participating schools and counties included: Walter B. Howard School 5^th grade class, New Lebanon Central School District (Columbia); Malta Avenue Elementary School 4 ^th and 5^th grade classes, Ballston Spa Central School District (Saratoga); Division Street Elementary School kindergarten class, Saratoga Springs City School District (Saratoga); and Joseph Henry Elementary School 4^th, 5^th, and 6 ^th grades, Galway Central School District (Saratoga).

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SUNY Polytechnic Institute.SUNY Polytechnic Institute (SUNY Poly) is New York’s globally recognized, high-tech educational ecosystem, formed from the merger of the SUNY College of Nanoscale Science and Engineering and SUNY Institute of Technology. SUNY Poly offers undergraduate and graduate degrees in the emerging disciplines of nanoscience and nanoengineering, as well as cutting-edge nanobioscience and nanoeconomics programs at its Albany location and undergraduate and graduate degrees in technology, including engineering, cybersecurity, computer science, and the engineering technologies; professional studies, including business, communication, and nursing; and arts and sciences, including natural sciences, mathematics, humanities, and social sciences at its Utica/Rome location. Thriving athletic, recreational, and cultural programs, events, and activities complement the campus experience. As the world’s most advanced, university-driven research enterprise, SUNY Poly boasts more than $43 billion in high-tech investments, over 300 corporate partners, and maintains a statewide footprint. The 1.3 million-square-foot Albany NanoTech megaplex is home to more than 4,000 scientists, researchers, engineers, students, faculty, and staff, in addition to Tech Valley High School. SUNY Poly operates the Smart Cities Technology Innovation Center (SCiTI) at Kiernan Plaza in Albany, the Solar Energy Development Center in Halfmoon, the Children’s Museum of Science and Technology (CMOST) in Troy, the Central New York Hub for Emerging Nano Industries in Syracuse, the Smart System Technology and Commercialization Center (STC) in Canandaigua, and the Photovoltaic Manufacturing and Technology Development Facility in Rochester where SUNY Poly also leads the American Institute for Manufacturing Integrated Photonics. SUNY Poly founded and manages the Computer Chip Commercialization Center (Quad-C) at its Utica location and also manages the $500 million New York Power Electronics Manufacturing Consortium, with nodes in Albany and Rochester, as well as the Buffalo High-Tech Manufacturing Innovation Hub at RiverBend, Buffalo Information Technologies Innovation and Commercialization Hub, and Buffalo Medical Innovation and Commercialization Hub. For information visit  www.sunycnse.com and  www.sunypoly.edu.