For Release:              Immediate – November 24, 2015

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

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

Albany, NY – Supporting Governor Andrew Cuomo’s high-tech education strategy for ensuring the success of New York’s students, one hundred fifty elementary students visited SUNY Polytechnic Institute’s Albany site November 24 to take part in “NanoDiscovery Day,” a nanosciences-focused experience based on the institution’s popular “NanoCareer Day” program which immerses students in the science that’s driving technological advancements.

Participating students received a gentle introduction to 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 show the young students how they can unlock the door to a bright future.

Students learned about the properties of electricity by creating magnetic, closed circuits that light up; experimented with the polymer powder that environmental scientists rely on to absorb oil spills; explored solar energy by making a solar robot grasshopper; and investigated hydrophobic coatings with magic sand that remains dry, even when it is splashed with water. SUNY Poly received such strong interest in the NanoDiscovery Program that a second NanoDiscovery Day will be scheduled for next spring at SUNY Poly’s Albany site.

NanoDiscovery Day is part of the month-long celebration of NANOvember presented by SUNY Poly and is designed to showcase the growing impact of nanotechnology on society and the global leadership of SUNY Poly and New York State in this exciting field.

Participating schools and counties included: Menands Union Free School District (Albany); Burnt Hills Ballston Lake Central School District (Saratoga and Schenectady); Greenwich Elementary School, Greenwich Central School District (Washington); Abram Lansing Elementary School, Cohoes City School District (Albany); and Duanesburg Elementary School, Duanesburg Central School District (Schenectady).

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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.