For Release:         Immediate – June 30, 2016

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

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

SUNY POLY ANNOUNCES HIGH-TECH PARTNERSHIP WITH ISRAEL’S SPACEPHARMA TO ADVANCE NEXT GENERATION OF SPACE RESEARCH

$1.75M Phase One Investment to Support 150 Jobs and Groundbreaking Nanobioscience Research in Micro-Gravity Environments, Including Cutting-Edge Cancer Treatments & Therapies

ALBANY, NY - SUNY Polytechnic Institute today announced a groundbreaking high-tech partnership between its Albany NanoTech Complex and Israel’s SpacePharma to embark on the next frontier of space research. The advanced public-private partnership will invest $1.75 million in cutting-edge nanobioscience research and technology, including nanoscale microgravity experiments to drive breakthroughs in potential cancer treatments and therapies.

"Today's announcement is a testament to Governor Andrew Cuomo’s strategy to establish New York as a globally competitive high-tech economy, as demonstrated by our international partnership with the Israeli government and companies such as SpacePharma.  The international investment in this partnership will drive continued growth creating hundreds of jobs, providing cutting-edge training, and delivering potentially life-saving treatments,” said SUNY Poly president and CEO Dr. Alain Kaloyeros. “We project the scope and magnitude of the SUNY Poly-Israeli high-tech partnership will continue to evolve and expand in the years ahead, providing an economic boost to the state and new opportunities for our students and faculty.“

“It is an honor to collaborate with leading scientists from SUNY Poly, one of the world’s finest research universities, as we embark on groundbreaking micro-gravity nanobioscience research with untold potential,” said Yossi Yamin, CEO SpacePharma R&D. “We want to thank the Israeli government and Dr. Kaloyeros and SUNY Poly for their support of this tremendous scientific collaboration.”

SUNY Poly and SpacePharma’s state-of-the-art facilities coupled with their unique technological expertise allows for the creation of micro-gravity labs to replicate and control space environments in a cost-effective manner. As organisms and cells react differently in space than on earth, faculty and students will deploy this new technology to study a broad range of biological questions including cell dynamics and cell behavior. Among the many changes that have been evaluated are modifications to cell growth and movement, reaction to therapeutic drugs and musculoskeletal development.

Phase I of the research collaboration between SUNY Poly and SpacePharma in Israel will create and support at least 150 STEM jobs at home and abroad. New research into the causes and effects of microgravity exposure will facilitate future investment and economic activity, with substantial increases projected moving forward. Initial proof of concept research will lead to Phase II investments with a goal of translating earth-bound microgravity experiments into a format compatible with space launch on SpacePharma’s microsatellites.

SUNY Poly graduate and undergraduate students will assist faculty and staff in the design and implementation of micro-gravity experiments in an effort to train and equip the next generation of STEM workers in New York. New York State has invested heavily in STEM education, enabling thousands of job seekers to attain high tech positions and driving growth across regional economies. New York is currently home to more than 33 Pathways to Technology Early College High schools (P-TECH) that combine rigorous curricula with STEM focused associate degrees.

In 2014, New York State launched the STEM Incentive scholarship program to allow more than 600 high-achieving high school students to study a STEM discipline at SUNY or CUNY tuition-free. New York has also linked state colleges and universities to economic development programs through Start-Up New York and the Innovations Hotspots initiative, both of which seek to bring the research conducted at universities to market and create jobs in emerging STEM related fields.

The new partnership between SUNY Poly and SpacePharma is part of an outgrowth of ongoing collaborations between New York State, SUNY Poly, and the Israeli government and other companies, including the SUNY Poly-based G450C – the $4.8 billion partnership with Intel, IBM, GLOBALFOUNDRIES, TSMC, and Samsung to build a first-class, wafer and equipment development environment to enable a cost effective and timely global industry-wide transition from current 300mm wafer technology to new 450mm technology.

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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 andwww.sunypoly.edu.

SpacePharma. SpacePharma’s mission is to become a world leader in providing simplified and valuable, end-to-end microgravity services and solutions for research. SpacePharma R&D was established in June 2013 and has been repeatedly recognized as a leading space company, including being named a “World Game Changer” by the prestigious venture capital publication CB Insights.