Albany, NY – Demonstrating extensive and sustained interest in Governor Andrew M. Cuomo’s high-tech investment strategy which has made New York State a global leader in technology innovation, SUNY Polytechnic Institute announced that thousands attended Community Day events at its locations in Albany and Utica, representing a ten percent increase from last year’s Community Day attendance. The eighth annual event featured 160 faculty, staff, and student volunteers in total supporting the traditional start to “NANOvember,” a month-long series of statewide engagements that demonstrate the inspiring world of nanotechnology and the global leadership of SUNY Poly and New York in this exciting field.

"SUNY Poly’s Community Day is an engaging event that serves growing public interest in the nanosciences as well as the educational opportunities and career prospects the field presents," said SUNY Chancellor Nancy L. Zimpher. "As in years past, Community Day has been a sweeping success, highlighting the many opportunities that SUNY Poly makes available for students, faculty, staff, and businesses. Congratulations to Dr. Kaloyeros and the entire SUNY Poly community on this event.”

“SUNY Polytechnic Institute is thrilled to offer these “NANOvember” events and share the story of Governor Andrew Cuomo’s successful public-private investment model, which has catalyzed billions of dollars in investment across New York State and thousands of jobs, with SUNY Poly as a magnet for leading businesses that have made New York’s innovation ecosystem their home,” said SUNY Poly President and CEO Dr. Alain Kaloyeros. “As people of all ages take part in NANOvember-themed events throughout this month, we hope that they will be inspired and excited by how the Governor’s nanotechnology-centered economic strategy is powering exciting growth and development.”

At SUNY Polytechnic Institute’s $24 billion Albany NanoTech Complex, Community Day featured a wide range of family-friendly activities, allowing visitors to explore vanishing jelly marbles, the principles of levitation, and take part in gowning demonstrations, fabricate Buckyballs, create play dough, and make bouncing balls. Attendees were provided guided tours of NanoFab Xtension (NFX), headquarters for the Global 450mm Consortium (G450C), which is leading the world in the development of next-generation computer chips, to see first-hand the powerful educational and workforce opportunities that stem from Governor Cuomo’s targeted investments across the state.

The Albany event was accompanied by a similar event held simultaneously at SUNY Poly’s Utica site, where visitors learned about Governor Cuomo’s $1.5 billion ‘Nano Utica’ announcement. Attendees were able to tour the Computer Chip Commercialization Center (Quad-C), which will be home to a power electronics packaging facility led by SUNY Poly and GE. They also learned about sensor maker ams’ $2 billion Marcy Nanocenter plans that will establish a state-of-the-art 200/300 mm wafer fabrication facility to support the company’s high-performance analog semiconductor operations which are expected to create and retain more than 700 full time jobs and 500 additional support jobs. Visitors to SUNY Poly’s Utica site were also able to take part in a number of fun, hands-on nanotechnology-based activities and presentations to better understand the science behind regional and statewide nano-based growth.

As part of the kickoff to NANOvember, students from the Finger Lakes region were also invited to tour the SUNY Poly Smart System Technology & Commercialization Center (SUNY Poly STC) in Canandaigua on November 6 to see demonstrations of the facility’s world-class micro-electro-mechanical systems (MEMS) capabilities to better understand numerous career opportunities that are available to them. Students from Pittsford Mendon High School and Pittsford Sutherland High School attended the nanoscience-focused, daylong event.

NANOvember will continue with The Entrepreneurship Forum, hosted by SUNY Poly and the Energy and Environmental Technology Applications Center (E2TAC), which will provide critical information and valuable connections for startup businesses, enabling them to connect with client companies and advisory members of Incubators for Collaborating & Leveraging Energy and Nanotechnology (iCLEAN) and the Tech Valley Business Incubator on November 12; “SUNY Poly CMOST Family Day” at the SUNY Poly Children’s Museum of Science and Technology (SUNY Poly CMOST), where children will be able to experience age-appropriate nanotechnology exhibits and other engaging, family-based activities that will allow them to explore the science behind Star Wars on November 14; and 300 middle and high school students will take part in an immersive nanotechnology-inspired program as part of SUNY Poly’s popular “NanoCareer Day,” where attendees learn about the many high-tech career opportunities available throughout New York’s high-tech corridor on November 25.

Additionally, “An Evening of Q & A with Dr. Alain Kaloyeros, SUNY Poly President and CEO,” is scheduled to take place at the SUNY Poly Albany site on November 16 when he will discuss nanotechnology’s growing impact on New York State—and societies around the globe—as a result of Governor Cuomo’s high-tech growth strategy.

For a complete list of events and activities planned for NANOvember, along with pre-registration, please visit www.sunycnse.com/NANOvember.aspx.

####################

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.

####

Media Contact: Jerry Gretzinger, Vice President of Strategic Communications and Public Relations (518) 956-7359 | jgretzinger@sunypoly.edu