SUNY on the cutting edge of research, development

With SUNY achieving national prominence for the quality and quantity of inventions by faculty members — many of them UUPers — the University has worked to create an atmosphere that stimulates research and development.

Royalties from SUNY inventions generated more than $14.6 million in fiscal year 2000-01, the latest year for which figures are available, according to SUNY officials. New inventions also lead to new companies and job growth in the state.

As UUP President William Scheuerman has noted, money put into SUNY is money that benefits all of New York state.

SUNY officials say two factors have fostered the creative atmosphere at the University. First, many faculty members have international reputations in their fields and can attract the backing for their research that leads to marketable inventions.

Second, expertise in developing, patenting and marketing an invention is available to faculty through the SUNY Research Foundation. The foundation is a private, nonprofit corporation that assists research and patent development at the University by helping faculty identify funding opportunities, submit proposals and manage the funds for their work, once they are received.

Those processes are further helped by the Research Foundation’s Technology Transfer Office, based in Albany and with local offices on SUNY campuses in Albany, Binghamton, Buffalo and Stony Brook. The Technology Transfer Office helps boost economic growth by creating partnerships with business and industry to further research.

Although research and development at the University span a broad range of technologies, three key areas stand out: bioinformatics, nanoelectronics and wireless Internet and information technologies.

The state university has established Centers for Excellence in each of these three areas at Buffalo, Albany and Stony Brook, respectively, a sign that SUNY expects to remain on the leading edge of inventions.

— Darryl McGrath