Tag Archives: Mario Cuomo

NanoHigh in New York State

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I have much admiration for the State University of New York’s (SUNY) College of Nanoscale Science and Engineering’s (CNSE) outreach programs and this May 28, 2013 news item on Nanowerk highlights a particularly exciting one (Note: A link has been removed),

Governor [Mario] Cuomo today joined SUNY’s College of Nanoscale Science and Engineering (CNSE) and the City School District of Albany (CSDA) to announce that this year’s class of 23 Albany High School students have successfully completed the pioneering “NanoHigh” program. This program, which supports the Governor’s strategy to expand New York’s high-tech workforce through nanotechnology-based education, is believed to be the first of its kind in the nation – pushing the number of NanoHigh graduates to more than 100 since the program began in 2007.

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Including this year’s NanoHigh class, 113 students have now graduated from the program since its inception. The nanotechnology curriculum is taught collaboratively at both Albany High School and at CNSE’s Albany NanoTech Complex. Taking place throughout the school year, the program also emphasizes opportunities for students from social groups that are typically underrepresented in the areas of science, technology, engineering, and mathematics.

Students who take part in NanoHigh work with leading CNSE faculty and scientists in the college’s world-class laboratories and cleanrooms. They conduct hands-on experiments to explore a wide variety of nanotechnology-based applications, including integrated circuit technologies and nanoscale patterning and fabrication; nanobiomedical applications, such as innovations in nanomedicine and forensic DNA fingerprinting; clean energy technologies, such as dye-sensitized solar cells and ultracapacitors for energy storage; and nanoeconomics.

A ceremony to recognize the NanoHigh graduates was held at CNSE, with a new class scheduled to begin in the fall, allowing another group of 23 students to become engaged in the cutting-edge science of the 21st century.

You can learn more about NanoHigh here.

Nano success in NY State breeds competition for credit as US election nears

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It’s been a while since I’ve posted any items about nanotechnology efforts in New York state. In general, I’ve found the efforts at communication and public engagement quite impressive as they’ve been important to the overall strategy (I suspect some credit should be given to serendipity) of making New York state a center for nanotechnology research, training, and industry.

Yesterday, May 8, 2012, on the occasion of a visit from President Barack Obama there was a bit of a kerfuffle regarding who should get the credit for New York state’s leadership, Democrats or Republicans. Since this is an election year in the US, this was perhaps predictable.

From the May 8, 2012 article by Tom Precious for BuffaloNews.com,

In Albany [New York state capital] today, it’s “who is the greater visionary” time.

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On Monday, an aide to Gov. Andrew Cuomo told an Albany radio station it was first the idea of the governor’s father, former Gov. Mario Cuomo, to pump state money into what has become a center with more than $13 billion of private investment and that today is undergoing a major new expansion partnering with the likes of IBM and Intel.

Hours later on Monday, Assembly Speaker Sheldon Silver, a Manhattan Democrat, noted that he has led the charge for two decades to support the university center that is helping to make Albany a high-tech center for nanoscience engineering, and now, chip manufacturing.

So today, a couple hours before Air Force One was set to leave Washington for Albany for the Obama stop, it was “take credit time” for the Republicans.

State Republican Party Chairman Ed Cox said the nanoscale center in Albany was “developed about 10 years ago by a Republican governor based on Republican principles.” In a conference call with reporters, Cox said the Albany facility was a result of the “leadership” of former Gov. George E. Pataki.

“Arguing over credit is something for small-minded people who get bogged down in the political headlines of the day. What I tried to do was put in place policies that speak for themselves,” Pataki said in the phone call this morning. He then pointed, for a second time in the call, to the timeline of its important events on the nanoscale facility’s web site that begins in 2001 — when Pataki was in office.

I think there’s enough credit to go around, although perhaps not during an election year. In any event, I think their initiative has been quite impressive.

* In headline ‘breed’ corrected to ‘breeds’ on Oct. 11, 2013.