Governor Announces High-Tech Innovations Funding

NYSTAR Grants Create Jobs, Help Bring New Products to Market

Gov. George Pataki announced Tuesday that the University will receive $125,000 to work with Diffinity Genomics to develop animal genotyping kits as part of a more than $12 million funding initiative to move high-tech innovations from the research lab to the marketplace and help spur growth of high-tech jobs and companies in New York.

"For technology-driven businesses, New York State has established itself as one of the world's most attractive locations," Pataki said. "By conducting research that will lead to the development of new state-of-the-art technologies, our colleges and universities are helping to attract and create companies. Building on our record of accomplishment in transferring these cutting-edge technologies from an academic setting to the business world, New York will continue to create high-tech companies, jobs and products."

The awards are being made through the New York State Office of Science, Technology and Academic Research (NYSTAR) Technology Transfer Incentive Program. The awards are designed to promote, encourage and facilitate economic development in New York through university-based or corporate-sponsored research which assists companies within the state to commercialize high technology products and bring them to the marketplace.

Russell W. Bessette, M.D., executive director of NYSTAR, said, "Governor Pataki's high-tech initiatives have reaped major economic development benefits for New York. These programs strengthen the types of research and development that will lead to the creation of new technology companies and new technology related jobs in the state."

Pataki agreed to commit $5.3 million in state support for the 13 projects, in exchange for a $6.9 million commitment by private industries and universities. Pataki and the Legislature have advanced several major initiatives to expand high technology and biotechnology business and job-creation opportunities in New York. The governor's Centers of Excellence initiative, along with Strategically Targeted Academic Research Centers and Advanced Research Centers, focus on critical emerging technologies that are expected to become major high-tech growth areas. Each center is designed to complement other specialized academic centers in a seamless network of high-tech research and economic development.

Since 1995, the state has fostered the growth of New York's high-tech and biotech industries by supporting the investment of more than $1 billion in the state's technology business sector and its world-class research laboratories and academic centers.