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Russell W. Bessette, Executive Director
New York State Office of Science Technology & Academic Research (NYSTAR)

Thank you everyone and good afternoon. On behalf of Governor George Pataki I would like to say that it is my distinct pleasure to be here at this milestone event for RIT and the new IT Collaboratory.

I am pleased to note that not too far from here work is underway to build the facility that will house the IT Collaboratory, a 30,000-square-foot facility that will undoubtedly play a key role in building a stronger economy for this region and for all of New York State.

I should know first hand what the impact will be. As a trained surgeon, we are convinced to know just about everything there is to know.

Consider the story about the engineer, chemist, and surgeon who were working for NASA and who were trying to figure out where to go on the next trip.

The engineer said: "We should go to Mars."
The chemist said: "We should go to the Moon."

The engineer and the chemist sat there arguing for a while. Suddenly, the surgeon shouts: "Stop arguing! I know where the next expedition should be to ... the Sun!"

The engineer and chemist looked at each other and started laughing. The engineer finally said, "You can't go to the Sun. You would melt or burn up before you even got close!"

And the all-knowing surgeon said: "Oh, quite the contrary. We will be perfectly safe if we go at night!"

But what makes the story even more surprising is that the engineer and chemist actually believed the surgeon, and agreed to a trip to the Sun. Thankfully, the government bean counter put the kabosh on the idea when she said it sound like a good one, but it would be too difficult to issue a proposal to find a low bidder.

This center, one of the first Strategically Targeted Academic Research or STAR Centers announced by the Governor and funded by NYSTAR, is led by RIT with its partners at the University at Buffalo and Alfred University.

Its mission is to create key technologies in microsystems, photonics, nanomaterials, and remote sensing systems and to integrate next generation IT systems. In addition - and most importantly - the collaboratory is tasked with helping to facilitate economic development and tech transfer in New York State.

We at NYSTAR are confident that this new Center will achieve innovate and economic success.

Consider this: In addition to the three academic research centers partnering in this endeavor, there are also more than 35 other notable organizations that have joined the collaboratory, including Boeing, Eastman Kodak, IBM, Intel, International Sematech, ITT, Motorola, Xerox, and many Federal agencies such as NASA.

In addition to the technology, one of the most important components of the new IT Collaboratory can be found in its name - collaboration. At NYSTAR, we understand the increasing importance of collaboration and partnerships.

Establishing partnerships and working in collaborative teams go a long way towards bringing scientific knowledge and information to the public. These carefully orchestrated connections enable the partners to work on projects that are too large or too expensive for one group to tackle on their own. And it allows each partner to do what it does best, but still remain a part of something much more diverse and comprehensive in scale.

But before I focus on the importance and value of collaborations and partnerships today and in the future, I would like to give you all a brief overview of the many successes NYSTAR - and its academic and industry partners - have experienced and what the future holds for NYSTAR.

We have seen that New York's universities and colleges are participating more fully in the creation of a stronger, more vibrant economy as a result of their technological innovations. And, as a result, NYSTAR's programs are clearly being met with significant success.

NYSTAR enjoyed a very successful 2004, with significant achievements, innovations, and discoveries being made by its university, institutional, and private sector partners. NYSTAR set a new record of 245 grants issued totaling more than $52 million.

Since its creation, NYSTAR has created dozens of world class research centers that have led the way in the development of new innovations and processes.

In addition, NYSTAR, through its many programs, has helped create or retain more than 9,900 jobs and help generate more than $2.5 billion in private sector revenues, cost savings and capital expenditures. NYSTAR has also helped support more than $2.7 billion worth of university research and development activity annually.

As you can imagine, there are many great individual success stories behind these very impressive totals.

Last year we witnessed Hewlett Packard joining forces with the University at Buffalo to deploy infrastructure technology and academic resources for the NYSTAR-backed Center for Computational Research.

We also saw AMCon, a software company in the NYSTAR-supported CASE Center incubator in Syracuse, land three important contracts, and added 20 new upstate New York jobs.

Meanwhile, Gene Network Sciences, an Ithaca biotech company that received assistance from a NYSTAR program, and HYPRES, a Long Island developer of superconductor microelectronics, won SBIR awards totaling more than $1.5 million.

While the largest portion of NYSTAR's efforts are directed to working with academic and not-for-profit research institutions, NYSTAR works closely with trade organizations, such as the New York Biotechnology Association, as well as venture capital groups, economic developers, homeland defense associations, and many other industries.

The results of these efforts has been the creation and commercialization of new and improved technologies in fields such as bioelectronics, chip design, new materials, microelectronics, nanotechnology, and biotechnology that will produce thousands of new jobs and hundreds of new companies in New York State.

And there are a host of other initiatives. Last year, 10 universities were awarded CAT designations, representing a potential commitment of $100 million in funding. The CAT Centers are among the most valuable economic development components that the State has to offer. Hundreds of companies work with NYSTAR's CAT network to create new products that will lead to jobs.

Small colleges are also now participating more fully in NYSTAR's programs. Last year, nearly $5 million was committed to two colleges - Marist College in Poughkeepsie and the College of Staten Island - over a five year period as part of the comprehensive initiative to spur technology-based applied research and economic development.

In addition to making investments in infrastructure and new equipment, NYSTAR is helping to create new collaborations and partnerships, such as a strategy in Buffalo aimed at stimulating awareness of careers in the life sciences.

Meanwhile, the NYSTAR-supported Center for Biotechnology at Stony Brook University launched the Fundamentals of the Bioscience Industry Certificate Program to help create the biotechnology workforce of the future.

President Franklin Roosevelt said in an earlier and no less challenging era: "We cannot always build the future for our youth, but we can build the youth for our future."

And that is why NYSTAR is partnering with Brookhaven National Laboratory in a pilot project to introduce middle school students to science and why NYSTAR is collaborating with the University at Albany's Science Research in the High School Program to teach high school students the value of an education in science.

An alliance between two NYSTAR-funded CATs - SUNY Binghamton and RPI - and the NYSTAR-supported Infotonics Technology Center will speed commercialization of next-generation microsystems by focusing on electronics packaging research.

And the future looks even brighter. As many of you know, Governor Pataki recently approved of a process to convert NYSTAR into a public benefit corporation as a way to help foster the growth of the State's high technology economy and to help fulfill his goal to create one million new jobs by the end of the decade.

NYSTAR is carefully examining the legislation and its new responsibilities. I can assure you all that NYSTAR will work hard to ensure a smooth transition from a State agency to a public authority and it looks forward to working with those interested in promoting and fostering economic development in New York.

The partnerships that we are describing will be the models for prosperity. Partnerships are the sum of all the positive differences. Partnerships are transforming the previously held notions of science by bringing every participant and every discipline into an increasingly interconnected future.

The connections that NYSTAR fosters enable collaborators to work on projects that are too large, too complex, or too expensive for one group to tackle on their own. And they allow each partner to do what it does best, but still remain a part of something much more diverse and comprehensive in scale. Partnerships and collaborations can accelerate the pace of scientific discovery.

NYSTAR-funded centers provide an integrated environment for academe and industry to focus on next-generation advances in complex engineered, technology, and science systems.

We at NYSTAR recognize that scientific and entrepreneurial talent runs very deep in New York State, and we have devised our programs and initiatives around that fact.

Through our great State flows the necessary skills, concepts, and data that produce a cadre of talented scientists and engineers and make a general workforce capable of running the complex technology engine.

Our job is to explore and continue to drive and energize all our partnerships. In the end, what is at stake is the contribution of science to society, and the connection between all of our innovations and discoveries.

The quality of the partnerships we forge will determine that our State's cutting-edge discovery, competitive excellence, and long-term sustainability remain as strong and full of possibility as ever.

So, keep up the good work and have a good and productive conference. Thank you.

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