Exciting Changes Await New and Returning Students
By Lisa James Goldsberry
Two major academic buildings are going up this fall, along with the first new student housing in more than a decade. These are just a few of the many changes greeting UAlbany students as they returned to campus this semester.

For the first time, a 30-credit master of science degree in forensic molecular biology is being offered. This program was developed in conjunction with the New York State Police Forensic Investigation Center. In the School of Business, a new certificate of study in non-profit management has been created.

UAlbany enrolled 2,230 students for the Fall 2001 semester. The entering class includes 205 Presidential Scholars, who represent the University’s highest achieving students. The latest group of Presidential Scholars boasts an average SAT score of 1325 and an average GPA of 94.5. For the second consecutive year, UAlbany attracted the highest number of freshman and transfer applications - 20,890 - in the State University of New York system.

In addition to building its academic reputation by recruiting increasing numbers of high-caliber students and introducing new programs, the University is expanding its physical facilities. On the northeastern side of the Academic Podium, the foundation has been laid for the $78 million Life Sciences Building. A cornerstone-laying ceremony is scheduled for September 11. The 180,000-square-foot facility is scheduled to open in 2004. Just a few hundred yards to the east, the exterior frame of the new sculpture studio is taking shape. The studio, which will contain 20,000 feet of classroom and exhibition space, will open in 2002.

On the west side of the Uptown Campus, groundwork is being completed on a 25-acre parcel that will be the site of the new Empire Commons residence halls. Empire Commons will welcome its first student residents in fall 2002. Across Fuller Road, site work is continuing on the Center of Excellence in Nanoelectronics, where the world’s first university-based 300-millimeter computer chip factory will be housed. Construction of the facility - which is to be situated adjacent to the Center for Environmental Sciences and Technology Management (CESTM) - is being made possible by a $100 million gift from IBM, and $50 million in New York State funding, to the University’s Institute for Materials.

UAlbany’s athletics program also continues to grow. This year, the Division I Great Danes will play in the America East Conference for the first time, after two years competing at the NCAA Division I Independent level. Both the men’s and women’s programs will now be eligible for the conference’s post-season tournament - and an automatic NCAA Tournament berth.

The athletics program promises more excitement at the Pepsi Arena November 27, when the Danes will play their former basketball archrival, Siena College, for the first time in 24 years. In addition, UAlbany will host national basketball powerhouse Syracuse University for the first time December 2 at the Pepsi.

UAlbany Partners in Nation’s First Clean Energy Technology Park
Governor George E. Pataki announced on August 20 that New York State will establish the first business park in the country specifically devoted to promoting the development of new clean energy technologies.

The new business park, named the Saratoga Technology and Energy Park (STEP) and located in Malta, will provide companies with technology development and prototyping support through the University at Albany, funding to support technology development and commercialization through the New York State Energy Research and Development Authority (NYSERDA), and expanded economic opportunities through the Saratoga Economic Development Corporation (SEDC). The project reflects the growing need for cleaner energy technologies that can address concerns over energy supply and reliability issues, as well as environmental impact concerns.

Over the next five years, it is estimated that the new energy park will help attract between 1,000 and 1,500 jobs to the Capital Region as emerging environmentally friendly energy companies take advantage of the park’s resources.

“With this innovative new park, New York State will continue to set a national example in its support for the development of clean, environmentally sound energy sources,” Pataki said. “By providing these businesses with a broad spectrum of financial, technological, and business support, this initiative will create new job opportunities, increase our access to clean energy sources, and promote a cleaner, healthier environment for all New Yorkers.”

University President Karen R. Hitchcock said, “We are delighted with the governor’s announcement of the Saratoga Energy and Technology Park as the first of its kind in the nation to focus on energy technologies. This partnership between NYSERDA, the SEDC, and UAlbany builds on UAlbany’s recent federal designation as a Clean Energy Incubator to provide cutting-edge infrastructure to support energy industry-driven technology development and deployment, as well as company spin-off, attraction, and retention. We are extremely grateful to Governor Pataki, Majority Leader Joseph Bruno, and Congressman John Sweeney for their proactive leadership and key investments in support of research universities and high technology industry in New York.”

The University at Albany, which was recently designated by the U.S. Department of Energy as a member of the national Clean Energy Incubator Program, has extensive technology development and prototyping capabilities for small businesses and start-ups. The University’s Center of Excellence in Nanoelectronics and its Energy and Environmental Technologies Appli-cations Center will play large roles in helping businesses in the park develop new technologies.

The STEP project is a joint effort of NYSERDA, the University at Albany, and the SEDC. The park will be located on a 280-acre site in Malta and includes a 21,000-square-foot facility built by NYSERDA in the mid-1970s. It is adjacent to the site of the former Malta Test Station.

Senate Majority Leader Joseph L. Bruno said, “This project will further strengthen the local economy and give the Capital Region another foothold in the development of groundbreaking, high-technology businesses. In addition to creating new jobs, these businesses will also develop new, clean, efficient and reliable sources of energy that will benefit the entire nation.”

Congressman John Sweeney said, “In more ways than one, this initiative represents New York’s entrepreneurial approach to attracting businesses to the region. By focusing on the emerging business sectors of high technology and energy, the Capital Region is now primed to lead the way as a hub of job growth and innovative businesses working to generate solutions that will protect our environment and conserve energy.”

Alain Kaloyeros, executive director of the UAlbany Institute for Materials, said, “We thank the Governor for his visionary announcement of the Saratoga Energy and Technology Park, and his pioneering efforts at providing such an excellent economic opportunity for the region and State. It builds on the University’s Centers of Excellence in Nanoelectronics and Energy and Environmental Technologies, and complements our federal designation as clean energy incubator in providing a comprehensive resource for clean energy industries. As such, it is a glowing testimony to President Hitchcock’s vision of creating a world-class engaged research University in the 21st century.”

National statistics indicate that the energy technology sector grew by 134 percent in 2000 and the market for clean energy technologies is projected to grow from $7 billion per year to about $82 billion per year by 2010. New York State, already home to more than 20 leading energy technology companies, is well suited to take advantage of this rapid growth.

NYSERDA President William M. Flynn said, “The Saratoga Technology and Energy Park is a perfect example of how the State can use its resources to partner with local communities and create opportunities for new jobs and new businesses. Working with the Saratoga Economic Development Corporation and the University at Albany, we can attract new businesses and jobs to the Capital Region that can address the growing need and demand for clean-energy and energy-efficient technologies.”

The Saratoga Economic Development Corporation was instrumental in garnering local support and interest in the new tech park and will continue to market the park to help lure new businesses to the area. Editor’s Note: Most of the information in the above story was taken from a press release from the Governor’s press office.

Institute for Materials and Gelest, Inc. Win ‘Oscar of Invention’
By Vinny Reda
One thing you can rely upon when it comes to computer chips: they will keep getting smaller, faster, more functional, and especially more reliable.

Who makes them so is the multi-billion dollar question. According to the 2001 R&D 100 Awards, sponsored for the 39th year by R&D Magazine, among the top candidates to lead the way is UAlbany’s Institute for Materials in partnership with Gelest Inc. The reason? A new advanced interconnect process that aims to control the motion of minute quantities of metallic impurity atoms that could ruin the smaller chip structures to come.

The R&D 100 awards are among the most coveted for applied research and innovation. Described as the “Oscars of Invention,” they recognize 100 of each year’s most technologically important new products. More than 70 outside judges weigh the merits of hundreds of nominations over the course of three months.

“We’re looking for products and processes that can change people’s lives for the better, and improve the standard of living for large numbers of people,” states an R&D 100 award guide.

For inventors, the designation means more than simple honor. “It does perform an important role in that there are competing technologies out there, and to get an R&D 100 sets you apart,” said Barry Arkles, president of Gelest, Inc., which is based in Tullytown, Pa.

“This is a review by an independent panel of experts. From a dozen makers of technologies trying to find the most efficient path to greater processor speed and efficiency, the R&D 100 award has now essentially narrowed the field down to about three.”

Arkles, a chemist, and Institute for Materials Executive Director Alain Kaloyeros, a physicist, have worked together for nearly a decade, receiving three patents for their research into computer chip technology. “I take what the physicist sees as a problem and attempt to devise a chemical solution,” is how Arkles states his coordination with Kaloyeros.

“Physicists understand the application requirements better than I do - what is going to be the standard required to turn invention into practice. I understand the chemistry required to meet that standard.”

The chemistry in this case involved the two inventors developing gigascale interconnects using titanium and tantalum-based films to accommodate chips at the nano level. By protecting and insulating the wires that connect transistors, the life and durability of chips will be ensured while processing billions of more bits of information than is currently handled.

Even beyond semiconductor applications, the process could have wide economic impact, according to Kaloyeros. He pointed out that titanium and tantalum films form hard protective coatings that can offer greater protection for aircraft components, automotive parts and engines, cutting tools, and even jewelry, as well as prove useful for flat-panel displays and solar cell devices.

The process development took place at Albany NanoTech, the university/industry/government R&D complex run by the Institute for Materials. Designated a New York State Center of Excellence by Gov. George Pataki, it is part of what Kaloyeros describes as the state’s “billion dollar high-tech initiative for funding advanced university R&D, prototyping, workforce training, and economic outreach.”

Its result, in the case of the award-winning Albany NanoTech/Gelest effort, is what Kaloyeros called “a virtual integrated partnership that covers the entire spectrum of skills and resources necessary for semiconductor technology development.”

Arkles pointed out another asset that boosts any effort involving microchip applications and UAlbany: reputation. “The semiconductor industry is going to have to meet new targets for speed and efficiency by 2003 or 2004, and there is a tremendous amount of capital investment that it will have to make to meet that standard,” said Arkles. “For that reason, it will require a level of validation and recognition it can rely upon.

“That is the beauty of what Alain Kaloyeros and the University at Albany have created here. I’ve been in the microelectronic materials side of things for 20 years, and what has occurred at UAlbany is unprecedented - it is an extremely credible site both for new development and for data-citing. Data that comes out of UAlbany is at a level that is respected and relevant beyond any other site in the U.S.

“It is a significant advance from the scientist sitting in the lab, saying, ‘Eureka, I found it!’ It is data readily transferable into commercial situations for industry. So much of that achievement is due to Alain himself. He’s constantly challenging people to achieve and to reach their goals quickly.”

Langer, Thornberry Among SUNY’s Top Researchers
University at Albany professors Judith A. Langer and Terence P. Thornberry were among a group of 25 SUNY system researchers honored recently by the State University of New York.

Langer, who chairs the Department of Educational Theory and Practice, specializes in studies of language, literacy, and learning that have strongly impacted national policy and practice. Those studies have formed the theoretical framework underlying the National Assessment of Educational Progress and has been incorporated into many state reading and writing standards. Langer directs the National Research Center on English Learning and Achievement, which is funded by the U.S. Department of Education. She is also founder and director of the Albany Institute for Research in Education. Her books include Reader Meets Author/Bridging the Gap and Understanding Reading and Writing Research.

Thornberry, director of the Hindelang Criminal Justice Research Center, tests theories of delinquency, crime, and violence. He serves as project director of the Rochester Youth Development Study, which has examined the causes and consequences of anti-social behavior by following a sample of 1,000 subjects from age 13 to age 23 to determine the roles family, school, and peers play in causing delinquency. A former dean of UAlbany’s School of Criminal Justice, Thornberry has co-authored a number of articles, including “Self-Esteem, Delinquent Peers, and Delinquency: A Test of the Self-Enhancement Thesis,” published by American Sociological Review in 1998.

The SUNY honorees represented the humanities, the arts, the social sciences, and the professions at 19 institutions across the state.

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