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SUNY Technology Accelerator Fund Class of 2024

Albany, NY – The State University of New York invested $425,000 through the Technology Accelerator Fund (TAF) to support groundbreaking projects at seven campuses that could have a profound impact on how we treat serious illnesses, safeguard our environment, and strengthen New York’s high-tech electronics industry.

Funded by SUNY and managed by the SUNY Research Foundation, TAF helps faculty inventors and scientists turn their research into market-ready technologies, targeting critical research and development milestones—such as feasibility studies, prototyping, and testing—which demonstrate that an idea or innovation has commercial potential. The goal is to increase their attractiveness to potential investors. TAF funding is awarded through a competitive process that weighs several factors, including the availability of intellectual property protection, marketability, commercial potential, feasibility, and breadth of impact.

Since the launch of TAF in 2011, SUNY has invested more than $3.5 million in the program to successfully advance the commercial readiness of 72 innovations born at SUNY campuses. The program has catalyzed follow-on investment of an additional $16 million from development partners, including government agencies, industry licensees, and early-stage investors. 

The TAF funding recipients include:

  • Copper-based Conductive Ink Technology for Printed Electronics: Silver inks currently make up 70 percent of the conductive inks market. University at Buffalo chemist Luis R. De Jesús Báez is advancing a conductive nano- and molecular-level copper inks that provides a sustainable and cheaper alternative to traditional silver-based inks.
  • Large-Scale Hydrogen Storage and Separation: Hydrogen poses significant challenges related to efficient storage and on-demand release. Stony Brook University materials scientist Devinder Mahajan created a single system for storage and release of blended hydrogen and methane that operates under near ambient temperature and pressure conditions.
  • Novel Antibody Drug Conjugates (ADCs) to Treat CancerThe recent approval of nearly a dozen ADCs is rapidly changing the therapeutic landscape in cancer – but these advances have largely been limited to the most common malignancies, such as breast and lung cancer. Binghamton University researcher Nathan Tumey has developed new ADC technology that, in collaboration with NIH researchers, is being used to target rare pediatric cancers.
  • Single-mode Sapphire Fibers for Optics Sensing: Although sapphire is the material of choice for sensing in harsh environments, implementing advanced sensing technology based on sapphire fiber optics is hindered by the lack of an appropriate cladding structure. University at Albany materials scientist Mengbing Huang invented a reliable ion implantation cladding method for sapphire optics fiber.
  • RNA Therapeutics for Breast Cancer: Despite improvements in therapeutic interventions, breast cancer remains a major cause of cancer mortality among women.SUNY Downstate Health Sciences University researchers Henri Tiedge and Valerio Berardi developed new therapeutics that target BC200 RNA, a small non-coding RNA demonstrated to be a driver of breast cancer transformation and progression.
  • Sensor for Per and Polyfluorinated Alkyl Substances (PFAS): Traditionally, testing water samples for PFAS, also known as “forever chemicals,” requires that the samples to be sent to a dedicated lab for analysis. SUNY College of Environmental Science and Forestry researchers Gyu Leem (PI) and Chang Geun Yoo (co-PI) createdan electrochemical sensing device that allows for direct measurement of PFAS, providing immediate results in the field. This sensing device seeks to develop a low-cost and portable drinking water monitoring to detect PFAS.
  • ELUCIDATE – Project Communication Platform:Most conventional work applications provide stakeholders with an overwhelming amount of information. SUNY Upstate Medical University information technology experts Mark Zeman and Mary DeGroat created a SaaS web-based project insight platform that includes streamlined tools to ensure the right information reaches the right audience and allow stakeholders to quickly find the status of a project.

About the SUNY Research Foundation

The SUNY Research Foundation (RF) is the largest comprehensive university-connected research foundation in the country and supports a vibrant research ecosystem that cultivates innovation and entrepreneurship across multiple key areas including Artificial Intelligence, Clean Energy, Biotechnology, Longevity, Substance Addiction, Nextgen Quantum Computing, Environmental Health, and Resiliency.

Driving social impact, enhancing human wellbeing, and stimulating economic growth, the RF provides SUNY's 30 state-operated campuses with an infrastructure of people, technology, and processes that enables faculty to write and submit grant proposals to agencies, foundations, and companies; establish contracts and manage funding awarded to run campus-based research projects; protect and commercialize intellectual property created within those projects; and establish enduring partnerships that shape the future. 

About the State University of New York

The State University of New York is the largest comprehensive system of higher education in the United States, and more than 95 percent of all New Yorkers live within 30 miles of any one of SUNY’s 64 colleges and universities. Across the system, SUNY has four academic health centers, five hospitals, four medical schools, two dental schools, a law school, the country’s oldest school of maritime, the state’s only college of optometry, and manages one US Department of Energy National Laboratory. In total, SUNY serves about 1.4 million students amongst its entire portfolio of credit- and non-credit-bearing courses and programs, continuing education, and community outreach programs. SUNY oversees nearly a quarter of academic research in New York. Research expenditures system-wide are nearly $1.1 billion in fiscal year 2023, including significant contributions from students and faculty. There are more than three million SUNY alumni worldwide, and one in three New Yorkers with a college degree is a SUNY alum. To learn more about how SUNY creates opportunities, visit suny.edu.

Tags Tags: Research , Technology Accelerator Fund , University at Albany, University at Buffalo, Stony Brook University, Binghamton University, SUNY ESF, Downstate Health Sciences University

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