With the announcement of the College, the Governor continues to ensure New York’s leadership in implementing the U.S.’s premier educational and research roadmap in the 21st Century as outlined in the National Nanotechnology Initiative (NNI), which is widely credited as “leading to the next industrial revolution.”
The NNI legislation was recently passed in the U.S. Senate and House of Representatives and signed into law by President Bush. It authorizes $3.7 billion over the next four years, the largest such funding for any science initiative in the history of Washington. Two of the key sponsors of the bill are New York Congressman Sherwood Boehlert, Chair of the Science Committee in the U.S. House of Representatives, and New York Senator Hillary Clinton.
The NNI states that “the dynamics of interdisciplinary nanostructure efforts will reinforce educational connections among disciplines and give birth to new fields…” For that purpose, the NNI provides significant funding to create the “laboratory and human resource infrastructure in universities and in the education of nanotechnology professionals…”
As the first of its kind, the College will act as a beacon of comprehensive education of the highest quality as it enables the discovery and dissemination of fundamental knowledge concepts and new frontier scientific principles in the emerging interdisciplinary fields of nanotechnology, from nanosciences and nanoengineering to nanoeconomics.
The location of College in the same complex as the Albany Center of Excellence in Nanoelectronics allows maximum leveraging of synergistic resources to create a comprehensive, fully integrated powerhouse for the attraction and retention of highly qualified students to careers in the various disciplines of nanotechnology, from theoretical principles to experimental demonstrations and practical applications.
Dr. Alain E. Kaloyeros, Executive Director of Albany NanoTech stated: “On behalf of our faculty and researchers, we extend our congratulations to Governor Pataki for his leadership in creating such an exciting enterprise. The new college will complement our Center of Excellence in Nanoelectronics in providing the research and education that will position future generations of New Yorkers to compete in the global economy of the 21st century. It represents the next logical phase in the ongoing strategic plan of Governor Pataki, Senator Bruno, and Speaker Silver in making New York the high tech hub of the world.”
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