Carrier Corp. pledges $1.5 million for Total Indoor Environmental Quality (TIEQ) Laboratory at Syracuse Center of Excellence

Carrier Corp. pledges $1.5 million for Total Indoor Environmental Quality (TIEQ) Laboratory at Syracuse Center of ExcellenceOctober 26, 2005Kelly Homan Rodoskikahoman@syr.edu

On Oct. 24, Carrier Corp., the world’s largest provider of air conditioning, heating and refrigeration solutions, pledged $1.5 million to the Syracuse Center of Excellence in Environmental and Energy Systems to create a world-class laboratory to study the effects of indoor air quality in buildings.

Greg Powers, Carrier’s vice president of engineering, was joined by Rep. James T. Walsh and Syracuse University Chancellor and President Nancy Cantor in making the announcement before 200 attendees at the annual symposium sponsored by the Center of Excellence. “Innovation is the center to Carrier’s DNA, and Syracuse is the center to Carrier’s innovation. That’s why we are so pleased to support the creation of this new facility,” says Powers.

“Today’s announcement by Carrier is an indication of UTC’s strong commitment to the Central New York research community and further leverages private investment in this important effort,” says Walsh, who has secured over $26.6 million in federal resources for the Center of Excellence. “The Syracuse Center of Excellence supports Carrier’s own Syracuse-based research and design activities.”

Says Gov. George E. Pataki, “The creation of a New Total Indoor Environmental Quality Laboratory is important to our goal of making Central New York a worldwide leader in the development of environmental and energy technologies. Together with our private sector and academic partners, our Center of Excellence in Environmental and Energy Systems has attracted public and private investment that will not only transform the region’s economy, but yield innovative inventions that improve the natural living environment of all New Yorkers and people around the world.”

Says Cantor, “This important commitment from Carrier Corp. represents the beginning of a new era of collaborations with Syracuse University and our partners in the Syracuse Center of Excellence. This era holds tremendous promise for all of us, including the entire community of Central and Upstate New York, as we confidently expect the new collaborations will create innovations that fuel economic development in the region for generations to come.”

In May 2004, Carrier designated its operations in Syracuse as a global lead research, development and design center to support its worldwide application of air conditioning and refrigeration products. “Carrier’s campus in Syracuse is today our largest design center in the world, including about 300 employees applying the latest technologies to products that serve the global marketplace,” says Powers. He adds that the Center of Excellence provides outstanding collaboration opportunities for Carrier’s ongoing engineering work, which will be enhanced by the creation of the new lab.

Carrier’s grant will also establish a doctoral fellowship at SU to advance the study of indoor environmental quality. The grant will be made over a five-year period, subject to renewal each year.

The Syracuse Center of Excellence in Environmental and Energy Systems is a federation of more than 70 businesses, organizations and academic and research institutions. Gov. Pataki established the Syracuse CoE to create jobs and wealth across the state through collaborations in research, development and education. Within the Syracuse CoE, the New York Indoor Environmental Quality (NYIEQ) Center Inc. leads commercialization and corporate programs.

The primary research conducted by the Syracuse CoE takes place at 12 university and research partner institutions led by SU. Research activities are coordinated primarily through the Environmental Quality Systems (EQS) Strategically Targeted Academic Research (STAR) Center, which was established in May 2001 by the New York State Office of Science, Technology and Academic Research.