Syracuse Center of Excellence announces competition for Technology Application and Demonstration (TAD) awards

Syracuse Center of Excellence announces competition for Technology Application and Demonstration (TAD) awardsOctober 06, 2006Kelly Homan Rodoskikahoman@syr.edu

The Office of Industry Collaboration (OIC) of the Syracuse Center of Excellence in Environmental and Energy Systems is seeking applications for competitively awarded, merit-based Technology Application and Demonstration (TAD) projects. As many as five awards, up to $150,000 each (a maximum of $550,000 for all awards) will be given to yearlong projects that demonstrate the “first proof of principle” or “reduction to practice” phase of new product or service development associated with air and water quality in built and urban environments. The awards are made possible through funding to the CoE from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency secured by U.S. Rep. James Walsh.

“The Office of Industry Collaboration strongly believes that the establishment of joint partnerships among government, the research community and the private sector is key to accelerating the research and development of new technologies applicable to built and urban environments and leading to their introduction into the marketplace,” says Sandy Downey, interim executive vice president of the OIC. “While the desire to achieve significant and measurable improvements in human and environmental health and performance are the primary motivations for fostering such collaboration, TAD project selection is also driven by the Syracuse CoE objective to simultaneously promote economic development and job creation throughout the region.”

Projects sought include the development of technology innovations required to create envisioned new “Intelligent Environmental Quality Systems” (I-EQS). The primary components of the vision include real-time monitoring of conditions at multiple locations across a broad range of scales, from global to local; instruments and/or sensor algorithms that analyze data and advance optimal solutions; and responses that improve an environment and its impact on humans. Two applications of current interest to the CoE are air quality and water resource management: control of building systems to create comfortable, healthier indoor environments while reducing contaminants emissions from buildings into the surrounding airshed; and monitoring of surface waters that are the sources of drinking water and ecological and recreational benefits.

All corporate, business and commercial partners of the CoE, as well as all for-profit enterprises with a permanent place of business in New York state that employ a full-time workforce, are eligible to apply. Companies who are granted awards will be strongly encouraged to collaborate with one of the Syracuse CoE’s 12 academic and research institutions.

Application packages are available online at http://www.syracusecoe.org/tad.aspx. Applications should be submitted electronically to Ana Fernandez at afernandez@syracusecoe.org by Friday, Oct. 27, at 5 p.m. Awards will be announced by Dec. 15, and projects will begin by March 1, 2007. Similar TAD award cycles are planned to occur in 2007 and 2008.

For more information on the TAD program, contact Fernandez at (315) 443-9747 or afernandez@syracusecoe.org.

Syracuse CoE is a federation of more than 70 firms and institutions that collaborate to create innovations to improve built and urban environments. Partners in the Syracuse CoE collaborate in research, development and education projects relating to clean and renewable energy, indoor environmental quality, human health and performance, healthy buildings and water resources.

The Syracuse CoE OIC leads the initiative to promote economic development in the cluster of energy and environmental systems firms located in the 12-county region at the center of Upstate New York. The Syracuse CoE OIC is an independent nonprofit corporation chartered by New York State in 2000.