Buffalo researcher to speak as part of Syracuse Center of Excellence Office for Industry Collaboration research and technology forum July 9

Friday, July 6, 2007, By News Staff

Buffalo researcher to speak as part of Syracuse Center of Excellence Office for Industry Collaboration research and technology forum July 9July 06, 2007Kelly Homan Rodoskikahoman@syr.edu

Robert Baier, professor at the University at Buffalo, will speak on improving indoor air quality during the next Research and Technology Forum sponsored by the Syracuse Center of Excellence in Environmental and Energy Systems’ Office for Industry Collaboration (OIC).

The forum will be held on Monday, July 9, from 3-5 p.m. at the Genesee Grande Hotel in Syracuse and is open to the public. Continuing education credits are available; for more information, contact Ana Fernandez at 443-9747 or afernandez@syracusecoe.org.

Baier will speak on recent developments at the University at Buffalo’s National Science Foundation-sponsored Industry/University Center for Biosurfaces, a Syracuse CoE partner. Developments include evaluation of the PURE Allergy Friendly Room Process, now employed in hotel rooms worldwide; identification of school bus diesel crankcase emissions as a major contributor to bus interior self-pollution; and the implication of HVAC systems as sources for mold and antibiotic-resistant microbes in public health facilities.

Baier will also discuss discovery of how the lung processes fine fiberglass and nanoparticulate matter by a “foreign body” walling-off reaction and the marketing of improved protective lubricants for “dry eyes.”

The Syracuse CoE is a federation of more than 140 firms and organizations 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 indoor environmental quality, water resources, and clean and renewable energy.

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 OIC is an independent, nonprofit corporation chartered by New York State in 2000.