Five upstate companies receive project funding from Syracuse Center of Excellence Office for Industry Collaboration

Five upstate companies receive project funding from Syracuse Center of Excellence Office for Industry CollaborationOctober 01, 2007Martin Wallsmwalls@syracusecoe.org

Today, the Syracuse Center of Excellence (Syracuse CoE) Office for Industry Collaboration (OIC) announced that five upstate New York companies have received a total of $710,985 in merit-based Technology Application and Demonstration (TAD) awards for projects designed to improve air quality by testing for airborne contaminants and by creating the next generation of air conditioning systems. The awards are made possible through funding to the Syracuse CoE from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, secured by U.S. Rep. James T. Walsh (R-NY). The announcement was made at the company headquarters of Propulsive Wing, which is housed in the Allred & Associates facility in Elbridge, N.Y.The five companies were competitively selected based on their proposals for yearlong projects that demonstrate the “first proof of principle” or “reduction to practice” phase of a new product or service associated with air and/or water quality. Projects begin on Jan. 1, 2008, and most will run through Dec. 31, 2008. The award recipients and their collaborators are:

CollabWorx Inc. 235 Harrison St., Suite 303, Syracuse, N.Y. 13202 (collabworx.com)Project Title: “Open Web Services-Based Indoor Climate Control System, Phase II”Collaborator: SenSyr LLC. (sensyr.com)Project Directors: Marek Podgorny, CEO, CollabWorx; Edward Lipson, CEO, SenSyr LLC.; Roman Markowski, COO, CollabWorxFunding Amount: $149,900

Environmental Laboratory Services, 7280 Caswell St., North Syracuse, N.Y. 13212 (els-lab.com)Project Title: “Application and Demonstration of Macroarray Analytical Techniques for the Detection of Fungal Bioaerosols in Buildings”Collaborator: SUNY College of Environmental Science and Forestry (esf.edu)Project Directors: Matthew DaRin, ELS, and Susan Anagnost, SUNY-ESFFunding Amount: $149,141

Propulsive Wing LLC, P.O. Box 321, Elbridge, N.Y. 13060 (propulsivewing.com)Project Title: “Commercial Development of a Multi-Use Personal Ventilation/Filtration System”Collaborator: Syracuse University and Allred & Associates, Inc. (allredcorp.com)Project Directors: Joseph Kummer, President, Propulsive Wing LLC.Funding Amount: $150,000

Taitem Engineering, 109 South Albany St., Ithaca, N.Y. 14850 (taitem.com)Project Title: “Geothermal Desiccant Cooling: A New Approach to Air Conditioning”Collaborator: Syracuse University, Building Energy and Environmental Systems Laboratory, (beesl.syr.edu)Project Director: Ian M. Shapiro, President, Taitem EngineeringFunding Amount: $111,944

Widetronix, Inc. P.O. Box 4491, Ithaca, N.Y. 14852 (widetronix.net)Project Title: “Silicon Carbide Avalanche Photodiode for Photomultiplier Tube Replacement in Airborne Biological Contaminant Identification Sensors”Collaborator: Cornell University, Wide Bandgap Laboratory (cornell.edu)Project Director: Michael G. Spencer, President, Widetronix Inc.Funding Amount: $150,000

“Our region possesses the unique expertise to solve global problems relating to energy and the environment,” says Walsh. “The innovations developed by Syracuse CoE partners will not only benefit the environment, but create jobs, generate revenue and open up opportunities for new and growing businesses.”

“The recipients of this round of TAD awards are in the vanguard of the research and development of products and services that will improve environments in which we live, learn and work,” says R. Leland Davis, senior vice president, O’Brien & Gere, and chair, Syracuse CoE OIC. “That upstate universities are collaborating with local, innovative firms shows that this region’s key research and development assets are being leveraged for the good of our economy.”

“Today’s award recipients provide fresh evidence that Central Upstate is among the most fertile areas in the nation for innovative new companies, particularly in the field of environmental engineering,” says Irwin L. Davis, president and CEO of the Metropolitan Development Association of Syracuse and Central New York. “Thanks to support from Congressman Walsh and commitment from the Syracuse CoE, I’m confident that the hard work of these entrepreneurs will produce great dividends for our entire region.”

“The Syracuse CoE Office for 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, executive vice president, Syracuse CoE OIC.

The Syracuse Center of Excellence in Environmental and Energy Systems (syracusecoe.org) is a federation of more than 140 businesses and institutions that collaborate on sustainable innovations to improve built and urban environments. Partners in the Syracuse CoE work on research, development and educational projects relating to clean and renewable energy, indoor environmental quality and water resources.