Cornell is spearheading the New York Consortium for Area Know-how Innovation and Growth – a brand new initiative geared toward bolstering U.S. area know-how analysis and manufacturing capabilities by uniting business, educational and authorities companions throughout New York state.
Funded with a $5 million grant from the Protection Manufacturing Neighborhood Help Program run by the U.S. Division of Protection and $1.8 million from Cornell, the consortium is a collaborative effort led by Cornell’s Sibley Faculty of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering in partnership with the Cornell Excessive Vitality Synchrotron Supply (CHESS) and the Cornell Middle for Supplies Analysis (CCMR).
“We’re making a functionality for New York and our collaborators in business to design, construct, check, combine and possibly even function area applied sciences which might be going to make a distinction in these corporations’ capacity to compete nationally and internationally,” mentioned consortium government director Mason Peck, the Stephen J. Fujikawa ’77 Professor of Astronautical Engineering.
A number of the funding will probably be used to improve services for analysis, improvement and testing of area applied sciences and associated functions in Cornell’s Excessive Voltage Laboratory, a 14,000-square-foot facility situated on Mitchell Avenue.
Funding can even be used to offer small enterprise help to consortium members together with specialised coaching and schooling via educational fellowships, internships and annual aggressive grants for analysis and improvement.
“To drive innovation in area exploration, we should present researchers with collaborative environments, good minds and entry to world-class services that empower them to sort out challenges which might be fairly actually out of this world,” mentioned Krystyn Van Vliet, vp for analysis and innovation. “Cornell excels on this regard, and our contributions will undoubtedly carry us nearer to realizing a few of humanity’s most bold objectives.”
The CHESS and CCMR services will function key areas the place consortium companions can entry Cornell analysis capabilities and experience in supplies science, biomaterials, residing techniques and nanofabrication for area know-how improvement and testing.
“This chance underscores our dedication to ship state-of-the-art synchrotron characterization capabilities to additional Division of Protection priorities, and advance business and manufacturing capabilities in New York,” mentioned Joel Brock, CHESS director and the Given Basis Professor of Engineering. “The consortium demonstrates the worth the college brings when Cornell Analysis and Innovation companions along with educational departments to make nice issues occur.”
The consortium is the newest improvement in Cornell’s distinguished historical past of area know-how and builds on different authorities investments involving Cornell, such because the NASA New York Area Grant Consortium and the U.S. Air Drive Laboratory Regional Hub Community-Mid-Atlantic, each of which have agreed to be consortium members together with greater than 20 business, educational and authorities businesses.
“CCMR has lengthy been devoted to advancing technological development and financial growth via interdisciplinary collaborations. We stay up for serving to to strengthen the nationwide protection area know-how industrial ecosystem via this new consortium,” mentioned Frank Sensible, CCMR director and the Samuel B. Eckert Professor of Engineering.
Along with increasing workforce improvement, Peck mentioned the consortium will place New York corporations to technologically advance “massive area” aspirations of the longer term, reminiscent of contributing to a sustained lunar presence or spacecraft for microgravity manufacturing.
“How do you construct area infrastructure or very giant objects in area, whether or not they’re for science, protection or business functions? Elementary analysis helps that,” mentioned Peck, who leads Cornell’s Area Programs Design Studio and served a time period as NASA’s chief technologist. “That’s why there’s a job for Cornell to assist companies in New York make a distinction of their capacity to pursue these sorts of challenges.”
Syl Kacapyr is affiliate director of promoting and communications for Cornell Engineering.
