New York

Eastern upstate New York is sometimes called Tech Valley, home to much of the state's high-tech, high-ticket research and development community. IBM, Sematech, and Tokyo Electron all have major nanoscience research centers in the area, along with Texas Instruments, Nikon, Intel, Praxair, Fluor, Infineon, Philips, and many others. The New York State Foundation for Science, Technology and Innovation (NYSTAR) coordinates 22 research centers concerned with nanotechnology, all in conjunction with institutions of higher learning. These include the Center for Advanced Technology in Photonics Applications at City College of New York, the Center for Automation Technologies and Systems at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, the Center for Materials Research at Cornell University, the Incubator for New Ventures in Emerging Sciences and Technologies at Russell Sage College, and the Nanopower Research Labs at Rochester Institute of Technology.

The state offers extensive incentives to attract commercial business development, including assistance and loans for energy efficiency or renewable resources projects; special small business assistance programs; commercial district revitalization grants; numerous loans for businesses entering the area; and significant tax incentives for companies with qualifying criteria such as job creation and green worksites. The State University of New York at Albany has long been recognized for its strength in the study of nanoscience, and in 2001 founded the College of Nanoscale Science and Engineering (CNSE), the first college in the world devoted to nanoscience, nanoengineering, nanobioscience, and nanoeconomics. The College was the site of the 2002 Albany Symposium on Global Nanotechnology codirected by Alain E. Kaloyeros (vice president and chief administrative office of the College) and LaMar Hill, the University's director of business development.

The CNSE's research facility is housed in a $5 billion, 800,000-square foot complex (include 80,000 square feet of cleanroom space) that it shares with the New York State Center of Excellence in Nanoelectronics, and is equipped with state-of-the-art nanotech equipment for faculty and student researchers, who work alongside corporate scientists. Corporate partners include IBM, AMD, Sony, Toshiba, Qimonda, Honeywell, ASML, Applied Materials, Tokyo Electron, and Freescale, among many others—250 in total.

Over 2,500 scientists, researches, engineers, students, and faculty work at the site, and the CNSE offers several degree programs in nanoscience including a B.S. in nanoscale science (the first to be offered in the world), an M.S. in nanoscale science, an M.S. in nanoscale engineering, a Ph.D. in nanoscale science, a Ph.D. in nanoscale engineering, and a combined M.S./M.B.A. CNSE is also involved in a variety of workforce training and education programs, including apprenticeships at CNSE, development of an associate's degree in nanotechnology (in partnership with community colleges), educational and training activities for high school students, and short-term onsite and offsite short courses, seminars, and workshops.