University at Buffalo - The State University of New York

Published: May 26, 2005

By ELLEN GOLDBAUM
Contributing Editor

UB will present Sen. Charles E. Schumer and Rep. Sherwood L. Boehlert with Igniting Ideas Awards in recognition of their outstanding support of UB at the university's Business Partners Day luncheon at noon on June 6 in the atrium of the Center for the Arts, North Campus.

SCHUMER

At the luncheon, the School of Engineering and Applied Sciences (SEAS) will present Niagara Mohawk, A National Grid Company, with its Vital Partners Award to recognize its strong support for the school.

BOEHLERT

Carl F. Kohrt, president and chief executive officer of Battelle Memorial Institute, and previously executive vice president and chief technology officer at Kodak, will deliver the keynote address on "The Business of Innovation: Operating at the Intersection of Technology and the Marketplace."

Battelle, which conducts $3 billion in annual research and development and is in the business of commercializing new technologies, is well-known for its technology forecasts. Its most recent forecast covers many of the same fields identified as areas of academic strength in the UB 2020 strategic planning process.

Coordinated and organized by SEAS, the luncheon will be hosted by Satish K. Tripathi, UB provost and executive vice president for academic affairs, and Mark H. Karwan, SEAS dean.

The Igniting Ideas awards are presented to business and civic leaders who have played key roles in strengthening the economic health of New York State and Buffalo Niagara by partnering with UB to improve development policies and practices, create new jobs and encourage new business enterprises.

Tripathi said Schumer will receive an Igniting Ideas Award in recognition of his enthusiastic support of UB's New York State Center of Excellence in Bioinformatics and Life Sciences, and economic development in Western New York.

Boehlert will be recognized for his strong support of UB's Multidisciplinary Center for Earthquake Engineering Research, as well as economic development in upstate New York.

Tripathi noted that as focal points of discovery and innovation, research universities like UB are becoming more important in stimulating technological and economic development.

"The research university," he added, "impacts our nation and world through transferring groundbreaking research and scholarship to business, industry, government and communities. Moreover, industries are increasingly looking to the research university to ensure that our nation has a well-educated, adaptive and skilled workforce so that we may continue to be competitive nationally and internationally. Business and industry also look to the research university to develop our leaders of tomorrow. The University at Buffalo, along with its business and industry partners, has developed these important synergistic relationships, furthering our commercialization and educational goals."

Karwan said the SEAS Vital Partners Award recognizes an organization's involvement with UB through collaborative research with faculty, practical internship opportunities and involvement in providing career opportunities for students.

"For many years, Niagara Mohawk has been an exemplary partner of the School of Engineering and Applied Sciences, demonstrating its strong support for the school in every way that a company can-from hiring many of our graduates to providing valuable internship opportunities for our students to funding research of our faculty," he added.

Recent examples of SEAS projects that the company has supported include support for programs in brownfields reclamation and research on efficient and economic forms of power for rural areas.

Karwan noted that SEAS also has worked closely in helping Niagara Mohawk meet its professional recruitment needs, not only through the training of UB students, but by providing tailored master's-level programs at the company for groups of its employees.

In addition, Niagara Mohawk has funded educational initiatives at UB, such as the Niagara Mohawk Professor of Materials Research position, currently held by Deborah D.L. Chung in the Department of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering. The company also has generously supported UB through philanthropy and there are many UB alumni among its employees.

"We continue to enjoy partnering with Niagara Mohawk," Karwan said. "It's been an absolute win-win."

More than 300 representatives from regional businesses, as well as from the UB community, are expected to attend the UB Business Partners Luncheon.

For more information on the luncheon and to make reservations, please contact Donna Linenfelser at 645-2133, ext. 1226.