State announces $2.8 million in NYSUNY 2020 funding for Binghamton University

VESTAL, N.Y. — Binghamton University will use $2.8 million in NYSUNY 2020 funding to support the development of a renewable-energy research and development (R&D) facility.

Once completed, the school will use the new venue to promote energy efficiency by testing current research efforts that focus on battery-life maximization, the office of Gov. Andrew Cuomo said in a news release issued Monday.

The facility will “foster collaboration among multiple SUNY campuses;” provide student-research opportunities; and promote workforce training in energy conservation throughout the state to “further advance energy-conservation efforts,” Cuomo’s office said.

Launched in 2011, NYSUNY 2020 is a challenge grant program that “provides incentive for capital development on SUNY campuses and within surrounding communities, while also establishing Maintenance of Effort provisions and a rational tuition program that allows schools, parents and students to anticipate expenses,” according to the SUNY website.

The R&D facility will complement Binghamton University’s new “dry room,” a battery dry room located in the University’s Center of Excellence building at the Innovative Technologies Complex. 

Since the chemicals in batteries do not react well to moisture, the dry room features a “very” low-humidity index, enabling professor M. Stanley Whittingham and his NorthEast Center for Chemical Energy Storage colleagues to test their research efforts to “maximize battery life and efficiency.” 

The battery dry room was made possible through a $600,000 regional economic-development council (REDC) award made in round five of the initiative last year, Cuomo’s office said.

“Energy conservation is essential to combating the threats posed by climate change, and we must ensure that New York is at the forefront of cutting-edge solutions,” Cuomo contended in the news release. “This funding will equip SUNY Binghamton with a state-of-the-art facility that will advance critical research and bolster our administration’s commitment to renewable energy…”

Lt. Gov. Kathy Hochul presented the award during a visit to the school on Monday.

The university is on “the cutting edge of technology that impacts all of our lives,” Harvey Stenger, president of Binghamton University, said in Cuomo’s news release.

“The ability to extend the life of batteries in all types of electronic devices is something from which every one of us will benefit. This particular investment is also going to allow us to educate and train smart-energy scientists and the advanced manufacturing experts of the future,” said Stenger, who also co-chairs the Southern Tier REDC.

Contact Reinhardt at ereinhardt@cnybj.com