Colton Paulo gets close-up look at Quad-C

2013 Sep 13

To many people, the Computer Chip Commercialization Center (Quad-C) under construction on the SUNYIT campus means nanotechnology, cleanrooms and high-tech jobs. For SUNYIT students, the $125 million project is like having a real-world, outdoor laboratory right outside their classroom.

Colton Paulo of Stittville, NY, was among the members of an Introduction to Engineering Class that toured the construction site recently. The students in safety vests and hard hats were given a guided tour and a briefing by project contractor M+W Group on the Quad-C, a joint effort between the SUNY College of Nanoscale Science and Engineering (CNSE), SUNYIT, and Mohawk Valley EDGE that supports Governor Andrew Cuomo’s vision and leadership in harnessing the power of education and innovation to spur economic opportunity and growth.

“Thanks to Governor Andrew Cuomo’s innovation-enabled strategy for high-tech education and economic development, SUNYIT students have unique, hands-on educational opportunities,” said Robert E. Geer, acting president of SUNYIT. “Getting a first-hand look at this amazing project from the ground up is just the beginning for our current and future students. They will have access to facilities and opportunities available to few other college students in the world.”

Students on the tour were accompanied by Steven Wei, assistant professor of civil and environmental engineering at SUNYIT.

“This presents first-hand, real-world engineering experience,” Wei said. “It shows them what their career could be like.” Seeing engineering principles put to use in the construction of the Quad-C, Wei said, gives students a chance to see what types of futures await them.

Although the students plan to specialize in various engineering disciplines, the Quad-C site is providing a large cross-section of civil and mechanical engineering activities, all right within walking distance of their classroom.

“They are learning something useful, something practical that provides career opportunities,” Wei said. “And it’s important for society because what they build will have lasting value.”

About SUNYIT- SUNYIT, the State University of New York Institute of Technology at Utica/Rome, is New York’s public polytechnic, offering undergraduate and graduate degree programs in technology and professional studies. Its academic offerings in technology, including engineering, cybersecurity, computer science, and the engineering technologies, and its programs in professional studies, including business, communication, and nursing, are complemented by athletics, recreational, cultural and campus life programs, events and activities. Founded in 1966, SUNYIT is a unique high-tech learning environment on hundreds of acres, offering degree programs online as well as on campus. The SUNYIT family of alumni now numbers 25,000.

About CNSE - The SUNY College of Nanoscale Science and Enginering (CNSE) is the first college in the world dedicated to education, research, development, and deployment in the emerging disciplines of nanoscience, nanoengineering, nanobioscience, and nanoeconomics. With more than $17 billion in high-tech investments, CNSE represents the world’s most advanced university-driven research enterprise, offering students a one-of-a-kind academic experience and providing over 300 corporate partners with access to an unmatched ecosystem for leading-edge R&D and commercialization of nanoelectronics and nanotechnology innovations. CNSE’s footprint spans upstate New York, including its Albany NanoTech Complex, a 1.3 million- square-foot megaplex with the only fully-integrated, 300mm and 450mm wafer computer chip pilot prototyping and demonstration lines within 135,000 square feet of Class 1 capable cleanrooms. More than 3,100 scientists, researchers, engineers, students, and faculty work here, from companies including IBM, Intel, GlobalFoundries, SEMATECH, Samsung, TSMC, Applied Materials, Tokyo Electron, ASML, and Lam Research. CNSE’s latest expansion, which includes NanoFab Xtension (NFX), headquarters for the world’s first Global 450mm Consortium (G450C), and the Zero Energy Nanotechnology (ZEN) building, a living laboratory for green energy technologies, will add more than 1,000 scientists, researchers, and engineers from CNSE and global corporations. CNSE’s Solar Energy Development Center in Halfmoon, which provides a prototyping and demonstration line for next-generation CIGS thin-film solar cells, and the CNSE Photovoltaic Manufacturing and Technology Development Facility (CNSE MDF) in Rochester, the solar industry’s first full-service collaborative facility dedicated to crystalline silicon, support CNSE’s leadership of the U.S. Photovoltaic Manufacturing Consortium (PVMC). CNSE’s Smart System Technology and Commercialization Center of Excellence (STC) in Rochester offers state-of-the-art capabilities for MEMS fabrication and packaging. CNSE also co-founded and manages operations at the Computer Chip Commercialization Center (QUAD-C) at SUNYIT in Marcy. For information, visit www.cnse.albany.edu.