Technologies supporting energy and bio-materials advanced manufacturing just got a boost on April 13 via a $600,000 grant from the federal Economic Development Administration (EDA).
This EDA investment, which will support a partnership between the Innovation Accelerator Foundation and Kodak’s Eastman Business Park (EBP), goes directly to support the development of the Innovation, Manufacturing, and Material Science Institute (IMMSI) at Eastman Business Park in Rochester.
“Our nation remains the global innovation leader in the areas of EBP’s and Kodak’s historic strengths: materials and chemicals -- both vital components of photovoltaic technology, bio-based plastics, energy solutions and chemistry as well as batteries, ultra-capacitors, fuel cells and energy storage technology,” said John Pyrovolakis, CEO of Innovation Accelerator.
“However U.S. innovations in these areas are increasingly being manufactured -- and monetized -- abroad. It is our hope that supporting the IMMSI initiative will buck this trend to the benefit of both this region and the country as a whole.”
Kodak’s Eastman Business Park is multi-use research and advanced manufacturing center in Rochester, NY. This 1,200 acre campus encompasses more than 100 buildings, 2.5 million square feet of space, and over 50 miles of integrated roads and rail targeting numerous points throughout the Northeast.
IMMSI will help leverage more than $50 million worth of development tools and a highly skilled workforce at EBP -- as well as resources found throughout the region such as at the local universities. Support for technology developers will take the form of access to:
- a deep materials science knowledge base
- a suite of development, pilot scale and high volume manufacturing tools
- an extensive physical infrastructure to support manufacturing, including low-cost electrical power, fresh water supplies
- skilled regional workforce expert guidance for companies to remove the roadblocks on the path to commercialization so full focus can be placed on bringing products to market as quickly as possible
“While the U.S. remains one of the most innovative, creative, and industrious nations in the world, it is challenged to find new ways to successfully bring next generation products to market," added Pyrovolakis.
"In order to win, we need to nourish IP beyond the lab from prototyping to proof of concept and into commercialization by enabling high tech start-ups to substantially reduce the time and expense it takes to become self-sustaining, create advanced manufacturing jobs in the innovation economy, and turn a profit. We hope that IMMSI will help do just that.”
