RPI, Business Council to Initiate NY Research Coalition

TROY, N.Y., July 3 -- Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute (RPI) and The Business Council of New York will work with the private sector to create a New York Research Coalition, they announced at a meeting of New York State college and university presidents last week at RPI.

The New York Research Coalition would create a partnership between the private sector and New York's colleges and universities to increase federal research dollars for projects in New York state in biotechnology, information technology and nanotechnology.

Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton (D-NY) organized the event to discuss higher education and economic issues.

"In collaboration with our highly educated workforce and our entrepreneurial business community, we have everything we need to succeed," Sen. Clinton said. "The New York Research Coalition's work will capitalize on all of these strengths so that we can not only maximize our research funding, but we can create jobs and encourage economic development in the process."

RPI President Shirley Ann Jackson said the research coalition "will extend that mission and advance the transfer of technology from the laboratory to the market place."