SyracuseCoE Announces 2017 Innovation Fund Recipients

SyracuseCoE is proud to announce that four Upstate New York companies have been named the 2017 Innovation Fund recipients, with awards totaling $40,000. The Innovation Fund is supported by funding from the SyracuseCoE Partner Program and is designed to support Partner firms’ efforts to overcome barriers to the commercialization of potentially transformative innovations.

The four award-winning companies and their projects are:

  • LC Drives is developing next-generation electric motors that are smaller, lighter, and more energy efficient. This project will support the development of an improved rotor cooling approach to keep the rotor and magnets cooler, allowing for the manufacture of smaller, more powerful motors and generators.
  • Standard Hydrogen Corporation will advance its collaboration with experts at the National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL) with its Innovation Fund award, adding the U.S. Department of Energy lab to its ongoing collaboration with SHC’s New York State university partners.
  • Air Innovations will redesign a proposed revolutionary personal Cooling and heating system that could change the way we manage personal comfort within workspaces, while reducing building energy costs.
  • Bush Technical’s innovative micro-scroll compressors have multiple commercial applications for spot-cooling products. This project will allow Bush Technical to work with Syracuse University engineering students and faculty to develop a production machine and process that will optimize the finishing process.

“The Innovation Fund awards highlight Central New York’s expertise in environmental and energy systems, as well as area companies’ enthusiasm for innovation and commercialization of new technologies,” said Ed Bogucz, SyracuseCoE executive director. “These awards are intended to help companies bridge the gap to commercialization of new products, as well as to provide thoughtful, constructive feedback from a panel of reviewers with expertise in the application of new technology in the marketplace.”

Proposals for the 2018 SyracuseCoE Innovation Fund will be invited to submit beginning in February.  To date, awards from SyracuseCoE’s Innovation Fund have totaled more than $330,000 and supported 25 clean energy projects throughout New York State, creating or retaining 35 jobs and increasing revenues by more than $406,000 with reported cost savings of $516,710 and increased capital expenditures of $756,881.

Eligibility for Innovation Fund awards is extended to all current members of the SyracuseCoE Partner Program. Proposals may include collaborations with non-Partner Program firms and academic partners; however, proposals must be submitted and led by members of the SyracuseCoE Partner Program.