From Lab Coats to Launch Pads: Activate NY Fellows Visit
Stony Brook University R&D Park
Claire Nelson, Jiye Son, Gustavo Marquez, Natasha Feshbach, Yunha Hwang, Justin Slipe, Andre Cornman, Kaitlyn Suarez, Eric Bellefroid, Ilse Nava-Medina, and Brenna Boehman)
The research labs at Stony Brook University's Research & Development Park were filled with wonder and intrigue during Activate NY's meeting with Stony Brook Economic Development on Thursday, August 15.
Activate NY, a nonprofit fellowship program that provides scientists and engineers with resources to bring their ideas to the marketplace, learned about the renowned facilities at Stony Brook University and Program Associate Natasha Feshbach reached out to Economic Development's David Hamilton to discuss collaboration opportunities.
Mr. Hamilton, Director of Ecosystems Growth and Impact, led the meeting with a high-level overview of the centers and programs at Economic Development, including the Advanced Energy Research and Technology Center (AERTC), Center for Integrated Electric Energy Systems (CIEES), Long Island High Technology Incubator (LIHTI), Small Business Development Center (SBDC), and Intellectual Property Partners (IPP). Lisa Chichura, PhD, Director of the Strategic Partnership for Industrial Resurgence (SPIR), Amy Erikson, Interim Director of the Long Island Manufacturing Extension Partnership (LIMEP), and Chris Lange, Engineering Manager of the Center of Excellence in Wireless and Information Technology (CEWIT), gave an overview of the mission and projects at their respective areas.
After reviewing the facilities in Economic Development, the floor was given to Jon Longtin, PhD, Associate Dean for Research in the Stony Brook University College of Engineering and Applied Sciences, Fang Luo, Phd, Director of the spellman High Voltage Laboratory in CIEES, Devinder Mahajan, Director of the Institute of Gas Innovation and Technology (I-GIT) in AERTC, and Vyacheslav Solovyov, PhD, Associate Director of Technology and Engineering for Stony Brook Economic Development. The researchers discussed their ongoing projects and the resources they have to help the Fellows take their ideas to the marketplace.
 Michael Gouzman, PhD, speaking with Activate Fellows in the Laboratory of EGMSC
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With each overview, the excitement in the air became tangible, leading to an engaging Q&A session before prompting the 18 Fellows to begin their tour of the CEWIT labs.
The first tour at CEWIT was to the Laboratory of Electrical Grid Monitoring and Control Systems (EGMCS) led by Michael Gouzman, PhD. The lab, a collaborative project with the Office of Naval Research, focuses on energy transmission and piqued the interest of several Fellows. After questioning the model had on display and hearing Dr. Gouzman's admiration for the women in STEM, the group was guided to the third floor to see the Reality Deck.
The Reality Deck is a 30-foot-by-40-foot room covered with 416 27-inch screens, each with 4 million pixels to create a high-definition 1.6-billion pixel displey, the largest in the world. Saeed Boorboor, PhD, CEWIT's Principal Research Scientist, demonstrated the capabilities of the Reality Deck by immersing the Fellows in a 360-degree model of the solar system and a 4K video of a race car.
 Dr. Boorboor Demonstrating CEWIT Reality Deck
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The final tour of CEWIT was the SMART Cluster. The Strategic Machine-Learning Acceleration and Ray Tracing (SMART) Cluster, also facilitated by Dr. Boorboor, is a dual use GPU Cluster, for both machine-learning and visualization, which is the fastest among New York State academic institutions. Much like the reality deck, the SMART Cluster can process large amounts of data, including 3D models of molecules and structures for a more immersive, hands-on approach to research.
With the CEWIT labs fully explored, the group was given a guided tour of the AERTC by Vyacheslav (Slowa) Solovyov. Dr. Solovyov's tour introduced the Fellows to CIEES and I-GIT, where they were able to speak with scientists in the hydrogen lab about their green energy storage projects. Upon leaving the lab, the Fellows had the opportunity to hear encouraging words from Ray Sambrotto, Founder and CEO of Allied Microbiota, and Brian Gilman, Founder and CEO of Evolve Hydrogen.
Upon conclusion of the R&D Park tour, the Fellows buzzed at the possibilities of partnerships with Stony Brook Economic Development. With it's mission to accelerate innovative impact across New York State, Stony Brook Economic Development is looking forward to collaborating with members of the Activate NY Fellowship and the opportunities their companies can create for Long Island.