The Partnership aims to catalyze, encourage, and facilitate nanotechnology driven collaborations in the bi-national Quebec-New York Region 

Montreal, Canada.  Albany NanoTech and NanoQuebec announced today the signing of a comprehensive Memorandum of Understanding to form an educational, research and development, and technology development partnership in the rapidly emerging field of nanotechnology.  In recognition of the importance of international cooperation in nanotechnology, particularly within the global economy of the 21st Century, the partnership aims to maximize the mutual benefits of such cooperation to the future technological, industrial, and economic development of the high technology sectors in the bi-national Quebec-New York region.

"Quebec and New York State are both leaders in nanotechnology in their respective countries.  The Quebec government has recognized that nanotechnology is of strategic importance for its economy and its society. This agreement lays the foundation for developing collaborative activities in research, education and technology development that will leverage the strengths and resources of the bi-national region towards greater socio-economic development through nanotechnology." says Robert Sing, Administrative Director of NanoQuébec.

"The NanoQuebec-Albany NanoTech partnership is uniquely positioned to advance the technological and economical stature of the Quebec-New York region, and to create a true nanotechnology enabled Nanopolis stretching from Montreal, through the Capital Region, and down to New York City.  We are grateful for the proactive leadership, bold vision, and continued commitments by Governor Pataki, Majority Leader Bruno and Speaker Silver that made this and other initiatives possible.  We look forward to working with NanoQuebec, its university affiliates, and our industry affiliates to make this initiative a resounding success," said Alain E. Kaloyeros, Executive Director of Albany NanoTech.

The partnership recognizes that the intellectual capital and educational resources of the leading academic institutions in Quebec and New York are critical to their long term economic success.  Initially, the partnership will focus on educational initiatives including a series of nanotechnology workshops hosted by NanoQuebec tomorrow at the University of Sherbrooke and next spring by Albany Nanotech; and student and staff exchange internships commencing next summer; followed by joint academic and R&D programs in the future. Another critical aspect of the partnership will be to identify synergies and complementarities between the respective organizations and apply for joint funding to leverage and maximize collaborative research and development.  Finally, the partnership will facilitate nanotechnology commercialization across the greater trans-border New York-Quebec corridor region, leading potentially to the creation of significant numbers of new high tech jobs.

Nanotechnology is the collective name for cutting edge science and technology focusing on novel materials and devices of nanometer (a billionth of a meter) or molecular size.  Nanotechnology will drive future technological innovation in a wide range of industrial sectors from information technology through biomedical devices and the environment.
NanoQuébec is the Québec initiative in nanotechnology linking and supporting a network of researchers, research centers and state-of-the-art facilities in six leading universities in Québec (Univ. de Montréal, McGill University,  École Polytechnique, Univ. Laval, Univ. de Sherbrooke and Institut National de Recherche Scientifique).

Albany NanoTech is a fully-integrated research, development, prototyping, pilot manufacturing and education resource managing a strategic portfolio of state-of-the-art laboratories, supercomputer and shared-user facilities and an array of research centers located at the University at Albany - SUNY.

Contacts:

Alain E. Kaloyeros, Ph.D.
Executive Director
Albany NanoTech
Tel: (518) 442 4533
Email: akaloyeros@uamail.albany.edu