Focus Center - New York is a founding member of The National Interconnect Focus Center, http://fcrp.src.org/, which was established by the Semiconductor Industry Association and the Defense Advanced Research Programs Agency in 1998. The center is a research consortium addressing long-term challenges in the development of next generation computer chips. The University at Albany was designated as the headquarters of the Focus Center - New York (FC-NY), a partnership between leading research organizations in New York. FC-NY is one of the four primary sites of the Interconnect Focus Research Center along with Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Stanford University and the Georgia Institute of Technology.

The Focus Center - New York develops the science and technology of interconnects, the complex signal-carrying conduits in the computer chip that are universally recognized as the technology driver for increased chip speed and performance. Current FC-NY research initiatives include:

• Moletronic-based interconnect nanotechnology
• Nano/microsystem-based optoelectronics
• Advanced atomic-scale metrology development
• Dynamic optical interconnects