SUNY launches sci-tech center

Staff Report

October 14, 2008 04:00 am

—

COBLESKILL _ On Thursday, elected officials, industry partners and college leaders will present a ceremonial groundbreaking at the State University College of Agriculture and Technology at Cobleskill.

The ceremony for the college's Center for Environmental Science and Technology will be at 10 a.m. on a site east of the college's dairy complex.

Rep. Michael McNulty, D-Green Island, and Assemblyman Peter Lopez, R-Schoharie, will be among those wielding shovels, as well as representatives from the offices of Sens. Charles Schumer and Hillary Clinton, and state Sen. James Seward, R-Milford.

The Center for Environmental Science and Technology, funded in the 2008 SUNY capital budget, will be a center for teaching, learning and research in green technology, college officials said.

SUNY Cobleskill has incorporated sustainable practices into its curricula and business procedures, and is developing course work in clean-energy production, technology and waste management.

Students across disciplines will be able to observe, research and apply developing technologies in the CEST.

College officials said the building will house cutting-edge research in the conversion of agricultural and municipal waste to clean energy through gasification. The college has been allocated nearly $4 million in funding.

The college is partnering on the project with W2E, a technology development company. The U.S. Army is supporting the project through the participation of Benet Laboratories in Watervliet Arsenal and the National Automotive Center.

The construction of the CEST is one of many planned projects at SUNY Cobleskill that are under way or scheduled to begin.

A renovation of Frisbie Hall, the college's first building, began in September. Construction on a science wing in Wheeler Hall is expected to begin soon. The 2008 SUNY capital plan also included $38 million for the construction of a new Agricultural Science and Technology Center and $7 million for maintenance projects that will include updating existing infrastructure.