Clarkson to partner for new products
POTSDAM — Clarkson University will soon partner with three regional companies, including two in the north country, to develop products and jobs.
The Metropolitan Development Association of Syracuse and Central New York announced Friday that it has awarded five Grants for Growth, three of which will go to Clarkson and its business partners for a total of $194,803.
"The program itself is one that by design links faculty and the ideas they create with business, and their need for that knowledge," college Provost Thomas C. Young said. "Ever since Tony Collins has been president, he has encouraged Clarkson to be involved in the economic development of Northern New York particularly, but also of Central New York."
The first grant, for $75,000, will help Clarkson develop a carbon composite casing for Magna Powertrain of East Syracuse. The lightweight material will be used in transfer cases for all-wheel and four-wheel drive vehicles. The technology is estimated to save the company $3.4 million and create 10 jobs.
Lyons Falls-based Otis Technology Inc. will also work with Clarkson, thanks to its $60,000 grant, to create a substance using nanotechnology that has the potential to double or triple the lifespan of rifles.
The material will make gun barrels more "slippery," so that bullets create less friction and wear when they are fired, Mr. Young said. The project is estimated to generate $500,000 for Otis Technology and create 10 jobs.
Finally, Taylor Concrete Products Inc. of Watertown will use its $59,803 grant to collaborate with the college to create new disposal methods of high carbon fly ash, which is a waste product of coal-fired power plants.
The project is intended to reduce the amount of fly ash sent to landfills by recycling the waste material into concrete and paving blocks, and is estimated to generate $400,000 for Taylor Concrete and create 10 jobs.
"It does have the effect of creating jobs, but it also creates opportunities for new companies to develop ideas. The Grants for Growth program really does provide those kinds of opportunities. It opens doors," Mr. Young said.
Cornell University, Ithaca, was awarded the other two Grants for Growth, totaling $150,000. The five projects were selected from 14 applicants.
