Not all pleased with nanoscale college's return to UAlbany

Nanotechnology is not a word that typically comes up in everyday conversation, but for the last nearly 10 years, it’s become a popular word in the Mohawk Valley.

Oneida County Executive Anthony Picente said it all started under Gov. George Pataki’s administration when he was looking at pre-permitted sites for chip manufacturing.

“It was Marcy, it was Malta and it was Fishkill,” Picente recalled. “And those were designated as chip-fab sites in 1998. So the process started then and evolved over the years, and through his administration and into the next administration.”

The vision of nanotechnology spreading across upstate New York’s “I-90 Corridor” is something Mohawk Valley leaders jumped onboard with.

Picente said one of the first big steps took place when the College of Nanoscale Science and Engineering, located in Albany, split from the University of Albany after 10 years and reaffiliated with the SUNY Institute of Technology, then changed to SUNY Polytechnic Institute.

After that, companies came to the area.

“Then the building of Quad C, the development of the Marcy site for a chip fab all blended in, and it was all a part of the ongoing mission of the college and of the SUNY system at that time,” said Picente.

There were some challenges along the way, but with billions of dollars invested and a lot of support, a lot of growth occurred in Oneida County. That’s why Picente is not celebrating the news that the College of Nanoscale Science and Engineering is going back to reintegrate with UAlbany.

“I still don’t understand what this does,” he said. “I mean, I guess the confusion of what this move of the CNSE to Albany, or the ‘reunification’ as they want to describe it as, what does that mean and what does that do? I know what it does to us. I mean, what does it do to them? They’ve already had this in place for a number of years.”

Some worry this will close a pipeline of workers for local companies invested in the area.

The idea was proposed in Gov. Kathy Hochul’s State of the State Address earlier this year.

For UAlbany, it’s a change that makes sense. UAlbany President Havidán Rodríguez said it’s something they’ve advocated for, and they want to develop a plan that is good for students, faculty and staff at all three institutions.

He said they are ready to reunify CNSE and UAlbany to build a “truly formidable research and teaching powerhouse at one of the most diverse public research institutions in the country.”

For now, Picente said many questions remain unanswered, but he said he will continue fighting.

Spectrum News 1 received a statement from a SUNY representative saying, in part, “SUNY Poly is authorized to create a robust strategic plan along with local stakeholders to strengthen the future of SUNY Poly Utica without CNSE.”

A request for further discussion was not answered.

A masterplan and timeline for reintegration is expected to be developed by Dec. 2023.