| The faculty, scientists, researchers, and staff of Albany NanoTech at the University at Albany-SUNY (UAlbany) applaud Governor George E. Pataki for his pioneering vision and proactive leadership in the creation of the first college of nanotechnology in the nation. The college builds on the impressive research accomplishments of the Center of Excellence in Nanoelectronics that are made possible through the unwavering support and strategic investments of Governor George E. Pataki, Senate Majority Leader Joseph Bruno, and Speaker of the Assembly Sheldon Silver to establish the most comprehensive educational, research, and outreach programs in nanotechnology in the world. With the announcement of the College, the Governor continues to ensure New York's leadership in implementing the U.S.'s premier educational and research roadmap in the 21st Century as outlined in the National Nanotechnology Initiative (NNI), which is widely credited as "leading to the next industrial revolution." The NNI legislation was recently passed in the U.S. Senate and House of Representatives and signed into law by President Bush. It authorizes $3.7 billion over the next four years, the largest such funding for any science initiative in the history of Washington. Two of the key sponsors of the bill are New York Congressman Sherwood Boehlert, Chair of the Science Committee in the U.S. House of Representatives, and New York Senator Hillary Clinton. The NNI states that "the dynamics of interdisciplinary nanostructure efforts will reinforce educational connections among disciplines and give birth to new fields…" For that purpose, the NNI provides significant funding to create the "laboratory and human resource infrastructure in universities and in the education of nanotechnology professionals…" As the first of its kind, the College will act as a beacon of comprehensive education of the highest quality as it enables the discovery and dissemination of fundamental knowledge concepts and new frontier scientific principles in the emerging interdisciplinary fields of nanotechnology, from nanosciences and nanoengineering to nanoeconomics. The location of College in the same complex as the Albany Center of Excellence in Nanoelectronics allows maximum leveraging of synergistic resources to create a comprehensive, fully integrated powerhouse for the attraction and retention of highly qualified students to careers in the various disciplines of nanotechnology, from theoretical principles to experimental demonstrations and practical applications. |