FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
October 4, 2022
Media Contact
John Mackowiak
[email protected]
518.618.1175
New York State Innovation Summit to be Hosted in Buffalo on October 25-26
Annual Statewide Event Brings Together Hundreds of New York State Innovators, Business Leaders, and Stakeholders to Foster Greater Collaboration and Accelerate Tech-Driven Economic Growth
FuzeHub’s Commercialization Competition, Held as Part of the Innovation Summit, Will Award up to $500,000 in Grant Funding to Emerging Startups and Tech-Forward Manufacturers
Registration is open at nysinnovationsummit.com
BUFFALO, N.Y. – The New York State Innovation Summit is heading to the Buffalo Niagara Convention Center on October 25 and 26. This annual gathering of New York’s innovation ecosystem — which is expected to attract hundreds of the state’s brightest minds — is organized by Empire State Development’s Division of Science, Technology, and Innovation (NYSTAR) and FuzeHub, the statewide center for the New York Manufacturing Extension Partnership (NY MEP).
The multi-day event brings together industry leaders, university researchers, investors, economic developers, and government officials from across the state to discover emerging technologies that support innovation and drive business growth. The summit offers a series of speakers, breakout sessions, and networking opportunities, providing attendees with insights into the latest tech discoveries, breakthrough research, and manufacturing advancements that will influence everyday lives and spur economic development.
“Buffalo is emerging as one of the nation’s most watched and most collaborative tech ecosystems — which made it the perfect location for the New York State Innovation Summit. We want to showcase and celebrate what’s happening here to inspire the innovators and entrepreneurs who are driving positive change within their own communities across the state,” said FuzeHub Executive Director Elena Garuc. “With the promising startups, tech-forward manufacturers, brilliant researchers, and collaborative partners that this event brings together, the New York State Innovation Summit has become one of the most important annual gatherings of our state’s innovation ecosystem.”
“Every time we assemble our statewide innovation ecosystem in one place, unexpected interactions spark new collaborations focused on creating solutions to market challenges and launching entrepreneurial endeavors,” said Matt Watson, ESD Senior Vice President, and NYSTAR Executive Director. “The New York State Innovation Summit is a unique opportunity for business leaders, innovators, investors, and economic developers to have direct access to potential collaborators, the latest technologies, and impactful state resources. We are excited to host the summit in the great City of Buffalo and look forward to the future innovations that will be born there.”
The 2021 New York State Innovation Summit attracted more than 500 people to the Mohawk Valley and marked a return to an in-person event. The 2019 summit welcomed more than 500 people to Rochester. Both events helped generate economic activity and local spending in their host communities.
Buffalo’s status as a growing hub for technology and advanced manufacturing was reaffirmed when the region received a $25 million award through President Joe Biden’s Build Back Better Challenge. The grant will allow Western New York to further expand its advanced manufacturing capabilities, train more than 1,600 workers, ignite innovation and entrepreneurship and grow the economy.
Among the highlights of the Innovation Summit, FuzeHub’s annual Commercialization Competition will feature live pitches and award grants of up to $150,000 to high-potential startups and tech-forward small- to mid-sized manufacturers across New York State. During this year’s competition, a total of up to $500,000 will be available, with funding going to the companies that show the greatest potential to commercialize their technology or product in ways that will support regional economic growth and solve important challenges. The competition is designed to help companies further develop their prototypes to then pursue additional investment, strengthen their go-to-market strategies and attract customers as they move from new products to production to the marketplace.
The summit will feature experts who focus on several key industries including semiconductors, biotechnology, advanced materials, clean technology, agriculture innovation, sustainable manufacturing, energy, software and digital technology, cybersecurity, and more. Attendees will have opportunities to engage, learn and connect throughout two days of compelling panel discussions and keynote sessions — which include:
The Semiconductor Executive Roundtable will feature key leaders from several industry powerhouses — David Rooney, Principal of DMR Group; Alex Oscilowski, President of TEL Research; Balaji Suresh, VP Operations at L3 Harris; and Oliver Vatel, Senior Advisor at IBM Research. Together, they’ll discuss the federal CHIPS and Science Act, the state’s Green CHIPS Program, and how New York is leading America’s microchip resurgence.
In a fireside chat, Niel Sandfort, the Chief Innovation Officer at Chobani, will share how this high-growth company takes products from delicious ideas to supermarket shelves. He’ll also explain how sourcing local ingredients — in this case, milk — enabled Chobani to thrive and not just survive the pandemic.
A discussion on Rebuilding US Manufacturing will be presented by Mojdeh Bahar, the associate director for innovation and industry services at the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST), which oversees the federal Manufacturing Extension Partnership (MEP) program.
Attendees will be able to tour the University at Buffalo’s Center of Excellence in Bioinformatics Life Sciences and its incubator, which are both NYSTAR-backed innovation resources that are accelerating growth within a critical industry regionally and statewide.
Breakout sessions will be held both days with topics that include the circular economy, emerging opportunities for New York State manufacturers in battery and energy storage, advanced materials and supply chain resilience, and statewide funding resources for manufacturing and technology companies.
For the latest on the New York State Innovation Summit, including registration, visit nysinnovationsummit.com.
About NYSTAR
Empire State Development’s Division of Science, Technology, and Innovation – known as NYSTAR – advances technology innovation and commercialization in New York State. NYSTAR offers programs that assist companies from start-up through maturity, leveraging the state’s unparalleled investment in world-class technology assets and expertise. It provides roughly $55 million annually in funding to support over 70 centers that provide direct assistance to New York State companies – a network of vital assets for enabling technology- and manufacturing-led growth and job creation. NYSTAR and its partners are proud to contribute to New York’s leadership in the global innovation economy. For more information, visit esd.ny.gov/nystar.
About FuzeHub
FuzeHub is a nonprofit organization that connects New York’s small and mid-sized manufacturing companies to the resources, programs, and expertise they need for technology commercialization, innovation, and business growth. Through its custom assessment, matching, and referral platform, FuzeHub helps companies navigate New York’s robust network of industry experts at Manufacturing Extension Partnership (MEP) centers, universities, economic development organizations, and other providers. FuzeHub is the statewide New York MEP Center, supported by NYSTAR (Empire State Development’s Division of Science, Technology & Innovation). For more information on FuzeHub, visit www.fuzehub.com.
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