As natural elements grow scarcer, synthetic materials have become integral to the furthering of technology. Soon, UB will be contributing to the discovery and innovation of these new materials.
On March 27, the Western New York legislative delegation approved state designation for a Center of Excellence in Materials Informatics to be established at UB and approved $200,000 in funds to support the establishment of this center.
Centers of Excellence are research centers focusing on specific fields of study majorly funded by the state of New York. Currently, there are six Centers of Excellence throughout New York, one of them being UB's Center of Excellence in Bioinformatics and Life Sciences located on the Buffalo Niagara Medical Campus. This center was established in 2002 and received more than $200,000 in investment from state, industry, and philanthropic sources.
President Satish K. Tripathi proposed the new center in materials informatics to the New York State Legislature and the governor's office in mid-March. The proposal focused on how the center would bridge the shortage of advanced materials in the U.S. and lead to industry collaboration in the Western New York region, potentially creating thousands of jobs.
"The Center of Excellence in Materials Informatics will establish UB as a renowned leader in the emerging, high-impact field of combinatorial materials science and engineering," Tripathi said in a press release. "This outstanding development has come about thanks to the advocacy of Assemblyman Robin Schimminger and Senators George Maziarz and Mark Grisanti, with the support of the entire Western New York delegation."
The designation and funding for the center will be included in the 2012-13 state budget, according to a press release.
Synthetic materials have become essential in fields from energy to medicine and in products from smart phones to hybrid cars.
"Advanced materials can help U.S. companies make lighter prosthetic limbs, cars that use less fuel, and longer-lasting batteries for medical devices like pacemakers," said Alexander Cartwright, vice president for research and economic development at UB. "Currently, it can take 20 or more years for new advanced materials to reach consumers - far too long."
The UB Center of Excellence in Materials Informatics will help solve this problem, according to Cartwright.
"[The center] will build on UB's strengths in computing and materials science to accelerate the discovery and commercialization of innovative new materials, including synthetic replacements for elements that are growing scarcer," Cartwright said.
UB expects to hire additional faculty, pursue federal funding opportunities, and collaborate with industries in the Western New York region to further expand the center's capacity to carry out cutting-edge research.
The center will initially span across the main laboratories of faculty involved in material sciences and informatics. As the center evolves, it will integrate a number of departments from the School of Engineering and Applied Sciences, School of Medicine and Biomedical Sciences, and the College of Arts and Sciences, as well as faculty in public policy and design-related areas.
"Materials Informatics is intrinsically multi-disciplinary, and will involve faculty, researchers and students from across the university," Cartwright said.
The formation of the center will begin this summer, and the next year will focus on establishment of public/private partnerships, the building of a directory of available resources, the hiring of new faculty, and the purchase of new equipment, according to Cartwright.
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