Some worry that SUNY Poly split will hurt ‘fab’ chances – Times Union

ALBANY - Political leaders in central New York and the Mohawk Valley are asking Gov. Kathy Hochul to reconsider her plans to break up SUNY Polytechnic Institute, arguing the move could harm her efforts to entice computer chip manufacturers to build billion-dollar factories in their regions.

Hochul announced during her first State of the State address earlier this month that she wants to merge SUNY Poly's College of Nanoscale Science and Engineering back into the University at Albany.

But Oneida County Executive Anthony Picente Jr. and Onondaga County Executive Ryan McMahon who both believe their communities are in the running for chip factories (known as fabs) believe the split would hurt their chances, and Hochul's, of landing the facilities and the potential for thousands of high-paying jobs.

In a statement released Friday, Picente and McMahon along with local state legislators, expressed their concern a SUNY Poly breakup could jeopardize plans to attract chip companies to the White Pine Commerce Park outside of Syracuse and the Marcy Nanocenter outside of Utica.

"With multiple active semiconductor leads currently being considered at both Marcy and in White Pine in Syracuse, regional leaders believe the proposal could be perceived as a reduction in the states commitment to attracting the industry," the elected officials said in a statement.

SUNY Poly is somewhat unusual in the SUNY system in that it has two campuses - one in Albany and one in Utica.

The school was created in 2014 by merging the University at Albany's College of Nanoscale Science and Engineering into SUNY IT near Utica.

CNSEwas the brainchild of Alain Kaloyeros, a former UAlbany physics professor who founded Albany Nanotech, the most advanced government-owned semiconductor research center in the United States. Funded with hundreds of millions of dollars in corporate and state funding - which is unique to the SUNY system - Albany Nanotech was built by the state on Fuller Road in Albany, adjacent to the UAlbany campus.

Tenants at the Albany Nanotech complex, technically owned by a state-run nonprofit, include companies like IBM, Samsung and Intel, along with the world's top chip-making equipment companies.

Kaloyeros created CNSE to develop a pipeline of students that could become top-notch scientists and engineers to work at semiconductor companies that the state hoped would eventually build factories in the region. When he orchestrated the merger, Kaloyeros renamed the school SUNY Poly and became its founding president and one of the state's highest-paid employees before his 2016 downfall on federal bid-rigging charges.

Albany Nanotech and CNSE have been vital in the state's efforts to bring computer chip companies to upstate New York, including GlobalFoundries, which built its Fab 8 factory in Saratoga County. A second company, Wolfspeed, is building a factory across the street from SUNY Poly's Utica campus at the Marcy Nanocenter.

Kaloyeros was convicted on wire-fraud charges and is facing more than three years in federal prison if his efforts to appeal his case fail. Ever since, UAlbany has supported a plan tobring CNSE back into the UAlbany fold. Many faculty at CNSE have also supported the return to UAlbany.

The controversy over the plan comes at a sensitive time as New York is negotiating with companies to build billion-dollar chip sites upstate. Hochul said earlier this week that she was personally involved in negotiations with an unnamed chip company believed to be Intel.

Intel had announced only days before that it chose Ohio for two new chip fabs that would cost $20 billion. But Intel has plans to build many more factories in the U.S. as part of efforts by the U.S. government to thwart efforts by China to dominate the world's chip manufacturing sector.

Hochul said she has offered the unnamed chipmaker a "robust" incentive package to build a massive chip-making complex outside Syracuse that would employ 5,000 people, which would make it even larger than Fab 8.

"I personally have had meetings, phone calls, and Im working hands-on as we speak on this issue," Hochul told the Syracuse Post-Standard's editorial board. "We are waiting to find out what the decision is. We are very competitive right now.

Intel did not respond to a request for comment, but the company has expressed serious interest in building a fab within driving distance of Albany Nanotech, where it has entered into a research partnership with IBM.

GlobalFoundries is already planning an expansion at Fab 8, so that Saratoga County site may not have enough room for a second chip company.

SUNY Poly officials are trying to carefully balance Hochul's plan to give CNSE back to UAlbany with the concerns of local leaders in the Mohawk Valley and central New York who have been pitching the value of the current SUNY Poly model to prospective chip firms.

"We share many of their concerns," SUNY Poly said in a statement. "We are confident that SUNY Poly will continue to build upon this approach which has grown interconnected research and career opportunities across both campusesnot only for one region, but for all of New York state.

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Some worry that SUNY Poly split will hurt 'fab' chances - Times Union