$35 Million for Energy Research Center to be built on Stony Brook University campus

STONY BROOK, N.Y. — The Stony Brook University , the Long Island State Senate delegation and the KeySpan Corporation have secured $35 million in state funds for an energy research center to be built on the campus of Stony Brook University . The project aims to bring together energy-related research and development projects at a new technology center designed to uncover new energy sources and protect natural resources.

Sen. Kenneth P. LaValle, who leads the Long Island 's state Senate delegation, said that the Center could “create a more efficient and cost-effective source of energy, which will, in turn, contribute to our economic growth.”

KeySpan has donated the use of facilities in Islandia for the center's temporary home while the permanent $35 million Center is built during the next three years. The ribbon-cutting ceremony held on September 8 at the KeySpan facility in Islandia displayed more than 70 projects that are under way at Stony Brook, LIPA, KeySpan, Brookhaven National Laboratory and other local universities and research centers.. The projects focus on exploring renewable energy sources, enhancing the performance of traditional fuels and employing advanced fuel cell technology.

“This Center will bring all of these projects together and will look to obtain major funding from the federal government and from private foundations for continued working capital,” said Yacov A. Shamash, the Dean of the College of Engineering and Applied Sciences at Stony Brook. He said the goal was to develop “alternative sources of fuel and to improve the efficiency of the current ways of using power.”

In addition to the $35 million allocated in the state budget, Shamash said the center, which could be up and running by 2009, will look to obtain major funding from the federal government and from private foundations for continued working capital. he center's partners, who have pledged either financial or in-kind assistance, include Brookhaven National Laboratory, Farmingdale State University of New York, SUNY Maritime, Polytechnic University, the City University of New York and KeySpan Corp.