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Taylor Hall at night

About Us

Our mission is to promote economic development in New York State by bringing together companies and university researchers who have areas of common interest and encouraging collaboration through funding and outreach.

Over the past ten years, CEIS funding has been leveraged to generate over $537 million in economic impact and the creation of 273 new jobs. By bringing together multiple universities, companies, government agencies, and economic development organizations in a collaborative environment, we provide leadership in the identification and realization of technology-driven economic development in the Finger Lakes region.

News & Events

April 25, 2024

FINGER LAKES SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY SHOWCASE 2024

Please join us at the Memorial Art Gallery for the University Technology Showcase hosted by the Center for Emerging and Innovative Science and the Center of Excellence in Data Science on April 25, 2024. This year the showcase will be a full-day event. The day will include a WNY AR/VR mini symposium, keynote speakers, a pitch session providing businesses and researchers the chance to share their work, and the annual poster session. Attendees can join us for the whole day or part of the day. More details will follow in due course. 

Register Here >

September 27, 2023

Discover technologies that are forging the future. Witness #InnovationIgnited at Luminate Finals 2023!

Startups in cohort 6 of the Luminate accelerator are trailblazers in augmented reality, eyecare, waterway monitoring, and other fields. They're tackling challenges in IVF procedures, 3D mapping, chip manufacturing, and beyond. Watch these startups and their technologies light up the stage at Luminate's annual showcase and awards ceremony. Join us in the heart of Downtown Rochester at Innovation Square.

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April 26, 2023

UR and RIT-led projects among grant recipients to support manufacturing innovation

Projects led by the University of Rochester and Rochester Institute of Technology were among 10 projects across the state that received funding from FuzeHub’s Jeff Lawrence Innovation Fund. The Center for Emerging and Innovative Sciences at UR, along with its Hajim School of Engineering and Applied Sciences and Thermal Expansion Solutions, Inc., which does business as ALLVAR, was awarded $50,000 for their work on titanium ALLVAR alloy manufacturing for optomechanical assemblies. The goal of the project is to accelerate adoption of novel ALLVAR alloys by demonstrating they can eliminate the detrimental effects of temperature changes on an optic’s performance. If successful, future applications for the alloys include sensors for autonomous vehicles and fiber-couplers and beam expanders for fiber-optics.

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CEIS-CAT Announcement

CAT Renewal Poster

Since 1992, CEIS has been designated as a New York State Center for Advanced Technology (CAT). As a CAT, we have worked to support collaborative projects between private entities and university researchers. Over the last ten years we have supported nearly 300 projects in an incredibly diverse range of interests which have generated over $700 million in direct, measurable, economic impact, creating some 200 jobs, and retaining another 239.

We are proud to announce that New York’s Empire State Development has chosen CEIS from an incredibly competitive field to continue as a Center for Advanced Technologies for another ten years in our focus area of photonics and imaging science systems.

In this transitional period, we think it is appropriate to look back and highlight some of the incredible work our partnering organizations and primary investigators have done in the last year, as well as looking forward to the future and the arrival of AIM Photonics.

This is a very exciting time for us, and we are happy to say that the future looks ever better and ever brighter here in Rochester.  Check back to learn what projects will be funded in the Center’s new CAT cycle as well as exciting developments in photonics, and Rochester’s photonics community.

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