President's message, cont'd...

You may reach Joe by mail at Binghamton University, PO Box 6000, Binghamton, New York 13902-6000; by fax: 607-777-2654; by phone: 607-777-2431; or by e-mail: alumni@ binghamton.edu.

No inventory of the University's contributions to New York state, the nation and the world would be complete, however, without a look at its important role as a catalyst for discovery and innovation. Binghamton's research programs are helping to change our world through the creation of new knowledge, new technologies and new jobs. In this issue, therefore, I write about Binghamton's growing presence as a research institution.
Across the disciplines -- from the arts to the sciences, from management to engineering, from health care to human development and teaching -- research, scholarship and creative activities at Binghamton are helping to expand the bounds of possibility for us all. Examples of research at Binghamton range from Isidore Okpewho's studies of African storytelling traditions that bring new understanding of the people and politics of Africa, to Harold Ackler's work on microsensors that may one day lead to early warning devices to detect cancer.

Innovations and inventions
In fact, if you have traveled by car or plane; used a computer, pager or cell phone; watched cable or satellite television; placed a long-distance phone call or spent any time attached to medical monitoring equipment, you have directly benefited from Binghamton research. The University's competitive, multidisciplinary research environment is regularly spawning discoveries -- including the world's smallest directional microphone -- to advance homeland security, medical diagnostics and treatment, industrial and consumer products, and computers and communications.

Creating new jobs
With its mission as a public university, a key role for Binghamton research is to help businesses in the region compete in the global marketplace, creating and protecting jobs in the process. Since 1996, for instance, the University's Integrated Electronics Engineering Center has helped create and retain 700 advanced technology jobs with an economic impact of more than $315 million for the region. Meanwhile, the Strategic Partnership for Industrial Resurgence in the past decade has undertaken more than 450 projects for 113 regional companies, providing assistance valued at over $20 million.

Recognizing the value and impact of Binghamton University research, federal, state and private sponsors have contributed to a more than 66 percent increase in research funding over the past five years, followed closely by double-digit increases in applications, invention disclosures and new corporate partnerships. In 2003-04 grant and contract funding topped $26.5 million. This kind of success helps attract the most promising new researchers and the best and brightest students, setting in motion dynamic growth. The University's recent commitment to an aggressive faculty-hiring program virtually ensures the continual expansion of Binghamton's research funding base over the next several years.

Student benefits
Research, scholarship and creative activity are integral to the University's mission of providing a rigorous and relevant educational experience. Students not only benefit through learning from professors who are creating knowledge in their fields, they also work alongside these professors on original research programs. In a world of increasing complexity, research is also helping forge new cross-disciplinary activities, such as Binghamton's recently created programs in bioengineering, evolutionary studies and biomedical anthropology.

The University's award-winning, electronic research newsletter, Discover-e, affords us all the opportunity to keep up to date on campus research news. Check out the newsletter at research.binghamton.edu/discovere. Adding your name to the subscriber list will ensure that you keep posted on the exciting work being done here.

-- Joe Bress '66