SRC Receives Contract to Develop OWL Radar System

SRC Inc. has been contracted to develop an Omni-Directional Weapon (OWL) radar system. The U.S. Army's Intelligence and Information Warfare Directorate issued the 32-month contract with a value at approximately $9 million.

SRC is excited about the contract award for OWL as it exemplifies their leadership in radar development. The affordable OWL radar will provide the Army with the ability to detect, track and locate mortar, cannon and rocket firing positions with exceptional accuracy over a wide variety of threat trajectories. SRC is expected to produce a technology demonstrator prototype for evaluation in 2013.

SRC's press release quotes Senator Charles E. Schumer applauding Central New York's commitment to implementing innovative technolgy. "We know our highly skilled workforce can compete amongst the best of the best and win. SRC's award reaffirms Central New York's commitment to innovating and succeeding in the highly competitive defence industry and their work with the OWL radar contract will keep our  service members safe, our local workforce on the job and our nation protected."

For the full press release view, Contract for OWL Radar Prototype Development

$200K Emerging Business Competition

New York’s Creative Core© Emerging Business Competition is now accepting applications for the 2012 competition. New York’s Creative Core hosts the largest, privately funded cash competition of its kind in the nation.

This year, the NY Creative Core is pleased to award $200,000 in grand prizes, a $15,000 agribusiness prize and $5,000 student prize for early stage businesses and entrepreneurs who are developing innovative technologies or products with high growth potential.

For more info and application procedure, visit the Competition Site

NY Listed in Top 10 Global Ranking for Innovation Cities

New York was recently ranked 4th in the list of top 100 world cities for an innovation economy in 2011.

The top 5 cities in order included: Boston, San Francisco Bay Area, Paris, New York, and Vienna.

For more details and the full list of cities, visit Innovation Cities Top 100 Index 2011

Entrepreneurial Thought, Process, and Training Sweeps SUNY Campuses

Entrepreneurial thought, process, and training is spreading across New York State community colleges while entrepreneurial programs are under-way on SUNY campuses. SUNY ENGINE (Educational Network to Grow Innovation and Entrepreneurship) has gathered students, faculty, and administrators to report on entrepreneurial initiatives on their campus and devise an action plan to develop a consortium.
The November 4 event has been organized by Dr. Daniel P. Larson, President of Cayuga Community College and will be held at the The Tech Garden, preceding the Syracuse Startup Weekend.

SUNY ENGINE hopes to take a step towards creating a chapter of the National Association of Community College Entrepreneurship as well as holding a larger regional conference in the Spring of 2012.

For more information and to sign up for the event, visit SUNY ENGINE

The NYSERDA Receives Funding for Technology and Market-Developing Programs

The New York State Energy Research and Development Authority (NYSERDA) has received 5 years of approved funding for technology and market-developing programs from the NYS Public Service Commission (PSC). Programs based on their potential to reduce energy use, increase reliability and safety, moderate wholesale prices, check delivery cost increases, and diversify energy resources will be emphasized.
The set of programs are split into 3 categories including: power supply and delivery, building systems, and clean energy infrastructure.
The PSC hopes that by funding these programs, it will help build state-wide market infrastructure for clean-energy delivery.

View the full article at CNYBJ

K-Max to be Deployed in Afghanistan

Two of the previously blogged about K-Max helicopters, developed by Lockheed Martin and Kaman, are expected to be deployed in Afghanistan this November. The K-Max will be the first unmanned aircraft system (UAS) to be deployed by the Marine Corps. The U.S. military relies heavily on technology such as robotic cameras and aerial drones, particularly in Afghanistan. The K-Max helicopter will expand their inventory in this aspect. 
Lockheed Martin devised a training program that included classroom, simulator, and hands on technology in order to prepare for the six-month deployment. 
According to Lockheed Martin's story, Rear Admiral Bill Shannon, Program Executive Officer for Unmanned Aviation and Strike Weapons expressed, “K-MAX has the capability to quickly deliver cargo, thus getting troops off of the roads and allowing them to focus on other missions.” 


To learn more about the unmanned systems deployment to Afghanistan, view the full K-Max Story

Steve Jobs Triubte Exhibition Calls on Local Artists

The Gallery at the Tech Garden is organizing an exhibition titled: “Memoriam: an aesthetic homage to Steve Jobs.” The exhibit, created by artist in residence and curator of the Gallery at The Tech Garden, Ty Marshal, is inviting artists to show Steve Jobs tribute artwork for a November/December 2011 exhibit. Artists, illustrators, and animators of all mediums are encouraged to submit. 
Steve Jobs, an American computer entrepreneur and inventor, was the leading visionary and innovator of our time. He was co-founder, chairman and chief executive of Apple Inc., and chief executive of Pixar Animation Studios.
“For all of us who were so inspired by Steve Jobs’ vision and legacy, this is such a wonderful way to empower the creative community – both artists and technologists, to honor a singular man who truly reshaped how we view the world.”  Says Linda Hartsock, Vice President of Innovation and Technology Initiatives at The Tech Garden.  

All submissions can be made to Ty Marshal at: TyMarshal@gmail.com

When sending submissions please include example of artwork (.jpg file), medium, size of work, contact info and artist statement. No fees!

For more info visit, SteveJobsArt

Syracuse University Student Represents at GreenBuild 2011

This year's SyracuseCoE exhibit for the U.S. Green Building Council international conference in Toronto was designed and built by Nick Garritano, a partner in Helios, a student venture that is incubating in the Sandbox at The Tech Garden. Nick, a Syracuse University student, also worked this year as a CoE intern while helping launch Helios, which is developing a UV sterilization device. Helios recently won the $40,000 first place award in the NYS Business Plan Competition.
 A team from CenterState CEO, the SyracuseCoE and the Clean Tech Center attended the conference this week -- which attracted 23,000 participants from 108 countries.

To learn more about the conference visit, Greenbuild 2011

Three New Companies Launch Operations at The Tech Garden

Three new companies have recently launched operations at The Tech Garden. Rounded LLC, Fluxsauce and Envaulted will take advantage of resources at The Tech Garden while incubating their companies.

Rounded LLC 

The charismatic team of young entrepreneurs are developing cutting-edge websites that integrate advanced tools and social media platforms with unique approaches that define and brand individual clients. Founded by Eric Candino, Andrew Farah, Rob Grazioli, and Benjamin Redfield, the company focuses on emphasizing the functional visual component in web design while considering the individual user experience. Not only does Rounded specialize in web design, but the team is experienced in mobile web development, web applications, and mobile web applications.

“We are a different kind of development shop. We do not outsource.  We do not cut coding corners.  We fuss over final pixels. Most important, we communicate clearly. Come talk to us if you want to do something on the web and need to know how,” says Farah.

FluxSauce 

Founded by Jonathan Peck in June 2011, specializes in the development of customized and interactive web applications that provide data-oriented business solutions. Examples include lead generation, work order tracking, and taking a job from work specifications through sourcing and delivery. Web applications are more complex than brochure sites and call for sophisticated skill sets in terms of software design, development, configuration and deployment.

“I want to grow FluxSauce into a reputable business with a proven, consistent record of high quality products and services,” says Peck. “I strive to deliver quality work that I can be proud to be associated with, and I look forward to developing a brand with that reputation. My ongoing industry and community engagement positions FluxSauce as an active software industry innovator.” 

Envaulted 

Envaulted is an innovative consumer rewards network designed to catalyze changes in shopping habits, using the power of transaction patterns and buying habits. Users sign up through existing credit cards for automatic rewards, and in return, credit card purchase information allows retailers to issue targeted deals to Envaulted members.  Envaulted can measure the effectiveness of deals, much like online ad campaigns measure success. 

Envaulted uses a unique Tiered Cashback model to incentivize users to participate in special deals. Users who actively participate receive between 0.25% and 1.25% cashback on all their credit card purchases, depending on how many of the weekly deals they participate in.

The Envaulted idea was created by Jeff Knight, CEO and Co-founder, while working as an analyst for a major credit card company.  His concept was to empower consumers and let them monetize their own personal information. COO Alex Morgia decided to locate operations in The Tech Garden to take advantage of its co-working facilities and the synergies that come with being located in a creative tech community with similar web application developers.

Learn more about Rounded LLC, FluxSauce, and Envaulted