An SU-led consortium was awarded $15.9 million by the New York State Office of Science, Technology, and Academic Research (NYSTAR) to create the New York Environmental Quality Systems (NYEQS) Center. “This new STAR Center in Syracuse represents another major milestone in our efforts to create a comprehensive plan to foster the growth of high-tech and biotech research across the state,” says New York Governor George Pataki, who announced the award. “The center will attract a critical mass of nationally recognized researchers, generate significant new research funding, and spur the establishment of spin-off enterprises.”

    The grant provides capital funding for construction of the center’s home in the SU Research Park on South Campus and for research equipment for SU and its partner institutions.
      “This award is a grand slam for SU and its partners,” says Edward A. Bogucz, dean of the L.C. Smith College of Engineering and Computer Science, who spearheaded the grant proposal. “We have an extraordinary group of outstanding people who will work on pathfinding research of international significance in environmental quality. All the institutions involved with the center are active partners, and that kind of collaboration will lead to great results.
      The center will combine the expertise of SU and the Metropolitan Development Association of Syracuse and Central New York; the New York Indoor Environmental Quality Center; the SUNY College of Environmental Science and Forestry; SUNY Upstate Medical University; Clarkson; Cornell; Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute; SUNY Albany; SUNY Buffalo; the Institute of Ecosystem Studies; and the Upstate Freshwater Institute.
      The center’s mission is to improve human health and performance, reduce energy consumption, and improve the quality of life that is associated with built environments and urban ecosystems.
      The director of the center is H. Ezzat Khalifa, formerly director of Carrier research and development at the United Technologies Research Center in East Hartford, Connecticut.

  SU’s Division of International Programs Abroad (DIPA) suspended its 2001-02 study program in Harare, Zimbabwe, because of increased political instability in the country.
      DIPA arranged for students accepted for the fall 2001 Zimbabwe program to participate in Brown University’s Tanzania program at the University of Dar es Salaam. Students also had the option of choosing another DIPA site.
      The suspension of the Zimbabwe program was based on the current political and security situation in the country, and the possibility that the situation could worsen with the approaching presidential election, expected to occur in 2002.
      DIPA Executive Director Nirelle Galson is hopeful that the site can be reopened. “We’ve worked hard to develop an excellent program in Africa with on-campus faculty and student support,” Galson says. “We hope to reinstate the program as soon as the political situation allows.”

An interdisciplinary team of students from the Community Design Center (CDC) in the School of Architecture won first place in the 2001 JP Morgan Chase Community Development Competition in New York City for its design proposal for a local community center. The $25,000 prize will help residents of the Pioneer Homes public housing project in Syracuse expand the Wilson Park Community Center.
      This was a superb team effort,” says School of Architecture Dean Bruce Abbey. “The students did a terrific job. Best of all, it was an affirmation for the Wilson Park project.”
      The Chase competition is designed to foster partnerships among universities and community-based nonprofit institutions to present design and financing proposals for real-world projects. During the final round, the SU team, under the tutelage of former School of Architecture professor and CDC director David Gamble, competed against teams from Hunter College and Columbia University. To reach the final round, teams submitted written proposals and drawings to a panel of experts, who then invited a select few to present before a jury of 19 professionals in a preliminary round. Three teams were selected to advance to the final round. Second- and third-place teams received $10,000 and $5,000, respectively.
      The CDC worked with Concerned Urban Parents, the Syracuse Housing Authority, and the Syracuse Department of Parks and Recreation on a proposal to double the size of the Wilson Park Community Center. The new space would be used for a variety of programs, including a proposed 30-station computer-based learning center.
      The SU team members were Matthew Brown and Amy Farina from the School of Architecture; Nicole Allen and Erik Limpitlaw from the College of Law; Steve Hanmer, a public administration student in the Maxwell School; Sid Abrol, an M.B.A. student in the School of Management; and Sarah Korf, a policy studies major in the College of Arts and Sciences.