At the core of Tech Valley’s growth are five industries: nanotechnology, biotechnology, advanced materials, alternative energy and softtware/information technology.

While the region already boasts a number of established companies in these industries, investors are excited about the many companies that exist in Tech Valley’s incubators or have just emerged from an incubator setting. These emerging firms are quickly establishing commercially-viable products so beginning a financial relationship with these businesses now may result in a significant financial reward in the years to come.

 

With its immense investment in nanotechnology research, Tech Valley has emerged as a national and world leader in this emerging technology that involves the manipulation of individual atoms and molecules to develop infinitely smaller computer chips and electronic devices.

 

Intense research is being conducted at the College of Nanoscale Science and Engineering and at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute. CNSE is the first college in the world devoted exclusively to nanoscale science and is home to Albany Nanotech which has more than $1 billion in state and industry support.

Applied NanoWorks, C9 Corporation, Crystal IS, Evident Technologies and FALA Technologies are just a few of the companies developing commercial applications for nanotechnology.

 

The biotech incubator at the University at Albany East Campus is one of the reasons why Tech Valley is realizing rapid growth in biotechnology. Research parks, life sciences research and development expenditures, the number of biological scientists in the workforce and state funding for facilities help make the region a popular home for bioscience initiatives.

 

Some of the companies establishing Tech Valley as a center for biotechnology include Albany Molecular Research, American Bio Medica, AngioDynamics, Bionique Testing Laboratories and Fortitech.

 

Tech Valley is emerging as a leader in advanced materials research. Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute  is home to the Center for Automation Technologies and Systems (CATS). CATS partners with the National Institute of Standards and Technology and the Chinese Academy of Sciences and draws upon RPI’s world-class research to develop and apply systems methodology to automation systems.

Tech Valley companies, including Albany International, Breton Industries, DynaBil Industries, SI Group and Starfire Systems are manufacturing and pioneering products and material systems for numerous industries.

 

The energy industry in Tech Valley is heating up and will only get hotter. Innovative technologies are emerging from companies such as GE Energy, Plug Power and SuperPower that are already significantly impacting the energy markets.

The new Center for Future Energy Systems (CFES) recently opened at RPI as one of the newest Centers for Advanced Technology. CFES will focus on fuel cells and the hydrogen economy; energy efficiency through smart lighting and smart displays and renewable energy systems such as solar, wind and biomass.

 

Tech Valley is a hub of software and IT activity. Several business incubators are focused on technology including the region’s largest, Rensselaer Incubator Center at RPI, which helped launch MapInfo (now Pitney Bowes Software), a software company that has more than 700 employees across the world and net revenues of $165.5 million in 2006. Some of the other companies that are growing rapidly while developing cutting edge technologies include Autotask Corp., CommSoft, CORESense, etransmedia technology, ReQuest Multimedia, Transfinder, Treo Solutions, VersaTrans Solutions and Vicarious Visions.