In advance of the highly anticipated 3rd Annual Future of Air & Space event on July 13 in Rome, NY, Upstate Capital had an in-depth discussion with Seth Mulligan, the Senior Director of Innovation and Partnerships at the Innovare Advancement Center at Griffiss Institute.
The Griffiss Institute manages a number of programs and initiatives to bolster economic resurgence throughout the Mohawk Valley and Upstate New York. Its initiatives include:
- The Innovare Advancement Center
- The Innovare Alliance
- The HUSTLE Defense Accelerator
About the Innovare Advancement Center
A key mission of Griffiss Institute and its Innovare Advancement Center is to find, create, develop, and connect talent with defense-oriented companies. The institute’s talent programs place participants into 32 different Department of Defense (Air Force and Navy) bases and installations.
“We facilitate their coaching, their management, their payroll, their operations support, their selection of them as a fellow or an intern and we then create the staffing and the programs when they are an intern (or a fellow) at 32 different bases,” Mulligan related.
The Innovare Advancement Center is located at the Griffiss Business and Technology Park, spawned by the closure of the Griffiss Air Force Base in Rome in September 1995. Since the closure, more than 3,500 acres have been redeveloped for technology, manufacturing, aviation, office, education, and recreation uses. Since then more than $700 million has been invested at Griffiss, including road, infrastructure, and airfield improvements, demolition, renovations, and new construction. There are approximately 70 different companies and more than 6,000 employees working in the park.
About the Innovare Alliance
Another key initiative at Griffiss is The Innovare Alliance, a consortium of eight entities, including Griffiss Institute, AFRL/RI, Oneida County, the City of Rome, NYSTEC, State University of New York, Central New York Defense Alliance, and the Rochester Institute of Technology, that is focused on accelerating the development and deployment of emerging technologies for national defense and commercial markets.
The alliance brings together expertise from academia, industry, and government to facilitate collaboration, innovation, and technology transfer. Through the Innovare partnership, allies share resources, expertise, and knowledge to advance research and development in areas such as artificial intelligence, data science, cybersecurity, and more. The goal of the Innovare Alliance is to drive economic growth, strengthen national security, and improve the quality of life for people around the world through the development and deployment of emerging technologies.
On May 24, Binghamton University signed a Memorandum of Understanding with Griffiss Institute and the State University of New York to become the ninth member of the Innovare Alliance.
“We are excited to partner with Binghamton University to expand access to education and entrepreneurial opportunities in Upstate New York,” said Heather Hage, President & CEO of Griffiss Institute. “This partnership will enable us to leverage our strengths and expertise to develop and implement innovative talent and technology development programs that will benefit our communities and enable businesses to grow and thrive.”
“Binghamton University is thrilled to become a member of the Innovare Alliance,” said, President Harvey Stenger of Binghamton University. “This partnership further expands our research and innovation capabilities in key areas of national priority and strengthens our commitment to increasing access to high-quality education and training programs for our communities and driving economic growth in our region.”
About the HUSTLE Defense Accelerator
The HUSTLE Defense Accelerator program was launched in 2022. It is an immersive 12-week training academy for seed-stage startups developing artificial intelligence, machine learning, cybersecurity, quantum science, and unmanned aircraft system solutions. The final day of this year’s program will feature a “Pitch Day” where teams will present their businesses for a chance to win a $350,000 cash prize. HUSTLE stands for Helping Upstate Science + Technology Leaders + Entrepreneurs.
Mulligan explained that for 20 years the Griffiss Institute provided assistance to the Air Force Research Laboratory, until 2020. “Around 2020 was when things like ‘HUSTLE’ started to be developed and the Innovare Open Campus was created and when we started doing broader regional programs, including the upcoming third annual Future of Air and Space event,” he said.
The Griffiss Institute Business Incubator and the HUSTLE Accelerator have served over the past two years a total of 61 companies. Of those companies served, they have leveraged through new customer acquisitions, grants, or new investments, a total of $11 million.
Mulligan said the Innovare Advancement Center’s sponsorship of the Future of Air & Space with Upstate Capital and other sponsors is another part of its outreach efforts, in this case to the private equity sector.
“It’s all about convening all the right, smart ideas at the right place and trying to shine a light that defense is not a scary market,” he stressed. “It is a market with great opportunities and you can do a lot of innovating things in the tough tech space.”
The Future of Air & Space sponsored by National Grid, Upstate Capital, GENIUS NY, and the Innovare Advancement Center, will highlight the cutting-edge innovation happening in Upstate New York in Unmanned Aircraft Systems, Artificial Intelligence (AI) and Machine Learning (ML), edge and quantum computing, and their applications. Attendees will learn about working with the Department of Defense, and make connections with investors, entrepreneurs, and industry professionals.
Learn more about the Future of Air & Space and register here.
About the Griffiss Institute
Innovare Advancement Center is a 150,000-square-foot open innovation hub that converges world-class scientific, engineering, and entrepreneurial talent from universities, government, and industry to tackle new challenges in artificial intelligence, machine learning, cybersecurity, quantum, and unmanned aerial systems. The center’s unique capabilities include highly specialized laboratories for experimentation in quantum communications and neuromorphic computing. Named “Innovare Open Campus,” it features 40,000 square feet of high-tech and high-speed communications-enabled collaboration spaces, an auditorium with capacity for more than 250 people, a 50-mile drone corridor for advanced unmanned aircraft operations, and an indoor UAS research and testing facility with 22,500 square foot indoor flight-testing area—the largest in the United States.
The Griffiss Institute is a non-profit talent and technology accelerator for the United States Department of Defense and maintains an international network of academic, government, and industry partners. Since 2002, the Griffiss Institute has served the Air Force Research Laboratory Information Directorate, the Mohawk Valley region, and the nation in empowering diverse teams with talent and technology development programs devoted to converging teams and technologies to solve complex national challenges.
The Innovare Advancement Center is located at the Griffiss Business and Technology Park, spawned by the closure of the Griffiss Air Force Base in Rome in September 1995. Since the closure, more than 3,500 acres have been redeveloped for technology, manufacturing, aviation, office, education, and recreation uses. Since then, more than $700 million has been invested at Griffiss, including road, infrastructure, and airfield improvements, demolition, renovations, and new construction. There are approximately 70 different companies and more than 6,000 employees working in the park.