Initiative to spur security research
NYSTAR director Bessette tells Faculty Senate new program triggered by 9/11

By DONNA LONGENECKER
Reporter Assistant Editor

In an effort to spur security-related research, the New York State Office of Science, Technology and Academic Research (NYSTAR) has created START (Security Through Advanced Resonance Technology), a new initiative triggered, in part, by the tragedy of Sept. 11, Russell Bessette, executive director of NYSTAR, told the Faculty Senate on March 12.

	BESSETTE

The comprehensive program is designed to strengthen the United States's current security measures in the wake of the terrorist attacks, and will create partnerships between universities, colleges and businesses to bring new security technologies to the marketplace.

"This program is intended to focus our research interest into areas of security-related research and takes advantage of some of the unique capabilities started here in Buffalo, Bessette said, referring to the Amherst-based company Ultra-Scan. Ultra-Scan, founded in 1989, has developed a technique for fingerprinting or finger-imaging using ultrasound techniques that will take a print of the finger very similar to a sonogram, he said, adding that the technique is reported to be superior to optical-scanning systems in producing better and more secure images.

"The technology has been refined so that it is being used in a 'smart card,' which contains a chip that can imbed a person's fingerprint, facial digital photographs and a voice print," he noted.

One of the reasons this technology is important, Bessette told senators at their monthly meeting, is that it will allow images to be taken of children's fingerprints. There is no other technology that accurately records the fingerprints of children, he said, because the dermal ridges of a child's fingers can be very fine and difficult to read. The ultrasound scanner also can take images through grease, grime and even surgical gloves, making it useful for many practical applications, Bessette noted.

Additionally, Bessette told the senators that he anticipates very significant funding in the governor's 2003-04 budget. He noted the budget proposed for NYSTAR for this year (2002-03) is $250 million, with the Senate and Assembly expected to augment that by as much as an additional $250 million to $500 million.

Moreover, "There's been discussion of tying some of the future anticipated casino revenue into support of science and technology research, so the amount of future support has been projected to reach as high as $750 million," said Bessette, formerly a member of the faculty in the Department of Surgery in the UB School of Medicine and Biomedical Sciences.

He also reported that the billion-dollar Federal Aviation and Transportation Act includes $250 million earmarked for state agencies to funnel into security-related research. "We see a tremendous opportunity for New York State to make a significant contribution to national defense," Bessette said.

All funds distributed by NYSTAR, he added, go through a vigorous process of peer review—"the money isn't pork-barreled or ear-marked like federal monies." The system employed to distribute major funding engages scientists from the New York Academy of Science, the National Academy of Science and select reviewers, who have no conflict of interest, Bessette pointed out. NYSTAR uses a two-tiered process that includes reviews of applications and site visits, and a subsequent review by an advisory council appointed by the executive branch of state government. Advisory council members must have a minimum of five years of scientific background and some knowledge of entrepreneurship.

Bessette described the details of several NYSTAR programs, including the Faculty Development Program, an initiative now funded to the tune of $7.5 million a year but which may be increased to $10 million a year. The funds are made available to private and public universities for the purpose of recruiting or retaining faculty. Some of the faculty awards have been as high as $1 million, he said, with most awards falling in the $200,000-$300,000 range.

Bessette said the Young Investigator's Program, a new award to be offered in the future, is expected to have a $5 million budget. The award is expected to go to a person who has just completed a doctoral degree and will support initial funding of his/her research to try to counteract the difficulty of accessing more mainstream funding opportunities early in one's career.

"This would be an opportunity for a university to acquire a bright, young individual who could begin his or her career with this type of award. We've received a lot of enthusiasm about this," Bessette said, noting that the award program is part of the current budget proposal under discussion in Albany so the details have not been formalized yet.

Another major NYSTAR initiative, the Technology Transfer Incentive Program, is available for end-stage applied research, with awards typically in the $300,00-$500,000 range. They are designed for companies allied with faculty members at an academic institution that have a prototype near the transfer stage but that needs modification or testing before it is marketable.

"All of NYSTAR's money must go to universities and colleges—we can't fund businesses," Bessette said. "We structure partnerships so that universities receive the money, but there must be some academic and economic development."

He also praised President William R. Greiner for his "major and long-term support of the very initiatives that our agency has been based on."

"Back in the early 1980s—when Bill was just a mere provost—he was a major supporter of myself personally at a time when the research (at the Center for Advanced Technology) was very new and very innovative," he said.

Bessette was director of the Instrument and Devices Clinical Laboratory at the Center of Advanced Technology (CAT) at UB from 1985-1989.