MAURICE HINCHEY FOR CONGRESS

VESTAL -- More than $10 million will soon be flowing into research centers at Binghamton University to support research efforts ranging from developing solar power sources to creating sensors to safeguard U.S. troops in the field, U.S. Rep Maurice Hinchey, D-Hurley, announced Monday.

The $10.5 million in funding, which Hinchey said he secured from the House Appropriations Subcommittee on Defense, is earmarked for the Small Scale Systems Integration and Packaging Center, and the Center for Autonomous Solar Power at the university.

The money is "going to create jobs and benefit the economy," Hinchey said, noting the Small Scale Systems Integration and Packaging Center has already created and retained 562 jobs with 16 regional companies over the past three years.

Hinchey's announcement, made during a press conference at the university, comes after a similar announcement in August. At that time, Hinchey announced BU is slated to receive $9 million to help fund energy-efficiency research for the Defense Department.

The next steps in the process include approval of the funding by the full House Appropriations Committee and then the full House of Representatives and Senate, Hinchey said. He's confident this will happen.

The $10.5 million will be split four ways:

* $3 million for the Small Scale Systems Integration and Packaging Center: The money will be used to help develop and evaluate advanced electronic circuitry miniaturization to provide hardened sensors, controls and components, and electromagnetic interference capabilities to safeguard U.S. troops in the field.

The work is "specifically designed to protect the American military," Hinchey said.

* Another $2 million for the center: The money will help support work to enhance patient safety software applications being developed by the U.S. Army.

* Another $1.5 million for the center: The money will aid development of a display system to provide accurate visual representations for Army aircrew training simulators.

* $4 million for the Center for Autonomous Solar Power. The money is "the final installment" to make the center fully operational and focus on its mission to develop uninterrupted solar power sources based on energy conversion by flexible solar cells and super-capacitors for electrical storage, according to a release from Hinchey's office.

"Advancing solar energy is one of my passions," Hinchey said, as he made the announcement.

According to information supplied by the university, the Small Scale Systems Integration and Packaging Center created or retained 142 jobs in the Southern Tier in 2008, another 190 in 2009 and an estimated 228 this year. The 16 companies where jobs were created, or retained, include Amphenol in Sidney, Endicott Interconnect Technologies, Lockheed Martin in Owego and BAE in Johnson City, the university reported.

The total economic impact for the 16 companies over the three years was more than $123 million, according to the university.

The $10.5 million, announced by Hinchey on Monday is "critical funding" that will help Binghamton University in its research infrastructure and attract companies to partner in research efforts, said Bahgat Sammakia, vice president for research at BU. The funding also will help faculty submit grants to access funding from other sources, he said.

"These partnerships provide new opportunities for economic impact in our communities," Sammakia said.