Join us for a full day of innovation at UAlbany, where ideas move from inspiration to impact. Highlights include sessions on research-to-market success, AI innovation with IBM, an incubator open house, and pitches from participants of a new commercialization program at UAlbany called RISE. The day concludes with a high-energy student innovation challenge tackling mental health challenges through rapid AI-driven solutions.                                                                                                                        

9:00 to 9:45 a.m. — Registration

9:45 to 10 a.m. — Welcome and Opening Remarks

• Havidán Rodríguez, President, University at Albany 

10:00 to 11:00 a.m. — How Research Becomes Impactful Innovation

• Scott Tenenbaum,  Co-founder SxRNA and Professor, Department of Nanoscale Science & Engineering, University at Albany

Highlighted Topic:

• Mapping the path and resources that aided this venture on it's journey from a UAlbany lab to market readiness.

List of Resources Tabling:

• New Ventures, The Research Foundation for SUNY
• Office of Regulatory and Research Compliance, University at Albany
• Office of Technology Transfer, University at Albany 
• Center for Advanced Technology in Nanomaterials and Nanoelectronics (CATN2), New York State
• Center of Excellence in Nanoelectronics and Nanotechnology (CENN), New York State

11:00 a.m. to 12:00 p.m. — Discover How UAlbany and IBM are Advancing AI Innovation

Presentation: Fine-tuning Large Language Models for Mental Health Applications

• Zi Yang, Assistant Professor, Department of Mathematics & Statistics, Unversity at Albany
• Xin Li, Professor, Department of Computer Science, Unversity at Albany
• Naigang Wang, Senior Research Scientist and Manager, IBM

Presentation: Thrust 2: Mixed-Precision Deep Learning Models for Integrated Sensing and Communication

• Dola Saha, Assocaite Professor, Department of Electrical & Computer Engineering, University at Albany
• Asaf Tzadok, Manager, Cognitive Vision and Interaction Group, IBM

Highlights:

• Launched in 2023, the Center for Emerging Artificial Intelligence Systems (CEAIS) is a $20M collaboration powered by IBM’s prototype AIU Spyre accelerators—the first installed on a university campus.
• This session will share how the partnership has been put to work, the discoveries it has enabled, and the innovations now emerging from this collaboration.

12:00 to 2:00 p.m. — Networking Lunch & Innovation Center Open House

• Register for the Innovation Center Open House
• Step inside UAlbany’s hub for innovators, explore programs and resources, and see how we support founders from first spark to scale. 
• Meet the Innovation Center’s startup teams, hear what they’re building, and make connections with founders turning bold ideas into businesses.

 2:00 to 4:30 p.m. — RISE Final Pitches

• Join the final pitches from the Research and Innovation Startup Exchange (RISE) program, where several researcher–student teams present commercialization plans for UAlbany intellectual property after an intensive eight-week program.

2:00 to 3:30 p.m. — Division of Academic Affairs New Faculty Welcome Reception & Pecha Kucha

• 2:00 to 2:30 p.m. Pecha Kucha | Location: Performaing Arts Center, Recital Hall
• 2:30 to 3:30 p.m. Reception | Location: Performing Arts Center, Futterer Lounge
• Meet UAlbany’s newest faculty members and hear about their research in a lightning-round introduction with a reception to follow.

6:00 to 8:00 p.m. — Student Innovation Challenge: Innovate for Mental Health 

• Register for the Innovation Challenge
• Location: Campus Center Multi Purpose Room
• Roll up your sleeves in the Student Innovation Challenge: Innovate for Mental Health—a 120-minute sprint with the Global Center for AI in Mental Health leading a fast primer with the AI Plus Institute, followed by team formation, brainstorming and rapid prototyping before solutions are revealed. In this challenge, done is better than perfect as time is of the essence.  

8:00 p.m. — Closing Remarks