2023 Binghamton University Research Annual Report

ANNUAL REPORT

Researchers earn NSF CAREER grants

Sen. Charles Schumer says upstate New York will be the future of the nation’s innovation in energy storage.

Binghamton-led battery initiative designated federal Tech Hub New Energy New York, a winner in the Economic Development Administration’s Build Back Better Regional Challenge in 2022, was designated a Regional Tech Hub in October 2023.

“We will be able to build out the battery innovation and manufacturing ecosystem here in upstate New York and help the nation secure a domestic battery supply chain,” says Per Stromhaug, associate vice president for innovation and economic development at Binghamton University, which leads the NENY consortium.

The Tech Hubs program aims to drive innovation and job creation by strengthening a region’s capacity to manufacture, commercialize and deploy technology that will advance American competitiveness. NENY, one of 31 Tech Hubs, is the only awardee in the battery industry.

Four Binghamton researchers, all in the Watson College of Engineering and Applied Science, received grants through the National Science Foundation’s Faculty Early Career Development (CAREER) Program in 2023. These are the agency’s most prestigious awards in support of earlycareer faculty who have the potential to serve as academic role models in research and education.

Pritam Das, assistant professor of electrical and computer engineering, hopes that smaller, lighter solidstate transformers will help integrate renewable energy into the electrical grid. His project is titled “Multi-level Bridge Tapped Resonant Solid-State Transformers.”

Tracy Hookway, assistant professor of biomedical engineering, specializes in 3D tissue engineering and regenerative medicine, and she explores potential therapies using stem cells. Her project is titled “Engineering Autonomic Control of Cardiac Tissues.”

The U.S. battery manufacturing industry relies on oftenunstable global supply chains. NENY is focused on strengthening the domestic supply chain and lessening innovation losses.

Ahyeon Koh, assistant professor of biomedical engineering, explores better ways to attach biosensors. She has developed Ahyeon Koh a flexible, porous material that she says is superior to the nonporous film commonly used. Her project is titled “Artificial Extracellular Matrix Biosensors (e-ECM).”

“I created the Tech Hubs program in my CHIPS & Science bill, always with upstate New York in mind, because I knew with federal investment we could write a new chapter for upstate New York,” says Sen. Charles Schumer, D-N.Y. “With Tech Hubs, we can breathe new life into our cities with the industries of the future. And nowhere is that more true than in Binghamton.”

Hui Lu, assistant professor of computer science, investigates and develops virtualization techniques for highly secure and efficient cloud-based software. His project is titled “Rethinking Virtualization in Cloud-Native Systems.”

“I am so heartened to see how our University’s and region’s focus on batteries and energy storage solutions — something I’ve dedicated my entire professional life to — has achieved this level of attention and support from our federal government,” says Stan Whittingham, distinguished professor of chemistry and 2019 Nobel laureate.

S3IP, A NEW YORK STATE CENTER OF EXCELLENCE AT BINGHAMTON UNIVERSITY Center for Advanced Microelectronics Manufacturing Center for Autonomous Solar Power Center for Energy-Smart Electronic Systems

Bahgat Sammakia, Vice President for Research

Center for Heterogeneous Integration Research in Packaging Integrated Electronics Engineering Center NorthEast Center for Chemical Energy Storage

Message from the Vice President Binghamton University researchers have access to world-class facilities, and 2022-23 saw the arrival of some exciting new advanced instruments. I’m eager to see what collaborations and ideas will blossom as our scientists and engineers take advantage of these sophisticated tools.

The Binghamton University Brain and Body Imaging Research Center, a partnership of the University and nearby United Health Services, acquired a high field magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) scanner in the spring. The $2.6 million tool upgrades regional research and clinical capabilities, and introduced new possibilities for an advanced undergraduate neuroscience course as well.

At our Analytical and Diagnostics Laboratory, a core facility available to all faculty as well as to industry partners, two new instruments open up interesting avenues for materials research and characterization. The $2 million HAXPES system enables researchers to gather synchrotron-comparable data in a far more accessible and adaptable academic laboratory setting. The device is the only one of its kind in North America!

The $1.7 million Xradia, meanwhile, takes 3D X-rays, allowing researchers to examine small and large objects in tremendous detail without damaging them.

Bringing instruments like these to our campus empowers our community of innovators to explore their ideas with greater ease and gives a boost to important R&D efforts related to human health, energy storage, electronics and other vital technologies. We’ll keep investing in advanced instrumentation to ensure that Binghamton research continues to make a positive impact on our society.

FEDERALLY DESIGNATED RESEARCH CENTERS AT BINGHAMTON Center for Energy-Smart Electronic Systems A National Science Foundation Industry/University Cooperative Research Center Developmental Exposure Alcohol Research Center A National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism Alcohol Research Center New Energy New York Build Back Better Regional Challenge winner and Tech Hub designee New York Node of the Next Flex Flexible Hybrid Electronics Manufacturing Institute A Department of Defense Manufacturing Innovation Institute

ORGANIZED RESEARCH CENTERS Center for Advanced Magnetic Resonance Imaging Science (CAMRIS) Public Archaeology Facility (PAF) Binghamton Biofilm Research Center (BBRC) Center of Biomanufacturing for Regenerative Medicine (CBRM) Center for Cognitive Applications (CAPS) Binghamton Center of Complex Systems (CoCo) Center for Development and Behavioral Neuroscience (CDBN) Center for Healthcare Systems Engineering (CHSE) Center for Imaging, Acoustic and Perception Science (CIAPS) Center for Information Assurance and Cybersecurity (CIAC) Center for Integrated Watershed Studies (CIWS) Bernard M. & Ruth R. Bass Center for Leadership Studies (CLS) Center for Medieval and Renaissance Studies (CEMERS) Decker College of Nursing and Health Sciences Office of Research and Scholarship Center for Research in Advanced Sensor Technologies and Environmental Sustainability (CREATES) Tick-borne Diseases Center Center for Translational Stem Cell and Tissue Engineering (CTSCTE) Center for Writers (CW)

INSTITUTES FOR ADVANCED STUDIES Center for Israel Studies (CIS) Center for Korean Studies (CKS) Institute for Evolutionary Studies (Evos) Human Rights Institute (HRI) Institute for Asia and Asian Diasporas (IAAD) Institute for Advanced Studies in Humanities (IASH) Institute for Justice and Well-Being (IJWB) Watson Institute for Systems Excellence (WISE) The Binghamton University/Harriet Tubman Center for the Study of Freedom and Equity

Postdoctoral research fellow Junpeng Lai, right, gives a tour of Binghamton’s anechoic chamber to (from left) Annamalai Annamalai, a professor at Prairie View A&M; Braxton Perry, assistant director of DEI at Watson College; and N. Joyce Payne, founder of the Thurgood Marshall College Fund.

Binghamton, HBCUs forge new research partnerships In collaboration with the Thurgood Marshall College Fund, Binghamton University created a New Educational and Research Alliance (New ERA) with six historically Black colleges and universities.

The partnership will support research collaborations among faculty and students across the participating institutions: Alabama A&M University, Central State University, Tuskegee University, Prairie-View A&M University, the University of the District of Columbia, Virginia State University and Binghamton.

Research topics will include artificial intelligence, data science, cybersecurity, biomedical engineering, smart energy and healthcare.

“Binghamton has a reputation of being a great research university, and some of our HBCUs are on the verge of becoming great in some areas,” says N. Joyce Payne, founder of the Thurgood Marshall College Fund. “This was a prime opportunity to bring the two communities together to start the conversation.”

Plans for New ERA emerged from a three-day conference held in June at Binghamton. The alliance will enhance the research capabilities of the HBCUs and foster an environment of collaboration that benefits all of the institutions. Visiting and sabbatical appointments for faculty members will further enrich the partnership.

“We want to build a concrete action plan so we’re not going to just check a box and say that we’re done,” says Karen A. Jones, Binghamton University vice president for diversity, equity and inclusion. “This alliance is going to have a life of its own, and it’s going to run. I’m really excited about the next steps.”

RESEARCH FUNDING

TECHNOLOGY TRANSFER

2018-2023

2022-2023

NEW TECHNOLOGY DISCLOSURES

U.S. PATENT APPLICATIONS

U.S. PATENTS ISSUED

ROYALTIES 2022-2023 2018-19

2019-20

2020-21

2021-22

255,622

2022-23

RESEARCH EXPENDITURES BY SPONSOR AND BY TOPIC Total expenditures $63,721,696 in 2022-2023 C 2

D B 3

BY SPONSOR

1

BY TOPIC

E

F

4

G 5

1 Federal/Federal Flow-through • 62% 2 State and Local Governments • 16% 3 Research Institutes, Universities, Hospitals and others • 13% 4 Industry and Small Business • 8% 5 Private Foundations • 1%

A

H

A Electronics Packaging/Systems Science • 28% B Healthcare • 26% C Education/Training/Outreach • 19% D Energy/Materials Science • 12% E Information Security/Networking • 7% F Economic Development • 5% G Environment/Historic Preservation/ Sustainability • 2% H Other • 1%

Advanced tools enable new research possibilities Three major pieces of state-of-the-art research instrumentation debuted at Binghamton University in 2023, each with potential to contribute to advances in fields such as engineering, materials science and human health.

Magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) The University purchased a $2.6 million Siemens Magnetom Prisma 3 Tesla scanner as part of a collaborative venture with United Health Services, leading to the establishment of the Binghamton Brain and Body Imaging Research Center.

The center, led by Distinguished Professor J. David Jentsch, will deepen our scientific understanding of brain disorders.

“The fundamental goal of MRI is to see what should be unseeable, what’s inside the deep recesses of your body,” Jentsch says. “But that’s kind of what makes MRI remarkable. I like to think of this as being one of the few machines that the human brain created to see and to heal itself. That really sets it apart from other kinds of healthcare and research technology.”

understood like we understand a bone or a muscle,” he says, “but with the new computational artificial intelligence breakthroughs, professors like David Jentsch and future faculty, I really do think that the brain will be understood at a fundamental level so that we can predict the cause of terrible diseases and disorders like autism and Parkinson’s and Alzheimer’s. That’s the goal.”

HArd X-ray Photoelectron Spectroscopy (HAXPES) The University’s Analytical and Diagnostics Laboratory, part of the S3IP Center of Excellence, offers research core facilities to the entire campus community as well as to industry partners. The lab recently acquired a HArd X-ray Photoelectron Spectroscopy, or HAXPES, system with support from the National Science Foundation’s Major Research Instrumentation program.

The $2M Scienta Omicron HAXPES tool is the first of its kind in North America.

The project was about a decade in the making, says University President Harvey Stenger, who notes that it’s novel to embed a research tool inside a working healthcare facility.

Matthew J. Wahila, chief technology officer for the center, says the lab is especially useful for scientists who want to get the “fingerprint,” or chemical composition, of a sample. For instance, the Binghamton lab has already been used by chemists to analyze cathode powders for batteries.

“It’s almost impossible to think about the brain being

“It helps you understand the samples that you’re fabricating,” Wahila says. “Exact composition can be very important, especially if you’re talking about

MRI-centered research, a cross-disciplinary pursuit, blends expertise in physics, anatomy, physiology, neuroscience and advanced data processing. A new $2.6M functional MRI scanner will advance research at Binghamton as well as clinical possibilities for United Health Services.

Matthew J. Wahila, chief technology officer with Binghamton’s New York State Center of Excellence, operates the $2M HArd X-ray Photoelectron Spectroscopy system, or HAXPES. NSF’s Major Research Instrumentation program supported the purchase.

doping materials where you could be putting in a fraction of a percent of one type of atom and that can have drastic effects on the properties.”

software reconstructs them into a 3D volume that can be virtually cross-sectioned at any location or orientation.

HAXPES will enable scientists to get that kind of understanding and iterate or improve their fabrication procedures more quickly than if they had to wait for an opportunity to travel to a synchrotron to conduct an experiment.

“It can do truly nondestructive characterization and give you very high-resolution data,” Sharma says.

“You can look at the micro world inside a largescale object.”

3D X-ray microscope The Analytical and Diagnostics Laboratory also debuted a $1.7M Zeiss 620 Versa Xradia instrument in 2023. The Xradia, a 3D X-ray microscope, is capable of tremendous magnification without destroying a sample.

She says a quick scan can be conducted in an hour, while other tests may take a few hours or more. The Xradia system also enables scientists to do “4D experiments,” in which a 3D microstructure is subjected to compression or extension or changes in temperature over time.

Sharma recently worked with an industry user to Senior scientist examine a large Anju Sharma circuit board that says the versatile had experienced Senior scientist Anju Sharma, right, and research scientist Lan Yao instrument is suited discuss ways Binghamton’s new $1.7M Xradia can be used to scan an electrical failure. to a broad range of objects such as electronic devices. The 3D X-ray microscope is The Xradia made available at the University’s Analytical and Diagnostics Laboratory. applications; it can it possible to find capture images of a tiny crack in a biological materials, solder joint without destroying the board. whole electronic devices, 3D printed parts, batteries, rocks, fossils and more. Images in 2D are collected as a sample rotates under X-ray; powerful

“With other electron microscopes, you can only look at the surface,” she says. “You can’t look inside.”

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CONNECT WITH BINGHAMTON UNIVERSITY’S DIVISION OF RESEARCH Bahgat Sammakia

Per Stromhaug

Vice President for Research bahgat@binghamton.edu

Associate Vice President for Innovation and Economic Development per@binghamton.edu

Lisa Gilroy Associate Vice President for Research lgilroy@binghamton.edu

Don Miller Assistant Vice President for Sponsored Programs demiller@binghamton.edu

Nancy Lewis Assistant Vice President for Research Compliance nlewis@binghamton.edu

Michael Jacobson Director of Strategic Research Initiatives mjacobso@binghamton.edu

Rachel Coker Director of Research Advancement rcoker@binghamton.edu

Darcy Fauci Director of Government Relations dfauci@binghamton.edu

binghamton.edu/research On the cover: This 3D view of a circuit board showing full and subsurface vias was created by Anju Sharma, senior scientist in Binghamton’s Analytical and Diagnostics Laboratory, with the Xradia Versa X-ray microscope at approximately a 3 mm field of view.

J. David Jentsch, distinguished professor and chair of psychology, left, demonstrates the use of the new magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) scanner. The tool enables advanced brain imaging for neuroscience research and diagnostics as well as imaging protocols for cancer, the heart and other tissues.