NYIT opens $750,000 bioengineering lab

New York Institute of Technology and Empire State Development on Monday announced the opening of a new $750,000 biological sciences and bioengineering lab on NYIT’s Old Westbury campus.

The laboratory will focus on research related to the use of tiny biosensors and biomaterials to heal tissue and to detect diseases such as cancer.

In 2018, NYIT received a $150,000 state grant from ESD, the state’s primary business-aid agency, to develop the lab.

“Our region is primed to become a center for research and innovation in life sciences, which will lead to great jobs for New York Tech graduates and wonderful opportunities for us to partner with leading life sciences companies and top scientists,” Henry C. Foley, president of NYIT, said in a statement.

The 1,000-square-foot Biological Sciences and Bioengineering Laboratory, located inside the school’s Theobald Science Center, includes space to train students and features high-tech equipment including a DNA sequencer and a 3D bioprinter capable of printing biological components, such as an ear for use in reconstructive surgery.

ESD said the project, which was supported by the Long Island Regional Economic Development Council, furthers Gov. Andrew M. Cuomo’s efforts to bolster Long Island’s innovation and biotech industry by fostering a strong workforce development pipeline.

“Long Island’s innovation corridor is booming — delivering top-notch research, jobs, and economic activity for the entire region,” Eric Gertler, ESD acting commissioner, said in a statement. “This new lab will further those efforts, while helping train the next generation of scientists,” he said.

News of the biotech lab’s opening comes less than a week after federal authorities announced the planned $1.6 billion to $2.6 billion construction of an electron-ion collider at Brookhaven National Laboratory in Upton.

Cuomo said the high-speed atom smasher — the first of its kind in the United States — will create about 4,000 construction jobs, retain 1,000 existing jobs at the lab, and generate billions of dollars in economic activity for the Island.