Josh Aviv ’15 G ’17 opened his SparkCharge manufacturing plant earlier this year in Buffalo. Rolling off the line are the world’s first ultrafast portable EV chargers for the world’s first on-demand EV charging network. He created the idea as a student at Syracuse working with the LaunchPad and the Syracuse CoE. How did he finding funding to prototype? From FuzeHub’s Jeff Lawrence Innovation Fund manufacturing grant program which he won as a SU grad student. Are you making something too? Applications are now open through March 31 for grants to encourage collaboration between not-for-profit organizations and small to medium-sized manufacturing companies in New York State. The grants can help companies achieve success from early stage, proof of concept through maturity. It is a pathway to technology transfer, adoption and implementation of new manufacturing processes, as well as the creation of enhanced products and services.
Eligible projects include:
- Adoption of new technology to enhance a process and/or product
- Prototype development
- Design for manufacturing
- Proof-of-concept manufacturing
- Manufacturing scale-up
- Manufacturing related equipment purchases
This FuzeHub program is funded through Empire State Development’s Division of Science, Technology and Innovation (NYSTAR) which emphasizes academic-industry partnerships to leverage New York State’s technology strengths to produce new products. The state also offers other innovation development support resources, including financial incentives, to foster university collaboration, research and innovation.
