Three businesses in New York state have been selected to receive JumpStart awards with the Cornell Center for Materials Research (CCMR) for this semester.

Funded by the New York State Foundation for Science, Technology and Innovation (NYSTAR), the CCMR JumpStart program assists small New York businesses in developing and improving projects through university collaborations. The projects receive up to $5,000 in matching funds for project costs, including faculty and research staff, facilities services, supplies and materials. Twenty-two companies have received such grants since 2005.

Albany-based MTI Micro Fuel Cells will work with Emmanuel Giannelis, director of the Department of Materials Science and Engineering and the Walter R. Read Professor of Engineering, to develop new inorganic-organic composite materials for use in MTI's novel fuel-cell devices.

Elia Life Technologies, based in New York City, will partner with Hod Lipson, assistant professor of mechanical and aerospace engineering, to explore improved methods for printing characters of the ELIA Tactile Alphabet, which is a product for the visually impaired.

Finally, Optimax Systems, of Ontario, N.Y., will collaborate with Brian Kirby, assistant professor of mechanical and aerospace engineering, to examine how material properties affect the polishing of optical surfaces.

An Ithaca-based company, FiberShield LLC, has also been selected for a JumpStart award by the College of Staten Island's Center for Engineered Polymeric Materials, via their NYSTAR College Applied Research and Technology Center.

For more information, visit http://www.ccmr.cornell.edu/industry/.