The Rensselaer Technology Park is a

technology park A science park (also called a "university research park", "technology park", "technopark", "technopolis", "technopole", or a "science and technology park" TP is defined as being a property-based development that accommodates and fosters th ...

North Greenbush, New York North Greenbush is a town in Rensselaer County, New York, United States. North Greenbush is located in the western part of the county. The population was 13,292 at the 2020 census. The town has three main hamlets, Wynantskill in the northeaster ...

, USA (though with a mailing address in

Troy Troy (/; ; ) or Ilion (; ) was an ancient city located in present-day Hisarlik, Turkey. It is best known as the setting for the Greek mythology, Greek myth of the Trojan War. The archaeological site is open to the public as a tourist destina ...

) operated by

Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute (; RPI) is a private university, private research university in Troy, New York, United States. It is the oldest technological university in the English-speaking world and the Western Hemisphere. It was establishe ...

. As of 2009 the park has over 70 tenants representing a diverse range of technologies and employing over 2,400. The park is located along the

Hudson River The Hudson River, historically the North River, is a river that flows from north to south largely through eastern New York (state), New York state. It originates in the Adirondack Mountains at Henderson Lake (New York), Henderson Lake in the ...

approximately five miles south of the RPI campus.

History

In 1979 a special task force was assembled by RPI President George M. Low composed of faculty, staff, alumni/trustees, and students to study feasibility of developing a park. In March 1981 The Board of Trustees authorized a $3 million investment of the endowment to design and build the infrastructure for the first phase of the Park. Between 1981 and 1982 infrastructure was planned and developed over around , including the construction of of roadway and underground utilities including power, gas, water, sanitary and storm sewers and telephone. The first tenant was announced in March 1983, an

optoelectronics Optoelectronics (or optronics) is the study and application of electronic devices and systems that find, detect and control light, usually considered a sub-field of photonics. In this context, ''light'' often includes invisible forms of radi ...

facility for National Semiconductor. 1983–1991 saw the development of over 100 more acres, and the introduction of several more large companies. In July 1992

MetLife MetLife, Inc. is the Holding company, holding corporation for the Metropolitan Life Insurance Company (MLIC), better known as MetLife, and its affiliates. MetLife is among the largest global providers of insurance, Annuity (US financial produ ...

opened a computer center that serves as the corporation's national disaster recovery site and computer software development headquarters. MapInfo moved to the park in 1993. MapInfo was founded by three RPI students after taking a course in Technological Entrepreneurship during which they produced their first business plan.

Other park locations

DeFreest Homestead

The

DeFreest Homestead The DeFreest Homestead is a historic house and barn located in the Rensselaer Technology Park in North Greenbush, New York, United States. The homestead and surrounding land are owned and managed by Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute. It was the ...

is historic house and barn which was built around 1765 and located near the entrance of the park. The house and surrounding homestead were listed on The National Register of Historic Places in 1977.

Children's Museum of Science and Technology

The Children's Museum of Science and Technology (CMOST) is the only science center in the Tech Valley designed specifically for kids and parents to Explore, Discover, and Imagine the world of science together. It features a digital dome planetarium, which shows digital educational movies including Molecularium a nanotechnology show developed at RPI.

Computational Center for Nanotechnology Innovations

The Computational Center for Nanotechnology Innovations (CCNI) is the result of a $100 Million collaboration between RPI,

IBM International Business Machines Corporation (using the trademark IBM), nicknamed Big Blue, is an American Multinational corporation, multinational technology company headquartered in Armonk, New York, and present in over 175 countries. It is ...

, and

New York State New York, also called New York State, is a state in the northeastern United States. Bordered by New England to the east, Canada to the north, and Pennsylvania and New Jersey to the south, its territory extends into both the Atlantic Ocean and ...

to further

nanotechnology Nanotechnology is the manipulation of matter with at least one dimension sized from 1 to 100 nanometers (nm). At this scale, commonly known as the nanoscale, surface area and quantum mechanical effects become important in describing propertie ...

innovations. When it opened in 2007 it was the 7th most powerful supercomputing centers in the world, and remains in the top 25.

References

External links

Rensselaer Technology Park website
{{RPITemplate Science parks in the United States Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute Troy, New York 1983 establishments in New York (state)