By Xerox has announced it pledged $2 Million to fund the Rochester Institute of Technology (RIT), targeted at educating and researching of new sustainable technologies.
The funding was announced at a presentation on the RIT campus by the CEO and chairman of Xerox, Anne Mulcahy. RIT will also be working with The Golisano Institute for Sustainability as a founding partner.
With the funding, RIT is able to focus on developing talent and fostering new sustainable technologies through research for a five year period.
“Xerox and RIT share a commitment to advancing environmental sustainability through innovation,” said Mulcahy. “Our collective efforts have the same desired outcome: making what's good for the environment, good for business.”
RIT was previously given a commitment of $10 Million from Paychex and was able to introduce The Golisano Institute for Sustainability. The University will become the first one ever to chart out separate programs and principles of sustainability in product development and is also developing the world’s first doctorate focused on sustainable production.
The Golisano Institute for Sustainability at RIT will provide the premiere platform to collaborate in the creation of innovative education and technology development systems related to sustainable design, life-cycle engineering, and remanufacturing and pollution prevention.
Xerox’s dedication to sustainable products dates back to the 1960s as they provided novel ideas like two-sided copying, print on demand, use of recycled paper in the office, and recycling toner cartridges and also the remanufacturing and reuse of parts and components to give new life to the equivalent of more than 2.8 million products.
Xerox proudly claims that their green initiative programs diverted more than 122 million pounds of waste from landfills in 2007 alone.
In her address ‘Sustainability: Crisis and Opportunity’ Mulcahy said, “We were an early leader in the ‘green’ movement because we thought it was the right thing to do for the environment, but we discovered something else along the way. Every one of our innovations ended up either saving us money or creating new markets and new revenue. We found, in other words, that we don’t have to choose between the environment and profit. We can do both.”
Xerox has a long standing relationship with RIT working on green and sustainable technologies. Each year, Xerox employs more than 50 RIT students in co-op positions within the company, and more than 2,200 alumni currently work for the company.
Plans for the construction of a $50 million “green” facility to house The Golisano Institute for Sustainability are currently being considered. Earlier this month, the Rochester-area delegation to the New York State Legislature secured $12 million to begin the planning, design and eventual construction of this building to be located on the RIT campus.
Nathesh is a contributing editor for TMCnet. To read more of Nathesh’s articles, please visit his columnist page.
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