Washington – A grant of $1.9 million has been awarded to General Electric Company in Niskayuna by the U.S. Department of Commerce’s National Institute of Standards and Technology under their Advanced Technology Program. The funds will be used to develop and produce extremely water-repellent surfaces for use in harsh industrial environments.

General Electric will use these federal funds to develop a robust nanotech manufacturing infrastructure. This will be used for the design processing of nanomaterials to produce extremely water-repellent surfaces for use in harsh industrial environments. It is estimated that by 2030, full implementation of this kind of technology could save as much as $2.5 billion a year in electric costs and reduce carbon dioxide emissions by about 37 million tons a year. The benefits of this technology will be validated for steam turbines, power plant condensers and desalination condensers. 

The grant was announced by Senator Charles Schumer and Congressman Michael McNulty.