Dan Walczyk, Ph.D – Director of Rensselaer’s Center for Automation Technologies and Systems (CATS) - was invited to testify at a joint-legislative hearing on the 2017-2018 New York State budget. Dr. Walczyk made a strong argument for an increase in state funding to New York’s 15 Centers for Advanced Technology. These centers work with businesses large and small to innovate product development, improve manufacturing, impact profitability and grow jobs. With a 40-to-1 documented return on investment, this has been money well spent by the State, but has not been increased in over 30 years.