2009 – Page 23 of 98

U-M hosts design leaders with Future of Design conference

By Newsroom

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September 30, 2009

Famous architects and designers will converge on the University of Michigan next week for the university's Future of Design conference on Oct. 9-10.About 30 people who dabble in design in one way or another will talk about where design is heading in the near and long term at U-M's Taubman College of Architecture and Urban Planning. Participants will include architects, landscape architects and designers in the interactive, industrial and interior industries. Attendees making presentations include the dean of Princeton's School of Architecture, managing director of Goldman Sachs, along with the editor and chief of Architect Magazine and Metropolis.The event is free and open to the public. The 15-minutes presentations will be recorded and put on YouTube as of Oct. 19. For information, click here.Source: University of MichiganWriter: Jon Zemke

A123 Systems goes public with IPO

By Newsroom

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Economic Development

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September 30, 2009

One of Ann Arbor's biggest employers for engineering and R&D talent is going public. A123 Systems issued an initial public offering last week of 28,180,501 shares of its common stock at $13.50 per share.An IPO is a sign of not only that a company has arrived but expects significant growth in the near term. The Massachusetts-based firm bought Ann Arbor's T/J Technologies in 2006 and is maintaining its presence in the city. That equals out to 300 of its 1,000 employees in Ann Arbor, and both numbers are expected to grow. A123 Systems specializes in hybrid and high power lithium technology that goes in the next generation of cars, like the Chevrolet Volt. It plans to build a lithium-ion battery factory in Novi after receiving a $69 million investment fro General Electric. A123 Systems is one of the main beneficiaries of the billions of dollars of federal money being invested into electric- and hybrid-car development. The federal government is making these huge investments with the idea of putting 5 million hybrid or plug-in electric vehicles on the road by 2013.Source: A123 SystemsWriter: Jon Zemke

U-M Study: Bad Economy May Be Good for Your Health

By Newsroom

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Healthy Communities

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September 30, 2009

Looks like tough economies are good for more than one kind of belt tightening, according to a new University of Michigan study.Excerpt:Are you finally ready for some good news about the recession? As it turns out, a shaky economy might actually be good for your health.Although it seems hard to believe, a new analysis of the Great Depression—the mother of all economic bad times—suggests that mortality dropped and life expectancy increased during that period.Researchers estimate that around that time, a year with a 5% drop in the gross domestic product (GDP) was associated with a 1.9-year gain in life expectancy, while a 5% rise in the GDP lowered life expectancy by about one to two months.And it’s not just the Great Depression, says José A. Tapia Granados, MD, of the Institute for Social Research at the University of Michigan, Ann Arbor.Read the rest of the story here.

Systems in Motion exec discusses what his company will bring to Ann Arbor

By Newsroom

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Economic Development

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September 30, 2009

The leader behind one of Silicon Valley's most promising start-ups shoots from the hip on why his company needed to invest in Ann Arbor early.Excerpt:The new jobs at Systems in Motion's IT services delivery center near Ann Arbor will offer salaries between $30,000 and $80,000 along with benefits, and the company plans to offer a certain amount of on-the-job training to employees.Debashish Sinha, the firm's top marketing executive, said a recent media report listing the above salary range for new hires "by and large" was accurate. The firm told the state its average weekly wage would be $557 and that it would pay a portion of health care benefits."We are building a business that needs ... people motivated to do work for us and for our customers by a broad range of things, not just because it pays them the most money, because we will never be the company that pays them the most money," he said. "So we'll build an environment that fosters innovation, that fosters a sense of community, where our employees come and can feel like they can belong to a community other than working in a job."Read the rest of the story here and here.

Michigan tailgate aims for zero waste

By Newsroom

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In The News

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September 30, 2009

Tailgating on football Saturdays isn't exactly sustainability in action, but some University of Michigan fans are trying to change that.Excerpt:In Ann Arbor on Saturday, the visiting Hoosiers came up three points shy in a homecoming game against the University of Michigan football team. Final score: 36-33.And at a pre-game tailgate hosted by the UM Alumni Association, a team of Student Sustainability Initiative (SSI) volunteers came up at least three coffee creamer containers shy of their goal: a “zero waste” tailgate.Those three coffee creamer containers came from Edward J. Vander Velde – from the 50th reunion class of 1959 – who kidded the volunteers who were staffing one of the waste stations inside Oosterbaan Fieldhouse, saying, “We’re still short of perfect!”Read the rest of the story here.

Announcing the FLY Children’s Art Center in Ypsilanti

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Arts and Culture

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September 30, 2009

Even the kids are getting into Ypsi's emerging arts identity.Excerpt:My friend Ruth Marks is launching an incredibly cool children’s art program in Ypsi called FLY, and I had an opportunity this weekend to ask her a few questions about it… Here’s the interview:MARK: So, what’s FLY?RUTH: FLY Children’s Art Center is a non-profit organization that makes meaningful art making experiences accessible to children ages 5-10 in Ypsilanti. We chose our name FLY in reference to flight, in reference to the 90’s hip-hop term for amazing, and to signify For the Love of Ypsilanti. We offer open studio style classes in the community for a small fee, as well as activities inside public schools at no cost to the students.Read the rest of the story here.

Skype president reflects on business, following his heart and time in Ann Arbor

By Newsroom

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Community Development

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September 30, 2009

A big shot in the start-up world (president of Skype) reflects on the lessons he learned growing up in Ann Arbor.Excerpt:MY life has been punctuated by points where I followed my heart rather than my head. I grew up in Ann Arbor, Mich., and went to the alternative high school there. It was called Community High — Commie High for short — and it had an unstructured format. I spent much of my junior and senior years traveling the country in a six-member jazz ensemble.Read the rest of the story here.

Home sweet swap: Seattle/Ann Arbor house exchange leads to cultural immersion

By Newsroom

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Community Development

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September 30, 2009

Selling a home in America these days isn't easy, but movers and sellers in Seattle and Ann Arbor are making trades to solve that problem.Excerpt:As I pulled my overloaded Subaru up to a house in Ann Arbor, Mich., last September, I paused a moment with an unsettling realization.Inside the home — a lovely two-story brick colonial on a quintessentially leafy street — was a couple I'd met just once before, for an hour. Based on that meeting, a few e-mails and a one-page agreement, we'd arranged to swap houses for the next nine months while I studied at the University of Michigan and they took an extended vacation in Seattle.The what-ifs, I realized, were daunting. The Ann Arbor couple — Hans and Chris — seemed ideal house-swappers. But what if they weren't? What if Hans and Chris hated our house and wanted to come home? Or, more plausibly, what if my young children wreak the kind of havoc that I know they can?Read the rest of the story here.

U-M’s Crisler Arena project grows, soccer field shrinks

By Newsroom

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Development News

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September 23, 2009

Upcoming development projects on University of Michigan athletic facilities are calling for a bigger Crisler Arena construction project and a smaller version of a new soccer stadium.The U-M Board of Regents approved designing a new $23.5 million player development center (aka new practice facility) as an addition to Crisler Arena. Also in the works is an upcoming proposal to replace and upgrade Crisler’s infrastructure, such as plumbing, heating and cooling and electrical. The regents are expected to green light construction on the player development center project earlier next year.The university is also downsizing its plans to expand the school's soccer stadium next to the Varsity Tennis Center. Earlier this year the university planned to spend $6 million to create 2,200 seats and 26,000 square feet of locker rooms, offices and other facilities. That is now down a few thousand square feet and a few hundred seats. However, Athletic Dept. officials are hopeful they can get the project closer to the original goals if bids come in low enough."We will build what we can afford," says Michael Stevenson, executive associate athletic director for the University of Michigan.Source: Michael Stevenson, executive associate athletic director for the University of MichiganWriter: Jon Zemke

EMU cuts ribbon on new DPS facility in Ypsilanti

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Development News

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September 23, 2009

Eastern Michigan University is well beyond putting shovels in the ground and on to slicing ribbons at its Hoyt Conference Center.The university renovated the 10,600 square-foot building and added another 1,500 square feet for accomodate its Dept. of Public Security, which encompases police, parking and emergency management. The new space includes office space, conference rooms, locker rooms, booking and processing rooms, squad room, emergency operating center and a police lab.The brings the university’s dispatch center into the DPS's office and provides an upgraded 911 system. The Hoyt Conference Center was built in 1969 and the renovation/addition project cost $3.9 million.Source: Ward Mullens, spokesman for Eastern Michigan UniversityWriter: Jon Zemke