Ambiq Micro wins $250K in global business plan competition

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Entrepreneurship
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July 14, 2010

Ambiq Micro is a small company specializing in the development of ever smaller sensors, but it's starting to bring in big dollar figures for seed capital.The Ann Arbor-based start-up, founded in January, recently won a $250,000 grant at the Global Business Plan Competition, which is sponsored by Draper Fisher Jurvetson (a global venture capital firm) and Cisco. Ambiq Micro is also wrapping up its first major financing round this summer and expects to use the funds to develop its principal product and hire a few people later this year.The University of Michigan spin-off creates micro sensor chips that can survive on very little electricity. Ambiq Micro's founders believe these chips can be used in everything from the eyes of patients to smart labels for perishable foods. "We want to put a chip in absolutely everything," says Scott Hanson, CEO and co-founder of Ambiq Micro. "We want to make everything smart."The company started with three co-founders, including Hanson, a recent PhD graduate, and two U-M professors. It recently made its first hire and expects to add four more by the end of the year as it continues to develop its product prototype. "By next year we expect that number to double," Hanson says.Source: Scott Hanson, CEO and co-founder of Ambiq MicroWriter: Jon Zemke

EMU scores $600K NSF grant for physics scholarships
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Community Development
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July 14, 2010

Eastern Michigan University has received a $600,000 grant from the National Science Foundation to promote education and research at its physics department. Yes, you heard that correctly. EMU grabbed this brass ring, not that other school to the west."Eastern doesn't have the reputation as a research university," says James Carroll, head of the physics & astronomy department at Eastern Michigan University. "However, we have this research component tucked away here." He adds that EMU is one of the top producers of graduate students with physics degrees in the U.S.This grant will help generate even more by creating the Physics Scholars Program. EMU produces 7-9 physics graduates annually. This grant will bump those numbers to 14 per year by giving up to $10,000 to about 7-10 students.Applicants must be academically talented students (i.e. eligible for an EMU Education First or Presidential scholarship), U.S. citizens, and interested in majoring in physics. They have to maintain a 3.0 GPA and have financial need greater than $2,500. Students must also obtain a letter of recommendation from a high school physics or math teacher.Source: James Carroll, head of the physics & astronomy department at Eastern Michigan UniversityWriter: Jon Zemke

Ann Arbor’s KnowledgeWatch locks down 1 of 3 microloans
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Arts and Culture
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June 30, 2010

KnowledgeWatch is one of three Michigan-based start-ups, and the only one from Washtenaw County, to secure funding from the latest round of the Michigan Microloan Fund Program .The Ann Arbor-based firm received an undisclosed portion of the total $104,000 loan pool. The other two recipients are AWGET in Okemos and Bloomfield Hills-based uwemp. KnowledgeWatch plans to use the microloan to support commercialization of its automated online knowledge product.KnowledgeWatch is developing software that aggregates, analyzes and sorts online content in a way that is similar to Google searches. Among its target market are assemblers of trade publications or hobby sites (which number in the tens of thousands).The firm has four employees and two interns. It hopes to add six more positions within the next year with the help of seed capital sources like the microloan. The microloans provide funding for start-ups for product commercialization and business growth. The $1.5 million program will make anywhere from 2-4 loans of a few thousand dollars each per month in 2010. This equates to another 24-48 fledgling local businesses receiving financing during a time when capital for small businesses is almost non-existent.Source: Ann Arbor SPARKWriter: Jon Zemke

FamilyMint turns SPARK membership into GLEQ competition win
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Community Development
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June 30, 2010

It's been a year since FamilyMint began teaching kids the value of money, but it wasn't until three months ago, when the start-up joined Ann Arbor SPARK's incubator in downtown Ann Arbor, that it really started to take off."The Ann Arbor office has everything we need," says Bob Masterson, president of FamilyMint. "Ann Arbor is very technologically oriented and we are a web-based firm."FamilyMint provides an online money-management system for kids, with parents serving as the bank. With this system, children figure out what to do with their money and then go to mom and dad to make withdrawals. Masterson and his partner Jeff Eusebio came up with the idea when trying to teach the value of money to their own young children.The business got its website up and running by the end of January. It just launched a premium version and expects to really start growing its user base this year. The company will add two positions later this year and possibly more later on.FamilyMint recently won the New Business Idea competition at the Great Lakes Entrepreneurship Quest event earlier this year. That means $5,000 and the pride inherent in knowing it bested 80 other entrants. Source: Bob Masterson, president of FamilyMintWriter: Jon Zemke

Ann Arbor’s Affinia Holdings Group plans for $230M IPO
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Economic Development
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June 30, 2010

An Ann Arbor-based business is gearing up to make a sizable splash on Wall Street with an initial public offering later this year.Affinia Holdings Group expects to raise $230 million in the stock offering. The automotive supplier will operate with the symbol AFN on the New York Stock Exchange. Scott Howat, director of corporate communications for the company, declined to comment on the IPO and the firm's plans, saying it is in a federally mandated quiet period before the stock offering.He did confirm that the company employs about 50 people in its Ann Arbor headquarters and about 10,000 globally. He declined to elaborate on whether the company has added staff recently and if it has any plans to grow its Ann Arbor presence.Affinia Holdings Group is a manufacturer of parts primarily for the automotive market, such as brake pads and oil filters for everything from sedans to semi-trucks. The international company also has footholds in other emerging industries, such as alternative energy.Source: Scott Howat, director of corporate communications for Affinia Holdings GroupWriter: Jon Zemke

WGN America’s Sky Dives flies into Zingerman’s, Blimpy Burger
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Economic Development
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June 30, 2010

WGN America's quirky Sky Dives show flies in and saddles up at the top niche restaurants in America. It recently landed in Ann Arbor and produced a handful of glowing video reviews about Zingerman's and Blimpy Burger. Watch the videos here.

U-M sets construction standards to LEED Silver
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Community Development
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June 30, 2010

The University of Michigan had been working towards energy efficiency in its new building construction for years, but now it has an official standard: silver LEED status.LEED, which stands for Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design, is a standard created by the U.S. Green Building Council. It provides independent third-party certification that takes into account water efficiency, indoor air quality, use of sustainable materials in construction, and other aspects of environmentally friendly construction.Terry Alexander, executive director of the office of campus sustainability for the university, says although there's never been a formal policy until now, about half of the last few dozen construction projects over the last 3.5 years would have nonetheless fit that criteria."We've been building very green buildings, but we've never gone for formal certification," he says. "This is designed for new buildings, or for new building additions. We're constantly doing remodeling and renovation on buildings."U-M buildings that have already achieved LEED certification include the Gold LEED Dana Building, home of the School of Natural Resources and Environment, and the Silver LEED Stephen M. Ross School of Business. Two projects under construction, the Mott Children's and Von Voigtlander Women's Hospitals Replacement Project and a new Law School academic building, are on track for LEED certification.The university does energy modeling to make older structures more energy-efficient. Existing mechanical system tune-ups and occupant education has led to an approximate 8-11 percent energy savings in those buildings, Alexander says.Many of the ideas for increasing sustainability have come from community town hall meetings, he adds. "It's kind of exciting when you've got an entire community working together."U-M's sustainable history goes back decades: In the 1960s, the university became one of the first to convert from coal to cleaner-burning natural gas. It began a recycling program in 1970.The city of Ann Arbor has also made a commitment to sustainability. In a joint resolution between the planning commission, environmental commission, and energy commission, it acknowledged previous work toward sustainable programs and announced a new Citizen Outreach Committee for a "broader view of sustainability" and to "broaden the community-wide discussion of planning."Sources: Terry Alexander, executive director of the office of campus sustainability, University of Michigan; City of Ann ArborWriter: Kristin Lukowski

Ann Arbor’s CytoPherx raises $5M in VC, plans to hire 2
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Innovation News
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June 30, 2010

CytoPherx is in the money these days now that it has corralled $5 million of its $7.5 million venture capital fundraising goal.The Ann Arbor-based bio-tech firm is acquiring capital for a Series B tranche of fundraising. This is not the 3-year-old firm's first trip to the angel investor and venture capital rodeo to bring in funding for its clinical trials."The proceeds (of this latest round of VC) will be used to fund our FDA pilot trial for our acute renal failure product," says Mark Morsfield, CFO of CytoPherx.The University of Michigan spin-off is developing new therapies for patients who suffer from acute and chronic kidney disease. It hopes to flip the current survival rates so 70 percent or more of patients with kidney disease can go on to live fulfilling lives.CytoPherx employs a dozen people in Ann Arbor. It expects to hire two more to serve as clinical trial support staff by the end of this year.Source: Mark Morsfield, CFO of CytoPherxWriter: Jon Zemke

EMU’s tuition freeze sets bold tone for higher education options
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Community Development
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June 30, 2010

Say the words "Leaders and Best" in Washtenaw County and people think of maize and blue. Say the words "Leaders and the Best Value" and people are now thinking green and white.That's the sort of impact Eastern Michigan University is looking to achieve with the freezing of its tuition and cost of attendance. Whether the university will be able to achieve that is anybody's guess, but it is a policy that is garnering quite a bit of attention. "Tactically I thought it was an interesting strategy to use price to position itself against its competition," says Lou Glazer, president of the Ann Arbor-based think tank Michigan Future Inc.EMU has used extended press and marketing campaigns to drive home the message that it cares about the rising cost of higher education. Not a bad idea, considering Michigan's universities have received significant cuts in state funding and raised tuition rates by double digits on several occasions. After EMU's announcement, state colleges held tuition increases to the low single digits this spring. In comparison, Wayne State University raised tuition 4.4 percent and U-M by 1.5 percent."We've been a leader in the last two years in accessibility and affordability," says Walter Kraft, vice president for communications at EMU. "We're committed to that."Affordability is important, but there are still other questions that have yet to be answered about this policy. For instance, Glazer wants to know if it is helping attract more or higher quality students? Also, can the university still provide a quality education?"Everybody is looking at the cost side of the things and not at the quality," Glazer says. "Both matter."Source: Walter Kraft, vice president for communications at Eastern Michigan University and Lou Glazer, president of Michigan Future IncWriter: Jon Zemke

Quinn Evans Architects hires 3, named AIA Michigan Firm of Year
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Arts and Culture
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June 30, 2010

If there is a name brand for historic preservation in Michigan, it would be Quinn Evans. The Ann Arbor-based firm is using that specialty to grow its staff at a time when architecture firms are shrinking or disappearing. It's also roping in some major awards, such as being named Firm of the Year by the Michigan chapter of the American Institute of Architects."That's probably where the market is the strongest," says Michael Quinn, FAIA and founding principal of Quinn Evans Architects, referring to the reuse of existing buildings. "People have to take care of what they have right now."Quinn Evans Architects has quite the resume to back that, including heading up the restorations of the former Wayne County Building in downtown Detroit, the Michigan State Capitol building and Hill Auditorium, among many others. It uses those projects as a springboard to help land others in an economy when there is precious little new building occurring. The architecture firm to add three employees over the last year and now employs 63 people between its Ann Arbor and Washington, D.C., offices and a satellite office in Madison, Wisc. It hopes to continue to expand its staff as necessary and is seriously looking at opening a Detroit-based office."We've been fortunate," Quinn says. "We have been able to find new work and keep existing work."AIA Michigan has named it the top architecture firm in the state, just another feather in the cap of the 25-year-old company that has collected more than 100 awards for 60 of its projects."There are only a few higher awards," Quinn says. "It's a boost to everyone in the firm."Source: Michael Quinn, founding principal of Quinn Evans ArchitectsWriter: Jon Zemke

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