Kids and Education

VEO Art Studio brings classes and community to Chelsea art scene

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June 5, 2013

Elizabeth Wilson knows art, and she knows education. With two master's degrees, one in fine art and the other in health education, she has worked for the University of Michigan since 1985 in a number of positions including medical illustrator. Now she's returning to the basics of her passion for art with VEO Art Studio in downtown Chelsea, offering a variety of classes in sculpture, drawing and more. "I started looking around Chelsea and I fell in love with the space," Wilson says. "It's so warm, and it just feels good to be here. You walk across the street for some coffee and run into people you know. It's an ideal work environment." Though VEO Art Studio began taking its first students in January, Wilson has been dreaming up the concept for some time. In fact, she came up with the name a decade ago. "'Veo' means 'I see' [in Spanish]," says Wilson, "and in teaching art, I think that one of the biggest thing you learn is how to see, to be analytical about seeing. The core of learning and teaching art is seeing." Wilson offers single introductory courses as well as a series of classes and intensive courses. She has partnered with other local artists to expand her class offerings. Wilson hopes to continue making partnerships in the art community in Chelsea to eventually built a cooperative where artists can share resources and provide a larger variety of courses and events. VEO Art Studio is located in an 800-square foot space on N. Main St. in Chelsea. Source: Elizabeth Wilson, VEO Art Studio Writer: Natalie Burg

Latest in Kids and Education

Internet2 expands staff, partners with Microsoft

By Newsroom

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Innovation News

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June 5, 2013

Internet2 is expanding both its staff and its partnership base by more than 20 people, as well as striking a deal with tech-giant Microsoft. The Ann Arbor-based member-owned technology community provides a collaborative environment for U.S. research and education organizations to solve common technology challenges, and to develop innovative solutions. Last month it struck a deal with Microsoft to access the company's cloud services that should enable university researchers faster and more robust computing options for big-data projects. Students, staff and researchers at college campuses throughout the nation are expected to have faster and more secure connections from the partnership's new peering arrangement between Microsoft and Internet2. It will enable improved access to infrastructure and application services that support virtual learning environments and large-scale data intensive research projects. "As we start doing this on a broader basis, that opens the door to a lot of opportunities," says Khalil Yazdi, CIO in residence at Internet2. He adds, "It's more than just making effective and better connections. It's about the capacity to do more and how we expand that platform." Internet2 has also been expanding its staff. The organization now employs 90 people, including 43 in Ann Arbor. It has hired 22 people over the last year, with seven of those in Ann Arbor. It currently has 10 open positions, which can be found here. Source: Khalil Yazdi, CIO in residence at Internet2 Writer: Jon Zemke Read more about Metro Detroit's growing entrepreneurial ecosystem at SEMichiganStartup.com.

RateMyStudentRental gives voices to tenants, landlords

By Newsroom

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Innovation News

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June 5, 2013

Rental housing for college students is one of those things that are habitually hard to keep track of. What homes are coming onto the market, the quality of units, landlords and tenants are all things that are difficult to quantify because of the high turnover of the market. RateMyStudentRental solves that by creating a Yelp-like database of student housing that allows users to see what's available at schools like the University of Michigan and Kettering University. "All of the properties always stay listed on the site," says Steve Schwartz, co-founder of RateMyStudentRental. "They accumulate reviews from the students who live there." They also allow landlords to give reviews of their tenants. Schwartz says the idea is to make sure the site isn't dragged down by one-sided reviews. It accomplishes that with the average user giving three out of four stars in a review. The Ann Arbor-based company that calls the Tech Brewery home makes money from selling premium services to landlords and universities that are looking to have greater control of their off-campus housing. The website's services are always free to students, and that's not an accident. "Students are in enough debt as it is," Schwartz says. Source: Steve Schwartz, co-founder of RateMyStudentRental Writer: Jon Zemke Read more about Metro Detroit's growing entrepreneurial ecosystem at SEMichiganStartup.com.

Video The Care & Feeding of Student Entrepreneurs

By Roger Rayle

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Economic Development

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June 5, 2013

U-M's TechArb is a renowned student start-up incubator that helps nourish the Ann Arbor entrepreneurial ecosystem. At our last speaker event, they not only gave us the skinny on how it works, but had a trio of studentpreneurs pitch their up and coming companies to the audience. Check out the video.

URC report highlights need for talent retention

By Newsroom

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Entrepreneurship

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June 5, 2013

Talent retention is one of Michigan's traditional economic development goals. A new report from the University Research Corridor drives home the importance of that goal. The recently released report shows that 19 percent of graduates from Michigan's three research universities (University of Michigan, Michigan State University and Wayne State University) go onto start a business. "It was a larger number than we thought," says Jeff Mason, executive director of the University Research Corridor, a non-profit advocate for Michigan's three research universities. "We were hopeful it would be 10 percent. Nearly 20 percent is pretty significant." The rate of those graduates from the mid '90s to today that pursue entrepreneurship is about twice the national average of college graduates. More than half of those businesses are in fields different than the graduates' degree. The good news is that nearly half of those companies are based in Michigan. Also, the success rate of those business hovers around 70 percent, which is significantly higher than the national average of 45 percent. "It shows the education they are receiving at these institutions is broad," Mason says. "It helps them start companies and do amazing things." Source: Jeff Mason, executive director of the University Research Corridor Writer: Jon Zemke Read more about Metro Detroit's growing entrepreneurial ecosystem at SEMichiganStartup.com.

U-M doctors “print out” life-saving airway tube

By Newsroom

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Economic Development

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June 5, 2013

Talk about being quick on your feet. Who would've thought a 3-D printer and some plastic could help to save a life? Excerpt: "In a medical first, doctors at C.S. Mott Children's Hospital of the University of Michigan in Ann Arbor used plastic particles and a 3-D laser printer to create an airway splint to save the life of a baby boy who used to stop breathing nearly every day. It's the latest advance from the booming field of regenerative medicine, making body parts in the lab." More here.

Michigan retaining bigger share of new college grads, study says

By Newsroom

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Economic Development

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June 5, 2013

In terms of retention of young college graduates, it looks like the tide may be turning in the Great Lakes State. Excerpt: "The Detroit Regional Chamber on Thursday released a study that analyzed the mobility of graduates of Michigan's 15 public universities, which conferred more than 66,000 degrees last school year... Among that group, 63 percent are still living in Michigan, 35 percent have moved to another state and less than 2 percent moved out of the country, according to the report, released Thursday afternoon at the chamber's Mackinac Policy Conference. About 83 percent of the graduates attended Michigan high schools. The percentage of those who stay has increased from 2007, when a similar study showed 51 percent of the target group reported living in Michigan about six months after graduation." More here.

Speaker Event: The Care & Feeding of Student Entrepreneurs

By Concentrate Staff

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Economic Development

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May 22, 2013

Over the last few years TechArb, an incubator for student entrepreneurs, has been quietly nurturing the next generation of tech start-ups. Concentrate's May speaker event will feature the folks behind this innovative effort and student groups pitching their business concepts to the crowd. Sign up now for Thursday's Happy Hour event!

Amanda Taylor at Eastern Michigan University

Guest Blogger: Amanda Taylor

By Amanda Taylor

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Community Development

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May 22, 2013

Continuing our series of new college grads giving their post-grad outlooks, EMU alumna Amanda Taylor, who chose to remain rooted in Ann Arbor for her graduate psychology studies, writes on the area's educational and socioeconomic diversity.

Daily Beast ranks Saline High School in America’s Top 300

By Newsroom

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In The News

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May 15, 2013

And yet another set of national stats on public high schools, this one from Newsweek's Daily Beast, puts Saline High School, Chelsea High School, and Ann Arbor's Community, Huron, and Pioneer in the nation's top 1,000, with Skyline High School just a few slots behind. See the full list here.