Education

Coverage of schools from kindergarten through higher education, including trade and online training, and childcare.

Quidditch comes to Michigan

By Newsroom

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July 20, 2011

Remember those bumper stickers that used to read "Frodo lives!"? It makes you wonder what pop culture influences Harry Potter will spawn decades from now. I'm betting on Quidditch, which currently has 300 teams in the U.S.. Michigan accounts for a paltry seven. Hey, the sport is still young, right? Excerpt: "Of all the legacies Rowling leaves behind with her Potter series winding down — though with her recent announcement of the new Pottermore website, any kind of winding down is unlikely to truly happen for some time — it's interesting to think that a new sport could be one of the most lasting.If quidditch continues to grow in popularity, for instance, might we see a future professional league like the NBA or NFL? How about a quidditch competition in the Olympics?" Read the story and watch highlights from a U-M vs MSU quidditch match here.

Latest in Education

U-M’s Ross School ranked 6th best in nation

By Newsroom

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Economic Development

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July 13, 2011

Another day, another best of list. This time the University of Michigan's Ross School of Business found its way onto Bloomberg Businessweek's Top Ten.Check it out here.

U-M Mott Hospital set to hire 500 people by fall

By Newsroom

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Education

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July 13, 2011

The University of Michigan Health System plans to beef up its staff by 500 people at the C.S. Mott Children's Hospital and Von Voigtlander Women's Hospital as the university moves both hospitals into a new facility in Ann Arbor.U-M Health System officials already have 63 of those positions listed. All of these new hires will include a wide range of professions, including nurses in many different areas, clerical employees, radiology technicians, laboratory technicians, janitorial staff and ambulatory care staff."We are well on our way to reaching our goal," says Patricia Warner, executive director of C.S. Mott Children's Hospital and Von Voigtlander Women's Hospital. "There is tremendous interest in the new facility. If we don't hit our goal we'll be close to it."The hospitals currently employ about 4,000 people, including 150 newly hired staff. There are also a number of new faculty physicians joining the University of Michigan Medical School that specialize in pregnancy and children's health, thanks to the new $754 million facility. The 1.1-million-square-foot building houses 348 beds. The U-M Health System employs more than 20,000 faculty and staff and has more than 1,800 students and 2,000 volunteers. For information on the available jobs at the two new hospitals, click here.Source: Patricia Warner, executive director of C.S. Mott Children's Hospital and Von Voigtlander Women's HospitalWriter: Jon ZemkeRead more about Metro Detroit's growing entrepreneurial ecosystem at SEMichiganStartup.com.

FamilyMint collects interest as it sprouts in Ann Arbor

By Newsroom

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Economic Development

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July 13, 2011

FamilyMint is gathering followers, customers and traction as the little start-up that saves is beginning to significantly grow in Ann Arbor's Tech Brewery.The 2-year-old firm has developed a web tool that allows parents to teach their kids the lessons of saving and managing a bank account with the grownups actually holding the money and acting as the bank. The firm offers both web and mobile app options."Our user numbers have steadily grown," says Bob Masterson, co-founder of FamilyMint. "Our revenues are starting to pick up but we're still in start-up mode." He and his co-founder are full-time and have hired two part-timers. They expect to hire one or two full-time employees later this year.Making that growth possible is early adoption of FamilyMint's software by local credit unions. The company has half a dozen credit unions using its product and plans to bring another five online this summer. FamilyMint will also be bringing a local bank and some financial planners onboard, but credit unions look to be its most promising customer base."We'd like to see our strategy with credit unions take off," Masterson says. "We're expecting the number of credit unions to take off in January when they're looking at their budgets for 2012."Source: Bob Masterson, co-founder of FamilyMintWriter: Jon ZemkeRead more about Metro Detroit's growing entrepreneurial ecosystem at SEMichiganStartup.com.

EMU’s $42 million Pray-Harrold building revamp to be ready for students next month

By Tanya Muzumdar

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Development News

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July 13, 2011

Next month marks a new year on campus, with the long-awaited renovation of Eastern Michigan University's Pray-Harrold building to be done in time to receive over 10,000 students a day. The seven-story building is the largest on EMU's campus – it houses 10 departments of the College of Arts and Sciences, about 60 classrooms, and over 25% of the university course offerings. Nearly 300 faculty and staff report to work there.The project entailed repairs or replacement of all major mechanical, electrical, and plumbing fixtures in the 235,791 square-foot building. All IT and audio-visual systems were also upgraded, and the curtain wall replaced. New finishes can be found throughout, and every classroom is getting new furnishings."The aging systems and antiquated amenities had reached their life cycle limits, and considering that this building was constructed prior to the advent of personal computers, infrastructure needs were also critical," Seán Braden, manager of planning and design at EMU, says in an email.The state of Michigan funded 75% of the $42 million capital outlay project, with EMU covering the balance.Source: Seán Braden, manager of planning and design at EMUWriter: Tanya Muzumdar

Orphan books may finally find a home, readers & researchers win

By Newsroom

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Economic Development

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June 29, 2011

Won't you give these books a home? It's estimated that hundreds of thousands of books, printed between 1923 and 1963, are in copyright limbo. U-M's Orphan Works project is looking to make access to these 'lost' writings a heck of a lot easier.Excerpt:"Orphan works are in-copyright but out-of-print works for which the current rights holders are unknown or unable to be located. The UM Library Copyright Office's HathiTrust-funded project to identify such works in the HathiTrust collection was first announced last month, as reported by LJ. It focuses on determining the status of works in the UM collection published between 1923 and 1963."Read the rest of the story here.

Language Link adds four jobs in Ann Arbor

By Newsroom

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Education

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June 29, 2011

Caroline Wojan grew up in a small town on Beaver Island, near Mackinaw Island, before she went to the University of Michigan. She got bit by the travel bug during a semester abroad in Spain. It was a sequence of events that sent her around the world, skipping graduate school to work for a local English as a second language company after college. A few years after that she started her own business, Language Link."I decided I wanted to travel the rest of my life and make as much as I could," says Wojan, owner of Language Link. "Every place I went to I realized how big the world really is."The Ann Arbor-based business will turn 10 years old in September. Wojan's company employs 15 people (all on a part-time basis) today after hiring four in the last year. The company can do that thanks to a 25 percent jump in revenues from expanded service offerings.Language Link started out helping families of visiting scholars at the University of Michigan overcome language and culture barriers. It has since expanded those language and cultural services to families of foreign employees at major corporations, like the Big 3 and other automotive firms. It now offers tutoring services for students and cultural and language training for foreign nationals in local businesses."I call it the Dale Carnegie course for foreign managers," Wojan says.Source: Caroline Wojan, owner of Language LinkWriter: Jon ZemkeRead more about Metro Detroit's growing entrepreneurial ecosystem at SEMichiganStartup.com.

ONL Therapeutics blindness prevention drug attracts Dept of Defense attention

By Newsroom

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Economic Development

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June 29, 2011

ONL Therapeutics is working on a drug that will help prevent retina detachment specifically and one cause of blindness in general. It's a new technology that has caught the attention of the U.S. Dept of Defense as a way to help prevent soldiers from becoming blind after combat.The start-up spun out of the University of Michigan Kellogg Eye Institute four months ago. It is developing a drug that could be injected into an eye to prevent the death of cells, retinal detachment and eventual blindness. Trauma from battle has made this a problem for the U.S. Dept of Defense."We hope to get the drug into clinical trials within two years," says Raili Kerppola, CEO of ONL Therapeutics. She is co-founding the start-up with Dr. David Zacks (the inventor of the technology and an associate professor of ophthalmology at U-M) and Dr. Jeffery Jamison. They are also working with Thomas Collette and the U-M Office of Tech Transfer.ONL Therapeutics was the runner up in Great Lakes Entrepreneur's Quest's New Business Idea category. The prize was $2,500 in seed capital. The start-up is also going after federal grants and hopes to fast track development because it's tackling a rare ailment with no cure."If it does work, we believe the development will be shorter than for your average drug," Kerppola says.Source: Raili Kerppola, CEO of ONL TherapeuticsWriter: Jon ZemkeRead more about Metro Detroit's growing entrepreneurial ecosystem at SEMichiganStartup.com.

U-M’s BioBolt has potential to help cure paralysis

By Newsroom

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Education

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June 22, 2011

Researchers from the University of Michigan have developed a new technology called BioBolt that can use human skin to transmit neural signals and has the potential to help treat or cure paralysis.The BioBolt is a minimally invasive technology that allows a person to send signals through their skin in order to induce a paralyzed limb to move. It resembles a bolt and is about the circumference of a dime, with a thumbnail-sized film of microcircuits attached to the bottom. It is implanted in the skull beneath the skin and the film of microcircuits sits on the brain. The microcircuits act as microphones to listen to the overall pattern of firing neurons and associate them with a specific command from the brain. Those signals are amplified and filtered, then converted to digital signals and transmitted through the skin to a computer."We are sending signals through the skin," says Euisik Yoon, an electrical engineering and computer science professor at the University of Michigan College of Engineering. "We're using the skin as a conductor."BioBolt could also potentially be used to control epilepsy and diagnose certain diseases, such as Parkinson's. The University of Michigan is pursuing intellectual property protection for the BioBolt and is looking for potential partners to help bring the technology to market. Source: Euisik Yoon, electrical engineering and computer science professor at the University of Michigan College of EngineeringWriter: Jon ZemkeRead more about Metro Detroit's growing entrepreneurial ecosystem at SEMichiganStartup.com.

Nearly $10 million to be invested in cancer treatments at U-M Hospital

By Newsroom

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Development News

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June 22, 2011

Nearly $10 million in improvements and new equipment are coming to the University of Michigan Health System, and also bringing about innovation in cancer treatment.Two projects, one at $4.9 million, the other at $4.8 million, will upgrade treatments and treatment facilities in radiation therapy and angiography.The larger project will establish a new MRI (magnetic resonance imaging) system to the Department of Radiation Oncology and require the renovation of 1,800 square feet at the hospital. The MRI machine will replace an 11-year-old CT (computed tomograph) simulator.The MRI as a preferred treatment approach over CT scanning is believed to be a first in the state and possibly in the country, says Ian Demsky, an associate public relations representative for the University of Michigan Health System.The second project will bring in a CTA, computed tomography angiography, technology that lets doctors examine blood vessels with more detail than an MRI or ultrasound. It will require the renovation of two radiology rooms that total about 1,400 square feet. The upgrades will be completed in the coming months.Source: Ian Demsky, spokesperson, University of Michigan Health SystemWriter: Kim North Shine