Ann Arbor

U-M students launch TurtleCell to solve earbud tangle

By Newsroom

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November 14, 2012

Paul Schrems has two ambitions these days. One is to start his own company and the second is to not have to keep untangling the earbuds for his smartphone. He's doing both with TurtleCell, a consumer-electronics start-up he is launching with Nick Turnbull. Schrems and Turnbull are engineering students at the University of Michigan. They both love their smart phones and protective case they are in but hate reaching into the pockets to pull out a tangled mess of earbuds. So the enterprising pair invented TurtleCell, a smartphone case that has retractable earbuds built in. "I thought why couldn't I combine the two and and save myself the time of untangling my earbuds for half of my walk to class," Schrems says. TurtleCell has since developed a prototype and is working with mentors from the TechArb student incubator to refine the design and raise funding. The 4-month-old company plans to launch a Kickstarter campaign in January to raise funds to build the first run of products to be sold later this year. Source: Paul Schrems, co-founder of TurtleCell Writer: Jon Zemke Read more about Metro Detroit's growing entrepreneurial ecosystem at SEMichiganStartup.com.

TechArb’s SkySpecs makes aerial inspections easier

By Newsroom

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Education

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November 14, 2012

SkySpecs recently graduated from the University of Michigan's student small business incubator, TechArb, and is looking to begin commercializing its technology next year. The 8-month-old start-up is developing a small aerial device equipped with video and other detection equipment that can be used to inspect hard-to-reach infrastructure, such as bridges. The company got its start when Danny Elis founded the Michigan Autonomous Vehicles Team at U-M in 2009 and used the technology as his senior-year thesis. "We have been working on this for a while," Ellis says. "For a while we played around with the idea of turning it into a company." That became a reality last March. It currently has a prototype but it's close to finishing a second prototype thanks to some angel investment and the potential of landing a $250,000 grant from the state of Michigan in the next few weeks. SkySpecs plans to take its fully developed prototype and begin selling its services within the next few months. It then hopes to leverage that business into producing enough of its aerial vehicles to sell. Source: Danny Ellis, CEO of SkySpecs Writer: Jon Zemke Read more about Metro Detroit's growing entrepreneurial ecosystem at SEMichiganStartup.com.

Beal construction firms continue growth in Ann Arbor, Ypsilanti

By Newsroom

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Economic Development

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November 14, 2012

The construction companies owned by Ypsilanti-resident Stewart Beal have gone through quite the growth spurt over the last year. Beal Inc (a demolition and construction contractor company) and Beal Properties (a property management firm) have both notched 20-30 percent growth during 2011/2012, allowing them to expand their staffs from 40 employees to 180 employees. The Ann Arbor-based companies were also recently recognized as FastTrack firms by Ann Arbor SPARK. Beal Inc does a lot of different work. Last year it started CityFARM, an urban-farming design company, and has tackled a number of large construction projects, including the recent work to renovate the Broderick Tower in Detroit. "Right now we're looking for our next large project," Beal says. Beal Properties specializes in property management, specifically rental properties. It has properties in Ann Arbor, Ypsilanti, Detroit and Toledo. It recently hired eight people to manage the now-leased-out Broderick Tower. Beal expects his companies will focus on maximizing the strides forward it has taken in the near term. "We're going to be concentrating on growth and profits instead of growth and revenue next year," Beal says. Source: Stewart Beal, president of Beal Inc and Beal Properties Writer: Jon Zemke Read more about Metro Detroit's growing entrepreneurial ecosystem at SEMichiganStartup.com.

Asq.us works to create polling platform software

By Newsroom

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Economic Development

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November 14, 2012

The people behind Asq.us don't believe we have to wait for election results to find out what the people really want. The downtown Ann Arbor-based start-up thinks it can enable local politicos to find that out through software and polling, helping save local officials time in moving communities forward. Brad Chick was inspired to start the company because he had become frustrated with the political system and the impact money has on politics. So last May he started Asq.us, a free polling platform for politicians to reach out and ask the public about issues. He thinks had this technology been available in recent years, local leaders might have made different decisions about installing artwork by an out-of-town artist in front of the new city hall. "There were town hall meetings but those are largely a relic of the past," Chick says. He adds that "traditional polling companies are missing a lot of people who aren't on the grid" because things like cell phone usage compared to landline usage. Many polling companies depend on interviews with people on landlines to conduct their surveys. Asq.us's software will allow people to voluntarily sign up to be polled and utilize other methods to get a better picture of what the public thinks. He and his team of six employees and three interns plan to launch the technology early next year. Source: Brad Chick, founder of Asq.us Writer: Jon Zemke Read more about Metro Detroit's growing entrepreneurial ecosystem at SEMichiganStartup.com.

Echo360 acquires U-M spin-out LectureTools, grows staff

By Newsroom

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Economic Development

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November 14, 2012

Echo360, a Virginia-based educational technology company, has acquired LectureTools and plans to continue growing the start-up in Ann Arbor. LectureTools' technology is working to reinvent the software programs used for educational materials, such as course packs, handouts and quizzes. It was originally developed at the University of Michigan and spun out of the university two years ago. The company now employs five people and an intern. Details of its acquisition were not released but it does appear the start-up will stay rooted in its downtown Ann Arbor office. Echo360 specializes in educational learning tools and plans to use LectureTools' technology not only in its own software but also to build up the brand independently. "One of the reasons we were acquired is so we can build it out to our true vision quickly," says Jason Aubrey, co-founder of LectureTools. "We're also building it out with Echo360s products." Aubrey expects to begin really scaling LectureTools technology in January. The company recently hired one person in customer development and is looking to hire two more people in design and user-experience. Source: Jason Aubrey, co-founder of LectureTools Writer: Jon Zemke Read more about Metro Detroit's growing entrepreneurial ecosystem at SEMichiganStartup.com.

AATA to break ground on Ann Arbor’s $8M Blake Transit Center

By Tanya Muzumdar

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Development News

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November 14, 2012

Come winter, the skeleton of the long-awaited new Blake Transit Center will be erected in downtown Ann Arbor. A groundbreaking ceremony is scheduled onsite on Monday, Nov. 19 at 11 a.m. Construction will begin within 2-3 weeks after the groundbreaking and should be completed by August or September of 2013, according to Nancy Shore, a spokesperson for the Ann Arbor Transportation Authority (AATA). The $8 million center will be built directly opposite the current center on William St., between Fourth and Fifth Avenue, which will be demolished once the new terminal is completed. It will accommodate the same number of buses as today's facility, which serves six buses in the transit mall area and nine on Fourth Avenue, including AirRide. The 12,000-square-foot building will be LEED-Gold certified. Other enhancements over the old facility are: ADA accessibility, more bathrooms and waiting space, heated sidewalks, public art, extensive window banks, and an overarching transparent canopy penetrable by sunlight. The center will have three levels, including a basement. "It does have the capacity to add three or four floors on top of it. This building was really designed to think about future expansion," Shore says. Since the old terminal was built in 1987, usage has increased by 60%, she adds. "The AATA just had a record amount of transit ridership this year, reaching six million riders, so we know that the demand is going to increase. And we've got Air Ride now coming into the Blake Transit Center, so this building is really made to grow with the growing need of transit in our community." Source: Nancy Shore, spokesperson,Ann Arbor Transportation Authority Writer: Tanya Muzumdar

U-M researcher turns algae into oil

By Newsroom

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Education

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November 14, 2012

Biofuels haven't exactly made headlines as of late, but exciting innovations are still being discovered. Needless to say the prospects of turning algae into petroleum is darn revolutionary. Excerpt: "It looks like Mother Nature was wasting her time with a multimillion-year process to produce crude oil. Michigan Engineering researchers can "pressure-cook" algae for as little as a minute and transform an unprecedented 65% of the green slime into biocrude. "We're trying to mimic the process in nature that forms crude oil with marine organisms," said Phil Savage, an Arthur F. Thurnau professor and a professor of chemical engineering at the University of Michigan." Read the rest here.

Clark Professional Pharmacy to move to Ann Arbor storefront, triple space

By Tanya Muzumdar

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Development News

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November 14, 2012

Patients will soon be able to see a doctor and fill their prescriptions under one roof in Ann Arbor. Clark Professional Pharmacy will be moving from its current location on Clark Road in Ypsilanti to a shared building space with the newly opened Washtenaw Urgent Care clinic at 3280 Washtenaw Avenue. Ahed Salamen, a pharmacist who co-owns the business with Nathan Worthing, expects to open on January 10, 2013. Salamen anticipates higher traffic and more exposure in the new space. "Nathan and I purchased the pharmacy in 2007, and since then have outgrown the business. We need an additional 2,000 square feet to be comfortable. This facility is three times the [size of the] current facility we're in." The 3,500 square-foot store will offer special compounding services and regular prescriptions. "It'll be similar to the CVS / Walgreen's-type model, but in addition to that you'll have a lab: 5,000 square feet of lab where you'll see medications being custom made for patients," Salamen says. The pharmacy will also carry an exclusive line of juices and high-end neutraceuticals, which are over-the-counter pharmaceutical-grade items. Clark Professional Pharmacy has two pharmacists and seven other staff. Salamen also plans to hire a nutritionist and possibly a sterile lab technician for the new location. Source: Ahed Salamen, pharmacist and co-owner, Clark Professional Pharmacy Writer: Tanya Muzumdar

Former Ann Arborite among best 3D sidewalk chalk artists in world

By Newsroom

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Arts & Culture

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November 14, 2012

No need to say much. The pictures speak for themselves. Click on the link then scroll down for awesomeness. Excerpt: "Kurt Wenner was born in Ann Arbor, Michigan and boasts to be the inventor of three-dimensional pastel drawings. He produced his first commissioned mural at the age of sixteen, and by seventeen was earning his living as a graphic artist. He attended both Rhode Island School of Design and Art Center College of Design. According to his website, 3D Pavement Artists, 3D Sidewalk Artists, and 3D Chalk artists can all trace the roots of their work back to the street art of Rome in 1982, where Kurt Wenner transformed the complex geometry of Classical Italian Architecture into a new form of Popular Art. Whether they are called Street Paintings, Chalk Paintings, Sidewalk Paintings or pavement art, if they have a three-dimensional illusion they can be traced back to Kurt Wenner pastel drawings." Check out the 3D art here.

Vellum Restaurant to open in December, add 40 jobs in Ann Arbor

By Tanya Muzumdar

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Arts & Culture

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November 14, 2012

Downtown Ann Arbor is full of quick-service restaurants, but there's still room for upscale eateries, where dinner is a night in itself. That's the aim of Vellum Restaurant, named in the spirit of the printing press that formerly sat in the late-1800s building at 209 S. Main Street. "We saw Ann Arbor didn't really have an American restaurant with a very composed and stylized, a little bit more technical kind of menu," says Peter Roumanis, managing partner of Vellum. Roumanis co-owns the restaurant with his father, John Roumanis, owner of the Carlyle Grill and Mediterranno restaurants in Ann Arbor. Vellum will be open for dinner seven days a week, starting on December 10, according to Roumanis. The two-story restaurant will have seating for 135, a bar, and a small five-table lounge for waiting guests. The restaurant occupies the former pool hall area of the Full Moon Cafe. As such, everything from plumbing to a full kitchen had to be installed. The dining room will have extensive copper, brass, and wood finishes, and the original pressed tin ceiling remains. Forty new staff members, a mix of community residents, are undergoing training, Roumanis says. "[We hired] not just students, but also natives and locals, and we're really happy about that, because they really contribute to the lasting scene in Ann Arbor, not just the seasonal scene." Source: Peter Roumanis, co-owner of Vellum Restaurant Writer: Tanya Muzumdar