Technology & Innovation

Coverage of innovative research, development and deployment of technology and technological advance, including hardware, software and software as service.

U-M crosses $100M mark in stimulus funding, expects more

By Newsroom

●

Community Development

●

September 23, 2009

A lot of federal stimulus money is starting to roll into the University of Michigan, and more is on the horizon.The university just passed the $100 million mark last week for federal stimulus money, which is up nearly $40 million in a little over a month. And a lot more federal stimulus research grants are expected to migrate into university coffers."They just keep rolling in," says Jim Erickson, senior public relations officer for the University of Michigan. "Every couple days they come in.Most of this money is coming from the stimulus money cache of the National Institutes of Health and National Science Foundation. One of the bigger grants is $19.5 million for a new U-M research center to explore new materials for solar cells. More money is expected to come in throughout the rest of the year. Just how much is possible is unknown at the time, but Erickson guesses it will be a lot. "We had a lot of faculty aggressively pursuing these [funds] Erickson says.Source: Jim Erickson, senior public relations officer for the University of MichiganWriter: Jon Zemke

Latest in Technology & Innovation

Cerenis Therapeutics staff jumps 25%, plans to hire more

By Newsroom

●

Entrepreneurship

●

September 16, 2009

Cerenis Therapuetics is splitting time between Ann Arbor and France in more ways than one. The drug development company is based in France, but has a twin office in Ann Arbor. The 4-year-old firm's 26 employees are evenly split between the two locations, and its staff is up 25 percent. Ten of those employees are ex-Pfizer talent, including eight in Ann Arbor. The company's founders got their start at Esperion before starting Cerenis Therapuetics."The drugs we are working on now are all aimed at improving HDL production, even developing a synthetic HDL that could help prevent recurring heart attacks," says Bill Brinkerhoff, COO of Cerenis Therapeutics.If successful, that would be the first synthetic HDL available. The so-called good choloresterol would even be able to rapidly remove dangerous plaque from heart tissue. Cerenis Therapeutics is looking at continuing clinical trails for the near term and potentially commercializing the product by 2015.Source: Bill Brinkerhof, COO with Cerenis TherapeuticsWriter: Jon Zemke

Ann Arbor’s Freestride nails down start-up funding

By Newsroom

●

Economic Development

●

September 16, 2009

Most drugs being developed in the Ann Arbor area have human implications. Freestride Therapeutics is turning that idea on its head by repurposing a human drug stalled in development for animals.The downtown Ann Arbor-based company began developing the drug for veterinary therapies in August. The drug relieves and even prevents shin pain for racing horses. It even has implications for companion animals like dogs and cats suffering from arthritis."It's painful for the horses," says David Olson, CEO of Freestride Therapeutics. "There is no FDA approved treatment for preventing this."Olson and his two partners, Michael Long and Noura Bashshar, plan to continue clinical trails for the next couple of years before receiving for FDA approval. The start-up also received a few thousand dollars from the Michigan Pre-Seed Capital Fund to continue its research.Source: David Olson, CEO of Freestride TherapeuticsWriter: Jon Zemke

Spending on U-M research hits $1 billion for 1st time

By Newsroom

●

Community Development

●

September 16, 2009

The University of Michigan has hit the $1 billion mark for research funding this year for the first time.Research spending is up 9.4 percent over last year for a total of $1.02 billion. About two thirds of that money comes from federal funding, which is also up 7.1 percent from the previous year. These numbers cement U-M as one of the premier economic engines in Metro Detroit, Michigan and even the Midwest region."That number ($1 billion) represents hundreds of faculty and students who are very entrepreneurial," says Marvin Parnes, associated vice president of research for the University of Michigan. The U-M has been focusing more of its resources toward creating entrepreneurial opportunities. For instance, it has helped launch 49 start-ups spun off from the university's research over the last five years. About 70 percent of them are still in Michigan. "The University of Michigan is one of the largest and most productive research institutions in the world," Parnes says. "There are only a handful of institutions who spend that much on research within a year."Source: Marvin Parnes, associated vice president of research for the University of Michigan.Writer: Jon Zemke

College friends work to turn Art Binaire into FT jobs

By Newsroom

●

Entrepreneurship

●

September 16, 2009

Art Binaire isn't a full-time gig for Goran Bankovic and Nenad Milosavljevic... yet.The two friends met while taking classes at Washtenaw County Community College earlier this decade. They wanted to start their own business together, and got that chance a year ago with Art Binaire.The web development firm based out of Ann Arbor focuses on creating and tweaking websites for local firms. They have been able to develop a reputation and some customer base, but they hope to really gain traction this year."We want to establish steady revenue," Bankovic says.Once they are able to do that, they want to begin bringing on interns next year. Right now they can also bring in independent contractors to help them handle their work.Source: Goran Bankovic, co-owner of Art BinaireWriter: Jon Zemke

Aastrom Biosciences hires 5 people in Ann Arbor

By Newsroom

●

Education

●

September 16, 2009

Aastrom Biosciences was spinning off from the University of Michigan before it was the en vogue thing to do in Michigan.The Ann Arbor-based company spun off of U-M research 20 years ago and is now a publicly traded company with 45 employees and a couple of interns. It also hired five people within the last year and expects to add more as it seeks funding for its research projects."A lot of our hiring has been on the clinical operations side," says George Dunbar, CEO for Aastrom Biosciences.Right now the company, based near Dominoes Farms, is working on a unique for of stem cell research. The new technology would take stem cells from the patient, grow them and then give them back to the patient to help fight disease."The hope is we can resist or retard some diseases like congested heart failure," Dunbar says.Aastrom Biosciences also has a couple of promising research programs on hold it hopes to restart this year with new funding. They include treatment for spinal cord injuries and repairing broken bones that are not easily healed.Source: George Dunbar, CEO for Aastrom BiosciencesWriter: Jon Zemke

Community voices in Ann Arbor: a glimpse of local journalism’s future?

By Newsroom

●

Arts & Culture

●

September 9, 2009

All eyes were on Ann Arbor when The Ann Arbor News closed, but they remained focused on Tree Town to see what happens to AnnArbor.com.Excerpt:To me, one of the most interesting aspects of AnnArbor.com is its reliance on community bloggers for a large portion of the site’s content. It's also the aspect most likely to give many journalists the heebie-jeebies.AnnArbor.com launched when The Ann Arbor News closed in late July, ending the newspaper’s 174-year history. It was a sad day for journalism when the News closed, leading to the loss of more than 200 jobs. But it was also the beginning of real-life experiment in this evolving enterprise we call journalism. To me, it's an experiment all in the world of journalism should be watching. Closely.Read the rest of the story here.

University of Michigan’s ex-Pfizer site acquisition is ‘watershed moment’

By Newsroom

●

Education

●

September 9, 2009

The future of the old Pfizer campus in Ann Arbor is really starting to shape up in the hands of the University of Michigan.Excerpt:Call it the University of Michigan’s $108 million transformation.U-M’s acquisition of Pfizer’s 30-building, 173.5-acre former campus in northern Ann Arbor - a deal completed in mid-June - marks a transition of massive proportions.University leaders will shape the site’s future this fall after several committees involving some 200 university officials and Ann Arbor business leaders deliver a series of recommendations for the research campus.Read the rest of the story here, and more stories on it here and here.

Ex-Pfizer employees stay in Ann Arbor, create A2PG, hire

By Newsroom

●

Entrepreneurship

●

September 9, 2009

Unlike many of their co-workers, the three founders of Ann Arbor Pharmacometrics Group had some choices when Pfizer closed its Ann Arbor campus in early 2007. The group of prized Pfizer employees decided to take the road less traveled."They asked us to move to Connecticut," says Sunny Chapel, vice president of Ann Arbor Pharmacometrics Group. "The three of us decided to open up our own consulting businesses."Chapel, Ken Kowalski and Matt Hutmacher are experts in conducting mathematical statistical modeling for quantitative drug development for the pharmaceutical industry. Put simply they can do the ultra-complex math needed to optimize costly clinical trails, saving big bucks.Ann Arbor Pharmacometrics Group (AAPG for short) has found its services in high demand. So much so that is has been able to add one more person and an independent contractor in its first two years. "We are currently fully booked," Chapel says. "The issue is the company wants to keep up the quality of service. There is a shortage of the people in the industry with the skills that we're looking for."People with these skills are highly prized and heavily recruited by everyone from small start-ups like Ann Arbor Pharmacometrics Group to pharma giants like Pfizer. That means for Ann Arbor Pharmacometrics Group to grow it needs to depend on organic growth. It plans to hire people with the right, highly developed skill set as they come along.Source: Sunny Chapel, vice president of Ann Arbor Pharmacometrics GroupWriter: Jon Zemke

Ann Arbor’s tech community banks on millions in federal stimulus funds

By Newsroom

●

Community Development

●

September 2, 2009

If money follows talent, Ann Arbor should be feeling pretty good right now.Excerpt:The federal economic stimulus package is becoming an ATM for Ann Arbor's technology community.The $787 billion program, officially called the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act, is becoming a financial beacon of hope for university researchers and local entrepreneurs.A sudden flood of stimulus funding to the Ann Arbor region reflects the research talent and engineering strength of the local economy.Read the rest of the story here.