Technology & Innovation

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

Chelsea Robotics team places high nationally

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Education
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August 5, 2009

Chelsea's Robotics team is going places and is coming back from one big competition, too. Excerpt:The Chelsea High School Robotics team recently traveled to the FIRST National Robotics Championship in Atlanta. After a day of practice and two days of competing, they finished with a 5-2 record and placed 17th out of 87 teams in their division and were the 10th best team from Michigan.While in Atlanta, they were also able to tour the Coca-Cola Museum and the Georgia Aquarium.After their return from the championship, the team held a banquet thanking all the donors and mentors who supported them throughout the 2008-2009 season.Outgoing seniors Cody Robbins, Jake Kitchens and Nick Worthington were given special recognition for their years of service and contributions to the team. The banquet was held at the Chelsea Proving Grounds and graciously hosted by the Chrysler Corp.Read the rest of the story here.

Latest in Technology & Innovation
News site Ann Arbor.com doesn’t resemble a news site
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Economic Development
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August 5, 2009

AnnArbor.com takes a fluid approach to running the news.Excerpt:The first thing I noticed on AnnArbor.com is, well, the first thing I was supposed to notice. The bare home page doesn't even try to do the traditional newspaper editor's job of defining which stories are the most important or pressing. It's simply a time-sequenced river of news. Think of it as Times Wire, except without the choice to click back to The New York Times' spiffy home page. This is the home page.It might not be what readers expected when Tony Dearing, AnnArbor.com's chief content officer, promised a site "different from anything you've ever seen," but maybe it should have been. "Somehow, that has the connotation of this fantastic, super-futuristic, dancing-women, fireworks-going-off site," Dearing told me. "And really, I meant it in the opposite way. It's going to be very different, but in a simple, understated way that news sites traditionally have not gone."Indeed, AnnArbor.com — which launched the day after The Ann Arbor News shuttered — looks more like Digg and Twitter than it does the Detroit Free Press. At least right now, an investigative enterprise story is featured no more prominently than a 200-word blog post. Everything — design, content, even advertising — is different. Read the rest of the story here.

Video Accuri Cytometers
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Entrepreneurship
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August 5, 2009

From co-founder Collin Rich's kitchen table to the offices of U-M's Tech Transfer office to shipping high tech cytometers to labs all over the world, Accuri Cytometers is the model for Ann Arbor startup know how.

SRI International expands staff to 9, expects 8-10 more
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Education
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July 29, 2009

There is a reason SRI International is growing in Ann Arbor. Actually there are a lot of reasons, and that’s a big part of why the newly established research institute is hiring. "Ann Arbor has a lot of talent," says Kenneth Augustyn, director of the Ann Arbor office of SRI International. "A lot of it is in little companies and some of it is in bigger companies."SRI started off as an acronym for Stanford Research Institute in 1946 before becoming independent of the prestigious university in 1970. The University of Michigan had a similar entity at the same time that also eventually went independent before becoming a part of General Dynamics. Five people left General Dynamics to start up a similar research institute under the SRI International brand in January of 2008. That group has since established itself and grown to nine people in the 3,444 square feet it is leasing on Ann Arbor’s northeast side. SRI International’s Ann Arbor office is expanding into another 2,682 feet across the hall so it can hire even more people. Augustyn expects the office will add another 3-4 people this year and 5-6 more next year.SRI is based in Menlo Park, California. Its Ann Arbor office is part of the institute’s Engineering & Systems Division that conducts research for applications that impact everything from solar panels to radar. Future expansion plans for the office are expected to include xperimental laboratory and test facilities.Source: Kenneth Augustyn, director of the Ann Arbor of SRI InternationalWriter: Jon Zemke

MC3 continues to spinout firms, plans to hire 2-6
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Education
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July 29, 2009

MC3 grows by shrinking. It’s an odd concept to grasp, but the Ann Arbor-based firm has turned it into quite the successful money-making plan.The University of Michigan spin-off makes it money by spinning off companies from it. It has spun off three firms since it began spinning in 1991. Two of those are still in the area, including it’s latest release - Accord Biomaterials. It's why MC3 only employs 10 people, two interns and a couple of independent contractors today."These companies have 70 employees and have raised their own money," says Scott Merz, president of MC3.MC3 is short for Michigan Critical Care Consultants. It got its start developing blood pump technology that originated from U-M. It now makes a habit of taking those sort of early stage ideas and making them something bigger companies want to license. MC3 is now working on applications for its blood pump technology and dabbling in other young technologies it sees as encouraging. That type of development is expected to lead to another 2-6 hires within the next year."We have a couple of emerging businesses that I think are encouraging," Merz says.Source: Scott Merz, president of MC3Writer: Jon Zemke

DNA Software lands $2.5M for research in Ann Arbor
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Innovation News
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July 29, 2009

Millions of dollars are rolling into DNA Software thanks to three federal grants worth $2.5 million. We're talking the Ann Arbor company, not the industry as a whole.The 8-year-old start-up will use the money from the National Institutes of Health to continue development of its new technology specializing in 3D structure modeling of RNA-based molecules. The idea is to use the discoveries for antibiotics applications.DNA Software has already reached the first milestones of this development as part of its initial phase. This money will fund the second phase and keep the firm's 15 people and a handful of interns and independent contractors (it recently doubled its staff size) working. "These grants are very good for small companies," says Jeff Machak, vice president of business development for DNA Software. "Revenue is hard to find for research and development."DNA Software, recently named one of Michigan's 50 Companies to Watch, uses Wayne State University spinoff technology to conduct wet lab research, develop molecular biology software and provide scientific consulting for DNA and RNA-based experiments. These are often used to help predict how maladies, such as those caused by flu, evolve.The company brings in most of its workforce from local sources. The resumes of its staff list the likes of Kalamazoo College, University of Michigan, Wayne State University and the old Pfizer campus in Ann Arbor. It hopes to hire s few more people from these sources as it goes after even more research grant funding."We're really taping into the local talent pool to make this happen," Machak says.Source: Jeff Machak, vice president of business development for DNA SoftwareWriter: Jon Zemke

Video U-M Students Get A Tech Start
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Economic Development
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July 29, 2009

Think of it as a Head Start program for budding entrepreneurs. U-M's Office of Tech Transfer teams students from a variety of backgrounds with university researchers and innovators to start new companies from scratch.

EMU plans to turn old school into new Autism Center
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Development News
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July 22, 2009

Eastern Michigan University is buying the old Fletcher Elementary School and plans to turn it into the university's new home for the Autism Collaborative Center and Children’s Institute.EMU is purchasing the circa-1963 building for $2.2 million. The Autism Center and Children's Institute are expected to move into the 40,000-square-foot building this fall. The Autism Center provides services for 40 families in the Bright Horizons building located at St. Joseph Mercy Hospital in Ann Arbor. This new space will allow the center to reach 2,000 people within the first couple years. The building will be used for research, interventions and community outreach. Services will be provided on a sliding scale.EMU's Children’s Institute provides early childhood education for the children of university students, faculty, staff and surrounding communities. It serves 150 children ages six and below at the Rackham Building on EMU's main campus Source: Eastern Michigan UniversityWriter: Jon Zemke

Boomdash’s dreams go bust
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In The News
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July 22, 2009

The great thing about being an entrepreneurial hub is that the entrepreneurs in it aren't afraid to fail, dust themselves off and try again.Excerpt:With all their experience and hard work, the team at Boomdash LLC never expected that events beyond their control would dash their dreams.But this spring, the Ann Arbor-based search engine marketing firm closed its doors, a victim of the credit crisis and the severe downturn in advertising.Though the start-up firm had more than 60 customers and was working with eight independent telephone directory publishers, it needed more money to build its business.Read the rest of the story here.

Molded Materials consolidates operations in Saline
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Community Development
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July 22, 2009

Molded Materials is casting a new die in Saline. The advanced materials technology company is consolidating its operations in the city southwest of Ann Arbor thanks largely to a tax break approved by the state."It keeps us in Michgan, basically," says Tom Elkington, chief operating officer of Molded Materials. "It was the tipping point for keeping us in Michigan."The state tax credit totals $420,388 over seven years and will result in hiring 29 people within the next five years, on top of its current staff of 45. Those jobs will come mainly from Molded Materials merging two of three plants in Saline, investing $2.9 million. It's Plymouth operation will also remain, but Saline will be the center of growth for Molded Materials."This community is very open and willing to work with companies to help them grow," Elkington says.Molded Materials designs, engineers and manufactures advanced composite components for a wide variety of industries.Source: Tom Elkington, chief operating officer of Molded MaterialsWriter: Jon Zemke

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