In the News

An interesting piece on how our abundance of fresh water could be an economic reservoir in coming generations.


Excerpt:

"As growing water scarcity casts a shadow over the economic boom in warmer states, many in the long-scorned northlands are hoping they can finally make their abundance of freshwater a magnet for businesses and jobs that are now going elsewhere. The idea is either a perfect nexus of opportunity and timing, or— as some in the Sun Belt believe— just another longshot attempt by a cold and downtrodden region to reverse history.

In the eight Great Lakes states, organizations devoted to the venture are springing up, with headquarters, government grants and binders full of Power Points and five-year plans. Universities are establishing freshwater science and engineering programs, such as theUniversity of Michigan Water Center, a $9 million research and education center formed in October."

More here.

If this concept goes far enough, a prize-winning platform developed at U-M could be the Kickstarter for the medical community.

Excerpt:

"Crowd funding is all the rage these days, with everyone from charities to start-up companies offering ways for masses of people to kick in small amounts of money that together can make big things happen.

But could that concept work for medical research?

A University of Michigan Health System team wants to find out – and  they have just won a national prize  for their prototype of a web-based platform to do it."

More here.

It'll be high-stakes gardening at Detroit's Belle Isle if a Dexter landscaper/gardener's vision of tens, or even, hundreds, of thousands of the world's best gardeners duking it out over the roses comes true.

Excerpt:

"John Cullen, who owns Celtic Gardens in Dexter, wants to compete with other internationally known gardeners at Belle Isle in a "World Cup of Gardening."

"To take the beautiful assets, the architecture, the water front, the places that people already recognize and love... I would say, simply, goosebumps, when I think about Belle Isle and that venue," Cullen said.

More here.

The automotive intelligentsia is putting its money behind Monarch Antenna's latest wireless device

Excerpt:

"SAE Detroit Section, in concert with the MIT Enterprise Forum, Great Lakes chapter (MITEF) named Monarch Antenna Inc., a up-and-coming technology developer of smart, adaptive tunable antenna solutions to enhance vehicle wireless connectivity, the winner of their 2013 5th  annual Global automotive Competition. 'Our technology permits narrow-band antenna tuning over a wide frequency range so that a single antenna can replace multiple passive antennas in today’s connected vehicles' said Randy Dence, CEO of Monarch Antenna."

More here.

Michigan's mix of public and private investments in venture capital is garnering not only a jump in the VC stats (in one year it moved from 25th to 15th in national VC investment rankings), but also attention around the country.


Excerpt:

"In many ways, Michigan looks a lot like Wisconsin. It shares hundreds of miles of the same Great Lakes shoreline, and usually votes "blue" in presidential elections and "red" when it chooses governors and its state legislature. It also boasts major research universities that rank among the nation's best.

Unlike Wisconsin, however, Michigan began investing in its emerging economy years ago — even as the state’s automobile manufacturing base was teetering on the edge of collapse.

The success story of how Michigan has surged onto the national radar when it comes to venture capital investment in tech-based, "knowledge economy" companies should be instructive to Wisconsin policymakers as they prepare to vote on creating a state-leveraged fund."

More here.

In this Bridge magazine column, Concentrate's Natalie Burg dispels the popular misconception that the creative under-40 class is leaving Michigan as fast as it can.

Excerpt:

"Hi. I'm Natalie. I'm a self-employed writer, I'm 31, and, if you listen to the headlines, I don't exist. Like a centaur or a yeti, the well-educated, career-driven, creative-class Millennial like myself is not found in the wild here in Michigan. Supposedly, we've all left or are desperately attempting to do so.

Surprise! Not only am I a Michigander by choice (seriously, my husband is a musician; we could literally be anywhere), I get offended when people ask why we're "still here." I try to break it down as simply as I can for them: I know Michigan's challenges as well as anyone, but I love it here, and I know – not think,  know  – we're on our way back."

More here.

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.

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.

Artists, crafters, builders and techies, activate! The Mini Maker Faire on June 8 is your chance.

Excerpt:

A "maker" can be a lot of different things. A tech geek builds robots. An enthusiast builds a ham radio. An artist creates something brand new out of recycled objects. People enjoy all sorts of DIY pursuits. The common thread is the impulse to flex creative muscles, invent, and produce.

"I think the maker movement is broad enough to encompass all of it," says Emily Puckett Rodgers, a spokesperson for the A2 Geeks and their 5th annual Mini Maker Faire. This year dozens of exhibitors, a lineup of speakers, and thousands of event attendees will convene at Washtenaw Community College's Morris Lawrence Building on June 8.

More here. 

And the Oscar goes to...

Excerpt:

"The Academy of Motion Picture Arts & Sciences has selected a University of Michigan graduate's undergrad thesis film (Perry Janes' "Zug") as one of 15 winners in this year's  Student Academy Awards  competition. This is the first time in the history of the Student Academy Awards (which began in 1972) that a film by a U-M student has won.

Janes, who grew up in different parts of metro Detroit (most recently Royal Oak), based "Zug" on a short story he’d written about two young men who are dared by classmates to visit mysterious Zug Island.

"That's the coming of age, narrative, literal story of the film," Janes said. "The thematic idea of the film is that Detroit is a really polarizing place that people talk about in terms of extremes, when the reality of the place is … that these are regular people just living in the city, living their lives. These are two boys who, by virtue of having one foot in the city, one foot outside of it, get sucked into those mythic narratives. And then Zug becomes an allegory for testing them, and affirming the maybe more comforting reality underneath the way that people talk about (Detroit)."

More here.