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May 24, 2013

Wayne Law students to intern with international businesses

Four Wayne State University law students will spend this summer as interns exploring the world of international business and law. Their placements around the globe are made possible by W...

Ballgame fundraiser honors legacy of public interest attorney

Ten years ago, friends of the late public interest attorney Mark Weiss, a 1969 alumnus of Wayne State University Law School, created a fundraiser to honor his legacy. Today, that event &...

May 23, 2013

National urban planning and community building experts to speak at Wayne State University

Can joy and happiness be used as catalysts for urban revitalization? The 2013 Van Dusen Urban Leadership Forum at Wayne State University will pair nationally renowned urban planning, creative and ...

WSU In The News

WSU's Tech Commercialization Office gets $820,000 grant from NEI , May 23, 2013

Wayne State University received notice of a $820,398 grant from the New Economy Initiative for Southeast Michigan (NEI) that will continue to support the Technology Commercialization Office’s efforts to expand and improve the university’s entrepreneurial culture and technology commercialization results. With this support from NEI, WSU will continue to expand the activities of its Technology Development Incubator to support the validation of early-stage technologies with significant commercial potential, increase licensing staff, and enhance marketing tools to create awareness of the availability of WSU intellectual property assets to industry and the venture capital community. “The grant from the NEI has allowed Wayne State to re-invent technology commercialization on our campus,” said Hilary Ratner, vice president for research at WSU. “It will allow us to translate innovative early-stage technologies from academia to the marketplace that ultimately will benefit our local economy through workforce development and job creation, growth of entrepreneurial enterprises, and attracting federal and venture funding to the region.” Joan Dunbar, associate vice president of technology commercialization at Wayne State said: “With the support of the NEI, we have been able to initiate new programs that are helping us grow our invention disclosures and facilitating a new pipeline of start-up company opportunities.”

Wayne State receives second year funding from the New Economy Initiative to build technology commercialization efforts, May 22, 2013

Wayne State University received notice of a $820,398 grant from the New Economy Initiative for Southeast Michigan (NEI) that will continue to support the Technology Commercialization Office’s efforts to expand and improve the university’s entrepreneurial culture and technology commercialization results. With this support from NEI, WSU will continue to expand the activities of its Technology Development Incubator to support the validation of early-stage technologies with significant commercial potential, increase licensing staff, and enhance marketing tools to create awareness of the availability of WSU intellectual property assets to industry and the venture capital community. “A key focus for the New Economy Initiative is to increase tech transfer and commercialization throughout the region, and Wayne State is central to those efforts,” said David O. Egner, executive director of the New Economy Initiative. “As a driver of innovation and new ideas ––from the Colleges of Engineering and Medicine to the College of Liberal Arts and Sciences –– Wayne State continues to produce intellectual property that ultimately leads to company and job creation. We're thrilled to support the university’s efforts to increase commercial outputs and entrepreneurial activity as a whole, while helping build an innovation corridor right here in Detroit that benefits the entire region.”

Reviving Detroit from the ground up, May 22, 2013

In an opinion piece, John Bare, vice president of the Arthur M. Blank Family Foundation and executive-in-residence at Georgia Tech's Institute for Leadership and Entrepreneurship wrote: “When others dismissed Detroit as a falling knife unworthy of investment, David Egner saw something else. Egner imagined Detroit regenerating from within, with damaged civic tissue repairing itself to foster new life and commerce. As president of a foundation named for a patriarch who emigrated to Michigan 130 years ago and immediately launched a business, he was in a position to test his idea. The secret, Egner figured, is harnessing the collective power of what he calls "anchor institutions": in this case, Wayne State University, Henry Ford Health System and Detroit Medical Center. Through what emerged as the Midtown Project, Egner's Hudson-Webber Foundation, alongside other funders, is finding ways to hitch the fortunes of these institutions to the fortunes of the surrounding neighborhoods.”

Dunbar named Wayne State's associate VP of tech commercialization, May 21, 2013

Hilary Ratner, vice president for research at Wayne State University, announced the appointment of Joan C. Dunbar as associate vice president of technology commercialization in the Division of Research. Her appointment comes after a competitive national search in which she emerged as the transformational leader the university sought. In 2012, Dunbar joined WSU’s Division of Research as interim associate vice president of technology commercialization. In just a year, Dunbar nearly doubled faculty invention disclosures, facilitated the pipeline of nine start-up opportunities with the anticipation of several companies launching in the near future, initiated a mentors-in-residence program, created an innovation fellows program, began the Technology Development Incubator, and strengthened partnerships with WSU’s TechTown. These significant achievements were powered by grant funds, projected to be $2.5 million over a three-year period that Dunbar secured from the New Economy Initiative (NEI). “The grant from the NEI has allowed Wayne State to re-invent technology commercialization on our campus,” said Ratner. “With the help of the NEI, Dr. Dunbar is re-energizing our faculty and students to translate their research in even more productive ways that benefit not only the university but the region, state and nation as well. Dr. Dunbar’s deep knowledge and experience will serve Wayne State and our faculty well as we advance the mission of the Wayne State’s Technology Commercialization Office.”

Grant lowers cost for hybrid academy, May 21, 2013

Students ages 14 and up interested in possible careers working with electric vehicles can attend a four-day academy at Macomb Community College to be held June 24-27 at MCC’s South Campus in Warren. The academy features an interactive workshop for those interested in cars and electronics and includes instruction in the principles of battery electric and other alternative-fuel vehicles. The CAAT is a collaboration between Macomb Community College and Wayne State University, designed to provide the spectrum of educational opportunities necessary to support and leverage the emerging alternative energy vehicles industry in southeast Michigan.

Wayne State family of grads profiled in Oakland Press feature, May 20, 2013

Bloomfield Hills mother Sabrina Shields would never have thought she would be graduating from college at the same time as her daughter, and one semester after her stepson, but the timing just worked out that way. Sabrina, 52, along with her daughter, Raycene Nevils, 26, graduated from Wayne State University with master’s degrees in different subject areas. Nevils received her master of arts in language learning, with a certificate in peace and security, while Shield got her master of arts in teaching. Last December, Shields’ stepson, Stephen Shields, 25, also graduated with a bachelor of science in electrical engineering from Tuskegee University in Alabama.