Events

Professional and Academic Development Seminar: How to Communicate Your Research Beyond Academia 1:00 pm - 2:30 pm March 12, 2010

The Office of the Vice President, Office of the Provost and the School of Medicine invite the campus community to attend the March 12 Professional and Academic Seminar, How to Communicate Your Research Beyond Academia. The seminar will be held from 1 to 2:30 pm in the Mazurek Education Commons, Margherio Family Conference Center on the School of Medicine campus.

Panelists will address how faculty can succinctly and effectively communicate their research to representatives of groups who may not be content experts, such as:

• The media

• Venture capitalists

• Government official or committees

• Funding agency officials

We expect that this will be a very interactive session among the panelists and participants who join us.

Moderator:

Dan Walz, Ph.D., Associate Dean for Research, School of Medicine, Wayne State University

Panelists:

Patricia Anstett, Medical Writer, Detroit Free Press

Terry Cross, Entrepreneurial Executive in Residence, School of Business Administration, Wayne State University

Harvey Hollins, III, Vice President, Government and Community Affairs, Wayne State University

David Kessel, Ph.D., Professor of Pharmacology, Wayne State University

Registration is required to assist with material preparation.

Ticket to the FastTrac 3:00 pm - 6:00 pm March 15, 2010

Entrepreneurs, mark your calendars! TechTown is giving entrepreneurs an opportunity to meet with advisors who help them select and enroll in the program best suited for their business goals. The March meeting will be held on the campus of Wayne County Community College.

Programs include:

• FastTrac, a practical hands-on business development program designed to help entrepreneurs hone the skills needed to create, manage and grow a successful business.

• SmartStart, TechTown’s business accelerator program for innovative startup companies, providing coaching, intensive practical sessions, small business loans and mentoring with skilled professionals to help you reach maximum profitability.

• Bizdom U, an entrepreneurial development program providing training, workspace to develop your business, funding, and incubation space after you launch the business. It starts with intense full-time business development for four months and continues to provide support after you launch the business. All of the services are provided at no cost if you are accepted.

• Shifting Gears, a five-month intensive program helping corporate workers adapt their knowledge and skill sets in order to transition into more competitive and effective professionals focused on small business growth.

… and more.

Who should attend: Entrepreneurs of all levels who are looking to grow or evolve their businesses.

Registration: To attend Ticket to the FastTrac, you must register online here. Due to extremely high demand and limited space, only those who have registered online will be admitted.

*Please note that though the event is from 3 to 6 p.m., attendees need to spend only 15 to 30 minutes with an advisor. Because many people arrive at 3 p.m., we encourage attendees to arrive after 4 p.m. to minimize their wait.

Don't miss the next step on your entrepreneurial adventure!

Ticket to the FastTrac open houses are a part of FastTrac to the Future, a three-year initiative to reshape Southeast Michigan’s economy by encouraging entrepreneurship and small businesses. Funded by the New Economy Initiative and created in partnership with the Kansas City-based Kauffman Foundation, FastTrac to the Future aims to create 1,200 startup companies in the next three years. TechTown, the Wayne State University research park and business incubator, is a key partner in the project, providing services and resources to empower and encourage entrepreneurs in Detroit.

Moving, Packing, Sorting, Stacking: Starting a Logistics and Supply Chain Management Company in Southeast Michigan 1:00 pm - 2:00 pm March 22, 2010

Starting a logistics and supply chain management company in Southeast Michigan and want to do it right? Don't miss this discussion with Mark Lundquist, President and CEO of Fulcrum Edge, about the many opportunities in logistics for entrepreneurs.

Lundquist will help you:

Understand how logistics companies can range from one-person, low-tech startup operations to high-tech, multimillion dollar major employers.
Learn about the different types of companies you can start in the logistics industry within your skill sets and funding capabilities.
Get introduced to the concept of starting your own business.
Learn why Michigan is absolutely the best state in which to launch a logistics company.
Find out how TechTown can help you launch your own business or help you transition from your current one into logistics.

Speaker: Mark Lundquist, President and CEO, Fulcrum Edge

About Mark Lundquist

Mark Lundquist is co-founder and CEO of Halberd Corporation (HALB: PK); founder and CEO of Fulcrum Edge, Inc. and founder and president of WebAxia, Inc. He spent 22 years in aerospace, automotive and high-tech manufacturing as an executive with Fortune 500-size companies. His management responsibilities included engineering, sales, marketing, program management, operations, integrated supply and commodity management.

Lundquist is a mentor to TechTown and Ann Arbor SPARK incubators and sits on the advisory boards for numerous firms. He is an adjunct instructor for the University of Michigan-Dearborn’s Graduate School of Management and holds a bachelor's degree in Mechanical Engineering from the University of Illinois in Champaign-Urbana.

Creative Business Forum 4:00 pm - 6:00 pm March 23, 2010

Arts IMPACT logo Hold the date!

Arts IMPACT Inc. announces the new Creative Business Forum for creative entrepreneurs. The inaugural meeting features Dominic Pangborn, founder and CEO of Pangborn Design, Ltd., and Benjamin Hall, a creative entrepreneur and owner of Russell Street Deli.

Arts IMPACT Inc. hosts this free quarterly forum designed for creative entrepreneurs to facilitate the exchange of information and provide networking opportunities for Detroit and Southeast Michigan’s creative sector. The Creative Business Forum is hosted in part by TechTown.

Arts IMPACT is an innovative, adaptive service oriented enterprise focused on the creative industries of Detroit and Southeast Michigan. By focusing on underserved, yet promising markets, Arts IMPACT specializes in providing services to social enterprise as well as creative sector businesses.

Dominic Pangborn is founder, president and CEO of Pangborn Design, Ltd., and his clients include Fortune 500 companies such as The Procter & Gamble Company, Audi of America and Pfizer. His talents steer the worlds of fashion, interiors, home accents, fine art and the graphic design industry. His art has been published in Playboy and exhibited across the U.S. and abroad. Pangborn has established his own highly successful fashion label, the Pangborn Design Collection, sold through upscale retailers including Saks Fifth Avenue. He has opened his own retail store in Michigan.

Ben Hall was educated at Bennington College in Vermont where he studied painting, printmaking and percussion. His interest in painting and drawing began in high school with Black and Mexican gang graffiti in California. Hall started a graffiti-based company selling spray paint nozzles, markers and inks, while also publishing and distributing graffiti magazines. He began sourcing rare Detroit dance and soul records that grew into an internet-based used record business and became Hello Records in Corktown, opening in 2007. Hall later purchased the Russell St. Deli in the Eastern Market with his partner Jason Murphy; they have increased sales by more than 35 percent in the last two years, despite the economic downturn.

Professional and Academic Development Seminar: Grant Proposal Review at the NIH and NSF 1:00 pm - 2:30 pm March 26, 2010

The Office of the Vice President for Research, Office of the Provost and the School of Medicine invite the campus community to attend the Professional and Academic Development (PAD) Seminar: Grant Proposal Review at the NIH and NSF on March 26th. This PAD seminar will provide information on how NIH and NSF proposals are reviewed. Attendees will see a “mock review session” on an actual NIH grant proposal, which simulates a grant review at an NIH study section. We will also hear from the PI, who will discuss how the grant was revised in response to the actual reviewers’ comments.

Attendees will hear from PIs who have successfully developed NSF proposals, and how they might have revised initial submissions that were not as successful. Examples of topics include:

• Research funded by the NSF and how it differs from research funded by the NIH

• Strategies to put together a successfully funded NSF proposal

• The range of advice, input and local reviews that PIs obtained prior to submitting their funded proposal

Moderator:

Christine Chow, Ph.D., Professor of Chemistry

Panelists:

John Klein, Professor of Mathematics

Guangzhao Mao, Professor of Chemical Engineering

Mary Kay Pflum, Associate Professor of Chemistry

Peter Hoffmann, Associate Professor of Physics and Astronomy

Avraham Raz, Paul Zuckerman Professor of Oncology, Pathology and Radiation Oncology

Melissa Runge-Morris, Acting Director, Institute for Environmental Health Sciences

Registration is required to assist with material preparation.