It’s official: Michigan State University (MSU) beat out several top nuclear science locations around the country for the new, U.S. Department of Energy Office of Science-funded, $550 million Facility for Rare Isotope Beams (FRIB).

FRIB will provide intense beams of rare isotopes—short-lived atomic nuclei not normally found on Earth—that will enable researchers to address leading-edge questions in nuclear structure and nuclear astrophysics.

MSU’s National Superconducting Cyclotron Laboratory (NSCL) has been recognized as a world leader in rare isotope science and has produced research that has led to important breakthroughs in medicine, materials research, national security and physics.

"This is a great day for science,” says MSU President Lou Anna K. Simon. “We are grateful to the Department of Energy’s commitment to address this critical priority for the nation's physical sciences research infrastructure, and we are proud to have been selected as a partner. We are deeply dedicated to working with the Department of Energy’s Office of Science to develop an exceptional user facility serving the needs of national and international scientists."

Conceptual designs for the new facility will be created this year. Construction is expected to take up to 10 years. The facility will attract top researchers from around the world to conduct experiments in nuclear science, astrophysics and applications of isotopes to other fields.

The facility is expected to bring $1 billion in economic activity and 400 jobs to Michigan, according to an analysis by the Anderson Economic Group.

The NCSL facility will also get an upgrade, including a new, low-energy linear accelerator for nuclear astrophysics experiments and a 10,000-square-foot expansion of the experimental area. The upgrade should be complete by the summer of 2010.

For more information on the NCSL, click here.

Source: MSU

Ivy Hughes, development news editor, can be reached here. 

All Photographs © Dave Trumpie

A $2.2 million federal grant will help Michigan State University’s (MSU) College of Human Medicine engage students in the medical field before they reach college.

The federal Health Resources and Services Administration funded the three-year grant, which will pay for the creation of the Health Professions Achievement Pathway Alliance. The alliance will help engage elementary and high school students who are interested in medicine in health and science related activitiesbefore they decide to continue their education.

Specific programs will target middle and high school students, pre-health professions students enrolled in Michigan colleges and universities, post baccalaureate pre-medical students and disadvantaged students who are enrolled in MSU’s College of Human Medicine.

Alliance members include MSU’s colleges of Human Medicine and Natural Science, the Lansing School District, the Ingham Intermediate School District and three community-based organizations: the Black Child and Family Institute, the Cristo Rey Community Center and the Greater Lansing African American Health Institute.

Source: MSU

Ivy Hughes, development news editor, can be reached here.

The Michigan National Resources Trust Fund (NRTF) approved a $1.98 million allocation for the acquisition of 120 acres of land that will expand Lake Lansing North Park.

The community’s played a huge role in getting funds for this expansion. The Meridian Township Land Preservation Advisory Board provided $675,000; Ingham County supplied $25,000 and the community raised $150,000. 

The Preserve Lake Lansing Trails Committee and the Friends of Ingham County Parks, raised more than $150,000 from more than 1,000 donors in five short months. Matching funds for the grant had to be raised before the grant could be awarded.

 “Kudos to the entire Preserve Lake Lansing Trails group for their tremendous commitment and determination,” says Ingham County Commissioner Deb Nolan.

The land will be jointly developed by Meridian Township and Ingham County.

“This property was overwhelmingly identified by Land Preservation Advisory Board members as the most unique in the county with the most exceptional natural features,” says Mary Helmbrecht, Meridian Township Clerk   The current property owner, HDI Builders, has allowed Ingham County Parks to use a portion of the property for the Lake Lansing Park North trail system at no cost since the 1980s.

Source: Deb Bavery, Ingham County Parks

Ivy Hughes, development news editor, can be reached here. 

Michigan State University (MSU) researchers are delving into the effect globalization has on remote communities.

The researchers are using a $1 million National Science Foundation (NSF) grant to conduct a five-year study of “globalization from the perspective of households,” says principal investigator Dan Kramer, an assistant professor in the Department of Fisheries and Wildlife and James Madison College.

The study focuses on a group of villages on the Caribbean Mosquito Coast of Nicaragua. It wasn’t until 2007 that a road was completed to connect the coast to Managua, Nicaragua’s capital. The group will study the road’s effects on household resource use, farming and fishing, through comparisons to baseline data collected before the road was built.

Kramer says other studies have focused on globalization’s effects on nations or regions, but have ignored the “really complex set of drivers,” such as market access, technological change and migration between communities that cause changes in households.

Kramer said the group has already observed changes in the villagers’ attitudes about development. Initially they were excited, but are now exhibiting some apprehension about spinoff developments.

Source: MSU

Ivy Hughes, development news editor, can be reached here. 

The Greater Lansing Area Clean Cities Coalition (GLACC) received $15,750 from the Michigan Energy Office to promote clean transportation vehicle technologies, fuels and practices.

“The goal is to speed up the adoption of alternatives to petroleum in the transportation sector,” says Maggie Striz-Calnin, program coordinator for the GLACC.

The GLACC works to achieve cleaner air and energy security in the Capital region through alternative fuel and vehicle usage, and fuel economy practices.  Stakeholders include fleets, corporations, nonprofit organizations, utilities, local governments, and individuals—anyone interested in ways that cleaner fuels, vehicles, and practices can improve our air quality and energy security.

The GLACC is creating a three-year strategic plan that will help develop and implement programs that will increase alternative fuel availability. The GLACC is also planning a workshop series called “Greening your Fleet” to help fleet managers increase fuel economy and reduce emissions.

“The result for the region is improved air quality and reduced dependence on petroleum fuels,” says Striz-Calnin.

The GLACC grant will be used in Ingham, Clinton and Eaton Counties. The Michigan Energy Office awarded six grants totaling $89,184 for four Clean Cities Coalitions.

Source: Maggie Striz-Calnin, GLACC

Ivy Hughes, development news editor, can be reached here.

Justin Caine recently moved his media production company into the East Lansing Technology Innovation Center.

Caine owns Good Time Communications, a media production and graphic design company he started in February 2008.

“This place is great,” Caine says of the Technology Innovation Center, which is located above Barnes & Noble on Michigan Avenue in downtown East Lansing. “It’s so inexpensive, yet it provides services that would cost large amounts of money somewhere else.”

The City of East Lansing works with tech-based entrepreneurs to provide low cost rent while they get their business started.

Caine specializes in working with nonprofit groups and has created several productions for Lansing-based Sparrow Hospital.

Caine is a Children’s Miracle Network survivor who struggled with a brain tumor when he was a child.  He says working with nonprofits allows him to give back.

“Not only do I feel completed to provide top quality video production and graphic design, but I’ve also been there and had my struggles as a kid,” Caine says.

Source: Justin Caine, Good Times Communications

Ivy Hughes, development news editor, can be reached here.

The Friends of Ingham County Parks group has raised $150,000 for a  new parks acquisition project, estimated at $2.5 million to $3 million in total cost.

The $150,000 raised supports the Ingham County Parks Department’s purchase of 120 acres of privately owned property that’s adjacent to Lake Lansing Park North.

The 120-acre purchase adds to the existing 410 acres in the park. The acquisition of this land is part of a 30-year plan to increase park acreage in Ingham County.

In the 1970s, Ingham County only had 250 acres of parkland. Now the county has roughly 1,500 acres of parkland.

The $150,000 will also help pay a portion of the matching funds the county will have to meet if awarded a Michigan Natural Resources Trust Fund grant. Ingham County should get word on the grant by early December.

“We are still getting donations, even though we’ve met the goal,” says Karen Fraser with the Friends of Ingham County Parks.

Meridian Township and Ingham County will also provide matching funds for the pending Michigan Natural Resources Trust Fund grant.

Source: Karen Fraser, Friends of Ingham County Parks

Ivy Hughes, development news editor, can be reached here.

The East Lansing Art Festival (ELAF) received a $12,000 grant from the State of Michigan Council for Arts and Cultural Affairs (MCACA) to help with costs associated with the 2009 festival.

The annual ELAF takes place in the spring and features more than 200 exhibiting artists, free live music, a hands-on children’s arts activity area, and an international food court.

The ELAF was one of more than 300 organizations that applied for the grant. Both in-state and out-of-state culture and arts professionals reviewed the applications.

MCACA grant recipients include organizations that advance the state’s creative, economic and cultural environments. Organizations that receive a MCACA grant must match the grant funds. The ELAF’s major sponsors include Ingham Regional Medical Center, Strathmore Development Company, Summit Community Bank, AP Capital, MagazineLine.com and CiesaDesign.

Source: Mikell Frey, City of East Lansing

Ivy Hughes, development news editor, can be reached here.

The Motorola Foundation gave Michigan state University (MSU) $75,000 to introduce middle and high school teachers to innovative engineering concepts.

“MSU’s College of Engineering has been increasingly active in curriculum development, summer programs, and after-school, in-school and weekend robotics competitions during the past eight years,” says Drew Kim, assistant to the dean for recruitment and K-12 outreach in the College of Engineering. 

The grant will specifically fund the Research Experience for Teachers, a program that immerses middle and high school teachers and students in engineering design projects.

The funding will also give the teachers and students access to MSU’s annual Design Days. Every semester, MSU engineering students show off their innovative research projects during Design Days. Many of the projects have practical, real-world implications.

“This experience will provide teachers with tools to inspire future students to pursue engineering degrees and excite our next generation of thinkers so they will consider studying engineering,” Kim says.

Source: MSU

Ivy Hughes, development news editor, can be reached here. 

All Photographs © Dave Trumpie

Michigan State University (MSU) researchers have discovered a gene that helps regulate the heat stress response in plants, a discovery that could allow for the creation of crop varieties that will flourish in warmer, drier climates.

The bZIP28 gene helps regulate heat stress response in Arabidopsis thaliana, which is a member of the mustard family that’s used as a model plant for genetic studies.

"We also found that bZIP28 was responding to signals from the endoplasmic reticulum (ER), which is the first time the ER has been shown to be involved with the response to heat," says Robert Larkin, MSU assistant professor of biochemistry and molecular biology and corresponding author of the paper. "We're finding that heat tolerance is a more complex process than was first thought."

The researchers had been looking for genes tied to cell membranes that turn other genes on and off. These membrane-tethered gene switches are seen in animals, but hadn't been studied in great detail in plants.

"The bZIP28 protein is anchored in the endoplasmic reticulum, away from its place of action," says Christoph Benning, MSU professor of biochemistry and molecular biology and a member of the research team. "But when the plant is stressed by heat, one end of bZIP28 is cut off and moves into the nucleus of the cell where it can turn on other genes to control the heat response. Understanding how the whole mechanism works will be the subject of more research."

Plants with an inactive bZIP28 gene die as soon as temperatures reach a certain level, but the research could help create plants that would flourish in warmer temperatures.

The research was presented in the Oct. 6 issue of the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.

Source: MSU

Ivy Hughes, development news editor, can be reached here.

Both the state and the federal government are putting money behind a cellulosic fuel project that Michigan State University’s (MSU) is helping to facilitate in the Upper Peninsula.

The U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) designated $26 million for Mascoma Corporation’s Kinross project, and the State of Michigan set aside $23.5 million for the project.

Mascoma Corporation is building a cellulosic fuel facility in Kinross, which is in the UP’s Chippewa County.

“Michigan is proud to partner with Mascoma as part of our commitment to lead the nation in alternative energy production,” says Gov. Jennifer Granholm about the announcement. “This company and their partners will create jobs in Michigan as they develop the next generation of cellulosic ethanol that will reduce our dependence on foreign oil and make fuel more affordable for our families.”

MSU researchers will help Mascoma develop scientific processes that will utilize Michigan feedstock for cellulosic ethanol production. The university will also help the corporation figure out where the best resources are and how to most effectively get them to the planned site.

Source: Megan Brown, State of Michigan

Ivy Hughes, development news editor, can be reached here.

Michigan State University (MSU) is one of several universities that will form an institute to improve the national support network for abused children.

The U.S. Children’s Bureau gave participating schools $16.5 million over five years to create the National Child Welfare Workforce Institute. The Institute is charged with developing a more stable and skilled social worker workforce to better help abused children and their families.

Turnover among child-welfare workers is fairly high, ranging from 30 to 60 percent a year, according to Gary Anderson, director of MSU’s School of Social Work. In Michigan, this presents a particular problem because 40 percent of the public child-welfare leaders are eligible for retirement in the next five years.

“The federal government has basically said there is a crisis and they have to find a way to help states recruit, retain and prepare workers and leaders for the child-welfare system,” says Anderson, who is also the lead MSU investigator for the Institute.

The University of Albany, State University of New York will serve as the Institute’s hub. The National Indian Child Welfare Association and the universities of Denver, Fordham, Iowa, Michigan, North Carolina and Southern Maine will also participate.

Source: MSU

Ivy Hughes, development news editor, can be reached here.

Michigan State University (MSU) is in the middle of a multi-year effort to make 112 campus buildings greener.

The Be Spartan Green program started in 2006 with a pilot project in the oncology wing of MSU’s Veterinary Medical Center. The Be Spartan Green Team evaluated and addressed 104 deficiencies in the building. The improvements made to the oncology wing of the vet med center resulted in about $15,000 in savings.

“We did a small test case in veterinarian oncology and made the case that we need to do this in all our buildings on campus, says Lynda Boomer, energy and environmental engineer at MSU.

Jason Vallance supervises the team that will evaluate the 112 buildings. The team wants to evaluate 71 Federal Fund buildings, 31 Housing and Food Services buildings, four athletic complexes and six auxiliary facilities over the next five years.  The effort will consist of more than 20 million square feet of building systems analysis and was initiated last May.

“We’re in the process now and we’re just getting up to speed,” Vallance says.

The team just finished preliminary analysis of Erickson Hall, started the Plant and Soil Science building and the International Center, and is gathering documentation to start work on the Hannah Administration building, as the Radiology and Biochemistry facility.

Source: Terry Link, MSU

Ivy Hughes, development news editor, can be reached here.

Good news surrounding the grand opening of the Technology Innovation Center in downtown East Lansing hardly stopped at the fact that the city now has a tech incubator. That tech incubator is also 90 percent full.

Of the 15 full offices in the incubator, 14 are occupied. Three of the eight single cubicles are also occupied.

“This is off to a tremendous start and we know this will continue,” says East Lansing Mayor Victor Loomis.

The incubator gives start-up companies access to a low-rent, shared creative space. The incubator was constructed with company expansion in mind. The companies in the incubator have the option to expand into 25,000 square feet of space.

“They can be the core for something much larger, much greater, but they need to start small,” says Michigan State University (MSU) President Lou Anna K. Simon. Simon says an added bonus is that MSU professors know they’ll have a resource for their spin off companies.

The companies in the incubator included high-tech companies, homeland security companies and creative groups.

The center had its grand opening Oct. 28. The center is on the third floor of the 325 E. Grand River Ave. building.

Source: Mikell Frey, City of East Lansing

Ivy Hughes, development news editor, can be reached here. 

All Photographs © Dave Trumpie

The National Institutes of Health (NIH) has given $57 million to Michigan State University (MSU) so the university can continue participating in the National Children’s Study.

The National Children’s Study monitors the health of more than 100,000 children from birth to age 21. 

“This is the largest human health study ever undertaken,”says Nigel Paneth, MSU professor of epidemiology, and pediatrics and human development and the project’s principal investigator. “By following children from before birth and studying their environment, we will be able to seek out ways to prevent many of the diseases children now suffer from.” 

Researchers also strive to find the causes of ailments such as autism, cerebral palsy and asthma. The new funds will allow MSU to monitor children in Genesee, Grand Traverse, Lenawee and Macomb Counties.

The project will follow about 1,000 participants in each of the five counties to study the environmental influences that affect them, including toxins, nutrition, physical living conditions and socioeconomic factors, Paneth says.

MSU received $18.5 million last fall to complete similar research in Wayne County.

Source: MSU

Ivy Hughes, development news editor, can be reached here.

In an effort to encourage bilingual learners, the City of East Lansing has added a Spanish immersion course to its Bailey Community Center.

The course is for 3 to 4-year old preschool students who will spend half of their day immersed in English and half of the day immersed in Spanish. The program made its debut in September.

“The City of East Lansing is committed to offering a wide range of programs for the changing needs of our community,” says Julie Anne Jennings with the Bailey Community Center, which also offers a Chinese immersion class for preschoolers.

“The increasing demand in our community for early language acquisition has led to the creation of the innovative and interactive Spanish Immersion Preschool program. Building on the enormous success of our Chinese Immersion Preschool program, we are excited to introduce this new program to community members.”

Source: Mikell Frey, City of East Lansing 

Ivy Hughes, development news editor, can be reached here.

The Capital Area Transportation Authority (CATA) set a new ridership record with 11.3 million rides between October 1, 2007 and September 30, 2008.

The 11.3 million riders represent a 5.8 percent increase from last year’s numbers, and mark a 37-year high for CATA.

“We are doing all we can to meet the growing demand for public transportation,” says Sandy Draggoo, CATA's director.  “Regular customers are using CATA for more trips than in the past. Many work commuters started using CATA services to save money when gas prices rose. We are working hard to stretch our resources to meet this growing demand.” 

More than 623,000 trips were taken on CATA buses.

The most significant growth this past year occurred in urban routes throughout the region. September 2008 ridership of 1,250,878 broke all of CATA’s monthly ridership records. 

In that month alone, customers took 156,783 more rides compared to the same month in 2007.

Average CATA weekday ridership in September 2008 was 53,000 system-wide.

Voters will soon be asked to cast a vote on CATA’s request for a .787 mill increase. For a home valued at $100,000 this equals $39.35 a year.

Source: Pat Gilbert, CATA

Ivy Hughes, development news editor, can be reached here. 

All Photographs © Dave Trumpie

The Michigan Public Service Commission (MPSC) has given a $1.5 million energy efficiency grant to Michigan State University’s Department of Biosystems and Agricultural Engineering to develop small scale manure-to-energy systems.

“We are trying to development a manure management system,” says Wei Liao, assistant professor of biosystems and agriculture at MSU. “For the environment we want to solve the manure problem. At the same time we want to bring profit back to the farms.”

Liao says researchers want to use the methane gas generated from the manure to create electricity and heat for the system.

“We want to optimize the systems to develop a suitable animal manure management system for small to medium animal farms,” he says.

The idea is that farmers will be able to generate the bulk of their own heat and electricity, saving money and reducing environmental impact. “We had to create some revenue source, otherwise the farmers will not be interested in it,” Liao says.

The grant will help pay for an on-campus facility where the researchers can continue their research.

Source: Michigan Public Service Commission

Ivy Hughes, development news editor, can be reached here.

Comprehensive Emergency Management Associates (CEMA) has enjoyed consistent growth since it opened four years ago, with revenues doubling every year.

“Our projections are just as good for 2009,” says Tom Shaver, with CEMA. “We already have revenue equal to this year secured.”

CEMA is a full service emergency management consulting firm that helps prepare businesses for emergency situations. CEMA does 80 percent of its business in Michigan, but also works in Ohio, Minnesota and South Dakota.

Shaver says increased awareness of emergency needs and the booming Homeland Security industry have helped his company grow.

For most of CEMA’s existence, Shaver and his business partner ran the business, hiring roughly 20 subcontractors to help. But, they’ve grown so much in 2008 that they just hired a fifth full-time employee.

The company, which has operated as a home-based business for years, just moved to East Lansing’s Technology Innovation Center. CEMA has three office suites in the center.

“We really like the downtown location,” Shaver says. “The price was really nice and we can stay there for three years. The synergy of being around other young growing technology businesses meant a lot to us.”

Source: Tom Shaver, CEMA

Ivy Hughes, development news editor, can be reached here.

A group of investors calling themselves Battle Creek Unlimited (BCU) is preparing to invest in roughly 20 Michigan-based homeland security-based companies over the next 10 years.

BCU is the initial investor for the Michigan Homeland Security Resource Fund (HLSRF), which was created in cooperation with the Michigan Homeland Security Consortium (MIHSC).

“As investors we’re looking for the best companies with the best ideas that are the most likely to succeed and most likely to create the biggest payback for the owners,” says Dale Grogan with BCU.

Grogan says the group is looking for Michigan homeland security-based startups that are pre-revenue.

“It’s not quantified by region,” Grogan says. “We’re going to invest in 20 companies and every single company could be in Ingham County, though that’s not likely.”

The MIHSC is taking applications right now. Grogan says they hope to choose the companies within the first five years of the fund’s lifetime.

“The Consortium said, ‘There’s no real Silicon Valley right now for homeland security anywhere in the country so why not Michigan?’” he says.

Grogan says the investor’s relationship with MIHSC, a trade organization, is critical to the state’s efforts to foster a business climate for an industry that’s growing by 20 percent annually.

Source: Julie Metea, Battle Creek Unlimited

Ivy Hughes, development news editor, can be reached here.