An MSU physician is testing a new theory that may lead to better therapies for the treatment of Parkinson’s disease.

John Goudreau, director of MSU’s Translational Neurobiology Research Unit, has received a $1.5 million grant from the National Institutes of Health. He’ll use the funding to study whether a protein known as parkin could help the human body fight off the damage caused by Parkinson’s.

“Parkinson’s is a progressive disease, and much of the research has been focused on slowing that progression by preventing cell injury and death,” Goudreau says. “But we are looking at why some neurons in the brain are able to fight off the disease through a unique ability to revive after being hit with an injury that kills other cells.”

Goudreau has been studying Parkinson’s at MSU for 10 years. He holds appointments in MSU’s departments of Neurology and Pharmacology/Toxicology in the College of Osteopathic Medicine.

“Understanding how parkin promotes recovery from injury may allow us to provide cells injured in Parkinson’s disease the necessary tools to survive,” he says.

Source: John Goudreau, MSU

Writer: Louise Knott Ahern

America’s high-tech future demands that more young people today get excited about science and technology.

Which is the thinking behind a $60,200 grant from the Motorola Foundation which will allow Michigan State University to bring in underrepresented students from Lansing and Detroit to participate in a robotics building competition.

MSU’s uG9-12 Robotics Competition-Driven Mentoring Program received Motorola’s Innovation Generation grant, the fourth year the MSU College of Engineering has received the funding.

The grant will allow MSU to pair 20 first- and second-year engineering undergraduates with high school students in schools with predominantly African American and Hispanic students, as well as an all-girls high school.

“It is a service learning opportunity for our students, and it gets the high school kids excited about a future in engineering,” says Drew Kim, assistant to the dean for recruitment and K-12 outreach in the College of Engineering.

The Motorola Foundation is the philanthropic arm of Motorola.

Source: MSU College of Engineering

Writer: Louise Knott Ahern

Michigan’s public research universities are helping to fuel an advanced manufacturing base in the state, a fact that could position Lansing for a high-tech future, according to a report issued last week.

More than two-thirds of Michigan’s manufacturing jobs today are considered high-tech, the report by the University Research Corridor states.

The URC is a joint effort by Michigan State University, the University of Michigan and Wayne State University to align their resources to transform Michigan’s economy.

The report was prepared by East Lansing’s Anderson Economic Group. Among the study’s findings: a third of the research and testing jobs in the Midwest are based in Michigan, and advanced manufacturing jobs fared better in the economic downturn than traditional manufacturing jobs.

Because of the Lansing region’s connections with MSU, the area will benefit in the long run economically, says Jeff Mason, URC executive director.

“You're seeing a greater recognition of the role that MSU and the other research institutions play in benefiting the economy of our local areas,” Mason says. “Not only by leveraging the research strength of these universities, but also through the brainpower that exists in their faculty and students.”

Mason points to the success of Lansing’s Niowave, Inc. as a case-in-point. The company was founded by Terry Grim, an MSU professor who has spent 13 years working in MSU’s National Superconducting Cyclotron Laboratory.

Source: University Research Corridor

Writer: Louise Knott Ahern

A Korea-based corporation has pledged to invest at least $1 million in an East Lansing company that’s an off-shoot of research at Michigan State University.

The agreement between Hanwha Group and XG Sciences will allow the local company to increase production of a nano-sized material called xGnP graphene nanoplatelets.

The material was discovered and developed by MSU chemical engineering professor Lawrence Drzal and can be used to strengthen the properties of natural graphite.

“Graphite is a very cheap mineral and has a lot of attractive properties,” Drzal says. “It’s very lightweight, very stiff, and it doesn’t burn. But if you look at the structure of graphite, it looks like a stack of dishes. The forces that hold the layers of graphite together are very weak.

“So the thought that occurred to us was if we could produce these individual layers of graphite, then all those desirable properties of graphite could go into whatever we added it to. That was the basis of the work.”

Drzal and his partner in XG Sciences, Mike Knox, currently produce 25 pounds of the material every day from a refurbished plant in Lansing. The new funding will allow the company to eventually produce as much as 1,000 pounds a day, Drzal said.

Source: Professor Lawrence Drzal, MSU

Writer: Louise Knott Ahern

Lansing-based web-hosting giant Liquid Web has unveiled a new product feature that will give its customers greater control over their own IT destinies.

Called Storm Bare Metal, the new technology does two things, says Travis Stoliker, director of marketing.

First, it creates an automated system that allows Liquid Web customers to make changes to their own server accounts – such as how much server space they need at any given time – without going through a technician.

Second, it allows customers to create their own personalized server configurations, depending on their IT needs.

“There are several things that led us in this direction,” Stoliker says. “First would be customer demand; the next would be efficiency. Now, we have this provision server that can automatically set up new servers; before, it would take the five to 10 people on our team to do that.”

Liquid Web, Inc. is a web hosting company founded in 1997. It now has more than 20,000 clients in 120 countries.

Source: Travis Stoliker, Liquid Web, Inc.

Writer:  Louise Knott Ahern

Looking for a place to eat, shop or hang out in Lansing? You can now just check your phone.

The Greater Lansing Convention and Visitors Bureau has launched a mobile application for iPhone or Blackberry that allows you to plan and map out your trip with a few thumb strikes.

GLCVB is the first in the state to offer such an application, said Tracy Padot, vice president of marketing communications.

The Greater Lansing app offers many of the same search-and-find functions of the organizations website, including information about festivals, businesses, hotels and attractions. It will also feed into the bureau’s live Twitter feeds.

“It uses GPS technology,” Padot explains. “So let’s say you clicked on shopping. . . You would get [info about] shops near your location. You would get a photo and a description. And if you wanted to figure out how to get to them, you could map it out.”

The application is available as a free download from www.lansing.org or from iTunes.

An app for Droid users should be available by fall.

Source: Tracy Padot, Greater Lansing Convention & Visitors Bureau

Writer: Louise Knott Ahern

Fresh off the success of its first YouthBuild home renovation collaboration, the Ingham County Land Bank is now partnering with another nonprofit to train local workers in a new skill necessary for rebuilding older neighborhoods.

The Land Bank and the Michigan Historic Preservation Network are offering a two-week workshop to teach craftspeople the art of historic window preservation beginning July 26.

Participants will learn how to repair and rehabilitate wooden, double-hung windows in older homes while also helping renovate a Land Bank property.

Project coordinators say the project – which is based on a similar program in Kalamazoo – brings two benefits to the community.

First, craftspeople will gain new skills they can put to use in the job market.

Second, there will now be more people with the knowledge necessary to rebuild aging homes in neighborhoods that could be important to regional revitalization.

“Many of these targeted neighborhoods contain buildings that are older and historic,” Land Bank chair Eric Schertzing says in a statement. “Many of these buildings, both commercial and residential, will require rehabilitation to remain functional and efficient properties.”

For more information about the class, visit the MHPN’s website at www.mhpn.org

Source: Ingham County Land Bank

Writer: Louise Knott Ahern

An East Lansing technology company has beaten out 84 companies statewide for a $100,000 prize for the strength of its business plan.

InPore Technologies, which was founded by MSU chemistry professor Tom Pinnavaia, received the Great Lakes Entrepreneur’s Quest (GLEQ) SmartZone Award in June. The contest recognizes companies for their business plans, management skills and fund-raising abilities.

InPore is a Lansing regional SmartZone company—part of a regional effort to foster high-tech businesses and reshape Michigan’s economy.

Regional officials say InPore is the perfect example of how MSU innovations can and will be the catalyst for a new economy.

“InPore is definitely one of the success stories,” said Jeff Smith, project manager for the East Lansing Technology Innovation Center (TIC). “This is exactly what the university is pushing hard for right now. They want to take faculty and staff efforts . . . and push them into the commercial market.”

InPore uses a technology invented by Pannavaia and patented by MSU to produce Silapore particles—sub-micron sized silica material that can be used to reinforce polymer-based products. The company is currently testing the particles for use in wind turbine blades.

Pannavaia is also the founder of Claytec, Inc., which seeks solutions to problems in chemical industries.

Source: Jeff Smith

Writer: Louise Knott Ahern

Red Cedar Technologies, an East Lansing software design and consulting company, has welcomed two new members to its leadership team who bring a combined 50 years of high-tech business experience to the growing local technology company.

Angelo Flemings is the new director of business development, a role in which he will call on his more than 25 years of experience in software, design and the engineering and testing of computer hardware.

Flemings has held sales, marketing and executive positions at a variety of companies, including MSC Software, Hewlett-Packard and General Motors.

The company has also announced the election of a new chairman of its Board of Directors.

Robert Ryan, chairman and CEO of AboutGolf, Ltd, was elected chairman of the Red Cedar Board in June. He brings with him 25 years of experience in the software industry. As previous president of Mechanical Dynamics, Inc., he led the company from start-up to more than $50 million in annual revenues.

Red Cedar Technologies offers design optimization software and consulting for a wide range of industries, including air travel, space exploration, cars and biomedical devices.

Source: JoAnne L. Bratten

Writer: Louise Knott Ahern

A team of researchers at Michigan State University (MSU) are celebrating a major federal grant to battle malaria in the Southern African nation of Malawi.

Terrie Taylor, an osteopathic physician and professor of internal medicine, will lead the team that received the $9.1 million grant from the National Institutes of Health’s National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases.

She and her team of other researchers will study several aspects of malaria treatment and prevention, including infected patients, malaria parasites and the mosquitoes that carry the parasites.

Taylor said the goal is to collect enough data to find ways to tailor treatment and prevention methods in different geographic locations.

“We will be able to tailor prevention and control strategies to specific seasons – dry and rainy – and to locations, highland and lowland, urban and rural,” Taylor said.

Malaria is one of the world’s deadliest diseases. In Malawi alone, 4.4 million cases were reported in a single year. Children are at the greatest risk. As many as one million die of the disease in sub-Saharan Africa every year.

Source: MSU University Relations

Writer: Louise Knott Ahern