metromode - In The News

United Way asks you what is most critical to this region

Thu, 18 Mar 2010 00:00:00 GMT

The United Way is focusing its resources on what they deem the three most critical issues facing our region today: Education, financial stability, and the basic needs of a family. However, those may not be up on your list and the United Way wants to know. So, what are the important issues to you and your family, and what do you believe are the most important for the region?

Let the United Way know by taking its Community Call-to-Action survey at www.zoomerang.com/Survey/?p=WEB22AAVV9FWMB.

Michael Moore, Jimmy Fallon gush about Michigan

Thu, 18 Mar 2010 00:00:00 GMT

That Jimmy Fallon, he sure does love Detroit (and Michigan). Earlier this year actor Michael Cera and he had a little discussion about Detroit and how good Slows was on his talk show. Now, though a bit more predictable, Fallon and Michael Moore discuss the great things coming out of our state, despite certain statistics.

Tax incentives: Music style

Thu, 18 Mar 2010 00:00:00 GMT

The film incentives seemed to work so well so why not apply them to the music industry, too? Well, that's the plan with these new tax credits for music makers.

Excerpt:

It makes for an enchanting vision: the revival of Detroit as a music-making capital, teeming with studios, session players, producers and smash hits.

With Michigan's newly revealed recording tax incentives, music lovers can only be intrigued by the prospect of restoring real enterprise -- and dollars -- to Detroit's legacy as one of the world's great music cities.

Amid thriving film production here, prompted by related tax credits, there's plenty of precedent for Michigan as a music hub. Indeed, from the historical point of view, a tax incentive for music is far more fitting than one for film.

Read the entire article here.

Dearborn has A-plus attractions

Thu, 18 Mar 2010 00:00:00 GMT

Not everyone and not always, but when you live in and around a certain area you tend to take it for granted. Think about England, do you think they stare at their castles all day long and say how amazing and beautiful they are? Probably not. And, maybe that's our Dearborn. There are some amazing things there that we could all pay more attention to.

Excerpt:

Dear Dearborn, thank you for an A-plus day. Sincerely, Phyllis and Dave.
I should write that note after Best-Ever Friend Dave and I visited Dearborn's Automotive Hall of Fame, 21400 Oakwood Boulevard, and the Arab American National Museum, 13624 Michigan Avenue, two grade-A gems.

The Automotive Hall of Fame was deserted except for us and the cashier who said people rarely visit even though it's located on the same campus as the Henry Ford Museum and Greenfield Village. They are missing a wonderful museum focusing on "The Driving Spirit," an engaging little boy from the introductory video, who then surprises with commentary throughout your visit.

Read the entire article here.

Taking the mystery out of muscles

Thu, 18 Mar 2010 00:00:00 GMT

What's the deal with muscles? Sounds like the beginning of a Jerry Seinfeld joke, doesn't it. Well, it's not. Some University of Michigan researchers asked that question, in a roundabout way. They were looking into the muscle building details of hormones. And they may have found it. To save you some of the scientific jargon, these details could help treat chronic muscle-deteriorating diseases as well as new ways in dealing with tumor growth.

Excerpt:

The team's findings, scheduled to be published online this week in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, could lead to new treatments for muscle-wasting diseases and new ways of preventing the muscle loss that accompanies aging.

And because IGFs also are implicated in the growth and spread of malignant tumors, the new insights may have implications in cancer biology.

Like other peptide and protein hormones, IGFs work by binding to receptors on the cells they target. The binding then sets off a cascade of reactions that ultimately direct the cell to do something. You might think that a given hormone, binding to a particular receptor, would always elicit the same response from the cell, but that's not what happens in the case of IGF and myoblasts (immature cells that develop into muscle tissue).

Read the entire article here.

Trade & Industry Development magazine awards Michigan's economic development successes

Thu, 18 Mar 2010 00:00:00 GMT

Mmmmm, validation. It's almost better than fresh baked cookies. From Wixom to Detroit to Van Buren (to name just a few), companies supported by the MEDC have been recognized by the Trade & Industry Development magazine for their economic development successes. State companies pulled in six of the 15 awards.

Excerpt:

Seven Michigan Economic Development Corp.-supported projects have been recognized in the fifth annual Trade & Industry Development magazine economic development awards competition, Gov. Jennifer Granholm said today in a statement.

The state also won third place in Site Selection magazine's annual Governor's Cup competition for major new corporate investments in 2009, according to the statement.

Read the entire article here.

Royal Oak studio putting comic book on the tube

Thu, 11 Mar 2010 00:00:00 GMT

The Royal Oak-based production firm PixoFactor is taking Dare Comics' acclaimed comic The Hunter from the pages and putting it on the tube, DVDs, and making an interactive downloadable game. All in a days work, eh?

Excerpt:

England's Dare Comics has announced that its critically acclaimed comic, The Hunter, is to be produced as a nine episode motion comic series by the Royal Oak production company PixoFactor.

PixoFactor is also developing a downloadable interactive game based on The Hunter, which will be released alongside the motion comic.

Details of the game aren't being publicly released, but PixoFactor president Sean Hurwitz said that "The Hunter has a unique set of powers that have enabled us to incorporate some stunning gameplay. Linking the game to the motion comic series is going to allow us to do things the world has never seen before."

Read the entire article here.

Michigan fares well when it comes to small business assistance

Thu, 11 Mar 2010 00:00:00 GMT

Different states are taking different approaches to promoting and assisting small businesses. In Michigan, through the Michigan Small Business and Technology Center and the Kauffman Foundation, the training and retraining of laid-off workers seems to be filling a void.

Excerpt:

Last June, the Michigan Small Business and Technology Center began to train laid-off workers to start new ventures.

So far, 527 people have taken the course, which the center offers in partnership with the Ewing Marion Kauffman Foundation. To date, 160 people in the Michigan program have introduced new business ventures, and more than 125 owners of existing businesses have enrolled in separate courses to bolster their chances of surviving. Another 1,000 would-be entrepreneurs are expected to complete the program this year.

The unemployed workers, many laid off from the auto industry, come to the program with an idea for a small business and must search for capital on their own. The program, said a spokeswoman, Jennifer Deamud, "preps the company for a loan and makes connections for the owner."

Read the entire article here.

Ypsilanti firm helps Massachusetts entrepreneurs create dry erase paint

Thu, 11 Mar 2010 00:00:00 GMT

Who needs a dry erase board when you can just write on the wall, or the table, or the chair? The catch is that it's still all dry erase! A couple of mad scientists - A.K.A. entrepreneurs - thought about a world where dry erase board paint existed. They sought out to create it and found an Ypsi company to help them realize their dream.

Excerpt:

For three years, former classmates Morgen Newman, John Goscha and Jeff Avallon sought help from specialty paint and chemical coating laboratories. Two labs claimed it was impossible. Whiteboards are made using high-intensity ovens. IdeaPaint needed something that could be applied with a roller in a single coat. That wasn't going to happen, the scientists said.

The young entrepreneurs refused to believe it. "Our joke was, if we could put a man on the moon, we can make dry-erase paint," says Newman, 25.

Then they found CAS-MI Laboratories in Ypsilanti, Mich., where the scientists were willing to give their plan a shot and even cover some of the development costs.

With the help of $1 million from family, friends and a few angel investors, the group spent the next four years fine-tuning their recipe.

Read the entire article here.

Berkley named one of the most affordable suburbs in the nation

Thu, 11 Mar 2010 00:00:00 GMT

Driven through Berkley recently? No? Well Business Week has, and deems it one of the most affordable suburbs in the nation.

Excerpt:

This tree-lined neighborhood has several parks and a well-regarded school district�Newsweek ranked Berkley High School one of the best in the state a few years ago. Even with a high unemployment rate, activities for both adults and children are organized by local community groups and businesses, such as sports leagues, yoga classes, and ice skating lessons. The downtown area was revitalized in 2002 with bricked crosswalks, new sidewalks, and benches.

Read the entire article here.

Web site hopes to bring job boom to baby boomers

Thu, 11 Mar 2010 00:00:00 GMT

Do you remember where you were when JFK was shot? Were you laid off recently from a manufacturing job? Well the new web site, www.50plusprime.com, is just for you. It aims to pair baby boomers with online, non-credit courses to help out in the new economy.

Excerpt:

Online, non-credit courses with the LEARN program aim to help baby boomers laid off from manufacturing industry jobs answer that question, said University of Michigan professor Lynn Wooten, who helped to develop the program's curriculum.

Courses made available at www.50plusprime.com will aim to provide tools and the plans to find work in sectors identified as areas of growth in the state. Those areas include health care, technology, and sustainable energy, said Wooten, who teaches human resource management with the U-M Ross School of Business Center for Positive Organizational Scholarship.

"There is a bridge between your former career and your new career," said Tony Fama, the president of the company that runs www.50plusprime.com. "Courses show where to go to school, the salary levels, where they can get financial aid, things like that, but it won't teach them to be a registered nurse, it will guide them. As the year progresses and we launch other classes."

Read the entire article here.

UM-Dearborn innovation index shows a boost in jobs

Thu, 11 Mar 2010 00:00:00 GMT

Nothing says progress like an innovation index. Right folks? No, really, all kidding aside, in the third quarter the University of Michigan-Dearborn College of Business's innovation index showed the greatest quarterly increase since its 2006 inception.

Excerpt:

Some signs of job creation were enough to boost innovative economic activity in Michigan during the third quarter of 2009, according to the "innovation index" compiled by scholars at the University of Michigan-Dearborn College of Business.

After a drop to 80 in the second quarter from 96 in the first quarter of 2008, the index showed a third quarter improvement, jumping to 86.9.

"The 6.9 (point) increase for the quarter is the largest since the index was created in 2006," said Lee Redding, associate professor of business economics and director of the Innovation Index at the UM-Dearborn College of Business.

Read the entire article here.

Job surge in green projects could jolt Michigan's economy

Thu, 04 Mar 2010 00:00:00 GMT

Tax incentives worked for the film industry. So, why not for the green industry? Looks like that'll be the idea here.

Excerpt:

Today, the Michigan Economic Growth Authority is expected to approve tax credits for Dow Chemical projects to make solar roof shingles and lithium-ion battery cells, adding a total of 2,500 jobs in the Midland area.

Also, Dow and the Oak Ridge National Laboratory got the green light Wednesday for a $20-million research center to develop low-cost carbon fiber used in wind turbines.

"Dow and Dow's progeny have spawned this huge effort to move to green manufacturing," Gov. Jennifer Granholm said Wednesday, citing a cluster of related projects that have brought 5,000 jobs to the struggling Saginaw Bay area.

Read the entire article here.

Hear comes the sun

Thu, 04 Mar 2010 00:00:00 GMT

If you put your ear up to a conch shell you hear the ocean. If you work at U of M and have access to NASA's Advanced Composition Explorer satellite, you might hear the sun.

Excerpt:

Scientists can now listen to a set of solar wind data that's usually represented visually, as numbers or graphs. University of Michigan researchers have "sonified" the data. They've created an acoustic, or musical, representation of it.

The researchers' primary goal was to try to hear information that their eyes might have missed in solar wind speed and particle density data gathered by NASA's Advanced Composition Explorer satellite. The solar wind is a stream of charged particles emanating from the sun.

The process of sonification isn't new. It's how Geiger counter radiation detectors emit clicks in the presence of high-energy particles.

"What makes this project different is the level of artistic license I was given," said composer and recent UM School of Music alumnus Robert Alexander.

Read the entire article here.

Smaller, cheaper solar built in Oakland County

Thu, 04 Mar 2010 00:00:00 GMT

Two big time execs team up to to research and build a smaller, cheaper solar power cell right in Oakland County.

Excerpt:

"We have developed a number of breakthroughs and we have full-patent protection," said Stempel, who added that the initial research was carried out at Ovshinsky Innovations, the small company Ovshinsky created after leaving ECD.

The key to the new process is that it uses less material. It's also faster and can run 24/7, helping drive down the cost of the finished product. "Cost is the key in solar business," Stempel said.

"We have a proof of concept but people want to look at the production system before they invest," Stempel said. "Stan is a master at that."

The solar panel company also has now been spun off from Ovshinsky Innovations and has been moved to a site in Troy where a small team of handpicked employees has been working on the project.

The goal ultimately is to launch the new company, Ovshinsky Solar, and make solar panels in Oakland County for a broad market, Stempel said. "We're hoping to be able to make that happen," he said.

Read the entire article here.

The census questionaire is quick but the effects are long lasting

Thu, 04 Mar 2010 00:00:00 GMT

It's anonymous and quick. You're filling in circles, answering a few questions, but what you do can make a huge impact on your community. Just ask Dearborn Mayor Jack O'Reilly.

Excerpt:

About $400 billion every year in federal funds is distributed based on the census count, said Ahmad Nassar, partnership specialist with the U.S. Census Bureau Detroit office. Census figures are also used to determine House of Representative seats and other legislative districting.

"If the figures come out short for any community, they are going to stay short for 10 years," Nassar told about a dozen people during a forum Thursday night at the Henry Ford Centennial Library in Dearborn. The League of Women Voters of Dearborn-Dearborn Heights organized the event.

Mayor Jack O'Reilly also attended and stressed the value of the census and asked residents to help spread the word.

"It really is important for how the funding is given," O'Reilly said.

Read the entire article here.

Arab American National Museum spills the beans about coffee

Thu, 04 Mar 2010 00:00:00 GMT

Want a little history with your morning cup of joe? Dearborn's Arab American National Museum has just that with its newest exhibit. Not to spoil it for you, but you can thank the Arab world for that morning jolt.

Excerpt:

The Arab world's great gift to the sleep-deprived gets a compelling once over with the current show at Dearborn's Arab American National Museum.

"From Mocha to Latte: Coffee, the Arab World and the $4 Cup" traces modern life's favorite pick-me-up from its hazy origins in Ethiopia to the huge shift in U.S. coffee tastes after the 1970s arrival of Starbucks, Peet's, and other specialty brewers. The show closes Aug. 15.

The show includes a detailed timeline and a wide range of artifacts -- from ancient roasters and grinders to that almost-vanished staple of 1950s America, the percolator. Even cooler, show organizers cobbled together a video of vintage U.S. television commercials, an amusing trip down memory lane for anyone of a certain age.

How coffee came to bless mankind is a bit unclear. "There are," says AANM curator Elizabeth Barrett, "any number of urban legends around its discovery."

Read the entire article here.

'Why I Choose Michigan' winners announced

Thu, 04 Mar 2010 00:00:00 GMT

If you're wondering why Michigan is a great state you might be able to find your answer at the Pure Michigan Living web site. It features people, places, and things that make the mitten the place that it is. With the launch of the site came the launch of the essay contest "Why I Choose Michigan." And, finally, those winners were announced.

Excerpt:

The Michigan State Housing Development Authority (MSHDA) and the Michigan Economic Development Corporation (MEDC) today announced the winners of the "Why I Choose Michigan" essay contest. The contest helped kick off the recent launch of PureMichiganLiving.com, a new Web site featuring the people, places and things that make Michigan a great place to live, work and play.

The recipients are:

Gerry Callison of Jackson, who chose to relocate in Michigan last year after his job was eliminated in Wisconsin and now works at Commonwealth Associates in Jackson, an engineering and consulting firm that specializes in electrical transmission and distribution projects; and,
Rita Noel, of Howell, was born and raised in Michigan and has chosen to raise her family in Howell because she believes Michigan is one of the nation's most attractive places to enjoy cultural and recreational opportunities.

Read the entire article here.

Film industry hooks new state residents

Thu, 25 Feb 2010 00:00:00 GMT

The tax incentives passed have brought in big budget projects, movie stars, and a little bit of dough that wasn't there pre-incentives. But it's also brought in a few people you may have not thought about. The Freep profiles a handful of new Michigan residents thanks to the film industry.

Excerpt:

Though movies get all the limelight, Michigan's tax breaks are also attracting video game developers like Derek Faraci.

In October, the 32-year-old left his job testing "Guitar Hero" and other Activision games in Los Angeles to join one of his good friends at a start-up company in Farmington Hills.

Until last fall, Faraci had never stepped foot in the state. He quickly learned that there was more to Michigan than factories, cars, and RoboCop. "It's a beautiful, beautiful state," he says of his new home.

These days, you can find Faraci working on a video game for the Discovery Channel show Man vs. Wild at his office at Scientifically Proven Studios, located at the Grace & Wild complex. Thanks to the tax incentives, "we can do much more with the games for less money," he says.

Read the entire article here.

The results are in: Frequent flyers love DTW

Thu, 25 Feb 2010 00:00:00 GMT

Been to DTW lately? These people have, and they've ranked it No. 1 in customer satisfaction. Just wish they had free wi-fi.

Excerpt:

Looking for a good airport? Try Detroit.

Detroit Metropolitan Wayne County airport came in No. 1 in a customer satisfaction survey of large airports in North America, released today by J. D. Power & Associates that looked at check-in, security, terminal facilities, baggage claim and other factors.

Read the entire article here.

Ann Arbor man takes tandem bikes to the national level

Thu, 25 Feb 2010 00:00:00 GMT

You never really think about a tandem bike until you see one. And then you laugh, think it's funny, and maybe wish you had one. Well, at least some of us do. Anyway, some people think about them a lot more than others. And some people even take hand-made tandem bikes to bicycle shows.

Excerpt:

Like a tailor who makes fine suits, Joel Hakken hand builds custom bikes. From the lightweight frames with exotic paint jobs to wheels whose weight is measured in ounces, they are functional showpieces. Hakken calls them art on wheels.

The owner of Midwest Bike & Tandem, located in a small shop at the rear of the Courtyard Shops in northeast Ann Arbor, Hakken will be taking four of his custom creations to the 2010 North American Handmade Bicycle Show in Richmond, Va., which starts Friday.

Joel Hakken, owner of Midwest Bike & Tandem of Ann Arbor, shows one of the custom, hand-made bikes he will take with him next week to the Hand Made Bike Show in Virginia. It's an aluminum-framed ultra lightweight bike that can be broken down to fit into a suitcase-size carrying bag and is valued at $4,000 to $5,000.

Read the entire article here.

Halal meat on the go in Dearborn

Thu, 25 Feb 2010 00:00:00 GMT

Meals on wheels just got a little more diverse and now offers a halal option for practicing Muslims.

Excerpt:

Mariam Wehbe learned about a program offering home-delivered meals made according to Islamic law at a good time � poor health made cooking impossible and a grandson who helps her had to cut back to devote more time to school.

Plus, as a Muslim, she could keep halal.

Wehbe, 70, who lives in the Detroit suburb of Dearborn, is among the recipients of a new Halal Meals on Wheels program. It's the first in the country to work with a national halal food distributor and comes after a lengthy effort by nonprofit agencies that serve area senior citizens as well as Muslim- and Arab-Americans.

Like other Meals on Wheels programs, it's designed for people who are at least 60 years old, confined to their homes and unable to make their own meals. But the halal meals also are deemed permissible or lawful for Muslims because they are prepared according to Islamic teachings.

Read the entire article here.

DIY solar power in Scio

Thu, 25 Feb 2010 00:00:00 GMT

Solar power? More like Scio power. Er. Sorry. That was lame. Let's restart. Homeowners in Scio Township have taken green into their own hands by erecting a wind turbine on one farm and putting solar panels on another's garage.

Excerpt:

For a few Scio Township homeowners, going green is more than saving green.

And now, with city Trustees mulling a new wind energy conservation bill with less strict guidelines, more residents are shelling out big bucks for renewable energy systems.

For Scio Township resident Irwin Martin, a 30 percent federal renewable energy tax credit was the kind of incentive he needed to finally erect a 70-foot tall wind turbine on his 11-acre farm.

Martin's farm, which he bought in 2003, sits on one of Washtenaw County's highest points and wind speeds can average about 7 mph.

"Every time the wind blows it's like dollars going out the window that I could have captured," said Martin when he thinks about why he didn't erect the Skystream 3.7 system wind turbine earlier.

Read the entire article here.

Ann Arbor has a masters in great food, Limite mag says

Thu, 25 Feb 2010 00:00:00 GMT

Limite, an arts, culture, and lifestyle magazine, says Ann Arbor has a post-grad degree in good food.

Excerpt:

Meal after meal in this classic midwestern college town surprised me, rising far above the expected student mainstays of chicken wings, nachos and burgers. Sustainable, seasonal, organic and artisan were seen over and over on irresistible and affordable menus. Who would expect delicate small plates at a wine bar close to campus? Brewpubs with not only incredible beer, but excellent farm-to-table food? And fine Mediterranean fare in a strip mall? In Ann Arbor, there�s all that and more.

Read the entire article here.

How beer saved a corner in Ferndale

Thu, 18 Feb 2010 00:00:00 GMT

Ferndale can mean a lot of different things to a lot of different people. But one thing that stands out to most peeps who frequent or live in Fashionable Ferndale is the Woodward Avenue Brewery, and Chris Johnston's little corner of fun. Johnston owns the W.A.B., the Loving Touch next door, and the Emory across the street from the W.A.B. It's a bit of a monopoly, but after a few beers, you forget about it.

Excerpt:

"People have watched us grow and evolve over time, and they feel like they've been a part of our growth and the growth of the neighborhood," says Johnston. "We've been a constantly changing, and they like that. They like remembering when we didn't have booze or when we didn�t have a patio. It shows them how far we've come."

What customers don't like remembering is the neighborhood before the WAB. Really, it was no neighborhood at all.

"It seemed very desolate," recalls Johnston, who spent two years renovating the building before it opened. "We did a lot of the renovation work ourselves and spent most of our time inside. When we'd come out for breaks you couldn't tell whether it was 9 a.m., noon or 6 p.m. There were never any people around. It took years for that to change."

It took some pretty good beer, too. In the beginning, Johnston's brother, Grant, served as brewmaster and he created six flagship beers that remain on the menu to this day.

Read the entire article here.

Soon the only difference between Detroit and Hollywood might be the snow

Thu, 18 Feb 2010 00:00:00 GMT

Hollywood is warm, near the ocean, always sunny. Michigan is hot in the summer, cold in the winter, and surrounded by lakes. Both, however, have roles in the movie industry. Detroit still has a ways to go to catch up to Hollywood, but all signs, so far, are pointing up.

Excerpt:

Just look at this list compiled by the Michigan Film Office as evidence: before 2008, Michigan averaged about five feature films per year. In 2008, there were 31; and in 2009, 35.

In anticipation of booming business opportunities, scores of Michigan entrepreneurs announced they would be breaking ground on massive new film studios (See: Unity Studios in Allen Park, Raleigh Studios in Pontiac, Hangar42 in Grand Rapids) and that these studios would in turn provide massive amounts of new jobs for the cash-strapped Mitten State.

So far, the future looks bright for Michigan's film industry. Recently, Detroit was number eight on Movie Maker magazine's list of 10 best cities in which to be an independent movie maker.

Read the entire article here.

Life revs up after autos

Thu, 18 Feb 2010 00:00:00 GMT

People need to remember that it's not Russian Roulette with the auto industry. If it doesn't make it, we're not dead. And there are a lot of examples of that right now popping up.

Excerpt:

Dozens of Michigan manufacturers like W Industries are discovering there is indeed life beyond the auto industry. Over the last two years, multinationals and start-ups alike have been coming to the state to build, buy or design a hodgepodge of products, whether aircraft parts, solar cells, or batteries for electric cars.

In September, for instance, NTR, a solar energy company from Ireland, awarded contracts to two Detroit-area auto suppliers, including the race-car engine developer McLaren Performance Technologies, to make components for thousands of SunCatcher solar dishes.

"It should be no surprise we went to Detroit," says Jim Barry, NTR's chief executive. "The standard of manufacturing in the automotive industry is extraordinarily high, and that is the only place you can find such a concentration of skills."

Read the entire article here.

Local language tutorial firm reaches around the world

Thu, 18 Feb 2010 00:00:00 GMT

Mango Languages, a Farmington Hills-based language tutorial firm, has expanded its reach to the Big Apple. Currently, the firm's online tutorials cover nearly 2,000 public libraries, including many in Southeast Michigan.

Excerpt:

The company offers full courses of 100 lessons each in nine foreign languages, as well as three English as a second language courses for speakers of Spanish, Portuguese and Polish, as well as more basic versions of those courses of 10 lessons each.

All of the courses can be accessed remotely with a library card.

Consumers also can purchase the courses online if a local library does not offer them. A three-month subscription is $160 per course while a full year costs $345.

Read the entire article here.

Roll with the research: Take a 'Smart Tires' course at Lawrence Tech

Thu, 18 Feb 2010 00:00:00 GMT

Wait... wait... Smart tires? That's a thing? Looks like it is. It's a thing at Lawrence Technological University. It's actually something that encompasses two elective courses over at LTU.

Excerpt:

Lawrence Technological University has introduced the nation's first graduate-level course that deals with the use of embedded sensors in tires to improve a vehicle's overall performance.

"Intelligent Tire and Vehicle Structure Mechatronics" is an elective course in Lawrence Tech's master's degree program in mechatronics systems engineering.

Using VPG and LS-DYNA software, graduate students analyze responses of these tires to various loading and road conditions. This approach is particularly useful in studying the suitability of tire-embedded sensors for possible physical measurement of the tire response.

Mechatronics -- the name is a combination of mechanics and electronics -- employs a unique approach that cuts across multiple academic disciplines such as electrical and computing engineering, math and computer science. An engineer skilled in mechatronics can create a seamless and unified system for a specific project that encompasses the principles of the different disciplines while at the same time fulfilling the specific requirements of each.

Read the entire article here.

Motorcycle mag for women revs up

Thu, 18 Feb 2010 00:00:00 GMT

Local gal put her entrepreneurship in gear for a motorcycle mag for women. It's not the typical hot rods and hogs style magazine you'd see on a news stands where the lady is scantily clad, but an actual magazine about motorcycles for women who are wearing more than bikinis.

Excerpt:

When she was a student at Ferndale High School, Doni Langdon felt like an out-of-place tomboy who was too busy with welding class to worry about make-up or shopping.

But now, the 27-year-old entrepreneur has turned her love of cars and motorcycles into a nationally distributed women's magazine aptly called Throttle Gals.

Unlike traditional motorcycle and hot rod magazines, Throttle Gals features women as fully-dressed, competent mechanics showing off the tough and sporty machines they have built and repaired for themselves. "These are real women," she said. "Everyone you see is with her vehicle -- not a model and not someone in her husband�s or her boyfriend�s ride. It�s her pride and joy."

Read the entire article here.