Southfield

DTE launches free energy conservation programs

By Newsroom

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October 8, 2009

Commercial energy efficiency is becoming a bigger and bigger cause these days in Metro Detroit.DTE Energy is launching two programs to help local businesses curtail their energy usage. The first is through its subsidiary MichCon, which is offering 1,500 free programmable thermostats for local businesses, churches, and non-profits on a first-come-first-serve basis.Such thermostats, already widely used in homes, allow for more efficient regulation of temperatures and thus energy consumption. "Businesses are just like homes in a sense," says Scott Simons, a spokesman for DTE Energy. "Different measures can produce energy efficiencies."For information, call (866) 796-0512 (Option 3) or send an e-mail to YourEnergySavings@kema.com or click here.DTE Energy will also hold a series of free energy efficiency seminars in Metro Detroit for small- and medium-size companies. The idea is to increase energy conservation by teaching some simple solutions, like maintaining the building envelope or heating control systems.Each seminar will run from 8-11 a.m. on Thursday, Oct. 8 at the Engineering Society of Detroit's office in Southfield, 20700 Civic Center Drive, and Wednesday, October 14 at Macomb Community College's University Center Assembly Hall, 44575 Garfield in Clinton Township. For information on the seminars, call (313) 235-1171 or click here.Source: Scott Simons, a spokesman for DTE EnergyWriter: Jon Zemke

Lawrence Tech adds engineering entrepreneur in residence

By Newsroom

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Arts & Culture

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October 1, 2009

Bridging business and engineering isn't the easiest task, but it's one that Pavan Muzumdar plans on making easier at Lawrence Technological University.The Southfield-based school just appointed Muzumdar as its first engineering entrepreneur in residence. The new position, funded by a $1.1 million grant from the Kern Family Foundation over five years, will focus on integrating an entrepreneurial mindset into the university's undergraduate engineering curriculum. That will mean everything from modifying courses to incorporate more of a business focus to supporting the idea of tech transfer and commercialization of Lawrence Tech's research and ideas. He will also work with senior engineering students on product development projects. "I will help these students look at these products from a business standpoint, such as defining a need, the size of the market, and at what price point it would sell," Muzumdar says. Muzumdar has an extensive business background. In 1997, the University of Massachusetts alum left a consulting job in New York to work at Clawson-based MV Software, Inc., where he instituted a number of startup initiatives, such as developing a new software product from the ground up. The India native also helped establish a wholly owned subsidiary of the company in Mumbai, India.He also served as the COO of JRE Tires, a wholesale and retail distributor of tires and wheels earlier this decade before leading the negotiations for the sale of the company in 2006. Last year he founded Pieris Capital in Bloomfield Hills, where he has worked on identifying opportunities for investors, providing advisory services, and raising capital for high-growth companies.Source: Pavan Muzumdar, engineering entrepreneur in residence at Lawrence Technological UniversityWriter: Jon Zemke

Lawrence Tech expands laboratory space

By Newsroom

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Arts & Culture

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September 17, 2009

Lawrence Technological University is expanding the laboratory space in its College of Engineering building in Southfield.The university expects to spend $400,000 converting recently vacated space into new laboratories for everything from civil to chemical engineering. The human resources department moved its offices to make room for the expansion of the bio-medical program.Five new biomedical labs, expanded studying areas and prototyping space set aside specifically for entrepreneurial projects will fill the area. There is also a new conference room and offices for civil engineering.So far about half of the funds have been used to buy and install equipment. Another $200,000 is needed to finish off the expansion, which should take about another year."We're doing it in phases," says Devdas "Dave" Shetty, dean of the College of Engineering at Lawrence Technological University.Source: Devdas "Dave" Shetty, dean of the College of Engineering at Lawrence Technological UniversityWriter: Jon Zemke

Lawrence Tech, Oakland U team up for job fair

By Newsroom

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Arts & Culture

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September 17, 2009

Lawrence Technological and Oakland universities are showing a little regional cooperation in joining forces for one big job fair on Tuesday, September 22.The Tech x 2 Expo = OU + LTU job fair will be for college students at the two universities who are majoring in engineering, computer science, and technology disciplines or have recently graduated with degrees in those fields. "It's a convenience for the employers," says Eric Pope, a spokesman for Lawrence Tech. "Instead of going to two job fairs they can go to one."Both schools have held a variety of jobs fairs for both students and regular workers this year. To register, companies should go to and click on the employer icon. Companies already on CareerQuest should visit the Lawrence Tech site and log on to their accounts.The job fair will be held at Oakland University in Auburn Hills (a map is available here) between 10 a.m. and 1 p.m. There will also be a lunch from 1-2 p.m. Registration for employers starts at 8 a.m. and costs $225.For information, call Lawrence Tech's Office of Career Services at (248) 204-3140 or the Office of Career Services at Oakland University at (248) 370-3250, or send an email to ltuocs@ltu.edu or ketelsen@oakland.edu.Source: Eric Pope, spokesman for Lawrence Technological UniversityWriter: Jon Zemke

Michigan Tech, Engineering Society of Detroit offer training for auto engineers

By Newsroom

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Environment & Sustainability

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August 20, 2009

Laid off auto engineers worried about being left behind will have a chance to push the envelope in their field soon.The Engineering Society of Detroit is teaming up with Michigan Technological University and AVL to help the state's automotive engineers learn about hybrid vehicle technology and the electrification of the automobile. It's doing this through a semester-long course to be offered this fall."Advanced Propulsion for Hybrid Vehicles with Concentration in Battery Engineering" is a graduate-level, three-credit class starting this fall. The 100 students admitted to the program will focus on battery design and on what makes the next generation of hybrid and electric vehicles tick. For information, contact Linda LaPointe at llapointe@esd.org or by snail mail at The Engineering Society of Detroit, 20700 Civic Center Drive, Suite 450, Southfield, MI 48076.Source: Engineering Society of DetroitWriter: Jon Zemke

Prosper Highlight: Community Foundation Challenge

By Prosper Oakland County, MI

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Arts & Culture

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August 17, 2009

Here's a chance to make a difference. Beginning August 18 at 10 a.m., the Community Foundation for Southeast Michigan will be providing up to $1 million to match general operating gifts made online at the foundation's web site. Seventy-five organizations are participating and a number of them are in Oakland County.

Oakland Comm College to expand campus building space by 75%

By Newsroom

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Arts & Culture

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August 13, 2009

Oakland Community College is breaking the bank to break ground on an expansion to its Southfield campus.The school broke ground on the $25.3 million project on Tuesday. The development will add 69,350 square feet to the campus, located just south of 9 Mile Road and east of the Southfield Freeway."It's the largest construction project in the college's history," says George Cartsonis, director of college communications for Oakland Community College. "This is the biggest."And it's happening at the college's smallest campus. The Southfield campus is home to much of the college's health and science programs, including health care administration, hospital pharmacy, nuclear medicine, and surgical technology, among others. The demand for healthcare education has pumped up the enrollment in Southfield by 114 percent over the last decade. That means 3,924 students are enrolled today at a campus designed for 2,500. The expansion should ease overcrowding by expanding its footprint 75 percent to serve another 2,000 students.The two-year project will upgrade the existing building's infrastructure, create more space, and modernize the technology. For instance, gone is the 27-year-old building's HVAC system. It will be replaced with a new, more efficient system.There will be eight new laboratories for biology, anatomy, and physiology classes, a 25 percent bump in lab space, and a new state-of-the-art surgical technology program lecture lab that replicates a hospital operating room. The project will also provide seven new double classrooms, bigger nursing labs for an additional 100 students, and enhanced space and technology for the respiratory therapy program.And of course there will also be the usual suspects of a new computer lab, study areas, testing center, offices, children's center, extra space for tutoring and even room for physical education, all being paid for by a 0.8-mill property tax approved in 2001.This will be the biggest project for Oakland Community College for a while. There are plans to do a similar large expansion at the Auburn Hills campus, specifically updating the circa-1972 vocational education building. That is still at least a few years away from becoming a reality.Source: George Cartsonis, director of college communications for Oakland Community CollegeWriter: Jon Zemke

Oakland County workshop focuses on green downtowns

By Newsroom

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Arts & Culture

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August 13, 2009

The last of three workshops aimed at the revitalization of downtowns in Oakland County is set to go down on Friday, August 14.The "Lead Your Downtown from Brown to Green" workshop will focus on tackling sustainability issues, such as historic preservation and eco-friendly development. "As the title says, we're trying to take downtowns from brown to green by letting them (local stakeholders) know what they can do in this economy," says Bob Donahue, executive director of Main Street Oakland County.A number of topics, including how to make best use of brownfield sites, effective historic preservation, and how to incorporate green-building practices, such as LEED standards, will be covered. Other subjects will include tapping into farmers markets, the cost-effectiveness of LED lights, and how best to employ urban forestry.Main Street Oakland County is encouraging local architects, planners, preservationists, developers, city officials, and community activists to attend. The cost is $75 per person. The workshop will be held between 8:30 a.m. and 4:30 p.m. in the Oakland County Executive Office Building Conference Center, 2100 Pontiac Lake Road, west of Telegraph, in Waterford. Source: Bob Donahue, executive director of Main Street Oakland CountyWriter: Jon Zemke

Princeton Review calls Lawrence Tech one of Midwest’s best

By Newsroom

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Education

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August 6, 2009

Lawrence Technological University has an admirer. It's a name you have heard of but not someone you know. The Princeton Review has named the Southfield-based university as one of the Best of the Midwest in 2010.Lawrence Tech garnered the designation from an anonymous student survey and for the university's general academic excellence. In the survey, students were asked to judge their school on a broad range of issues. Those ranged from the accessibility of professors to quality of the campus food.Lawrence Tech is one of 158 schools that qualified as one of the Princeton Review's Best of the Midwest, about one quarter of colleges that were eligible. Those schools were based in 12 states that went as far north as Minnesota, as far south as Iowa, as far east as Ohio and as far west as Nebraska.Source: Lawrence Technological UniversityWriter: Jon Zemke

Oakland County pushes for land bank to deal with foreclosures

By Newsroom

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Arts & Culture

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July 30, 2009

Oakland County is beginning to publish its stock of foreclosed buildings electronically to prepare them for auction. However, at least one Oakland County official would like to see this process changed -- with a land bank.Oakland County Treasurer Andy Meisner sees a number of things wrong with the auction process. It's why he is pushing for Oakland County to form a land bank, as many other Michigan communities have done, to handle its problem properties."There are some perils with the auction approach," Meisner says.For instance, speculators are scooping large batches of these homes and, at best, turning them into rentals. More than people like to admit end up falling further into blight and becoming eyesores, weakening what were once otherwise strong neighborhoods. Meisner says this sort of speculation is the junk food of the real estate market, supplying short-term profits at the expense of long-term investment."We're rolling up our sleeves and trying to get families in those houses," Meisner says.He adds that a land bank gives local officials the power to package parcels and sell them to a developer or even ensure that individual buildings end up in the hands of local residents. Right now he is trying to build up awareness about the idea, and hopes to begin a legislative push for one later this year.Source: Oakland County Treasurer Andy MeisnerWriter: Jon Zemke