2017. It plans to showcase its technology at the Consumer Electronics Show in 2011.
As it is with batteries and with automobiles, themselves, Detroit will not necessarily be dominant in infotainment systems moving forward. But in 2010, auto companies and suppliers took steps to make sure they are at least in the game.
Going Mobile
Arising out of University of Michigan dormrooms, tinkerers and young entrepreneurs are developing smart phone applications. In 2010, a few of them made news, including include Ann Arbor’s Mobiata, which develops apps for the travel industry, and Mobile Sign Language Systems, which converts spoken or written English into real-time sign-language video. Mobile apps developers will not necessarily employ thousands in Michigan, but they represent a new outlet for creative tinkerers to test ideas. And the entrepreneurial culture at U-M seems to encourage it. And, answering the call for marketing opportunities that come with the popularity of the smart phone is Michigan’s new Mobile Monday chapter.
University of Michigan spinouts
Speaking of the University of Michigan’s entrepreneurial culture, in 2010, U-M continued to engage directly with the real-world business community through programs like the Wolverine Venture Fund, in which business students invest real money in real companies.
University of Michigan spinouts are too numerous to name, but it is safe to say that, through companies like NanoBio, what is being achieved in the lab does not stay in the lab.
An issue that does continue to come up, though, is how to keep young talent in Michigan. This problem was highlighted when Ambiq Micro, launched by U-M students, decided this year that it can find more fertile ground in Texas.
TechTown
TechTown, located in the heart of Detroit on the campus of Wayne State University, has made great strides this year to show the world than not everything in the city is abandoned and decaying. I wrote earlier this year that, although there is great innovation happening in Ann Arbor, the key to Southeast
