Here’s a look at news from around Michigan’s innovation hubs:
—Are you an entrepreneur in need of a cash infusion? Comcast Business is giving away up to $30,000 to a startup in need in each of its 16 regional districts through its Innovations 4 Entrepreneurs contest. Applicants have until March 15 to submit a 250-word essay detailing how they would use a $30,000 technology investment to improve their businesses. Two winners will be selected in each of the 16 regions: one winner for startup companies (in business less than two years) and one winner for entrepreneurs (in business for more than two years). To apply, click here.
— Wayne County Community College District, the Merit Network, the Michigan Cyber Range and Mile2 recently hosted a program to retrain veterans in cybersecurity. Seventeen students participated, and the veterans were selected based on their experience and aptitude by Wayne County’s veteran’s affairs office. The program included five weeks of instructor-led curriculum, four weeks of hands-on lab experience, three weeks of capture-the-flag exercises in the Alphaville simulated city environment, and a week of resume writing and interview skills development. For more information on the various cybersecurity training programs offered by the Michigan Cyber Range, click here.
— Start Garden, the Grand Rapids-based venture capital fund that invested in over 100 ideas per year in small increments, has awarded its final weekly $5,000 investment to Medio, a “Pinterest for food” website that helps users with allergies find safe foods. (Start Garden is planning to continue in a different format that will allow it to make larger investments fewer times per year.) Other startups receiving a $5,000 investment in February were: Fetchpark, a parking app that uses transponder technology; Booksmart Touring, an app that helps artists and managers track expenses while out on tour; and The Unscripted Athlete, a blog with first-person stories published by college football players. Start Garden is also planning to open a new co-working space in the coming months; click here to apply to be a tenant.
—With support from the ALS Association Michigan Chapter and the Daniel and Pamella DeVos Family Foundation, ALS patients living in remote or underserved parts of Northern Michigan will now be able to connect to doctors at Bronson Methodist Hospital in Kalamazoo through the JEMS Technology Telehealth System. Using the JEMS system, health professionals can send live, streaming video to a specialist by way of iPhone, iPad, or Android-based phones or tablets. The specialist will then be able to review the video in real time and respond with medical advice.
—A Web app designed to encourage at-risk men to get tested for sexually transmitted diseases has proven successful during a recent clinical trial in Southeast Michigan. Researchers at the University of Michigan created the Get Connected app, which uses targeted images and questions to prompt people to get tested. Out of the 130 young men ages 15-24 who used the app, 104 returned for a 30-day follow-up. A third of respondents who came back reported that they had gotten tested for HIV and other sexually transmitted infections. Researchers plan a larger study next, and the university hopes the app will eventually become an open-source tool for programs across the country.
—Heather Rone has joined Delphinius Medical Technologies as its vice president of clinical affairs. Before coming to Delphinius, she led multiple prospective clinical trials for U-Systems, which was later acquired by GE Healthcare. Rone will focus on helping Delphinius start a clinical research program for its non-ionizing breast cancer screening technology.
