Here’s a look at news you may have missed from around Michigan’s innovation hubs:
—The University of Michigan and the Michigan Economic Development Corporation (MEDC) announced last week that they’re launching a crowdfunding campaign on Patronicity to transform a vacant 3,200-square-foot building on the Detroit Community Schools campus into the Brightmoor Maker Space, a place where kids and adults can incubate ideas and try to build what they envision. The Knight Foundation awarded U-M a two-year, $100,000 matching grant for the project as part of Detroit’s Knight Arts Challenge program.
The campaign has so far raised just under $6,000 out of a goal to bring in $25,000 by July 10. The MEDC will match funding through its Public Spaces Community Places initiative, which is a collaboration between the MEDC, the Michigan Municipal League, and Patronicity.
—Ford announced that it has opened a one-stop 3D digital shop, where people can use advanced technology to make their own models of Ford vehicles or purchase 3D digital files from a growing library of more than 1,000 Ford vehicle images. The 3D printed models are plastic at 1/32nd scale, and available models include the Ford GT, F-150 Raptor, Focus, and Fiesta. Ford hired TurboSquid to handle order fulfillment and other logistics.
—Wixom’s Rockwell Medical has hit another milestone: It has received a Q-code assignment for its Triferic product, meaning it will now be easier for dialysis centers to bill insurance for reimbursement. Triferic is the only iron product that is FDA approved for delivery via dialysate to replace iron and maintain hemoglobin to treat anemia in hemodialysis patients. The new Q-code will go into effect on July 1.
