DATE: 7:30 a.m.-noon Wednesday, April 22, 2009.

EVENT: What’s the next big thing for Michigan? The state’s top researchers in the growth sectors of life science and energy will come together on Earth Day.

Michigan’s University Research Corridor (URC) and WWJ Newsradio 950 will bring together some of Michigan’s key go-to people in energy innovation and life sciences, including leading researchers from Michigan State University, the University of Michigan and Wayne State University for “Sectors of Promise for the Michigan Economy: Energy & Life Sciences.”

WWJ technology editor Matt Roush will moderate two panel discussions outlining the sectors showing the most promise of growth, new businesses and new jobs for Michigan.

Energy panelists will include Soji Adeleja, director of the MSU Land Policy Institute and professor in the department of agricultural economics, geography, and community, agriculture, recreation and resource studies; Ann Marie Sastry, director of the energy systems engineering program at the U-M College of Engineering; and Jerry Ku, co-director of the Alternative Energy Technology Program at Wayne State University.

The life sciences panel will include Eva Feldman, U-M professor of neurology and director of the A. Alfred Taubman Medical Research Institute; Paul Hunt, MSU associate vice president for research and graduate studies; and Albert King, distinguished professor and chair of Biomedical Engineering at Wayne State.

PLACE: The conference will be held at the MSU Management Education Center, 811 W. Square Lake Road, Troy, Mich.

REGISTRATION: The conference is free and open to the public but advanced registration is required: http://www.wwj.com/pages/4141295.php For additional information, call (248) 455-7360.

MEDIA: Media who plan to attend should contact Joe Serwach, (734) 647-1844.

WWJ Newsradio 950 is owned and operated by CBS Radio, one of the largest major-market radio operators in the United States. A division of CBS Corp., CBS Radio operates 140 radio stations, the majority of which are in the nation’s top 50 markets. CBS Radio also owns and operates WVMV-FM, WOMC-FM, WYCD-FM, and WXYT-FM/AM in Detroit.

Contact: Joe Serwach

Phone: (734) 647-1844

Contact: Russ White

Phone: (517) 432-0923

Contact: Francine Wunder

Phone: (313) 577-5699

URCWWJ