ANN ARBOR—The University of Michigan and the College of Engineering are working together to engage local small businesses and help them establish research partnerships with faculty and students.

On Feb. 11, at the MPowered Career Fair for small businesses, the college and the Office of the Vice President for Research will announce a pilot Small Company Innovation Program.

The Innovation Program gives financial incentives to small businesses in Michigan to collaborate with the University on research projects. In the first year of the program, the college and vice president for research’s office will match $30,000 of support and waive indirect costs for five projects.

“We expect the total support from the company and the University for each of the five projects to allow a faculty member to support one graduate student research assistant for one year,” said Amy Klinke, assistant director of Small Business Development Initiatives at the college’s Center for Entrepreneurship. Klinke’s post in itself, which was created in October, is another part of the college’s push to engage small businesses.

“The University is reaching out to the small business community in a substantial way. I’m excited by the push to develop creative mechanisms to jumpstart mutually beneficial engagements” said Daryl Weinert, executive director of the University’s Business Engagement Center

More details about the program will be available at the Feb. 11 MPowered Career Fair. The career fair is an opportunity for small, high-growth companies from across the region to come to campus to develop relationships with students.

“The fair is designed to be more than an opportunity for University talent to meet small companies,” Klinke said. “It is also an opportunity to show students about the incredible opportunities in working with small companies and in the state of Michigan.”

Companies participating include: Adaptive Materials Inc., Bizdom U, Digerati, Eldon Water, Fruxtrol Inc., imo.im, Janeeva Inc., International Chambers Group Inc, Media Genesis, Menlo Innovations LLC, Frontier Markets, Metric-X, Michigan Aerospace/ WindSight, Mobatech, Momentum, Monarch Antenna Inc., Pacific Industrial Development Corporation, Quantum Signal LLC, Sargon Partners, Sircon Corporation, The Linux Box Corporation, Twisthink, Virtual EM Inc., Voorhorst Consulting Group LLC, Zattoo, and others.

The career fair is from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. in Pierpont Commons and the Duderstadt Center on North Campus. Announcements about the Small Company Innovation Program will be from 4 p.m. to 5 p.m. at a reception in the Pierpont Commons. More information about the innovation program will be available at the Center for Entrepreneurship’s website, http://cfe.engin.umich.edu/.

Michigan Engineering:

The University of Michigan College of Engineering is ranked among the top engineering schools in the country. At more than $130 million annually, its engineering research budget is one of largest of any public university. Michigan Engineering is home to 11 academic departments and a National Science Foundation Engineering Research Center. The college plays a leading role in the Michigan Memorial Phoenix Energy Institute and hosts the world class Lurie Nanofabrication Facility. Find out more at http://www.engin.umich.edu/.
For more information:

MPowered Career Fair: http://mpowered.studentorgs.umich.edu/index.php?n=Fair.Main

Business Engagement Center: http://www.bec.umich.edu/index/

Center for Entrepreneurship: http://cfe.engin.umich.edu/.

MPowered Career FairBusiness Engagement CenterCenter for Entrepreneurship