Recently in Innovation Category

When creating a new product, there are so many things that can go wrong (many of which cannot be prepared for or are completely unexpected), so it only makes sense to use existing technology or ideas in your product to increase reliability.

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Filed under: Alphonse Anderson | Ann Arbor, MI | Charles King | Competing Globally | Financing | Innovation | Renewable Energy | Start-Ups | Velocity² Wind | Wind Power

When talking to Alphonse Anderson and Charles King of Velocity² Wind I found that one of the most interesting parts of their process to create a new product of small wind turbine was how much of their product was, essentially, theirs. King said, "we try to re-invent as little as possible. Use what's out there."

What is "out there" for small wind turbines? Again, King: "We've found ourselves taking ideas from aerospace to roller coasters." Roller coasters? Sure, the aerospace industry can easily offer some design ideas to small wind turbines, but the thought to look into how roller coasters are built (presumably regarding their light-weight structure; they wouldn't comment) is marvelous.

It turns out that Anderson and King have tapped in to a historically successful business plan: don't re-invent the wheel. When creating a new product, there are so many things that can go wrong (many of which cannot be prepared for or are completely unexpected), so it only makes sense to use existing technology or ideas in your product to increase reliability.

I posed this question to Alphonse Anderson and Charles King of Velocity² Wind: "what are some of the first things you should do when you first have an idea for a new business?"

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Filed under: Alphonse Anderson | Ann Arbor, MI | Charles King | Competing Globally | Financing | Innovation | Renewable Energy | Start-Ups | Wind Power

I posed this question to Alphonse Anderson and Charles King of Velocity² Wind: "what are some of the first things you should do when you first have an idea for a new business?"

King told me that it's necessary to make sure that the idea is original. He said to use "Google Patents and research databases of universities to look for Phd. topics" and to find where technology is now. There's no sense in spending your time on a product for which you cannot get a patent or a service that is already being developed by another (presumably larger) company.

He said that "you must look at your personal network to find people who are willing to help you." This goes beyond asking freinds and family for money. When starting a new endeavor, you need to know who can be a part of your program, or even who knows somebody who can offer advice or a service. It's much more efficient to utilise your network rather than the yellow pages for your entrepreneurial needs.

King followed up by saying "If you believe that you have no connections, then you're not trying hard enough."

They have chosen to use alternative materials in building small wind turbines in an attempt to increase efficiency and decrease cost. With only a few tweaks of materials, Anderson and King have a real shot at breaking into the fledgling industry.

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Filed under: Alphonse Anderson | Ann Arbor, MI | Charles King | Competing Globally | Financing | Innovation | Renewable Energy | Start-Ups | The MORE Program | Velocity² Wind | Wind Power

Recently, I met with Alphonse Anderson and Charles King, founders of Velocity² Wind and participants in the MORE Program. They have chosen to use alternative materials in building small wind turbines in an attempt to increase efficiency and decrease cost. With only a few tweaks of materials, Anderson and King have a real shot at breaking into the fledgling industry.

The fledgling industry of small wind power, that is. Large-scale commerical-grade wind power is already a huge market, making up most of the 5.2 thousand Megawatts of wind power that was installed in the U.S. just last year. However, the small wind industry is still struggling to take flight, mostly due to the consumer worries of cost efficiency, noise, and visual impact. Oh, and safety issues, too (although there have been no 'innocent bystander' casualties due to wind power. The only casualties have been to workers installing and repairing the large-scale systems, and an unfortunate parachuting accident).

When King had the idea for using alternative materials for a wind turbine, he realized that the only way to properly approach his idea was to attempt it in small wind systems, whether or not it would work in large-scale wind. He remarked that trying to pitch his idea to the large-scale wind companies would be futile, but small wind was a good bet since no company has jumped out to be the leader.

Anderson and King have been working with prototypes of their design and comparing it to existing designs from competitors. So far, their tests have given them great results. Since they decided to enter an industry that has not yet solidified may very well allow them to break through to the surface soon.

UM has begun to meet new entrepreneurs halfway by allowing them to "utilize the school's enormous resources [such as] faculty consulting, laboratory equipment, research projects and professional development classes."

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Filed under: Ann Arbor, MI | Competing Globally | Innovation | Start-Ups | University of Michigan

The University of Michigan is (finally) doing its part to lift Michigan's economy: it has recently opened many of its resources to area entrepreneurs not linked to the university.

A good way to turn around this poor economy is by creating new industries to bring money into Michigan. UM has begun to meet new entrepreneurs halfway by allowing them to "utilize the school's enormous resources [such as] faculty consulting, laboratory equipment, research projects and professional development classes."

What does this mean? Well, for one, that UM is feeling the slow economy. In addition, it has decided to take steps toward changing things. With any luck, area entrepreneurs will be able to use UM's resources to solidify their business in the market.

Edison's laboratory, Menlo Park, was relocated to Greenfield Village, in Dearborn, Michigan. Visitors can see how the lab was set up and try to understand how Edison invented the light bulb. It was his endurance through multiple attempts at failure until he succeeded at creating the light bulb that we can be grateful for his persistence.

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Filed under: Innovation | Thomas Edison

Later on, Thomas Edison moved from Michigan to Newark, New Jersey and established is own research laboratory, Menlo Park. Remarkably, this laboratory and its' building were transferred to the Greenfield Village in Dearborn, Michigan. When I visited this laboratory, I thought it resembled an old fashioned chemistry lab, with many glass bottles with powdery looking substances in them. Edison was a great thinker and was able to intuitively integrate chemistry and physics concepts.

Menlo Park is the laboratory where Edison invented the light bulb, another major innovation that has changed how we live. Even to try to understand how Edison came up with the idea of a light bulb is almost incomprehensible. For instance, was he fed up with using candles one day and decided to create something better that did not exist? This was an innovation based on inconvenience that evolved into a much more important concept. It just took some creative thinking, problem solving, and over a thousand t rials and errors!

In the next part, I will further explain how the creation of the light bulb led to other life altering innovations.

I asked Yue what he thought about that day when he had his meeting with Zell Lurie and entered in the Empowered Business Plan Competition. He said "it was at that point where the resources really started to pour in."

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Filed under: Ann Arbor, MI | Education & Training | Financing | Innovation | MPowered Entrepreneurship | Start-Ups | The MORE Program | Yue Fan | Zell Lurie Institute

One question remains from my series on Yue Fan, his Pattern Clock, and the MORE Program: How did Yue get involved in the first place? Obviously he had the idea for the clock, but how did he set the process in motion?

"I had the prototype and I was dressed up for a meeting [with the Zell Lurie Institute at the UM Business School]. The Business School runs a program where they invest about $100,000 in companies."

Yue continued, "I was in preparation for the meeting but I was walking through North Campus when I saw this [MPowered Student Organization] Business Plan Competition, so I thought 'I might as well do that.' A little bit later we found out we'd won, and we won a trip to California to learn more about starting your own company." A trip to California including the opportunity to give a pitch to a panel of respected Venture Capitalists and get feedback from them.

"That was really how I got started with entrepreneurship resources at Michigan and around Ann Arbor. Before that, I kinda just sat in my room and tried to get help online."

For those of you keeping score at home, that's 3 opportunities. He made a pitch to the Zell Lurie Institute at UMich. He was a winner of the MPowered Business Plan Competition. After he submitted his business plan to the MORE Program, he got involved in their summer internship, including receiving $5,000 in grant money.

I asked Yue what he thought about that day when he had his meeting with Zell Lurie and entered in the Empowered Business Plan Competition. He said "it was at that point where the resources really started to pour in."

There are tons of opportunities for University of Michigan students. Yue didn't even participate in the MORE Program's job fair earlier this year, designed to help students get internships with start-up companies. In future posts, I will tackle the issue of finding opportunities like the ones detailed here that are available to not just college students, but to the general public.

One famous innovator was raised in Port Huron, Michigan. He invented the phonograph just over a century ago. So when you listen to your favorite CD, think of where it all started.

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Filed under: Innovation | People | Thomas Edison

I am listening to my new Coldplay CD, Viva La Vida, for the first time. Since there were some days that I missed it on the radio, I had to go out and buy it in spite of my limited budget, so I can listen to it any time I want to. I have Coldplay and Thomas Edison to thank for this.

Thomas Edison was born in Ohio. However, it was in Port Huron, Michigan where Thomas Edison was nurtured to adulthood.

Edison is the inventor of many things that have changed our lives. One of my favorites, especially now, is the phonograph or as Edison called it, the “automatic repeater”. It is tough to believe that the phonograph was invented in 1877, just 131 years ago! Additionally, it is especially astounding that this technology made a significant leap in innovation, since there was nothing like it before.
 

Before the phonograph was developed further, the only way people could listen to music was through live performances. This was not very often, nor affordable for most people. Music is mathematics, and listening to it, and even learning it, improves one's IQ (Intelligence Quotient), especially during childhood. So it could be said that Edison's invention, the phonograph, is an innovator enabler! 

It is my opinion that the phrase “ahead of his time” definitely was inspired from Thomas Edison. In the next part of this series, I will point out other life-changing innovations Edison created.

Michigan has a rich history in innovation. Many of which have made major changes all over the world, not to mention, the foundations of how we live our modern lives today. In this part, I start with the innovator, Henry Ford, who manufactured the Ford Model T automobile one hundred years ago in 1908!

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Filed under: Automotive | Henry Ford | Industries | Innovation | Manufacturing | People

The other day I was flipping through my AAA Living magazine, and came across a snippet about a discount for AAA members to the Henry Ford Museum, Greenfield Village and Ford Rouge Factory Tour.

This discount is to celebrate the 100th year anniversary of the Ford Model T rolling “off the assembly line”. So as we drive to work in our modern cars, it is astonishing to think that it was only 100 years ago that the Model T was created. And it goes without saying that this invention made significant changes all over the world. This is one reason why Detroit, Michigan is called Motor City and Motown. 

I have been lucky enough to visit all these places, and people here in Michigan don’t seem to realize how fortunate we are to have these most unique and best museums in the world! And it all started in Michigan’s rich history of innovation.

In the next part of this series, I will bring up more innovators in Michigan’s history.

 

Google offers grants for non-profit organizations. Dr. Gibson was creative enough to use this opportunity for our class to work on a real life project. And since we were doing something important, for many of us, a good grade was not our main goal.

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Filed under: Information Technology | Innovation | Web Development

It was a great idea for Dr. Gibson to connect Google Adwords grants with his Web Development class. This is what made it possible for us to engage out in the real world on a real project, while still in the classroom. By combining this real life experience with lectures, advice, collaborative learning and information sharing, we were able to learn more and useful information in a short period of time.

Google offers Adwords grant applications to 501(c)3 non-profit organizations. Once a grant is awarded, the organization has a generous daily budget to manage their Google Adwords accounts.  It is through these accounts that Google Ads are created. These ads appear on the right side of the screen when people do Google searches. For most of us, this was our first advertising experience and it was exciting to see our ads on the Internet.

In addition, we were able to help non-profit organizations in our area to bring in more customers, volunteers, and resources.

After the semester was over, we were invited to Google in Ann Arbor for lunch and to give our final presentations. This was a great opportunity for us, and since we had been giving presentations about our Adwords accounts all semester, all of us gave excellent presentations.

And in conclusion, since we were doing something important, for many of us, a good grade was not our main goal. We learned a great deal and acquired enough experience to continue working in online marketing.

I explain how this Web Development is so valuable for creating Web-sites, and why it is important to focus on search engine optimization. By managing Google Adwords accounts we were able to understand a variety of issues when creating Web pages.

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Filed under: Industries | Information Technology | Innovation | Web Development

Furthermore, since this class was a Web Development class, it was especially important to learn how Web site development was related to search engine optimization. So we had to think of keywords people would use who were interested in the services and products our non-profits would offer, and create ads relevant to these keywords, as well as landing pages that would lead to conversions. Conversions refer to actions we  want the Web-site visitors to take, such as donating money. This combination of concepts is the latest emerging business trend online.

Why have a Web site if no one is going to read it?

With a strong focus on search engine optimization, we were able to lure people to the Web site by creating landing pages for our Google Ads. We learned which strategies and keywords worked and which ones didn’t through Dr. Gibson's lectures, group presentations, and trial and error.

In the next part, I will write about the Google Adwords Grants program that helped make this class possible.