SCIP Goes Statewide

Angelo Gaitas, the founder of PicoCal Inc., has high hopes for expanding his Ann Arbor-based technology company, but needs additional resources to reach the goals he has set for product manufacturing and business growth.

This spring PicoCal received a $40,000 Small Company Innovation Program (SCIP) matching grant from the Michigan Corporate Relations Network (MCRN). The funding supports a research project at the University of Michigan to improve the manufacturing process of nano-structured materials and nano devices.

“The SCIP funds will help us develop new-generation nano-heaters, which are core to our new direction in nano-fabrication and nano-manufacturing,” says Gaitas, who launched the company in 2004. “We will work with Professor Khalil Najafi in his lab at the U-M Center for Wireless Integrated MicroSystems (WIMS) and PicoCal laboratories to develop our new nano-heater for use in our new nano-manufacturing system.”

Gaitas says the SCIP award allows his company to leverage its existing funding at the University and to advance its research one step further. “It also provides an incentive for companies such as ours to work with academia,” he adds.

The SCIP model, piloted in 2009 by the U-M College of Engineering, has been embraced by MCRN, which is rolling it out at the state level to jump-start economic growth and development, thanks to a grant from the Michigan Economic Development Corporation (MEDC).

SCIP provides up to $40,000 in matching grants to Michigan small businesses to help cover the cost of conducting a research project at one or more of the six participating MCRN universities. The program also seeks to promote increased academic-industry collaboration by introducing companies to university-based business engagement centers and familiarizing them with the deep pool of talent, technical expertise, and facilities available to them on campus.

MCRN, the nation’s first statewide university business engagement network, was launched in fall 2011 with a grant of more than $1.8 million from the Michigan Economic Development Corporation (MEDC) and the Michigan Strategic Fund (MSF) board.  The network’s six public university partners include the University of Michigan, Michigan State University, Wayne State University, Michigan Technological University, Western Michigan University, and the University of Michigan-Dearborn. Collectively, these institutions account for 98 percent of the academic research and 99 percent of all patent activity done in Michigan.

In June, MCRN announced its first round of grant awards to two Michigan-based companies: PicoCal and DeNovo Sciences Inc. DeNovo Sciences received $27,750 to support a research project at Wayne State University focused on the development of a new technology that provides a less-invasive alternative to biopsies to detect circulating tumor cells. The SCIP grant amounts are matched 1:1 by the companies receiving them, and each university is responsible for covering the overhead cost of facilities and administration associated with a specific research project. Grant recipients also can opt to use their funding to build internship capacity or meet other product-development needs.

“Small companies in Michigan may be able to benefit from university resources, but many can’t afford to pay for them,” says Lorelei Davis, associate director of MSU Business-CONNECT, who is the MCRN administrator for SCIP. “We’re reaching out to companies to acquaint them with university business engagement officers, researchers, faculty and students. Our purpose is to establish relationships, build companies, create jobs and strengthen and diversify Michigan’s economy.” 

Any small Michigan company is eligible to apply for a SCIP matching grant to conduct research with a specific faculty member or researcher at an MCRN university. If requested, university business engagement officers will identify the best person for the project and connect the company to that university researcher. Currently, SCIP grant money is available to fund 10 to 20 projects annually in 2012 and 2013. The next deadline for applications is Nov. 1.            

More information: Contact Lorelei Davis, MCRN administrator for SCIP, at lddavis@msu.edu or 517.884.2366 or visit www.michigancrn.org/scip.