News

After 3-Year Partnership, DePuy Acquires TRS Scaffolding Technology

4/21/2017
In 2014, Plymouth, MI-based biotech startup Tissue Regeneration Systems (TRS) began collaborating with DePuy Synthes Products, a company under the Johnson & Johnson umbrella making orthopedic products, such as the devices used in joint replacements. This week, DePuy formalized that relationship with the announcement that it has acquired TRS’s FDA-approved,...

Diamond Kinetics Launches “Smart Bat” with Marucci

4/21/2017
Just in time for the start of baseball season, Pittsburgh-based U-M startup Diamond Kinetics and Baton Rouge-based sporting goods company Marucci Sports have announced a partnership to produce a new line of handcrafted maple bats that incorporate an array of emdedded “smart” sensors to collect, analyze and deliver swing data...

MEDC-Funded ADVANCE Program Launched

4/21/2017
A new “Gap” or “Proof of Concept” fund is being launched to provide resources to assess market needs and the potential for promising new university inventions, thanks to $1 million of funding support from the Michigan Economic Development Corporation (MEDC). The University Early Stage Proof-of-Concept Fund program known as ADVANCE...

A New Path Forward for HistoSonics

4/21/2017
On March 13, 2017 University of Michigan startup HistoSonics Inc. announced the hiring of a new CEO, the closing of an $8.2 million Series B funding round, and a shift in focus toward the treatment of solid tumor cancers. According to the Ann Arbor based company, which launched in 2010...

Ken Nisbet Retiring after 20 Years at U-M

4/21/2017
At the end of May, after 20 years at the University, Ken Nisbet will be retiring from U-M Innovation Partnerships. Since he assumed the leadership position in 2001, U-M Innovation Partnerships has made significant progress and now U-M is considered to be among the top ten of all universities in...

Don Chaffin’s Groundbreaking Work in Ergonomics

4/21/2017
As part of his PhD thesis at the University of Michigan in 1967, Don Chaffin developed a 2D mechanical model of the human body. Little did he realize that what he created would be the basis for a powerful tool that would change the approach to ergonomics for decades to...

Taking a SecondLook™ at How Students Learn Histology

4/21/2017
When Michael Hortsch, Ph.D., decided to supplement his teaching of histology, also known as microscopic anatomy, to University of Michigan students with PowerPoint files, he had no idea that he was creating a future mobile app that would help students all over the world across a broad range of studies....

Nynex Therapeutics Launches in Cleveland

4/21/2017
In March, the Cleveland-based drug development accelerator BioMotiv, and the University of Michigan, announced the launch of the new startup Nynex Therapeutics. The company, which will be based in Cleveland, will develop first-in-class therapeutics to inhibit deubiquitinases, which are a class of proteases upregulated in cancer and associated with tumor...

Diamond Kinetics, Marucci To Release Wood Smart Bat With SwingTracker Inside Knob

4/10/2017
In a move that will blend the old school with the new, Marucci Sports and Diamond Kinetics announced the release of Smart Bat Custom Cut — a handcrafted Marucci maple baseball bat designed to hold a Diamond Kinetics SwingTracker inside its handle. Marucci’s Baton Rouge, La.-based brand has become a...

Mythic launches a chip to enable computer vision and voice control on any device

3/24/2017
Hardware that responds to voice commands is already out there and probably in your hand or house right now. Whether it’s a smartphone, smart speaker or wearable, it has to connect to the cloud to deliver answers. Now, a startup called Mythic (formerly known as Isocline) is launching a chip...

Mythic raises $8.8 million to put AI on a chip

3/24/2017
While there’s no shortage of hype surrounding artificial intelligence, there’s also no shortage of companies seeking to harness its potential. Mythic is one of them, and it claims to be taking a different approach. The Austin, Texas-based startup wants to move away from the cloud and a dependence on network...

Neurable: Controlling VR with Your Mind

3/22/2017
Virtual reality is still so new that the best way for us to interact within it is not yet clear. One startup wants you to use your head, literally: it’s tracking brain waves and using the result to control VR video games. Boston-based startup Neurable is focused on deciphering brain...