Campus District
“The point of the challenge is to institute more technology transfer out of the universities,” explains Dave Karpinski, NorTech vice president. “It’s a business plan competition that focuses on clean energy technology.”
Students from Ohio colleges are invited to submit their plans in five categories: renewable energy, low-carbon transportation, Smart Grid, energy efficiency and carbon abatement. Participants in the first round submit their ideas and video presentations to compete for $10,000. The top three teams from Ohio will then go on to the regional competition, where they will receive extensive mentoring and compete for $100,000.
“They have an intense mentoring team and help fine tune their ideas,” says Karpinski. “They get lots of support behind them to develop their ideas. That’s what’s really exciting about this competition.”
Although there is a cash prize involved, Karpinski says the competition is really about encouraging new ideas and encouraging students to think about clean energy technology. “It’s not about the prize, it’s that students can get exposure to the different sectors,” he says. “It’s a great and noble mission.”
Source: Dave Karpinski
Writer: Karin Connelly
The Tribe has partnered with Cleveland State University’s Fenn College of Engineering on the project, which features an innovative helical design. The 18-foot wide cylinder rotates constantly to find the most turbulent wind to keep the four 6-foot turbines spinning. The project hopefully will boost regional renewable job opportunities by providing a real-world test of a locally-manufactured technology.
The turbine is anticipated to generate a minimum of 40,000 kWh/year, the amount of energy it takes to power four average American households for a year. The turbine joins the Tribe's other green measures, including a 42-panel solar electric system, a comprehensive composting program, only purchasing paper products made of 100 percent post consumer content, and only using Green Seal certified cleaning products.
Read the rest of the program here.
The study focuses on the economic impact of drilling for gas and oil in the Utica Point Pleasant and Marcellus shale formations that run along the eastern half of the state. “It would be a nice change for Ohio to be making money in gas and oil instead of losing it,” says Andrew Thomas, executive in residence in the Energy Policy Center at CSU’s Maxine Goodman Levin College of Urban Affairs.
The group does not yet have concrete numbers on the oil and gas potential, but should have them by next year. But they do know that the natural resource could have a significant positive impact on a variety of industries in the area, from the steel and construction companies to manufacturers and associated businesses.
This study could improve industry across the board if the potential in shale proves to be what speculators believe it to be. “The big benefit and early benefit will be with the land owners,” says Thomas. “We’ve been exporting money out of the state for a long time. It would change the economy of Ohio.”
Source: Andrew Thomas
Writer: Karin Connelly
The concept is brilliantly simple: Users elect to receive the advertising in exchange for free or discounted printing. Instead of receiving documents on typical 8.5" x 11" paper, they are printed on 8.5" x 14" paper, with the bottom three inches featuring a perforated section of full-color ads. Advertisers are able to tailor or change their ads at will to fit the time of day, content or location of the user’s document.
“Libraries are really challenged by economic models,” says Lambert. “Knowta meets those challenges with sustainable printing.” A portion of the revenue collected from the ads goes back to the library to offset printing costs and other expenses. Lambert and Clark have already secured contracts with local merchants around the Case campus.
Knowta will launch its product in CWRU’s Kelvin Smith Library in October, followed by a launch in the Cuyahoga County Public Library system later this fall. While Lambert and Clark plan to expand in Northeast Ohio, they also have plans to sell their product outside of the region.
“As we grow we’ll be growing within the region with additional locations within the Cuyahoga County Library system and the higher education market within Northeast Ohio, with a few target markets outside Northeast Ohio,” says Clark.
The company has one full-time employee, with plans to hire regional sales reps as they continue to expand.
Source: Ryan Clark and Nathan Lambert
Writer: Karin Connelly
“I told them I was a lifelong Ohioan and did not want to move out of Ohio,” Fisher says. The Cleveland office is the first new office CEOs for Cities has opened in 10 years. The organization has offices in Chicago and Washington, D.C., with partners in 15 cities.
CEOs for Cities brings civic leaders from around the country together to come up with solutions to struggling economies and helps cities like Cleveland thrive.
“We’re a national network of urban leaders from the public, private and non-profit sectors to develop best practices,” explains Fisher. “We want to bring university and college presidents, business leaders, mayors and city councils together to discuss how to make cities more vibrant, sustainable and attractive.”
Based in Cleveland State University’s Levin College of Urban Affairs, Fisher felt it was the best location to keep his finger on the pulse of what’s going on in the city. “I wanted to be somewhere where I can be around smart, urban thinkers like [Levin dean] Ned Hill. I wanted to be in an exciting atmosphere.”
One of Fisher’s goals is to create a cluster partnership between Cleveland, Akron, Canton and Youngstown in which city leaders will come together to share innovative best practices. The cluster group will share their thoughts with other city leaders in the CEOs for Cities partnership and, in turn, will gather information from other regional leaders.
Source: Lee Fisher
Writer: Karin Connelly
“Downtown is where the action is,” says Alex Cortes, an attorney who lives in the Warehouse District. Cortes is one of the 10,000 people who call downtown home. But to reach the 20,000-resident figure that boosters say Cleveland needs to truly become a vibrant neighborhood in the city, more retail, green space, and housing options will have to come online.
A team of researchers has developed an artificial lung that uses regular air, not pure oxygen, and is portable, marking a huge step forward for people with acute and chronic lung disease. The research is a result of collaboration between CWRU and the Louis Stokes Cleveland VA Medical Center.
"The most significant finding is that we have demonstrated a small scale, prototype artificial lung," says Joseph A. Potkay, research assistant professor in CWRU's department of electrical engineering and computer science. "It represents a major leap forward toward a self-contained, portable or implantable device that would use ambient air, rather than oxygen cylinders, and would thus give patients full mobility."
Current artificial lung systems require heavy tanks of oxygen, limiting patients' portability -- and they can be used only on patients at rest. Also, the lifetime of the system is measured in days. This new prototype is much smaller in size -- equivalent to a natural lung.
"These results prove that constructing a device with features similar in size to those found in the natural lung can result in large improvements in efficiency over current alternatives, thereby enabling portable devices," says Potkay. "This technology will be used in portable heart lung machines and portable systems for the treatment of acute and chronic lung disease or as a bridge to transplant."
Potkay and his team began developing the lung in early 2008 and will begin animal testing in two years. Human trials should begin in 10 years. The research was funded by the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs. Lung disease affects over 200 million people worldwide.
Source: Joseph A. Potkay
Writer: Karin Connelly
Now, after being closed since 2010 when CSU opened the nearby Euclid Commons residential development, the Campus District eyesore is set to be demolished. CSU has applied for a $2 million "Clean Ohio Fund" grant to help pay for asbestos removal and demolition, and university officials have stated their intention to bring the building down as soon as possible. Grant awards from the Ohio Department of Development will be announced in November.
CSU aims to turn the site into a $50 million commercial, retail and residential development. Currently, the university is preparing a Request for Proposals (RFP) to obtain ideas from developers for potential uses of the property.
The demolition of Viking Hall and preparation of the site for future development is part of a larger effort by the university to transform its campus into a more welcoming, more residential campus. Promoting student life and building a walkable campus environment and retail amenities will encourage students to apply to CSU while helping to improve the neighborhood, say university officials. CSU also received a boost from the completion of the Euclid Corridor project, which has improved infrastructure and spurred new development in the area.
CSU officials plan to use the project to better link Euclid with Wolstein Center to the south. A public walkway or green space are possibilities. The university would like to find a developer for the site by sometime next year, and begin construction by 2013. CSU plans to remain involved in the development project to ensure that its outcome aligns with the goals of the campus Master Plan.
Adding to a slew of recently completed development projects, the university also has announced plans to partner with Polaris Real Estate Equities to develop Campus Village, a $45 million, 308-unit project being built on Chester at E. 22nd that aims to attract faculty, staff, graduate students, professors and young professionals to live on campus.
Source: Cleveland State University
Writer: Lee Chilcote
Congresswoman Marcia L. Fudge hosted a For the People job fair and town hall meeting at Cleveland State University on Monday, August 8 to help combat Ohio's rising unemployment rate. The job fair featured nearly 100 employers were on hand, offering more than 1,200 jobs in healthcare, banking, sales, retail, hospitality, education, manufacturing, nonprofits, and government affairs. Thousands of eager job seekers showed up at the event.
"By hosting a job fair, I want to do my part to connect people in our community who are ready to work with employers who are ready to hire," said Congresswoman Fudge.
The day-long job fair included job readiness workshops and technical assistance seminars including resume writing, interview skills and salary negotiations. Cleveland was the first stop on a five-city For the People Jobs Initiative sponsored by the Congressional Black Caucus. The fair was followed by a town meeting at which Fudge asked for input from residents and organizations in Northeast Ohio about how to solve the nation's unemployment crisis.
The fair was followed by a town hall meeting. Nine members of the caucus joined Fudge to discuss the initiative.
Source: Marcia L. Fudge
Writer: Karin Connell
The event organizers, architectural designers Michael Christoff and Bradley Fink, plan to showcase the designs and announce the competition winners at a public ceremony that will be held at the Cleveland State University Student Center beginning at 6 p.m. on Friday, Aug. 19th.
This year's competition focuses on designing a permanent, new home for the Campus International School at CSU, a Cleveland Metropolitan School District (CMSD) school that is one of 17 innovative schools that was launched under the CMSD's Transformation Plan. On the website, event organizers cite high-performing schools as key to attracting and retaining residents in Cleveland.
Campus International School is now located in temporary, leased space at First United Methodist Church at E. 30th and Euclid Avenue. The school is growing by about 60 students per year, and anticipates outgrowing that space by 2013.
The popular school, which uses a curriculum based on the International Baccalaureate Program and aims to instill international-mindedness and an ethic of community service among its students, has attracted so many applicants that CMSD is now using a lottery system to fill the school's open spots.
While there are currently no plans to build a new school, CSU officials have stated their preference for a site bounded by Payne and Superior Avenues and East 18th and 19th Streets that consists largely of parking lots owned by the city. CSU's Master Plan calls for spurring more development at the northern edge of campus.
The Cleveland Design Competition is funded mainly by the Lincoln Institute of Land Policy.
Source: Cleveland Design Competition
Writer: Lee Chilcote
"We wanted to be accessible to the community, and a place where people can just drop by," says Dan Moulthrop, Civic Commons Curator of Conversation, of the move. "We don't want to be hidden in an office building somewhere; we want people to feel like the Civic Commons is a place they recognize and own."
Since launching a year ago, the Civic Commons has always planned to move out of the E. 9th Street offices of its parent organization, Fund for Our Economic Future, to a more visible spot. Moulthrop chose Trinity Commons because of its central location, on-the-street presence and reputation as an urban gathering place.
"There's a great mission overlap -- we share a sense of being of service to the community and how important that is," he says. "It's a really nice fit for us."
Trinity Commons, which is located at E. 22nd and Euclid, was developed by Trinity Episcopal Cathedral a decade ago to house its offices, provide community meeting space and create new storefronts. Moulthrop says he is looking forward to using Trinity Commons' meeting space to host face-to-face conversations about important civic issues, supplementing the group's online presence.
"We've tried to be both an online presence and out in the community since the beginning, yet we can't be in the community all the time," he says. "We're a community asset and we want to show that in our physical presence."
Moulthrop adds that the synergy between virtual and real discussions lies at the heart of the Civic Commons mission. "The vision is that thoughtful online conversation can have an impact on community conversation," he says. "The trick is doing meaningful activity in both places and connecting them in conversation. You see this when people are live-blogging or tweeting a town hall meeting."
Moulthrop is also enjoying his central location in the Campus District near downtown Cleveland. "We're close to a lot of things, and very accessible because we're right on Euclid Avenue, a major artery into downtown," he says.
Source: Dan Moulthrop
Writer: Lee Chilcote
Local entrepreneur and Cleveland State University alumnus, Monte Ahuja, has donated $10 million to his alma mater to fund scholarships and an endowed professorship in business. The announcement was made during a special celebration on June 24 in the university's student center, marking the largest gift in the university's 47-year history.
The founder of Transtar Industries, a $600 million a year global leader in transmission replacement parts, Ahuja got his start at CSU in the 1970s with his business plan for a marketing class. He got an A for the plan that launched his career. He's been an active alumnus ever since, serving as chairman of the board of trustees from 1992 to 1998.
"Monte Ahuja has been a strong supporter of the school for a long time," says spokesperson Joe Mosbrook. "In support of CSU president Ronald M. Berkman's transformation plan, it seemed a good time to step up with this gift."
The majority of the money will be earmarked for scholarships in business, with a portion dedicated for scholarships in engineering. The gift will also fund an endowed professorship in business, the Monte Ahuja Endowed Chair of Global Business.
"The endowed chair will allow Cleveland State to bring in heavy hitters in global business," says Mosbrook. "The business school has a particular focus on global business, more so than any other school in the area."
Before the event, the board of trustees unanimously voted to re-name the college of business the Monte Ahuja College of Business.
Source: Joe Mosbrook
Writer: Karin Connelly
Before Mauldin was hired in 2006 to breathe new life into the moribund Dramatic Arts Program, the school had only 21 majors. Campus officials had even considered canceling it. Today,CSU's theatre program boasts 85 majors -- and counting.
"We're poised to become a destination theatre program in the coming years," Mauldin predicts. "That's not hubris -- there's some very solid work being produced here."
Mauldin is especially excited about CSU's imminent move to the three new stages at the newly renovated and expanded Allen Theatre at PlayhouseSquare. When the theatre opens in September, CSU will share it with Cleveland Play House, which is relocating from its long-standing home near the Cleveland Clinic.
"Currently, we only have one performance stage in an old textile factory," explains Mauldin. "We're moving to a 500-seat, state-of-the-art theatre inside the Allen, a 290-seat flex space and a 150-seat black box theatre. It's a dream of a space."
Mauldin also lauded the renovation of the Middough Building on East 13th Street, which will feature classrooms, studios and rehearsal halls. "Instead of stepping over each other, we can have concurrent activities going on," he says.
Although CSU's program is already strong (Mauldin reports that 95 percent of its graduates are either working or attending graduate school in the field) it will only get better by being part of PlayhouseSquare.
"We're part of the city, whose theatrical life is so vibrant," he says. "There's so much promise and potential to live up to."
Source: Michael Mauldin
Writer: Lee Chilcote
Recent CWRU mechanical engineering graduates Austin Schmidt and Solomon Alkhasov won the 2011 Idea Competition, sponsored by LaunchHouse and CSU's Accelerated MBA program at Nance College of Business. They created a company called Affinity Algorithms, which develops proprietary computer arbitrage software to facilitate transactions between buyers and sellers in various online marketplaces. The software provides greater liquidity and price transparency in the marketplaces.
"We are developing a suite of online software that helps the seller in fragmented marketplaces better manage inventory," explains Schmidt. Although Schmidt and Alkhasov came up with the idea from their experiences buying and selling textbooks in college, they say it can be applied to many online marketplaces.
The idea for Affinity Algorithms came about in January, they set up shop in March, and landed at LaunchHouse this month. They plan to roll out a full build of the software in September.
Students from all Northeast Ohio colleges and universities were invited to pitch a business concept to a panel of entrepreneurs, venture capitalists, CSU faculty and LaunchHouse staff. The contest primarily focused on students who had innovative ideas in the fields of software and internet technology, low-tech medical devices and clean energy.
The second winner is Ronny Shalev, also a student at Case. Shalev created a product known as an autonomous intravenous (IV) insertion tool that will be the most effective replacement for the current procedure of manual vein localization and needle insertion. Shalev's tool will completely replace the need for trained medical staff.
Contest winners were each awarded a $2,500 scholarship to the Global AMBA program along with a prize basket of support services from LaunchHouse, "Additionally, we received a $500 check from LaunchHouse, along with a bunch of services that include legal services, accounting, and free space for three months," says Schmidt. "All in all, a very comprehensive package with everything needed to get a business off the ground."
The winners will also have the opportunity to compete for up to $5000 in follow on funding.
Source: Austin Schmidt
Writer: Karin Connelly
Clusters are groupings of manufacturers, suppliers, training programs and researchers.
"Cluster theory holds that manufacturers and suppliers often want to be in proximity to collaborate on product design. Companies want to be near universities to benefit from the latest innovations. And bigger clusters attract still more companies that seek access to a large pool of skilled workers."
Supported by Ohio's Third Frontier and other initiatives, Northeast Ohio's hub of medical, pharmaceutical and bioscience continues to flourish. Since 2001, the number of biomedical firms has more than doubled to 600, and VC investments have increased to $150 million a year compared to just $30 million.
Now on its way, the $465 million Cleveland Medical Mart & Convention Center will be the world's first marketplace for medical industry buyers and sellers.
Read the whole report here.
In recent months, Case, University Hospitals, Cleveland Clinic, Tri-C, Kent State, Oberlin College, Cleveland State University and the Fowler Center for Sustainable Value at Case's Weatherhead School of Management have all hired Sustainability Managers.
It's a sign that sustainability efforts -- once the domain of graduate students, volunteer committees or a staff person whose responsibilities were already stretched -- have infiltrated the culture of these organizations. These full-time staffers are responsible for implementing sustainable business practices.
Take University Hospitals (UH) as one example. Aparna Bole, a staff doctor, recently replaced an all- volunteer team that has led efforts for several years. She is now working to develop a sustainability plan, add two additional full-time staff people, and ensure that all new UH buildings meet EnergyStar standards (a 15-percent energy use reduction when compared to typical construction).
Cleveland State University (CSU) has also ramped up its sustainability efforts. Recently, CSU President Ronald Berkman signed the American College and University Presidents' Climate Commitment, requiring that CSU develop a carbon reduction goal and track carbon emissions from buildings. Nathan Engstrom, CSU's Campus Sustainability Coordinator, is responsible for leading these efforts.
The new hires indicate that Sustainable Cleveland 2019, an effort launched by the city of Cleveland and environmental groups to make Cleveland a model of sustainability, is taking root in some pretty big places.
Source: Green City Blue Lake
Writer: Lee Chilcote
"I kept thinking to myself, 'There's a better way to do this than to keep taking notes in one constantly growing Word document,'" says Geigel.
That "better way," says Geigel, is GroundBooth, an online program for law students to take notes, share outlines and collaborate. "The whole goal is to make technology work for law school students better than it has been. We're trying to tailor GroundBooth to the habits of law students."
The service is free. GroundBooth plans to earn income from ad revenue, supplemental sales of reference materials and additional website features. The company is currently in talks with Supreme Bar Review about a partnership. The website now supports 13 law schools including Case Western Reserve University, Cleveland Marshall, Stanford, and Harvard.
Geigel, who just finished his second year of law school, studied computer science as an undergrad at Hiram College and was a web developer before creating GroundBooth. He officially launched the company with three friends in January, and has partnered with Shaker LaunchHouse, which has matched GroundBooth with several mentors and is providing office space, in addition to a cash investment.
Source: Art Geigel
Writer: Karin Connelly
The agreement was adopted at a special meeting of the Shaker City Council on March 14, after recommendation by the Shaker Heights Economic Development Department.
One of the first endeavors the two have launched is the 2011 Idea Competition. The contest is open to students at any Ohio college or university with an innovative business idea. Ideas should focus on software and Internet technology, low-tech medical devices, and clean energy.
"We really want to get the juices flowing of entrepreneurs in the region," says Shaker LaunchHouse managing partner Todd Goldstein. "We believe it's extremely important to provide an outlet for good ideas."
The winner gets a $2,500 scholarship to the Nance's global AMBA program and $1,000 from LaunchHouse, including incubation space, legal support, accounting support, and business planning assistance. The winner will have the chance to compete for $5,000 in seed funding.
Entry forms are due by noon on Monday, April 25. Finalists will then give a two-minute pitch to a panel of entrepreneurs and venture capitalists at Shaker LaunchHouse on Thursday, May 5. SLH will be offering educational seminars for the contestants to help them with their presentations.
Source: Todd Goldstein
Writer: Karin Connelly