LANSING, Mich. – The University Corporate Research Park, located southwest of the Michigan State University campus along Collins Road, broke ground April 15 on Phase II – a new street and utilities expansion linking the north and south ends of the 115-acre park.
The $3.6 million investment will ensure that facilities are in place when the economy emerges from the present recession and technological development begins to accelerate, according to the Michigan State University Foundation, which owns the park. Completion is expected this autumn.
MSU President Lou Anna K. Simon points to the expansion as a step on the road to greater public-private collaboration.
"We are fostering a culture of collaboration, connecting technological breakthroughs driven by public university research with the private sector entrepreneurial activity," Simon said. “The University Corporate Research Park is an important venue for bringing the two sectors together.”
Current tenants encompass a range of technologies pointing to the future economy, including materials, information technology, business logistics and biotechnology. They represent the educational community, government and private industry. Among them:
• MSU’s Composite Vehicle Research Center
Primarily composed of researchers from mechanical engineering, chemical engineering and materials science, this group designs and tests lightweight, impact-resistant structural materials. Flexible research and testing space affords the group the ability to quickly transfer useful research to automotive, aerospace and other applications.
• MBI International
A highly innovative nonprofit corporation, MBI works with universities and industrial partners to de-risk technologies and get them to market. Growing interest in MBI, MSU BioCollaborate and the Office of Biobased Technologies is expected to fuel expansion within the park over the next several years.
This expansion is a direct result of a joint effort between the MSU Foundation and the city of Lansing to secure $1.8 million in project funding from the U.S. Economic Development Administration, as part of its 2008 grants program for the expansion of technology infrastructure. Lansing Mayor Virg Bernero cited the importance of the project and collaboration to Lansing’s Regional SmartZone.
“Building out the infrastructure for our SmartZone is an exciting milestone on the path toward diversifying our local economy, fostering innovation and creating new jobs in the fast-growing sectors of the emerging economy,” Bernero said. “Thanks to the great partnership and support of President Simon, the MSU Foundation, the Lansing Economic Development Corp. and the city of Lansing, we continue to make bold strides forward as a community and as a region that will pay dividends for decades to come.”
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The MSU Foundation was established in 1973 as an independent nonprofit corporation. The purpose of the MSU Foundation is to support the advancement of MSU as the nation's premier land-grant university, providing a renewing resource for this and future generations. The foundation provides essential support and enhances a broad range of activities that lead to commercialization of new technologies and supports the intellectual property that is developed as a result of university research.
Michigan State University has been advancing knowledge and transforming lives through innovative teaching, research and outreach for more than 150 years. MSU is known internationally as a major public university with global reach and extraordinary impact. Its 17 degree-granting colleges attract scholars worldwide who are interested in combining education with practical problem solving.