A University of Michigan and Great Lakes Water Authority team has won the first Intelligent Water Systems Challenge. The winning project, Open-Storm Detroit Dynamics, was awarded $25,000. The team used data analytics in the development of a tool to improve the efficiency of existing collection systems in Detroit, while minimizing combined sewer overflows.

The Intelligent Water Systems Challenge is hosted by a partnership between the Water Resource Foundation and WEF called the Leaders Innovation Forum for Technology (LIFT). The competition aims to give professionals, students, as well as technology experts an opportunity to innovate and find ways to deal with the numerous issues that face water and wastewater utilities. The executive director at WEF, Eileen O’Neil stated that with continued support, there would be effective adoption of smart water technologies in Detroit.

The Great Lakes Water Authority Team believed that their innovative solution could assist Detroit’s system to handle an extra 100 million gallons of water without any new construction. This alone would save an estimated $500 million, which would otherwise have been used to increase the size of storage.

The $15,000 second prize went to the Metropolitan Water Resources District of Greater Chicago. Their project developed an intelligent warning system for Odors at the Thornton-Composite-Reservoir. The $5,000 third prize was awarded to the Clean Water Services (CWS) team for their pump station optimization project. These innovations demonstrate Detroit’s commitment towards developing smart water technologies that solve current and potential future challenges.

Change is common in the city of Detroit. The city witnesses harsh winters and warm summers and change has been prevalent in the auto industry during the 20th century. Auto manufacturers became a large part of the city, creating numerous jobs. However, over time, cracks appeared in both the economy and culture of the city, leading to the number of residents decreasing by about half from 1950 to 2000. This was further compounded by the GFC, when unemployment levels increased to 28.4 percent in 2009.

Lately, this American underdog has been engaging in initiatives that indicate a robust comeback. The current unemployment level currently stands at 10.2 percent. The growth efforts of the city have been greatly boosted by tech-startups as they have been able to create approximately 171,000 jobs since 2013.

A partnership between Sustainable Brands, BASF and the Michigan Urban Farming Initiative has created an agrihood project in Detroit’s North End neighborhood. The urban farm won the top prize in a University of Michigan innovation challenge. Tony Gersh, university student and Founder of the Michigan Urban Farming Initiative stated that the goal of the partnership is not just to feed individuals through the use of vacant land, but to come up with new ideas about how urban spaces can be improved and developed. Since the inception of the initiative, volunteers from all over the world have given approximately 50,000 hours of their time, translating to 50,000 pounds of organic produce. This produce is then given to the neighborhood, food pantries, churches and more.

Innovative university startups are on the rise all over the country. Many sustainable products and services are being developed by students to help improve the quality of life for disadvantaged groups. Startups carrying out research and development to create a new or improved product or service can benefit from the R&D Tax Credit. For the first three years of R&D claims, companies receive a gross credit equal to 6 percent of the total qualified research expenses.

Detroit Mobility Lab recently named Boston Consulting Group (BCG) as their advisory partner to assist the firm in creating a modern training hub called the Michigan Mobility Institute. The group seeks to create an institute to train professionals in the mobility sector. This sector has been on the rise in Detroit and has enormous potential to develop innovations that improve the quality of life for its citizens.

BCG will play a key role in educating employees in various jobs about concepts such as cybersecurity, robotics, artificial intelligence and other mobility-related fields. In this, it is important to point out that BCG has a rich portfolio in regards to electric, urban and autonomous mobility, futuristic digital capabilities and vast experience in economic development projects. The Co-founder of the Detroit Mobility Lab, Chris Thomas, stated that the collaborative efforts with BCG will prove beneficial as BCG is well positioned to play a major role in the strategic approach of the mobility institute.

Earlier this year, BCG involved a group of 10 entities (both public and private) in the launching of 6 mobility programs. The pilot programs focused on downtown accessibility, electric vehicle use, traffic safety and neighborhood mobility. These consisted of a low-cost car-sharing program for specific Detroit neighborhoods, an app-based demand-driven shuttle service, an electric vehicle hub with fast-charging stations and a mobile parking app that integrates dynamic pricing with an incentives program.

The partnership between the two firms is geared towards investing in the city of Detroit and the state of Michigan to become a leader in the mobility sector.

Detroit will benefit from a share of $5.25 million for a project aimed at helping cities adjust to the self-driving car revolution. The other cities that have been chosen alongside Detroit include San Jose, Miami, California, Pittsburg and Long Beach. Each city will share their findings at regular meetings.

The cities are to be engaged in a five-year plan by the John S. and James L. Knight Foundation initiative in an effort to enable citizens to understand the concepts of self-driving vehicle technology. Detroit’s main focus will be to connect citizens to employment hubs. This is a challenge which was well described in 2015 in a press story entitled “James Robertson’s 21-mile walking commute”. This piece discussed about the awful transport frameworks in the southeastern region of Michigan. The Chief of Mobility Innovation for the Detroit Mayor’s Office, Mark de la Vergne, stated that the details of how much each city will get from the foundation are still being decided.

The grant money will be used to integrate autonomous vehicles with more traditional services. Citizens will be engaged in a multiyear conversation on the future of mobility through autonomous vehicle projects. Pilot projects will be conducted to iron out issues. These projects will engage the community to ensure that local needs are met. The initiative will help the city stay up-to-date with the increasing rate of testing and deployment of self-driving vehicles across the globe.

Photo by Harald Felgner on Foter.com / CC BY-NC-SA

$1.6 million will be awarded to the winners of MIT’s Inclusive Innovation Challenge (IIC) on November 8, 2018. Developed from the MIT Initiative on the Digital Economy, the IIC is aimed at finding and promoting startups and entrepreneurial organizations who are using technology to provide financial opportunities for low and moderate income earners. For the first time, the IIC has adopted a global tournament model this year. They have hosted the challenge in five cities across the world. Detroit is the host for the North American region, where MIT has partnered with the Ralph C. Wilson Jr. Foundation.

As stated by the event’s producer, Susan Young, the Inclusive Innovation Challenge was started three years ago, with the belief that people are living in one of the greatest ages of innovation in human history. However, not many people are benefiting despite the fact that they are trying so hard. Jobs that in most cases lead to prosperity are disappearing fast. As such, technological innovation can be used to solve the problems that are being currently faced by creating more opportunities.  The vice president of programs at the Ralph Wilson Foundation stated that the organization has informed MIT that the city is currently transiting from manufacturing to a technology-based economy.

Businesses of any size, type or nationality can compete in the challenge. Twenty regional finalists have been selected from around the world from over 1,500 entrants. Academics, entrepreneurs, investors and industry experts will attend the invite-only event where the $1 million prize will be announced.

A lightweighting research and development machine is headed to Detroit. Manufactured by Manufacturing Technology Inc. (MTI) of South Bend, the machine will be delivered to the Lightweight Innovations for Tomorrow (LIFT) facility.

The LF35-75 linear friction welder will be stationed at LIFT’s training and testing facility. Both LIFT and MTI are to share this 122,000-pound piece of equipment for the purposes of research and development in the automotive and aerospace industries. As such, LIFT will be looking to construct lightweighting blisks as well as rotors for automotive and aircraft engines. Nigel Francis, the CEO and Director at the company, states that the deployment of a machine of this capacity will significantly expand the R&D capabilities of the company.

The machine was built in approximately one and a half years. It is 22 feet in height and 14 feet in width. Although the original price of the machine is not yet disclosed, LIFT’s Vice President of Sales and Marketing stated that his company contributed around $4 million to build it with the help of MTI. The machine is regarded as a unique tool in friction welding as it is capable of producing very large, full-scale parts. Previously, customers in industries such as rail, mining, aerospace and defense would have to get expensive parts imported from Europe. Now they can get these parts made in Detroit.

MTI will be responsible for the running and maintenance of the machine and will also assist LIFT’s projects. Once installed, the machine will be commissioned and operational by the first quarter of 2019.

Asking a simple question such as what mobility means in Detroit could leave you with numerous answers. Some would say it is the transport system that consists of bikes, cars, air, bus or foot. Others may mention financial mobility or even how the city could be a leader in the transport sector globally.

To that effect, Mobility Week Detroit took place from the 7th to the 12th of October, 2018. This event aimed at showcasing the city’s leading role in technology as well as the future of mobility in Detroit and the world at large. Mobility Week constituted various gatherings and summits, including the renowned annual Tech Stars Demo Day, “The Eye, The Brain and The Auto” conference and the Michigan Auto Summit.

Numerous mobility entities exhibited at the event, such as Maven, Chariot, May Mobility, DDOT and Airspace. Mobility-related start-ups offered demonstrations and the chance for people to try their technologies. Glenn Stevens, the vice president of automotive and mobility initiatives for the Detroit Regional Chamber, stated that the city is a leader in the development and innovation of the next generation mobility technology. Through events such as Mobility Week, entities are offered the perfect opportunity to showcase their emerging technologies and at the same time connect with industry professionals. Other cities should aim to follow in Detroit’s steps.

An innovation hub has been launched in Detroit by professional services company Accenture. The hub is aimed at helping companies in the automotive, technology, industrial equipment, energy and utility industries to address the move towards digital products and services in a move known as Industry X.O. It is estimated that by the end of 2020 the company will add 200 skilled technology jobs to the local market.

Michigan’s Governor, Rick Snyder, welcomed Accenture’s decision in expanding its commitments in Detroit. He said that Accenture’s investment is a testament to Michigan’s history of innovation and growing talent base. The Detroit innovation hub includes a state of the art Industry X.0 innovation center in Livonia, which is aimed at helping clients explore, co-create, test and gauge digital solutions that will improve product development, manufacturing, engineering, customer experience and cyber security. With this innovation in place, clients will be able to develop and test proficiencies to see how an idea could work in real-life.

Accenture’s CEO, Julie Sweet, also spoke to say that bringing innovation to the client’s doorstep in Detroit will not only create success in today’s digital economy, but will also help the clients achieve concrete and leading-edge results faster than ever. The leader of Accenture’s industrial practice in North America, Brian Irwin, said that the new innovation hub in metro Detroit will complement their other Industry X.O innovation centers, including those that have a strong focus on automotive.

Accenture employs over 850 people in Detroit and works together with local companies in industries such as automotive, consumer goods and services, education, health, insurance and retail. The company is also expanding its metro Detroit apprenticeship program in partnership with Grand Circus, an organization that helps to develop Michigan’s tech workforce.