Lawrence Tech dedicates Center for Innovative Materials Research
Calling it a crucial part of Michigan's research and economic future, officials from area governments and Lawrence Technological University Friday formally dedicated the university's new Center for Innovative Materials Research. CIMR has already gone to work doing research in the defense, homeland security, transportation infrastructure, construction and automotive industries. The center features huge presses and chambers that can test components at loads of up to a million pounds and temperatures from the Arctic to 2,300 degrees Fahrenheit. More.

Tech Town's SciTech pharma firm honored by NIH, MGCS
SciTech, a Wayne State University spin-off company headquartered at the university’s TechTown research and technology park in Detroit, is garnering national attention and accolades for promising anti-cancer drug research that may save thousands of lives from pancreatic and other deadly cancers. SciTech has been chosen by the National Institutes of Health Commercialization Assistance Program to present at the Larta Institute’s 2008 Venture Forum, the largest and longest running showcase of early stage innovation and entrepreneurship. SciTech also has been chosen to present at the 2008 Michigan Growth Capital Symposium, where investors meet the “Best of the Midwest” in emerging technologies. More.

California tech company seeking engineers for Ann Arbor office
A company founded out of University of Michigan research that moved its headquarters to California now wants to grow in Ann Arbor. Sunnyvale, Calif.-based Mobius Microsystems has launched a new design center in Ann Arbor where it will conduct research and product development activities for its proprietary CMOS Harmonic Oscillator technology. The company also hopes to attract local engineering talent as it expands its workforce. More.

DTE converting 800 trucks to biodiesel
DTE Energy said Friday that it will reduce the environmental footprint of its 800 diesel-fueled trucks and service vehicles by converting the fleet to cleaner-burning biodiesel fuel. Biodiesel is an alternative fuel produced from domestic renewable resources such as vegetable oil and animal fat. Compared to conventional diesel fuel, the use of biodiesel significantly reduces emissions of carbon dioxide, carbon monoxide and other air pollutants. Converting DTE Energy's 800 diesel-fueled vehicles to biodiesel is the environmental equivalent of taking about 120 of those vehicles out of service. More.

Pioneer neck device implanted successfully
Marquette-based Pioneer Surgical Technology Inc. Friday announced the successful human implantation of its next generation cervical total disc replacement, the NuNec Cervical Arthroplasty Device. The surgeries were performed by Drs. Hansen Yuan, Dewei Zou and Wenwen Wu in Beijing China, on patients with degenerative disc disease otherwise indicated for standard fusion surgery. More.

Issue Overview

Today's Blue Box: The week ahead in tech events

Tech Town's SciTech pharma firm honored

California tech firm seeks Ann Arbor's engineering talent

Pioneer neck device implanted successfully

Warren company in running for new Army vehicle program

Microsoft abandons bid for Yahoo

Ballmer's competitive fire a key factor in Yahoo chase

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Stryker gets FDA warning letter
Stryker Corp., the Kalamazoo-based manufacturer of artificial hips and knees, hospital beds and other medical gear, said Friday it had received a warning letter from the United States Food and Drug Administration about violations at its Hopkinton, Mass. biotech division. The letter alleges the company falsified documents and failed to control quality at the plant. The warning letter concerns observations made during an inspection that was initiated last September. More.

GM in deal with second cellulosic ethanol company
General Motors Corp. is taking an undisclosed equity share in Mascoma Corp., a Boston-based developer of cellulosic ethanol, AutoTech Daily reported Friday. It’s the second such deal this year for GM, which invested in Warrenville, Ill.-based Coskata Inc. in January. Coskata is working on a thermochemical process to make ethanol from non-grain sources. Mascoma is developing a single-step cellulose-to-ethanol method called consolidated bioprocessing. The process combines non-grain biomass with low-cost conversion techniques to make ethanol faster and cheaper than is possible with other biochemical methods that require more additives and enzymes, according to the company. More.

Warren company in running for new Army vehicles
A joint venture involving Sterling Heights-based General Dynamics Land Systems has submitted a proposal to build new military vehicles under the United States Army and Marine Corps' Joint Light Tactical Vehicle program. The joint venture, called General Tactical Vehicles, also includes AM General, original builder of the Humvee. The joint venture isn't releasing many details about the proposal, submitted to the federal government April 14, due to competitive reasons, according to Don Howe, GTV's JLTV program director. The new family of vehicles is intended as a successor to the Humvee. Howe said the General Tactical Vehicles proposal includes "many innovative features, including a lightweight hybrid hull structure," and much commonality of parts between the different vehicles in the proposed lineup. The proposal also offers "a low profile and good blast resistance to protect the troops," Howe said. More.

Matt's Favorites

Of course there were tons of leftovers on a Sunday I was trying to get my kids to prom night at Edsel Ford High! Charter offers free phone calls in May; Troy's Altair Engineering hails a new grid computing standard; a University of Michigan researcher is studying advanced safety systems for cars; the feds praise an Ann Arbor company's medical quality software; this Bodman partner wrote the book on IP law; and Buicks move up the list of the most 'techie' cars. Elsewhere: Tesla rolls out its long-awaited electric sports car; a court supports an FCC deadline for Sprint to quit some crucial spectrum; mechanical lizards and robot squirrels help in animal research; Viacom reports a profit bump; Cuba puts its first computers on sale to the public; and data centers will soon pollute more than airlines!

THE WORLD IN TECH

'Smart' power meters herald future of electricity use
Determined to cut his electricity bill, Darrell Brubaker of Elizabethtown, Pa. took the usual steps of raising his air conditioner's thermostat and cooking more on the grill. But the key to maximum savings -- as much as 6 percent a month last summer -- was his grasp of the state of the electrical grid and his family's willingness to adjust their power usage accordingly. His utility, PPL Corp., is among a growing number of electricity providers that are testing pricing plans in which rates are set higher during the hours of peak demand, roughly following the curves of supply and demand in the wholesale energy markets. As more utilities install "smart" power meters that track how much electricity flows into a home in real time, they are freer to offer alternatives to the average monthly rate that they traditionally charged to consumers. More.

Microsoft abandons Yahoo bid
Microsoft Corp. withdrew its $42.3 billion bid to buy Yahoo Inc. on Saturday, scrapping an attempt to snap up the tarnished Internet icon in hopes of toppling online search and advertising leader Google Inc. The decision to walk away from the deal came after last-ditch efforts to negotiate a mutually acceptable sale price proved unsuccessful. The talks reached a breaking point after Jerry Yang and David Filo, the co-founders of Sunnyvale-based Yahoo, flew to Seattle in the morning to meet personally with Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer and Kevin Johnson, who runs the software maker's unprofitable online services division, according to someone familiar with the talks. The person was not authorized to speak publicly and asked not to be identified. "Clearly a deal is not to be," Ballmer wrote to Yang in a letter sent late Saturday. Microsoft was willing to pay $47.5 billion, or $33 per share, up from the bid's current value of $29.40 per share, according to Ballmer's letter. But Yahoo's board demanded at least $53 billion, or $37 per share, according to Ballmer. That would have been nearly double Yahoo's stock price of $19.18 at the time Microsoft first made its bid a little over three months ago. More.

Competitive zeal of Ballmer key element in Yahoo chase
As Yahoo continued to resist Microsoft's $42 billion takeover offer, a key question was just how far Microsoft's excitable CEO, Steve Ballmer, was willing to go in hopes of defeating online advertising and search leader Google. For now, it seems Detroit native Ballmer has kept his passionate side in check in choosing to walk away from a deal over the weekend rather than raise the bid amount or launch a hostile takeover. But some see Microsoft Corp.'s decision as simply one more step in the dance and expect Ballmer to reprise his pursuit later this year if Yahoo Inc. is unable to turn around its business. More.

Amazon sues New York over Internet sales tax collection
Amazon.com is suing New York over a new law that requires out-of-state online companies to collect sales tax from shoppers in New York. "We are challenging the constitutionality of the recently enacted legislation in New York," Amazon spokeswoman Patricia Smith said. Officials estimated the state would gain about $50 million by requiring Internet giants such as Amazon.com to collect state sales tax. New Yorkers, like residents of many states, are currently on an honor system to report their online spending when they file state tax returns. The law applies to companies that don't have a brick-and-mortar presence in New York but have at least one person in the state who works as an online agent - basically someone who links to a Web site and receives commissions for related sales. More.

Stocks: Sun's losses lead tech sector lower
Shares of Yahoo Inc. rose nearly 7 percent Friday, gaining ground on news of a possible higher offer from Microsoft Corp. and an expanded partnership with Google Inc. (Guess the first one didn't work out.) But a morning tech rally lost steam as shares of Sun Microsystems, which fell almost 23 percent, dragged on the sector. Late Thursday, the company reported a surprise loss for the March quarter, citing "significant challenges" from a slowing U.S. economy. NetSuite's stock also plunged, down more than 15 percent. The software on-demand company issued a profit outlook at the low end of analysts' estimates as it reported financial results. The tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite Index (COMP) fell 3.72 points or 0.1 percent to 2,476.99, while the Morgan Stanley High Tech 35 Index (MSH) edged into positive territory, up 1.36 points or 0.2 percent to 581.29, and the Philadelphia Semiconductor Index ($SOX) fell 0.44 points or 0.1 percent to 399.85. The Amex Pharmaceutical Index ($DRG) rose 1.36 points or 0.4 percent to 306.89 while the Amex Biotech Index (BTK) fell 7.36 points or 1 percent to 757.7. Far off its early highs that had the Dow Jones Industrial Average ($INDU) rose 48.2 points or 0.4 percent to 13,058.2. The S&P 500 ($SPX) gained 4.56 points, or 0.3 percent, to 1,413.9.