Young people are starting to unbuckle the economic promise of Rust Belt cities. The political and social challenges facing many of America’s former industrial powerhouses like Detroit, Cleveland, Baltimore and Pittsburgh remain enormous. But there are nascent signs of rebound, driven in part by youthful entrepreneurs brimming with new ideas. Educated workers in their 20s and 30s are moving in or deciding to stay in part to avoid the rising cost of living, taxes and regulations in tech hubs such as New York, Boston and San Francisco. Newcomers increasingly see opportunities to create their own businesses, make their mark and tap underserved markets, thanks to lower barriers to entry. Higher education has taken notice. A new report this month found the University of Michigan, Michigan State University and Wayne State University (the only one based in Detroit)  contributed $958 million in economic activity to the city last year, equivalent to $1,400 for each resident. About  11,600 jobs in the city are connected to their work.    

See Detroit from your own two wheels and test your cycling limits in Wayne State University’s second annual Baroudeur. The event will take place on Wayne State’s Midtown campus on Aug. 20, 2016. This year, participants can choose to ride 25, 62, or 100 miles through Detroit. Registration for the event is $50 and includes refreshments along the route, lunch after the ride, two tickets for Michigan craft beers, a limited edition T-shirt, ride support, and free parking. All net proceeds will directly assist economically disadvantaged students at Wayne State. The Baroudeur was inspired by WSU President M. Roy Wilson’s passion for cycling and his commitment to providing all qualified students access to higher education. “Last year’s inaugural Baroudeur was a special event for the Wayne State community,” said Wilson. “More than 1,000 riders explored Detroit and the surrounding area up close and on two wheels, then enjoyed a post-ride party with food, beer and music on our beautiful campus.” Places in the ride are limited, and organizers expect lots of interest in the event. “We reached capacity for the ride last year, so if you want to join us, I encourage you to register sooner rather than later,” said Matt Lockwood, ride director and WSU’s director of communications. “We’re capping the number of riders at 2,000, and I’m confident we will hit that number.”                 Other media mentionshttp://michronicleonline.com/2016/06/09/wayne-state-to-host-second-annual-cycling-event-through-detroit/http://www.newsobserver.com/news/business/article82718902.html#storylink=cpyhttp://www.greenfieldreporter.com/view/story/5efe992c9e5f43be9595e5a6fef70809/MI--Wayne-State-Cycling-Fundraiserhttp://www.miamiherald.com/news/business/article82718902.htmlhttp://www.fox28.com/story/32190919/latest-michigan-sportshttp://www.realtimesmedia.com/index.php/detroit/70962-wayne-state-to-host-second-annual-cycling-event-through-detroit

Americans consume 76 billion eggs per year, and while some of the eggshell waste is used for fertilizer or dietary supplements, the majority of these eggshells are thrown away. In a new study, researchers at Wayne State University have developed a method to recycle eggshells, using them as "chemical reactors" to synthesize sulfur-containing nanorods that can be used as battery electrodes. The researchers, led by Assistant Professor Da Deng at Wayne State University, have published a paper on the novel approach in a recent issue of the journal Chemistry of Materials. "A large number of eggs are consumed daily, but the disposal of eggshell waste is still a challenging task," Deng said. "We outline an idea of the direct use of waste eggshells (or 'trash') as a unique reaction system (or 'treasure') for the synthesis of 1D nanorod arrays on eggshell membrane protein fibers. We prepared a composite of crystalline Co9S8 nanorod arrays on carbon fibers that demonstrate promising performance in both lithium- and sodium-ion batteries."  

Wayne State University’s Walter P. Reuther Library is looking to identify the subjects in a large selection of photographs taken by Detroit-born photographer Edward Stanton. The photos were taken in the late 1930s and early 1940s in the eastside neighborhoods, razed in the 1960s and replaced with I-75 and Lafayette Park. “When we received these photos from the donor, we couldn’t stop thinking about the fact that these were neighborhoods where real people lived and led full and interesting lives,” says Elizabeth Clemens, audiovisual archivist at the Reuther Library. “We’d love to put a name to these faces so that we can document those stories that haven’t been told.” Take a look at some of the photos below to see if you recognize any familiar faces. If you do, reach out to Reuther Library’s audiovisual archivists at reutherav@wayne.edu. You can visit the library’s website to see more of the photos. Or to get a closer look, they will be on display in the library’s Woodcock Wing through July.  

Despite the Michigan House and Senate passing a state budget with a 2.9 percent boost to higher education funding, some university presidents still feel appropriations to their budgets remain a lower priority among lawmakers. The 2.9 percent increase, which was passed late Wednesday, June 8, was less than the 4.3 percent Gov. Rick Snyder proposed originally, with aggregated funding levels below 2011 levels. The Presidents of Michigan’s research universities addressed the importance of funding higher education during a panel discussion for the University Research Corridor put on by the Detroit Economic Club on Tuesday, June 7. A big reason for the lack of urgency to increase higher education funding among legislators, Wayne State President M. Roy Wilson said, is due to the fact that universities have control over their own fate by raising tuition. "If you look at the way states are funded, the big pots are going to be K-12 education, Medicaid, corrections and higher (education)," he said. "The first three are (going up). The one that is decreasing is higher ed. What's happening is the states have mandatory increases for K-12, Medicaid and corrections and what's left over is the amount that is given to higher ed."  

The Automotive Industry Action Group and Wayne State University’s Mike Ilitch School of Business have launched a new automotive supply chain degree and certificate program for students and professionals. Through the partnership, degree programs will be available for undergraduate majors and MBA concentrations in purchasing and supply chain management. Two supply chain management non-degree courses, including an annual certificate program and a one-week, automotive-focused seminar, will also be available. "We have witnessed a strategic transformation of the automotive supply chain over the past 25 years," says John C. Taylor, chair of the Department of Marketing and Supply Chain Management at Wayne State’s business school. "The rate of innovation in vehicle design, advanced manufacturing, and engineered materials has been truly remarkable and necessitated the creation of an unprecedented collaboration between industry and academia.” Wayne State will give participants access to undergraduate and graduate courses, basic and applied research, internships, and international studies programs offered in China, Italy, Brazil, and Poland.       Other media mentionshttp://www.crainsdetroit.com/article/20160609/NEWS/160609601/wayne-state-aiag-collaborate-to-create-new-supply-chain-curriculumhttp://www.autonews.com/article/20160609/OEM10/160609818/aiag-collaborates-with-wayne-state-to-create-new-supply-chain

Detroit News columnist Daniel Howes wrote: “A friend recently observed that one reason Detroit could never again be a great city is because it cannot claim a great university. No, it arguably claims three — Michigan State, the University of Michigan and Wayne State, which is anchored deeply in the Midtown neighborhood it is helping to reshape. Together, they make one of the leading university clusters in the United States, critical resources for drawing talent and exploiting economic change. The schools have grown progressively more intertwined over the past decade in state economic development efforts, the revival of Detroit and cooperative strategies to leverage their respective strengths through something called the University Research Corridor…Ties to the universities helped secure Detroit’s selection for the Lightweight Innovations for Tomorrow Center and the Institute for Advanced Composites Manufacturing Innovation — both symbols that Detroit can manufacture the future, not just the present and the past. And the engineering capability of all three is a vital component of the mobility strategy that state and auto industry leaders are crafting to create the American Center for Mobility in Ypsilanti and to build Michigan’s statewide “Planet M” brand around all things mobility.”    

Detroit Public Schools’ system of educating students isn’t working, and the state’s largest district needs to better prepare students for college so they can contribute to society, two of the presidents of Michigan’s three largest public universities said Tuesday. Wayne State University President M. Roy Wilson said the school system is “failing our kids.” Wilson made his comments during a Detroit Economic Club luncheon, when he, along with Michigan State University President Lou Anna Simon and University of Michigan President Mark Schlissel, spoke about their 10-year collaboration in the University Research Corridor and its impact on Detroit. Besides educating students, WSU, UM and MSU are involved in $263 million in Detroit research that includes 95 programs aimed at improving education delivery in the city. They also are helping Detroit students directly through programs that bring them to campus to help prepare them for college, especially for science, technology, engineering and math careers. There are 4,000 Detroit high school graduates collectively at WSU, UM and MSU.  

Walking in the shoes of others is something U.S. District Judge Terrence G. Berg and M. Roy Wilson, president of Wayne State University, have done over the decades. Berg, a federal judge, has presided over hundreds of criminal and civil cases in more than three years on the bench. Wilson created the Office of Multicultural Student Engagement at Wayne State in 2014 to provide an inclusive environment and promote initiatives for underrepresented minorities and marginalized students. Both men were honored Tuesday at the second annual Justice Awards Tribute at the Music Hall in Detroit for dedicating their lives to equality and justice. The event was created out of a partnership by two Metro Detroit civil rights organizations, the Arab American Civil Rights League and the NAACP of Detroit. Wilson became the 12th president of Wayne State University in 2013. He was an academic administrator, international researcher and ophthalmologist who trained at Harvard University before he joined WSU. To increase diversity on Wayne State’s campus, Wilson created the position of associate provost for diversity and inclusion, and chief diversity officer in 2014. Wilson said he returned to Allegheny College three weeks ago to receive an honorary degree, with mixed feelings, he said. “It was a time there were very few minorities there and I didn’t have any place to turn,” Wilson said. So he vowed once he was in a position to help others that he would never allow other students to feel like they did not have a voice on their campus. “People need a voice and someone to look out for them,” Wilson said Tuesday.  

Wayne State University plans to offer free parking to newly admitted freshmen for the fall 2016 semester. The school says the Office of the President is funding the pilot program to determine the effect of free and convenient parking on students' ability to participate in university events, programs and services. University President M. Roy Wilson says in a statement that parking can be a challenge for first-time college students, especially those at urban schools. He says the university wants to "eliminate as many barriers as possible to ensure their successful transition to college life." Officials plan to evaluate the program to determine whether it will continue beyond the pilot period. About 1,400 freshmen purchase parking permits each fall. Currently, students pay $287 per semester for assigned parking.               Other media mentionshttp://mms.tveyes.com/Transcript.asp?StationID=1004&DateTime=6%2F8%2F2016+6%3A18%3A28+AM&LineNumber=&MediaStationID=1004&playclip=True&RefPage=http://mms.tveyes.com/Transcript.asp?StationID=8255&DateTime=6%2F8%2F2016+6%3A21%3A30+AM&LineNumber=&MediaStationID=8255&playclip=True&RefPage=http://mms.tveyes.com/Transcript.asp?StationID=2980&DateTime=6%2F8%2F2016+6%3A15%3A29+AM&LineNumber=&MediaStationID=2980&playclip=True&RefPage=http://mms.tveyes.com/Transcript.asp?StationID=2785&DateTime=6%2F8%2F2016+7%3A14%3A53+AM&LineNumber=&MediaStationID=2785&playclip=True&RefPagehttp://mms.tveyes.com/Transcript.asp?StationID=2790&DateTime=6%2F8%2F2016+5%3A41%3A12+AM&LineNumber=&MediaStationID=2790&playclip=True&RefPage=http://www.wxyz.com/news/region/detroit/wayne-state-university-to-offer-free-parking-for-newly-admitted-freshmen-for-one-semester

Amari McGee could almost see the finish line of college when she hit a brick wall: Her scholarship shrunk. Staring at bills from Wayne State University, McGee had a scary thought, just as her senior year began: She could become homeless. “In the fall semester, I was going to lose my housing, (and) there was not a thing the financial aid office could do for me,” said McGee, 22, of Detroit. Her predicament is just the kind that forces college students to live out of their cars or, more often, leaves them “precariously housed” — bouncing from one friend’s couch to another, according to WSU psychologists who recently studied homeless undergraduates. McGee was rescued by a WSU program that was aimed right at her kind of crisis. It was founded by WSU President M. Roy Wilson’s key adviser —  his wife. Jacqueline Wilson said she couldn’t ignore the problem of students living without secure housing. In August 2013, “when we first came to the university, we were at a reception, and one of our deans mentioned that there was a medical student who was homeless, living in her car,” Jacqueline Wilson recalled. “I immediately decided I should take this on,” Wilson said last week. She soon discovered that, at any one time, WSU officials knew of “at least eight or 10 students” struggling to find or stay in secure housing. “It’s hard to quantify (because) not all of them want to be identified,” she said. First, Wilson turned to local shelters and learned they were at full capacity, she said. “I ended up aggressively raising funds to provide an emergency resource for these students,” Wilson said. She founded HIGH, for Helping Individuals Go Higher, a fund whose stated mission is “to ensure that no student abandons the dream of earning a degree solely because of housing or financial challenges.” The fund has raised nearly $250,000 in endowment capital and keeps about $100,000 “in liquid funds, ready to help students every month” with housing and other financial emergencies that could block their college progress, she said. WSU Dean of Students David Strauss said he encounters disbelief when Strauss describes to potential university donors the phenomenon of students being fully enrolled, going to class, passing tests and heading toward degrees — yet, spending nights on a succession of couches or sacked out in a van. “People are amazed, from our Board of Governors to corporate leaders. They can’t believe there are college students who are homeless,” he said.  

For years, the southwest corner of Woodward Avenue and Temple Street was a dead zone. Wayne State University is designing its new Mike Ilitch School of Business at that corner to sharply contrast with this past. Classrooms facing Temple and Woodward will look outward and have lots of glass so passersby will see plenty of activity. Since most of the school's students attend evening classes, there also will be plenty of light emanating from the classrooms. On the first floor right at that corner will be a room that simulates a trading-room floor, with a stock ticker and monitors displaying business news channels. "Driving down Woodward on the way to a game, you will see a lot of activity and light," said the dean of the business school, Robert Forsythe. Mike and Marian Ilitch funded the school with a $40 million gift. The new building is part of the Ilitches' broader District Detroit plans to reshape that neighborhood, centered around the new Detroit Red Wings arena. The business school also is designing the building with the business community in mind. Because of the predominance of evening classes, many spaces will be free during the daytime when businesses might be looking for meeting space. This includes an auditorium. "I've talked to automakers, and they're always looking for places to put about 300 people to demo a product," Forsythe said. Two classrooms will have doors big enough to drive cars through. There will be computer labs and training rooms. A fourth-floor board room will seat up to 40 people for companies looking to hold off-site meetings. There will be a full-service catering kitchen. Business meetings can spill into the two-story atrium or outdoor courtyard, allowing for comingling of students with business professionals. The school has reserved one space, facing Woodward, for pop-up businesses, probably revolving every month and with the help of Tech Town. The four-story, 120,000-square-foot building is slated to open in January 2018. The school is aiming for a ceremonial groundbreaking in early July, with construction beginning in the weeks afterward.  

Studies have documented disparities in disease occurrence and health outcomes among nonwhite and economically disadvantaged populations, including higher death rates from cardiovascular disease and greater incidence of diabetes, asthma and obesity. These disparities are often acute in urban areas, and Detroit is no exception. Wayne State University has been working to address these disparities through its research and community engagement for many years. Researchers such as Dr. Sylvie Naar­King, Dr. Phillip Levy and Dr. Julie Gleason Comstock have focused much of their work on addressing behavior change, illness management, better patient screening and hospital discharge. The university’s most recent investment in addressing health disparities in Detroit is the new Integrative Biosciences Center (IBio). The $93 million facility, located in Midtown on a previously abandoned 2.7­acre city block, is Wayne State’s largest construction project to date. The building includes laboratories, faculty offices, common areas, a clinical research center, Henry Ford Health System’s bone and joint research program and biomechanics motion laboratory, and the Center for Urban Responses to Environmental Stressors. The university estimates that IBio will bring in nearly $40 million of new earnings annually in Michigan, 98 percent of which will be in metropolitan Detroit. “Rarely does a university get to live its vision and mission on a scale of this magnitude,” said Wayne State University President M. Roy Wilson. “The Integrative Biosciences Center embodies what it means to be a public, urban research university — creating and sharing knowledge that contributes immensely to improving the quality of life for its surrounding community. Research conducted in this center will also have important applications in other urban communities around the world.”  

The president of Wayne State University will dip into his budget to pay for a new free parking program for incoming freshmen this fall. About 2,800 students are expected to be eligible for the Wayne State program in the fall. WSU President M. Roy Wilson will use funds from a discretionary fund for the new initiative, which is expected to cost several hundred thousand dollars, so the parking department won't lose expected revenue, said Rob Kohrman, associate vice president for budget, planning and analysis. The projected revenue for the parking department for the 2015-16 academic year is $14 million, which includes revenue from all sources such as faculty and staff parking permits and visitor parking, said Tim Michael, WSU associate vice president for business and auxiliary operations and chief housing officer. In February, surveys were sent to students to help gather information about their parking experiences. "Wednesdays at 12:30 (p.m.) are the busiest because a lot of classes are offered then, many students are on campus, it's the heaviest time," Michael said. Some are worried there will not be enough parking spaces, but Michael said officials are working to minimize impacting other students who already pay for parking spots. "I want to give credit to the students and to the faculty Senate because they were the ones who brought some of these issues to our attention," Kohrman said. "If we did this pilot, more students would come to campus more, and students might not base their schedule on how much they pay to park." Michael said the logistics for the fall program are still being worked out, but they will be announced during summer orientation programs and more details on July 1.  

Wayne State University President M. Roy Wilson joined Michigan State University President Lou Anna K. Simon, and University of Michigan President Mark Schlissel in a discussion about the URC’s contributions to Detroit’s revival. WJR’s Paul W. Smith hosted the conversation during his morning show airing from the Detroit Regional Chamber Mackinac Policy Conference.  

The University Research Corridor (URC) already holds 93 percent of the academic research and development (R&D) funding in the state. At more than $2 billion, that R&D has increased 50 percent in the past decade, with the reach stretching across Michigan. But the three universities also are continually increasing their efforts in Detroit, prompting the attempt to quantify what they mean to the city. Participants in the URC are: Wayne State University, led by President M. Roy Wilson; University of Michigan, led by President Mark Schlissel and Michigan State University, led by President Lou Anna K. Simon. The study shows: The URC contributed about 11,600 jobs in Detroit, or 1 in 20, that includes direct, indirect and induced employment. Wayne State is the 7th largest employer in the city. The net economic impact from the URC is $958 million, that includes $140 million from students and about $204 million from alumni living in the city. Total Detroit research spending of $263 million. There are at least 300 initiatives in Detroit including 73 community-building programs, 66 public health programs, and 41 community service programs. Billions in investment is pouring into the city, most notably the 7.2 miles in downtown. Another element of the URC's influence on changes in the city is significant new construction on Wayne State's campus. Notable for Midtown's growth are the three dormitories built since 2002 that are prompting WSU's shift from a commuter school to a 24-hour campus. Even Wayne State's police department, which uses a data-drive approach to fighting crime, is influential in economic development, according to the URC report.  

Wayne State University is an anchor in Detroit, where university officials have worked to reduce crime and partnered in community projects such as the QLine and Live Midtown. As a result, the nearby retail community has grown and thousands more students are living on campus and other residents are making their homes in the nearby neighborhoods. These are a few ways that the alliance of the state’s three largest universities has played a role in the revitalization of Detroit, in collaboration with city officials, educators and members of the local business, arts and other communities, according to a report unveiled Thursday at the Mackinac Policy Conference. Released by the University Research Corridor — a collaboration of WSU, UM and MSU — the report outlines the numerous ways that the state’s three largest universities are assisting in Detroit’s resurgence. According to the report, the URC is engaged in more than 300 projects in Detroit, producing $958 million in annual economic impact, 1 in 20 jobs in the city, and $263 million in research activities between 2010 and 2014. URC projects include efforts to improve education delivery in Detroit, build community, offer public health, and provide community service, arts programs and economic revitalization. “Each of the universities are individually and collectively committed to working in partnership with a lot of other organizations to help the recovery of this great, iconic city,” said Jeff Mason, URC executive director.    

Three University Presidents, M. Roy Wilson, Wayne State University, Lou Anna Simon, Michigan State University and  Mark Schlissel, University of Michigan joined “Detroit Today” host Stephen Henderson at the Mackinac Policy Conference to discuss the University Research Corridor. The economic impact of three universities, in different ways, in the city of Detroit is about $950 million. Although Wayne State is in the center of Detroit, all three universities have a deep, committed relationship with the city. Especially from a research interest and perspective.

Wayne State University is getting $200,000 from a California foundation to support the Levin Center at Wayne Law. The school says the money is from the William and Flora Hewlett Foundation of Menlo Park. The grant falls under the foundation’s Madison Initiative, which seeks to help create conditions in which Congress can deliberate, negotiate and compromise in ways that work for most Americans. It’s an effort to deal with issues of political polarization. Launched in 2015, the Levin Center strives to educate future attorneys, business leaders, legislators and public servants on their role overseeing public and private institutions. The center is named after former Democratic U.S. Sen. Carl Levin of Michigan. Levin is chairman of the Levin Center and is on the law school’s faculty.     Other media mentionshttp://www.detroitnews.com/story/news/local/detroit-city/2016/06/02/wayne-state-university-gets-grant-levin-center-law/85293460/

A team of experts including Virginia Tech professor Marc Edwards gathered Tuesday in Flint to try and lessen fears regarding the quality of the city of Flint's water. Edwards was joined in Flint by David Reckhow, University of Massachusetts professor, and Shawn McElmurry, associate professor at Wayne State University, as well as Virginia Tech professor Amy Pruden to discuss lead testing and other issues such as Legionella. Shawn McElmurry, associate professor at Wayne State University, also helped in water sampling in the city, with testing done in October 2015 when the water source was switched from the Flint River back to Detroit water, in December before the addition of phosphates and in January 2016 when problems surfaced with a chlorination unit. There were elevated levels of total trihalomethanes in six homes in October 2015, with the occurrences dropping to zero in December and January. EPA results from March, April and May have uncovered similar results, McElmurry said. The results may vary due to weather conditions, with the samples taken during the winter months, as they can with Legionella in water systems.