Not only is the Maccabees Building in Midtown home to one of the best views in Detroit, it also houses one of the most interesting departments at Wayne State University: the Office of Technology Commercialization (OTC). OTC is responsible for protecting and commercializing the intellectual properties developed at Wayne State, a university with strong applied research programs in science, engineering, and medicine. OTC helps researchers and practitioners translate bedside and laboratory discoveries into products that can change lives.

Patrick Hines is moving full speed ahead as he adds entrepreneur to his other titles - which are doctor in the intensive care unit at Children's Hospital of Michigan in Detroit and assistant professor of pediatric critical care medicine at Wayne State University. In June, the WSU Board of Governors granted approval for Hines to license his research at the school for a startup company, Functional Fluidics LLC. In July, before the legal paperwork with WSU had been signed, the company had landed its first customer, doing contract research for San Diego-based Mast Therapeutics Inc. Functional Fluidics' microfluidic devices help drug companies evaluate how drugs designed to fight such things as deep-vein thrombosis and pulmonary embolisms may increase the unwanted side effect of causing blood clots. They also help individual physicians assess which drugs to use to treat patients when clotting is a concern, particularly African-Americans with sickle cell anemia.

Congratulations are owed to The Hilberry Theatre, which successfully opened its 52nd season with the popular '60s-era farce, "Boeing Boeing" by Mark Camoletti." Boeing Boeing runs through Oct. 4, 2014. Shows are at 8 p.m. on Thursdays, Fridays and Saturdays with a matinee on Saturday at 2 p.m. The balance of The Hilberry's 2014-15 Season includes William Shakespeare's romantic tragedy "Romeo & Juliet" (Oct. 24-Dec. 13); "All in the Timing" (Nov. 21-Jan. 31); "The Way of the World," (Jan. 16-March 7); and "An Enemy of the People" (Feb. 20-March 28) playing in repertory. The season will close with Alfred Hitchcock's "The 39 Steps" (April 10-25).

In May, Wayne State University announced it had recruited two local brand names in technology commercialization to beef up its tech transfer office. Kenneth Massey, who has 28 years in biotechnology, most recently as managing director of MicroDose Life Sciences LLC of Farmington Hills and its venture capital fund, was named senior director of venture development. John Shallman, who has more than 24 years in tech commercialization, most recently as director of commercialization at Royal Oak-based Beaumont Health System and before that with the Michigan Economic Development Corp., was named senior director of licensing. Crain's reporter Tom Henderson talked with Shallman in a Q&A.

Wayne State University closed Wednesday on the purchase of the historic Hecker-Smiley mansion in Midtown for $2.3 million. Built between 1889 and 1892, the property consists of the 21,000-square-foot home and a 5,700-square-foot carriage house. The university plans to move the roughly 15 Alumni Relations Department employees there from Gilmour Mall in the spring, said Rick Nork, Wayne State's vice president of finance and business operations, treasurer and CFO. It will also be used for alumni-related activities and for emeritus faculty events, he said. Matt Lockwood, Wayne State's director of communications, said the university will drop the reference to Smiley Bros. in the mansion's name and instead call it the Hecker House. Renovations are not expected to be immediately needed, Nork said. "The building is in pristine condition. It was immaculately restored by the current occupants about 20 years ago," he said.

News Medical, 9/25 First nationwide study to examine impact of holistic review across multiple health professions On Sept. 30, in Washington, DC, higher education and health leaders will release a report that is the first to examine nationwide the impact and use of holistic review - a university admissions process that assesses an applicant's unique experiences alongside traditional measures of academic achievement such as grades and test scores - for students pursuing careers in the health professions. Many colleges and universities use a holistic admission process to select students. The practice has become more popular in health fields such as medicine, because it enables schools to evaluate a broader range of criteria important for student success, and to select individuals with the background and skills needed to meet the demands of a transforming health care environment. At the event, researchers and higher education leaders will discuss key findings from the study and the impact of the holistic review process. Wayne State University President M. Roy Wilson is among the scheduled speakers.

Wayne State University President M. Roy Wilson joined "Detroit Today" cohosts Laura Weber-Davis and Saeed Khan for a conversation about his first year in office and, among other things, how he is cultivating various social environments on campus. President Wilson says he wants an inclusive environment at Wayne State, and cultivating that environment comes from the top of the university system by ensuring that staff and students know that intolerance has no place at the University.

Barber shops are known for cutting hair, not breaking down barriers but the Social Club Grooming Company on Wayne State University's campus is succeeding at both. "Here you walk into a conversation about sports, politics, gentrification," said owner Sebastian Jackson. "Anything and we want to hear all those different perspectives." "That's what Detroit's about, especially Wayne State," said student and customer Asif Ahmed. "It's a really diverse university." Now the shop is thriving and making an impact.

A new program at Wayne State University will give students a financial break. The "Spring/Summer Tuition Break" initiative offers students a 30 percent tuition discount in those semesters if they tackle a full load in the previous fall and winter semesters and carry a cumulative GPA of 2.5 or higher. The goal of the tuition reduction program is to help students graduate sooner and with less debt. The reduction is in effect for the 2015-2016 academic year. "The Spring/Summer Tuition Break is intended to serve as motivation for the students out there who might be deciding between nine or 12 credits this fall," said Provost Margaret E. Winters. "We are hopeful that this will create some urgency for them to add that extra class now and progress toward their degrees in the most cost-effective way possible."

Gov. Rick Snyder and Democratic challenger Mark Schauer have agreed to face-off Oct. 12 before a live televised audience of undecided voters at Wayne State University. Snyder's and Schauer's campaigns announced Monday evening their candidates will answer questions in a gubernatorial town hall forum co-sponsored by The Detroit News, Detroit Free Press and Detroit Public Television, which will broadcast the event on Channel 56. Detroit News Editorial Page Editor Nolan Finley and Free Press Editorial Page Editor Stephen Henderson will co-moderate the forum and pose questions. Detroit Public TV anchor Christy McDonald will host the town hall and take questions from the audience that will be screened in advance to appeal to undecided voters and cover a broad range of issues. The hour-long Sunday evening event will begin at 6 p.m.

At the Detroit Homecoming last week, Mayor Mike Duggan described in words and slides his plans for rebuilding the city post-bankruptcy, one street light, blighted house and sewer main at a time. Detroit Homecoming was conceived last September as a way to reconnect successful "expatriates" to Detroit as it was poised to emerge from bankruptcy. The host committee includes major business and political figures, including former Detroit Mayor Dave Bing; foundation executives Rip Rapson of Kresge Foundation and Tonya Allen of Skillman Foundation; and Wayne State University President M. Roy Wilson, as well as business executives Mary Barra, Dan Gilbert, Christopher Ilitch, Cindy Pasky, Roger Penske and Shery Cotton, matriarch of the family that owns Meridian Health, a Detroit-based insurance plan.

Wayne State University will break ground on a new medical facility today. The new $68 million office building will serve as the primary location for the Wayne State Physician Group. Doctor Robert Frank is the Chief Executive Officer of the Physician Group. He tells WDET's J. Carlisle Larsen what patients can expect from the new building. "The real impetus for this is to give patients the opportunity to have one-stop shopping in an environment that we can control from the front door, right through to the visit. And really offer patients the highest quality medicine - which I think we've always been able to offer - but now in just an exquisite environment."

An impressive glass facade etched with tree trunks can now be seen on Wayne State's new Multidisciplinary Biomedical Research Building (MBRB), which is being built along Woodward Avenue and the M-1 Rail line. The $93 million project, scheduled to open in 2015, is transforming a city block at Amsterdam and Woodward into a research facility. The project includes redeveloping the 127,000-square-foot Dalgleish Cadillac building and constructing the new glass-enclosed 78,000-square-foot building along Woodward. According to the Detroit Free Press, the MBRB is the largest construction project ever for Wayne State and will eventually house 500 scientists. A photo gallery of construction photos is included.

Because of the volume of patents generated in our region, Detroit became home to the first-ever regional U.S. Patent and Trademark Office in 2012. Wayne State University, University of Michigan and Michigan State University together draw $1.88 billion in federal academic research dollars to Michigan. The National Institutes of Health awarded more than $588.6 million in research grants to the Detroit region. Detroit has access to 375 automotive R&D centers, 120 of which are foreign-owned.

MSNBC cohosts Joe Scarborough and Mika Brzenzinski were on the air live from 6-9 a.m. during a broadcast of "Morning Joe" at Wayne State University's Community Arts Auditorium. They repeatedly referenced Thursday's graduation of the inaugural class of Goldman Sachs 10,000 Small Businesses program in southeast Michigan, a $20-million effort to help entrepreneurs and encourage small-business growth. Goldman Sachs was one of the sponsors of the broadcast. Other positive buzz topics included construction on the Detroit light rail system, plans for the new Red Wings arena, the explosion of tech companies on the Madison block of downtown Detroit (cited by guest and downtown developer-in-chief Dan Gilbert) and the playoff chances of the Detroit Tigers. As a nod to their setting, both Brzezinski and Scarborough held up Wayne State sweatshirts - and for a portion of the broadcast Brzezinski sported a green Wayne State jacket.

Jocelyn Benson, dean of Wayne State University's Law School, opined about the trend of expanding the rights of corporate entities, which she calls "a dangerous turn away from focusing on individual rights and freedoms." "In the past five years major court decisions expanded the constitutional rights of corporations, an action with serious consequences for our democracy." Citing two recent cases - Citizens United v. REC and Burwell v. Hobby Lobby - Benson points out that these cases established the First Amendment right of corporations to spend money to influence the outcomes of elections, rejecting the traditional notion that such influence would corrupt our politicians and thwart the democratic process. She warns that if this expansion continues, Congress and state legislatures may consider exercising their right to "check" the court's activist trend through amending the Constitution a 28th time to more clearly limit corporations' constitutional protections.

MSNBC's "Morning Joe" returned to Detroit today for a live broadcast from Wayne State University. The cable news morning show, featuring hosts Joe Scarborough and Mika Brzezinski, aired from 6-9 a.m. Scheduled guests for Thursday's broadcast included billionaire investment icon Warren Buffett, former New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg, Detroit businessman/developer Dan Gilbert, Gov. Rick Snyder and Goldman Sachs CEO Lloyd Blankfein. Besides catching up on the current state of the Motor City's financial struggles, the show will focused on small business owners set to graduate tomorrow from the Goldman Sachs 10,000 Small Businesses program. Wayne State University President M. Roy Wilson talked about the University's role and commitment to Detroit's economic revival.

Krysta Ryzewski, Wayne State University historical archeologist and professor, was a guest on Detroit Today talking about her work in Detroit. She says Detroit had a demographic shift by the turn of the 20th Century and prior to the beginning of the auto industry when densely populated communities near the river contained high amounts of pollution due to waterfront factories. Ryzewski was the featured speaker during last night's Knowledge on Tap speaker series at Tony V's. Her topic focused on the lost communities of Detroit.

On Friday, September 19, Park(ing) Day comes to Detroit. A one-day, global event where "artists, activists, and citizens collaborate to transform metered parking spots into temporary public parks," Park(ing) Day happens annually on the third Friday in September. The tradition began in San Francisco in 2005 and has since spread to cities around the world. The idea is to reclaim, if only for a day, a small amount of precious urban space that we have sacrificed to the automobile. This year, Wayne State University will be facilitating the temporary conversion of a parking space on Cass Avenue at Putnam into a mini-park.

Jeff Stoltman, Wayne State University associate professor of marketing, talked about loyalty in the workplace during an appearance on WDET's Detroit Today. "Loyalty, it's a synergistic thing," says Stoltman, referencing loyalty that exists between employees and employers. He added that loyalty in the workplace can be more difficult to achieve depending on the size of the company or corporation.