Mtech Update
 
 

View this newsletter online at: http://www.mtech.umd.edu/news/enewsletters/20090313.html

Mtech News and Events
March 13, 2009

News

  • MIPS Project Teaming American Dynamics Flight Systems and UM Researchers to Test a New Unmanned Aerial Vehicle that Takes Off Vertically and Travels at High Speeds Featured on NBC, ABC News
  • Mtech Launches New Web Site
  • Chesapeake Bay Seed Capital Fund Accepting Rolling Applications

Upcoming Mtech Events

  • March 23: Maryland Performance Excellence Awards 2009 Conference and Awards Ceremony
  • April 14: Free, Open Entrepreneur Office Hours for University of Maryland Students, Faculty and Staff, and Regional Entrepreneurs with Tech-Based Startups or Ideas

Partner Events

  • March 17: The Future Is Now: NSA and DISA Emerging Technologies
  • March 19: Leaders + Legends: Robert Stevens, Chairman, President and CEO of Lockheed Martin
  • March 24: Maryland-Asia Environmental Partnership Environmental Leadership Series Featuring "Adapting to Future Climate Change" with the UM Earth System Science Interdisciplinary Center
  • March 24: Capital Formation Forum - Angel Seed Investment in Maryland
  • March 25: StartRight! Women’s Business Plan Competition Entries Due
  • March 26: Chesapeake Regional Tech Council Tech Awards '09
  • April 1: Greater Baltimore Tech Council 10-Year Anniversary
  • April 2: Whiting-Turner Business and Entrepreneurial Lecture Series: Hooman Radfar, CEO and Co-Founder of Clearspring
  • April 16: Institute for Systems Research (ISR) Free Research Open House
  • April 21: Third Annual Fischell Festival: A Celebration of Bioengineering's Potential to Improve Life for Millions of People

News

MIPS Project Teaming American Dynamics Flight Systems and UM Researchers to Test a New Unmanned Aerial Vehicle that Takes Off Vertically and Travels at High Speeds Featured on NBC, ABC News
Imagine an aircraft that takes off vertically like Ironman (with thrusters) then flies like a high-speed plane. Jessup-based American Dynamics Flight Systems Inc. is testing just such a plane--its pioneering unmanned aerial vehicle, the AD-150--in the A. James Clark School of Engineering’s Glenn L. Martin Wind Tunnel with Wind Tunnel Director Jewel Barlow. Slated as a reconnaissance vehicle to run scouting missions for the MY-22 Osprey, the AD-150 is one of the few unmanned vehicles that can take off vertically and travel like an airplane at the speeds of the Osprey (about 240 miles per hour). It can carry weaponry, an array of sensors, spy gear or wounded soldiers utilizing its 500-pound payload. This project is supported by Mtech's Maryland Industrial Partnerships program. ABC Channel 8 story | NBC Channel 4 story

Mtech Launches New Web Site
Mtech launched a new Web site yesterday. View it online at www.mtech.umd.edu. Feedback is welcome. Improvements and new features will be added soon.

Chesapeake Bay Seed Capital Fund Accepting Rolling Applications
If your company or technology could improve air or water quality around the Chesapeake Bay area, apply for investment from the Chesapeake Bay Seed Capital Fund. Supported by the Maryland Department of Natural Resources and administered by Mtech, the fund will invest $250,000 annually over a three-year period into Maryland-based startup companies with innovative technologies that may help improve air and water quality in the Chesapeake Bay area. Fund recipients are jointly selected by Mtech and the Maryland Department of Natural Resources. More»

Upcoming Mtech Events

March 23, 8:30 a.m.-3:30 p.m.: Maryland Performance Excellence Awards 2009 Conference and Awards Ceremony
Join with Maryland leaders in a celebration of excellence with U.S. Senators Barbara Mikulski and Benjamin Cardin at the 2009 MPEA Conference and Awards Ceremony. This exciting day will include presentation of the 2008 Maryland Performance Excellence Awards, sharing of best management practices and journeys to excellence by national and state award recipients, and networking by professionals with an interest in organizational excellence.
Location: Stamp Student Union, University of Maryland, College Park
More information: event page

April 14, 10 a.m.-noon: Free, Open Entrepreneur Office Hours for University of Maryland Students, Faculty and Staff, and Regional Entrepreneurs with Tech-Based Startups or Ideas
Mtech is hosting free office hours to help aspiring and current entrepreneurs with tech-based startups or ideas get advice on how to:

  • build and finance a startup company
  • develop and protect intellectual property
  • navigate the technology transfer process
  • refine your business strategy for rapid growth
  • tap into other entrepreneurial resources

Representatives from the following organizations and groups are typically on hand to speak with you one-on-one regarding any questions you might have about starting a company:

Location: Room 1103, Technology Advancement Program building
Read more and register at: www.eoh.umd.edu

Partner Events

March 17, 8 a.m.-3 p.m.: The Future Is Now: NSA and DISA Emerging Technologies
The National Security Agency (NSA) and Defense Information Systems Agency (DISA) partner with the Maryland Technology Development Corporation (TEDCO) and Tech Council of Maryland (TCM) for a dynamic technology partnering program. The day includes keynote addresses by executive management from both agencies and access to some of their latest technologies available for licensing through Technology Transfer (T2) programs.
Location: Kossiakoff Center, Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory, 11100 Johns Hopkins Road, Laurel, Maryland 20723
More information: TEDCO event page

March 19, 7:30-9 a.m.: Leaders + Legends: Robert Stevens, Chairman, President and CEO of Lockheed Martin
Lockheed Martin Chairman, Pesident & CEO Robert Stevens will be the featured speaker at Leaders + Legends, sponsored by the Johns Hopkins Carey Business School. Enjoy a delicious breakfast and network with business professionals from the Baltimore/DC area.
Location: Renaissance Harborplace Hotel, 202 E. Pratt Street Baltimore Maryland 21202
More information: JHU event page

March 24, 7-10 a.m.: Maryland-Asia Environmental Partnership Environmental Leadership Series Featuring "Adapting to Future Climate Change" with the UM Earth System Science Interdisciplinary Center
As governments and corporations search for new ways to plan for the impact of climate change, the University of Maryland’s ESSIC Center provides scientists and decision makers with the critical observational data and predictive tools needed to help adapt to future climate change. Such predictability will help save lives and provide governments and the opportunity to plan for future contingencies related to a changing climate. Don't miss this opportunity to join key environment, space and defence industry, government and science experts at the ESSIC Center at the University of Maryland’s M-Square campus.
Location: ESSIC at M-Square Campus, 5825 University Research Court, 4th Floor, College Park, MD 20740-3823
More information: event Web site

March 24, 8-9:30 a.m.: Capital Formation Forum - Angel Seed Investment in Maryland
Hear from an expert panel of the region’s leading capitalization experts at the Tech Council of Maryland’s Capital Formation Forum breakfast. This is the first of three meetings the Forum will hold over the next few months highlighting leaders from the region’s angel, venture capital and entrepreneurial landscape. The newly configured Forum is focused on providing a place in which innovative technology and biotechnology leaders can meet and learn from each other. The March 24 breakfast focuses on angel seed investment opportunities in Maryland. This breakfast will feature a seasoned panel with years of experience working with technology and biotechnology companies in the region.
Location: Tech Council of Maryland, Kennedy Room, 9713 Key West Avenue, Rockville, MD 20850
More information: TCM event site

March 25: StartRight! Women’s Business Plan Competition Entries Due
This business plan competition for women is designed to give new businesses a boost with cash prizes, publicity, and an opportunity for review and recommendations from an experienced panel of judges from area businesses, financial institutions, organizations, government agencies and colleges. The contest is open to Maryland, District of Columbia and Virginia businesses that are at least 51% women-owned, and have been in operation for two years or less. Eligible entrants could win up to a $10,000 cash grand prize.
More information: www.Rockvilleredi.org

March 26, 6-9 p.m.: Chesapeake Regional Tech Council Tech Awards '09
Join the Chesapeake Regional Tech Council's 4th Annual Celebration of Tech Excellence. Categories include: The Innovator Award, The Tech Service Award, The Tech Company of the Year Award, and The Good Chip Award. Winners in each category will be announced at this top notch celebration of the region's hottest tech superstars.
Location: Westin Annapolis Hotel
More information: CRTC events page

April 1, 5:30-8 p.m.: Greater Baltimore Tech Council 10-Year Anniversary
The GBTC is celebrating its 10 Year Anniversary! On April 1, 2009 be sure to join them for an amazing evening with the people who have shaped the past, present and future of GBTC and the Greater Baltimore community.
Location: Center Club, 100 Light Street, 15th Floor Baltimore Maryland 21202
More information: GBTC event page

April 2, 5 p.m.: Whiting-Turner Business and Entrepreneurial Lecture Series: Hooman Radfar, CEO and Co-Founder of Clearspring
Hooman Radfar, 28, is founder & CEO of Clearspring Technologies. Radfar co-founded Clearspring in 2004 after graduating from Carnegie Mellon University with an M.S. in Electrical Engineering. At Clearspring, he drives platform and strategy initiatives, where he helps major media companies and marketers, such as NBC Universal, NBA, Time, Turner, and Disney efficiently distribute and track their content across the web.

Radfar has been working in the social media space for more than five years. During this period he has been dedicated to defining the standards, economic models, and innovation that define the next phase of the web, loosely termed as Web 2.0/3.0. At Clearspring, he aims to create the platform and business models for the distributed web and allow its participants to share in the huge upside of this new ecosystem.

BusinessWeek.com featured Radfar as one of "The Wizards of Widgets" and named him one of "Technology's Best Young Entrepreneurs" most likely to shape the world's digital future. He was also nominated for Ernst & Young’s "Entrepreneur of the Year." He is a frequent speaker at technology conferences including Widgets Live, Web 2.0 Expo, and WidgetCon. He is often quoted in major media, including The Washington Post, BusinessWeek and Red Herring. When he is not busy building a better Web, you can find him writing his blog Widgify.

Radfar graduated magna cum laude from the University of Pennsylvania with degrees in economics and computer science. He also received an M.S. from Carnegie Mellon University, where he researched social networks and distributed systems.
Location: Room 1110 Jeong H. Kim Engineering Building, University of Maryland, College Park
More information: A. James Clark School of Engineering event page

April 16, 9 a.m.-4 p.m.: Institute for Systems Research (ISR) Free Research Open House
The Institute for Systems Research (ISR) is holding a free Research Open House. ISR is part of the A. James Clark School of Engineering at the University of Maryland, and is home to cross-disciplinary research and education programs in systems engineering and sciences. It is committed to developing basic solution methodologies and tools for systems problems in a variety of applications.

The research open house highlights the research programs of ISR faculty members and includes the opportunity to meet with them and their students, as well as visit laboratories. The Open House will stimulate opportunities for collaborations between external organizations and faculty researchers. ISR is especially interested in meeting representatives from start-up and small companies who would like to learn about the breadth and depth of the institute’s expertise and discuss ideas for partnering in future projects. ISR will also have staff and graduate students available throughout the day to take visitors to meet with faculty and tour laboratories.

The event web site is continually being updated with the latest information on participating faculty and their research projects.

Location: 1146 A.V. Williams Bldg., University of Maryland, College Park
More information: ISR event page

April 21. 10 a.m.-6 p.m.: Third Annual Fischell Festival: A Celebration of Bioengineering's Potential to Improve Life for Millions of People
Engineers play a crucial role in devising new technologies to expand and enhance the capabilities of physicians, dentists, pharmacists and a myriad of other health care providers—and ultimately to improve life for people around the world. To learn what the future holds in bioengineering and biomedical devices, and how engineers and healthcare providers can work together to achieve that future, please join us for the third annual Fischell Festival. Registration is complimentary and lunch will be provided.
Location: Jeong H. Kim Engineering Bldg., University of Maryland, College Park
More information: Fischell Festival Web site

Maryland Technology Enterprise Institute (Mtech)
A. James Clark School of Engineering
University of Maryland, College Park, MD 20742
301.405.3889