LTU hosts initial Oakland County ‘Edu2B’ to link higher ed, business research

About 30 business executives, entrepreneurs, and economic development officials attended the first meeting of Edu2B, an Oakland County tech collaboration initiative, at Lawrence Technological University in April. 

Edu2B aims to connect businesses with higher education resources and opportunities, particularly in the fields of IT and computer services, robotics integration, research, engineering, and design. The goal is to  foster innovation and economic growth by pairing business leaders with local colleges and universities. Several prominent tech companies in Oakland County, such as FANUC America, HTC Global Services, and JR Automation, are actively involved as “Keystone companies” to strengthen the tech ecosystem. 

Several LTU professors told the audience about research that may be of interest to industry. Robert Fletcher, professor of mechanical engineering and director of the university’s renewable and alternative energy program, took a step back to describe exactly what consists innovation. Frequently, Fletcher said, it’s combining existing technologies in new ways, rather than inventing something completely new. As an example, he showed a perfume atomizer — which over the course of decades, became the technology used in automotive carburetors, which were crucial in making the internal combustion engine possible.

“My argument is that very often, innovation is a series of incremental steps,” said Fletcher, who spent decades in the energy industry before joining LTU. 

Fletcher also described a current $2.4 million grant to LTU, appliance giant Whirpool Corp., the paint and coatings manufacturer PPG, and IPG, a manufacturer of diode lasers. LTU and the companies are collaborating on research to cure paint and coatings on appliance “skins” with lasers, which can be done in a few seconds, instead of the current practice of long periods of high temperatures in giant ovens. The technology could sharply reduce the fossil fuel consumption and greenhouse gas emissions of the paint and coatings curing process. 

Eric Martinson, LTU department chair of mathematics and computer science, described his background as a roboticist for the federal government and companies like Toyota, iRobot and Soar Technology, and said his current research involves next-generation object recognition. He also invited attendees to visit LTU’s celebration of gaming, Esports and anime, LTUX. 

Finally, Lee Su Huang, associate professor of architecture and design, described the increasingly technological nature of architecture, with the use of robotics, CNC machines, and 3D printing in prototyping and fabrication of the parts used in design and contruction. He said LTU students are well positioned to assist industry with research into the latest in robotics and design. 

For more information on Oakland County’s education-business collaboration programs, visit www.oakgov.com/business/business-development/business-retention-expansion.