With combined funding of 2.4 million, MSU and the Michigan Strategic Fund, are helping several bio-based researchers out of MSU get on the fast track to development.
Thanks to the Michigan Transitional Research and Commercialization (MTRAC) program, promising projects will now have the resources they need to further development and enter a competitive market. The first three projects were chosen at the end of the school year and are getting started right now.
"We want to see that these projects get off to a good start and get the resources they need," says Richard Chylla, Executive Director of MSU Technologies. The hope is that these technologies will get commercialized or lead to startups that will create jobs and bring capital to the region. They have already contributed to job growth as MSU just hired a Commercialization Project Director.
Additional projects will be considered in January and researchers will be able to apply for funding over the next three years.
Any funding put into these projects is highly justified as the industry of bio-based chemicals is expected to grow by more than $450 billion by the year 2025.
The projects kicking off include ways to increase farmer's profitability and processes that will turn waste into productive materials.
Source: Richard Chylla, MSU Technologies
Writer: Allison Monroe Innovation News Editor
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