Made At Michigan Magazine

Movellus Circuits G MORE ONLINE. VISIT INNOVATEBLUE.UMICH.EDU/HIGHLIGHTS

The average economy sedan has up to 50 embedded processors, movelluscircuits.com
while a BMW 7 series engages more than 100. As the connected-car
market becomes a reality, this number is expected to grow. Currently, Razan Zaghmout, College of Engineering and Ross School of Business,
each embedded processor requires a stable clock signal, which is an M. Entrepreneurship 2015, Operations Manager
external component on the printed circuit board. As the number of Yu Huang, College of Engineering, MSE 2016, Design Engineer
embedded processors in vehicles increases, the size, weight, power, Jiannan Huang, College of Engineering, BSE 2016, Design Engineer
and cost of the chip must be considered in the design of vehicles.
Therefore, there’s a need for lower power, small form, and low-cost
electronics. Movellus Circuits is meeting this need with new design
methodology and innovative digital architectures for clock generators.
Movellus’ clock generators are up to 90 percent smaller in size, have
as little as one-tenth the power consumption, can be designed in one-
fifth the time, and can save up to 20 percent in manufacturing costs.

U-M SUPPORT:
Zell Lurie Institute Michigan Business Challenge and Marcel
Gani Internship Program; Center for Entrepreneurship MTRAC
Transportation

COMMUNITY SUPPORT:
Ann Arbor SPARK

THE TEAM:

Muhammad Faisal, College of Engineering, MSE 2011, PhD 2014, Founder
and CEO
Jeffrey Fredenburg, College of Engineering, BSE 2008, MSE 2010,
PhD 2015, Co-Founder and VP of Engineering

IT’S BEEN AN EXTREMELY REWARDING JOURNEY FOR EVERYONE SO FAR. WE
HAVE ALL LEARNED SKILLS THAT WE WOULDN’T HAVE GOTTEN A CHANCE TO
LEARN HAD WE TAKEN JOBS AT BIG COMPANIES.

Movellus team

49

#MadeAtMichigan elegustech.com

Elegus Technologies G

Elegus is commercializing lithium-ion battery technology based on
Kevlar, the material found in bulletproof vests. The technology enables
safer, longer-lasting batteries, which is very important for electric
vehicles and consumer electronics. Through their research at U-M,
Elegus has found a way to make very thin films of Kevlar, and these
films are used inside lithium-ion batteries to help with safety, among
other functions. Most batteries actually have plastic films inside them,
but this current solution doesn’t stack up as well against Elegus’ Kevlar
alternative in terms of safety and performance.

U-M SUPPORT:
Center for Entrepreneurship Jump Start grant, MTRAC
Transportation, NSF I-Corps Program, and advising; Zell
Lurie Institute Dare to Dream Grants; Zell Entrepreneurship
and Law Clinic

THE TEAM:

Long Qian, College of Engineering and Ross School of Business,
M. of Entrepreneurship 2014, CFO and Co-Founder
Siu on Tung, College of Engineering, PhD candidate Macromolecular
Science & Engineering 2017, CTO and Co-Founder
Dr. Nicholas Kotov, U-M Professor of Chemical Engineering, Biomedical
Engineering, Materials Science and Engineering, and Macromolecular
Science and Engineering, Co-Founder
John Hennessy, College of Engineering and Ross School of Business,
M. of Entrepreneurship 2014, CEO and Co-Founder

OUR TECHNOLOGY ALLOWS FOR A THINNER
SEPARATOR, THE PLASTIC FILM FOUND
INSIDE LITHIUM-ION BATTERIES, INCREASING
THE ENERGY DENSITY OF BATTERIES, OR
EVEN SHRINKING THE BATTERY, BOTH OF
WHICH HAVE DESIRABLE IMPLICATIONS FOR
APPLICATIONS LIKE LITHIUM-ION BATTERIES
FOR ELECTRIC VEHICLES AND CONSUMER
ELECTRONICS.

John Hennessy, CEO and co-founder

50 | 2015/16 HIGHLIGHTS

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S•PACK G spackproducts.com

The creators of S•PACK aim to offer a quick way to freshen up after
a long day of travel, work, or a hard workout. The S•PACK package
contains a mini-toothbrush, toothpaste, a makeup removing cleanser
wipe, a deodorant cloth, and a hair tie and currently targets women
between the ages 18–39. S•PACK is distributed at all 25 locations of
Ricky’s NYC, a beauty shop specializing in professional beauty supplies.

U-M SUPPORT:
Zell Lurie Institute Dare to Dream Grants and advising;
MPowered MTank

THE TEAM:

Mariel Reiss, Ross School of Business, BBA 2016, Co-Founder
Juliette Reiss, University of Pennsylvania, BA 2016, Co-Founder
Jamie Korn, Ross School of Business, BBA 2016, Financial Director
Elana Katz, Stamps School of Art & Design, BA and Program in
Entrepreneurship 2016, Creative Director
Maddi Winer, School of Kinesiology, BA 2016, Social Media Director

“I was inspired to create S•PACK based on a common problem I saw many of my peers facing in college and in the city.
Women on the go don’t always have the proper toiletries to freshen up. In our fast paced society, women want to feel
good and look good at all times of the day.” ­— Mariel Reiss, co-founder

51

#MadeAtMichigan miufi.org instagram.com/mufigram
twitter.com/MIUrbanFarm facebook.com/MichiganUrbanFarmingInitiative
Michigan Urban
Farming Initiative G I THINK THERE IS SOMETHING REALLY POWERFUL IN
CHANGING THE PHYSICAL ENVIRONMENT AROUND
The Michigan Urban Farming Initiative (MUFI) is a 100 percent YOU WITH YOUR OWN TWO HANDS. I THINK IT OFFERS
volunteer-run 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization based in Detroit’s A TANGIBLE EXAMPLE OF HOW ONE CAN CHANGE THE
North End community. MUFI’s mission is to use urban agriculture as WORLD AROUND THEM. BEYOND THAT, IT SEEMS TO
a platform to promote education, sustainability, and community in an EMPOWER PEOPLE SOCIALLY AS WELL.
effort to empower urban communities, solve many social problems
facing Detroit, and potentially develop a broader model for redevel- Tyson Gersh, president
opment for other urban communities. Co-founders Darin McLeskey
and Tyson Gersh developed the idea for MUFI through the optiMize
Social Innovation Challenge at Michigan, and were awarded seed
funding to kick start the summer 2012 harvest season. Since then, the
initiative has brought together thousands of volunteers from all over the
world who have given upwards of 50,000 working hours and harvested
50,000 pounds of organic produce, approximately 35 percent of which
went directly to individual households within the North End community.

U-M SUPPORT:
LSA optiMize Social Innovation Partnership

THE TEAM:

Jeff Pituch, College of Literature, Science, and the Arts, BS 2015, Board Member
Melissa Shiner, College of Literature, Science, and the Arts, BS 2018,
Volunteer Coordinator
Tyson Gersh, University of Michigan-Dearborn, BS, President
Abhishek Bhat, College of Engineering, MSE 2010, Volunteer

52 | 2015/16 HIGHLIGHTS

C

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that help support U-M’s student
innovators and entrepreneurs.

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