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The University of Michigan College of Engineering began research in MEMS and microsystems in the early 1970s. Over the years the University has shared its research and collaborated with industry through a variety of means. Early collaboration began with personal relationships among academic and corporate researchers, and later through the establishment of an industrial affiliate program. This led to a ten-year grant from the National Science Foundation (NSF) in 2000, which established a formal, membership-based, NSF Engineering Research Center (ERC): the Center for Wireless Integrated Microsystems (WIMS). Since 2010, the Center has operated as a graduated, self-sustaining ERC (WIMS2), whose primary mission, terms of membership, and operation remain the same.

Membership Contact

 
Larry Tuttle, Industrial Liaison
1301 Beal Ave., Room 2214
Ann Arbor, MI 48109-2122
Phone: (734) 615-2325
Mobile: (734) 717-0916

The diagram below illustrates the components of the Center. The interaction of members and faculty constitutes the operation of the Center.
Center Operations
 
WIMSInteraction Models - A list of the ways members can collaborate with faculty and students, and the means in which technology transfer is accomplished. 
See Table Below
 
 
WIMS2 Business Benefits - The ultimate benefits gained from membership in the Center lie in the contribution that the Center makes toward helping a company create successful strategies and achieve its business objectives.
See Table Below

There are three components:  Research, Faculty and Students, and Industrial Members.

 

These components are integrated through the engagement models defined in the Bylaws and provide three basic services: 

 

Relationships and Collaboration – The Center helps create personal relationships between Faculty and Students, and Industrial Members.

Technology Transfer – Neutrally-funded and faculty-designated research is openly shared with industrial member companies with the following types of interactions:
  • Personal Relationships with Faculty and Students
  • Twice-annual Formal Research Reviews
  • Member Sponsored Fellowships
  • Graduate Placement
  • Early Disclosure of IP
  • One Year Right of First Refusal
  • Preferential Licensing Terms

    Other forms of Technology Transfer include research that is not shared with other member companies, and includes company-sponsored research, and the Resident Engineer program.
Administration and Support – The Center also supports Faculty and Students, and Member Companies through:
  • Meetings
  • Events
  • Invited Speakers
  • Conferences and Workshops
  • Website
  • Center Promotion and Marketing
  • Publishing Papers, Journal Articles, Patents, Books
  • Producing Webinars, Student Videos, and Recorded Events
  • Live Webcasts
  • Recruiting
                          
WIMS2 Engagement Models
Access and Relationships
  • Receive preferential and facilitated access to Center and university personnel, and facilities, across participating departments 
Recruiting
  •  Get early access to students and research results through projects and internships
Proposals and Projects
  •  Write joint proposals and collaborate on sponsored research projects
Technology Transfer
  • Share ongoing results of federal and state funded research
  • Examine discoveries, engineering innovations, and applied systems early in the lifecycle
  • Participate in semi-annual Center research reviews
Intellectual Property
and Projects
  • Receive timely notification of invention disclosures
  • Acquire non-exclusive royalty-free license to Center Technology for internal use
  • Secure the right of first refusal for commercial licenses to Center Technology; exclusive licenses are possible
Prototyping
  • Receive reduced fees for fabrication facilities for prototype runs conducted by Center personnel
WIMS2 Fellowship
  • Sponsor a WIMS2student to conduct research on a specific topic
Resident Engineer
  • Receive office, administrative and university IT support
  • Receive reduced fees for your use of laboratory and fabrication facilities
  • Secure IP rights
Advisory Board
  • Participate through membership on the Industry Advisory Board
  • Help set research directions and programs for the Center
 
 
 
WIMS2Business Benefits
Track the State of the Art
  • The Center faculty are leaders in their fields who conduct and publish cutting-edge research
Look Forward
  • Through personal relationships and formal meetings, obtain the status of ongoing research, often, pre-publication
Insights on Technology
Maturity
  • Gain an understanding of research that does not produce successful results and is not published
  • Knowing what does not work can help direct development more successfully
Leverage University Research
  • The value chain for many technology advances often begins with government-funded university research
  • Corporate R&D budgets are shrinking
Establish/Maintain
Technology Leadership
  • "Innovation' and "disruptive" are perhaps overused buzzwords, but the concepts are driving company strategies
  • Technology leaders are usually very well known
Enter New Markets
  •  First to market players often dominate their product-market space
Grow Revenue and Profit
  •  Technology and market leaders often produce way-above-average margins
 
 
 
 
 
 

Copyright © 2016
Wireless Integrated MicroSensing & Systems (WIMS2)
University of Michigan, College of Engineering
2300A Electrical Engineering and Computer Science Bldg.
1301 Beal Ave., Ann Arbor, MI 48109-2122

Phone: 734-763-2126
Fax: 734-647-2342
Email: info@umwims2.org