From long underwear to machine learning, Ypsilanti residents have patented a variety of innovations for more than a century and a half. Next-door neighbor Ann Arbor produces the seventh most patents per capita in the U.S., but Ypsi and Ypsi Township aren't slouches. The U.S. patent office search page shows more than 1,200 results for the search term "Ypsilanti," with some of the oldest patents dating back to the mid-1800s.

Ypsi's most notable patent-holder is one of the most famous inventors in American history. James Mann, archivist at Ypsilanti Historical Society Museum and Archives, says that "if anybody knows anything about African-American history in Ypsilanti, they have heard of Elijah McCoy."

The African-American inventor of lubricants for steam engines spent time in various cities in Canada and the U.S. He patented several inventions with an Ypsilanti address, including the most famous one for steam engine lubricators.

The unrelated James McCoy of Ypsilanti received two patents for improvements to Masonic badges in the 1870s. Another 1800s-era Ypsi inventor of note is William Kneip, who was granted not one but two patents for innovation in the construction and material used in undergarments we'd call "long underwear" or "thermals" — the first in 1892 and the second in 1893. And Ypsi resident Ava Worden was one of a family of inventors. He and two brothers earned many patents, with Ava's total alone at 30.
Doug CoombeSensitile founder Abhinand Lath in the Sensitile showroom.
In more modern times, Ypsilanti-based individuals and companies are still racking up patents. Integrated Sensing Systems, based in Ypsi Township, received a patent for one of its minimally-invasive procedures used to insert medical and scientific sensors in 2014. And Ypsi Township-based Sensitile, which makes custom building and architectural products from resin, glass, and terrazzo materials that interact with either embedded LED lights or ambient light, started off with a patented invention as well. 

Sensitile founder Abhinand Lath started the company in his basement while working on his University of Michigan master's thesis about using materials that bend and manipulate light. Vanika Lath, chief operations officer for Sensitile, says the company now has nine patents.

Dave Strenski, founder of grassroots Solar Ypsi, has three patents. He thinks the number of patents coming out of Ypsi probably stems from a few reasons. One is that Ypsi is a college town, and a second is that there are many players from the auto industry nearby. But it's probably also because people who work in Ann Arbor live in Ypsilanti and file their patent at their home address, he says.

Strenski's first patent was for a "system and method of generating a finite element mesh for a threaded fastener and joining structure assembly." He invented it after talking to a frustrated Ford engineer who kept noticing that the configuration of a bolt's thread was causing a crack that would ruin an entire engine block.
Dave Strenski with his patents.
Strenski's most recent patent is for a machine learning model-based compiler that can translate between different computer programming languages. He says he was inspired by talking to others about a problem they faced and "just thinking outside the box."

"I was looking at artificial intelligence models, and there's hundreds of them that can translate from English to French or French to German," he says. "So I wondered, 'Geez, why can't they translate between Python and Java, two different programming languages?'"

Coming up with an invention and getting it patented sounds glamorous to many, but the process is not.

"The patent process is amazingly slow," Strenski says. "It takes like three years or more."
Doug CoombeYpsilanti Historical Society Museum and Archives archivist James Mann with an antique patented corn sheller from Ypsilanti.
He says when an inventor comes up with an idea, they're often associated with a big company that has its own invention submission portal. Peers review it to see if it's a good idea, and if it is, it gets reviewed by higher-up officials. Then lawyers are assigned to the case and work on it for months. Strenski says the patent application was longer than the code he wrote for his first patent.

"Then you submit it and wait two years for the patent office to publish it and mail you a wooden plaque," he says.

It's not surprising that cities that are home to universities tend to be associated with invention and patents, so EMU has had a number of patent holders on its campus over the decades as well.

Steve Pernecky, EMU's interim associate provost and vice president for graduate studies and research, notes that the first patent issued to EMU was in 1996 for "Fast Curing Thermosetting Acetylenic Polymeric Vehicle" (a way of quickly hardening polymers), with Professor Stoli Dirlikov and Zhao Chen as inventors. Since then, EMU has received nearly 40 patents, many resulting from research conducted through two applied research units, the EMU Coatings Research Institute and the Textile Research and Training Institute.

EMU also co-owns several patents with the University of Michigan, for research that spawned a Michigan pharmaceutical company. 

Many times in the corporate world, if you invent something while employed by a company, the company then owns the patent rights to that invention. EMU shares the rights and splits revenues — if there are any — with the inventor or inventors.

EMU Engineering Professor Phil Rufe says that, despite some high-profile cases, patented inventions aren't a big money-maker for the university. Sometimes an inventor creates something clever that nobody wants — or does it at the wrong time.
Doug CoombeA patented lubricating cup by Elijah McCoy at the Ypsilanti Historical Society Museum.
He notes that one patent-holder created a technology that coats a cloth or towel with an anti-bacterial treatment that can be renewed with a bit of bleach in the washing machine. But before COVID, many of the companies he approached with the idea were leery of the need to use bleach. 

"And then, after COVID hit, we were all driving around trying to get bleach," he says. "So it's also about timing. If we'd have had that on the market, we would have cleaned up." 

EMU's most recent patent was granted to an employee who had an idea for using a low-barrier, inexpensive gunshot detection tool for use in schools or other areas that might need a police response to an active shooter.  

Caryn Charter, industry support liaison in the EMU Office of Research Development and Administration, says EMU is "looking to invigorate" its efforts toward innovation and pursuing patents.

"It's a knowledge economy," she says. "With the Ann Arbor tech ecosystem being very strong and pushing resources for business startups into Ypsilanti, it's a value for students to think about the innovation landscape today."

Sarah Rigg is a freelance writer and editor in Ypsilanti Township and the project manager of On the Ground Ypsilanti. She joined Concentrate as a news writer in early 2017 and is an occasional contributor to other Issue Media Group publications. You may reach her at sarahrigg1@gmail.com.

Photos by Doug Coombe.