Farmington Hills' CSquared Innovations wins Clean Energy Prize

Many of the most promising start-ups spinning out of the Great Lakes State have two things in common. They're based in Ann Arbor and come from the University of Michigan. CSquared Innovations has one of those traits -- sort of.

The Farmington Hills-based start-up first discovered its lithium-ion battery technology at the University of Michiagan-Dearborn and is utilizing the services of the Office of Technology Transfer at U-M in Ann Arbor to commercialize the research. This was instrumental in helping the start-up to win the top $50,000 award at last weekend's Clean Energy Prize, and will enable it to really come into its own in 2011.

"We plan to scale up our staff and create 10 new positions this year," says Nick Moroz, vice president of engineering & development for CSquared Innovations.

CSquared Innovations is developing a faster, cheaper, laser-based method of making nano-structured materials and coatings for lithium-ion battery electrodes, solar cells, and industrial coatings. The technology could make the manufacturing process much less expensive. The 1-year-old firm currently has four employees and hopes to land a Small Business Innovation Research grant this year so it can begin selling its technology in 2012.

"The ultimate goal of our business is to supply flexible and capable manufacturing equipment for the lithium-ion battery industry," Moroz says.

Source: Nick Moroz, vice president of engineering & development for CSquared Innovations
Writer: Jon Zemke

Read more about Metro Detroit's growing entrepreneurial ecosystem at SEMichiganStartup.com.