From
Michigan Technological University's vantage point on the Keweenaw Peninsula extending out over Lake Superior a new partnership to help develop water management technologies makes perfect sense.
The university announced it will team with a business accelerator called
H2Opportunities, in Oakland County, to develop new technologies in water and wastewater-related industries.
Michigan Tech already is working on technologies that have applications for preservation and management of freshwater resources, so what this partnership will do is to identify how those can be used, get them in the hands of real-world users, and make them part of growing businesses in the state of Michigan.
Todd Stewart, Michigan Tech's director of institutional partnerships, says it's all about using the university's research to pursue goals of sustainable water management for the future.
"Sustainability is a part of Michigan Tech's DNA. Doing science and developing new technologies related to managing water resources is central to our strategic focus on sustainability," Stewart says.
H2Opportunities's role in the partnership will be to find ways to help water resources businesses start up and grow, connecting problems with answers and planning future water management strategy in the Great Lakes region.
And that's going to mean not only better water technology, but more jobs as the partnership moves the whole industry forward in the state, Stewart says.
"The accelerated transition of these new technologies into commercially-viable products and services will have the added important benefit of stimulating the creation of new technical, manufacturing and service jobs for Michigan, the Great Lakes region and the nation," he says.
Writer: Sam EgglestonSource: Todd Stewart, Michigan Technological University
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