November 3rd, 2008

MICHIGAN AEROSPACE CORPORATION ANNOUNCES SMALL BUSINESS AWARD FROM NASA

Funding will Support NASA Climate Change Research and be Supported by Battle Creek Unlimited

Michigan Aerospace Corporation (MAC), today announced that it had been selected to receive a NASA Phase 2 Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) award supporting NASA’s ongoing High Spectral Resolution LIDAR (HSRL) effort, one of two NASA Phase 2 awards MAC received this year. This award, to be led by Dr. David K. Johnson, will help NASA’s Langley Research Center to characterize the size, composition and distribution of small particles in the air, which collectively are called aerosols by atmospheric scientists. This is a key component in understanding the Earth’s changing climate and for other studies on the dynamics of the atmosphere. HSRL is an airborne system, so the project will broaden MAC’s already-extensive experience with atmospheric measurement and precision optical receivers capable of use in harsh environments.

NASA announced 142 Phase 2 SBIR contract awards, each worth $600,000, for 121 small businesses on October 28. Michigan Aerospace Corporation was one of 17 businesses that received more than one contract. Both awards will be supported by Battle Creek Unlimited (BCU), the economic development arm of the city of Battle Creek, as part of BCU’s previously-announced partnership with MAC.

November 3rd, 2008

MICHIGAN AEROSPACE CORPORATION ANNOUNCES SMALL BUSINESS AWARD FROM NASA

Funding will Support NASA Vehicle Health Management Work and be Supported by Battle Creek Unlimited

Michigan Aerospace Corporation (MAC), today announced that it had been selected to receive a NASA Phase 2 Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) award supporting NASA’s efforts on the health management of aerospace vehicles, one of two NASA Phase 2 awards MAC received this year. This award to MAC, titled “Advanced Data Mining and Deployment for Integrated Vehicle Health Management and the Space Vehicle Lifecycle” and to be led by John Trenkle, bolsters MAC’s Data Exploitation business unit, which Mr. Trenkle leads. Sophisticated software is being developed that provides continuous, real-time monitoring of thousands of measurements in complex vehicles. The software will identify potential problems so that they can be corrected before damage or other serious consequences occur and will allow NASA personnel to diagnose and pinpoint issues during vehicle testing and maintenance. Other applications include feature-set reduction, classification, regression, clustering, anomaly detection and semi-supervised learning.

NASA announced 142 Phase 2 SBIR contract awards, each worth $600,000, for 121 small businesses on October 28. Michigan Aerospace Corporation was one of 17 businesses that got more than one contract. Both awards will be supported by Battle Creek Unlimited (BCU), the economic development arm of the city of Battle Creek, as part of BCU’s previously-announced partnership with MAC.

October 1st, 2008

MICHIGAN AEROSPACE CORPORATION ANNOUNCES CONTRACT AWARD FROM DEFENSE AGENCY

$750,000 Will Develop Advanced Neutron Sensor for Defense Threat Reduction Agency in Cooperation with the University of New Hampshire

Michigan Aerospace Corporation (MAC), today announced that it has received a $750,000 Phase II Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) contract to design and build a portable imaging neutron spectroscope prototype in collaboration with the University of New Hampshire. The contract, from the Defense Threat Reduction Agency (DTRA), is for a two-year effort and builds on the Phase I design effort completed at the end of 2007. The spectroscope will be capable of operating as a stand-alone instrument or integrated into an active interrogation system. The instrumentation resulting from this effort will enable scanning for smuggled fissionable materials at border checkpoints. The effort will be led by MAC’s Chief Technology Officer, Dr. Dominique Fourguette.

September 5th, 2008

MICHIGAN AEROSPACE CORPORATION ANNOUNCES AUTONOMOUS WATERCRAFT DOCKING & REFUELING ARCHITECTURE (AWDRA) CONTRACT WIN

System Will Allow Unmanned Navy Craft to be Refueled

Michigan Aerospace Corporation (MAC), an advanced engineering and products company, today announced that it has been awarded a Phase I Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) contract by the US Navy. The project, called Autonomous Watercraft Docking and Refueling Architecture (AWDRA), will allow the growing fleet of Navy unmanned surface vehicles (USVs) to be refuelled by other USVs rather than requiring them to be tended by manned naval vessels; this will free personnel for other tasks and remove them from potentially dangerous situations while increasing mission efficiency and efficacy. The project, which expands MAC’s work with Navy offboard vehicle handling (like the ongoing Stern Ramp Interface System (SRIS) project for the Littoral Combat Ship program), will be led by Anthony Hays, leader of MAC’s Mechanical Systems Business Unit.

June 12th, 2008

MICHIGAN AEROSPACE CORPORATION PART OF TEAM SELECTED BY NASA AS CANDIDATE SMALL EXPLORER MISSION

Satellite Will Explore Upper Atmosphere

Michigan Aerospace Corporation (MAC), today announced that it is collaborating with the University of Illinois on part of the Neutral Ion Coupling Explorer (NICE) satellite mission recently selected by NASA as a candidate Small Explorer mission. The NICE mission, led by the University of California-Berkeley, will contain five instruments for exploring Earth’s upper atmosphere, remotely measuring the neutral wind, temperature, composition, atmospheric and ionospheric density distributions as well as conducting in-situ measurements of ion motion. Michigan Aerospace Corporation will be responsible for the design and fabrication of the Doppler Wind Imager, an instrument that will measure neutral winds in the upper atmosphere using a Fabry-Perot interferometer. MAC is a leader in Fabry-Perot interferometer design, construction and implementation for atmospheric observation from spaceborne, airborne, ground-based, and marine platforms. Under the awarded Phase A study, Michigan Aerospace Corporation will develop the optical prescription for the Doppler Wind Imager and create a conceptual model design as a basis for future phases.

May 14th, 2008

ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT GROUPS HELP MICHIGAN AEROSPACE CORPORATION SPREAD ITS GROWTH

Battle Creek Unlimited (BCU), the economic development arm of the city of Battle Creek, is announcing a partnership that will help Michigan Aerospace Corporation expand its operations to areas of expertise within the state.

Michigan Aerospace Corporation (MAC), an advanced engineering and product company, will establish a manufacturing facility in Battle Creek, where public, private and military resources are accelerating business in aviation and homeland security. MAC’s headquarters and research and development activities will remain in Ann Arbor, where academic and business groups have supported the company for 12 years.

“This is a perfect time to build a business in Michigan, because there’s so much support from local development groups, universities and private investors. We’ve found so much assistance and desire for growth, and it’s working for us,” said Peter Tchoryk, chief executive officer, MAC.

The manufacturing facility in Battle Creek will produce MAC’s products intended for aircraft platforms and homeland security. The products, ordered by U.S.-based government and primary aerospace customers, are designed to protect borders from chem/bio, radiation and nuclear threats, and improve the performance of manned and unmanned aircraft.

“We’re demonstrating how communities can work together to help build Michigan businesses by focusing on core capabilities and having economic developers openly share ideas,” said Jack Miner, managing director of bcVentures.

“We are excited that Michigan Aerospace found the resources that they needed and have decided to grow their manufacturing operations in Michigan. We look forward to continuing to assist Michigan Aerospace as they further expand their research and development in the Ann Arbor area,” said Michael Finney, president and chief executive officer of Ann Arbor SPARK.

The next steps of the new partnership are to set up and hire people for the Battle Creek manufacturing facility, which will perform machining and fabrication functions. Final assembly, integration and testing of MAC’s newly launched products will take place in MAC’s Ann Arbor facilities.

About Michigan Aerospace Corporation

Michigan Aerospace Corporation (MAC) is a growing small business that began as a University of Michigan spin off in 1996. The company performs advanced engineering services and develops products for the defense, homeland security, industrial, and biomedical communities. MAC is the premier company in the United States for the development of Light Detection and Ranging (LIDAR) and related optical systems for atmospheric measurements and holds patents that increase the performance and efficiency of these instruments to unprecedented levels. These capabilities have resulted in hardened systems with the size, weight, and power characteristics that enable operation on demanding aircraft, spacecraft, ground, and marine platforms. MAC has also developed Chem, Bio, Radiological, Nuclear, and Explosives (CBRNE) detection technologies; launch and retrieval systems for the Navy; and anomaly detection, machine learning, and image processing software for a variety of customers. For more information, visit www.michaero.com.

About Battle Creek Unlimited and bcVentures

Battle Creek Unlimited is the economic development organization that works with the City of Battle Creek to transform and diversify the Battle Creek economy, in part through developing Fort Custer Industrial Park. bcVentures is the group within Battle Creek Unlimited that focuses on accelerating development of technology businesses and is Battle Creek’s start up company resource. bcVentures’ expertise resides in homeland security and aerospace. From funding sources to federal, state and local resources, bcVentures helps new and existing companies achieve their business goals. For more information, visit www.bcunlimited.org.

About Ann Arbor SPARK

Ann Arbor SPARK, a non-profit organization, is the driving force establishing the Ann Arbor region as a destination for business expansion, retention, and location by identifying and meeting the needs of business at every stage, from startups to large organizations. Ann Arbor SPARK represents all communities in the Washtenaw County. Ann Arbor SPARK collaborates with business, academic, government, and community investor partners including the University of Michigan, Eastern Michigan University, the Herbert and Grace Dow Foundation, Pfizer, Washtenaw County, the City of Ann Arbor, the Bank of Ann Arbor and the Michigan Economic Development Corporation. For more information, visit www.AnnArborUSA.org.

Feb. 18th, 2008

MICHIGAN AEROSPACE CORPORATION WILL BE AN EXHIBITOR AT 2008 SPIE DEFENSE AND SECURITY SYMPOSIUM

New Bio-Spectral Instrument Among Technologies to be Advertised

Michigan Aerospace Corporation (MAC), an advanced engineering and products company, today announced that it will be exhibiting at the 2008 Defense and Security Symposium in Orlando, Florida from the 16th to the 20th of March. MAC will be at booth #2008, located near an entrance to the exhibition hall, and will distribute information on its engineering services and products. Products include a Bio-Spectral Instrument (for measuring airborne aerosol, including bio-simulant, cross sections at multiple wavelengths as well as laser-induced fluorescence), wind LIDAR systems, interferometers, and biomedical instrumentation. MAC will also be recruiting for several job openings.

MAC CEO Peter Tchoryk, Jr., has served as the Chair of the Space Technologies and Operations Track since 2004 and is Co-Track Chair for this year’s symposium. This year, the track includes the following conferences: Sensors and Systems for Space Applications; Space Exploration Technologies; and Micro (MEMS) and Nanotechnologies for Space, Defense, and Security. The Honorable Jay Cohen, Department of Homeland Security Undersecretary for Science and Technology, will be the Plenary Speaker at the Symposium this year.