FRESHWATER RESEARCH: High hopes for Traverse City's new Innovation Center

Sep. 3—TRAVERSE CITY — While Traverse City's Freshwater Research and Innovation Center has yet to be built, plans for the new facility are well underway.

Proponents of the project, which recently received a $15 million grant from the state of Michigan, believe it will be a huge net win for global marine technologies, environmental health and Traverse City's workforce.

This center is the result of collaboration between Northwestern Michigan College, NMC's Discovery Center and Pier, Michigan Tech University, Traverse Connect and the local tech-incubation company 20Fathoms.

Hans VanSumeren, director of NMC's Great Lakes Water Studies Institute, said the collaborative partnership and shortened research product incubation periods are the key components that will separate this center from its peers in freshwater research.

"We don't have a specific 'thing' that we're starting with," he said. "This is meant to be centered around the partnership's strengths.

"We're bringing in companion workforce development, which none of the research universities focus on. [They] really focus on producing engineers and scientists for the betterment of the designs and theoretical development of new tools, but who does the work once those tools go out into the marketplace?"

Tim Havens, director of the Great Lakes Research Center at Michigan Tech, said, "What sets this place apart is embedded in the partnerships. We'll be able to do everything in the whole ecosystem of research, innovation and manufacturing, right here in Traverse City."

Jason Slade, NMC's Vice President for Strategic Initiatives, said that, even after a product has been designed, obtaining the necessary resources and funding from interested parties can be difficult.

"We will have a strong ecosystem right here in town that can help culture and grow those companies," he said. "[NMC] has 100% placement with our programs in underwater technology so the [freshwater center's] focus on technologies will set it apart, along with the business-incubation component."

VanSumeren said that, if an important new research tool is being developed, the Innovation Center will have a team ready to provide additional brain power to help develop that product quickly to meet the demands of new research.

He went on to say that other research universities are "doing some great work," but that they lack workforce development, which makes real-world implementation of the research being done a drawn-out, often difficult process.

U.S. Sen. Gary Peters, D-Mich., said he has high hopes for the new facility as well.

"It's been my experience that there are more water-research centers associated with salt water than fresh water," he said. "To me, that doesn't make sense when the world is getting thirstier, and fresh water is becoming more and more essential.

"We need to invest more into protecting the Great Lakes and fresh water sources.

"If there was a spill of Line 5, that would be catastrophic for all the water up here," Peters continued. "We don't know a lot about how to clean oil in fresh water, which is really a concern. We know a lot about cleaning it up in salt water, but it's different in fresh water."

Jennifer Read, the Water Center Director at the University of Michigan's Graham Sustainability Institute, said Traverse City's new freshwater center sounds like a logical and "streamlined operation."

Read explained that when U of M and other large research institutions have a discovery that could potentially be monetized or operationalized, there are a lot of ancillary issues that need to be addressed.

"They have good processes and the processes work," she said. "But having a place with all of those parts working together makes sense to me."

According to the CEO of NMC's Discovery Center, Matt McDonough, much of the research will be conducted on, and in conjunction with, underwater remotely operated vehicles and autonomous vessels.

"In the future, freighters will not be piloted by captains onboard the vessel," Havens said. "[They will be piloted] by captains sitting in an operation center on land. Some pilots may operate up to five vessels at the same time."

He said that this transition is something he looks forward to working on with the maritime academy and the new center "as we transition into the future."

According to Jay Meldrum, Michigan Tech's Grand Traverse area liaison, part of that transition into the future will be made possible through electric and autonomous bathymetry vessels, which will be used to map the Great Lakes.

"Earth's water bodies are vastly under-explored," VanSumeren said. He said that includes the Great Lakes, which he said are only about 10% or 15% mapped.

He said the lack of data limits our ability to make good sustainability and management decisions.

McDonough said something similar: "In order to be able to address environmental impacts, we have to be able to adequately understand what those impacts are, and that's where marine technology comes into play."

VanSumeren said the Freshwater Research and Innovation Center will work toward the advancement and better understanding of these various missing data, which would, theoretically, allow for better decision-making processes.

"If [these products] are solving a significant problem," he said, "we want to get their life cycle — from development to delivery — shortened."

PFAS and other so-called "forever chemicals" are one such problem that new and innovative technologies could help solve, according to Chuck Meek, the PFAS Programs Lead at Turquoise Environmental in Traverse City.

While Turquoise Environmental is not one of the five collaborative partners at the new center, Meek said the firm will be "very much" involved.

To explain his vision for collaborating with the Freshwater Research and Innovation Center in addressing PFAS, Meek referred to two business concepts called "the red ocean strategy" and "the blue ocean strategy."

"The red ocean is along the coastline," Meek said. "You usually set sail in the marketplace here because it's well-known and established and it's where your competitors are. But it's red because there is [metaphorical] blood in the water from all the competition."

The blue ocean strategy is to go where there is no competition.

"Our blue ocean strategy is to use PFAS data to develop techniques and insights that will stop introducing PFAS into the environment," Meek said.

Eventually, he said, the goal will be to remove it from the environment altogether.

"We want to stop introducing PFAS into the environment in five years," he said. "And we want to [have it removed] from the environment in 10 years. That's our moonshot."

While the details of this "moonshot" are still largely theoretical, Meek said that the "how-to" will involve aspects of quantum computing, molecular engineering and Data Platform as a Service, which allows companies to manage and analyze data on a centralized platform. He said he believes the new research and innovation center will help work toward a PFAS-free environment.

"It's a potluck dinner," he said. "And everyone brings something to the table. Turquoise Environmental is bringing the PFAS data-piece to that equation."

The Discovery Center's part of the equation will primarily be concerned with public communication, according to McDonough.

"We'll be a conduit between the public and what happens at the center," he said. "But, broadly speaking, it is primarily going to deal with work in the marine freshwater technology space."

VanSumeren said that freshwater research is seeing "enormous changes in the markets," which are driving exploration on the water, particularly in harsh environments.

"That's another reason for the center being here," he said. "The Great Lakes are pretty extreme when it comes to environmental change, and not just in terms of wave climate. Waves may not be as tall as ocean waves, but [they are] much steeper and are significantly challenging to test new products in."

He also noted that the Great Lakes region has ice, which sets it apart from every other U.S. coast outside of Alaska, which could allow for a lot of "important work" to be done here.

"Typically, to do under-ice work, you have to go all the way to the arctic," McDonough said. "Well, we get ice in Lake Michigan and Lake Superior every year, so we have the ability to test equipment and make modifications. It's a much more efficient testing ground for that kind of [research]."

According to McDonough, the timeline for the Freshwater Research and Innovation Center breaking ground is about two and half years, followed by 18 months of construction across from the Discovery Center pier, on the west side of M22.

"We're looking at around four years before we are fully operational," he said. "But we are looking at building out additional docks at the marina by next spring, so research vessels will be able to come in and have a place to work from. Work will already be started before the center is open, but there will be much more efficiency and collaboration once it is done."

He said that there is plenty of work to be done in order to get the center where "it needs to be," but that the partners are well on their way.

"We were recently awarded that $15 million appropriation from the state," McDonough said. "But the price tag on the first building is going to be in the $26 million range, so we have a gap to close from a fundraising standpoint."

He said there is a lot of work that goes into developing fundraising plans and working with partners to execute those plans, but he said the process has been extremely positive.

"I've been really pleasantly surprised by how quickly [the five partners] developed our own roles and responsibilities, which all complement one another," McDonough said. "There's a lot of work to be done, but I feel confident that the philanthropic community, the region and the state will support our efforts.

"It won't be easy, but it is certainly doable."