Wednesday, June 25, 2003
Muskegon Chronicle
Dave Alexander

A Grand Rapids scientist with a long resume of entrepreneurial efforts has been named executive director of the Muskegon SmartZone.

Grand Valley State University has hired Baghdad-born Imad Mahawili as the SmartZone research director and executive director of the university's Michigan Alternative Energy Center at Edison Landing on Muskegon Lake.

Mahawili most recently owned his own businesses as founder, president and chief executive officer of Micro C Technologies in Kentwood and IsoComforter Co. in Cascade Township.

He recently sold Micro C -- a developer of semiconductor thermal processing equipment -- to Kokusai Electric Co. of Japan for a reported $6.7 million.

IsoComforter is a medical device developer and manufacturer that he founded and sold to a Florida company. IsoComforter produces portable cold therapy machines.

Mahawili holds 16 patents in various areas of manufacturing and has another five pending.

With a bachelor's degree and doctorate in chemical engineering from Imperial College of the University of London, Mahawili now will focus on alternative energy development such as fuel cells, solar cells and storage batteries.

" This position provides a unique opportunity to integrate my technical background and extensive entrepreneurial career with my desire to serve our society and educate young minds," Mahawili said in a prepared statement.

" I see the (GVSU energy center) as a timely and critical vision for the development of economically viable technologies for alternative and renewable energy resources for our nation," he stated. Mahawili will be paid $120,000 a year.

Born and raised in Baghdad, Iraq, Mahawili first came to the United States in 1965 under the American Field Service Program to stay with a family in Petoskey. He had just graduated from an American Jesuit high school in Iraq.

Mahawili said the war in Iraq has been difficult for him but he said he is pleased his native country is now living in freedom. He said he has had no direct communication with his relatives in Iraq, but he has learned they have survived the war.

Mahawili began as a chemical engineer for the DuPont Co. in 1974, working on transforming coal into synthetic chemicals as a consequence of the 1973 energy crisis.

After working for DuPont, Mahawili began a career in micro-processors and worked for many years in Silicon Valley in California. After a brief time in Kuwait, he returned to the United States in 1992 and has made Grand Rapids his home. He founded his businesses in West Michigan.

" What turns me on is developing technologies to solve problems," Mahawili said. "I want to create jobs and educate students."

The Michigan Alternative Energy Center is now under construction in the Edison Landing high-tech business park. Edison Landing is one of 11 state-designated SmartZones, designed to foster development of advanced technologies.

The state of Michigan has allowed SmartZones to use special property tax mechanisms to fund development of facilities and technologies. The Muskegon SmartZone is being developed with a partnership among GVSU, the city of Muskegon and the Michigan Economic Development Corp.

Construction of a 20,000-square-foot research and development center should be completed by the end of the summer.

In April, GVSU and FuelCell Energy Inc. signed an agreement to install and service a stationary fuel cell power plant for the facility. The fuel cell will provide electricity to the energy center plus generate a heat-recovery system for heating and cooling. The facility will also integrate solar cells and storage batteries.

The building will house research space, a conference center, classrooms and incubator facilities to assist start-up businesses interested in the alternative energy field. The center -- which will focus on developing commercial applications for the new alternative energy technologies -- will work closely with the faculty and students of GVSU's engineering and business schools.

© 2003 Muskegon Chronicle. Used with permission