by Kayo Ramirez, Technology Counselor, Michigan Small Business and Technology Development Center

As the name affirms, 2010 is the tenth anniversary of the Annual Collaboration for Entrepreneurship. As in years past, the companies battling it out in the elevator pitch competition are following a celebrated heritage. The companies and their founders that blazed the path are a Who’s Who of the Michigan entrepreneurial community. Included in this list are such companies as Razorthreat, Hybra-Drive, PicoCal, and Advanced Materials.

In this blog, and over the next several of weeks, I’ll be taking a look at some of these companies and the entrepreneurs that founded them. Some of the companies have done exceedingly well, some have disappeared, and some are continuing the fight. Some of the founders have caught the entrepreneurial bug and others have moved on. All have left their mark on the State’s entrepreneurial ecosystem.

ACE ‘01

The esteemed alumni of the ACE inaugural class of 2001 continue to play an active role in the State’ entrepreneurial community, Dennis Nash is a serial entrepreneur and acts as chairman of the MIT Enterprise Forum of the Great Lakes, which actively seeks to create a broader regional collaborative to promote growth among early stage companies. Dennis continues to work at Growth Knowledge Systems/Market Results, Inc. in Bloomfield Hills, companies he founded which provide software to assist clients fix broken revenue models.

Another of the first year’s competitors, Tecat Engineering of Ann Arbor, continues to provide high end engine simulation services as well as wireless sensors that measure key engine performance characteristics. Similarly, Terrasser, an Ann Arbor designer of space-time analysis software, continues to provide service and products to a wide range of international clients including Cambridge University, the City of Chicago, Harvard University, and Afinya.

ACE ‘02

The class of 2002 contains names that should be familiar to anyone familiar with the entrepreneurial scene in Michigan. In-the-news entrepreneur, Aaron Crumm of Adaptive Materials, made one of his early pitches at ACE. Today, Adaptive Materials is a leader in the development of portable, affordable power based on solid oxide fuel cell technology. The company is the recipient of numerous grants from the U.S. Department of Defense and has contracts to supply fuel cells to the military.

Another recognized entrepreneur who presented at ACE 2002 was Eric Sieczka, President and CEO of Pixel Velocity. Pixel Velocity, an Ann Arbor company, is an industry leader for advanced video surveillance products (hardware & software) with public and private sector applications.

Another name that many of you will recognize is Rick Goldstein, who pitched his company Mobius Microsystems, LLC. More on Rick, his expertise and persistence later…