Wayne State’s TechTown is a 12-block research and technology park that started with an empty building in 2004 and now houses 23 companies. The aim of TechTown is to nurture and grow companies in alternative energy, life science, homeland security and advanced automotive technology industries.

Located in TechTown, Next Energy, a nonprofit corporation founded to enable commercialization of alternative energy technologies, is welcoming a new tenant — the National Biofuels Energy Lab. Funded by a $2.5 million grant from the US Department of Energy, the 2,300-square-foot lab is equipped with $700,000 state-of-the-art research equipment for biofuel synthesis and characterization. The lab puts Wayne State at the forefront of this critical area of research, which some analysts estimate could create as many as 72,000 skilled jobs in the next decade.

“This is the blueprint for diversifying Detroit’s economy. We’re reducing our dependence on the automotive industry and embracing new technologies,” says Howard Bell, executive director.