Just a friendly reminder that submissions to present at the upcoming WBT Innovation Marketplace in San Diego are due this Friday. If you would like to be considered to present or refer an applicant there are only a few days left to complete an online submission.

There is no cost to apply and applications are reviewed by a Selection Committee comprised of investors and licensees. All reviews from the Selection Committee, while anonymous, are provided to every applicant.

The Cleantech Open announced its semifinalists for their internationally-renowned competition, and has announced Fargo’s own start-up business Switch as a semifinalist in the ‘Smart Power, Green Grid and Energy Storage’ category. Teams from around the nation will be traveling to Silicon Valley today to prepare for the world’s largest cleantech accelerator. The Cleantech Open looks to find, fund and foster entrepreneurs with big ideas that address today's energy, environmental and economic challenges.

EERE invites concept papers to support Innovative Pilot and Demonstration Scale Production of Advanced Biofuels, which will provide alternative sources of liquid transportation fuels that are of interest to the Department of Defense and the private sector. Two research areas will be supported under this announcement:

• Lignocellulosic Feedstock — to design construct and/or operate an integrated pilot- or demonstration-scale integrated biorefinery to validate the proposed technology using an acceptable lignocellulosic feedstock; and,

NASA invites proposals for the Space Technology Research Opportunities - Early Stage Innovations program to support the research and development of technologies that have the potential to lead to dramatic improvements at the system level (e.g., performance, weight, cost, reliability or operational simplicity) associated with space flight hardware or missions. Approximately $2.5 million may be made available to support up to 10 awards. Eligibility is restricted to institutions of higher education. Proposals are due Jul 12.

The United States Air Force Academy invites whitepapers for the research and development of Technologies for Unmanned Systems in three research areas:

• Sensing, control and communication technologies for heterogeneous, unmanned, cooperative systems to demonstrate their advantages over individual systems;

• Geo-locate radio frequency signal sources using multiple unmanned aerial vehicles; and,

• Heterogeneous sensors to improve the accuracy of the overall estimates of object states.

William C. Marcil, chairman of Forum Communications Co., told an overflowing crowd at the Grand Forks Region EDC annual meeting May 10 he is committing $100,000 to spur the development of a economic strategic plan for the Red River Valley.

The 6th Unmanned Aircraft Systems Action Summit co-hosted by the Red River Valley Research Corridor, City of Grand Forks welcomed over 350 military officials, industry experts and innovators, researchers, business leaders and students to Grand Forks, North Dakota on May 22 & 23.

Access speaker presentations here

Local and regional press and news organizations took notice when over 350 people showed up in Grand Forks, North Dakota on May 22 & 23 for the 6th Unmanned Aircraft Systems (UAS) Action Summit hosted by the Red River Valley Research Corridor, City of Grand Forks, and U.S. Senators Kent Conrad and John Hoeven.

Still headquartered out of Fargo, N.D., Pedigree Technologies has become an award-winning machine-to-machine business solutions provider with a national footprint. Since the commercial launch of its OneView application suite in 2009, Pedigree has more than doubled its customer base each year, with a 226% increase in 2011 alone.

As a part of our core mission, we seek to build a vibrant cleantech, green business and renewable energy economy. One of the ways we accomplish this is to develop partnerships with key organizations such as the North Central Cleantech Open.

The Cleantech Open, the World’s largest cleantech accelerator, is accepting applications for its 2012 program through Tuesday, May 8th. If you’re a Midwest entrepreneur with an early stage business, apply today and get access to: