Features

[+] enlarge image

August 31, 2012

Home away from home

Move-In, the annual ritual of unloading and unpacking students for another year at U-M, began on Wednesday. Nearly 30 percent of the student population lives in University Housing.

Photo: Eric Bronson, Michigan Photography

[+] enlarge image

August 30, 2012

Hearing a star scream

Astrophysicists have detected, for the first time, the signal that heralds the last gasps of a star falling victim to a previously dormant supermassive black hole. The UM-led team documented the event with orbiting X-ray telescopes that picked up semi-regular blips in the light from a galaxy 3.9 billion light years away in the northern constellation Draco the dragon.

[+] enlarge image

August 29, 2012

Inspiring students

Michigan Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (M-STEM) Academy member Sam Wilkins performs a classical violin piece at the M-STEM closing ceremonies talent show in Bursley Hall. The College of Engineering’s M-STEM Academy is designed to maximize the academic, personal and professional success of students, with the goal of preparing them for the engineering global workforce.

[+] enlarge image

August 28, 2012

Evolutionary success

In one of the first efforts to examine how species interactions drive diversification of ocean-dwelling organisms, two U-M researchers and an Australian colleague examined the lifestyle choices of tiny clams. They found the clams' propensity to live with larger, burrowing creatures such as sea urchins, shrimp and worms was a key adaptation that led to its evolutionary success.

[+] enlarge image

August 27, 2012

Nano origami

U-M engineers and artists will receive nearly $2 million from the National Science Foundation for a research campaign to find out whether the ancient art of origami could bring nanotechnology into the third dimension. The team’s objective is to uncover processes that lay the foundations for using origami and other paper-folding techniques to make nanoscale devices.

[+] enlarge image

August 24, 2012

U-M one of best workplaces

For the fifth consecutive year, U-M was named one of the Chronicle of Higher Education’s Great Colleges to Work For. Michigan was also recognized as a 2012 Honor Roll school for being highly rated in more than four categories. The results are based on a review of demographics and workplace policies, and a survey of faculty, administrators and support staff.

[+] enlarge image

August 23, 2012

Another day at the beach

A forecasting tool being developed by U-M researchers and their colleagues could significantly reduce the number of days that Great Lakes beaches are closed due to inaccurate assessments of E. coli bacteria levels. Early testing of the Forecast Decision Support System showed that it was more accurate than current monitoring techniques about 70 percent of the time.

[+] enlarge image

August 22, 2012

Scenes from South Africa

The U-M Women's Glee Club (WGC) recently traveled to South Africa to participate in the 2012 Ihlombe! Festival. Their group joined hundreds of other choral enthusiasts to sing, explore Africa and share cultures. Composed primarily of non-music majors, the WGC gives female students the opportunity to express their love of music through performance, community outreach and travel.

[+] enlarge image

August 21, 2012

Arts and culture haven

The Official Best Of website which specializes in naming the “best places to visit” around the United States has named Ann Arbor as the best arts-and-cultural destination in Michigan. Nominations are submitted on the website and then researched and discussed with a range of travel experts, including convention and visitors bureaus and chambers of commerce.

[+] enlarge image

August 20, 2012

Biostation summer

Since 1909, students and faculty have headed up to LSA’s Biological Station in Pellston, Michigan for coursework and field research. Ethnobotany is one of 14 courses taught here. The class puts its field samples in outdoor display cases for study. The students then use them to learn to identify around 100 species and know their historical Native American uses.

[+] enlarge image

August 17, 2012

Heart of campus

U-M students enjoy a summer day on the Diag, 1946. The Diag, U-M’s central open space, continues to be a major gathering spot. Generations of students have walked the same diagonal paths as have countless respected faculty, alumni, staff and visitors.

[+] enlarge image

August 16, 2012

A mentor’s impression

Through the Department of Psychology’s Michigan Mentorship Program, U-M students spend up to eight hours each week with a student from Ann Arbor Public Schools. One lucky boy named Charles Fahlsing was fortunate to have Wolverines quarterback Tom Brady (’99) as his mentor in the late nineties. As a U-M student today, he carries on the mentorship tradition.

[+] enlarge image

August 15, 2012

A&D in Ghana

Ten U-M School of Art & Design students are spending three weeks in Ghana this month to work in Nungua, a village outside of Accra, with a local non-governmental organization called Cross Cultural Collaborative. The group recently took a day trip to a village where traditional beads are handmade from glass and watched a demonstration given by a world famous bead maker.

[+] enlarge image

August 14, 2012

Bodies of research

Global sportswear leader Adidas recently awarded the U-M School of Kinesiology a grant to examine the benefits of innovative wearable technology. U-M athletes including basketball player Trey Burke (at left) recently performed agility drills for researchers to analyze and help develop products to enhance athletic performance and injury prevention at all levels of competition.

[+] enlarge image

August 13, 2012

Putting the pieces together

Twenty-six health care professionals and graduate students from Taiwan recently toured a nursing home and other health care facilities as part of a week-long "Institute of Health Management" hosted by the U-M School of Public Health's Department of Health Management and Policy. The program was sponsored by U-M and National Sun Yat-sen University (NSYSU).

[+] enlarge image

August 10, 2012

A mighty model

Students attending the College of Engineering’s MITE (Michigan Introduction to Technology & Engineering) camp work on creating a model of a building that can sustain a simulated earthquake. The program is designed to excite, engage, educate and empower students entering 10th and 11th grade with an integrated curriculum that centers on an engineering based project.

Photo: Marcin Szczepanski, University of Michigan, CoE, Multimedia Producer

[+] enlarge image

August 9, 2012

Ford School tradition

For the last 31 summers, U-M’s Gerald R. Ford School of Public Policy has hosted top students from across the country as part of the Public Policy and International Affairs Junior Summer Institute, a national program that encourages diversity in public service. This highly competitive program prepares students for graduate school and leadership roles in the public sector.

Photo: Eric Bronson, Michigan Photography

[+] enlarge image

August 8, 2012

Stamp your calendar

An amazing lineup has been announced for the U-M School of Art & Design’s Fall 2012 Penny W. Stamps Speaker Series. Artists including PES, Sally Mann, Alexis Rockman (painting at left) and Oliver Stone will discuss their work at the Michigan Theater on Thursdays beginning Sept. 13. All lectures are free and open to the public.

[+] enlarge image

August 7, 2012

Camping at 14,000 feet

The International Institute’s (II) blog captures the experiences of U-M students participating in research, study or internships abroad. This photo posted by Georgia Ennis documents one of the “most amazing experiences of her life” waking up to snow on the equator during her time in Ecuador as a Fulbright English teaching assistant.

[+] enlarge image

August 3, 2012

Life on Mars?

Michigan Engineering faculty, staff and students play a role in an ambitious NASA mission that is landing the most advanced scientific instruments ever to be used on Mars’ surface. On August 5, the Mars Science Laboratory is setting the Curiosity rover on Gale Crater to assess whether Mars is, or ever was, capable of supporting microbial life.

Photo: NASA

[+] enlarge image

August 2, 2012

Studying sustainability

U-M’s College of Literature, Science & the Arts, is now offering an academic minor in sustainability through its Program in the Environment. The minor, which is open to all undergraduates regardless of their academic home, explores interdisciplinary approaches that address the complex issues involved in developing sustainable systems now and in the future.

Photo: Program in the Environment (PITE)

[+] enlarge image

August 1, 2012

Row, row, roboboat

A team from the U-M College of Engineering recently won the 2012 RoboBoat Competition with their new boat, Serenity. This is the second time that U-M has taken the gold in this national competition, which requires students to complete a series of tasks completely autonomously — without any help from a driver once on the course.

Photo: Sarah Nesbitt