Engineering Research News

A woman preparing to plug in an electric vehicle. She's wearing a winter coat and hat. In the background, you can see Lurie Tower.

April 27, 2023

$130M Electric Vehicle Center launches at U-Michigan

A former auto industry executive has been named director of the state-funded center.

RECENT Stories

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In The News

Scientific American

New technique can map ocean plastics from space

NAME assistant professor Yulin Pan says remote sensing techniques like those provided by CYGNSS can help us better understand microplastic concentrations.

Associated Press

Gulf of Mexico oil worse for climate than thought, study

CLaSP professor Eric Kort explains where methane leaks are happening the most, and how policymakers could use the information to guide regulation.

Newsweek

Russia and U.S. Cut Each Other Off From Key Info On Nuclear Weapons

NERS professor Sara Pozzi says that nuclear nonproliferation requires communication and collaboration.

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CAMPUS & cOMMUNITY

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New initiatives and developments at Michigan Engineering

$1.2M toward a curriculum for equity-centered engineers

Michigan Engineering is creating a framework for teaching how social problems impact engineering—and how engineers can fight inequality.

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A person stands at the front of a long rectangular table, speaking to a group of a dozen students

New U-M robotics undergraduate program to meet surging demand for roboticists

An inclusive-by-design degree program centers on how an embodied intelligence senses, reasons, acts and works with humans to establish a pipeline of people-first roboticists.

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Robotics students standing at a desk holding a small device
Au Sable River flows near the former military base and through Oscoda. Former Wurtsmith Air Force base was located in Oscoda, MI from 1923 till 1993. Massive B-52 “Stratofortress” bombers, capable of carrying nuclear weapons were located there as well as pilots who flew them and their families. Over several decades, Wurtsmith Air Force base in Oscoda regularly conducted training that utilized a fire suppressant called Aqueous Film Forming Foam (AFFF). Designed to extinguish flammable liquid fires, the foam incorporated PFAS to act as surfactant, reducing surface tension and allowing the product to spread. During that period, once training exercises were completed, the foams were sprayed down and allowed to seep into the ground on the base in and around the base. Wells that provided drinking water on-site were found to have high levels of PFAS, and the chemicals made their way into the local aquifer. Today, locals are still trying to determine the ramifications. PFAS represents a group of more than 3,000 chemicals: two of the most widely used being Perfluorooctanoic Acid (PFOA) and Perfluorooctane Sulfonate (PFOS). Most share the common traits of collecting in our bodies and our environment, and being difficult to break down once they’re there. PFAS is believed to be responsible for a number of serious health problems in humans. Thursday, Feb 2, 2023 Photo by Marcin Szczepanski/Lead Multimedia Storyteller, University of Michigan College of Engineering

Unbreakable Bonds

‘Forever’ no more

The properties of PFAS are so great that we have used these chemicals widely—so widely that now they contaminate our water, our air, our land and our bodies. What can we do about it? Engineers have some ideas, although it’s not going to be easy.

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Artist rendering of COVID-19.
Artist rendering of COVID-19. Photo: Steve Alvey/University of Michigan Engineering

COVID-19

From mask decontamination and wastewater testing to airflow modeling and creating a safer campus, Michigan Engineers are helping in the fight against COVID-19.

COVID-19
The International Space Station required 10 years and more than 30 space shuttle missions to assemble. A collaboration among five space agencies representing 15 countries, the ISS has since been home to countless medical and space science research experiments. It also has served as a destination for spacecraft designed by both governmental agencies and private space companies. (Photo courtesy of NASA)

SPACE

Michigan Engineering helped lead space discovery beyond the telescope and into its defining era. See how Michigan Engineers are continuing to protect our most precious planet while traveling across the solar system and beyond

Space
Melina Bautista, CEE Research Fellow, collects water samples from the Ann Arbor Water Treatment Plant in Ann Arbor, MI on January 17, 2019. Bautista collects the samples to determine the effectiveness of water filters that CEE Professor Lutgarde Raskin group works on.

WATER QUALITY

Clean water is a human right. See how Michigan Engineers are working to make an impact on our infrastructure to improve safety.

Water quality