2025: The year in photography
Big milestones and small triumphs from the past year
By Marcin Szczepanski, Brenda Ahearn and Jeremy Little
A look back at some of the moments, captured by our staff photographers, that defined the Michigan Engineering community in 2025. Some were monumental, like watching a friend walk across the commencement stage or clinching a fifth consecutive NCAA Championship as a member of the Michigan men’s gymnastics team. Others unfolded quietly in a lab, on a research boat or in a classroom.
Together, these moments embody the curiosity, resilience and spirit of what it means to be a Michigan Engineer.
A group of NAME professors and students visits the M/V Mark W. Barker, a bulk cargo ship, in River Rouge, Mich.
Gabrielle Jones, chemical engineering PhD candidate, takes a break from her computational work.
Lea Marlor (center), class instructor and PhD candidate in engineering education research, works with a team to pour molten bronze into molds in a North Campus lab.
A pair of aerial drones and two ground robots undergo testing at the Mcity mobility research facility on North Campus.
The men’s gymnastics team celebrates after winning its fifth consecutive Big Ten Championship at the Crisler Center.
From left to right: Koby Stewart, Nickolas Skiver, Kristen Kwan and Adna Mohamed Saed–all civil and environmental engineering undergraduates–build a 2-story wooden shed for the ASCE Timber Strong Design Build Competition.
Practice runs of a technology demonstration that highlights the remote-use capabilities of the Mcity Test Facility.
Ann Arbor Police Officer Jason Horne takes a photo of James Burton, his patrolling partner, in the Graffiti Alley off East Liberty in Ann Arbor.
A team of contractors installs a new wave-making system in the tow tank of the Aaron Friedman Marine Hydrodynamics Laboratory on Central Campus.
A research team tests a system that could enable patients to undergo physical therapy remotely. From left to right: Emma Nigrelli, mechanical engineering graduate student; Geeta Peethambaran and Wendy Carender, both Michigan Medicine physical therapists; and Nadine El-Ghaffir, mechanical engineering graduate student.
A student ascends the central staircase of the Ford Motor Company Robotics Building on North Campus.
Fall leaves frame the Ann and Robert H. Lurie Carillon on North Campus.
Yun Zhang, assistant research scientist in climate and space sciences and engineering, writes out an equation in a North Campus lab.
Jullenn Lindor, an undergraduate student in aerospace engineering, focuses on detailed assembly work during a BSA CubeSat Demonstration Program session on North Campus.
Students dress to impress during the annual Fall Engineering Career Fair on North Campus.
Aerospace engineering graduates Sophia Papp (left), Sam Hoffman (center) and Natalie Hazapis (right) cheer at the 2025 Michigan Engineering Graduate Student Commencement Ceremony, held at the Crisler Center.
