1. Two men assemble a structure based on principles of origami. They are in an academic lab.

    Bridge in a box: Unlocking origami’s power to produce load-bearing structures

    For the first time, load-bearing structures like bridges and shelters can be made with origami modules — versatile components that can fold compactly and adapt into different shapes. It’s an advance that could enable communities to quickly rebuild facilities and systems damaged or destroyed during natural disasters, or allow for construction in places that were previously considered impractical, including outer space.

  2. A female and male scientist look at a computer screen with orange lines on it. There are equations on a blackboard in the background. The desk is messy.

    Cracking in lithium-ion batteries speeds up electric vehicle charging

    Rather than being solely detrimental, cracks in the positive electrode of lithium-ion batteries reduce battery charge time, a U-M research team reports. This runs counter to the view of many manufacturers, who try to minimize cracking because it decreases battery longevity.

  3. A super-enlarged image of microscopic particles that look like fluffy blue balls with webbing and other connective materials.

    Largest U.S. investment in particle self-assembly seeks to deliver on nanotechnology’s promise

    With applications in transportation, energy, health care and more, the center includes African universities and creates opportunities for overlooked talent in the U.S.

  4. Professor Paul Jensen (second to the right) and graduate students (from left) Deepthi Suresh, Noelle Toong, and Benjamin David examine their robot performing automated experiments. (Photo by Marcin Szczepanski/Michigan Engineering.)

    AI could run a million microbial experiments per year

    An artificial intelligence system enables robots to conduct autonomous scientific experiments — as many as 10,000 per day — potentially driving a drastic leap forward in the pace of discovery in areas from medicine to agriculture to environmental science.

  5. Members of various community colleges tour and make plates in the Lurie Nanofabrication Facility on August 1, 2013. Image credit: Joseph Xu, Michigan Engineering Communications & Marketing

    Advancing chips for the auto sector is the goal of new Michigan-based initiative

    The STAR initiative is a public-private partnership that will focus on developing the talent base and infrastructure necessary to accelerate advanced semiconductor applications for electrification and autonomous mobility.

  6. Díaz in Cuba as a child. He is dressed in white with a light blue tie and has his harm on the shoulder of a younger child dressed in overalls with no shirt underneath. They look to be in school.

    From Cuba to chemical engineering: ‘I’m supposed to be here’

    Ph.D. student José Carlos Díaz first merged his knack for engineering and science by repairing microscopes for use in his sixth-grade class. He was 11 years old. He’s now an ion-diffusion researcher at one of the top chemical engineering programs in the U.S.

  7. Artist rendering of a Cyclone Global Navigation Satellite System (CYGNSS) microsatellite. Image credit: NASA

    Tracking ocean microplastics from space

    Harmful microplastics — tiny flecks that can ride ocean currents for thousands of miles — are extremely difficult to track and clean up. But, it turns out these same microplastics tag along with soapy or oily residue, which satellites are great at spotting.

  8. Kyla McMullen and Jeremy Waisome recording Modern Figures.

    Not hidden but modern

    U-M’s first Black woman to graduate with a PhD in computer science and engineering is driving change within the University of Florida and scaling her influence with a podcast.

  9. Stars in our eyes

    Astronomy consistently garners more public support than the earthbound sciences. Could it be those fancy telescopes?

Columns