Innovation

  1. David Halsey, a Michigan farmer, stands amid a field of green and holds up a tillage radish from his cover crops field. He is working with the Great Lakes Cover Crops Project. (Image credit: Jeremy Marble, University of Michigan News.)

    Cover crop project bridges farming and research to bolster soil, protect water

    What began as a doctoral project at U-M is now spreading like red clover across the Great Lakes region to help farmers improve their soil and prevent fertilizer from washing into waterways. The Great Lakes Cover Crops Project officially launched about five years ago. Between then and fall 2025, more than 225 farmers from six states have enrolled nearly 600 fields in the project.

  2. Abstract graphic suggests data streams swirling through space.

    Q&A: A closer look at Los Alamos, U-M research facility

    U-M is partnering with Los Alamos National Laboratory to develop a high-performance computational research facility. In this Q&A, Steven Ceccio, project lead and the Vincent T. and Gloria M. Gorguze Professor of Engineering, helps unpack the complexities of this project.

  3. Researchers dressed in full-body "rabbit suits" while working in a clean room at the University of Michigan's Lurie Nanofabrication Facility.

    What it takes to bring semiconductor manufacturing back to the U.S.

    The Midwest is well positioned to help revive U.S. semiconductor manufacturing. With chip development talent from the University of Michigan and major automakers down the road in Detroit, U-M plays a key role in designing the advanced chips needed for increasingly autonomous vehicles and many other applications.

  4. University of Michigan cientist wearing safety goggles does work in applied physics.

    U-M expanded research collaboration, partnerships in FY25

    Breaking records: U-M reported a record $2.16 billion in research expenditures during FY25, helping launch 31 startups and receiving 673 new invention reports. Nonfederal funding reached a record $213 million, and a record $699 million in internally sponsored expenditures shows a 5.3% increase over 2024.

  5. Modern hospital building lit up at night.

    From big idea to big innovation: New hospital over a decade in the making

    As Michigan Medicine prepares for the public unveiling Nov. 12 of the new D. Dan and Betty Kahn Health Care Pavilion, U-M leaders instrumental in its development look back at how the ambitious project first took shape — and the life-changing potential that awaits its opening.

  6. A study participant tests the Össur Power Knee in the Locomotor Control Systems Laboratory at the University of Michigan. This is a close-up of two legs from the knee down; one leg is a robotic prosthesis. The study results showed that the robotic prosthetic leg offered benefits for both high and low mobility prosthesis users. (Image: Brenda Ahearn, Michigan Engineering.)

    U-M roboticists aim to expand prosthetic leg’s benefits

    A commercial robotic leg could potentially benefit both higher- and lower-mobility amputees, U-M roboticists have shown. The leg provided the largest gains when the U-M team applied its own control strategy, enabling a more symmetrical gait, lower tripping risks, and a reduction in strain on study participants.

  7. HandProxy, developed at the University of Michigan, touches objects inside a demo app. The hand is guided by voice commands. (Photo: Marcin Szczepanski, Michigan Engineering.)

    This digital hand enables hands-free virtual reality

    New software developed by computer scientists at U-M provides a digital, voice-controlled hand that could improve the accessibility of virtual and augmented reality by enabling hands-free use of games and apps. Users of the prototype HandProxy can ask ‘the hand’ to grab and move virtual objects, drag and resize windows, and even give a thumbs up.

  8. Workers wear head-to-toe protective gear in U-M's Lurie Nanofabrication Facility on North Campus.

    The experts’ experts

    Every day, behind every professor, lecturer and student is a team of experts who apply their skills at the intersection of knowing and doing. They are the technicians who build and maintain the labs where discoveries take shape; the mentors who help students master machinery and tools; and the builders and designers who parse data and sustain experiments.

  9. Woman of Asian descent with medal around her neck, engages in animated discussion at University of Michigan event.

    Tumor-destroying histotripsy, explained by its inventor: A Q&A with Zhen Xu

    U-M scientists have developed a cancer treatment that is non-invasive — no incisions and no harmful side effects — by harnessing sound waves. Using ultrasound technology created at U-M, histotripsy could be a welcome alternative to chemotherapy and radiation.

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