Video: Can a car really get 3,300 miles to the gallon? The University of Michigan’s Supermileage Team is on its way to proving it can—with a lawnmower engine. “Fuel efficiency is one of those issues prevalent in society today,” says chief engineer and team co-founder Brett Merkel. “[This technology] can have far-reaching effects and be implemented in just a few years.”

University of Michigan professors will offer free online courses on such diverse topics as finance, electronic voting, computer vision, and fantasy and science fiction using a new web-based platform called Coursera.

How the U.S. shapes education policy, worker training, the tax code, and the regulatory environment will determine whether a recent uptick in domestic manufacturing will continue or spiral into permanent decline, say business professors Wally Hopp and Roman Kapuscinski, co-authors of the Booz study “Manufacturing’s Wakeup Call.”

From the football field and basketball court to the corporate boardroom and executive suite, a new University of Michigan executive education program will teach business leadership through lessons learned in U-M sports.

While the major share of media attention has focused on third-party online social networks such as Facebook, many companies have made the choice to build their own social networks. It’s well worth the investment, say U-M researchers, who find that such networks increase profits and loyalty not only online but in brick-and-mortar stores as well.

The university could inject up to $25 million during the next decade into select venture-funded U-M startups—new companies built around inventions born in faculty members’ labs.

World population is expected to pass seven billion this year. Can the earth handle it? U-M economist David Lam looks at the successes of the last 50 years and the trends for the future—and comes away optimistic.

U-M president Mary Sue Coleman explains how the university is responding to state budget crisis with hundreds of millions of dollars in cuts.

Plus: U-M focuses on quality, affordability, cost control with historic reduction in state funds

The economic damage of auto job losses is much worse than previously measured, says a U-M study. A Q-and-A on the layoff ripple effect.