Press

Press Releases

September 24, 2019 - Blue Sky core faculty member, Assistant Professor Ameet Pinto, receives the prestigious 2019 Paul L. Busch Award from the Water Research Foundation.

August 2, 2018 - Blue Sky: Up to $10M toward research so bold, some of it just might fail.

Quotes

Alec D. Gallimore, the Robert J. Vlasic Dean of Engineering, the Richard F. and Eleanor A. Towner Professor, an Arthur F. Thurnau Professor, and a professor of aerospace engineering

“The intent is to reinforce and expand our research excellence and the capabilities of our faculty, better positioning teams to secure support from external partners.”

“We aim to help foster an ecosystem that celebrates bold thinking, embraces noble failures and engenders intellectual curiosity. I am excited to see what happens when we open new doors for our faculty to explore.”

“These are all ideas that could change the world—no less, we’re talking about antibiotic resistance, aging water infrastructure and shifting population centers, climate change and sustainable energy solutions. These are some of the toughest problems we face as a 21st century society. If we want to solve them, we need to step outside our comfort zone, and that’s what we’re doing with Blue Sky.”

Steven Ceccio, the Vincent T. and Gloria M. Gorguze Professor of Engineering and Associate Dean for Research at Michigan Engineering

“Fundamentally this is a culture change exercise, when it comes to high-risk, high-reward ideas, we want our faculty to make that leap of faith, even if there is a chance they may fall. Our research culture should encourage and support intelligent risk taking.”

"We're doing this to catalyze and incentivize faculty - especially teams of faculty - to pursue high-risk, high-impact ideas."

"Our hope is that these new funding mechanisms will give faculty the freedom to be more daring in pursuing new research ideas that are not yet ready for more traditional research funding agencies."

Mike Drake, senior director of research relations at Michigan Engineering

“The traditional U.S. research funding system works well and it has for a long time, but we’re aiming to broaden our risk profile. U-M is one of the largest academic research enterprises in the country. I would argue that because of the strength of the institution we have a societal obligation to tolerate more risk than the traditional system and invest in the pursuit of ideas that may transform society.”