|
|
|
[Annual Reports Menu] [Report Table of Contents]
Annual Report on Research, Scholarship and Creative Activity at the University of Michigan FY2001, Fawwaz T. Ulaby, Vice President for Research
Delivered to the Regents of the University, January 17, 2002Other Report versions:
Full-color PDF version of remarks (9 MB)
PDF version with B&W photos (3 MB)
Previous Section | Next Section
Preface
During Fiscal Year 2001, a total of $592 million was expended in support of research at the University of Michigan, representing an increase of $46 million over FY2000. After discounting for inflation, this one-year increase of 8.5 percent represents net real growth of 4.6 percent over the previous year. New research awards received thus far during the first half of FY2002 total $442 million, an increase of $179, or 68 percent, over the amount received during the corresponding first half of FY2001.
Whereas these expenditure and award figures are very gratifying, they raise a number of critical and timely questions:
- What is the "value" of research and scholarship to the UM community, the State of Michigan, the nation and ultimately to the broader global society?
- Why has the UM been exceptionally successful at winning research grants and contracts? (Over the past two years, UM Research expenditures associated with externally sponsored sources increased at an average annual rate of 8.8 percent, compared with an average annual growth rate of 6 percent for Federal grant expenditures for research by all U.S. universities.)
- How does this rapid growth in research impact the University's capacity to sustain the appropriate foundation for this activity, in terms of space, internal support for upgrading research facilities, adherence to Federal regulations, and other related demands on the institution and our faculty, staff and students?
In this year's annual presentation to the regents, I will attempt to answer the first of the preceding three questions by sharing with you a short video. The program offers an examination of:
- how the research training our graduate students receive provides the foundation that later on may lead to great discoveries and innovative applications of technology;
- what basic research is and the fundamental knowledge it seeks to discover;
- how knowledge is used in the service of society through applied research; and
- what steps we take to facilitate the transfer of knowledge and discoveries into the private sector.
Following the video I will present some additional quantitative indicators of the growth in our level of research activity and then address some of the reasons for this research success. I will also discuss some of the long-term implications of success and the need to start examining our institutional capacity to provide the material and administrative support required for maintaining such a rapid rate of growth in research.
I. The Impact of Research on Society (Video Transcript)
A. Introduction
Fawwaz Ulaby
Vice President for Research
At the University of Michigan, research and scholarship encompass an extensive array of scholarly projects over an incredibly diverse set of topics and disciplines. Our commitment to the discovery of knowledge is really a commitment to help solve the complex problems facing society in the environmental, biological, and social arenas. It is a commitment to serve our State, our nation and the world.
I am Fawwaz Ulaby, Vice President for Research. I invite you to join me now as we sample this broad range of research activities taking place on our campus, and how it influences society Ñ through education, through basic and applied research, and through technology transfer.
B. Educating Leaders and Innovators
First and foremost, our greatest contribution to society is through the students we educate. By involving them in research and the pursuit of scholarship we help them develop their abilities to think, to reason, and to contribute. We are proud of all of the contributions made by our alumni for the betterment of society, and we are particularly gratified when some of them win prestigious awards, or rise to leadership positions in government or the private sector. Let's listen to what a few have to say about their exposure to research at Michigan and how it impacted their careers Ð we start with Jerome and Isabella Karle, who actually met while in graduate school at Michigan.
Jerome and Isabella Karle
Jerome Karle (Ph.D. '44)
Chief Scientist, Laboratory for the Structure of Matter
Naval Research Laboratory
Nobel Prize in Physics, 1985
I would say that the most important aspect of studying at the University was the opportunity that I had at the University of Michigan to take a number of courses that were beyond the usual courses for my studies, which at the time were in physical chemistry in the chemistry department.
Isabella Karle (BS '41, MS '42, Ph.D. '44)
Senior Scientist
Laboratory for the Structure of Matter
Naval Research Laboratory
National Medal of Science, 1995
My Michigan education taught me how to approach research, how to go about it, both from a theoretical and experimental point of view. What I also found extremely useful was the practical experience that I had in high-voltage equipment, in vacuum technology, in glassblowing, wiring Ñ we called them breadboards at the time Ñ because this was all very new at the time.
Marshall Nirenberg (Ph.D. '57)
Chief of Biomedical Genetics
National Heart, Lung and Blood Institute, NIH
Nobel Prize in Medicine, 1968
The University of Michigan was very important to me because it laid the entire foundation for my becoming a biochemist there. And the graduate school was wonderful. I enjoyed it tremendously. I learned biochemistry, microbiology, chemistry, and really learned how to be a scientist Ñ how to do lab work at the University of Michigan.
Lawrence Evans (MSE '57, Ph.D. '62)
Chairmen & CEO
Aspen Technologies, Inc.
My graduate education at Michigan provided an important foundation for all that I have accomplished. It was where I first learned and got excited about computers. I began to understand just how I could apply this tool to understand the chemical processes. Over time I have been able to tap that foundation in my research while a faculty member at MIT and then to help me build Aspen Technologies into an industry leader providing computer applications of many kinds.
Nancy Benovitch Gilby (BSE '85, MSE '87)
Co-Founder and CEO, PocketThis, Inc.
Entrepreneur - Started 6 companies
It is a very high work ethic that I saw at the University of Michigan Ñ in all of the class work that I was involved with. I was asked to meet very high standards for what I needed to achieve to pass and get good grades in my classes. Similarly, when I was selected to be a research assistant, and when I wrote my master's thesis, the norm was a very high work ethic.
The Honorable Geraldine Bledsoe Ford (AB '48)
Judge, Federal Third Circuit (retired)
The experience of understanding myself and finding myself in relation to the world just happened at the University of Michigan. And I can say for that experience and for the fine groundwork I had here, which guided me, I will be very grateful.
C. The Contributions of Basic Research
Fawwaz Ulaby
Basic research is a core activity of the University of Michigan. And our success is greatly aided by our partnership with Federal agencies such as the National Science Foundation. Here are some comments on this partnership from Michigan Congressman Nick Smith, who chairs the House Subcommittee on Research.
Nick Smith
Michigan Congressman
Chair, House Subcommittee on Research
Basic research conducted at the universities like Michigan and funded by agencies like the National Science Foundation is vital to our Nation. Both our economic prosperity as well as our national security depends on a steady stream of new research and innovation. We must always be expanding our understanding of the world around us to prepare for unforeseen needs and challenges. And through the NSF funded engineering research centers and science and technology centers, we will be able to draw together researchers from a variety of fields to create the foundation for future technological advances that benefit all of our society.
Philip Bucksbaum
Otto Laporte Professor of Physics
Here at the University of Michigan we have been studying new ways to turn x-rays on and off very fast. The new technology involves reflecting x-rays off of a solid crystal and moving the crystal very, very fast using lasers to move it. What we can do is make the x-rays turn on and off on a time scale that is about equal to the motion of atoms in a chemical reaction. If we can perfect this kind of technology, it would really open up a new window for basic research into how chemistry happens.
Thad Polk
Assistant Professor of Psychology
Until recently most scientists interested in the human mind pretty much ignored the brain. And the reason is that there simply wasn't a way to measure neural activity while people were performing cognitive tasks, but a new technique called functional MRI, has changed that. Functional MRI produces high resolution images of brain activity every few seconds and it does so safely and non-invasively; so it is now actually possible to watch the brain work while people are learning or listening or performing a variety of cognitive tasks. Here at the University of Michigan we have a new functional MRI facility on North Campus that a number of faculty in psychology and a variety of other departments at the University are using to study how the brain implements memory, attention, emotion, and a wide variety of cognitive functions.
From left: George Shirley, Gregory Wakefield
Gregory Wakefield
Associate Professor, Electrical Engineering & Computer Science
I am working with George Shirley and Freda Herseth in the School of Music and Norman Hogikyan in the Medical School in developing models of the human voice. Taking recordings of the human voice we process these electronically to form images of singing. Mountain ranges in these images tell us about the singing voice. The challenge for the teacher and their singer is to figure out how to build smooth ranges out of these mountains. You can even electronically alter these ranges, so that the singer can hear the present sound of their future voice. Longer term implications of this research is to assist singers in their training as well as to help people with voice disorders.
Fawwaz Ulaby on the Middle English Dictionary
Basic research certainly extends well beyond science and engineering. For instance, in August of 2001, we celebrated the completion of the 13th and final volume of the first-ever definitive record of Middle English, defined by scholars to cover the period from 1100 to 1500 A.D. The sheer magnitude of the Middle English Dictionary project is staggering -- seven decades of scholarly labor, documented by some 3 million citations, culminating in a 13-volume dictionary of nearly 15,000 pages. Equally impressive is the fact that a single academic institution, the University of Michigan, provided the intellectual power and the bulk of the funding to accomplish this truly monumental task.
UM President Lee Bollinger presenting commemorative plaque to Robert Lewis, Editor of the Middle English Dictionary, in May, 2001.
D. Addressing the Needs of Society
Fawwaz Ulaby
The University has a long-standing tradition of conducting research -Ð whether basic or applied -Ð aimed at enhancing human life and the human condition. This is accomplished by faculty, staff and students involved in research projects aimed at developing practical applications -Ð from synthesizing a new drug to treat asthma, to designing new automotive sensors, and to creating new educational tools for teaching science and math to K-12 students.
One project in our Medical School is developing a potent emulsion called BCTP that kills harmful bacteria, yet it is completely non-toxic to humans.
James Baker, Jr.
Ruth Dow Doan Professor of Nanotechnology
At the University of Michigan we have done extensive testing in a number of different areas that suggest that BCTP is effective for treating anthrax spores as well as a number of different organisms that might be used for biological warfare. What we have done is first to look at cultures of these agents and see whether or not the emulsion will kill them. And there is very clear data that shows now that the emulsion does kill spores as well as bacteria in envelope viruses.
Fawwaz Ulaby on the UM Transportation Research Institute
In the University's Transportation Research Institute, many projects provide findings that are important to agencies responsible for transportation safety matters. Other projects help industry understand consumer needs and desires, allowing these companies to better meet the demands of their customers.
Crash test sled
Sandra Danziger
Associate Professor of Social Work
The Michigan program on poverty and social welfare policy is a joint effort at the Schools of Social Work, Public Policy, and Law. In one of our projects we have been interviewing single mothers, who are or have been welfare recipients in Michigan. We find that the women, who face multiple barriers to work, things like health problems, mental health problems, transportation, domestic violence are having more difficulty moving, making the transition from welfare to work and thus, they are at greater risk of losing their benefits. Yet the programs that serve them typically do not assess and treat these problems. We hope that Congress and other policymakers will be able to use our findings when they re-authorize the current law in 2002.
Fawwaz Ulaby on "Saturday Morning Physics"
Some contributions of research to society are quite direct. For the last seven years, scientists from Michigan's Physics Department have offered a Saturday morning lecture series aimed at the general public. The lectures are quite popular and are attended by thousands of people, from school-age children to elderly citizens.
E. Research for Economic Growth
Fawwaz Ulaby
In some cases, the research conducted by our faculty provides the basis for new products and services, in which case the University may patent and / or license the technology to the commercial sector, thereby contributing to the growth of the nation's economy.
Rick Snyder
Chairman, Ardesta, LLC
Technology transfer at the University is very successful these days and it has come a long way. If you go back to when I returned to Michigan back in 1997, I would say that tech transfer was primarily a licensing organization. Over the past few years though, it really has become a partner Ñ a partner in bringing together researchers and businesses in terms of building good business plans and how to make successful businesses out of great research.
David Humes
Professor of Internal Medicine
Founder, Nephros Therapeutics
Nephros Therapeutics was started eight years ago as a spinout biotechnology company from the University of Michigan. This technology is based upon the ability of an academic lab to isolate kidney stem cells from adult tissue to fabricate a device that has both living cells and vial biomaterials for the treatment of acute and chronic kidney failure. We have used these devices in early clinical trials initiated at the University of Michigan Hospital on patients with acute kidney failure in the intensive care unit. The initial results are encouraging. It is our hope and the University's hope that this technology will be able to be further developed to aid the hundreds of thousands of patients with both acute and chronic kidney diseases in the United States and worldwide.
Ron Marx
Professor of Education
Co-Founder, Thinking Bridges, Inc.
I started "Thinking Bridges" in the Spring of 2001 with colleagues in the College of Engineering and the School of Education to commercialize the efforts of our research over the last twelve years. The goal of the company is to make available to American schools research-proven products for science education. We are currently working with an educational publisher to distribute our software and our curriculum to American middle schools and high schools. Over the next year we will be fund raising in the company and developing a new line of products for the classroom use of palm hand-held computers.
Fawwaz Ulaby on Intralase, Inc.
Research conducted at the University's Center for Ultrafast Optical Science and Kellogg Eye Center is the foundation of the company, Intralase. A team of Michigan scientists, including the Medical School's Ron Kurtz, discovered a high-precision laser that can be used to greatly improve laser eye surgery.
Animation of Intralase procedure
Ron Kurtz
Assistant Professor of Ophthalmology
The laser allows the surgeon to create the corneal flap without the use of a mechanical blade. It does this with light energy, which allows the surgeon to have much higher precision and accuracy and can perform the surgery with greater safety.
Fawwaz Ulaby on Intralase, Inc. (Cont.)
The laser system creates the corneal flap by delivering laser energy in a circular pattern directly to the interior layer of the cornea, eliminating trauma to the outer surface of the eye. Intralase has FDA approval for the device and expects to begin distributing the laser system across the United States within the coming year.
F. Concluding Remarks
Fawwaz Ulaby
Thank you for joining me on this quick tour of Michigan research and its impact on society. Providing our faculty, staff and students with a dynamic environment conducive to creativity and innovation is the key to our success as a top-ranked research institution. And whether through the education of innovative leaders, the search for fundamental new insights, the application of research knowledge to real needs, or the development of new technologies into marketable products, Michigan will continue to serve the people of the State of Michigan, the nation and the world with the commitment and dedication to excellence that is at the very core of this great institution.
End of Video Transcript
This video is a good reminder of the rationale for and importance of research at the University. What makes this all possible are the faculty, staff and students who conduct this work, the infrastructure they make use of, and the funding from both external and internal sources. As was stated earlier, our expenditure growth has been impressive. In the following section of this report, I will present some details about the funding that supports our research activity, and then address some of the reasons for Michigan's continued success in obtaining the funds that support our large research enterprise. To end, I will make a few comments about the "costs" of sustaining this success.
Report Table of Contents | Top | Next Section