University of Michigan
Message from the University of Michigan Director
Welcome to InnoWorks at Michigan! I am pleased to announce that we have completed two successful summer camps since our inception in 2007. In 2009, InnoWorks at Michigan proudly accepted the Michigan Leadership Awards Program of the Year and Outstanding Student Organization (Honorable Mention) for our inaugural annual camp. Our first program, Making Sense of Senses, illustrated to Ypsilanti East and West Middle School students the various senses of the human body. Last year, Lincoln Middle School students participated in Explorations, which explored environments from the deep ocean to outer space. For our summer 2010 camp, we will be working with Slauson Middle School and running Making Sense of Senses again with more engaging and more intricate experiments than ever before.
Experiments from our curriculum include a Rube Goldberg machine, a light- and touch-sensing LEGO Robot, and water-pressure launched bottle-rockets. InnoWorks also has the honor of inviting two doctor of pharmacy (PharmD) candidate student-athlete guest speakers: Tiffany Ofili (5-time NCAA Hurdle Track and Field champion who recently signed with Adidas) and BJ Opong-Owusu (former University of Michigan football safety). These speakers are positive role models in the science field that the middle-school students can easily relate to.
Our mission—to encourage underprivileged students to enter science, technology, engineering, math, and medicine (STEM2) fields— continues to be our top priority and motivates our executive board and mentors alike to provide to these students a push in the right direction that may ultimately lead them to enter the scientific world. I have faith that our camp this year and in the future will have a lasting impact on the career choices of our campers, on combating the dire shortage of professionals in the STEM2 fields, and on the community initiatives that our undergraduate/graduate student volunteers will engage in and lead.
Our chapter's success last year would not have been possible without the support and guidance of many community and youth-oriented individuals and groups at the University of Michigan. InnoWorks at Michigan would like to thank the following:
- College of Literature, Science, and the Arts (LSA)
- Department of Microbiology
- Department of Chemistry
- Women in Science and Engineering (WISE)
- Michigan Student Assembly (MSA)
- Ginsberg Center
- Takeda Pharmaceuticals North America, Inc.
- Jet’s Pizza
- Glass House Cafe
- Tubby’s
- Middle Kingdom
We would also like to thank the following individuals for playing key roles in the development and execution of our summer program:
- Michael Furnas, Lincoln Middle School Principal
- Chris Roberts, Lincoln Middle School Asst. Principal
- Rick Schaffner, Lincoln Middle School Liaison
- Edward Burton, Dept. of Chemistry
- Jim Vollmers, Dept. of Chemistry
- John Minier, Undergraduate Science Building
- Dean Robert Megginson, LSA Mathematics
- Jamie Saville, Women in Science and Engineering
- Ruth Lum, Women in Science and Engineering
- Brenda Franklin, Microbiology
- Bethany Moore, Virology
- Amy Prevo, Center for Educational Outreach
- Marie Ting, Center for Educational Outreach
- Cherie Dotson, Research Experience for Undergraduates (REU)
- Tiffany Ofili, Five-time Woman's NCAA Hurdle National Champion
- BJ Opong-Owusu, Former University of Michigan Football Safety
We look forward to continuing our strong relationship with our university and community leaders and are grateful for their generous guidance. If you would like to contribute to our program in any way, please feel free to contact us at michigan@innoworks.org.
Sincerely,
Eric Zhao
Executive Director 2009-2010
2010 Schedule
- University of Michigan InnoWorks
August 16 - August 20, 2010
2009 Schedule
- University of Michigan InnoWorks
August 17 – August 21, 2009
2008 Schedule
- University of Michigan InnoWorks
August 18 – August 22, 2008
