Wednesday, June 29, 2011
The Michigan Daily - michigandaily.com
RTG HOUSE GETS RIG SCREENS
3
'U' to participate
in joint effort with
President Obama
New program
to emphasize
manufacturing
technology in U.S.
By BRIENNE PRUSAK
ManagingNews Editor
University President Mary
Sue Coleman joined President
Barack Obama on Thursday morn-
ing at Carnegie Mellon University
to announce the creation of the
Advanced Manufacturing Partner-
ship - a collaboration between the
government and six universities to
increase the number of advanced
manufacturing jobs in the country
and develop techniques for creating
products more efficiently and inno-
vatively.
At the event, Obama said the
government has invested in the
plan - which was developed by the
Council of Advisors on Science and
Technology - in order to become
more globally competitive by turn-
ing to new manufacturing process-
es and technologies for innovative
uses like clean energy and solar
power.
This decision comes after one-
third of the United States' manu-
facturing jobs have disappeared
within the past 13 years, Obama
said.
"That's why we've invested in
clean energy manufacturing and
new jobs building wind turbines
and solar panels and advanced bat-
teries," he said at the event. "We
have not run out of stuff to make.
We've just got to reinvigorate our
manufacturing sector so that it
leads the world the way it always
has - from paper and steel and cars
to new products that we haven't
even dreamed up yet.
"That's how we're going to
strengthen existing industries;
that's how we're going to spark new
ones," he added. "That's how we're
going to create jobs, grow the mid-
dle class, and secure our economic
leadership."
Coleman expressed a similar
opinion in a June 24 University
press release, saying that the cre-
ation of new industries such as
advanced manufacturing is impor-
tant for the future of the country,
especially the state of Michigan as
it faces a difficult economic period.
"This initiative matters more
to Michigan than any other state,"
she said in the release. "We are at
ground zero for losses in manufac-
turing jobs. But we also are bet-
ter positioned to be the epicenter
of manufacturing innovation. We
know how to retool."
Coleman added that funding
projects that focus on the develop-
ment of smaller business and "the
prototypes they develop" is crucial
to spurring economic growth, since
advancements on the small scale
often translate into large scale pro-
gression.
"(Small businesses') technolo-
gies and tools are the foundation
of large manufacturing compa-
nies," Coleman said. "We are losing
valuable technologies because of
a funding chasm between innova-
tive ideas and small manufacturing
companies being financially posi-
tioned to build to scale. Gap fund-
ing can address this gulf."
According to George Cari-
gnan, associate engineering dean
of research and graduate educa-
tion, the College of Engineering
is no stranger to advanced manu-
facturing research. For the past 14
years, the GM/U-M Collaborative
Research Lab in Advanced Vehicle
Manufacturing has allowed a group
comprised of primarily graduate
students to work with GM research-
ers and manufacture lithium-ion
batteries used in electric cars like
the Chevrolet Volt, he said.
"Manufacturing is a big deal
at the University of Michigan and
has been for many years - several
decades," he said.
Carignan said that the
Advanced Manufacturing Partner-
ship will allow the University to
further benefit from participating
in manufacturing research which
will ultimately have a positive
effect on the state's economy.
He added he is glad to see:the
University recognized for the
efforts that the College of Engi-
neering has put into developing
See OBAMA, Page 6
sARAH SQUIRE/Daily
Workers install beams in Michigan Stadium on June 27 to support new 4,000 square-foot LED video screens.
AATA
From Page 1
private organizations that are
willing to collaborate and pro-
vide funding for the expanded
services.
"We're hoping to secure
funding by September so that we
can start finalizing and reaching
out to current and potential rid-
ers," she explained.
If funding is secured by Sep-
tember, AATA will then proceed
with asking the community what
they would like to see improved,
Stasiak said. The plan is to have
the board adopt community
feedback in November and have
the new transit plan implement-
ed by January 2012.
Stasiak said the main reason
AATA is considering a change in
transit plan is because of recur-
ring requests from the communi-
ty for improved transportation,
specifically the request for addi-
tional service to Ypsilanti and
late-night service around Ann
Arbor.
"Currently, we have about
2,200 trips taken by riders daily
(between Ann Arbor and Ypsi-
lanti)," she said. "It is the busiest
corridor in our service."
Stasiak emphasized that the
importance of the new transit
change is the increased involve-
ment of community members in
determining how the funds will
be allocated, and in helping to
make their commutes easier by
allowing them to provide input
about scheduling and conve-
nience.
"Without their role, our
business would be a vacuum,"
she said.
Students on campus
expressed their support of
AATA's proposed changes, not-
ing the impact it may have on
their everyday routines.
Business school sophomore
Danny Agar said that he wel-
comes the upcoming change, as
he usually tries to avoid buses
because it is difficult to follow
their routes.
"I would like to see maybe
if they could streamline about
five to ten routes and have cer-
tain buses that only go that route
instead of playing the game
of jumping around and using
maps," Agar said.
He added that "simplicity is
key," saying that he felt the bus
system would benefit from mak-
ing their routes and destinations
clearer to passengers.
LSA senior Brian Clark said
he takes the AATA bus several
times a week and wishes the
buses ran later, as they usually
complete the final route around
10 p.m., adding he thinks they
should run until 2 a.m. so that
people departing from bars will
have a safe ride home.
Clark also said that travel
times are another prevalent
issue afflicting the bus system,
and at times may make buses a
less desirable method of trans-
portation.
"I have friends in Ypsilanti,
and when I visit them by car
it takes ten minutes, but with
a bus, it takes almost about an
hour," he said. "They should
try to change routes a little bit
to decrease time between Ann
Arbor and Ypsilanti."
Clark added that as the stu-
dent population grows and an
increasing number of people
begin working in Ann Arbor as
the state overcomes economic
difficulties, it's crucial that the
bus system improve so citizens
can have alternatives to automo-
tive transit.
Courtney Duffy, an LSA
senior, said she was also recep-
tive of the potential changes,
particularly because they could
come of assistance in running
errands.
"Personally, more weekend
buses would be appreciated so
I could go to Kroger or Meijer,"
she said.
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