hand experience.

“When listening to a TED talk, 

you’re trying to live vicariously 
through the speaker, and you think 
about what their experience was 
like, but with an adventure you 
really get to live that life yourself,” 
French said.

The 
event 
began 
with 
an 

explanation of dabke’s origin and 
importance in Arab culture, and then 
participants had an opportunity to 
learn a choreographed dance taught 
by Arabesque choreographers — 
including LSA junior Maya Youness. 
The evening ended with a lively 
dabke free-style in which everyone 
had a chance to let loose, and have 
fun.

Youness reflected on the history 

of dabke, and explained how it began 
long ago with everyday workers and 
today has spread to the larger Arab 

community.

“Dabke started out a really long 

time ago with men that would be 
building roofs,” Youness said. “So 
they would be stopping to try to 
make it flat and smooth and it kind 
of took on a rhythm and became 
a dance and now everyone does it 
at weddings and celebrations and 
things like that.”

Youness has been dancing with 

Arabesque since her freshman year. 
She explained she joined because 
dabke combined two of her passions, 
and she stayed with the organization 
because it brought her friendship.

“I joined because I really like 

dancing and I really like Arabic 
music, so it was a good mix of the 
two, and now I’m in it because all of 
my best friends are in it,” Youness 
said.

LSA sophomore Hala Abbas 

came to the event with the hope of 
getting more involved with the Arab 
community on campus. She also 
talked about how TEDx Adventures 

is important on campus because of 
its ability to bring different groups 
of people together.

“They’re important to have on 

campus because they bring small 
communities on campus like ours, 
and people on the outside are able to 
see the things that we have to offer,” 
Abbas said. “I hope to see bigger 
turnouts in the future so that more 
people can we what we have as a 
culture.”

French shared these sentiments 

and explained it’s hard for some 
students to try something new, and 
hoped TEDx Adventures could help 
them do just that.

“There 
aren’t 
a 
lot 
of 

opportunities to really live an 
experience other than your own at 
U of M — not to speak for every other 
group that exists,” French said. “But 
I do think that’s a really cool thing 
that adventures offer is the chance 
to go somewhere that you would 
never be able to go without the help 
of an organization on campus.” 

camera that takes advantage of a 
technique called adaptive optics, 
whereby we try to measure the 
quality of the images that we 
get — say many times per second 
— and then we try to quantify 
the distortions in those images 
based on what we think an image 
without the Earth’s atmosphere 
in the way would look like,” 
Meyer said.

Then, the astronomers try 

to bend a deformable mirror 
many times per second, Meyer 
explained. 
Astronomers 
can 

adjust the shape of the mirror to 
take out distortions due to the 
Earth’s atmosphere.

“So, we try to build instruments 

on the ground that can take 
advantage of adaptive optics and 
give high-resolution images at 
the theoretical limit of the what 
the optics can give,” he said. 
“(SPHERE) is a fancy camera that 
takes advantage of that adaptive 
optics technique, and it takes the 
highest resolution images that 
one can obtain at the VLT from a 
single element telescope.”

Because of its involvement 

in the creation of SPHERE, the 
ETH’s institute was granted 
what’s called Guaranteed Time 
Observations — opportunities 
to use the device. It was here 
Meyer and other astronomers 
discovered the new exoplanet.

“You’re given, in our case, 

250 nights on the telescope … 
to exploit the instrument over a 
period of about five years, and we 
decided to reserve 200 of those 
nights for an exoplanet imaging 
survey called SHINE (Sphere 
Infrared survey for Exoplanets), 
and we’ve been working on that 
for about three years, and this is 
our first confirmed discovery of 
a planetary mass object around a 
normal star,” Meyer said.

Meyer said if he examines 

the ratio of the object — the 
discovered mass to the star mass 
— and compares it to the distance 
of the object to the star, the object 
is one of only a dozen or so that 
appear to be planetary mass that 
are close — but not too close — to 
their stars.

Currently there are thousands 

of known exoplanets as the 
field continues to grow. Meyer 
explained, 
however, 
the 

technique used to find this 
exoplanet is unique, and more 
direct, compared to others.

The radial velocity technique, 

or doppler spectroscopy, Meyer 
explained, uses a technique to 

measure the motion of the star in 
response to its associated planet. 
Astronomers would measure the 
velocity of the star and then infer 
a planet that would induce that 
kind of motion — an “indirect” 
way 
of 
inferring 
a 
planet, 

according to Meyer.

The transit technique is used 

when a planet passes between 
the astronomers on Earth and 
a distant star; the light from the 
star diminishes by a very small 
amount — producing an eclipse, 
or transit.

Meyer said the radial velocity 

technique has discovered many 
hundreds of planets, while the 
imaging technique that he and 
dozens of other astronomers have 
worked on found 12. However, he 
explained, many astronomers are 
wanting to use this technique to 
take pictures of planets.

“So we’re the up-and-coming 

technique, but it gets direct 
information,” Meyer said. “We 
measure the light from the planet 
directly and that allows us to 
estimate the luminosity of the 
planet and the temperature of 
the planet and to some extent we 
can estimate the composition of 
the atmospheres in the planet by 
taking spectra and analyzing the 
features of different molecules of 
the atmospheres of the planets; 
they gave rise to different dips 
and wiggles in the spectrum, and 
so we can try to constrain the 
compositions of the planets.”

The importance of Meyer’s 

discovery is multifold in the 
astronomy field. Though there 
are only eight planets in our solar 
system, Meyer explained, there 
are thousands of exoplanets.

“The goal, ultimately, is for us 

to compare the statistics of our 
discoveries of planetary systems 
around other stars with the 
architecture of our own known 
system,” Meyer said.

The newly discovered planet, 

Meyer said, is many times the 
mass of Jupiter and is farther 
from its star than Jupiter is 
from our sun. It is different from 
Jupiter but in the same class of 
planets of gas giant planets.

Meyer worked with several 

students and postdoctoral fellows 
in Europe, mentoring them in 
this project. However, Meyer said 
the work he did is related to the 
future work he is continuing at 
the University. He said his team 
has access to an adaptive optics 
system on a telescope of which 
the University is a special partner 
called the Magellan Observatory 
— also located in Chile.

“So we’re excited that this 

discovery happened, but we’re 

hoping to pursue very similar 
work with the adaptive optics 
cameras 
on 
the 
Magellan 

Observatory, 
which 
the 

(University) has preferred access 
to,” Meyer said.

Right now, Meyer said, he is 

working with a graduate student 
and 
postdoctoral 
fellows 
to 

interpret data from the Magellan 
Observatory. They are looking 
for gas giant planets like Jupiter 
around one of the nearest stars to 
the sun, Proxima Centauri.

“In the future, we hope to do 

even larger surveys with that 
facility and ultimately we would 
like to be involved in building the 
next generation of instruments 
for even larger telescopes, (like 
one) called the Giant Magellan 
Telescope — that’s a future 
facility plan for more than 10 
years from now that we would 
like to be involved with,” Meyer 
said.

Alexandra Greenbaum is a 

postdoctoral 
researcher 
who 

began working with Meyer in 
October 2016. Though she did 
not work with SPHERE, she 
works 
with 
the 
instrument 

Gemini Planet Imager, which, 
like SPHERE, is in the southern 
hemisphere in Chile; it is also used 
to provide images of extrasolar 
planets. She said the missions of 
teams using both instruments are 
similar, with their goals of doing 
a census of young stars, looking 
for big planets on wide orbits.

She said one of her roles at the 

University involves supporting 
preparations for James Webb 
Space Telescope observations; 
the James Webb Space Telescope 
is part of a NASA program, set to 
launch in spring 2019.

In 
an 
email 
interview, 

Greenbaum 
explained 
new 

astronomical 
discoveries 

contribute 
to 
a 
better 

understanding 
of 
the 
solar 

system.

“From a broad perspective, 

each discovery is a new piece 
of the puzzle in trying to 
understand how solar systems 
form and evolve,” Greenbaum 
wrote. “The results of big surveys 
tell us about the frequency and 
broad properties of planets in 
the range of the instrument’s 
sensitivity.”

She added that following single 

objects, with more than one 
instrument, helps astronomers 
understand smaller details.

Greenbaum 
explained 

different 
methods 
of 
planet 

detection 
provide 
different 

information and properties of 
planets. She said it is interesting 
to 
see 
how 
technological 

advances shape the field for the 
different methods and noted the 
imaging technique focuses on 
young planets, which are still hot 
and bright enough to be detected.

Greenbaum 
also 
echoed 

Meyer’s thoughts on the field 
of exoplanets, saying it was an 
incredible time to be an early-
career researcher in the field.

“I have always been very 

excited 
by 
technological 

advancement,” 
Greenbaum 

wrote. “Technology has made 
leaps and bounds since the first 
exoplanet 
discovery. 
While 

JWST, the largest infrared space 
telescope to date, is nearing 
launch, the community is already 
busy planning the next big space 
telescopes 
and 
working 
on 

concepts for future, even larger 
space 
observatories. 
Bigger, 

more sensitive telescopes bring 
us closer to imaging planets, like 
ones in our solar system, around 
the nearest stars. I’ve come into 
the field after over a decade of 
hard work to establish the latest 
suite of imaging instruments like 
SPHERE and GPI, and I get to be 
a part of the next generation.”

Felicity B. Hills, a Ph.D. 

student studying physics at the 
University, has a background in 
cosmology; she switched from 
working in a cosmology lab to 
working with Meyer because she 
wanted more of a background 
in computer science and data 
science.

Though 
she 
hasn’t 
been 

studying exoplanets for long, 
she emphasized the growing 
potential of the field. She said 
she vaguely remembers the first 
exoplanet was discovered when 
she was about 5 years old.

Hills said it is extremely 

valuable knowing how solar 
systems and planets formed to 
better understand how Earth 
formed. She said it is interesting 

to continue making discoveries in 
the field of exoplanets.

“For me it’s fascinating to really 

break down in understanding, 
what do we know and how do we 
know it,” Hills said. “They always 
say with cosmology or with astro, 
‘We can’t do experiments.’ But 
there’s only one universe and it 
only had one start time. When 
it comes to exoplanets we can 
keep finding planets and we can 
keep finding systems that are 
unlike anything we would have 
imagined. I think that’s really 
cool.”

Hills said it is exciting to 

discover and learn the details of 
planets through direct imaging; 
in the future, Hills would like to 
work on pushing such technology 
forward to discover smaller, 
dimmer planets around brighter 
stars.

Greenbaum and Hills have 

worked 
with 
the 
Magellan 

Observatory 
directly 
and 

continue to work with the data.

Hills said she and Greenbaum 

observed 
Proxima 
Centauri, 

around which an Earth-like 
planet was recently discovered 

orbiting. She explained that since 
then, 
follow-up 
observations 

were conducted to rule out the 
existence of a gas giant planet in 
the Proxima system. However, 
she said, it is possible this 
research missed the existence of 
a planet.

“We 
did 
a 
follow-up 

observation of Proxima to rule 
out the existence of a gas giant 
planet, and we’re still processing 
the data right now,” Hills said.

Meyer 
said 
students 
in 

astronomy and those who take 
interest in the subject can take 
a lot away from his and similar 
discoveries. He said astronomy is 
a very valuable tool for learning 
about the natural world and 
noted many people are interested 
in learning about life in the 
universe.

“Philosophically, 
that’s 

generally a topic people gravitate 
towards,” Meyer said. “A lot of 
students gain some insight into 
quantitative reasoning and look 
at the natural world differently 
and more quantitatively once 
they’ve 
studied 
science 
like 

astronomy in that context.”

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The Michigan Daily — michigandaily.com
News
Monday, October 2, 2017 — 3A

ROBERT BUECHLER/Daily

A band plays at the Oktoberfest block party celebration hosted by the Ann Arbor Brewing 
Company in downtown Ann Arbor Saturday.

OK TOBE RFEST

$450 million in awards for 
biomedical research each year.

According 
to 
FFMI’s 

managing 
director, 
Connie 

Chang, though FFMI is based 
in the Medical School, its goal 
in encouraging research in 
the medical field extends to 
uniting academics and overall 
entrepreneurship.

“We 
like 
to 
think 
of 

innovation as something that for 
a long time was something that 
was to the side of what regular 
academia would think about,” 
Chang said. “But our mission is 
really to try to make innovation 
and entrepreneurship more of 
a natural academic behavior, 
even an expected behavior.”

FFMI 
executive 
director 

Kevin Ward, a professor of 

emergency medicine, echoed 
Chang’s 
statements 
and 

explained that while navigating 
the world of entrepreneurship 
may 
seem 
risky, 
FFMI 
is 

available to provide resources 
and advice to students about 
how to commercialize their 
ideas.

“Innovation 
and 

entrepreneurship 
are 
very 

risky, opposed to the traditional 
academic mission of getting 
your grants and writing your 
papers,” Ward said. “But at 
any point in their idea, their 
innovation roadmap, it can be 
something as early as a sketch 
on the back of a napkin or 
something really advanced, our 
program will have something 
to offer them to bring value and 
get them moving faster.”

Event host Daniel Orringer, 

an 
assistant 
professor 
of 

neurological surgery, explained 

how the process for creating a 
successful medical device starts 
with identifying an unmet need. 
Following panelists discussed 
how to take that idea from 
realizing a need for a device to 
producing that innovation and 
commercializing it.

Panelists 
highlighted 
the 

theme 
that 
medical 
device 

innovation 
involves 
more 

people than just those in the 
medical field. Creation of a 
device itself involves engineers 
and medical professionals. 

“A medical device if you think 

about it is one part engineering, 
it’s one part clinical,” Chang 
said. “You have to actually have 
a technology that’s going to 
actually create value or solve a 
problem that people care about, 
and those people are patients, 
and providers, and doctors, and 
nurses and so on.”

One 
such 
partnership 

representing a union between 
engineering and medicine is 
the teamwork of postdoctoral 

researcher Yang Liu and Jeff 
Plott, a doctoral candidate in 
mechanical engineering.

Liu and Plott created a device 

which quickly reaches brain 
clots and removes them without 
causing further complications. 
They submitted their medical 
device for the poster showcase 
and received first place.

Plott said the duo worked 

closely 
with 
doctors 
from 

Michigan Medicine to create 
this device. He elaborated that 
he enjoys using his engineering 
background 
to 
make 

innovations in the medical 
field.

“I like being able to put what 

we 
learned 
in 
engineering 

school to use to design products 
that directly help people,” Plott 
said.

His interest in combining 

engineering 
with 
medicine 

captures 
Chang’s 
point: 

medical 
device 
innovation 

involves more than just medical 
professionals.

Members of FFMI wanted 

to 
emphasize 
that 
beyond 

engineering 
and 
medicine, 

medical device innovation can 
capture many other interests. 
Organizers of the event hoped 
to unite multiple disciplines 
beyond the partnered schools 
to the University. 

FFMI emphasized how the 

event was intended for all 
members 
of 
the 
University 

community 
and 
how 
their 

work involves everyone from 
undergraduates 
who 
have 

bright ideas to senior faculty 
members who have started 
companies.

“The 
problems 
are 
so 

complex that no one person can 
solve them, so some of the most 
exciting technologies are these 
collaborations across schools 
and disciplines,” Ward said. 
“The language of innovation 
of entrepreneurship is sort of 
uniting.”

MEDICINE
From Page 1A

DANCE
From Page 1A

PROFESSOR
From Page 1A

Our mission 
is really to 
try to make 

innovation and 
entrepreneurship 
more of a natural 
academic behavior