Ann Arbor startup May 

Mobility successfully tested 
their fleet of driverless cars 
on the streets of Detroit in 
October, and now plan to 
expand the testing to Florida 
and Texas.

Edwin 
Olson, 
the 
CEO 

of 
May 
Mobility, 
started 

out working with Toyota’s 
autonomous vehicles program, 
and then decided he could 
make more of a difference by 
creating his own company. In 
January 2017, Olson created 
May Mobility.

“I think that too much time 

is going by, and there are a lot 

of things that we can actually 
do, but a lot of companies are 
taking paths that will take 
many more years to turn into 
real world products,” Olson 
said. “So part of our approach 
is really about having real 
world 
impact 
as 
soon 
as 

possible.”

Olson discussed all of the 

advantages 
of 
driverless 

cars, 
from 
safety 
to 
the 

environmental 
benefits 
of 

switching 
from 
gas 
cars 

to a greener solution. As 
an 
example, 
he 
discussed 

the 
potential 
commercial 

benefits of being able to 
have 
autonomous 
vehicles 

transport 
people 
from 

hotels 
to 
restaurants. 
He 

Central 
Student 

Government 
hosted 
the 

kickoff 
and 
information 

session for Innovate, a public 
service 
pitch 
competition, 

in 
the 
Michigan 
League 

Wednesday 
evening 
with 

approximately 100 students 
in attendance. Students were 
able to hear information on 
how to become involved in the 
program, and were addressed 
by several guest speakers.

Innovate is a program in 

which students can sign up 
to pitch a public service or 
entrepreneurship 
project 

with the chance of winning 
$10,000 
to 
help 
fund 

continuation of their created 
project. The deadline to sign 
up is Jan. 26, and students can 
either sign up with a group or 
as an individual to be paired 
with 
other 
individuals 
of 

similar interests. Each group 
will then receive mentors, 
networks, 
feedback 
and 

advice on public speaking and 
other aspects important to 
the field of entrepreneurship.

Previous 
winners 
range 

from 
online 
communities 

of information available to 
teachers and students around 
to the world to agriculture-
based programs for older 
adults. 

The first round of judging 

will take place on Feb. 12, and 
the final round of pitches will 

be March 7.

CSG Chief Programming 

Officer Isabelle Blanchard, 
an LSA sophomore, served 
as the Innovate Coordinator, 
and explained students do 
not need a pre-formulated 
plan or solid project in order 
to sign up, but simply need a 
passion and an interest in a 
public service idea. Blanchard 
explained she looks forward 

to students working to build 
upon ideas they already have 
enthusiasm for, and hopes 
that Innovate will engage 
a broader population of the 
student body.

“We already have twenty 

sign-ups and the projects are 
all really diverse,” Blanchard 
said. “I’m also excited just to 
get the student body really 
involved 
… 
We’re 
hoping 

to follow up with teams 
throughout the competition 
and really publicize their 
projects to the student body, 
and in the end the student 
body will also be voting.”

CSG 
President 
Anushka 

Sarkar, an LSA senior, was 
the introductory speaker at 
the kickoff event where she 
highlighted the importance 

Approximately 
40 
students 

gathered in the Alumni Center 
Wednesday night to listen as a 
diverse cast of panelists — many 
of them recent University of 
Michigan graduates — shared 
their 
personal 
experiences 

and 
answered 
questions 

regarding power dynamics and 
intersectionality of identities in 
the workplace.

The event, titled “Navigating 

the Workplace: Underrepresented 
and Invisible Identities,” focused 
on 
helping 
undergraduate 

students navigate the oftentimes 
complicated process of applying 
for jobs and internships — yet 
emphasized how the process 
can be even more difficult for 
students 
who 
hold 
various 

underrepresented 
identities 

based on qualifiers such as race, 
gender and class.

Panelists included Public Policy 

graduate student Ammara Ansari, 
who worked as a campaign field 
organizer for Hillary Clinton’s 
presidential campaign in 2015; 
Danny Park, who works as a 
success coach in the University’s 

michigandaily.com
Ann Arbor, Michigan
Thursday, January 18, 2018

ONE HUNDRED AND TWENTY-SEVEN YEARS OF EDITORIAL FREEDOM

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Call 734-418-4115 or e-mail 
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INDEX
Vol. CXXVII, No. 57
©2018 The Michigan Daily

N E WS . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2

O PI N I O N . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4

ARTS...........................1B

S U D O K U . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2

CL A S S I F I E DS . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6

S P O R T S . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5

A2 company 
puts AV tech 
on streets in 
more states

Annual ISR survey aims to track 
changes in sustainability culture

See MOBILITY, Page 2A

5

2,500 students
1,000 faculty members
1,000 staff members

Who are the participants?

Who will be given the results?

130 institutions worldwide

Annual Climate Survey
Initiated in 2010
th

ALEXA DI LUCA/Daily

RESEARCH

May Mobility has roots at University, 
will expand driverless fleet from Detroit

MOLLY NORRIS
Daily Staff Reporter

After success on Planet Blue metrics last year, experts expect to see more improvement

The Sustainability Cultural 

Indicators Program is launching 
its fifth annual survey this 
week, 
collecting 
data 
from 

University 
of 
Michigan 

students, staff and faculty. The 

longitudinal study is conducted 
by the University’s Graham 
Sustainability Institute and the 
Institute for Social Research, 
and 
focuses 
on 
awareness, 

attitudes and behaviors relating 
to sustainability in participants.

The SCIP project has tracked 

sustainability culture at the 
University since 2012, though it 

took a two-year break to avoid 
overlapping with an ongoing 
Diversity, Equity and Inclusion 
survey.

John Callewaert, Integrated 

Assessment 
Center 
director 

of the Graham Institute and 
one of the survey’s principal 
investigators, explains the SCIP 
project is revolutionary because 

it is the first longitudinal study 
to track sustainability culture, 
and its innovativeness is being 
replicated at other institutes.

“It’s been used as a model 

at many other institutions,” 
Callewaert said. “I think we 
are up to over 130 different 
institutions around the world 

KATE JENKINS
Daily Staff Reporter

See ALUMNI, Page 3A

University 
alumni talk 
diversity in 
internships 

CAMPUS LIFE

Underrepresented voices 
headline panel on working 
while navigating identity

KAELA THEUT
Daily News Editor

CHUN SO/Daily

Entrepreneur Suneel Gupta presents tips and strategies regarding how to become a successful entrepreneur at the 
Michigan League Wednesday.

Innovate competition launches with 
kickoff event featuring entrepreneur

Students can win $10K for project pitch on public service or entrepreneurship 

JORDYN BAKER

Daily Staff Writer

b-side

This week’s b-side takes 

a look at comics as a 

phenomenon both inside and 

outside the classrom. 

» Page 1B

michigandaily.com

For more stories and coverage, visit

See INNOVATE, Page 3A

See SURVEY, Page 3A

The city of Ann Arbor, 

Washtenaw 
County, 
Scio 

Township 
and 
the 
Huron 

River Watershed Council will 
be allowed to continue their 
caseagainst Gelman Sciences, 
Inc., the Michigan Supreme 
Court ruled in an order on Jan. 
12. 

After 
Washtenaw 
County 

Circuit 
Court 
Judge 
Tim 

Connors ruled the jurisdictions 
and the Watershed Council 
could 
join 
the 
Michigan 

Department of Environmental 
Quality 
as 
co-plaintiffs 

in 
December, 
Gelman 

Sciences fought the decision 
unsuccessfully in the Michigan 
Court of Appeals, ultimately 
landing the suit in the state 
Supreme Court.

“The application for leave to 

appeal the July 14, 2017 order 
of the Court of Appeals is 
considered, and it is DENIED, 
because we are not persuaded 
that the questions presented 
should be reviewed by this 
Court,” the Supreme Court 
order read.

See COURT, Page 3A

Plume case
to move on 
after state 
judge rules

ANN ARBOR

Gelman Sciences fought 
decision unsuccesfully in 
state Supreme Court

ANDREW HIYAMA

Daily News Editor

