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INDEX
Vol. CXXX, No. 84
©2022 The Michigan Daily

N E W S . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2

A R T S . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3

STATEMENT. . . . . . . . . . . . 4

M I C . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5 

O PIN IO N . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .6

S P O R T S . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7
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UMich undergraduate robotics 
program to open this fall
First dedicated robotics program among the top 10 engineering schools in the 
United States opens its doors

The 
University 
of 
Michigan 
undergraduate robotics program 
will open its doors this fall, 
becoming 
the 
first 
dedicated 
robotics department among the 
top 10 engineering schools in the 
United States. First announced by 
the College of Engineering in Fall 
2021, the program is now open for 
enrollment for the upcoming fall 
semester after receiving approval 
from the Michigan Association 
of State Universities on June 2. 
The Michigan Daily sat down 
with students, professors and the 
incoming 
department 
chair 
to 
discuss the unique opportunities the 
program has to offer.
How did we get here? A brief 
history of Michigan Robotics
A University press release cited 
a figure from the U.S. Bureau of 
Labor Statistics stating that demand 
for robotics-educated professionals 

has continued to increase over 
the past few years, rising by 13% 
in 2018. Much like the industry at 
large, robotics at the University has 
emerged and grown rapidly within a 
relatively short period of time.
Engineering 
professor 
Dawn 
Tilbury, who will become the 
robotics department’s first chair 
on July 1, spoke with The Daily 
about the first steps taken toward 
establishing a robotics program at 
the University just over a decade ago 
in 2011.
“I was asked to chair a committee 
to think about the future of robotics 
at the University of Michigan,” 
Tilbury 
said. 
“That 
committee 
met and just proposed to the 
(University) in 2012 that we should 
have a graduate program in robotics, 
independent of any department; an 
institute that would bring the faculty 
together 
around 
research, 
and 
some shared space for the graduate 
students who are working in all 
these different departments around 
robotics to work together.”

5 bills to watch in the 
Michigan legislature: 
June 2022

The Michigan Daily breaks down five bills in the Michigan 

legislature for students to be aware of

The following article explains 
five bills that have been introduced, 
passed or signed into law by the 
Michigan 
legislature 
or 
Gov. 
Gretchen Whitmer throughout the 
past month.
Each month, The Michigan Daily 
publishes a compilation of bills in the 
Michigan legislature for students 
at the University of Michigan to be 
aware of.
1. Expanding gun restrictions 
to combat “ghost guns”
Status: 
Introduced 
in 
the 
House
Introduced on June 15 by state 
Rep. Jeffrey Pepper, D-Dearborn, 
H.B. 6228 aims to amend Act 328 
of the Michigan Penal Code (1931), 
which limits the sale, manufacture, 
and possession of guns and other 
weapons. The amendment expands 
the definition of firearms to include 
firearms that are created by 3D 

IRENA LI 
Summer News Editor

NIRALI PATEL 
Summer News Editor

printing. In a June 16 press release, 
Pepper said banning firearms made 
by 3D printing helps regulate “ghost 
guns,” privately made firearms 
that are untraceable by security 
technology such as metal detectors. 
Ghost guns are not marked with 
serial numbers and no background 
check is required for someone to 
purchase their parts. On April 11, 
President Biden issued regulations 
on ghost guns classifying many 
ghost gun kits as “firearms” under 
the Gun Control Act. Illinois is set to 
be the first state in the Midwest to 
have legislation on regulating ghost 
guns after passing a bill banning the 
weapons in May 2022.
“As a gun owner, I understand 
the importance of the Second 
Amendment — but that shouldn’t 
stop us from enacting sensible 
legislation to curb the senseless 
violence happening daily across our 
state,” Pepper said. 

The 
University 
introduced 
a 
Master’s and Ph.D. program in 
robotics 
through 
the 
Rackham 
Graduate School in 2014, which 
allowed students to obtain graduate 
degrees in the field for the first time. 
The U-M Robotics Institute was 
created in 2017 as a dedicated space 
for faculty who were interested in 
robotics. 
In 
the 
spring 
of 
2021, 
the 
University opened the Ford Motor 
Company 
Robotics 
Building, 
a 
134,000-square-foot 
complex 
on 
North Campus dedicated to robotics 
research, assembly and education. 
The building currently houses the 
U-M Robotics Institute and will 
allow undergraduate students in the 
new degree program to design, build 
and test robots of all kinds.
After 
offering 
a 
handful 
of 
robotics courses to students at 
the University for a few years, the 
College of Engineering announced its 
undergraduate robotics program.

Design by Priya Ganji
Read more at michigandaily.com

Design by Priya Ganji

Read more at michigandaily.com