Office of Research & Economic Development

Stories of support, collaboration, research and community engagement

Student Research Conference

Posted by & filed under Flint community, Research Matters, Student Research Spotlight, UM-Flint Research.

Daba Coura Mbow After canceling the event in 2020 and two years of holding the event virtually, the tri-campus Flint Student Research Conference (SRC) is back this year with an in-person event scheduled for  Friday, May 12, 2023, at the Riverfront Conference Center. The return of an in-person event offers an opportunity to student researchers

Student Research Spotlight: Luis Martinez

Posted by & filed under Student Research Spotlight, UM-Flint Research.

How do rational people discuss the economy, inflation, de-industrialization, labor unions, and profits today? “While we can each form our own opinions from reading and consuming the literature from the experts, it seems there are many experts defending positions that are unique and contradict one another,” according to UM-Flint undergraduate student Luís Martinez. They are

Khalil Khanafer is in the 2%

Posted by & filed under Faculty Profiles, UM-Flint Research.

Khalil Khanafer poses in the MSB for a headshot. He is smiling and wearing a blue shirt with a blue, creme, and argyle vest on.

The phrase ‘Publish or Perish’ is  commonly used by researchers, and their work greatly impacts their evaluations. Stanford University professor John Ionnaidis has worked diligently for years to improve the system used to standardize the evaluation process by looking at how often researchers’ work is used as a reference, cited by other researchers. He has

Jeffrey Yackley: Active learning, a way for students to gain soft skills.

Posted by & filed under Computer science, Faculty Profiles, Research Matters, Student Research Spotlight, UM-Flint Research.

By Daba Coura Mbow Originally from Farmington Hills, Michigan, Jeffrey Yackley graduated from the University of Michigan in Dearborn with a doctorate in Computer Science.  In the new College of Innovation and Technology, Yackley begins an academic career at the University of Michigan Flint with an opportunity to dig more into his passion for computer

Flint Community Engaged Research Program

Posted by & filed under Flint community, Research Matters, Student Research Spotlight, UM-Flint Research.

Daba Coura Mbow                As the Undergraduate Research Opportunity Program (UROP) celebrates its 20th anniversary, a new opportunity for student research is launching that includes community engagement.  Building trust between the university and the community is a major goal of any higher education institution.  Many community partners in Flint have been asking the university to

Donk Racing and STEM Equity – CIT Professor researches Informal Learning pathways

Posted by & filed under UM-Flint Research.

Shirl Donaldson sits behind a UM-Flint College of Innovation & Technology table loaded with T-shirts with a red Dodge Challenger GT behind her.

Shirl Donaldson is an assistant professor of project management, STEM education and entrepreneurship in the University of Michigan-Flint’s College of Innovation and Technology. She is researching Donk car racing and whether it can help change the way minoritized kids think about STEM subjects in relation to themselves.  “When it comes to racing, tons of money

Student Research Spotlight: Nathaniel Cordova

Posted by & filed under Student Research Spotlight.

Nathaniel Cordova poses in a blue chair with the UM-Flint Rec center behind him out the window. He has a black button up shirt on and is dapper in appearance.

Nathaniel Cordova is a full-time undergraduate student at the University of Michigan-Flint slated to graduate with a Bachelor’s in Psychology in December 2022. Shortly after he transferred from Youngstown State University in Ohio, he asked psychology professor Thomas Wrobel what he should do to better prepare for a PhD or Master’s program. Wrobel told him