Pollination Events

Pollination events and workshops focus on building skills, knowledge and capacity so that U-M can strengthen the deep bench of diverse faculty ready to apply when big opportunities arise.

Events support researchers with varying levels of experience and awareness of requests for proposals. Events convey information about how to form strong teams that design and deliver proposals that are highly competitive for large-scale external funding opportunities.

Apply for a Pollination Award:

Interdisciplinary Innovation for Critical Supply Chain Resilience

Faculty researchers who participated in the February 6 Pollination Event: Interdisciplinary Innovation for Critical Supply Chain Resilience are eligible to apply for up to $10,000 via a Pollination Award. If you have any questions, please reach out to Kathryn Hendrickson at kathendr@umich.edu.

Past Events

photo of a panel event on a stage in Ruthven Hall, featuring Arthur Lupia, Maggie Allen and Greg Keoleian
photo of the February 20 Bold Challenges event, Arthur Lupia speaking into a microphone, standing in the middle of the audience
photo of Ravi Allada giving a lightning talk at the February 20 Bold Challenges event

4/17

2026

Biotechnology: Nature-Inspired Innovation

3/13

2026

Health at a Distance

2/6

2026

Interdisciplinary Innovation for Critical Supply Chain Resilience

11/13

2025

Seed Networking: AI and Manufacturing

Awarded Teams

AI Enabled Rapid Certification of Additive Manufacturing Process for Shipbuilding

Zhen Hu, associate professor of industrial and manufacturing systems engineering, University of Michigan-Dearborn

 

AI-Enabled Digital Twins for Closed-Loop Robotic 3D Concrete Printing

Yulun Tian, assistant professor of robotics, CoE

 

AI-Driven Discovery and Additive Manufacturing of Next-Generation Magnetic Materials

Lei Zuo, Herbet C Sadler Collegiate Professor of Engineering, professor of naval architecture and marine engineering and professor of mechanical engineering, CoE

 

AI Driven NextG Networks to Support High Fidelity and Responsive Manufacturing

Junaid Farooq, assistant professor of electrical and computer engineering, University of Michigan-Dearborn

 

Advancing Human-AI Co-Evolution in Smart Manufacturing Systems

Bogdan Epureanu, Roger L McCarthy Professor of Mechanical Engineering, Arthur F Thurnau Professor, professor of mechanical engineering, professor of electrical engineering and computer science, CoE

 

AI-Driven Smart Sensing Manufacturing for Underwater Concrete Degradation Inspection and Repair

Xiao Zhang, research investigator, materials science and engineering, CoE

 

Digital Light Processing of Passive Visible Light Tags

Zheng Liu, assistant professor of industrial and manufacturing systems engineering, University of Michigan-Dearborn

 

Enhancing Worker Resilience in AI-Integrated Manufacturing: Exploring Error Recovery Strategies for Human-AI Interaction Failures

Manhua Wang, assistant professor of industrial and operations engineering, CoE

 

AI-Driven Efficient Photonic Manufacturing under Uncertainty

Hui Deng, professor of physics, LSA; and professor of electrical engineering and computer science, CoE

 

Machine Learning–Enabled Smart Materials and Manufacturing for Critical Mineral Extraction and Recovery

Jing Tang, assistant professor of mechanical engineering, CoE

5/15

2025

Food for Tomorrow

Awarded Teams

Healing Foodways: Establishing a Place-Based Learning Health Network for Food Sovereignty

Francesca Williamson, assistant professor of learning health sciences, Medical School

 

From Surplus to Energy: Community-Partnered Electro-Fermentation of Food Waste into Renewable Biofuels

Joshua Jack, assistant professor of civil and environmental engineering, CoE

 

Food insecurity and glycemic variability: A pilot feasibility study

Aleda Leis, research assistant professor of epidemiology, School of Public Health

 

Implementation of Effective Food Programs to Treat and Prevent Chronic Disease

Tammy Chang, associate professor of family medicine, Medical School

11/15

2024

Women’s Health

Awarded Teams

Strengthening Opportunities for Community-Based Collaboration in Evaluation

Jessica Riggs, clinical assistant professor of psychiatry, Medical School

Advancing research in substance use and women’s health in midlife

Nancy Fleischer, professor of epidemiology, School of Public Health 

 

Urukundo Rwacu (‘Our Love’): Enhancing Family Planning Through Male Engagement— Adaptation workshop among African refugee couples and stakeholders in Uganda

HaEun Lee, assistant professor of nursing, School of Nursing

 

Policy Scan- Adolescent Contraceptive Access

Julie Maslowsky, associate professor of nursing, School of Nursing; and associate professor of health behavior and health equity, School of Public Health

11/8

2024

Climate and Health

Awarded Teams

Advancing research and training at the intersections among climate change, water and health

Betsy Foxman, Hunein F and Hilda Maassab Endowed Professor of Epidemiology and professor of epidemiology, School of Public Health

 

Identification of climate and health messages that resonate across the political spectrum

Jennifer Head, John G Searle Assistant Professor of Epidemiology and assistant professor of epidemiology, School of Public Health

4/5

2024

Improving Lives through Next Generation Infrastructure

3/22

2024

Creating Sustainable Energy Innovations

3/15

2024

Adapting to Changing Environments

3/8

2024

Advancing Human Health at Scale

2/20

2024

Pursuing Interdisciplinary Research Opportunities at U-M

6/28

2023

AI for the Public Good: Building AI at U-M Visioning

5/9

2022

Smart Health Care Systems for Equitable Access

5/4

2022

Sustainable and Equitable Solutions for the Housing Crisis

4/25

2022

Universal Access to Healthy Water

2/8

2022

Resilient, Equitable, and Carbon-Neutral Physical Infrastructure

1/21

2022

Better Health Outcomes through Better Built Environments