Our Project Teams
The core of BLUELabs is our project teams. Teams are interdisciplinary, with students from all colleges at the University of Michigan working together to make an impact all over the world. Each team has a specific community it targets, and these communities range from local to Nicaragua, Guatemala, Alaska, and more. Teams are student run, with students making the decisions on sponsorship, project direction, etc. Follow the links below for more information.
This year we are working with the University's Carbon Neutrality plan and Ann Arbor's A2Zero to pursue projects which help local climate goals. We have a variety of sub-teams working on different aspects of carbon neutrality including:
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Covering Campus–Soon hosting our first tree planting event, sponsored by Planet Blue, in November to help the University reach 60% canopy cover by 2030. This fall we will be preparing for this event and planning future events. Fill out this form if you want to receive more information about this event.
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Data Visualization–Creating GIS visualizations of carbon offsets by sustainability projects around campus and in the city, starting with Covering Campus tree planting.
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Waste Reduction–Collection of initiatives to reduce landfilled waste on campus: implementing FreeCycle, residential composting, battery and electronic drop-off collections.
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SEAS Facilities–Analysis of the Dana building's compostable toilet system to improve its system and logistics.
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Bryant Electrification–Help Ann Arbor's Bryant neighborhood become one of the first carbon neutral community in the US.
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Contact:
bluelabmetro-requests​@umich.edu
For updates on the BLUElab Metro Project, follow us on our Twitter and Instagram, or visit our website!
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BLUELab EASE is an interdisciplinary student organization at the University of Michigan. We aim to collaborate with community partners and local nonprofits in Nicaragua to develop solutions that ease the hardships of children with cerebral palsy and their families. As a sustainable design team, we stress the importance of engaging with the local community when designing. Our primary goal is to honor the social and environmental atmosphere of Nicaragua by collaborating with the very people we are designing for.
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Contact:
Justin Levine (justl@umich.edu), Sophia Khan (sophk@umich.edu), Adelyn Schmidt (addieks@umich.edu), or Robert Isacksen (isacksen@umich.edu)
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For updates on Team EASE, follow us on Instagram, Facebook, or check out our Website!
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We are a student-run organization by the University of Michigan's BLUElab. Along with our partner NGO, CasaSito, we focus on identifying and executing sustainable development solutions in rural Guatemala. This past semester, we have been working on two new projects involving CasaSito scholarship-recipients and their families. The first is focused on prototyping more efficient stoves that reduce smoke output and require less firewood. Our goal is to decrease the portion of family income going towards buying wood, as well as decreasing the risk for smoke-related illnesses. The second project is focused on developing sustainable washing machines to be used within communities. These will be portable, make the washing process more efficient, and serve as a potential source of income.
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Contact:
sanima_eboard@umich.edu
For updates on Sa' Nima', follow them on Facebook, Instagram, and Website!
Woven Wind is a project team designs and manufactures small-scale wind turbines that are installed on elementary and middle schools to teach students about renewable energy, engineering, and STEM. Many of our subteams are centered around the engineering aspects of the turbine, such as transmission, blades, electrical, and structure, while the outreach subteam focuses on developing the STEM curriculum to be taught on activity days.
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Contact:
woven-wind-contact@umich.edu
​For updates on Woven Wind, follow them on Instagram @wovenwindum!
