Lights in the labs — and eyes — of researchers coming back to work

(Photo of Shilva Shrestha, Environmental Engineering PhD Student, having her temperature checked by Bryan Daniels, DPSS Quartermaster, at the entrance the G.G. Brown Building on North Campus of the University of Michigan in Ann Arbor, MI on May 26, 2020.) — Shilva Shrestha, environmental engineering Ph.D. Student, has her temperature checked by Bryan Daniels, DPSS quartermaster, at the entrance the G.G. Brown Building on North Campus. (Courtesy of Joseph Xu/Michigan Engineering.)

Michigan Engineering labs are reopening after COVID-19’s ten week ramp down, allowing faculty, staff, and graduate students to continue aspects of their research that couldn’t be completed at home.

Reopening the labs means different things to different people. For example, Steve Forrest and his group can continue printing heart cell arrays that could rapidly replace scarred tissue after a heart attack. Shilva Shrestha can gather final data for her dissertation on turning beer waste into valuable feedstock for pharmaceuticals.

“There’s a whole bunch of people that are thrilled to be in the lab again and a whole bunch of others who can’t wait to go back,” said Jessy Grizzle, director of the U-M Robotics Institute. “And there are others who are anxious about returning and are good with working remotely. I’m proud of all of them.”