Joan Ferrini-Mundy is the president of the University of Maine and its regional campus in Machias, and the first vice chancellor for research and innovation for the University of Maine System. She lives in Orono.

Cows that milk themselves.

That’s something our founders did not imagine in 1865 when they established what is now the University of Maine.

Since then, the state’s flagship has continually adjusted its sails to the changing needs and opportunities of Maine and beyond. The new robotic milking system at Witter Farm — UMaine’s dairy and equine education and research facility in Old Town — is a recent example.

Maine’s dairy industry is struggling with increased production costs, labor shortages and milk price volatility. While noting the number of dairy farms has declined from 602 farms in 1994 to just 140 today, a task force report released in January recognized automation and robotics as “bright spots.”

The modernization of our milking barn enables UMaine to prepare a more technologically proficient agricultural workforce and help these remaining farms adopt these new milking innovations to promote profitability and healthier, happier herds.

Across Maine, our land-grant university is integrating teaching, research and engagement to deliver hands-on career preparation to our students and high-impact solutions to companies and communities.

While all research universities provide value to their home states, UMaine is invaluable to Maine.

With an economy almost entirely reliant on small businesses that typically lack in-house expertise and facilities necessary to develop and improve products and processes, our university is Maine’s Research & Development (R&D) Department.

UMaine annually attracts hundreds of millions of dollars in external investment to benefit the state, graduates thousands of professionals into the workforce and partners with hundreds of Maine companies to accelerate their growth and create new jobs. From increasing wild blueberry production by 500% to advancing AI-based technology that aids in the early detection of breast cancer, research-driven UMaine innovation is improving our economy and your quality of life.

It’s no secret that the federal funding that helps fuel this locally relevant, world-class R&D has been affected by the new administration’s work to reshape higher education and align awards with its own priorities, as happens during every presidential transition.

Despite this, as we enter this new academic year, I am more bullish than ever about the future of our university — Maine’s only to have achieved R1 Carnegie Classification for research excellence and productivity.

Our Congressional Delegation, including U.S. Sen. Susan Collins, who chairs the Senate Appropriations Committee, has helped us restore more than 60 affected federal awards. When we have been unable to reverse terminations, we’ve done our best to mitigate impacts, including by securing $250,000 through our foundation to maintain graduate student opportunities and degree progress.

UMaine’s region-leading affordability and record retention allow us to better compete for students, as do relevant new programs, including the Downeast Nursing Track, and the employment outcomes of our graduates, who earn more than double Maine’s median income.

This month, nearly 11,000 students are returning to our campuses in Orono and Machias, where dozens of transformative capital projects are either newly or nearly complete, including a cutting-edge robotics and automation training center and renovations to the iconic Alfond Arena and New Balance Track & Field and Soccer Complex. These modernized facilities — public assets for all of Maine — will improve our students’ experience and success and reinforce the strong support of our state, federal and philanthropic partners — including the Harold Alfond Foundation, the Legislature and Gov. Janet Mills.

America’s economic dominance and global leadership depend on skilled talent and innovation. That’s why the federal government has partnered with the nation’s research universities since the 1860s and continues to issue awards and new funding opportunities in areas such as AI and advanced manufacturing, where UMaine has real strengths and where I am confident our talented researchers can continue to compete, win and lead.

As we innovate and adapt, our founding purpose is unchanged. UMaine has served the state through practical, widely accessible education and research for 160 years. We’ll keep doing it until the cows come home.