$element not injected as a local

[Nate-Wilkins]

I'm really confused as to why ui-router controllers aren't allowed access to $element? Is this by design?

Plunker
Related Code

In the end I need to end up accessing a directive controller from my controller like so:

app.controller('MyController', function ($element) {
    var cool = $element.inheritedData('$coolController');
});