News Staff

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Author Archives: News Staff

MiXR Studios Podcast: Anti-Black racism and the promise of virtual reality

By | July 13, 2020

This week’s MiXR Studios podcast continues a conversation with Dr. Courtney Cogburn from Columbia University and discusses her groundbreaking work in virtual reality with 1000 Cut Journey and how it is as important as ever in the midst of the current Black Lives Matters movement. In the “1000 Cut Journey” virtual reality experience, the user becomes Mike Sterling,… Read More »

Making plastic more transparent while adding electrical conductivity

By | July 13, 2020

In an effort to improve large touchscreens, LED light panels and window-mounted infrared solar cells, a team of researchers at U-M has made plastic conductive while also making it more transparent. They provide a recipe to help other researchers find the best balance between conductivity and transparency by creating a three-layer anti-reflection surface. The conductive metal layer is… Read More »

Creating a Canvas course homepage

By | July 10, 2020

Your course homepage will be the first thing students see when they open your course on Canvas. Take advantage of this by making a course home page that introduces the course and directs students where to go and what to do, to begin the course. This is especially important when teaching remotely, as students who are normally in-person… Read More »

Police brutality in America: Teach-Out encourages learners to get informed, involved

By | July 9, 2020

As Black Lives Matter protests continue throughout the nation and deadly run-ins with police repeatedly make headlines, the University of Michigan explores the topic with a “Police Brutality in America Teach-Out.” Online now, the self-guided learning event on Coursera explores the history of policing in the United States and the legacy of mistrust between police and minority communities.… Read More »

Google Chat for Gmail is arriving July 15

By | July 8, 2020

Google Chat will be replacing classic Google Hangouts in Gmail. Google Chat is an evolution of classic Hangouts, adding additional features that let you chat with individuals, send group messages, and engage in team-based collaboration with rooms across the entire university community and externally. Starting July 15, 2020, Google Chat will become the default option for direct (one-to-one)… Read More »

Preparing your teaching team for teaching remotely

By | July 7, 2020

LSA Learning and Teaching Technology consultants have written a short article with tips on preparing teaching teams for remote teaching. The article offers advice for both senior instructors and graduate student instructors, covering tools like Canvas, Zoom, and Bluejeans. It includes linked resources and concrete steps and tips, as well as further reading. 

Gift from EECS alumnus Kuck establishes CSE Dissertation Prize

By | July 7, 2020

U-M EECS alumnus David J. Kuck (BSE EE 1959), Professor Emeritus at the University of Illinois and distinguished computer scientist, has made a generous gift to the University of Michigan to establish the David J. Kuck Ph.D. Dissertation Prize in Computer Science and Engineering. Each year, the prize will recognize the most impactful Ph.D. dissertation submitted by a… Read More »

Wireless sensors for N95 masks could enable easier, more accurate decontamination

By | July 7, 2020

Tiny wireless sensors for recycled N95 masks could verify, in real time, whether the respirators are being exposed to proper decontamination conditions. They’re being developed and tested at the University of Michigan through a new National Science Foundation RAPID COVID-19 grant. The batteryless sensors are designed to provide more accurate and less cumbersome  monitoring during the decontamination of… Read More »

To the moon and beyond: Aerospace engineering is on the cutting edge of electric space propulsion

By | July 5, 2020

The University of Michigan Aerospace Engineering Department’s Plasmadynamics and Electric Propulsion Laboratory (PEPL) is developing the next-generation of Hall thruster technology that may one day propel the first human missions to Mars. A Hall thruster is a form of electric space propulsion that replaces conventional rockets with a stream of charged ions that can propel a spacecraft for… Read More »

Distinctly Detroit podcast

By | July 2, 2020

The Detroit Center is proud to present “Distinctly Detroit,” a Podcast on what makes one want to be in the D. Join host Katie Lehman as she interviews students, scholars, innovators, and leaders from across the city to learn how they came to live, work, and love in Detroit. Click here to listen to the latest episodes.

Semester in Detroit offers learning hybrid format for the fall

By | July 1, 2020

U-M recently announced plans for the fall 2020 semester, which will include a combination of online and in-person courses. In keeping with this, and in recognition of the ongoing public health crisis, the Semester in Detroit (SiD) program will be offered in a hybrid format. For fall 2020, all SiD classes, including community-based internships and projects. will be offered… Read More »

Google Cloud Print changes

By | July 1, 2020

As of December 31, 2020, Google will no longer support Google Cloud Print, Google’s beta, cloud-based printing solution.  Beginning January 1, 2021, devices across all operating systems will not be able to print using Google Cloud Print. It is recommended that you find an alternative print solution and migrate your print services by the end of 2020. One alternative, MPrint, is U-M’s printing… Read More »

Inclusive technology: How a single step could pave the way

By | June 30, 2020

In the aftermath of the killing of George Floyd and other recent incidents of police brutality, a coalition of Black computer scientists drafted an open letter calling for action in the computing community to address systemic and structural inequities Chad Jenkins, a roboticist and associate professor of computer science and engineering at the University of Michigan, is among… Read More »

84 internships and research fellowships for the pandemic summer

By | June 30, 2020

With many students facing the cancellation of their summer plans to work as engineering interns, the Multidisciplinary Design Program has rushed to fill the gap. Cobbling together resources from inside and outside U-M, the program team created 54 paid internships and research fellowships, and 30 additional unpaid positions each mentored by U-M faculty.  The Multidisciplinary Design Program (MDP)… Read More »

Wireless sensors for N95 masks could enable easier, more accurate decontamination

By | June 30, 2020

Tiny wireless sensors for recycled N95 masks could verify, in real time, whether the respirators are being exposed to proper decontamination conditions.  These batteryless sensors are being developed and tested at the University of Michigan through a new National Science Foundation RAPID COVID-19 grant. They are designed to provide more accurate and less cumbersome monitoring during the decontamination… Read More »

NERS Professor Kevin Field wins DOE Early Career Award

By | June 30, 2020

Kevin Field, associate professor in the U-M Department of Nuclear Engineering and Radiological Sciences (NERS), has been awarded funding for research as part of the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) Office of Science’s Early Career Research Program. Field is a nuclear materials scientist with expertise in advanced alloy development and radiation effects in material systems relevant for nuclear… Read More »

Weiser Food Allergy Center tapped to join elite research network

By | June 30, 2020

The Mary H. Weiser Food Allergy Center (MHWFAC) at U-M has been named a Discovery Center of Distinction by FARE, the leading food allergy research, advocacy, and education organization. The prestigious award adds the MHWFAC to the FARE Clinical Network, which was established in 2015 to link top food allergy centers nationwide for collaboration on the development of… Read More »

MiXR Studios podcast: Immersion through the novel and virtual realities

By | June 30, 2020

This week’s MiXR Studios podcast explores how extended reality (XR) can be used in humanities to advance the University of Michigan’s liberal arts mission.  Sara Blair, the Patricia S. Yeager Professor of English, discusses how she designed a course to frame the novel with a goal of immersion using virtual reality (VR) as the object of comparison. She… Read More »