News Staff

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Odelberg receives fellowship to help run the world with low-power batteryless circuits

By | June 19, 2020
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Trevor Odelberg

Ph.D. student Trevor Odelberg received a National Defense Science and Engineering Graduate Fellowship for his research on low power circuits and devices. By combining low-power energy circuits with energy harvesting systems, the need for battery replacements (and batteries altogether) can be reduced, enabling new applications in big data and The Internet of Things.  “It’s just physically impossible to… Read More »

optiMize funds COVID-19 Community Aid Efforts

By | June 19, 2020
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Food pantry

optiMize, a student-led incubator at the University of Michigan, launched a $25,000 Community Aid Relief Fund in response to the COVID-19 pandemic. The relief fund aims to provide mutual aid and community-based projects in Washtenaw county. Students at U-M, Eastern Michigan University, and Washtenaw Community College were eligible to apply for up to $5,000 in funding. optiMize received… Read More »

Matthew Belz receives fellowship to improve the safety of autonomous systems

By | June 19, 2020
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Matthew Belz

Ph.D. student Matthew Belz received a National Defense Science and Engineering Graduate Fellowship for a new research project to create a jamming-resistant radar chip to improve the safety of autonomous vehicles.  Belz will begin the project in the fall. Currently, he is finishing a project joint with the NASA Jet Propulsion Lab to design a specialized circuit to… Read More »

New machine learning method improves testing of stem-like tumor cells for breast cancer research

By | June 19, 2020
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(Illustration of growing cancer tumor.)

Prof. Euisik Yoon’s research group has developed a new, faster method to identify cancer stem-like cells (CSCs), which could help improve the effectiveness of cancer treatments. CSCs can develop tumors and cause a cancer relapse after a patient’s treatment. CSCs are generally resistant to chemotherapy and radiotherapy, so therapeutics that directly target CSCs may improve the success of… Read More »

NERS Chair Todd Allen elected chair of NEDHO

By | June 19, 2020
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Todd Allen

Todd Allen has officially been elected as the Vice-Chair/Chair Elect of the Nuclear Engineering Department Heads Organization (NEDHO). NEDHO is comprised of 36 different nuclear engineering departments. It describes itself as “a loosely formed alliance of heads (chairs) of nuclear engineering schools, departments, and programs in North America. NEDHO was formed to provide a forum for discussion, coordination,… Read More »

UMSI researchers awarded COVID-19 data science grant to study student mobility patterns

By | June 19, 2020
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The Michigan Institute of Data Science (MIDAS) recently awarded three University of Michigan School of Information (UMSI) researchers COVID-19 data science grants. Research fellow Quan Nguyen, assistant professor Christopher Brooks and assistant professor Daniel Romero will receive funding for “Students’ mobility patterns on campus and the implications for the recovery of campus activities post-pandemic.”  This project will examine… Read More »

Black computer scientists, including U-M professors, call to dismantle racism in the field

By | June 15, 2020
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Black in Computing and Our Allies for Equity and Fairness

Signers of an open letter raise the alarm on interpersonal and institutional racism as well as racial bias occurring from improper development and use of computing technology. A coalition of black computer scientists has drafted an open letter to the computing community, calling for action to address systemic and structural inequities. They ask for equal partnership in the leadership… Read More »

New app analyzes how social distancing affects biological clocks

By | June 15, 2020
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Almost overnight, the sleep and wake patterns of nearly four billion people may have changed because of COVID-19-spurred lockdowns. A free app built by University of Michigan researchers will help users understand their own sleep rhythms, shedding light on how their biological clock is responding to lockdowns, and give tips about how to shift their potentially disrupted rhythms… Read More »

New online platform for mental health resources amid pandemic

By | June 15, 2020
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Counseling and Psychological Services (CAPS) recently announced SilverCloud, an online tool that provides access to mental health resources to students and faculty. The program features a series of modules individuals can work through at their own pace. Although the program is not intended to replace in-person mental health help, SilverCloud is designed to help students and faculty with… Read More »

MiXR Studios Podcast: Nursing clinical simulations with guest Michelle Aebersold

By | June 12, 2020
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Michelle Aebersold, University of Michigan Clinical Professor of Nursing

This week’s MiXR Studios podcast explored nursing simulations and extended reality (XR) from Second Life in discussion with Michelle Aebersold.  Michelle Aebersold, a U-M clinical professor of nursing, spoke about her journey into XR and her efforts to build multi-user simulations at the School of Nursing, starting with Second Life and continuing today using virtual reality (VR). She… Read More »

Project Health Schools responds to remote learning environment

By | June 12, 2020
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A student enjoys an apple.

Project Healthy Schools is a community-Michigan Medicine collaboration designed to reduce childhood obesity and improve the current and future health of Michigan’s youth.  Through lessons and wellness activities, Project Healthy Schools enables middle school students to increase physical activity, eat healthier, and understand how nutrition and activity influence their lifelong health. When Gov. Gretchen Whitmer canceled classroom instruction… Read More »

Open-source software helps youth with disabilities develop scheduling independence

By | June 12, 2020
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The system can add more flexibility to task management apps to help learning users make informed decisions about their time. Keeping a handle on life’s many demands is hard on its own. Part of growing up is learning how to handle planning and scheduling – and with a world of apps to help, it’s gotten easier for teens and… Read More »

Tracking COVID-19 spread faster, and more accurately

By | June 12, 2020
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A new application for an ongoing NSF project could bolster contract tracing efforts. With an approach that combines big data, network science and stochastic systems, a Michigan Engineering professor is working to develop algorithms that can quickly and accurately identify COVID-19 “patient zero” as the virus spreads to new places or resurges, and reconstruct its spread with limited… Read More »

Dillahunt receives Skip Ellis Early Career award

By | June 11, 2020
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Tawanna Dillahunt

Tawanna Dillahunt, University of Michigan School of Information (UMSI) associate professor, was announced as an inaugural recipient of The Computing Research Association’s Committee on Widening Participation in Computing Research (CRA-WP) Skip Ellis Early Career Award.  The award is given to a person who identifies as a member of an underrepresented group in computing who has made significant contributions… Read More »

U-M launches effort to collect blood samples from COVID-19 survivors and patients for research

By | June 11, 2020
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Vici Blanc, Ph.D., director of the U-M Central Biorepository, lifts a rack of blood samples out of the dedicated freezer for COVID-19 samples.

By donating a few teaspoons of blood, COVID-19 survivors can help U-M researchers find a way to defeat the disease that made them ill. 800 COVID-19 patients cared for at U-M’s Michigan Medicine have already donated more than 17,000 samples; now, it is open to participants who are not Michigan Medicine patients.  By studying these samples and more,… Read More »

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

By | June 11, 2020
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A staff member has her temperature checked before returning to a lab.

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… Read More »

Pelham Scholars Program celebrates its first year of supporting master’s students

By | June 11, 2020
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Three students from the Pelham Scholars Program

The inaugural class of Pelham Scholars have now completed their first year of the program. The Pelham Scholars Program supports a diverse array of underrepresented students by providing them with robust mentorship and two semesters of free tuition.  The program’s strong focus on mentoring, networking, and seeking career opportunities gives its scholars access to a unique network of… Read More »

Prof. Mehlhorn named fellow of the American Nuclear Society

By | June 9, 2020
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Tom Mehlhorn

Professor Mehlhorn was recognized for his research in plasma physics. Tom Mehlhorn, U-M Nuclear Engineering and Radiological Sciences (NERS) adjunct professor, has been named a fellow of the American Nuclear Society (ANS). Mehlhorn was recognized by the ANS for “For scientific leadership in developing predictive simulation tools, discriminating diagnostics, and validation experiments, leading to major advances in the generation and application… Read More »

Nursing alumni build nationwide network to bring face shields to the front lines of the COVID-19 pandemic

By | June 9, 2020
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Nurses have built a national network of volunteers that has helped deliver more than 10,000 face shields to frontline health care workers, first responders, and other essential personnel throughout Michigan and across the United States. “Operation Face Shield” is centered on the idea of using 3-D printers to address the nationwide shortage of personal protective equipment.