News Staff

Contact Michigan IT News staff at umit-cio-newsletter@umich.edu.

Author Archives: News Staff

Hessam Mahdavifar receives CAREER award to empower next gen communication

By | March 10, 2020
0 Comment
Hessam Mahdavifar

In the next decade, the emergence of massively connected networks of billions of devices will lead to an unprecedented increase in mobile data traffic. Hessam Mahdavifar, assistant professor of electrical engineering and computer science, has received an NSF CAREER award to support research on solutions for reliable communications across future wireless networks. This research aims to develop enabling… Read More »

Florian Schaub earns Google Award to improve phishing protections

By | March 9, 2020
0 Comment
laptop hooked on a fishing line

A newly announced Google Faculty Research award will fund a research project on developing better phishing warnings co-led by School of Information assistant professor Florian Schaub. Phishing attacks trick victims into clicking malicious email links to get them to disclose sensitive information such as personal data and passwords, or install malware. Building on prior work, Schaub says this project… Read More »

New programs in data science & analytics at UM-Flint offer innovative career pathways

By | March 6, 2020
0 Comment
Female student and male instructor siting at computer, working.

UM-Flint is poised to help more students to succeed in big data with the introduction of three new programs in data science and analytics offered across three departments and at the undergraduate and graduate levels: B.S. in Mathematics with a concentration in Data Science B.S. in Economics with a concentration in Data Analytics Graduate Certificate in Data Sciences… Read More »

AI could enhance diagnosis and treatment of sleep disorders

By | March 6, 2020
0 Comment
profile of human head showing outline of spinal cord and brain

Artificial intelligence has the potential to improve efficiencies and precision in sleep medicine, resulting in more patient-centered care and better outcomes, according to a new position statement from the American Academy of Sleep Medicine. Because of the vast amounts of data collected by sleep centers, AI and machine learning could advance sleep care, resulting in more accurate diagnoses,… Read More »

Big Data advances research, but it shouldn’t do so at the cost of privacy

By | March 5, 2020
0 Comment
cell phone with "I Agree" & "HIPPA" buttons surrounded by health related icons.

It might seem pretty safe to add an app that promises to help take control of your health. But doctors who appreciate the research potential of incorporating big data into medical care are also warning about the need to manage the risk of exposing such health data while it’s still possible to do so. “Some health data shared… Read More »

How should you clean your phone?

By | March 4, 2020
0 Comment
" "

The average person touches their smartphone more than 2,000 times a day, surveys have shown. Also, people tend to carry their phones everywhere with them, including the bathroom where most contamination happens. So it’s not surprising that phones can harbor lots of bacteria and germs. Wiping your phone or cleaning it with soap and a little water, or preventing your phone… Read More »

Real-time monitor tracks the growing use of network filters for censorship

By | March 3, 2020
0 Comment
map of the world showing censorship activity

Researchers at U-M have discovered the widespread use of popular, commercial network filtering technologies for purposes of censorship in as many as 103 countries around the world. With a framework they call FilterMap, the researchers took advantage of several tools designed to detect censorship in real time to call attention to the proliferation of this technology for these… Read More »

Register for the Extended Reality at Michigan Summit, April 14

By | February 26, 2020
0 Comment
Extended Reality (XR) @ Michigan logo

Join us on Tuesday, April 14 from 9:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m. for the first ever Extended Reality (XR) at Michigan Summit. We’ll welcome speakers from all over the country to share their knowledge and insight around XR. Please register if you plan to attend.   The XR at Michigan Summit expects to feature the following: Featured speakers who are national leaders in… Read More »

Emotion recognition has a privacy problem – here’s how to fix it

By | February 26, 2020
0 Comment
Young blonde woman with black box over eyes talking on smartphone

With devices listening everywhere you go, privacy concerns are endemic to advancing technology. For example, a virtual assistant that can learn to adapt to a user’s mood creates more useful, human-like interactions. But what if the audio powering these insights stores the user’s gender and demographic information on company servers – leaving the user open to identification by… Read More »

Deep learning AI discovers surprising new antibiotics

By | February 25, 2020
0 Comment
A colored electron microscope image of MRSA.

With the rapid rise in drug resistance in many pathogens, new antibiotics are desperately needed. Yet few new antibiotics have entered the market of late, and even these are just minor variants of old antibiotics. While the prospects look bleak, a recent article by Sriram Chandrasekaran, assistant professor of biomedical engineering, explores how researchers hunting for new drugs… Read More »

Coming soon: Campus Tech Shop for UM-Dearborn

By | February 25, 2020
0 Comment
Tech Shop logo

A collaboration between UM-Dearborn and U-M Information and Technology Services departments is bringing a Tech Shop to the Dearborn campus. Located in the University Center, the 700-square-foot storefront space will also have certified Apple, Dell, and HP repair. Construction will begin in May with a grand opening scheduled for this fall. “We saw there was a hole in… Read More »

EECS faculty win awards for computational research

By | February 21, 2020
0 Comment
Jenna Wiens Reetuparna Das

Two computer science and engineering professors were recently recognized for their outstanding work: Jenna Wiens, co-director of University of Michigan Precision Health, was selected for a 2020 Sloan Research Fellowship by the Alfred P. Sloan Foundation for her work harnessing patient data to improve healthcare outcomes. Wiens’ primary research is in the development of data-driven predictive models needed… Read More »

U-M, Coursera offer Chinese learners nearly free access to online courses amid coronavirus outbreak

By | February 21, 2020
0 Comment
close up of china on globe

In response to the coronavirus epidemic that has restricted millions of Chinese people to their homes and towns, U-M and online learning platform Coursera are offering three popular online data science specializations to learners in China for $1 a month. The specializations are Python for Everybody, the most popular specialization on Coursera; Python 3 Programming; and Applied Data Science with Python.… Read More »

CoE, SI react to allegations of misconduct by computer science professor Jason Mars

By | February 17, 2020
0 Comment
clinc logo

The faculty at U-M’s computer science and engineering department wrote a letter calling for professor Jason Mars to take a leave of absence, following an investigation from The Verge into his behavior as CEO of Clinc, an AI startup with ties to the school. Michigan’s School of Information also said it was suspending its recruiting relationship with Clinc due to Mars’… Read More »

U-M team reaches quarterfinal in AI competition

By | February 17, 2020
0 Comment
University of Michigan’s Alexa Prize Socialbot Grand Challenge team

The Alexa Socialbot Grand Challenge 3 is a university competition to further the capabilities of artificial intelligence (AI) by building a conversational Alexa skill. Out of hundreds of entries from 15 countries, 10 teams were selected, including one from U-M. Teams are tasked with creating a socialbot, a robotic automated program that can have conversations about popular societal… Read More »

Save the dates! 2020 MICDE Symposium April 9-10

By | February 12, 2020
0 Comment
city skyline with overlay of data grid

Save the dates! The Michigan Institute for Computational Discovery and Engineering (MICDE) will host its 2020 Annual Symposium on April 9-10, 2020 at the Rackham Building. External experts will talk about how they are driving new fronts in computing. The symposium will showcase some of the game-changing research supported by the MICDE Catalyst Grants program. Participants will also… Read More »

LSA prof creates digital archive of Chicana artifacts

By | February 10, 2020
0 Comment
CPMR logo over black & white photo of women

Maria Cotera, associate professor of American Culture and of women’s studies, is one of the founders of the Chicana por mi Raza Digital Memory Project. Launched in 2009, the project aims to preserve records of self-identified Chicana feminists by conducting interviews and digitizing artifacts in their personal collections. The repository has collected about 150 oral history interviews and… Read More »

Report finds gaps in access to career, technical ed programs

By | February 10, 2020
0 Comment
young man in blue sweatshire working at computer

A new U-M report detailing access to career and technical education programs in Michigan has found that while CTE courses are popular among high school students, there’s a gap in access to them. CTE courses prepare students to work in specific careers. Some enter the labor market right out of high school, while others enroll in college. Michigan’s… Read More »