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Upcoming Dissonance events explore the intersection of technology, art, and the environment

By | August 30, 2019
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Neil Harbisson & Moon Ribas

September 12, 2019: Cyborg Arts The Penny Stamps Speaker Series, along with co-sponsor Dissonance, presents Cyborg Arts, with Neil Harbisson and Moon Ribas. The artists ask us to consider: “What separates human beings from the technology we create and use?” The Catalan-based artists and self-identified cyborgs are influencers in the global cyborg art movement who use the internet as a sense to… Read More »

Reclaiming indigenous forms of knowledge through “ethno-computing”

By | August 29, 2019
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Ron Eglash in his office, alongside examples of fractals he's studied.

Ron Eglash, professor of information and of art and design, was recently featured in a wide-ranging interview on NPR affiliate WBEZ’s program Worldview. Eglash discusses his passion for bringing the sophisticated math and computing ideas at the center of cultural traditions to classroom settings to inspire underrepresented students to pursue studies in STEM fields.  According to Eglash, indigenous… Read More »

Facilitating a smooth technological transition for citizens returning from prison

By | August 16, 2019
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silhouette of man in window

Formerly incarcerated individuals—or returning citizens—struggle to find work and reintegrate due to a lack of digital literacy, according to a recently published article by U-M researchers. “For some returning citizens, there’s a ‘Rip Van Winkle effect’ when they are offered digital technology upon reentry,” said Kentaro Toyama, senior author of the study. Many returning citizens rely heavily on… Read More »

Advertising in apps: Decisions behind those targeted, sometimes invasive ads we see

By | August 15, 2019
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Animation of apps on a cell phone.

New research from the School of Information shows those who create the apps we use are not making decisions about which ads are attached to their apps, but they are picking which ad networks are used. And those often-arbitrary choices may be making us vulnerable to questionable ads and data privacy concerns. “Despite this reliance on ads, we… Read More »

Designing social technology for rural areas

By | August 12, 2019
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Jean Hardy UMSI

When we think about the technological divide between urban and rural communities, our minds likely go to infrastructure—a lack of a physical grid, wiring, or towers to connect those in remote communities. While this is a large part of the issue, School of Information doctoral student Jean Hardy says a bigger concern is the lack of innovation in the way… Read More »

U.S. universities confront a security storm in Congress

By | August 9, 2019
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Sol Bermann, U-M’s chief information security officer, is quoted in a recent article in “Science” magazine about legislation moving through Congress that aims to prevent foreign entities from taking unfair advantage of the traditionally open U.S. research system. Both House and Senate bills focus heavily on enhancing cybersecurity, seen as an essential tool in protecting intellectual property and… Read More »

The end of notetaking?

By | August 7, 2019
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College students at desks, taking notes.

In a recent article for “Inside Higher Ed,” Perry Samson, professor of atmospheric science at U-M, suggests that digital transcribing tools might free students up to do more beneficial things with their time in class. “Just as speech-to-text technologies like Amazon Alexa or Google Home can answer your questions in the kitchen about the latest news and weather… Read More »

“Mind reading” study connects spatial problem solving with computer science

By | August 6, 2019
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programmer at computer with headset connected to neural transmitters

A group of researchers led by engineering professor Westley Weimer and grad student Yu Huang used real-time fMRI readings to look inside coders’ brains while they program. This “mind reading” project studied whether manipulating data structures in a program (like balancing a tree) uses the same parts of the brain as spatial reasoning (rotating a map or turning… Read More »

Dearborn pairs sports and tech to keep young women dreaming big about STEM

By | August 2, 2019
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golf ball next to hole on putting green

The City of Westland and UM-Dearborn’s College of Engineering and Computer Science (CECS) have joined forces to create an innovative way to target STEM’s gender gap. “Studies have shown that the middle to high school transition is when some young women start shifting away from things like engineering and computer science,” says Jeanne Girard, director of Extended Learning… Read More »

U-M plans growth for Office of Academic Innovation

By | August 1, 2019
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The Office of Academic Innovation is staffing up in anticipation of a new initiative and a new investment to be announced this fall. The department aims to hire 40 people over the next few years, bringing the total staff count to about 100, says James DeVaney, associate vice provost for academic innovation. DeVaney also said that the university… Read More »

Recapping the 2019 Gameful Learning Summer Institute

By | July 29, 2019
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multicolored gaming dice on table next to Gameful Leaning card

For the past three years, the Office of Academic Innovation has hosted the Gameful Learning Summer Institute, an event focused on gameful pedagogies.  This year, more than 50 people from various backgrounds attended the three-day event at the Ross School of Business. Evan Straub, learning experience designer at Academic Innovation, organized this year’s event. With gameful learning, she… Read More »

Video: Interview with Sol Bermann, U-M CISO

By | July 24, 2019
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Sol Bermann

Sol Bermann, executive director of information assurance and chief information security officer (CISO) for U-M, was recently interviewed by “EDUCAUSE Review” about the growing need for privacy management, the policies and laws in place to protect our privacy, and how big data has changed the game. In a wide-ranging interview, Bermann discusses: The difference between a chief privacy… Read More »

First programmable memristor computer aims to bring AI processing down from the cloud

By | July 23, 2019
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hand holding memristor over circuit board

The first programmable memristor computer—not just a memristor array operated through an external computer—has been developed at U-M. It could lead to the processing of artificial intelligence directly on small, energy-constrained devices such as smartphones and sensors. A smartphone AI processor would mean that voice commands would no longer have to be sent to the cloud for interpretation,… Read More »

Bermann named Chief Information Security Officer

By | July 18, 2019
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headshot of Sol Bermann

Sol Bermann, J.D. was named executive director of Information Assurance and chief information security officer (CISO) for the University of Michigan in June 2019. He served as U-M’s interim chief information security officer during the 2014/15 and 2017/19 academic years. Since joining the university in 2011, Bermann has served as the university’s interim CISO, university privacy officer, and… Read More »