News Staff

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Author Archives: News Staff

Halderman co-chairs new commission to protect Michigan votes

By | March 26, 2019

Michigan Secretary of State Jocelyn Benson recently announced a new Election Security Commission to be co-chaired by U-M professor of computer science and engineering J. Alex Halderman. His work in voting security and in particular electronic voting machines has positioned him as a preeminent expert in the field. Halderman has made multiple contributions to election security advocacy at… Read More »

MOOCs and the future of medical education

By | March 22, 2019

Massive open online courses (MOOCs) have been around, in one iteration or another, since 2006. In 2012, U-M joined the growing digital learning landscape, and Michigan Medicine was eager to try its hand. It’s been at it ever since. Michigan Online currently offers 11 health-related MOOCs from Michigan Medicine produced in collaboration with the Office of Academic Innovation.… Read More »

Great Lakes update: March 2019

By | March 21, 2019

The Great Lakes service is a next generation HPC platform for U-M researchers that will provide several performance advantages compared to Flux, primarily in the areas of storage and networking. ARC-TS recently shared additional details surrounding the timeline for Great Lakes as well as information about Early User testing. What is the current status of Great Lakes? Today, the… Read More »

Healthcare and Big Data

By | March 20, 2019

Jenna Wiens, an assistant professor of electrical engineering and computer science, leads the Machine Learning for Data-Driven Decisions research group. Her work focuses on developing the computational methods needed to help organize, process, and transform patient data into actionable knowledge. The Institute for Healthcare Policy & Innovation recently interviewed Wiens about her research and its practical implications for… Read More »

A2 Data Dive March 23

By | March 19, 2019

Date: Sat, 03/23/2019, noon to 5:30 p.m. Location: North Quad 2255 An afternoon-long data “hackathon” that brings together novice and experienced data scientists to help local non-profits become more effective. The A2 Data Dive will start at noon with an introduction and lunch. Participants will then break out in teams and work together on the data for the rest… Read More »

UMSI researchers recognized with 3 Best Paper awards at 2019 CHI Conference

By | March 18, 2019

U-M School of Information faculty and PhD students have earned three Best Paper and five Honorable Mention designations at the 2019 ACM CHI Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems. Best Paper awards go to the top one percent of accepted papers at ACM CHI, the premiere international conference on Human-Computer Interaction. This year’s conference takes place May 4-9 in… Read More »

U-M launches health study using Apple Watch

By | March 15, 2019

Consumers are increasingly turning to wearable devices to learn more about everything from their heart rate to sleep quality. Yet, the question remains: what can all of this data tell us about people’s overall health? U-M has launched a study to discover if data collected on Apple Watch, combined with other health information, can provide insight into health,… Read More »

Report: Top universities in U.S. targeted by Chinese hackers

By | March 14, 2019

U-M CIO Ravi Pendse was quoted in a recent article about how new cybersecurity intelligence suggests that Chinese hackers are ramping up their efforts to steal military research secrets from U.S. universities. According to a report in “The Wall Street Journal,” Chinese hackers targeted institutions and researchers with expertise in undersea technology as part of a coordinated cybercampaign… Read More »

Alumni Association launches new Alumni Education Gateway

By | March 14, 2019

The Alumni Association of the University of Michigan recently announced the launch of the Alumni Education Gateway, where more than 3,000 pieces of content from U-M await exploration. Developed with the goal of housing many of the digital resources of U-M’s schools and colleges in one place, the website allows users to find it all in one easy, curated… Read More »

Using simulation to develop leaders

By | March 13, 2019

Every year, the U-M Sanger Leadership Center runs two high-pressure business simulations called Leadership Crisis Challenges. Student teams play the roles of senior business executives who find themselves in the middle of a business and media crisis that unfolds throughout one night via emails, phone calls, and social media updates. A well-designed simulation like the LCC is very… Read More »

Academic Innovation Student Showcase April 11

By | March 13, 2019

Join us Thursday, April 11 from 1:15 p.m. to 4:30 p.m. at Palmer Commons (100 Washtenaw Ave) for the Academic Innovation Student Showcase, where we will hear from the student fellows that drive innovation within our office. The Academic Innovation Student Showcase is an opportunity for student fellows to share the projects they have been working on throughout their experience with the Office… Read More »

U-M part of network to build public interest technology field

By | March 12, 2019

The University of Michigan has joined the Public Interest Technology University Network, a new partnership of 21 colleges and universities dedicated to building the nascent field of public interest technology and growing a new generation of civic-minded technologists. Started by the Ford Foundation, Hewlett Foundation, and New America, the network represents a powerful alignment across sectors as part… Read More »

Does social media really make a difference in vaccination rates?

By | March 8, 2019

Social media companies face increasing scrutiny for amplifying fringe anti-vaccine sentiment amid measles outbreaks in several states like Washington. In response, Facebook, YouTube and Pinterest recently made headlines by announcing initiatives to reduce vaccine misinformation on their platforms. Brendan Nyhan, a professor of public policy at the Ford School, recently wrote in “The New York Times” that while… Read More »

Two solutions for GPU efficiency can boost AI performance

By | March 8, 2019

Graphics Processing Units (GPUs) have been getting a big workout from new advancements in AI because they offer significant performance boosts thanks to their parallel computing capabilities. GPUs are employed by large computing clusters to handle huge datasets for deep learning applications. Achieving cost-effectiveness in these clusters relies on efficiently sharing resources between multiple users. However, these systems… Read More »

LSA courses pilot new iClicker Reef system

By | March 7, 2019

Since the beginning of the academic year, several LSA classes have been participating in a pilot program of iClicker Reef, a new student response system from Macmillan Learning, to ask a wider variety of questions than traditional iClicker remotes. This pilot program is being used to help the LSA Instructional Support Services weigh in on what advantages the… Read More »

Your hard drive may be listening

By | March 7, 2019

If you are already nervous about computer attacks, here’s some unwelcome news: there are many ways in which our technology is vulnerable based on physics, rather than on software. At the American Association for the Advancement of Science conference in mid-February, U-M computer scientist Kevin Fu and his colleagues reported a scary find: your computer hard drive could—without… Read More »

Election security: Halderman recommends actions to ensure integrity of U.S. systems

By | March 6, 2019

J. Alex Halderman, a U-M professor of computer science and engineering, testified on February 27 in front of the US House Appropriations Subcommittee on Financial Service and General Government, urging lawmakers to approve additional funding for election cybersecurity prior to the upcoming 2020 elections. Halderman described the need as critical, citing two years of investigation by Congress and… Read More »