News Staff

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

Author Archives: News Staff

Gupta Family Hackathon spurs health communication innovation

By | March 30, 2018

The first-ever Gupta Family Hackathon for Health Communication brought together more than 120 participants over the weekend of March 23-25 to help address real-world problems related to health communication. The result: 30 new solutions, from apps and websites to devices and electronic medical record innovations. Four of those ideas emerged as winners, but all hold the potential to keep moving forward toward… Read More »

‘Big Tech’ isn’t one big monopoly

By | March 26, 2018

Concern about Facebook’s power in society – and in politics – has skyrocketed in the wake of revelations that users’ data was used in targeted political ads in advance of the 2016 U.S. presidential election. Other tech giants have also sparked concern: Google, Apple, Amazon, and Microsoft have all faced objections from users, the public, and even government agencies. But in a recent article, Amanda Lotz,… Read More »

Parenting, tweens, and tech

By | March 22, 2018

According to a new report from the C.S. Mott Children’s Hospital National Poll on Children’s Health, parents may struggle balancing the need for independence with appropriate supervision as children hit the “tween” stage between early elementary grades and the teenage years. And modern technology has changed the ground rules. Nearly all parents of tweens ages 9-12 agree that… Read More »

March 23 Press Play Game Night

By | March 20, 2018

We’re turning the Computer Showcase into an arcade! Join us at the Michigan Union for a very special, after-hours event: Press Play | Game Night Friday, March 23, 2018 No cost and no advance registration required. Just drop by and play! Super Smash Bros Melee 6–10 p.m. Our friends at Arbor eSports are hosting a BYOC Smash tournament with pro and amateur… Read More »

Academic Innovation events for spring and summer

By | March 16, 2018

The Office of Academic Innovation has several events scheduled so far for spring and summer. Also, there’s still time to enroll for the Teach-Out starting on March 26: Augmented Reality, Virtual Reality, and Mixed Reality: Opportunities and Issues. AIM Analytics: Using Big Data to Understand Factors that Affect Student Success in STEM Join us on Monday, March 19 from… Read More »

Reflecting on the original “Big Idea” for MOOCs

By | March 14, 2018

In an guest post for Inside Higher Ed, James DeVaney, associate vice provost for academic innovation, writes that the real innovation of the MOOC (massive online open courses) era is not the unbundling of academic degrees that first captured massive attention, but rather the re-bundling that results from serious academic R&D—the creation of new communities and credentials for all levels.… Read More »

University announces first online degrees through Coursera

By | March 9, 2018

Online learners may soon have three new U-M master’s degree options through a partnership with Coursera. In a joint announcement with the online platform, the School of Information said its Master of Applied Data Science under development will build upon the school’s leadership in offering programing courses online, including several on Coursera.  The Master of Public Health offering from the School… Read More »

New center to promote social media responsibility, tackle fake news

By | March 7, 2018

School of Information experts are sounding the alarm on a potential information apocalypse, a state when fake news and altered videos on social media and elsewhere effectively end social reality as we know it. To address this growing concern and bring some of the brightest minds together to brainstorm creative solutions, U-M has formed the School of Information… Read More »

How AI will affect the financial industry in 2018

By | March 5, 2018

Over the last few years, artificial intelligence has helped push the envelope in terms of technological advancements in the financial industry. For example, consumers can use facial recognition to log in to financial apps and use voice commands to check their balances. In an article on Forbes.com, Jason Mars, a computer science professor at U-M and the CEO of Clinc,… Read More »

U-M launches Data Science Master’s Program

By | March 2, 2018

U-M’s new, interdisciplinary Data Science Master’s Program is taking applications for its first group of students. The program is aimed at teaching participants how to extract useful knowledge from massive datasets using computational and statistical techniques. The program is a collaboration between the College of Engineering (EECS), the College of Literature Science and the Arts (Statistics), the School of Public… Read More »

Data vs. gerrymandering

By | March 1, 2018

Pennsylvania’s congressional map was among the most gerrymandered in history. Experts like LSA political science professor Jowei Chen used data analyis and computer modeling to help change that situation. Chen’s computer programs create alternative maps based on a series of geographic constraints: maps that are compact in shape, preserve county and municipal boundaries, and have equal populations. They’re drawn,… Read More »

CSE faculty named 2018 Sloan Research Fellow

By | February 22, 2018

Jia Deng, assistant professor of computer science and engineering, is one of four U-M researchers who have been named 2018 Sloan Research Fellows. Deng directs the College of Engineering’s Vision & Learning Lab. His research focus is on computer vision and machine learning, in particular, achieving human-level visual understanding by integrating perception, cognition, and learning. The researchers are part… Read More »

Call for proposals: 2018 Gameful Learning Summer Institute

By | February 21, 2018

Last July, the Gameful Learning Summer Institute (GLSI) brought faculty, teachers, instructional designers, administrators, staff, and students together from around the world to learn about gameful ideas and how to design a course from a gameful perspective. Based on positive feedback from attendees and adoption of gameful ideas, the Office of Academic Innovation’s Gameful Learning Lab will host… Read More »

Robots with personality seem more trustworthy

By | February 16, 2018

As more robots are showing up in all kinds of jobs, organizations must figure out how to successfully integrate human and robot co-workers. But how? According to a recent study co-authored by School of Information associate professor Lionel Robert, it’s by making robots more like people. The study, “Human-Robot Similarity and Willingness to Work with a Robotic Co-worker,” found that… Read More »

The coming death of facts?

By | February 16, 2018

Aviv Ovadya, chief technologist at the School of Information’s Center for Social Media Responsibility, cautions that technology and social media that can be used to enhance and distort what is real is evolving faster than our ability to understand and control or mitigate it. “I’m from the free and open source culture,” he says. “The goal isn’t to… Read More »

To fight fatal infections, hospitals may turn to algorithms

By | February 14, 2018

Jenna Wiens, a computer scientist and assistant professor of engineering at U-M, helped create an algorithm to predict a patient’s risk of developing a C-diff infection (CDI), one of the deadliest killers in American hospitals. The algorithm uses a form of artificial intelligence called machine learning to extract warning signs of disease from patients’ vital signs and other health records—constellations of symptoms, circumstances,… Read More »

UM-Dearborn software lab announces industry partnership

By | February 9, 2018

UM-Dearborn professor Marouane Kessentini founded Search-Based Software Engineering (SBSE) research lab five years ago with the goal of innovative software development. Now, through a partnership with software company Sema, Kessentini is seeing the impact the SBSE lab is making for the university, in students’ lives, and in the software industry. Through the partnership, the U-M Office of Technology Transfer licensed four… Read More »

The ‘huh?’ button

By | February 9, 2018

Perry Samson, a professor of climate and space sciences and engineering, has been teaching at U-M for 38 years. In his early teaching years, Samson thought that getting through a lecture without students asking many questions was a sign of a job well done. Samson says he has since come to realize that silence in class often indicates student… Read More »