News Staff

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

Author Archives: News Staff

Video games help rehab patients

By | August 12, 2017

At first glance, the Michigan Medicine Inpatient Rehabilitation Computer Therapy Lab might appear to be all fun and games. That’s the intent. Many of the rehabilitation programs developed in the lab are based on gaming technologies — and designed to get patients active and engaged. Such patients include those recovering from strokes as well as spinal cord and head injuries.… Read More »

Tableau to end upgrade support for Windows 32-bit systems

By | August 11, 2017

Starting with Tableau 10.5 this fall, new versions of Tableau will only run on 64-bit operating systems. The upcoming release, Tableau 10.4, will be the last version of Tableau Desktop, Tableau Reader, and Tableau Public to support 32-bit Windows operating systems. (Mac users will be unaffected by this change.) Focusing on 64-bit operating system will allow faster new… Read More »

Teaching love of science from the ground up

By | August 11, 2017

In a high school classroom in Lima, Peru, a group of students are programming a 3-D printer. Later on, the students—who until then have not had previous programming experience—will be learning to code with Python, eventually building tech projects with social impact. It’s all part of United Technologies for Kids (UTK), an NGO startup that U-M sophomore Giuliana… Read More »

UM-Dearborn offers new data science grad program

By | August 4, 2017

A new UM-Dearborn graduate program will teach students how to effectively process, analyze, and use massive data collections. The 30-credit-hour Master of Science in Data Science degree teaches students how to locate relevant data, clean it, manage it, analyze it, interpret it and use insights drawn from it. Housed in the College of Engineering and Computer Science (CECS)… Read More »

U-M, SJTU share $1 million to study data science

By | August 3, 2017

Five research teams from U-M and Shanghai Jiao Tong University in China are sharing $1 million to study data science and its impact on air quality, galaxy clusters, lightweight metals, financial trading and renewable energy. Since 2009, the two universities have collaborated on a number of research projects that address challenges and opportunities in energy, biomedicine, nanotechnology, and… Read More »

Gaming vs. gamification in the classroom

By | July 27, 2017

Used in conjunction with books and lectures, sophisticated educational games designed for college classrooms can offer active learning that some instructors say is hard to replicate in a traditional classroom. Still, not every professor who believes well-designed games are valuable in education uses video games in courses. Barry Fishman, a professor in the School of Information and the School… Read More »

U-M invests in advanced transportation technologies

By | July 26, 2017

An optimal travel planning search engine and a cognitive computing solution for autonomous driving were among the seven technologies that will receive $600,000 from U-M’s Michigan Translational Research and Commercialization Statewide Innovation Hub to continue their advancement into the commercial market. The advanced transportation innovation hub is part of a statewide initiative, in partnership with the Michigan Economic Development Corporation’s… Read More »

The promise of learning data interoperability

By | July 25, 2017

Students and instructors use multiple systems and applications every day that collect vast amounts of data about learners. However, much of the information produced by the current learning data ecosystem is poorly understood and poorly utilized. In a recent article for Educause, Sean DeMonner, executive director of teaching and learning for ITS, and two colleagues from the University of… Read More »

Better writing through automation

By | July 20, 2017

This fall, U-M will test whether an automated text analysis tool can help integrate more writing into large introductory science courses without imposing significant new time constraints. The tool is the latest addition to M-Write, a program run by the Gayle Morris Sweetland Center for Writing. Anne R. Gere, professor of English language and literature who serves as director of the… Read More »

Social media “faux friendships” could harm health

By | July 20, 2017

As people spend more time on social media, the lack of true friendship or in-person connections could be harming their health. Robert Pasick—a psychologist, author, and adjunct professor at the Ross School of Business—says the lack of authentic, in-person connections can lead to health problems, or even early death. According to Pasick, social media sites, like Facebook, are giving… Read More »

Michigan IT News wants YOU!

By | July 10, 2017

Michigan IT News is published by and for the U-M IT community to provide updates, answer questions, and spark conversation about how to improve IT services and invest in technologies that support U-M’s current and future needs. We are guided by a dedicated group of Michigan IT staff who make sure we keep focused on the issues, interests, and developments that… Read More »

Register for free diversity, equity, and inclusion courses

By | July 6, 2017

Courses to support U-M’s diversity, equity, and inclusion initiative are available now at no cost to teams or departments. Many of the courses are located at the Administrative Services Building in Learning and Professional Development (LPD). Browse the courses below and talk to your supervisor about registering—space is limited. Learn more and see upcoming sessions at hr.umich.edu/diversity. Business… Read More »

Halderman testifies in Senate’s Russia probe

By | June 28, 2017

J. Alex Halderman (second from right), professor of electrical engineering and computer science, testified before the U.S. Senate Select Committee on Intelligence at a June 21 hearing titled “Russian Interference in the 2016 U.S. Election.” It focused on the federal government’s role in safeguarding U.S. elections from outside interference. Halderman emphasized that “our highly computerized election infrastructure is vulnerable… Read More »

Data and your online identity

By | June 27, 2017

John Cheney-Lippold, assistant professor of American culture at U-M and author of the book We Are Data: Algorithms and the Making of Our Digital Selves, helps explain the difference between data that is trying to sell you a product, and data that truly knows who you are as a person. “I think we should take the idea of U.S. privacy… Read More »

Mcity uses AR to help test automated vehicles

By | June 27, 2017

A research team in U-M’s Mcity Michigan Traffic Lab led by Professor Henry Liu has developed an augmented reality (AR) system that enables engineers and researchers to evaluate challenging and dangerous scenarios in a safe environment. The traffic lab controls all of the signalling and tracks the vehicles on the facility. It collects and archives data from those… Read More »

Upcoming teach-outs address how tech affects our lives

By | June 23, 2017

  Two of the four new teach-outs scheduled for August and September will focus on technological advances that have changed the way we live: The evolution of the Internet and impact on our lives and society. Privacy and identity in a Big Data era. President Mark Schlissel launched the series in March as part of an Academic Innovation Initiative.… Read More »

Free Microsoft Azure workshop July 12

By | June 21, 2017

U-M College of Engineering, in partnership with the M Cloud and the Microsoft Azure Education teams, will hold a free, hands-on, cloud computing workshop July 12. Register today to learn about Azure cloud services and how they can help provide more efficiency for dev/test, production, and backup of your applications and services. Whether your focus is big data, big… Read More »

U-M participates with Help Desk Institute

By | June 16, 2017

Lisa Callihan (LSA IT customer experience manager) presented at the HDI 2017 (Help Desk Institute) conference on May 11 in Washington D.C. Her presentation, Implementing a Major Incident Process, focused on the work she did in creating and implementing the ITS Significant Incident process used today. HDI is the professional association and certification body for the technical service and… Read More »