News Staff

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Author Archives: News Staff

U-M professor appointed to FDA medical device security post

By | February 10, 2021

There’s a good chance that your life will at some point depend on a piece of computer software. Lines of code drive pacemakers, insulin pumps, hospital imaging machines and just about every other electronic medical device that’s manufactured today. But where there’s software, there are hackers. And a steady stream of hospital ransomware attacks and other malicious activities… Read More »

U-M first university press named as Benetech Global Certified Accessible publisher

By | February 10, 2021

University of Michigan Press is now a Benetech Global Certified Accessible™ (GCA) publisher, and is the first university press to receive this certification. Benetech, a nonprofit that empowers communities with software for social good, issues this accreditation to those publishers who produce EPUBs that meet a full range of accessibility features required to support readers with and without disabilities… Read More »

Level up: Video games inspire new ‘living textbook’ for computational sciences

By | January 29, 2021

A new way of delivering course materials in the computational sciences aims to elevate the study experience from consuming static text and media to a conversation between the learner and the material. Called Mynerva, the cloud-based interactive textbook platform developed at U-M enables instructors to build their materials into video game-like journeys that unfold as the learner progresses.

U-M rolls out updated ResponsiBLUE app

By | January 20, 2021

The ResponsiBLUE application has been updated and expanded for the winter 2021 semester. U-M first launched ResponsiBLUE during the fall 2020 semester to contain the COVID-19 pandemic, aid in circulating public health knowledge, and ensure student safety. University Information and Technology Services developed ResponsiBLUE in partnership with the university leadership and the Office of Research. The app, which… Read More »

Inspired to create: U-M alumnae and the world of international tech start ups

By | January 15, 2021

When you think of tech startup companies, what comes to mind? Is it Silicon Valley, black turtlenecks, and billion-dollar IPOs? Or perhaps something about college drop-outs and the proverbial idiosyncrasies of “tech-bro culture”? While stereotypes can be helpful for getting the big picture of things, when you look more closely they’re often misleading caricatures, and this has proven especially true in the case of the tech industry.

Dell to be U-M’s new strategic supplier for computer hardware

By | January 14, 2021

Dell Technologies has been selected as U-M’s new strategic supplier for computer hardware, which includes laptops, PCs, monitors, keyboards and other equipment. The new contract goes into effect Jan. 18 and replaces the current HP contract. Dell was selected by a cross-functional team composed of representatives from the Ann Arbor, Dearborn and Flint campuses as well as Michigan… Read More »

Does Canvas allow faculty to track students online?

By | January 13, 2021

Learning management systems like Canvas allow faculty to see some student activity. But UM-Dearborn’s Coordinator of Digital Education Chris Casey says it’s far from being a surveillance system. The rumor he hears most often is that faculty can see if students open other browser tabs or websites outside of Canvas. “This one is definitely false,” Casey says, noting… Read More »

How computer science is changing education

By | January 12, 2021

U-M researchers are taking on the big challenges to integrating computing into everyone’s education: Under a grant from the National Science Foundation, Mark Guzdial, professor of electrical engineering and computer science, and his colleagues have launched a program that integrate the use of task-specific computer science tools that will allow high school students to build data visualizations into… Read More »

Hacking reality

By | January 12, 2021

Where does “computer” end, and “real world” begin? This line, separated so firmly in our minds by apps and user interfaces, is finer than it appears as our devices are under attack in new, increasingly sophisticated ways: microphones that “hear” light; microprocessors that “tell” us secrets; self-driving cars that “see” fake objects; sensors that “feel” the wrong temperature.… Read More »