Wendy Skinner, like thousands of K-12 Michigan teachers, wasn’t sure where to turn when the Michigan Department of Education released its “Learning at a Distance” guidelines in early April which required teachers to continue student learning at home during the pandemic. Looking for guidance, Skinner attended a webinar on the Collabrify Roadmap Platform. Roadmaps, developed by the Center… Read More »
Students in a Michigan Engineering spring/summer course called “Software against COVID-19,” taught by David Chesney, are working on six projects to help people during the COVID-19 pandemic. The course is usually called “Software for Accessibility,” but Chesney, the Toby Teorey Collegiate Lecturer in Electrical Engineering and Computer Science, decided to offer this special session from May through August. … Read More »
Sarah Keane, an assistant professor at the University of Michigan, was chosen by the Pew Charitable Trust to join the Pew Scholars program in the Biomedical Sciences. Keane is one of only 22 early-career researchers to be selected for the program. Keane and other scholars will receive funding for four years to invest in foundational research in pursuit… Read More »
On May 28, 2020, the XR Initiative brought faculty and staff from the University of Michigan and institutions across the globe to explore how Extended Reality (XR) could be used to deliver hybrid teaching and learning during a four-hour teaching symposium. More than 150 people attended the symposium to share learning goals and objectives for their areas of… Read More »
Although there are many benefits to the smart internet of things (IoT), like being able to ask a speaker questions and receive immediate answers, security and privacy for these devices remain a challenge. To address this, a team of researchers from seven universities will work together on a national research project on the life cycle of security, privacy,… Read More »
Prof. Herbert Winful has been given the IEEE Photonics Society Quantum Electronics Award “for pioneering the field of nonlinear optical periodic structures and for foundational contributions to nonlinear dynamics of semiconductor laser arrays.” Herbert Winful is a professor of electrical engineering, computer science, and physics at U-M. He earned a BS degree in electrical engineering from MIT in… Read More »
![A heat map of thermogenic fat cells [artistic rendering]. (Image courtesy of Life Sciences Institute, multimedia designer Rajani Arora.)](https://michigan.it.umich.edu/news/wp-content/uploads/2020/06/u-m-researchers-identify-new-approach-to-turning-on-the-heat-in-energy-burning-fat-cells-LEAD-scaled-1-200x140.jpg)
Researchers at the University of Michigan have discovered a new set of signals that cells send and receive to prompt one type of fat cell to convert fat into heat. The signaling pathway was found in mice and has potential implications for activating this same type of thermogenic fat in humans. Thermogenic fat cells, also known as beige… Read More »
Lei Ying, a professor of electrical engineering and computer science, is developing algorithms to quickly and accurately identify COVID-19 “patient zero” and reconstruct the virus’s path with limited information. Ying’s approach combines big data, network science, and stochastic systems, using information such as human mobility data, social network data, and genetic network analysis to track the spread of… Read More »
University of Michigan students from the Ann Arbor, Dearborn, and Flint campuses have free access for a limited time to more than 4,000 learning experiences from top universities and industries through the new Coursera for Campus initiative. With more than 70% of the world’s students impacted by the coronavirus pandemic, Coursera worked with its partners, including U-M, to provide free… Read More »
The first step of preparation for hybrid teaching, with some in-person time and some remote time, is to plan what activities will have the strongest impact done synchronously (live, at the same time). Synchronous time, whether in-person or via videoconference, is a precious resource in hybrid courses. Do not use your synchronous time for extended lectures, demonstrations, or… Read More »
The model is a practical method for robots to look for target items in complex, realistic environments. Robots can learn how to find things faster by learning how different objects around the house are related, according to work from the University of Michigan. A new model provides robots with a visual search strategy that can teach them to… Read More »
The virtual interviewer uses therapeutic writing techniques to help users cope with difficult situations. A virtual interviewer powered by natural language processing offers socially-distanced support for people facing trying times. The dialogue system, designed by a collaborative team from the University of Michigan and the University of Texas at Austin, takes inspiration from counseling strategies like motivational interviewing… Read More »
Accessible materials are a good basic practice precisely because they are often easier for all students to understand and process. Creating accessible materials helps all learners in your course and provides them with equal access to course materials and learning opportunities. Digital accessibility like consistent semantic markup and clean links makes it easier for everyone to navigate and… Read More »
ECE Senior Electronics Technician Jesse Cross and MSEL Assistant Director Shawn Simone both have their assigned 50-pound MakerBot Replicator 3D printers running on their kitchen tables. Senior engineering technician Matt Brown figured out the basement was the best place to muffle the printer’s regular “beeps and boops.” And Engineering Technician Josh Postell tucked his in a spare bedroom… Read More »
Aerospace Department Chair Anthony Waas was awarded the American Society of Engineers Warner T Koiter Medal. The American Society of Mechanical Engineers Warner T. Koiter Medal recognizes distinguished contributions to the field of solid mechanics with an emphasis on the effective blending of theoretical and applied elements and a high degree of leadership in the international solid mechanics… Read More »
Transitioning to online lecturing may seem daunting at first, but LSA Learning and Teaching Technology Consultants have shared some tricks and tips for making it easier. According to the consultants, recording an hour-long lecture with slides to mimic a typical, in-person meeting reduces information retention and effectiveness of the instruction. Instead, lecturers should consider making shorter video lectures… Read More »
High-touch, hands-on engagement programs are continuing to connect students with community organizations by finding more creative ways to serve and offer programming. Although COVID-19 has paused and scrambled many engagement activities and programs, Leaders of Project Community in the Department of Sociology; Citizen Interaction Design out of the School of Information; the College of Literature, Science, and the… Read More »
In the midst of the COVID-19 pandemic, many jurisdictions have been examining new voting technologies for the upcoming presidential election. It appears, however, that these technologies are not secure. University of Michigan and MIT election security researchers have found vulnerabilities in OmniBallot, an internet voting and ballot delivery system which 14 states are either using or plan to… Read More »
This MiXR Studios podcast explores nuclear engineering and the recreation of the decommissioned Ford Nuclear Reactor in virtual reality with Brendan Kochunas, assistant professor of Nuclear Engineering and Radiological Sciences at U-M. In 2003, the Ford Nuclear Reactor was decommissioned. This forced U-M students to find and visit other reactors for hands-on learning. To enhance the learning goals… Read More »
Ph.D. student Trevor Odelberg received a National Defense Science and Engineering Graduate Fellowship for his research on low power circuits and devices. By combining low-power energy circuits with energy harvesting systems, the need for battery replacements (and batteries altogether) can be reduced, enabling new applications in big data and The Internet of Things. “It’s just physically impossible to… Read More »