A cautious approach to tech innovation
UMSI professor Kentaro Toyama, suggests slowing the pace of technological innovation to allow for cost and benefit conversations.
Category Archives: Campus News
Facilitating a smooth technological transition for citizens returning from prison
Formerly incarcerated individuals—or returning citizens—struggle to find work and reintegrate due to a lack of digital literacy, according to a recently published article by U-M researchers. “For some returning citizens, there’s a ‘Rip Van Winkle effect’ when they are offered digital technology upon reentry,” said Kentaro Toyama, senior author of the study. Many returning citizens rely heavily on… Read More »
Advertising in apps: Decisions behind those targeted, sometimes invasive ads we see
New research from the School of Information shows those who create the apps we use are not making decisions about which ads are attached to their apps, but they are picking which ad networks are used. And those often-arbitrary choices may be making us vulnerable to questionable ads and data privacy concerns. “Despite this reliance on ads, we… Read More »
Deploying technology, enhancing care: Q&A with Carleen Penoza
Carleen Penoza became Michigan Medicine’s chief nursing informatics officer in April. As CNIO, she leads the strategic planning and deployment of technology for nursing. She previously served as the director of inpatient applications and interim senior director for clinical and operational applications in Health Information Technology & Services (HITS). Michigan Medicine Headlines recently caught up with Penoza to… Read More »
Michigan Medicine makes AI, machine learning a top tech priority
The academic medical center of the University of Michigan is leveraging investments in artificial intelligence, machine learning, and advanced analytics to unlock the value of its health data. According to Andrew Rosenberg, chief information officer for Michigan Medicine, the organization currently has 34 ongoing AI and machine learning projects, 28 of which have principal investigators. “There’s a lot… Read More »
Designing social technology for rural areas
When we think about the technological divide between urban and rural communities, our minds likely go to infrastructure—a lack of a physical grid, wiring, or towers to connect those in remote communities. While this is a large part of the issue, School of Information doctoral student Jean Hardy says a bigger concern is the lack of innovation in the way… Read More »
U.S. universities confront a security storm in Congress
Sol Bermann, U-M’s chief information security officer, is quoted in a recent article in “Science” magazine about legislation moving through Congress that aims to prevent foreign entities from taking unfair advantage of the traditionally open U.S. research system. Both House and Senate bills focus heavily on enhancing cybersecurity, seen as an essential tool in protecting intellectual property and… Read More »
IT helps transform medical student’s learning experience
First-year medical student Jacob Lowy has moderate-to-severe hearing loss in his right ear. Working together, HITS, ITS, and other units on campus leveraged IT that has transformed his experience—including adding captions to lecture videos and setting up realtime captioning (CART) during lectures. Lowy realizes that when something isn’t visible, it’s not always easy to understand. This often happens… Read More »
The end of notetaking?
In a recent article for “Inside Higher Ed,” Perry Samson, professor of atmospheric science at U-M, suggests that digital transcribing tools might free students up to do more beneficial things with their time in class. “Just as speech-to-text technologies like Amazon Alexa or Google Home can answer your questions in the kitchen about the latest news and weather… Read More »
“Mind reading” study connects spatial problem solving with computer science
A group of researchers led by engineering professor Westley Weimer and grad student Yu Huang used real-time fMRI readings to look inside coders’ brains while they program. This “mind reading” project studied whether manipulating data structures in a program (like balancing a tree) uses the same parts of the brain as spatial reasoning (rotating a map or turning… Read More »
American College of Clinical Pharmacy recognizes HITS employee’s work
Chris Zimmerman, HITS electronic health record clinical decision support coordinator and informatics pharmacist, is now a co-author of the Pharmacotherapy Self-Assessment Program (PSAP). A compilation of chapters, the PSAP provides a means for thousands of pharmacists nationally to maintain their board certification in various specialty areas. The PSAP also forms a cutting edge education tool for pharmacists to… Read More »
Dearborn pairs sports and tech to keep young women dreaming big about STEM
The City of Westland and UM-Dearborn’s College of Engineering and Computer Science (CECS) have joined forces to create an innovative way to target STEM’s gender gap. “Studies have shown that the middle to high school transition is when some young women start shifting away from things like engineering and computer science,” says Jeanne Girard, director of Extended Learning… Read More »
U-M plans growth for Office of Academic Innovation
The Office of Academic Innovation is staffing up in anticipation of a new initiative and a new investment to be announced this fall. The department aims to hire 40 people over the next few years, bringing the total staff count to about 100, says James DeVaney, associate vice provost for academic innovation. DeVaney also said that the university… Read More »
Rematch 2019! ITS v. HITS Backpack Challenge Fundraiser
For several years, ITS has hosted a “backpack challenge” to deliver fully stocked backpacks to local organizations that serve families in the Ann Arbor/Ypsilanti area that struggle economically. Last year, for the first time, ITS invited their colleagues from HITS to a backpack challenge to see which group could raise the most supplies and cash. The 2018 goal… Read More »
August 9: Fifth annual ITS Intern Showcase
Attend the ITS Intern Showcase at the Michigan League on August 9 to learn from ITS’s 47 interns, fellows, and academy interns.
A step closer toward molecular computers
Heat transfer through a single molecule has been measured for the first time by an international team of researchers led by the University of Michigan. This could be a step toward molecular computing—building circuits up from molecules rather than carving them out of silicon as a way to max out Moore’s Law and make the most powerful conventional… Read More »
Video: Interview with Sol Bermann, U-M CISO
Sol Bermann, executive director of information assurance and chief information security officer (CISO) for U-M, was recently interviewed by “EDUCAUSE Review” about the growing need for privacy management, the policies and laws in place to protect our privacy, and how big data has changed the game. In a wide-ranging interview, Bermann discusses: The difference between a chief privacy… Read More »
First programmable memristor computer aims to bring AI processing down from the cloud
The first programmable memristor computer—not just a memristor array operated through an external computer—has been developed at U-M. It could lead to the processing of artificial intelligence directly on small, energy-constrained devices such as smartphones and sensors. A smartphone AI processor would mean that voice commands would no longer have to be sent to the cloud for interpretation,… Read More »
LSA Technology Services announces new directors
LSA Technology Services continues to evolve in how it provides integrated solutions and technology services to faculty, staff, and students. On July 1, the organization was restructured to better achieve its strategic goals. As part of that effort, LSA CIO Cathy Curley announced a new leadership team: Mark Bacon, Operational Effectiveness Pat Belden, Web and Application Development Services Monika… Read More »
Bermann named Chief Information Security Officer
Sol Bermann, J.D. was named executive director of Information Assurance and chief information security officer (CISO) for the University of Michigan in June 2019. He served as U-M’s interim chief information security officer during the 2014/15 and 2017/19 academic years. Since joining the university in 2011, Bermann has served as the university’s interim CISO, university privacy officer, and… Read More »