CS undergrad Ryan O’Connor led front-end development on a major update to Long Island Rail Road’s TrainTime app, helping the country’s biggest commuter line offer socially distanced service. At a time when taking the train is more stressful than ever, CS undergrad Ryan O’Connor helped roll out a major app update to keep Long Island commuters safe and… Read More »
U-M engineers create centimeter-sized robots capable of more than ever before. Origami principles can unlock the potential of the smallest robots, enhancing speed, agility and control in machines no more than a centimeter in size. U-M researchers have demonstrated that behavioral rules underpinning the Japanese art of folding can expand the capabilities of these machines, creating potential for… Read More »
As the Mars 2020 launch approaches, a separate effort is using simulations to understand landing dynamics for tomorrow’s missions. Future spacecrafts bound for the moon or beyond will benefit from high-powered computer simulations underway at the University of Michigan that model the particulate mayhem set in motion by rocket thruster-powered landings. During descent, exhaust plumes fluidize surface soil… Read More »
Drastically reducing the power and computation needed to identify our intentions, researchers open up a future of advanced therapies and machines enabled by our thoughts. By tuning into a subset of brain waves, University of Michigan researchers have dramatically reduced the power requirements of neural interfaces while improving their accuracy—a discovery that could lead to long-lasting brain implants… Read More »
In an effort to improve large touchscreens, LED light panels and window-mounted infrared solar cells, a team of researchers at U-M has made plastic conductive while also making it more transparent. They provide a recipe to help other researchers find the best balance between conductivity and transparency by creating a three-layer anti-reflection surface. The conductive metal layer is… Read More »
The University of Michigan Aerospace Engineering Department’s Plasmadynamics and Electric Propulsion Laboratory (PEPL) is developing the next-generation of Hall thruster technology that may one day propel the first human missions to Mars. A Hall thruster is a form of electric space propulsion that replaces conventional rockets with a stream of charged ions that can propel a spacecraft for… Read More »
In the aftermath of the killing of George Floyd and other recent incidents of police brutality, a coalition of Black computer scientists drafted an open letter calling for action in the computing community to address systemic and structural inequities Chad Jenkins, a roboticist and associate professor of computer science and engineering at the University of Michigan, is among… Read More »
With many students facing the cancellation of their summer plans to work as engineering interns, the Multidisciplinary Design Program has rushed to fill the gap. Cobbling together resources from inside and outside U-M, the program team created 54 paid internships and research fellowships, and 30 additional unpaid positions each mentored by U-M faculty. The Multidisciplinary Design Program (MDP)… Read More »
Tiny wireless sensors for recycled N95 masks could verify, in real time, whether the respirators are being exposed to proper decontamination conditions. These batteryless sensors are being developed and tested at the University of Michigan through a new National Science Foundation RAPID COVID-19 grant. They are designed to provide more accurate and less cumbersome monitoring during the decontamination… Read More »
Kevin Field, associate professor in the U-M Department of Nuclear Engineering and Radiological Sciences (NERS), has been awarded funding for research as part of the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) Office of Science’s Early Career Research Program. Field is a nuclear materials scientist with expertise in advanced alloy development and radiation effects in material systems relevant for nuclear… Read More »
On a volunteer trip to northern Uganda, Deep Patel witnessed first-hand the debilitating effects that energy poverty has on people and society. As a result, Deep decided he needed to help end the energy crisis. Deep’s path to fulfill his purpose has brought him to the U-M Department of Nuclear Engineering and Radiological Sciences (NERS), where he is… Read More »
Tandem, a tool that helps track and facilitate group projects, has received the University of Michigan Provost’s Teaching Innovation Prize. Tandem was developed by the Center for Academic Innovation and Michigan Engineering. Robin Fowler, a lecturer in the Department of Engineering, and one of the faculty leads who helped develop Tandem. She is talking about Tandem at the… Read More »
A team of students at the College of Engineering have developed an online tool called “MI Symptoms” to help Michigan residents track potential COVID-19 symptoms, enabling state officials and employers to make the right call about reopening workplaces during the pandemic. Among the web application’s key audiences are employers who will need to make sure they’re correctly following… Read More »
The U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) is awarding $65 million to support 93 projects spread across 28 different states. The U-M department of Nuclear Engineering and Radiological Sciences (NERS) has received $1,883,668 to fund seven projects to advance nuclear technology. The awards are through two DOE programs: the Nuclear Energy University Program (NEUP) and the Nuclear Energy Enabling… Read More »
A team of researchers from the University of Michigan, Microsoft Research, and Carnegie Mellon have created Armada, a system that uses a technique called formal verification to prove whether a piece of software will output what it is designed to produce without bugs. Armada targets software that uses concurrent execution, a method of performance boosting, and passes systems… Read More »
After more than forty years of experience in institutional and global service, Prof. Nikolaos Katopodes’s CV lists a litany of awards, presentations, visiting professorships, and publications. Katopodes earned his BSc from Aristotle University in Thessaloniki, Greece, before receiving his MS and PhD in Engineering at the University of California at Davis. Following his service in the Greek Army… Read More »
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 »
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 »
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 »