Tag Archives: engineering

One-credit class for curious students with no CS background

By | August 4, 2020

Discover Computer Science provides a basic background in all the skills a student needs to pursue further education in computing. If you’re intrigued by computing but afraid to dive in, an introductory course returning this fall may be just what you need. EECS 198: Discover Computer Science is a one-credit course designed for curious students with no programming… Read More »

Student developer builds commuters a safer, more accurate train app

By | July 31, 2020

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 »

Sticking the landing on Mars: High-powered computing aims to reduce guesswork

By | July 30, 2020

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 »

New Master of Engineering provides professional training for industry-track students

By | July 28, 2020

A new Master of Engineering (MEng) in Electrical and Computer Engineering degree program will be offered beginning fall 2020. The MEng program is specially designed for students who plan to enter industry after graduation and who have decided their specialty. The program is highly structured and emphasizes rigorous theory combined with practical training. Additional areas of focus are… Read More »

Precision Health expands campus-wide data resources offered on Analytics Platform

By | July 28, 2020

Precision Health at the University of Michigan has recently improved and expanded its offerings for campus researchers in genetics, pharmacogenomics, operations, AI, and a host of other precision health–related fields. With this enhanced Analytics Platform, Precision Health has defined a clear pathway for researchers across campus to access de-identified clinical data: a milestone in its goal of accelerating research and… Read More »

Making plastic more transparent while adding electrical conductivity

By | July 13, 2020

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 »

To the moon and beyond: Aerospace engineering is on the cutting edge of electric space propulsion

By | July 5, 2020

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 »

Inclusive technology: How a single step could pave the way

By | June 30, 2020

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 »

84 internships and research fellowships for the pandemic summer

By | June 30, 2020

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 »

Wireless sensors for N95 masks could enable easier, more accurate decontamination

By | June 30, 2020

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 »

NERS Professor Kevin Field wins DOE Early Career Award

By | June 30, 2020

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 »

Tandem wins teaching innovation prize

By | June 30, 2020

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 »

Students lead the way on State of Michigan web application to curb the spread of COVID-19

By | June 30, 2020

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 »

U-M faculty receive $1.9M in DOE funding awards

By | June 30, 2020

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 »

New method ensures complex programs are bug-free without testing

By | June 29, 2020

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 »

Reflecting on an impactful career: CEE Professor Nikolaos Katopodes retires

By | June 29, 2020

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 »

K-12 online learning platform from U-M sees dramatic rise in use

By | June 29, 2020

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 »

Engineering course challenges students to create tech solutions for COVID-19

By | June 29, 2020

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 receives IEEE Photonics Society Quantum Electronics Award

By | June 29, 2020

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 »