Tag Archives: innovation

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 »

Building a testing-free future

By | January 11, 2021

Testing is a cornerstone of quality software design. And yet, it’s time consuming, labor and resource intensive, and extremely difficult to do exhaustively. In fact, most software in use today is so complex that thorough testing is practically impossible. A group of researchers from U-M envision a smarter alternative: why not let math do the heavy lifting of… Read More »

U-M alum expands new global communications network

By | October 16, 2020

U-M alum Sara Spangelo, co-founder and CEO of Swarm, is establishing the world’s lowest-cost global communications network for customers in remote locations by using breakthrough satellite and ground hardware technology. In September, Swarm launched its first 12 commercial satellites from the Guiana Space Centre at Kourou, French Guiana. This set of 12 satellites joins Swarm’s existing nine experimental satellites. The company… Read More »

SI’s Silvia Lindtner examines China’s place in the global IT industry

By | October 14, 2020

Silvia Lindtner, an associate professor at U-M’s School of Information, is the author of the new book Prototype Nation: China and the Contested Promise of Innovation, which tells the story of China’s shifting place in global geopolitics and its contested place in the global tech industry. It is the culmination of nearly a decade of research Lindtner conducted in China, Silicon… Read More »

Dearborn ITS creates innovative building access screening system

As summer wound down, campus got ready for the fall semester at UM-Dearborn. An Emergency Operations Center directive necessitated restricting campus access to only those students with an on campus class—around 15% of our schedule. To do this efficiently and minimize health risks by reducing time standing in line, we turned to technology. Our reporting tool, WebFocus, produces… Read More »

U-M startup unveils new LEDs for high-efficiency, high-performance displays

By | August 12, 2020

Brighter, crisper screens that draw half the power and lasts twice as long are possible with NS Nanotech’s next-gen LEDs. University of Michigan startup NS Nanotech has announced the creation of a smaller, more energy-efficient light-emitting diode that aims to offer brighter, crisper displays for massive signs, mobile phones and other devices. The company, whose technology is based on research… Read More »

SI students help improve Ann Arbor voter experience

By | February 4, 2020

The Line Tracking Project, a partnership between three UMSI students and the Ann Arbor City Clerk’s Office, used several years of student research on voter wait times to develop a new public website that allows voters to check wait times at their local polling place and access additional tools to facilitate the voting process. The project recently won… Read More »

Pragmatic innovation: CIO Dr. Andrew Rosenberg’s approach to new tech investment

Innovation in healthcare often requires a technology component and significant cultural change. As a result, it’s not always possible on a tight timeline. However, new initiatives focused on solving real and immediate problems in the healthcare space will gain priority and the necessary resources to get the job done. Andrew Rosenberg, MD, CIO of Michigan Medicine, has first-hand… Read More »

iClicker Cloud now available for LSA faculty and students

Back in March, we reported about the iClicker Reef (AKA iClicker Cloud) pilot in LSA. Students in the pilot classes could access Reef through an app on their own mobile device instead of a dedicated iClicker remote to answer an instructor’s prompted questions. In addition to handling multiple choice questions, Reef allows students to write short responses and… Read More »

Discover machines and makerspaces with the Mobius web portal

By | December 2, 2019

Mobius is a mobile-friendly, web-based portal that helps students, facility managers, faculty, and staff find the tools they need, and how to access the makerspaces that are available to them. Mobius is available to all members of U-M. Designed by MIT, Mobius helps members of the Make Impact Consortium navigate the vast array of resources used to make,… Read More »

LSA Technology Services streamlines course update process

By | November 12, 2019

As the largest college on campus, LSA has hundreds of changes to courses and degree requirements every year—changes that must be coordinated between LSA departments and the Registrar’s Office. That process just became easier with the recent completion of the Course List Update project (CLU) led by Matt Olex, a senior application architect in LSA Technology Services. M-Pathways… Read More »

New innovation center will include focus on AI, data science, cybersecurity

By | October 30, 2019

U-M will anchor the Detroit Center for Innovation, a 14-acre center in downtown Detroit aimed at stimulating entrepreneurial activity, educating students and further diversifying the regional economy. The center will be designed to provide a new talent pipeline to current companies and attract new businesses to the area. In accepting the invitation to be a key partner in… Read More »

Blaauw, Sylvester are 2019 Distinguished University Innovators

By | October 4, 2019

Pioneering computer technology that is spurring innovation and disruption across industries has earned David Blaauw and Dennis Sylvester, professors of electrical engineering and computer science, this year’s Distinguished University Innovator Award. The pair will receive the award Oct. 22 at Celebrate Invention, an annual event that recognizes entrepreneurship and inventions from U-M researchers. Blaauw and Sylvester have worked… Read More »

Inaugural MIDAS Michigan Data Science Fellows cohort announced

The Michigan Institute of Data Science (MIDAS) announced its inagural cohort of seven Michigan Data Science Fellows. The international group of data scientists will bring data science methods to domain sciences and data science application areas. The two-year program offers each data scientist, recent PhDs, the opportunity to work independently on research with scientific and career guidance from… Read More »

Designing social technology for rural areas

By | August 12, 2019

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 »

First programmable memristor computer aims to bring AI processing down from the cloud

By | July 23, 2019

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 »

Technology allows researchers to see patients’ real-time pain while in the clinic

By | July 4, 2019

Many patients, especially those who are anesthetized or emotionally challenged, cannot communicate precisely about their pain. So U-M researchers have developed a technology to help clinicians “see” and map patient pain in real-time, through special augmented reality glasses. The portable platform combines visualization with brain data using neuroimaging to navigate through a patient’s brain while they’re in the… Read More »