Tag Archives: People

NameCoach pronunciation tool API now available to developers

By | October 19, 2021
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Use NameCoach to record your name to teach others how to properly pronounce your name.

NameCoach is a web-based tool that allows users to record, listen to, and learn names. It promotes inclusivity across all campuses (Ann Arbor, Dearborn, Flint, and Michigan Medicine) for all current students, faculty, and staff. NameCoach enables units to promote organizational diversity, equity, and inclusion, foster employee retention, and forge better customer relationships. Now, the NameCoach Participants APIs are… Read More »

Profiles in IT: Lauren Atkins Budde—Delightful director

By | September 1, 2021
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Lauren Atkins Budde

Lauren Atkins Budde is the director of Open Learning Initiatives with the Center for Academic Innovation (CAI). In her role, she oversees the strategy, support, evolution, and delivery for multiple online learning opportunities, including non-credit massive open online courses (MOOCs), free and open online learning events called Teach-Outs, short-form video content, and educational podcasts.

NameCoach pronunciation tool now available in Canvas

By | August 25, 2021
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NameCoach

NameCoach is a tool that allows students and faculty to create an audio recording to help peers better pronounce their names within officially-provisioned Canvas courses. Provided by Information and Technology Services (ITS), NameCoach is now available on all campuses (Ann Arbor, Dearborn, Flint, and Michigan Medicine) to support inclusive teaching and learning.  The tool has two parts: NameCoach… Read More »

AI – transformative and biased, say U-M panelists

By | April 26, 2021
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A panel of U-M experts discussed the film “Coded Bias” at a Dissonance Event on April 15. “Coded Bias” follows the journey of Joy Buolamwini, a computer scientist and digital activist based at the MIT Media Lab, as she worked with others to push for the first legislation in the U.S. to govern against bias in artificial intelligence (AI) algorithms. The Dissonance organizing committee brought the panelists together for an online discussion of bias in AI, transformative opportunities for its use, and more.

New online education program brings high-demand topics in technology to the world

By | April 2, 2021
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african american girl coding on computer

The Continuum program, launched in Fall 2020, offers continuing online education for everyone from high schoolers to engineers already established in their careers taught by faculty in Electrical and Computer Engineering (ECE) at the University of Michigan. Courses range from introductory classes designed for high school students to specialized classes for those already established in their careers to keep up-to-date… Read More »

“Coded Bias” watch event; Join experts for panel discussion afterwards

By | April 1, 2021
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You are invited to a free, on-demand screening of the documentary film Coded Bias—available anytime from April 8 to 14 and a panel discussion of the film April 15. Coded Bias explores the fallout from an MIT Media Lab researcher’s discovery that facial recognition does not identify dark-skinned faces and women’s faces accurately. The film follows her journey to push for the first legislation in the U.S. to govern against bias in the algorithms.

ARC, LSA support groundbreaking global energy tracking

By | March 10, 2021
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An aerial view of Kenya at night, with concentrations of green dots that display areas that are electrified.

How can technology services like high-performance computing and storage help a political scientist contribute to more equal access to electricity around the world?  Brian Min, associate professor of political science and research associate professor with the Center for Political Studies, and lead researcher Zachary O’Keeffe have been using nightly satellite imagery to generate new indicators of electricity access… Read More »

Fairer AI for long-term equity

By | February 12, 2021
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Internet law concept with 3d rendering ai robot with law scale

The National Science Foundation, in partnership with Amazon, has awarded U-M a Fairness in Artificial Intelligence (AI) grant for research on identifying and mitigating bias in AI and Machine Learning systems to achieve long-lasting equitable outcomes. “There is an increasing awareness in the AI research community of the issue of bias,” says Mingyan Liu, professor of electrical and… Read More »

Inspired to create: U-M alumnae and the world of international tech start ups

By | January 15, 2021
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illustration of diverse women

When you think of tech startup companies, what comes to mind? Is it Silicon Valley, black turtlenecks, and billion-dollar IPOs? Or perhaps something about college drop-outs and the proverbial idiosyncrasies of “tech-bro culture”? While stereotypes can be helpful for getting the big picture of things, when you look more closely they’re often misleading caricatures, and this has proven especially true in the case of the tech industry.

Algorithm & Blues: Machine-aided personnel decisions aim for fairness, risk side effects

By | December 3, 2020
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womans face superimposed over screen of computer code

When it comes to making human resources decisions, can humans be fair? What about relying on algorithms to make decisions instead? The answer to the first question is not always, which leads some business leaders to pursue the second. Yet, it turns out decisions made by machines are perceived as even less fair than those made by humans.… Read More »

IBM fired U-M professor Lynn Conway for coming out as trans in 1968. 52 years later, the company apologized

By | December 2, 2020
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At a public event celebrating LGBTQ+ inclusion, the International Business Machines Corporation presented Lynn Conway, professor emerita of electrical engineering and computer science, with a rare lifetime achievement award. The award accompanied IBM’s apology to Conway, which came 52 years after the company fired her for coming out as transgender.  In an interview with The Michigan Daily, Conway… Read More »

Conversational assistants could be used to improve African American health around COVID-19

By | December 1, 2020
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hand holding mobile phone with medical graphic

U-M researchers say employing a conversational assistant could be one way to narrow the gap in health disparities impacting the African American community, particularly around the current COVID-19 pandemic. Lionel Robert, associate professor at the School of Information and senior author of a study in the journal Digital Government: Research & Practice, says a technological solution could keep… Read More »

U-M Data Science Annual Symposium covers wide range of topics

By | November 13, 2020
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MIDAS logo

The Michigan Institute for Data Science held its Data Science Annual Symposium Tuesday, November 10 and Wednesday, November 11. The keynote featured Lauren Klein, English professor at Emory University, and Catherine D’Ignazio, urban science professor at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. The pair discussed their book, “Data Feminism,” published last February. Klein and D’Ignazio introduced what they call the… Read More »

Support extended for program to engage underrepresented students in CS research

By | October 20, 2020
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A team led by computer science professor Rada Mihalcea has been awarded a Google grant to continue a program designed to expose undergraduate students to computer science research, specifically aiming to encourage women and underrepresented minority students. The project earned $10,000 from Google’s exploreCSR: Google Grant Pilot Program for Undergraduate Computer Science Research Focused Workshops for Women. The… Read More »