EECS News for 2018 |
Toward brain-like computing: New memristor better mimics synapses A new electronic device developed by Prof. Wei Lu and collaborators can directly model the behaviors of a synapse, which is a connection between two neurons. For the first time, the way that neurons share or compete for resources can be explored in hardware without the need for complicated circuits. "Neuroscientists have argued that competition and cooperation behaviors among synapses are very important. Our new memristive devices allow us to implement a faithful model of these behaviors in a solid-state system," said Lu. [Full Story] Bridging the "last centimeter barrier" in electronic communications Michigan Engineering researchers led by Prof. Pinaki Mazumder have created a new chip interconnect technology using terahertz surface-wave interconnects that will enable ultra fast data transmissions. [Full Story] Taking on the limits of computing power By harnessing the power and speed of graphics processing units, a University of Michigan startup can dramatically accelerate gene sequencing, shortening tasks that took multiple days to a single hour. Ann Arbor-based Parabricks Inc. was recently awarded a National Science Foundation Small Business Innovation Research Phase II grant of $748,000. Dreslinski named Wellman Professor for outstanding research in energy efficient processors Ron Dreslinski, assistant professor in Computer Science and Engineering, has been named a Morris Wellman Faculty Development Professor. Dreslinski works in the area of energy efficient processor architectures, a subject that has evolved from his dissertation work at Michigan. He is now working with a $9.5million DARPA grant to develop a hardware architecture and software ecosystem that together can approach the power of ASICs with the flexibility of a CPU. [Full Story] Freakonomics Radio Live: Featuring Prof. Rada Mihalcea Listen in to the new Freakonomics to catch Prof. Rada Mihalcea discuss how to increase your odds of finding out if a news article is true or fake and her piece won the episode's live audience vote! [Full Story] Prof. Kevin Compton, mentor and coach for CS students, retires Prof. Kevin Compton has retired after 34 years at the University of Michigan in the Computer Science and Engineering Division of the EECS Department. Throughout his career, Prof. Compton has made contributions in service that have enhanced the student experience and the operation of the CSE Division. [Full Story] Lynn Conway encourages graduates to embrace coming social change Professor emerita and transgender advocate Lynn Conway delivered the 2018 Winter Commencement address to U-M graduates. Story published by The University Record. [Full Story] A world-shaking discovery 100 years in the making Prof. Nergis Mavalvala detailed the history and science behind the discovery of gravitational waves as the inaugural recipient of the M. Alten Gilleo Distinguished Lectureship [Full Story] The web really isn't worldwide -- every country has different access Users from certain countries cant visit certain websites not because their governments say so, but because a corporation halfway around the world has made a decision to deny them access. New article by CSE PhD student Allison McDonald at The Conversation. [Full Story] ECE and data science: a natural connection ECE faculty and students at Michigan are part of the revolution in data science that is happening today. [Full Story] Hacking the perfect melody Project Music brought together students from all backgrounds across the university to originate musically-inspired creations for the first Music Makeathon. [Full Story] Why space weather is being made in the lab National Geographic mentions Prof. Louise Willingale and the HERCULES laser in this story about understanding stellar winds and planetary magnetic fields by duplicating conditions in a laboratory setting. [Full Story] Pallab Bhattacharya to receive 2019 IEEE Jun-ichi Nishizawa Medal Pallab Bhattacharya, Charles M. Vest Distinguished University Professor and James R. Mellor Professor of Engineering, is the co-recipient of the 2019 IEEE Jun-ichi Nishizawa Medal, which he will receive For contributions to the development and commercialization of quantum dot lasers. [Full Story] Zachary Lemnios: Helping to shape the new Frontier in Electrical Engineering and Computer Science The Honorable Zachary Lemnios, recipient of the 2018 ECE Alumni Impact Award, believes we are entering the Golden Age of Engineering. [Full Story] The Malware of the Future Will Have AI Superpowers The cybersecurity threats of deep learning and neural networks are emerging. Some learning algorithms can be fooled into making simple but crucial errors, which can lead to more malicious attacks later on. Prof. Atul Prakash and collaborators found that by sticking small black and white stickers on stop signs, they could make them undetectable to the AI algorithms used in self-driving cars. [Full Story] Censys, a search engine for internet-connected devices, raises $2.6 million led by GV and Greylock Cybersecurity startup Censys, co-founded by Prof. J. Alex Halderman, PhD candidate David Adrian, and alum Zakir Durumeric, announced that it has raised a $2.6 million seed round led by GV and Greylock. The funding will be used as Censys, which just launched as a commercial company last year, seeks to collect more data and develop additional paid services. [Full Story] The Disappeared: Beyond Winning and Losing The #MeToo movement is bringing ever-increasing awareness of the challenges faced by women in STEM. Emerita Prof. Lynn Conway drew upon her unique life-experiences in the industry, and wrote insights in an invited-essay in a Special Issue of IEEE Computer Magazine on "Winning and Losing in IT." This PDF is copyright IEEE. [Full Story] Helping drivers use smart cars smarter Profs. Jason Mars, Lingja Tang, CSE students Shih-Chieh Lin, Chang-Hong Hsu, and Yunqi Zhang, and Ford Motor Company have developed a conversational in-vehicle digital assistant that can respond to drivers questions and commands in natural language, helping them get to know the autonomous tools their cars have to offer. Their paper earned Honorable Mention Award in the Best Paper competition at this years ACM User Interface Software and Technology Symposium (UIST). [Full Story] Miniature satellites to maximize global communication Havel Liu is working on a project to revolutionize satellite systems, improving communications during natural disasters and providing a blueprint for receiving future interplanetary voicemails [Full Story] Online censorship in Saudi Arabia soared after Jamal Khashoggis murder This story highlights how tools such as Censored Planet, developed by Research Prof. Roya Ensafi, have shed light on state-sponsored censorship activities such as the measures that were put in place recently in Saudi Arabia. [Full Story] A moral code for coders: Should ethics be part of the computer science curriculum? This airing of Stateside on Michigan Radio includes an audio interview with Bernard A. Galler Professor of EECS HV Jagadish on the moral questions companies should ask when working with private information, and how best to incorporate ethics into coding and computing. [Full Story] Symposium celebrates 30 years of Artificial Intelligence at Michigan The Michigan AI Lab celebrated 30 years of leading research with its first annual AI Symposium, AI for Society. The event welcomed 250 participants from U-M and around the country for a day of presentations, panel discussions, and poster sessions and featured U-M alumnus and Google VP Scott Huffman as the keynote speaker. [Full Story] Trolley Folly A favorite debate around self-driving vehicles is the trolley problem: a self-driving vehicle finds itself in a pickle and must choose between two terrible outcomes. See what Prof. Edwin Olson has to say on this much talked-about conundrum in his new article on Medium. [Full Story] Using drones, a new software tool can bring LTE networks anywhere Prof. Z. Morley Mao and alumnus Mehrdad Moradi (PhD CSE 2018) earned a best paper award at this year's ACM MobiCom for their work on SkyCore, a reliable new way to deploy LTE networks using unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs). The paper, SkyCore: Moving Core to the Edge for Untethered and Reliable UAV-based LTE networks, demonstrated a way to connect hotspots on drones with commercial networks and smartphones. [Full Story] A window into the future of solar power Prof. Stephen Forrest is looking to have windows double as efficient solar cells in buildings of the future. [Full Story] Toyota funds professorship in AI at U-Michigan Prof. Satinder Singh Baveja is U-M's first Toyota Professor of Artificial Intelligence. A $3 million gift from Toyota Motor Corporation endows the first named professorship in artificial intelligence at the University of Michigan and provides additional funding to support AI and robotics faculty. [Full Story] Graduate student honors competition highlights outstanding research CSE held its fifteenth annual CSE Graduate Student Honors Competition on November 7, 2018. The competition is the culmination of a process that narrows a field of entrants from each of the department research areas to a handful of finalists, each of whom gives a summary presentation on an area of their research. CSE faculty and an industry sponsor from Toyota Research Institute ranked the finalists' presentations. [Full Story] Outstanding student research on display This year, three students working with Prof. Emily Mower Provost were recognized for outstanding projects in their areas at the Graduate Symposium. Katie Matton and Matt Perez won two of the Emerging Research categories, Engineering Innovation and Science Communication, respectively; and John Gideon earned honorable mention for the Richard and Eleanor Towner Prize for Outstanding Ph.D. Research. [Full Story] A stellar achievement: Magnetized space winds in the laboratoryThe international team that includes Prof. Louise Willingale is investigating the role of intense magnetic fields dragged by high-speed plasmas through astrophysical environments. HERCULES was used in the experiments. [Full Story] A new company, Omniscent, is sniffing out dangerous levels of toxic chemicals in the air Co-founded by Prof. Yogesh Gianchandani and alumnus and research scientist Dr. Yutao Qin, the company's subscription service offers real-time monitoring [Full Story] Rick Bolander: Entrepreneurship is a team sport Rick Bolander (BSE MSE EE 1983 1985; MBA 1994, Harvard) has devoted his career to fulfilling the entrepreneurial dreams of others as much as his own. [Full Story] Transformative approach to 5G funded by new Innovator program Nine technologies competed for $75k in the ECE Innovator Program, which emphasizes a team approach to entrepreneurial success. SkyGig, a startup company focused on improving wireless communication in the world of 5G and beyond, is the inaugural winner. [Full Story] Dowson Tong, VP of Tencent, talks to students VP of the world's largest gaming and social company, Tong spoke to students about AI, pursuing a global maximum in your career, and what it's like to work in China when you don't speak Mandarin. [Full Story] Here's how an AI lie detector can tell when you're fibbing Prof. Rada Mihalcea has worked on deception detection for about a decade. Popular Science looks at how she constructed one AI deception detector, and how it works. [Full Story] Precision Health Award for measuring moods Prof. Emily Mower Provost and collaborators on the Prechter Bipolar Research team were one of 10 recipients of the Michigan Precision Health Investigators Award. The awards includes grants of up to $300,000 each over two years, and awardees were chosen from among an initial pool of more than 100 applicants with significant research projects. [Full Story] A look at the election security charges in Georgias governors race An already tight governors race in Georgia devolved into new chaos Monday after the Republican candidate, who is also the states chief election official, alleged with little evidence that Democrats sought to hack a voter database that will be used in Tuesdays elections. CSE PhD student Matthew Bernhard told the AP that anyone with access to an individual voters personal information could alter that voters record in the system. [Full Story] The internet security company Dug Song is betting on UM spinoff Censys, co-founded by Prof. J. Alex Halderman, PhD candidate David Adrian, and alum Zakir Durumeric, monitors all devices connected to the internet for threats. IT staff at companies can use Censys to discover new threats and assess their possible impact. The company attracted early attention from Duo Security's Dug Song, and plans to begin raising a much larger Series A round later in 2019 or in 2020. [Full Story] Parabricks finds a niche to target its computing power Parabricks LLC, a 2015 spinoff from the University of Michigan that signed an exclusive licensing agreement with the school last year, was co-founded by Prof. Scott Mahlke. In October, Parabricks was awarded a National Science Foundation Small Business Innovation Research Phase II grant of $748,000, which came with a matching grant of $125,000 from the Michigan Emerging Technologies Fund. That followed an NSF SBIR Phase I grant of $225,000 in 2017, which had a matching state grant of $25,000. [Full Story] Q&A | Dont kid yourself, U.S. enemies are trying to hack our elections As a national expert on election system security, Prof. J. Alex Halderman has never shied away from explaining how Americas election systems can and have been hacked. The University of Michigan computer science professor stops short of saying vote counts have been changed, but notes Russians tapped into voter registration lists in some states in 2016, and that he and fellow election-hack experts have demonstrated how state election systems can be infiltrated. [Full Story] J. Alex Halderman on Election Systems and Vulnerabilities C-SPAN Prof. J. Alex Halderman talked on C-SPAN about voting machine security and vulnerabilities in US election systems. He took questions from live callers and online viewers. [Full Story] 403 Forbidden Study reveals new data on region-specific website blocking practices New work led by Prof. Roya Ensafi and PhD student Allison McDonald undertook the first wide-scale measurement study of server-side geographic restrictions, or geoblocking, a phenomenon in which websites block access for users in particular countries or regions, a phenomenon on the rise causing Internet balkanization. [Full Story] Understanding at every level From quantum physics to computer systems: a profile of Pinaki Mazumder, professor of electrical engineering and computer science. [Full Story] A secure future for US elections starts in the classroom Prof. J. Alex Halderman has been at the forefront of exposing vulnerabilities in electronic voting systems around the world. This Fall, Prof. Halderman and CSE PhD student Matt Bernhard are teaching a new special topics course on election cybersecurity, providing students with a deep examination of the past, present, and future of US elections with perspectives from computer security, tech policy, human factors, and more. [Full Story] ECE students display their research at the 2018 Graduate Engineering Symposium Students' projects encompassed a wide variety of fields: revolutionizing energy systems, advancing technologies, and improving cybersecurity. [Full Story] Ahead of important elections, U.S. voting system is still vulnerable to hacking This CBC Radio Q&A with Prof. J. Alex Halderman focuses on vulnerabilities that exist in the US voting system, as well as telephone voting in Canada and the US. [Full Story] KLA-Tencor Announces Plans to Establish R&D Facility in Ann Arbor, Michigan"We're confident that we can continue to create and deliver impactful technologies that ultimately help enrich the human experience. Our expansion into Michigan will help us realize our vision," said alumnus Rick Wallace, chief executive officer. [Full Story] Photosynthesis and Clean EnergyIn this interview with Scitech Now, Prof. Zetian Mi talks about a new way to create energy from the sun - borrowing from the idea of photosynthesis. [Full Story] $6.8M initiative to enable American laser renaissance After Europe and Asia surpassed U.S. in high intensity laser research in the early 2000s, the Department of Energy is funding new collaborative research network to make the U.S. more competitive. [Full Story] The Quest to Build Robotic HandsIn this article, Prof. Dmitry Berenson comments on the evolution of robots. Humans can readily manipulate all kinds of object, but robots need better mechanics and a lot more intelligence. [Full Story] [Video] Art Meets Science: Tom Conrad's Journey from Apple to Pandora to Snapchat Alumnus Tom Conrad (BSE CE 1992) recently visited campus as the 2018 CSE Alumni Merit Award recipient. Conrad, a software designer with a long career with major industry figures, delivered a lecture on finding his passion in the software world. [Full Story] Mingyan Liu, 2018 Distinguished University Innovator, talks about her company and data science commercialization Mingyan Liu, recipient of the 2018 Distinguished Innovator of the Year award, gave a talk about her startup company and participated on a panel discussing data science commercialiation. [Full Story] ECE Community takes a stand against bullying Spirit Day activities look to make ECE and U-M a more compassionate, inclusive place. [Full Story] Computing visionary honored by Michigan Engineering The highest accolade from the Michigan Engineering Alumni Board goes to Sam Fuller, a thought leader with a track record of predicting the industry's future. [Full Story] ECE Expeditions travels to GM The fall ECE Expeditions trip took 25 students to the General Motors Tech Center in Warren, MI, for an insider's look into what an ECE alum might be doing in the high-tech world of modern transportation. [Full Story] Alumnus Rhonda Franklin honored for her accomplishments with the Willie Hobbs Moore Award From blowing up microwaves to inspiring a new generation of microwave engineers, Professor Franklin shares her research, insights, and thoughts on the future of women in engineering. [Full Story] Should You Be Afraid of Election Hacking? Here's What Experts Say This article examines what it means to hack an election and what vulnerabilities exist. Prof. J. Alex Halderman is quoted on where we are with respect to this challenge. [Full Story] The midterms are already hacked. You just dont know it yet. This in-depth investigation into the US election system reveals frightening vulnerabilities at almost every level. It quotes Prof. J. Alex Halderman and CSE PhD student Matt Bernhard regarding some of vulnerabilities that exist. [Full Story] U-M researchers develop small device that bends light to generate new radiation Prof. Roberto Merlin led the development of a device the size of a match head that can bend light inside a crystal to generate synchrotron radiation in a lab. Prof. Anthony Grbic led the team that designed the metasurface with former doctoral student Carl Pfeiffer. [Full Story] Self-driving cars will have to decide who should live and who should die. Heres who humans would kill. In this article, Prof. Benjamin Kuipers comments on a study that surveys preferences for who to spare when an autonomous vehicle must crash. Kuipers says that the focus should actually be "If we can imagine a situation where this dilemma could occur, what prior decision should I have made to avoid this?" [Full Story] Prof. Anthony Grbic receives U-M Faculty Recognition Award Prof. Anthony Grbic received a 2018 University of Michigan Faculty Recognition Award for outstanding achievement in scholarly research, excellence as a teacher, advisor and mentor, and distinguished service to the institution and profession. Prof. Grbic is a world leader in the development of metamaterials and metasurfaces. [Full Story] David Chesney to receive 2018 James T. Neubacher Award The University of Michigans Council for Disability Concerns has named David Chesney, a lecturer in computer science and engineering, as the 2018 recipient of the James T. Neubacher Award. The award, established in October 1990, honors Neubacher, a U-M alumnus who was a columnist for the Detroit Free Press and an advocate for equal rights and opportunities for people with disabilities. [Full Story] How hackable are American voting machines? It depends who you ask Prof. J. Alex Halderman is on a crusade to demonstrate how vulnerable American voting machines are, and some of his arguments are quite compelling. He has rigged mock elections. He has testified to the machines vulnerabilities in Congress and in court. He has even managed to turn a commonly used voting machine into an iteration of the classic arcade game Pac-Man. [Full Story] Security Seals Used to Protect Voting Machines Can Be Easily Opened With Shim Crafted from a Soda Can Election officials say security ties and seals prevent anyone with physical access to voting machines from manipulating them. CSE PhD student Matt Bernhard has shown how he can easily defeat them with just a soda can. [Full Story] Computing pioneer to receive honorary U-M doctorate Forty years after her paradigm-shifting work in microchip design and education, Lynn Conway will receive an honorary Doctor of Science degree at Winter Commencement 2018 on the University of Michigans Ann Arbor campus. [Full Story] CSE students celebrate women in computing at Grace Hopper 8 women in CSE stood among nearly 20,000 at this years Grace Hopper Celebration of Women in Computing, the worlds largest gathering of women technologists, which is offered by AnitaB.org and the Association for Computing Machinery. Grads and undergrads traveled to the conference for career opportunities and presentations by women who hold lead positions across academia and industry. [Full Story] Prof. Laura Balzano receives AFOSR Young Investigator Award for research that addresses massive streaming data Prof. Balzano uses statistical signal processing, matrix factorization, and optimization to unravel dynamic and messy data. [Full Story] Prof. Amir Mortazawi receives MTT-S Distinguished Educator Award Mortazawi is recognized as a distinguished educator in the field of microwave engineering and science. [Full Story] Stephane Lafortune named N. Harris McClamroch Professor of EECS Lafortune's research in discrete event systems includes multiple problem domains, with applications to computer and software systems. [Full Story] Two papers announced among 10 most influential in healthcare and infection control Prof. Jenna Wiens group had two papers highlighted in a session on the top 10 most influential papers in healthcare epidemiology and infection control at Infectious Disease Week (IDWeek 2018). The papers were selected for their impact, the number of times they were cited in the preceding two years, and their potential effect on future research and technology. [Full Story] The logic of feeling: Teaching computers to identify emotions Using machine learning to decode the unpredictable world of human emotion might seem like an unusual choice. But in the ambiguity of human expression, U-M computer science and engineering associate professor Emily Mower Provost has discovered a rich trove of data waiting to be analyzed. [Full Story] Making software failures a little less catastrophic Prof. Baris Kasikci presented a new technique called REPT REverse debugging with Processor Trace. In the paper REPT: Reverse Debugging of Failures in Deployed Software, Kasikci and collaborators propose a method to recreate the failing program execution to better diagnose the problem at hand. This technique is now deployed on Windows systems and the Windows Debugger platform. [Full Story] Todd Austin recognized for outstanding achievements Prof. Todd Austin has been recognized with the University of Michigans Distinguished Faculty Achievement Award, which honors senior faculty who have consistently demonstrated outstanding achievements in the areas of scholarly research or creative endeavors, teaching and mentoring of students and junior faculty, and service. [Full Story] Gaining a deeper understanding of how personal values are expressed in text Content analysis of large collections of text is often a useful first step in understanding what people are talking or writing about. PhD student Steve Wilson, Prof. Rada Mihalcea, and Master student Yiting Shen have proposed a new method of performing these analyses in their paper, Building and Validating Hierarchical Lexicons with a Case Study on Personal Values. The researchers earned a Best Paper Award at the 2018 International Conference on Social Informatics (SocInfo) for their work. [Full Story] The Tinder for Markets Is Run on Crypto In this article, Lynn A. Conway Professor of CSE Michael Wellman comments on the hedge fund Numerai and its market, which crowdsources data scientists to make predictions and is based on the cryptocurrency Numeraire. [Full Story] Tyche: A new permission model to defend against smart home hacks Prof. Atul Prakash, CSE PhD student Kevin Eykholt, and CSE alumni Amir Rahmati and Earlence Fernandes have proposed Tyche, a safer app permissions system for smart homes and the Internet of Things. Their paper on this project, Tyche: A Risk-Based Permission Model for Smart Homes, received a Best Paper Award at the IEEE Cybersecurity Development Conference. [Full Story] Michigan CS makes waves at Tapia 2018 Students in CSE got the chance to network and celebrate diversity in computing at the 2018 Richard Tapia Conference, which took place in Orlando, Florida on September 19 - 22. This years conference theme was Diversity: Roots of Innovation, acknowledging the historical role of diversity in STEM innovation and its essential role in innovating the future. CSE staff attended the conferences exhibition hall as an event sponsor, and were able to connect with a number of students regarding programs of study in computer science and engineering at Michigan. [Full Story] A champion for women in computer science Prof. Rada Mihalcea has been selected as the Center for the Education of Women (CEW+)s 2018 Carol Hollenshead Award recipient for her work to increase the pipeline and retention of women in engineering and computer science. Mihalcea has dedicated substantial effort to developing programs that introduce more women to the world of computing and encourage them to pursue graduate studies and research careers in the field. [Full Story] Prof. Mackillo Kira Elected OSA Fellow for contributions to quantum optics Professor Kira was recognized for his pioneering contributions to the theory of semiconductor quantum optics. [Full Story] Gerard Mourou receives Nobel Prize in Physics for the most powerful laser pulses known to mankind Gerard Mourou, the A.D. Moore Distinguished University Professor Emeritus of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science, advanced and commercialized 'chirped pulse amplification,' leading to more precise LASIK eye surgery and pushing the limits of optical science. [Full Story] Norman Scott (1918-2018): In Memoriam Norman Scott, professor emeritus of EECS, passed away on August 20, 2018 at the age of 100. Prof. Scott was recognized not only within U-M, but also nationally, for his work on digital computer logic and design. [Full Story] 2001: A Space Odyssey: From science fiction to science fact Three leading researchers, including Profs. Rada Mihalcea and Ben Kuipers, explored the question of science and science fiction in a panel discussion Friday, Sept. 21 part of Michigan Engineerings celebration of the 50th anniversary of 2001: A Space Odyssey. The panel preceded a screening of the film with live orchestral and choral accompaniment. Michigan Engineering and the University Musical Society co-sponsored the screening, which was one of only three such live performances across the country this year. [Full Story] May Mobility puts autonomous shuttles on the streets of Columbus, Ohio May Mobility, the autonomous shuttle company founded by Prof. Edwin Olson, is training its vehicles to navigate the streets of Columbus. May has already launched their vehicles in Detroit, completed over 10,000 trips, and this is the second full implementation of the tech. [Full Story] Active learning study may lead to a step toward broader change in higher education Rare in engineering education research, the project directed by Prof. Cindy Finelli involves a randomized control trial to determine if its effective [Full Story] It takes two photonic qubits to make quantum computing possible Professors Ku and Steel are applying their expertise to take key next steps toward practical quantum computing in the NSF project, Two-Photon Quantum Photonic Logic Gates Enabled by Photonic Bound States. [Full Story] Self-driving pods are slow, boring, and weird-looking and thats a good thing May Mobility, co-founded by Prof. Edwin Olson, celebrated its 10,000th trip in Detroit, where its fleet of autonomous, six-seater shuttles offer rides to Quicken Loans employees for free along a one-mile loop. It only took the Ann Arbor-based startup 75 days to hit that mark, a sign that slow and steady can sometimes win the self-driving race. [Full Story] Michigan startup May Mobility to deploy self-driving shuttles in Columbus, Ohio Michigan startup May Mobility, cofounded by Prof. Edwin Olson, has announced that it has been chosen by the state of Ohio to begin testing a self-driving shuttle service on the streets of Columbus. [Full Story] Women Killin it in STEM Fields Prof. Rada Mihalcea was featured as one of 10 making incredible scientific discoveries in STEM fields from around the world. [Full Story] Family Fun Night draws over 500 attendees Culminating with a laser light show, Family Fun Night 2018 gathered students, alumni, faculty, and anyone interested in the Michigan ECE community to play, learn, and explore all that makes up electrical and computer engineering. Greeting visitors were demonstrations from student groups and research labs, games, activities, arts and crafts, giveaways, and dinner. [Full Story] What does Duo Security's sale mean for the Ann Arbor area and its tech industry? This article summarizes the viewpoints of a number of people in Ann Arbor's tech scene -- including Prof. Jason Mars -- on the ramifications of the recent purchase of Ann Arbor unicorn Duo Security by Cisco. Duo was founded by CSE alumni Dug Song and Jon Oberheide; Mars is the co-founder of Ann Arbor AI startup Clinc. [Full Story] Introductory EECS course designed for women, those without prior experience embarks on first semester This article provides an early glimpse of student experiences in EECS 198: Discover Computer Science. Taught by Prof. Rada Mihalcea and doctoral student Laura Wendlandt, the course provides a supportive atmosphere for students with more curiosity than experience in CS. [Full Story] Hackers can spy on your computer screen just by listening to your webcam's microphone, experts warn Prof. Daniel Genkin and a team of researchers discovered how hackers can spy on remote computers. LCD displays emit high-frequency sounds that can be recorded by a microphone, including from webcam, smartphone or smart speaker up to 30 ft away. These recordings are then fed into a machine learning algorithm and analyzed to generate an estimation of what's onscreen. [Full Story] Researchers find way to spy on remote screensthrough the webcam mic Prof. Daniel Genkin and collaborators have investigated a potential new avenue of remote surveillance that they have dubbed "Synesthesia": a side-channel attack that can reveal the contents of a remote screen, providing access to potentially sensitive information based solely on "content-dependent acoustic leakage from LCD screens." All that is needed is audio picked up by webcam microphones. [Full Story] To cripple AI, hackers are turning data against itself Data has powered the artificial intelligence revolution. Now security experts are uncovering worrying ways in which AIs can be hacked to go rogue. PhD student Kevin Eykholt talks to Wired. [Full Story] Art, Economics, and Engineering in Finland Kamal Sarabandi, Rufus S. Teesdale Professor and Director of the Radiation Laboratory, took a week out of his packed schedule to accept an invitation to evaluate the progress of Aalto University in Finland. "It's important to see what other institutions around the world are doing, especially those that are daring to break with tradition," said Sarabandi. [Full Story] PsiKick Brings Patented Batteryless IoT Sensor to Steam TrapsProf. David Wentzloff's startup company PsiKick is helping companies and their customers save money by ensuring equipment such as steam traps are functioning properly. [Full Story] Kickstarting the first year for women in computer science The third annual CS KickStart gave 22 incoming women in CS a hands-on look at the skills and careers on offer in the world of computing. CS KickStart is a free week-long summer program for incoming first-year students that aims to improve the enrollment and persistence of women in CS and give women a voice in shaping the future through technology. [Full Story] Cuba's "Sonic Attack" on the U.S. Embassy Could Have Been Merely Sounds Emitted by a Listening Device A Penn bioengineer disputes a recent New York Times report suggesting microwaves accounted for what occurred at the U.S. embassy in Havana, agrees with hypothesis by Prof. Kevin Fu that the cause could have been ultrasound spy tech. Conducting an orchestra of sensor nodes PhD student Farzad Asgarian keeps time in the Internet of Things with frequency scaling, allowing for lower power sensor nodes that are more accurate. [Full Story] Detecting Huntington's disease with an algorithm that analyzes speech In an advance that could one day provide new insight into the progression of neurological diseases like Huntington's disease, Alzheimers and Parkinson's, researchers including Prof. Emily Mower Provost have demonstrated the first automated system that uses speech analysis to detect Huntington's disease. [Full Story] Detecting Fake News With The Help Of An Algorithm Prof. Rada Mihalcea recently developed an algorithm that can identify fake news stories better than humans. The algorithm uses linguistic clues to differentiate between factual and inaccurate stories. [Full Story] Faster, cheaper gene sequencing to make healthcare more precise Arun Subramaniyan, CSE PhD student, received a U-M 2018 Precision Health Scholars Award for his project, Hardware-accelerated systems for next-generation sequencing analysis. Subramaniyan is working with his advisor Prof. Reetuparna Das to make genome sequencing as affordable as a routine medical test with highly efficient computing. [Full Story] Outstanding Postdoctoral Fellow Award for smart conversation tools Jonathan Kummerfeld, postdoctoral fellow in CSE, has been recognized by U-M for his excellence in research, teaching, mentoring, service, and leadership. The Outstanding Postdoctoral Fellowship Award is given to 10 fellows each year. [Full Story] Algorithm outperforms humans at spotting fake news An artificial intelligence system that can tell the difference between real and fake news often with better success rates than its human counterparts has been developed by Prof. Rada Mihalcea. Such a system may hep social media platforms, search engines, and news aggregators filter out articles meant to misinform. [Full Story] Alumnus Rick Mario Riolo: In Memoriam Rick Riolo, Research Professor Emeritus of the University of Michigan Center for the Study of Complex Systems, has been one of the most visible and influential researchers, mentors, and instructors in the interdisciplinary field of complex adaptive systems for four decades. The author of more than 80 papers, Riolo made substantial methodological and applied contributions. [Full Story] Alumnus Garlin Gilchrist named as running mate for Michigan Governor race Garlin Gilchrist (BSE CE CS 2005) was named as running mate by Gretchen Whitmer in her bid for the Michigan Governorship. [Full Story] CSE welcomes 9 new faculty Models of human behavior, scene understanding, cryptography, convolutional neural networks, IoT sensors and systems, and a commitment to innovating in the practice of education. With nine new faculty hires in 2018, Michigan is expanding and strengthening the scope of its research activities in computer science and engineering while simultaneously broadening participation in the field through a focus on innovation and inclusiveness in education. [Full Story] Michigan is making tech tiny ... very tinyDavid Blaauw explains the newest and smallest dust-sized computing system developed by a team of electrical and computer engineers. [Full Story] Darlene Phillips appointed to U.S. DOE Advisory Committee Darlene Phillips (BSE EE 1993), Director of Strategic Policy and External Affairs for PJM Interconnection, was appointed to the U.S. Department of Energy's Electricity Advisory Committee. [Full Story] Google award to introduce women to computer science research Prof. Rada Mihalcea and PhD student Laura Wendlandt have been awarded a Google grant to develop a workshop that will give undergraduate women in computer science valuable hands-on research experience. The workshop theyve proposed, spread over an entire semester, would engage around 70 undergraduate women in computing research through a series of hands-on activities and mentorship from research faculty. [Full Story] Solving Impossible Equations Eric Michielssen and collaborators have received the Sergei A. Schelkunoff Transactions Prize Paper Award for research impacting the ability to rapidly analyze electromagnetic phenomena. This award is presented to the authors of the best paper published in the IEEE Transactions on Antennas and Propagation during the previous year. [Full Story] Kids at hacking conference show how easily US elections could be sabotaged In this article, Prof. J. Alex Halderman is quoted on the problems that continue to exist with electronic voting, and why paper ballots should be used. [Full Story] The new law that will guide the future of information processing Professor S. Sandeep Pradhan is working with Cambridge University on the new law of small numbers, which could impact the next generation of information processing networks. [Full Story] MoSys, Inc. Appoints Daniel Lewis as President and CEO Daniel Lewis (BSE EE 1971) was appointed President and CEO of MoSys, a semiconductor company that develops solutions for data path connectivity, speed, and intelligence. [Full Story] Appier Strengthens AI Team with New Chief Artificial Intelligence Scientist Dr. Min Sun (PhD EE:S 2012) joined Appier, an artificial intelligence (AI) company, as its first Chief Artificial Intelligence Scientist. Sun will focus on building AI systems for enterprise applications. [Full Story] Fake news detector algorithm works better than a human An algorithm-based system that identifies telltale linguistic cues in fake news stories could provide news aggregator and social media sites like Google News with a new weapon in the fight against misinformation. Led by Prof. Rada Mihalcea, the researchers have demonstrated that its comparable to and sometimes better than humans at correctly identifying fake news stories. [Full Story] Making online communication smarter with Trove Video Trove is an Ann-Arbor based artificial intelligence startup built on the vision of improving communication using artificial intelligence. Profs. Danai Koutra and Walter Lasecki are collaborating with the company to develop novel methods and tools that will help make intelligent online communication smarter. [Full Story] Two-wheeled teacher Levi Weintraub (BSE CS 06) has lived on two wheels for close to two years now, putting his incredibly accomplished tech career on hold for an epic trans-African journey thats stoking his passion for travel and educating a cohort of aspiring African tech professionals. [Full Story] Deciphering GPS satellites to see inside hurricanes Researchers, including graduate student Tianlin Wang, are reverse engineering the signal from the same GPS satellites that provide location capabilities to our phones and cars in order to more accurately determine wind speeds within roaring hurricanes. [Full Story] Intel's SGX blown wide open by, you guessed it, a speculative execution attack ARS Technica reports on the security work done by Michigan CSE researchers and their collaborators on a flaw in what was supposed to be a secure enclave in Intel chips. [Full Story] Spectre-Like Flaw Undermines Intel Processors' Most Secure Element Wired reports on the security work done by Michigan CSE researchers and their collaborators on a flaw in what was supposed to be a secure enclave in Intel chips. [Full Story] Intel processor vulnerability could put millions of PCs at risk A newly discovered processor vulnerability could potentially put secure information at risk in any Intel-based PC manufactured since 2008. It could affect users who rely on a digital lockbox feature known as Intel Software Guard Extensions, or SGX, as well as those who utilize common cloud-based services. CSE researchers contributed to the discovery of the security hole, called Foreshadow. [Full Story] Hackers are out to jeopardize your vote Cyberattacks on the 2016 US election caused states to bolster the defenses of their voting systems. Prof. J Alex Halderman explains why this hasn't been enough in this Q&A piece. [Full Story] Is Blockchain Technology the Future of Voting? West Virginia is experimenting with voting via a blockchain network using smartphones. Prof. J. Alex Halderman cautions that such an approach is not yet truly viable, and that mobile voting using blockchain doesn't address core security problems that are unique to mobile voting. [Full Story] Heartland Tech Weekly: How Duo Security built a $2.35 billion company in Ann Arbor Venture Beat reports on Ann Arbor unicorn Duo Security's sale to Cisco. It quotes company cofounder Dug Son (CS BS 1997) on why he and cofounder Jon Oberheide (CSE PhD 2011) made the sale, the future for Duo, and the impact expected for the Ann Arbor tech scene. [Full Story] Sounding the Alarm on the Dangers of Electronic Voting Prof. J. Alex Halderman explains the dangers inherent with electronic voting machines, especially those without paperbackup, in the BloombergTV interview with Emily Chang. [Full Story] Michigan Data Science Team wrangles big data The Michigan Data Science Team brings together students from many fields to get their hands dirty with real data science problems and tools. The team gives members a place to learn from experts, form groups to tackle data science challenges, and do research that matches their interests. In the 2018-19 school year, Computer Science and Data Science undergrad Wesley Tian will be leading the organization as president, with plans to focus the groups activities and provide a better learning experience for new members. [Full Story] Cisco is buying Duo Security for $2.35B in cash Cisco today announced its intention to buy Ann Arbor, MI-based security firm, Duo Security. Under the terms of the agreement, Cisco is paying $2.35 billion in cash and assumed equity awards for Duo. Duo Security was founded in 2010 by Dug Song (BS CS ) and Jonathan Oberheide (BS, MS, PhD CSE , , ) and went on to raise $121.M through several rounds of funding. The company has 700 employees with offices throughout the United States and in London, though the company has remained headquartered in Ann Arbor. [Full Story] Blue Sky and Research Accelerator Initiatives fund solar fuel and high-power research Zetian Mi leads a Blue Sky Initiative to contribute to clean water and renewable fuel, while Becky Peterson leads an effort to improve how we manufacture the electronics needed for high-power devices. [Full Story] Rick Flores leads a partnership of automakers into the autonomous future When Rick Flores (MSE Electrical Engineering:Systems 1990) began his career at General Motors, it was still predominantly a mechanical engineering company. Now, he's taking the lead to develop standards for autonomous and connected vehicles with the largest automaker partnership in the world. [Full Story] Voting systems in Wisconsin, a key swing state, can be hacked, security experts warn This article at WisconsinWatch.org reports in detail on potential vulnerabilities in Wisconsin's voting system, including risks from Russian hacking. It reviews the response of Wisconsin politicians to this prospect as well as the viewpoints of computer scientists. Prof. J. Alex Halderman, an expert in computer, network, and election security, is highlighted in the story. [Full Story] Memory-processing unit (MPU) could bring memristors to the masses AI, weather forecasting and data science would all benefit from computers that store and process data in the same place. Professor Wei Lu is working on memristors that could be up to the task. [Full Story] People are bad at spotting fake news. Can computer programs do better? This article is a survey of the many projects dedicated to using computing power to identify fake news. It includes a description of work being done at Michigan by Veronica Perez-Rosas and her colleagues on the use of language in the posts regarding fake news. [Full Story] Using software to beat Moore's Law: $9.5M to design the reconfigurable computer In search of a new way to overcome the limitations of silicon, Prof. Ron Dreslinski is leading a project with a $9.5million DARPA grant to develop a hardware architecture and software ecosystem that together can approach the power of ASICs with the flexibility of a CPU. Called Transmuter, this software-defined hardware can change how programs use the hardware available to them in real time, effectively acting as a reconfigurable computer. [Full Story] A new hybrid chip that can change its own wiring As part of a national effort to advance electronics technology, Hun-Seok Kim, assistant professor of electrical and computer engineering, will lead a $5.2 million project to develop a new type of system-on-chip (SoC) that mixes together the adaptability of general purpose processors with the efficiency of specialized processors, allowing for demanding applications such as highly intelligent wireless communication systems used in radar and swarms of autonomous devices. [Full Story] Enabling anyone to design hardware with a new open-source tool In a $6.5 million U-M-led project that could revolutionize and democratize designing hardware devices, Professors Wentzloff, Blaauw, Dreslinski, and Sylvester will work to create an open-source hardware compiler that aims to reduce the six month process of hand-designing analog circuits to a dramatically faster and automated 24-hour routine. [Full Story] Michigan chips will be first to test next-generation hardware design tools Professors Sylvester, Blaauw, and Dreslinski will test tools and provide feedback in a national program that aims to build free, open-source electronic design automation tools. [Full Story] Making education accessible in rural India CS student Divyansh Sharma is working to help combat the disadvantages of poverty in rural India with his non-profit startup EduTech Academy. Through EduTech, he and his team of ten developers are working to deliver free video courses directly to people in need of basic education. [Full Story] Student org brings investors to Michigan A new student org at the University of Michigan wants to build new connections for the startups in southeast Michigan and give undergrads a look into the world of venture capital along the way. Called UpRound VC and co-founded by CS undergrad Jonah Erlich, the group works with national and local firms to accelerate the entrepreneurial ecosystem of the region. [Full Story] Four students earn awards at 2018 IEEE APS/URSI Four University of Michigan graduate students won Honorable Mentions at the 2018 IEEE International Symposium on Antennas and Propagation and USNC-URSI Radio Science Meeting. This is the flagship conference for those researching antenna, propagation, and radio sciences, with over 2,000 authors presenting their work. [Full Story] Piston Group Leader Amit Singhi's Four-Point Play to Life Amit Singhi shifted from engineering into business, but the technical chops from his engineering studies echo through his career. Today, Singhi is Chief Operating & Financial Officer of Piston Group, one of the largest minority-owned automotive suppliers in the country with annual revenues topping $2B. [Full Story] Marvell Technology Completes Acquisition of CaviumCavium was founded by ECE alumnus Syed Ali. Ali will continue as a member of Marvell's Board of Directors [Full Story] Safety in Numbers: Computer Scientist Races to Develop Unhackable Code to Protect Everyones DataECE alumnus Kurt Rohloff is co-founder of the cybersecurity start-up, Duality Technologies, and director of the NJIT Cybersecurity Research Center. [Full Story] The 5 States Most Vulnerable to a 2018 Election Hack 13 states are still using some electronic voting systems without paper backup. Five states rely upon them exclusively. According to Prof. J. Alex Halderman, "If a sophisticated nation state wants to cause chaos on Election Day, theyre probably already in our systems." [Full Story] University of Michigan to launch new website to help people navigate social media EECS alumnus Garlin Gilchrist, executive director of the UM Center for Social Media Responsibility, says "it's time to reclaim your space." This is the message behind the center's new Social Integrity website, which is intended to help people to better navigate social media platforms. The site launched June 30. [Full Story] Michigan's first Science Olympiad invitational for students, by students This year, the University of Michigan offered the state's first Science Olympiad invitational competition run by Olympiad alumni. Conceived of and organized in part by CS freshman Omar Al-Ejel, the inaugural U-M Science Olympiad gave 45 high school student teams a place to hone their craft and prep for the core competition. [Full Story] Prof. Jason Corso on Artificial Intelligence Prof. Jason Corso covers the basics of artificial intelligence (AI) in an interview by Online Engineering Programs. [Full Story] Rick Bergman sees that Synaptics stays in touchECE alumnus Rick Bergman, CEO of Synaptics, talked to The Mercury News about Synaptics and its evolution into other areas beyond physical touchpads. "At the end of the day, what we like to do is make devices easier to use," said Bergman. Synaptics products are used by Apple, HP, Lenovo, and Samsung, among others. [Full Story] World's tiniest 'computer' makes a grain of rice seem massiveIt could lead to big changes in health monitoring, writes Jon Fingas on engadget. [Full Story] The Smallest Computer in the World Fits On a Grain of RiceThe University of Michigan just defeated IBM in creating this tiny computing device, writes Laura Yan of Popular Mechanics. [Full Story] The World's Smallest Computer Can Fit on the Tip of a Grain of RiceThe University of Michigan was salty that IBM made a smaller computer than it did, so it made an even smaller computer, writes Kaleigh Rogers of Motherboard. [Full Story] Tool for structuring data creates efficiency for data scientists Transforming messy data into a usable state turns out to be labor-intensive and tedious. Traditionally, domain experts handwrite task-specific scripts to transform unstructured data. Enter Foofah, a project developed by CSE graduate students Zhongjun Jin and Michael Anderson, Prof. Michael Cafarella, and Bernard A. Galler Collegiate Professor of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science H.V. Jagadish that can help to minimize the effort and required background knowledge needed to clean up data. [Full Story] Exploring the source of social stereotypes Incoming CSE PhD student Wilka Carvalho has been selected for the GEM Fellowship under the sponsorship of Adobe. Carvalho plans to work with Profs. Satinder Singh Baveja, Honglak Lee, and Richard Lewis (Psychology) to pursue research at the intersection of reinforcement learning, machine learning, and computational cognitive science. [Full Story] Mars Rover Team tackles major redesign, places in top 10 at competition The U-M Mars Rover Team brought a new remote astronaut assistant to the University Rover Challenge in the desert of southern Utah, pulling off a 9th place finish out of 36 competing international teams and 3rd out of the US teams. [Full Story] M-Fly's season ends with top-10 finishes, new autonomous plane The M-Fly student aircraft design team provides undergraduates the opportunity to design, build, present, and test real-world aerospace projects. This year was extremely productive, with the team building more planes than ever, including its first autonomous craft. [Full Story] Party for the people: UpNext app lets users shape the playlist Tired of yelling song requests at the DJ until youre hoarse, and then getting shut down anyway? Turns out a lot of people are, so three U-M students are working to empower party-goers and democratize the dancefloor with their app, UpNext. [Full Story] Finding meaning in varied data CSE grad student Jie Song earned the runner up Best Paper Award at the 2018 Extending Database Technology conference for her paper GeoAlign: Interpolating Aggregates over Unaligned Partitions. Song devised a method to combine summarized datasets that group information by incompatible units. [Full Story] New one-credit course allows those without experience to discover computer science Interested in Computer Science? Heard about programming but not really sure how it works? A new 1 credit course, EECS 198, will take on these questions and more beginning Fall 2018. [Full Story] Hun-Seok Kim receives DARPA Young Faculty Award to advance research in IoT networks Kim's research is expected to impact the future design and wireless operation of the next generation of Internet of Things (IoT) devices, which includes intelligent control of devices such as drones and self-driving cars. [Full Story] Necmiye Ozay receives 2019 Henry Russel Award for extraordinary accomplishment Necmiye Ozay, who joined the university in 2013, is a world leader in the field of feedback control engineering for dynamical systems. An innovative engineer, she has developed novel techniques to model, design and test cyber-physical systems. [Full Story] May Mobility Is Deploying Self-Driving Vehicles Now, Starting In Detroit May Mobility, the autonomous shuttle service co-founded by Prof. Edwin Olson, is deploying low speed autonomous electric shuttles on the streets of downtown Detroit. [Full Story] An even smaller world's smallest computer The Michigan team behind the original Michigan Micro Mote, the world's smallest computer, has gone even smaller, with a device that measures just 0.3 mm to a side -- dwarfed by a grain of rice. [Full Story] Q&A with Mingyan Liu Mingyan Liu, the incoming electrical and computer engineering chair, talks about her vision for the future. [Full Story] Mingyan Liu named new chair of Electrical and Computer Engineering at Michigan Mingyan Liu, professor and entrepreneur specializing in communication networks and predictive analytics, has been named the Peter and Evelyn Fuss Chair of Electrical and Computer Engineering (ECE), effective September 1, 2018. [Full Story] Ben Barton (1925 - 2017): In Memoriam Ben F. Barton, alumnus and professor emeritus in the Department of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science, passed away December 16, 2017 at the age of 92. Professor Barton earned his B.S. degree in 1947, his M.S. degree in 1952, and his PhD degree in 1957, all in electrical engineering from the University of Michigan. He retired as emeritus professor of EECS in 1993 after a career of 36 years at Michigan. [Full Story] Undocumented immigrants' privacy at risk online, on phones Every day, undocumented immigrants in the U.S. face discrimination, surveillance, deportation, and other dangers. When it comes to their smartphones, immigrants struggle to apply instinctive caution, according to a study by a team of University of Michigan researchers that included CSE PhD student Allison McDonald. [Full Story] How to color-code nearly invisible nanoparticles L. Jay Guo and his team are applying color-coding to particles that are about the size of color itself, allowing scientists to quickly determine the size of nanoparticles, which can help in biomedical drug delivery, biological sensors, advanced coatings, and lithography of more advanced computer chips. [Full Story] Chip designer Ambiq Micro raises $11M of planned $20M offeringAmbiq Micro, cofounded by Scott Hanson (BSE MSE PhD EE), CTO, has cumulatively raised nearly $100 million for its technology that lowers the power requirements for chips. [Full Story] Xin Zan wins two awards for wireless power transfer research Xin Zan, a University of Michigan PhD student advised by Professor Al-Thaddeus Avestruz, has won two awards for his research on high-frequency wireless power transfer related to implanted medical devices and peer-to-peer wireless charging. [Full Story] Can Ultrasonic Noise Make You Sick? Prof. Kevin Fu and his research collaborators have shown how ultrasonic signals can contribute to produce audible and potentially dangerous tones similar to the ones that overseas diplomats have described. [Full Story] Eric Winsor honored with Goldwater ScholarshipComputer Engineering and Honors Mathematics student Eric Winsor has been named a Goldwater Scholar for the 2018-19 academic year. The program provides scholarships to students interested in careers in science, math, and engineering, and they are considered the premier scholarships awarded to undergraduates in these fields. [Full Story] Faculty spotlight: Rada Mihalcea Rada Mihalcea is a rock star professor of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science at U-M's College of Engineering and a champion for the growth and retention of women in that field. She sat down to talk with us about why she loves what she does and wants other women to love it, too. [Full Story] Jiyue Zhu awarded Wiesnet Medal for improved snow algorithms Jiyue Zhu was recognized for an award-winning method that will help us better understand how much snow is on the ground. [Full Story] Cafarella Receives VLDB Test of Time Award for Structured Web Data Search This award is given to the VLDB paper published ten years earlier that has had the most influence since its publication. In this paper, Cafarella and co-authors Alon Halevy, Zhe Daisy Wang, Eugene Wu, and Yang Zhang set out to determine how to provide search-engine-style access to huge volumes of structured web data. [Full Story] Connected cars can lie, posing a new threat to smart cities In the article in The Conversation, PhD candidate Qi Alfred Chen and Prof. Z. Morley Mao describe how vulnerabilities in intelligent infrastructure, such as the Intelligent Traffic Signal System being tested by the US Department of Transportation, can create opportunities for hackers to create chaos. [Full Story] Designing a flexible future for massive data centers The days of bulky, expensive servers filling up data centers may be numbered: a new approach recreates the power of a large server by linking up and pooling the resources of smaller computers with fast networking technology. [Full Story] The next medical markets of Collin Rich An expert health sciences entrepreneur, Rich solves critical problems and earns rewards for years of technical risk. He has almost two decades of start-up experience, including co-founding Accuri Cytometers, which Becton Dickinson acquired for $205 million. Now, he's ready to repeat that success. [Full Story] New Courses Offered by ECE in 2018 As technology changes and advances, so does the range of courses offered by our faculty. Here are the latest new course offerings in ECE. [Full Story] Paper award for training computer vision systems more accurately PhD student Jean Young Song earned a Best Student Paper Honorable Mention at the Intelligent User Interfaces (IUI 2018) conference in Tokyo. Her paper, "Two Tools are Better Than One: Tool Diversity as a Means of Improving Aggregate Crowd Performance," offers an improved solution to the problem of image segmentation in computer vision by introducing a new way to think about leveraging human effort. [Full Story] The sonic attack in China was probably clumsy ultrasonic eavesdropping In this Quartz article, the author talks about Prof. Kevin Fus research on why the "sonic attacks" that poisoned diplomats in Cuba may have been the accidental effect of eavesdropping. [Full Story] CSE researchers funded to connect music and big data Four U-M research teams, including two teams led by CSE researchers, will receive support for projects that apply data science tools like machine learning and data mining to the study of music theory, performance, social media-based music making, and the connection between words and music. [Full Story] Semyon Meerkov receives best paper award for improving manufacturing systems Semyon Meerkov received the 2018 Best Paper Award of the International Journal of Production Research (IJPR) for his research aimed at identifying and solving problems that arise in flexible manufacturing systems. [Full Story] US Employee Suffers Brain Injury After Sound Incident in China, Embassy Issues Alert Prof. Kevin Fu determined earlier this year that the sounds as described could have been created by two listening devices placed in close proximity to each other. In such a scenario, Fu and his team concluded that the question of whether this was an intentional attack remains unanswered. [Full Story] Laura Balzano partners with 3M to advance research in big data Prof. Laura Balzano received a 2018 3M Non-Tenured Faculty Award to advance her research in Big Data, with a focus on challenges not typically addressed by traditional machine learning and artificial intelligence algorithms. [Full Story] Nino A. Masnari (1935 - 2018): In Memoriam Nino Masnari, alumnus, friend, and former faculty member of Electrical and Computer Engineering, passed away May 19, 2018 at the age of 82. [Full Story] U.S. Spy Agencies Seek Tech to Identify Deadly Chemicals From 30 Meters Away Professor Mohammed Islam's research into a shoe-box sized chemical detector as part of the U.S. Intelligence Advanced Research Projects Activity's SILMARILS program is highlighted as part of security agencies' efforts to stem chemical attacks. [Full Story] Exoskeletons compete to boost strength of rescue workers U-M's STARX team hosted the first Applied Collegiate Exoskeleton (ACE) Competition, where teams from five schools gathered to tune-up, learn, and demonstrate their powered mechanical suits, which augment the wearers strength and abilities. [Full Story] Study maps careers of CS PhDs using decades of data Of the many burning questions in the world of computing research, the one most dear to a student's heart has typically been the least investigated: what happens after a PhD in computer science? Prof. Danai Koutra and CSE PhD student Tara Safavi set out to provide the world's first data-driven answer, analyzing several decades of post-PhD computing careers using a large new dataset rich with professional information. [Full Story] Startup Maps AI into Flash Array Mythic, founded by EECS aIumnus David Fick (CTO) and Mike Henry (CEO), is profiled in EE Times as they aims to put neural networks into flash memory. The company started in the Michigan Integrated Circuits Lab (MICL), where Fick was advised by, and Henry worked with as a postdoctoral researcher for, Profs. David Blaauw and Dennis Sylvester. [Full Story] Computer science and business school students team up to create "intention" skill for Alexa Inspired by a class on managing professional relationships, five recent University of Michigan graduates are developing an app that would mesh with Alexa to help nudge people when theyre out of sync with what they want. [Full Story] "Stitching" together a web user from scattered, messy data Modern internet users submit a massive trove of personal details to the web - but they scatter their data across dozens of websites, accounts, and devices with very little continuity. Prof. Danai Koutra will work to "stitch" these personal details together into a cohesive, useful whole, making a user's time online a more pleasant, continuous experience across devices with better product and service recommendations. [Full Story] Stephanie Crocker Ross receives Rackham Predoctoral Fellowship Stephanie Crocker Ross, a PhD candidate advised by Professor Johanna Mathieu, received a Rackham Predoctoral Fellowship, which supports outstanding doctoral students working on unusually creative, ambitious and impactful dissertations. [Full Story] Building a security standard for a post-quantum future Chris Peikert, with a team of eleven other researchers, has submitted a cryptographic scheme as a proposed standard to the NIST Post-Quantum Cryptography project. Called FrodoKEM, this family of encryption algorithms is designed to be a conservative and practical implementation of one of the most-studied approaches in the post-quantum cryptography field. [Full Story] Reetuparna Das earns Borg Early Career Award Prof. Reetuparna Das has been chosen as one of two recipients of the 2018 Borg Early Career Award. This award is given annually to women in computer science or engineering who have made significant research contributions and made a positive impact on advancing women in the computing research community. [Full Story] ECE launches the ECE Innovator Program Electrical and Computer Engineering at Michigan has launched the ECE Innovator Program, which is aimed at inspiring and facilitating the commercialization of research conducted in ECE. The program will provide financial support to a team of entrepreneurs with both technical and product management skills. [Full Story] Mike Stander honored with CoE Staff Excellence Award Mike Stander received a 2018 College of Engineering Staff Excellence Award, recognizing 33 years of exceptional service to the Department of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science as a Hardware and Electronics Technician. [Full Story] Mengqi Yao receives High Quality Paper Award at PowerTech Conference Mengqi Yao, a University of Michigan PhD student advised by Professor Johanna Mathieu, recently won a High Quality Paper Award at the PowerTech Conference for her paper, Using demand response to improve power system voltage stability margins. Yao researches power system stability and how demand response, as opposed to changing supply during a disruption, can improve this stability. [Full Story] Keki Irani (1924-2018): In Memoriam Keki Irani, professor emeritus of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science, passed away on Wednesday, May 2, at the age of 93. He was a model faculty who made important contributions to the EECS department, was always supportive of students, and who supported the department at critical times throughout the years. [Full Story] Xiang Yin receives honorable mention for ProQuest Distinguished Dissertation Award Xiang Yin (MSE PhD EE:S 2013 2017) received an honorable mention for the ProQuest Distinguished Dissertation Award. Yin, now Associate Professor at Shanghai Jiao Tong University, researched cyber-physical systems and discrete-event systems with Professor Stphane Lafortune. [Full Story] Students win prizes for improving image processing techniques for liver cancer detection and much more Students in EECS 556: Image Processing, explore methods to improve image processing in applications such as biomedical imaging and video and image compression. The techniques are fundamental to companies such as KLA-Tencor, which offered prizes to two teams of students. [Full Story] 15 of The Greatest Minds in Automobile Engineering Today Alumnus Andrew Farah is named one of Interesting Engineering's 15 of the greatest minds in automobile engineering today for his work with electric GM vehicles and autonomous driving. [Full Story] JPMorgan's latest hire proves the bank is serious about artificial intelligence This article on the importance of AI to banking giant JP Morgan Chase quotes Prof. Jason Mars, co-founder of the startup Clinc, which makes AI products for the banking industry. [Full Story] U-M programming team competes at highest level in ACM-ICPC competition The Victors, a U-M student programming team, competed in the prestigious 2018 ACM International Collegiate Programming Contest (ICPC) World Finals in Beijing, China, on April 15 - 20, 2018. The team was able to correctly solve four out of nine problems. [Full Story] Harvesting clean hydrogen fuel through artificial photosynthesis A new device can double the previous efficiency of using solar energy to break apart water and harvest hydrogen. This new device, developed by Professor Zetian Mi and researchers at McGill University, opens the path to commercial viability. [Full Story] Arthur Shi: Blogging about CS Computer science is known to be a rigorous area of study, and students need to put forth countless hours of work to succeed. Undergraduate student Arthur Shi communicates the highs and lows of CS via the blogging platform Medium. [Full Story] Light could make semiconductor computers a million times faster or even go quantum Professor Mackillo Kira is working on a technique to manipulate electrons with light that could bring quantum computing up to room temperature. [Full Story] Huanting Huang and the mathematical shape of trees Huang, a University of Michigan PhD candidate studying electrical engineering under Professor Leung Tsang, works in remote sensing. Because of her award-winning mathematical modeling, we will better understand our natural environment through knowing the shapes of trees. [Full Story] Bryan Stearns receives CoE Distinguished Leadership Award For the past year Stearns has served as President of the Computer Science and Engineering Graduate Student Organization (CSEG), whose membership comprises the entire body of over three hundred CSE graduate students. [Full Story] $6.25M project will decode worlds most complex networks A new $6.25 million project built on game theory and led by Professors Mingyan Liu and Michael Wellman will develop tools to understand and shape online and on-the-ground networks that drive human decision making. [Full Story] Yongjoo Park is runner-up for Jim Gray dissertation award CSE alumnus and postdoctoral researcher Yongjoo Park (CSE PhD 2017) has been selected as a runner-up for the ACM SIGMOD Jim Gray Doctoral Dissertation Award for his dissertation, "Fast Data Analytics by Learning." [Full Story] CSE researchers win Best of SELSE award have won the the best paper award at the 14th Workshop on Silicon Errors in Logic - System Effects (SELSE) for their paper entitled "Low Cost Transient Fault Protection Using Loop Output Prediction." [Full Story] Awards for outstanding graduate student instructors and instructional aides of 2018 We honored the GSIs and IAs who students ranked as the best, sometimes better than the professer, the day before commencement. [Full Story] Bring Your Child to Work Day features robots, games, and more CSE faculty and staff got to show their kids how we have fun in Beyster. Bring Your Child to Work Day 2018 gave kids the run of the building, on a mission to find all the exciting activities the department had to offer. [Full Story] Video Friday: Cassie on Fire Cassie's fire walk is featured in IEEE Spectrum's round up of robot videos. Professor Grizzle's previous generation robot, MARLO, is also mentioned. [Full Story] Fawwaz Ulaby Voted 2018 HKN ECE Professor of the Year Students voted, and named Professor Fawwaz Ulaby the 2017-2018 HKN Professor of the Year in ECE by the Beta-Epsilon chapter of Eta Kappa Nu (HKN), the national honor society for electrical and computer engineers. This is the third time Ulaby has received this honor. [Full Story] The Lab Making Robots Walk Through Fire and Ride Segways Professor Jessy Grizzle's team are featured in a WIRED article for putting Cassie, their bipedal robot, in some precarious situations including in a controlled fire and on top of a two-wheeled scooter. [Full Story] Organic solar cells reach record efficiency, benchmark for commercialization The team led by Professor Stephen Forrest built record efficient, multi-layered organic solar cells that will be able to curve in clothing or be transparently built into windows. [Full Story] Andrew DeOrio voted HKN Professor of the Year for CSE EECS students voted, and lecturer Andrew DeOrio was named the 2017-2018 HKN Professor of the Year in CSE by the Beta-Epsilon chapter of Eta Kappa Nu (HKN), the national honor society for electrical and computer engineers. [Full Story] Andrew Wagenmaker awarded NSF Fellowship for machine learning Andrew Wagenmaker (BSE MSE EE 16 17) was recently awarded an NSF Graduate Research Fellowship to continue research on machine learning. Wagenmaker will utilize the award as he pursues his doctoral degree at the University of Washington this fall in Seattle. [Full Story] Here's how hackers could cause chaos in this years US midterm elections This article reviews areas of vulnerability in the US voting system and how these weaknesses can be addressed. Prof. J. Alex Halderman, an expert in computer, network, and election security, is highlighted in the story. [Full Story] Kyle Min awarded Towner Prize for Distinguished Academic Achievement Kyle Min, a master's student soon to be a PhD in electrical engineering, works on using computer vision to analyze body camera footage from law enforcement officers with Professor Jason Corso. [Full Story] Professor Stephen Forrest elected to American Academy of Arts and Sciences In recognition of Professor Forrest's accomplishments, including numerous other awards, more than 550 papers, and 267 patents, the AAAS welcomed him as one of the "exceptional scholars, leaders, artists, and innovators." [Full Story] Sijia Geng awarded Towner Prize for Distinguished Academic Achievement Sijia Geng, PhD student in electrical engineering, researches trajectory sensitivity and adding renewable energy to microgrids with Professor Ian Hiskens. [Full Story] A Role Model at Raytheon: Katherine Herrick Alumna Katherine Herrick, Senior Fellow and Chief Engineer at Raytheon, learned both engineering principles and life skills from her mentors. Now, she looks forward to giving back in similar ways. [Full Story] Zakaria Aldeneh selected for IBM Ph.D. Fellowship Zakaria Aldeneh, CSE graduate student, has been selected to receive a prestigious IBM Ph.D. Fellowship. Aldeneh is working with Prof. Emily Mower Provost in the area of social signal processing. Aldeneh's research focuses on identifying the features of speech that make human interaction feel natural. [Full Story] University of Michigan breaks ground on $75M Ford Robotics Building Jessy Grizzle, professor and Director of Robotics, helps break ground on the new Ford Motor Company Robotics Building with Governor Snyder and Dean Alec Gallimore. The building is scheduled to open early 2020. [Full Story] Michigan engineers develop solar-powered imaging sensor Sung-Yun Park, Kyuseok Lee, Hyunsoo Song and Euisik Yoon are featured in SPIE Optics on their device that can simultaneously capture an image and harvest energy. [Full Story] Installing an alternative on spring break The GRID Alternatives Students for Sustainable Energy traveled to the La Jolla Indian Reservation outside of San Diego, California, to perform a solar installation of over 10kW on three homes during spring break, with plans for much greater in the future. [Full Story] Three CSE faculty selected for Google Faculty Research Award Profs. Jia Deng, Roya Ensfari, and Manos Kapritsos have been selected to receive the Google Faculty Research Award. The Google Faculty Research Awards Program aims to recognize and support world-class, permanent faculty pursuing cutting-edge research. [Full Story] I hacked an election. So can the Russians. Professor Alex Halderman and the New York Times staged a mock election to demonstrate voting machine vulnerability. [Full Story] Alum startup SambaNova collects $56m in funding for AI chip research Startup SambaNova Systems, co-founded by alumnus Kunle Olukotun (BSE EE MSE PhD CSE ), earned $56M in its series A funding round to develop a computing platform that may reimagine how we power machine learning and data analytics. [Full Story] Tara Safavi earns NSF Graduate Research Fellowship for research on data mining CSE graduate student Tara Safavi has been awarded an NSF Graduate Research Fellowship for her research in data mining on graphs, time series, and sequences. [Full Story] CSE alum earns IEEE award for pioneering work in CPU design Alumnus Kunle Olukotun (PhD CSE ) received the IEEE Computer Society's 2018 Harry H. Goode Memorial Award for his innovative work in multi-core processor design. Olukotun is often called "the father of multi-core processors" for his early contributions to this now commonplace technology. [Full Story] Solar cells enable self-powered camera Prof. Euisik Yoon and post-doc Sung-Yun Park developed a self-powered image sensor by placing a photovoltaic diode behind the photodetector diode, collecting the photons that pass through and converting them into electricity. [Full Story] Possession of ransomware is now a crime in Michigan There were more than 1,300 reported cases of ransomware attacks in Michigan in 2017, according to FBI statistics. New legislation signed by the governor closes a loophole that hindered the pursuit of suspected cybercriminals. Professor Kang Shin weighs in on the usefulness of these laws and headaches that may arise. [Full Story] Xinchen Yan Selected for Rackham Predoctoral Fellowship and Google PhD Fellowship CSE PhD candidate Xinchen Yan has been selected for a Rackham Predoctoral Fellowship and a Google PhD Fellowship to support his research in machine learning and its application in computer vision, graphics and robotics. In his thesis, Xinchen investigates the conditional generation problem that synthesizes structured sensory data from a given conditioning variable. [Full Story] Alumnus Garlin Gilchrist II serves as inaugural director of U-M Center for Social Media Responsibility To address the growing concern of fake news, U-M has formed the School of Information Center for Social Media Responsibility, and hired one of President Barack Obama's former social media managers as its director, EECS alumnus Garlin Gilchrist II (BSE CE/CS 05). Gilchrist will ensure that people are connected, informed, empowered, and free to share their ideas on the internet. [Full Story] 2017-18 Undergraduate Student Awards Students, parents, and faculty gathered on Friday, March 16, 2017 to celebrate the achievements of EECS students who earned a special award for academic achievement, research, service, or entrepreneurial activities. Dave Neuhoff, Senior Associate Chair for Electrical and Computer Engineering, and Brian Noble, Chair for Computer Science and Engineering, presented the awards. [Full Story] ECE Expeditions Travels to Seattle On the fourth trip of ECE Expeditions, students took a journey around Seattle to meet with alumni and get an insiders view of several companies, coming away with new opportunities, a better understanding of their future, and a stronger community. [Full Story] Improving communication between humans and robots in 20 noisy questions A team of information scientists led by Prof. Alfred Hero have discovered a better way to facilitate communication between humans and robots, using a twist on the classic game of 20 Questions. [Full Story] Dmitry Berenson receives NSF CAREER Award to advance a robot's ability to handle soft objects Prof. Dmitry Berenson was awarded an NSF CAREER award to improve the ability of autonomous robots to handle soft, deformable objects. The project is entitled Towards General-Purpose Manipulation of Deformable Objects through Control and Motion Planning with Distance Constraints." [Full Story] SMAP Update: A mission to manage water globally Three Miichigan faculty (Prof. Kamal Sarabandi, Prof. Leung Tsang, and Dr. Leland Pierce) are working to improve the information about global soil moisture in the NASA mission called Soil Moisture Active Passive (SMAP). [Full Story] Preventing deadly hospital infections with machine learning New machine learning models tailored to individual hospitals could give them a much earlier prediction of which patients are most likely to develop C. difficile, potentially helping them stave off infection before it starts. The models are detailed in a paper published today in Infection Control and Hospital Epidemiology. [Full Story] Girls Encoded hosts panel to connect students with successful women in CS On Tuesday, March 20th, around 25 undergraduate computer science students attended Sharing Perspectives Panel: Women in Computing, an event hosted by Girls Encoded that highlighted women software engineers and researchers in industry. [Full Story] Michigan researchers discover vulnerabilities in next-generation connected vehicle technology The US Department of Transportation has started implementing I-SIG, a vehicle-to-infrastructure technology that uses real-time vehicle trajectory data to intelligently control the duration and sequence of traffic signals. With the use of this system, comes vulnerabilities, and Michigan researchers have demonstrated that even one single cyberattack can greatly manipulate the intelligent traffic control algorithm in the current I-SIG system and cause severe traffic jams. [Full Story] Anonymous alumnus endows award in recognition of EECS professors The Wise-Najafi Prize for Engineering Excellence in the Miniature World will recognize and incentivize outstanding research and scholarship related to engineering at the meso-scale, micron-scale, nano-scale and beyond. [Full Story] CSE PhD student Matt Bernhard on the Facebook data breach In this video, CSE PhD Student Matt Bernhard weighs in on the matter Facebook data harvesting, such as that done by Cambridge Analytica. [Full Story] Inaugural ECE Willie Hobbs Moore Alumni Lecture: Dr. Isaac R. Porche III Dr. Porche (PhD EE:S 1998) was the inaugural speaker for the ECE Willie Hobbs Moore Alumni Lecture. A senior engineer at the RAND Corporation, Porche talks on "Information-Age Conflict" as an expert in cybersecurity. [Full Story] Mythic snags $40 million to advance AI chips Mythic, founded by EECS aIumnus David Fick (CTO) and Mike Henry (CEO), raised $40M in investment to produce custom chips created to power AI applications. The company had its start in the Michigan Integrated Circuits Lab (MICL), where Fick was advised by, and Henry worked with as a postdoctoral researcher for, Profs. David Blaauw and Dennis Sylvester. Among the first employees are alumni Laura Fick and Skylar Skrzyniarz, both also MICL students advised by Blaauw and Sylvester. [Full Story] How May Mobility Is Spearheading Autonomous Driving In The Form Of Shuttle Services This article describes how the startup May Mobility, cofounded by Prof. Edwin Olson, to getting to market first by focusing on autonomous shuttle service. [Full Story] Igor Markov's duplicate text detection system now integrated with conference management software Prof. Igor Markov's duplicate text detection system, called DUDE, is now integrated with Softconf's conference management software. Softconf is an internet company dedicated to organizing conferences, workshops and other software development events. DUDE is now integrated with their signature product, START V2, which is a web-based solution for managing peer-reviewed conferences and workshops. [Full Story] Security of State Voter Rolls a Concern as Primaries Begin This article describes steps being taken in Illinois, the lone state known to have its state election system breached in a hacking effort, regarding its election systems. It quotes Prof. J. Alex Halderman, who points out that many of the same weaknesses present in 2016 remain. [Full Story] Election audits to debut in Mich. 2018 race This article describes new measures to bolster security for Michigans 2018 midterm elections. Prof. J. Alex Halderman points out that additional progress can occur in the stat's process for auditing of paper ballots. [Full Story] Crossbar Pushes Resistive RAM into Embedded AIThe company, co-founded by Prof. Wei Lu, hopes to move artificial intelligence systems into mobile devices. [Full Story] Charles and Patricia Krumm Endow the George I. Haddad Graduate Fellowship Fund Alumni Charles and Patricia Krumm have established the George I. Haddad Graduate Fellowship Fund to support graduate students in Electrical and Computer Engineering. The endowment fund honors Charles Krumms former doctoral advisor and mentor, Prof. George Haddad, and his contributions to the field of electrical and computer engineering. [Full Story] Free electrical engineering textbooks for students A new textbook initiative spearheaded by faculty at University of Michigan, UC-Berkeley, and The University of Utah aims to ease the financial burden of college students in engineering courses by offering newly-published books for free online. [Full Story] Hottest Major In this article, the Ann Arbor Observer reports on the pressures that have emerged due to the exploding enrollments in computer science classes. According to CSE Chair Brian Noble, CSE is constantly recruiting in an attempt to hire more faculty to handle the load. [Full Story] Igor Markov named a top Quora writer for fifth year in a row Prof. Igor Markov has been named a top writer for 2018 on Quora, the question-and-answer site where questions are asked, answered, edited, and organized by its community of users. This is the fifth straight year that he has been ranked as a top writer on the site. [Full Story] Marlin P. Ristenbatt: In Memoriam Marlin P. Ristenbatt, research scientist emeritus in the Department of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science, passed away March 2, 2018, at the age of 89. Since retiring in 1998, following a long and productive career as a teacher and researcher, he has remained closely affiliated with the Department. The Department salutes Marlin Ristenbatt and thanks him for all that he contributed to the department and the discipline. [Full Story] U of M computer scientists might have solved mystery behind Cuba 'sonic attacks' In this local news segment, Prof. Kevin Fu explains why the "sonic attacks" that poisoned diplomats in Cuba may have been the accidental effect of eavesdropping. [Full Story] Duncan Steel Co-Editor-in-Chief of Encyclopedia of Modern Optics, 2nd edition Duncan Steel, Robert J. Hiller Professor of Engineering, is Co-Editor-in-Chief of the second edition of the Encyclopedia of Modern Optics, published by Elsevier. Topics covered include classical and quantum optics, lasers, optical fibers and optical fiber systems, optical materials and light-emitting diodes (LEDs). [Full Story] Ali Mostajeran earns IEEE-SSCS Predoctoral Achievement Award Ali Mostajeran, visiting scholar from Cornell University, received a 2018 IEEE-SSCS Predoctoral Achievement Award award. Mostajeran works with Prof. Ehsan Afshari researching novel millimeter-wave and terahertz electronics for imaging, biomedical hydration sensing, and communication applications. [Full Story] Louise Willingale Receives NSF CAREER Award to Advance Scientific Knowledge of Plasmas Louise Willingale has received an NSF CAREER Award for her research project Relativistic Electron Driven Magnetic Reconnection." Magnetic reconnection occurs during high-energy-density phenomena such as solar flares and auroras, and is also relevant to the process of nuclear fusion. Willingale plans to conduct high-energy-density laboratory experiments at the University of Michigan T-cubed laser facility and with the HERCULES laser, both housed in the Center for Ultrafast Optical Science, to shed light onto the little understood process of magnetic reconnection and test the accuracy of existing theories. [Full Story] Necmiye Ozay Receives ONR Young Investigator Award to Advance Research in Autonomous System Necmiye Ozay received a 2018 Young Investigator Award from the Office of Naval Research (ONR) for her research project "Correct-by-construction Control with Non-asymptotic Learning, Estimation and Detection in-the-Loop." Her research will incorporate the latest advances in learning and estimation by developing new theory and algorithms that seamlessly blend adaptability, safety and correctness. The award comes from the Science of Autonomy Program, which emphasizes a multi-disciplinary approach to the development of future autonomous systems. [Full Story] Cuba "sonic attacks" - a covert accident? The purported "sonic attacks" that sickened U.S. and Canadian government workers in Cuba last year could have been an accidental side effect of attempted eavesdropping, says Prof. Kevin Fu, who with his colleagues reverse-engineered the attacks in a lab. [Full Story] Can sound be used as a weapon? 4 questions answered Were foreign diplomats and tourists in Cuba attacked with a "sonic weapon" or was it something else? Prof. Kevin Fu and his collaborators demonstrate a rational, evidence-based explanation. [Full Story] New computing system to enable deep space missions A new radiation-hardened, multi-processor, Arm-based spacecraft processor is being developed at Michigan in a project led by Boeing and funded by NASA. Prof. Ron Dreslinski is leading the research at Michigan. [Full Story] Comcast offers 1-gigabit service in SE Mich. In this news report, Prof. Mosharaf Chowdhury comments on the potential impact of Comcast's forthcoming 1-gigabit residential and business service. [Full Story] BMW, Toyota invest in U-M startup May Mobility May Mobility, the autonomous vehicle microtransit company co-founded by Prof. Edwin Olson to replace existing transportation systems with fleets of self-driving micro-shuttles, has announced that BMW i Ventures and Toyota AI Ventures have joined its investor-base. [Full Story] How Can We Trust a Robot? This article by Prof. Benjamin Kuipers is featured in the March 2018 Communications of the ACM. Prof. Kuipers discusses how advances in artificial intelligence and robotics have raised concerns about the impact on our society of intelligent robots, unconstrained by morality or ethics. Includes a video interview with Prof. Kuipers. [Full Story] BMW and Toyota are investing in a start-up that makes self-driving shuttles May Mobility, cofounded by Prof. Edwin Olson, has received additional funding from BMW and Toyota for their autonomous shuttle technology. May hopes to get to market quickly by deploying shuttles on campuses and in other smaller-scale environments. [Full Story] How Artificial Intelligence Is Going To Affect The Financial Industry In 2018 Prof. Jason Mars, cofounder (with Prof. Lingjia Tang and others) of the AI startup firm Clinc, is interviewed in this article on the AI-driven conversational interface Clinc has developed for the banking industry. Clinc had sales of $4.5M in 2017 and his partnering with USAA to roll out their technology. [Full Story] Prof. Michael Wellman participates in Asimov Memorial Debate Michael Wellman, the Lynn A. Conway Professor of Computer Science and Engineering, participated in the recent Issac Asimov Memorial Debate on Artificial Intelligence, which was hosted by Neil deGrasse Tyson. You can see the entire debate in this video. [Full Story] The Myth of the Hacker-Proof Voting Machine This article describes the security holes that exist in today's electronic voting machines, including both the shortcomings of voting systems that do not provide paper backup and those of the systems that transmit electronic votes to counting centers. It quotes Prof. J. Alex Halderman, who points to flaws in the protections for vote transmission systems put forth by vendors of paperless systems. [Full Story] Pacemakers, defibrillators are potentially hackable This article on the security of cardiac implants quotes Prof. Kevin Fu, who notes that limiting remote interactions would also address scenarios such as an old computer virus that unintentionally shuts down global operations of remote cardiac telemetry for hundreds of thousands of patients at once. [Full Story] Prof. John Laird and CSE Alumna Shiwali Mohan receive award for research on learning in autonomous intelligent agents Prof. John Laird and CSE alum Shiwali Mohan have received the Blue Sky Award at the 2018 Association for the Advancement of Artificial Intelligence conference for their paper, Learning Fast and Slow: Levels of Learning in General Autonomous Intelligent Agents. [Full Story] Kim Michelle Lewis Appointed Associate Dean at Howard University Previously at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, Kim Michelle Lewis, Ph.D., has been appointed as associate dean for Research and Graduate Programs and full professor in the Department of Physics at Howard University. [Full Story] Chat tool simplifies tricky online privacy policies Kang G. Shin, the Kevin and Nancy O'Connor Professor of Computer Science, and his collaborators have created an automated chatbot that uses artificial intelligence to weed through the fine print of privacy policies so that you will know what you're agreeing to. [Full Story] Heath Hofmann discusses transistors in troubled Toyota Prius Prof. Heath Hofmann lends his expertise to the LA Times to describe current troubles with Toyota Prius software and hardware. Specifically, a fix made to the Prius is being blamed for reduced fuel efficiency. [Full Story] The Training Of Dr. Robot: Data Wave Hits Medical Care This article reports on how machine learning is revolutionizing the process of making medical diagnoses. It opens by highlighting the work of Prof. Jenna Wiens and her collaborators in predicting a hospital patient's likelihood of developing a problematic C-diff infection. [Full Story] Prof. Wei Lu and What's Next In Neuromorphic Computing Prof. Wei Lu and his team's work presented at IEDM 2016 was referenced in Semiconductor Engineering detailing how the commercialization of neuromorphic computing will require improved devices and architectures. [Full Story] Alfred Hero Illustrates Common Threads of Complex Networks in Distinguished University Professor Lecture Alfred Hero explained how we can infer the intricate, hidden properties of a network in his Distinguished University Professor lecture, Locating the Nodes: From Sensor Arrays to Genomic Networks," held in the Rackham Amphitheatre. [Full Story] Jia Deng selected for Sloan Research Fellowship Assistant Professor Jia Deng has been selected for a 2018 Sloan Research Fellowship by the Alfred P. Sloan Foundation for his work in computer vision and machine learning. He directs the Michigan Vision & Learning Lab and his research seeks to enable computers to see and think like humans. [Full Story] Shai Revzen Receives Inaugural Robotics Institute Teaching Award for his Hands-on Approach to Robotics Education Prof. Shai Revzen was presented with the inaugural Robotics Institute Teaching Award for blazing a new pedagogical path in the teaching of robotics. Since coming to Michigan in 2012, Revzen established an active learning class at the senior undergraduate level, Hands on Robotics; added key components to the graduate course, Robotics Systems Lab; and created a new graduate course, "Comparative Biomechanics Seminar." [Full Story] Michigan researchers predict emotions by examining the correlation between tweets and environmental factors Research fellow Carmen Banea, alumna Vicki Liu, and Prof. Rada Mihalcea explored the concept of grounded emotions, focusing on how external factors, ranging from weather, news exposure, social network emotion charge, timing, and mood predisposition may have a bearing on ones emotion level throughout the day. [Full Story] Risk Aware Autonomy - Moving Artificial Intelligence Forward This short video highlights the work of CSE PhD student Dhanvin Mehta, who is working on an algorithm to help guide robots in uncertain environments with constantly changing variables, such as for autonomous vehicles driving among pedestrians who can suddenly change direction or speed without signaling. [Full Story] To Fight Fatal Infections, Hospitals May Turn to Algorithms This article in Scientific American describes how machine learning is revolutionizing the process of making medical diagnoses. It opens by highlighting the work of Prof. Jenna Wiens and her collaborators in predicting a hospital patient's likelihood of developing a problematic C-diff infection. [Full Story] Battling Drone Ships with Anthony Uytingco Anthony Uytingco, a junior in Electrical Engineering, leads UM::Autonomy, Michigans RoboBoat team for the Association for Unmanned Vehicle Systems Internationals (AUVSI) RoboBoat Competition. Challenges for the boats include speeding around buoys, navigating a field of obstacles, staying in a precise formation, and docking based on an underwater pinger. [Full Story] Transducer Sensors Suffer Security Risks Based on Physics, Not Malware This article references the work of Prof. Kevin, Fu, who has demonstrated that physical manipulation can be used to trick transducers into reporting environmental data that is inaccurate. [Full Story] As cell phones proliferate in K-12, schools search for smart policies This article includes a focus on the work of Thurnau Prof. Elliot Soloway, who is a proponent for the use of mobile tech in education. [Full Story] Persevering through the unknown: my conversation on emotion AI and problem solving with Emily Mower Provost Prof. Emily Mower Provost was recently interviewed by the non-profit Iridescent - a company that brings science and engineering to underserved communities. [Full Story] Alumnus Rob Rutenbar receives Phil Kaufman Award for distinguished contributions to electronic system design Dr. Rob A. Rutenbar (MSE, PhD CICE 1979, 1984), senior vice chancellor for Research at the University of Pittsburgh, has been honored with the Phil Kaufman Award for Distinguished Contributions to Electronic System Design. While at Michigan, we was co-advised by Profs. Daniel E. Atkins and Trevor Mudge. [Full Story] Prof. Hofmann adds expertise on defect that can cause Prius to overheat Prof. Heath Hofmann helps inform LA Times readers on 2016 Toyota recall to fix a key electronic component on its Priuses. One of California's largest dealers said the cars were still coming in after overheating, however. [Full Story] Prof. Chad Jenkins Receives CoE Trudy Huebner Service Excellence Award Chad Jenkins, associate professor in Computer Science and Engineering, received the 2017 2018 Trudy Huebner Service Excellence Award from the College of Engineering. This award recognizes his significant and consequential contributions in service to the academy and his professional communities. [Full Story] Collaborative master's program in data science announced Developed and taught collaboratively by the faculty of the CSE Division of EECS in the College of Engineering, the Department of Statistics in the College of LSA, the Department of Biostatistics in the School of Public Health, and the School of Information, the Data Science master's program is now accepting applications for Fall 2018. [Full Story] Michigan researchers awarded 2018 Applied Networking Research Prize for their work on speeding up the mobile web A team of researchers, including Prof. Harsha Madhyastha and CSE graduate students Vaspol Ruamviboonsuk and Muhammed Uluyol have received the Applied Networking Research Prize (ANRP) for their paper, "Vroom: Accelerating the Mobile Web with Server-Aided Dependency Resolution. [Full Story] Herbert Winful receives Outreach and Diversity Award from the College of Engineering Herbert Winful, Arthur F. Thurnau Professor of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science, received the Raymond J. and Monica E. Schultz Outreach and Diversity Award from the College of Engineering. This award honors his efforts in organizing diversity, equity, and inclusion programs, offering mentorship, and championing improvements in local and global communities. [Full Story] Necmiye Ozay receives 1938E Award from College of Engineering Necmiye Ozay, assistant professor of Electrical and Computer Engineering, received the 1938E Award from the College of Engineering, which recognizes "an outstanding teacher in both elementary and advanced courses, an understanding counselor of students who seek guidance in their choice of a career, a contributor to the educational growth of his/her College, and a teacher whose scholarly integrity pervades his/her service and the profession of Engineering." [Full Story] Raj Nadakuditi receives Excellence in Teaching Award from College of Engineering Raj Nadakuditi, associate professor of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science, received the Jon R. and Beverly S. Holt Award for Excellence in Teaching from the College of Engineering. This award honors faculty "with a demonstrated sustained excellence in curricular development, instruction, and guidance at both the undergraduate and graduate levels." [Full Story] Stephane Lafortune receives Research Excellence Award from College of Engineering Stephane Lafortune, professor of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science, received the David E. Liddle Research Excellence Award from the College of Engineering honoring his contributions to system and control theory, and especially discrete event systems. [Full Story] Mark J. Kushner receives Stephen S. Attwood Award from College of Engineering Professor Mark J. Kushner received the Stephen S. Attwood Award, the most prestigious award that the College of Engineering bestows, in recognition of his extraordinary achievement in teaching, research, service, and other activities that have brought distinction to the College and University. [Full Story] Alfred Hero Receives CoE Professional Leadership and Service Award Alfred O. Hero, John H. Holland Distinguished University Professor of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science and R. Jamison and Betty Williams Professor of Engineering, received the 2018 H. Scott Fogler Award for Professional Leadership and Service from the College of Engineering. [Full Story] ECE Team behind COMBAT Receives Ted Kennedy Family Faculty Team Excellence Award Eight core researchers who contributed to the Center for Objective Microelectronics and Biomimetic Advanced Technology (COMBAT) received the 2018 Ted Kennedy Family Faculty Team Excellence Award from the College of Engineering. These members include Dr. Jack East, Prof. Stephen Forrest, Dr. Leland Pierce (Deputy Director of COMBAT), Prof. Amir Mortazawi, Prof. Khalil Najafi, Prof. Kamal Sarabandi (Director of COMBAT), Prof. Dennis Sylvester, and Prof. Euisik Yoon. [Full Story] Professor Leung Tsang Receives 2018 Van de Hulst Award Prof. Leung Tsang has been selected to receive the 2018 Van de Hulst Light-Scattering Award in recognition of his lifetime achievements in the area of electromagnetics. Prof. Tsang is a world-renowned expert in the field of theoretical and computational electromagnetics, and in particular microwave remote sensing of the earth. His research has laid the foundation for the analysis of radar and radiometer remote sensing data and for the development of airborne and spaceborne systems aimed at monitoring the environment, including monitoring climate change, improving hydrological predictions, and managing water and agricultural resources. [Full Story] Ann Arbor's Duo Security announces record-breaking year Duo Security, the Ann Arbor-based security firm founded by CSE alumni Dug Song and Jon Oberheide, has grown spectacularly. The firm not only met, but exceeded, their 2017 goals. Since 2016, Duo has tripled its staff from 200 to nearly 600. It is now considered a "unicorn" with a valuation of over $1B. [Full Story] 2018 EECS Outstanding Achievement Awards The EECS Outstanding Achievement Awards are presented annually to faculty members for their outstanding accomplishments in teaching, research, and service. The recipients of the 2018 EECS Outstanding Achievement Award are Peter Chen, Jason Corso, Jason Flinn, and PC Ku. [Full Story] Off-Roading in Sand and Snow with Shivani Shah Shivani Shah (BSE 2017, MSE 2018) is a key member of the Michigan Baja Racing team. Shahs expertise in electrical engineering allowed her to lead the development of an electronically controlled variable transmission (eCVT), a project she launched in EECS 473. [Full Story] Quantum Computers Threaten Data Encryption Prof. Duncan Steel adds to the discussion around quantum computing's potential threat to our current encryption methods. Prof. Steel uses optics to study, control, and manipulate the quantum properties of semiconductor structures. [Full Story] Internet-scanning U-M startup pioneers new approach to cybersecurity Ann Arbor-based Censys has launched based on work done over the past 5 years in Prof. J. Alex Halderman's lab. Censys is the first commercially available internet-wide scanning tool. It helps IT experts working to secure large networks, which are composed of a constantly changing array of devices ranging from servers to smartphones and internet-of-things devices. [Full Story] Prof. Amir Mortazawi Introduces Robust Wireless Power Transfer In this video, Prof. Mortazawi introduces his work in improving wireless charging. Compared to conventional methods of wireless power, which require a specific distance and alignment, Prof. Mortazawi's version operates over a range of distances and orientations without a drop in power. [Full Story] CS alum travels Africa by motorcycle, planting the seeds of programming Levi Weintraub (BSE CS 2006) left his job at Google to travel the world. He has ended up in Tanzania, where he has set up an IT training program. [Full Story] DARPA funds six centers working on computer design alternatives This article reports on the six centers that DARPA has funded to jumpstart the computer computer architecture development. The $32M Applications Driving Architectures center, based at U-M and led by Prof. Valeria Bertacco, is one of them. [Full Story] PhD Candidate Michael Benson Wins Another Year Leading Honor Society HKN Michael Benson, a PhD candidate in the Electrical and Computer Engineering Department, was reelected student governor for Eta Kappa Nu (HKN), the electrical and computer engineering honor society and the honor society of the IEEE. [Full Story] Semiconductor Breakthrough May Be Game-changer for Organic Solar Cells In an advance that could push cheap, ubiquitous solar power closer to reality, Prof. Stephen Forrest and his team have found a way to coax electrons to travel much further than was previously thought possible in the materials often used for organic solar cells and other organic semiconductors. [Full Story] Raymond Fok selected as finalist for CRA UG research award; two others receive honorable mention CS undergraduate student Raymond Fok was selected as a finalist for CRA's Outstanding Undergraduate Researcher Award. The award program recognizes undergraduate students in North American colleges and universities who show outstanding potential in an area of computing research. [Full Story] Reimagining how computers are designed: University of Michigan leads new $32M center The Center for Applications Driving Architectures, or ADA, at the University of Michigan will develop a transformative, "plug-and-play" ecosystem to encourage a flood of fresh ideas in computing frontiers such as autonomous control, robotics and machine-learning. [Full Story] U-M startup May Mobility blazes toward autonomous fleet market May Mobility, co-founded and led by Prof. Edwin Olson, has tested its autonomous vehicles on the streets of Downtown Detroit. The startup recently licensed five autonomous driving related technologies from U-M, and outside of the life sciences, is the most successful UM startup in raising first round of funding so quickly. [Full Story] Professor Emeritus Ribbens Publishes 8th Edition of Understanding Automotive Electronics William Ribbens, professor emeritus of electrical engineering and computer science, recently published an 8th edition of his textbook Understanding Automotive Electronics, which adds information on the latest in automotive technology, including autonomous vehicles, camera systems, hybrid control, and software networks [Full Story] CSE Researchers Funded to Enhance Online Communication Profs. Danai Koutra and Walter Lasecki have been awarded two grants from Trove.ai, an Ann-Arbor based artificial intelligence startup, to develop novel methods and tools that will unleash the power of online communication. [Full Story] New bill could finally get rid of paperless voting machines Prof. J. Alex Halderman is quoted on the the vulnerabilities that exist in voting machines, why paper backup is a practical solution, and the approaches that should be taken in auditing election results. 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