Alumni News

In Memoriam: William D. Becher (1929-2024)

William Becher (MSE PhD EE ’61, ’68) led a distinguished career as a professional electrical engineer before serving as an academic leader at several institutions, including Chair at U-M Dearborn and Dean at NJIT. He was the first President of the EECS Alumni Society, and long-time supporter and friend of the U-M Amateur Radio Club.

Doing Good in the World Inspires EE Professor

Rhonda Franklin received her MSE and PhD in electrical engineering at Michigan. She is now the McKnight Presidential Professor of Electrical Engineering and Abbott Professor of Innovative Education at the University of Minnesota. As a Black woman in engineering who received her PhD nearly 30 years ago, she’s been a trailblazer who devoted much of her distinguished career to making sure those who follow in her footsteps have had an easier path. Her efforts seem to be working.

It Happened at Michigan — ‘I really disliked writing papers’

This Heritage Communication from the University of Michigan describes how EECS alum Thomas Knoll’s dislike of writing papers allowed him to be distracted by writing programs. The result was the revolutionary photo editing software Photoshop, which he and his brother later sold to Adobe.

Robotics team: Building robots and a future in STEM

This is Michigan features Leon Pryor (BSE EE 1997), an alum and ECE advisory council member, and his work creating the Motor City Alliance for FIRST Robotics.

ECE alum Michelle Stock elected to the Board of Directors at SPIE – the international society for optics and photonics

ECE Alum Michelle Stock has been elected to the Board of Directors at SPIE – the international society for optics and photonics. SPIE unites engineers, scientists, students, and business professionals worldwide to advance light-based science and technology.

University of Maryland ECE Welcomes New Faculty Members for Fall 2023

Dr. Xin Zan, ECE alum (PhD ECE 2022) is joining the Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering of University of Maryland as an Assistant Professor.

ECE Alum Xiaofan Cui Joins UCLA ECE Department

ECE Alum Xiaofan Cui has been appointed as an electrical and computer engineering assistant professor at UCLA. He was advised by Professor Al-Thaddeus Avestruz.

Royal Academy of Engineering Names Outstanding Young Engineers of the Year

ECE Alum Mihir Sheth, co-founder of Inspiritus Health, receives the Young Engineers Award from Royal Academy for his groundbreaking work on the StimSprit device which shortens the amount of time patients spend on ventilators.

Whitmer’s Dream Team to Address Talent Gap, Security

U-M alum Garlin Gilchrist II (BSE CE/CS ’05), the current Lt. Governor of the state of Michigan, talks about the state’s new initiatives to improve the semiconductor industry, which include partnering with universities (including U-M), as well as industry leaders, including KLA, whose president and CEO, Rick Wallace (BSE EE ’82), is also an alum.

Jack Edward Burchfield: Alum and friend of Amateur Radio Club

Jack Burchfield was inducted into the Amateur Radio Hall of Fame, founded Ten-Tec to manufacture amateur radio equipment, and donated his personal collection of Ten-Tec radios to W8UM, U-Ms Amateur Radio Club call sign. He passed away July 15, 2023 at the age of 88.

UMich hosts third annual Juneteenth symposium

Lieutenant Governor Garlin Gilchrist II, an EECS alum, is quoted regarding the importance of Juneteenth and the role his engineering training played in empowering him to effect change in his local community.

Michigan Announces State’s Largest-Ever Push to Achieve Global Semiconductor Superiority

Michigan Lt. Gov. Garlin Gilchrist (BSE CE/CS ’05) talks about a new grant program through the Michigan Economic Development Corporation that will bring scholarships, curricula, and training programs to colleges to prepare students for careers along the semiconductor supply chain.

Voxel Announces Seed Financing to Drive Additive Manufacturing with AI Design Platform

Voxel, a startup founded by alum and current CEO Aaron Chow (BSE EE 2019) that’s focused on transforming the additive manufacturing industry, has closed $1.7 million in seed financing and will open a new headquarters in Cincinnati, Ohio.

VIDEO: Detroit youths headed to robotics world championship

WXYZ-TV Detroit – Channel 7 features Team Techno Phoenix, led by U-M alum Leon Pryor (BS EE 1997), who are competing in the world championships for FIRST Robotics. U-M alum Garlin Gilchrist II (BSE CE/CS ‘05), the current Lt. Governor of the state of Michigan, also came out to pre-competition pep rally to celebrate the team.

‘Oh my God!’ This Detroit robotics team will compete in the international championship

Leon Pryor’s (BS EE 1997) Detroit middle school FIRST Robotics team will compete in the world championship this April.

Women in Mining Spotlight: Cat Culkin

Alumnus Cat Culkin (BSE EE, BS Inter. Physics, MSE EE:S) is the CTO at Pronto.ai, a safe-driving autonomy company founded in 2018. She is interviewed by Mining[dot]com

Clarkson University’s Schuckers Named IEEE Fellow

ECE alumnus Stephanie Schuckers, the Paynter-Kringman Endowed Professor in Engineering Science at Clarkson University’s ECE Department, has been named an IEEE Fellow for “her contributions in biometric recognition systems.”

Who Is The Mentalist Wowing NFL Teams All Over The Country?

The Grunge profiles Oz Pearlman (BSE EE ’03), a professional magician and mentalist.

Journey of Self-Discovery

The Duderstadt Center Gallery features an art exhibit by alum Richard Moizio, who earned a BSE in Electrical Engineering from U-M in 1985.

Librarian combines loves of comics, games

The Record profiles alum David Carter (BSE EE 1993; MILS 1995 Information & Library Studies), who serves as video game archivist for the Computer and Video Game Archive and comics librarian.

Computer Graphics Innovator Paul Debevec to Receive Emmy for Lifetime Achievement

The Hollywood Reporter features alum Paul Debevec, who will receive the Charles F. Jenkins Lifetime Achievement Award during the Television Academy’s 74th Engineering, Science & Technology Emmy Awards.

Alum Paul E. Debevec awarded the Charles F. Jenkins Lifetime Achievement Award

Paul Debevec was awarded the 2022 Charles F. Jenkins Lifetime Achievement Award for his groundbreaking work in high dynamic range imaging, image-based lighting and photogrammetry, essential techniques used in computer graphics for VFX and Virtual Production. Debevec received UG degrees in computer engineering and math at Michigan, and his PHD in CS from UC-Berkeley.

Automotive Hall of Fame Honors Five Industry Influencers

ECE alumn Linda Zhang is among thoe five honorees for her contributions as F-150 Lightning chief engineer, Ford Motor Co.

Meet Leon Pryor, F.L.I.C.S Robotics Coach, District Volunteer

Detroit Public Schools interviews alum Leon Pryor (BS EE 1997) about his experience volunteering as the F.L.I.C.S. Robotics Coach.

The Motor City Alliance puts STEM FIRST in Detroit

DTE interviews alum Leon Pryor (BS EE 1997) about founding The Motor City Alliance(MCA), a consortium of Michigan FIRST robotics teams and industry professionals in Detroit.

Celebrating 50th Anniversary of First African- American Woman to Earn Physics PhD

Alum Dr. Donnell Walton (PhD Applied Physics) pens a tribute in the AMERICAN PHYSICAL SOCIETY for Dr. Willie Hobbs Moore, the first Black woman at Michigan to earn a BS and MS in Electrical Engineering (’58 and ’61) and first in the country to earn a PhD in Physics (1972), in honor of the 50th anniversary of her doctorate degree.

Tony Fadell: The Nest Thermostat Disrupted My Life

Alum Tony Fadell (BSE CE ’91), inventor of the Apple iPod and founder of Nest labs, writes this piece for IEEE Spectrum detailing his years pursuing the creation of a thermostat he actually likes.

Don’t Call Tony Fadell an Asshole—He Prefers ‘Mission Driven’

Wired interviews alum Tony Fadell (BSE CE ’91), inventor of the Apple iPod and founder of Nest labs, about his new book “Build” that focuses on how to be an effective leader, why the metaverse is bunk, and when quitting is a virtue.

A mom’s lessons helped get the electric Ford F-150 Lightning built

Linda Zhang, ECE alumnus and mother of two, is the F-150 Lightning’s chief engineer

How Dr. Angelique Johnson Unintentionally Founded MEMStim, LLC.

ECE alum Dr. Angelique Johnson (MSE PhD EE 2007 2011) speaks with Building Black Podcast about her journey founding and running MEMStim, LLC., which makes one of the most expensive parts of cochlear implants cheap with microfabrication.

Ping Identity to Add Seasoned Executive Leaders to Board of Directors

Former CEOs Anil Arora and Vikram Verma (MSE EE ’89 and current ECE Council Member) bring decades of senior leadership and track records of transformation and growth to the Ping Identity board

Chicago Auto Show Hosts Fifth What Drives Her Program

ECE Alum Linda Zhang, Ford F-150 Lightning chief engineer, was the recipient of the 2022 Rising Star Award at the Chicago Auto Show.

Meet the woman behind Ford’s all-electric F-150 Lightning: ‘Pursue what you love’

Linda Zhang started working at Ford when she was 19 years old. She went on to get her undergraduate degree in EE, her master’s degree in CE, followed that up with an MBA, all from the University of Michigan. She’s now chief engineer charged with electrifying the best-selling pickup truck in the world, the Ford F-150 Lightning.

Livonia insulin management startup secures $17 million in funding

ECE alumnus Eran Bashan’s company Hygieia is working to dramatically improve the way patients and their doctors manage insulin therapy with their d-Nav system for people with Type-2 diabetes.

Look inside KLA’s new $200M headquarters in Ann Arbor

KLA Corporation, whose President and CEO is ECE alum Rick Wallace, held the grand opening of its newest North American headquarters in Ann Arbor on November 5th.

The Engineer Who Made Electric Vehicles Palatable for the Pickup-Truck Set

Time Magazine profiles Linda Zhang (BSE EE, MSE CE, MBA), the Chief Engineer for the Ford F-150 Lightning, for their Climate Issue on COP26.

From Spacecraft to Sensor Fusion

IEEE Spectrum profiles EE PhD alum Iverson Bell.

Gaming collector shatters two records with thousands of vintage systems

Electrical Engineer alum Linda Watson-Guillory has set world records for “Largest Collection of LCD Gaming Systems” and “Largest collection of playable gaming systems.”

How the Ford F-150 Lightning’s Chief Engineer Linda Zhang Brought the World an Electric Pickup

TheDrive profiles Linda Zhang (BSE EE, MSE CE, MBA), who is the Chief Engineer for the Ford F-150 Lightning

Jamaican engineering genius leads US team to make World Wide Web more global

Dr. Charles Anthony Barnett (BS CE 1982) is leading the technical team at an American satellite service company aiming to make World Wide Web more global

The CTO interview with Ambiq’s Scott Hanson

EE News: Scott Hanson (BSE MSE PhD EE ’04 ’06 ’09), founder and CTO of sub-threshold voltage microcontroller vendor Ambiq, answers a few questions as his company moves out from its position in the wearables market.

Mythic Raises $70 Million in Series C Funding Led by BlackRock and Hewlett Packard Enterprise

AI accelerator chip start-up Mythic, founded in 2012 at U-M by EECS alumni Mike Henry and Dave Fick, has raised $70 million in Series C Funding. The company has raised over $165.2 million to-date and has offices in Redwood City, CA and Austin, TX.

SambaNova Raises Eye-Popping Series D Funding

Data center AI chip and system company SambaNova has announced an enormous Series D funding round of $676 million, pushing the company’s valuation above $5 billion. SambaNova’s cofounder is alumnus Kunle Olukotun (BSE EE ’85; MSE PhD CSE ’87 ’91).

ECE alumna Tanya Das appointed Chief of Staff of the Office of Science

Tanya Das was most recently a Professional Staff Member on the U.S. House Committee on Science, Space, and Technology, where she worked on legislation on a range of issues in clean energy and manufacturing policy. She received her bachelor’s degree in electrical engineering from the University of Michigan, and her Ph.D. in electrical engineering from the University of California, Santa Barbara.

An Innovative Team: 55 Years of Dixon and Carol Doll

Dixon (MSE PDH EE 1965 1969) and Carol Doll met while Carol was attending U-M. Doll published one of the first books on data communications, later started Dow Capital Management, and joined his wife in many philanthropic efforts, including endowing the position of executive director of the Center for Entrepreneurship.

Corp! Awards Honor MVPs Who Make Michigan the Best Place to Live, Work

Alum Eran Bashan, CEO and co-founder of Hygieia, make the list with their company that promises a better way to use insulin

Alum David Tarver interviewed on “The Elders”

A conversation with alumnus William David Tarver about his efforts growing a company and then selling that company successfully and using his success to train and support others as a professor and investor.

Remembering Two Glass Industry Legends

Alumnus Norm Nitschke founded Glasstech Solar and then Solar Cells Inc., which developed the cadmium telluride coating technology for the thin film solar modules used to launch First Solar into the solar energy business.

Alumna Rhonda Franklin named 2020 Scientist of the Year

Rhonda Franklin, ECE alumnus and professor at the University of Minnesota, received this award from the Minnesota Chapter of Advancing Science in America Foundation. Watch the presentation and talk.

Dr. Steven McLaughlin Named Provost and Executive Vice President for Academic Affairs at Georgia Tech

McLaughlin is an ECE alumnus and recipient of the 2019 ECE Distinguished Educator Award

Mask making on a pandemic sabbatical

Alumna and ECE Advisory Council member Prof. Rhonda Franklin led a University of Minnesota team in developing a general-purpose face mask inspired by hospital procedure masks.

University of Minnesota faculty receive Abbott Professorships to introduce prospective students to STEM

Alumna and ECE Advisory Council member, Prof. Rhonda Franklin, receives Institute for Engineering in Medicine Abbott Professorship in Innovative Education.

3 Questions: Joe Steinmeyer on guiding students into the world of STEM

MIT profiles Prof. Joe Steinmeyer, an EECS alum.

Boeing Nominates New Directors; Announces Director Retirements

Steve Mollenkopf (MSE EE 1993) and CEO of Qualcomm has been nominated as a new director of Boeing.

He’s Stared Down Activists and Apple, and Is Still in Charge

The New York Times profiles Qualcomm CEO Steve Mollenkopf (MSE EE 1993).

How UM degrees propelled careers in T-shirts, robots and photo archives

MLive profiles the Ann Arbor T-shirt Company, co-founded by alums Jerry Kozak (Business) and Ricky Winowiecki (Computer Engineering).

Analog AI Accelerator Startup Raises $30m

Wearable Device Acts as Biopsy Alternative

UMass Amherst Names Sanjay Raman Dean of the College of Engineering

Purdue selects Peroulis to lead School of Electrical and Computer Engineering

Katie Bouman: 5 Fast Facts You Need to Know

Movellus Raises $6M in Venture Funding, Led by Stata Venture Partners

Alum recognized for her contributions in STEM

Dr. Katherine Herrick (BSE MSE Ph.D EE ‘93 ‘95 ‘00) is honored by Tuscon Business as a Woman of Influence.

KLA-Tencor Announces Plans to Establish R&D Facility in Ann Arbor, Michigan

Alumnus Garlin Gilchrist named as running mate for Michigan Governor race

Gretchen Whitmer to name Detroiter Garlin Gilchrist II as running mate.

Alumna Darlene Phillips appointed to U.S. DOE Advisory Committee

Phillips (BSE EE 1993; MBA 1998 Ross School of Business Business Administration) has been appointed to the U.S. Department of Energy’s Electricity Advisory Committee by Secretary of Energy Rick Perry.

Appier Strengthens AI Team with New Chief Artificial Intelligence Scientist

Alumnus Dr. (PhD EE:S) Dr. Min Sun has been appointed Chief Artificial Intelligence Scientist of Appier, a leading artificial intelligence (AI) company.

Safety in Numbers: Computer Scientist Races to Develop Unhackable Code to Protect Everyone’s Data

Tap into Newark profiles alumnus Dr. Kurt Rohloff (PhD EE) and his data security company, Duality.

University of Michigan to launch new website to help people navigate social media

ECE alumnus Garlin Gilchrist serves as executive director of the Center for Social Media Responsibility.

Rick Bergman sees that Synaptics stays in touch

ECE alumnus Rick Bergman is CEO of Synaptics, a company dedicated to “human interface technology.”

15 of The Greatest Minds in Automobile Engineering Today

Interesting Engineering highlights ECE alumnus Andrew Farah, who’s spearheading GM’s move into autonomous cars.

Startup Maps AI into Flash Array

EE Times profiles Mythic, an AI accelerator chip startup founded in 2012 at U-M by EECS alumnus Mike Henry and Dave Fick mentored by Professors David Blaauw and Dennis Sylvester.

Mythic snags $40 million to advance AI chips

Mythic is an AI accelerator chip startup founded in 2012 at U-M by EECS alumnus Mike Henry and Dave Fick mentored by Professors David Blaauw and Dennis Sylvester.

Howard University College Of Arts And Sciences Appoints Three Distinguished Faculty To New RolesE

ECE Alumna Dr. Kim Michelle Lewis (MS EE; PhD Applied Physics), has been appointed as associate dean for Research and Graduate Programs and full professor in the Department of Physics.

Tony Fadell’s next act? Taking on Silicon Valley—from Paris

Tencent dominates in China. Next challenge is rest of the world

Pixel Perfect

The New Yorker profiles alum Paul Debevec (CE 1992), the engineer who invented the technology that creates an elaborate 3-D digital scan of actors for a variety of special effects applications.

Marvell Technology Completes Acquisition of Cavium