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Spotlight on Innovation

The World’s Smallest Computer

The Michigan Micro Mote is a fully autonomous computing system that acts as a smart sensing system.
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Amazing Walking Robots

Prof. Jessy Grizzle has developed extremely robust control techniques for bipedal walking robots.
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The Michigan Probe

Extremely accurate brain probes us a variety of technologies to make mapping the brain with light possible.
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Emmett Leith: Modern Holography

Leith made holography a reality, stunning the world with his holographic train in 1964.
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Michigan’s First Materials Center

Center for Photonic and Multiscale Nanomaterials focuses on controlling light interactions with matter.
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Googling the Physical World

Prof. David Wentzloff wants to connect trillions of tiny sensors embedded in everything you can think of.
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First in Quantum Dots

Prof. Battacharya was instrumental in early understanding of the tiny semiconductor particles called quantum dots.Learn more >

Lynn Conway: Life, Engineered

Lynn has been called the hidden hand in the movement that enabled the very fabric of Silicon Valley.
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Khalil Najafi: Emerging Technologies

Khalil is a leader in MEMS devices, including systems to replace GPS and detect chemical weapons.
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Reimagining Memory

Prof. Wei Lu’s company developed a new type of memory that’s smaller and faster than anything on the market.
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Fighting Cyber Crime with Data

Prof. Mingyan Liu’s Quadmetrics (now FICO) keeps companies diligent when it comes to cybersecurity.
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Breakthroughs in Modern Lighting

Stephen Forrest does revolutionary work on photovoltaic cells, organic light emitting diodes, and lasers.
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Wireless Integrated Microsystems

WIMS facilitated 11 spinoff companies, 59 patents, and new tech for hearing, brain research, and sensing.
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CUOS: Center for Ultrafast Optical Science

The Center for Ultrafast Optical Science is responsible for the field’s most intense laser and much more.
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Radiation Laboratory

U-M’s Radlab is known worldwide for their contributions to Applied Electromagnetics.
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Lurie Nanofabrication Facility

The Lurie Nanofabrication Facility wasn’t always so clean, but it always gets the job done.
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Remote Sensing

Kamal Sarabandi’s work in remote sensing helps monitor global warming, see through walls, and navigate drones.
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Laser Pioneer

The 2018 Nobel Prize Winner in Physics, Gérard Mourou let the formation of the Center for Ultrafast Optical Science and expanded the field’s imagination.
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Breaking down barriers

Winful has made fundamental contributions to nonlinear optics and the physics of tunneling, while also championing an inclusive department.

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Predicting your risk of illness

Prof. Al Hero studies the human genome’s response to viral illnesses to help predict when you might get sick.
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Lowering CT radiation

Prof. Jeff Fessler is working to create high-quality CT scans from a much lower dose of radiation.
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