Alumni News
2024 ECE Alumni Awards
Five ECE alumni are receiving departmental and College of Engineering awards for their contributions to society: Dixon Doll, Mehdi Hatamian, David Tarver, Leo Kempel, and Mariko Burgin.Markus Borsch receives ProQuest Distinguished Dissertation Award for research on lightwave electronics
With his dissertation, Borsch takes on the unknown and enables the future of solid-state quantum electronics.RJ Jain: entrepreneur and champion of student research
RJ Jain, founder of Price.com and University of Michigan alumnus, is giving back by supporting the PURE-ECE program, helping undergraduate students engage in hands-on research and gain clarity about their future goals.Alum Pin-Yu Chen receives 2024 Young Professional Industry Leadership Award
Chen received the award “for research and industry impact for machine learning robustness and AI safety.”Johanna Mathieu and Anna Stuhlmacher receive HICSS Best Paper Award for work on the potential of drinking water networks as flexible electric loads
The team found that drinking water distribution networks in the U.S. represent a sizable resource when used as flexible electric loads.ECE alum Bernard Arfin celebrates his Michigan roots at his 100th birthday
Bernie Arfin graded papers for William Gould Dow, worked at Willow Run research facility, and enjoyed attending football and basketball games up to his 99th birthday.Mariko Burgin receives ECE Alumni Rising Star Award
Burgin spoke about her journey as an electrical engineer interested in space, leading her to work for NASA and Blue Origin on space missions.Samuel H. Fuller funds early-career professorship
Fuller gave an alumni lecture on the history of computing and the current state of AI before presenting the inaugural award to Hun-Seok Kim.Mehdi Hatamian honored with ECE Alumni Impact Award
Hatamian’s work promises to revolutionize healthcare with affordable, quick, and easy cancer screenings.Celebrating New ECE Alumni Faculty
ECE celebrates these individuals who have recently begun their academic careers as new faculty members in higher education.Leo Kempel receives ECE Distinguished Alumni Educator Award
Kempel delivered his award lecture on restructuring engineering education for the future.David Tarver honored with ECE Alumni Merit Award
Returning to campus to receive his award, Tarver spoke about the arc of his professional journey from electrical engineer to community advocate.2024 ECE Alumni Awards Recognize Leaders, Innovators, Educators, and Rising Stars
Five ECE alumni are receiving departmental and College of Engineering awards for their contributions to society: Dixon Doll, Mehdi Hatamian, David Tarver, Leo Kempel, and Mariko Burgin.Bringing the Joy of Coding to Asilong, Kenya
Fourteen eleventh graders have joined Joy of Coding in Kenya, learning programming skills and teaching them to peers.Kamal Sarabandi receives Ellis Island Medal of Honor
The national award recognizes the importance of immigrants and their descendants to U.S. economic and social vitality. Honorees are read annually into the Congressional Record.William D. Becher: In Memoriam (1929-2024)
Dr. William “Bill” Becher was an alum of the Department, former ECE Chair at U-M Dearborn, and devoted steward of the former EECS Alumni Society and U-M Amateur Radio Club.Markus Borsch receives ProQuest Distinguished Dissertation Award for research on lightwave electronics
With his dissertation, Borsch takes on the unknown and enables the future of solid-state quantum electronics.Alum Kamal Rudra recognized as Young Scientist to attend 73rd Lindau Nobel Laureate Meeting
Rudra will have the opportunity to meet 39 Nobel Laureates at the event, including Gérard Mourou.The Krumm Family Scholarship Fund will support future electrical and computer engineering students
The Krumm Family Scholarship Fund is the second scholarship fund endowed by Charles and Patricia Krumm in their quest to benefit society through higher education.Rhonda Franklin receives ECE Distinguished Alumni Educator Award
Franklin described her personal journey that led to her current research in RF and microwave technology for diverse applications, and her own work as a mentor to current students.Remembering alum David Mills, who brought the internet into perfect time
Mills created the Network Time Protocol, which enables any device online to know precisely what time it is.Michael McCorquodale (1974-2023): In Memoriam
Dr. McCorquodale, recipient of the 2009 CoE Alumni Society Recent Engineering Graduate award, left a legacy of entrepreneurial excellence and unwavering support of students.Rick Wallace, KLA President and CEO, on the importance of embracing challenges
Wallace, the 2023 ECE Alumni Impact Award winner, spoke to students about qualities that make successful leaders and companies.Necmiye Ozay is the Recipient of the First Faculty Development Professorship in ECE
Dr. Enke Chen and Huiyi Luan established the fund in honor of Prof. Stéphane Lafortune.Olgica Milenkovic receives ECE’s Distinguished Educator Award for excellence in teaching bioinformatics, machine learning, and more
Prof. Milenkovic’s research at the University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign spans the areas of algorithm design and computing, bioinformatics, coding theory, machine learning, and signal processing.Curtis Ling on what makes a successful technology company
As the 2023 ECE Merit Alumni Award winner, Ling chronicled his experience co-founding the semiconductor startup MaxLinear and shared his insights for those interested in pursuing a similar path.Alum Mo Faisal on building a successful semiconductor company
Faisal, the 2023 ECE Rising Star Alumni Award recipient, founded Movellus based on his doctoral research conducted under Prof. David Wentzloff.Congrats ECE alumni who joined academia
Congratulations to these ECE graduates who have recently joined academia as faculty members!Cybernet CTO Charles Cohen works to shape the future of human-computer interaction, robotics, and artificial intelligence
Cohen (MS PhD EE ’91 ’96) talks about his career path, turning failure into opportunity, and the best thing his advisor Prof. Lynn Conway ever taught him.Michigan Man Jack Underwood is an engineer through and through
The veteran and Michigan Medicine IT Manager graduated with a degree in electrical engineering from U-M this year, fulfilling a decades-long dream.Laser-focused
Franklin Dollar, a pioneer in laser plasma research, is not only unraveling cosmic mysteries but also promoting equity and inclusivity in science education and research.In a new Technical Sales course, students practice the skill set of selling technology to businesses
Alum Eli Neumann, the Senior Vice President of Worldwide Sales Engineers, co-designed the Center for Entrepreneurship course.ECE Expeditions rides to the Lone Star State for a tour of engineering companies
Students networked with alums, tested demos of new technology, and toured labs at HPE, NASA, Ambiq, Dell, Torc Robotics, and NI.Christopher Rutledge honored with the 2023 Willie Hobbs Moore Distinguished Alumni Lectureship
Rutledge shared his journey from growing up in rural East Texas to becoming a Distinguished Engineer at Verizon, one of the biggest telecommunications companies in the world.Ruba Borno, VP of Amazon Web Services and ECE Alum, stresses empathy and accountability in leadership
Borno, an ECE Rising Star Award winner, recently spoke about her experience in leadership during the pandemic, how her refugee background shaped her life, and why she literally climbs a mountain a year.ECE alum Kai Cui empowers consumers to make sustainable fashion choices with her new app
Cui is the founder and CEO of CarbonTag™, a startup that developed the first carbon emission calculator for consumer fashion products.Centenarian and alumnus Gus Gaynor: tech leader, entrepreneur, and communicator
Gaynor’s remarkable career as an entrepreneur, director of engineering at 3M, author, and long-time volunteer for IEEE spanned more than seven decades.ECE Rising Star Tanya Das helps shape nationwide science policy to address climate change and more
Das (BSE EE 2011), who previously served the Biden Administration as the Chief of Staff of the Office of Science at the U.S. Department of Energy, is currently the Associate Director of Energy Innovation at the Bipartisan Policy Center.Alumni profile: A conversation with Rich Uhlig
A Michigan engineer, Intel VP, and research lab director, Rich Uhlig is CSE’s Alumni Merit Award Winner for 2022.Alum Paul Debevec honored with Emmy Lifetime Achievement Award for inventing a new kind of movie magic
Debevec’s groundbreaking imaging work revolutionized the film and television industry, helping create the special effects seen in Spider-Man 2, Avatar, The Hobbit, Blade Runner 2049, Gravity, The Mandalorian, and many more.Vikram Verma talks the value of engineering and leadership to society as the 2022 ECE Alumni Impact Award winner
Verma credits his distinguished 30-year executive career with leading technology companies, including Savi Technology, Lockheed Martin and 8x8 Inc., to a combination of education, leadership, and luck.Community-builder Leon Pryor takes Detroit’s FIRST Robotics program to new heights
Having excelled in careers at Microsoft, Amazon, and now Meta, the alum and renowned video game engineer co-founded The Motor City Alliance to make Detroit a powerhouse for FIRST Robotics teamsArch W. Naylor: In Memoriam (1929 - 2022)
Arch Naylor helped introduce the developing field of information and control engineering at Michigan.Engineering tough
ECE alum Linda Zhang has the daunting task of bringing America's bestselling vehicle into the electric age.ECE Expeditions goes hybrid
Students visited the new KLA headquarters in Ann Arbor and attended virtual presentations by NVIDIA and NASA.Douglas Teeter (1964 - 2022): In Memoriam
Dr. Doug Teeter (PHD EE 1988 1992) is remembered by his doctoral advisors at Michigan as an outstanding researcher, friend, and family man.ECE alum Dave Babicz pioneered the lab kits that became a staple for at-home engineering courses
The lab kits used in our Analog Circuits course during the pandemic were created by Babicz, Director of Engineering at Analog Devices Inc., and fellow colleagues back in 2015 for the purpose of improving equity in engineering education.ECE alum Mihir Sheth receives Young Innovator Award from Innovate UK for making a medical device that weans patients off ventilators quicker
Sheth is the co-founder of Inspiritus Health and has developed a simple to use, non-invasive medical device that keeps patients’ muscles engaged when they are on a ventilator to prevent muscle atrophy.Katie Bouman talks legacy of the black hole imaging project and favorite U-M memories
Before Bouman became the face of the project that brought us the first ever image of a black hole, she was wowing ECE professors with design projects and hoarding Domino’s pizza with her HKN family.Dr. Donnell Walton honored with the 2021 ECE Willie Hobbs Moore Distinguished Lectureship
Walton spoke about his career path and his current role as the director of the Corning Technology Center Silicon Valley.Intel’s Jon Zapp plans the technologies of the future
Zapp, an EE alum who led the development of Intel’s Tiger Lake processor, talks combining his love of high tech with his skills in marketing and finance, his career at Intel, his favorite classes at Michigan, and his love of Backroom pizza.ECE alum Linda Guillory breaks two world records for vintage video game collections
Guillory, an electrical engineer at Texas Instruments, shares her memories of U-M and how her love of fixing broken video games helped her become a world-renowned gaming collector.Deltek’s Senior Director Shirin Mangold found her passion and her voice through Michigan Engineering’s Co-op program
The Engineering Cooperative Education Program introduced Mangold (CE 1993) to life as a working engineer and inspired her to pursue a career in software engineering.ECE alum and entrepreneur Fred Gibbons teaches engineers to make products that people need
From growing up in a small East Coast fishing village to becoming lifelong friends with Steve Jobs, Stanford Professor Fred Gibbons shares his journey as a first-generation college student and what inspired him to teach product management and design.Q&A with entrepreneur, philanthropist, and alum Dr. B. Jin Chang
After graduating from U-M where he worked with Prof. Emmett Leith, Dr. Chang founded SurgiTel, which provides dental professionals and surgeons with ergonomic vision-aide products.Lee Boysel: In Memoriam (12/31/1938 - 4/25/2021)
Boysel (BSE MSE EE 1962 1963), founder, president and CEO of Four-Phase Systems, Inc., helped change the course of microprocessing with his company's invention of the AL1 microprocessor in 1969. He received the COE Alumni Merit Award for ECE in 2007.Dr. Jim and Judith Seydel’s gifts to ECE support students while honoring those who empowered his career
Raytheon’s Dr. Katherine Herrick is the 2020 ECE Alumni Merit Award winner
Alumni profile: A conversation with Douglas Densmore
Entrepreneur Dr. Scott Hanson awarded 2020 ECE Alumni Rising Star Award
Navin Shenoy, Intel’s Executive Vice President, awarded ECE’s highest Alumni Award Honor
Prof. Tara Javidi awarded ECE’s Distinguished Educator Award for her excellence in information and system theory education
Jian-Ming Jin awarded ECE’s Distinguished Educator Award for his excellence in electromagnetics education
Alumni profile: A conversation with Robert Scott
Lawser family scholarship supports EECS wolverines
Tony Hsu and family establish new fellowship fund to support graduate students
U-M startup SkyGig aims to take 5G to the next level
The Renaissance of the American City
Help eradicate the virus of racism
Advancing the future of circuit design with Intel’s Dr. Eric Karl
Data security for a safer world
Alum Adrienne Stiff-Roberts honored with the Willie Hobbs Moore Distinguished Lectureship
Katie Bouman wows U-M community with insider's look at the black hole imaging project
Designing the future of the human-tech interface
Xbox Kinect architect, Dawson Yee, wins 2019 College of Engineering Alumni Merit Award for ECE
Alumnus William Sanders appointed Dean of Carnegie Mellon’s College of Engineering
Georgia Tech Dean of College of Engineering, Steve McLaughlin, wins 2019 ECE Distinguished Educator Award
Hailing the future of autonomous taxis
Five EECS faculty and alumni recognized for business success
Engineering education trailblazer and industry innovator honored for by Michigan Engineering
Bridge-builder for academia and industry wins distinguished alumni service award
Beyond Apollo 11: U-M ECE’s role in advancing space exploration
KLA opens new R&D office in Ann Arbor
Advancing microelectronics and systems for the security of the future
Tony Hsu explores the legacy of his grandfather, iconic Chinese poet Xu Zhimo
Dr. Hadavi sets up new endowment to help ECE wolverines change the world
Black Engineers convention comes to Detroit and ECE is there to welcome the record-breaking 14,000 attendees
U-M startup raises $6 million in venture funding
U-M alum is key player in first-ever image of a black hole
Biopsy alternative: “Wearable” device captures cancer cells from blood
Claude Shannon: Father of the Information Age
Learn more about one of Michigan's most illustrious alumni, Claude Shannon (1916-2001).Robert J. Trew (1944-2019): In Memoriam
Zachary Lemnios: Helping to shape the new Frontier in Electrical Engineering and Computer Science
Rick Bolander: Entrepreneurship is a team sport
A new company, Omniscent, is sniffing out dangerous levels of toxic chemicals in the air
Alum Rhonda Franklin honored for her accomplishments with the Willie Hobbs Moore Award
Computing visionary Sam Fuller honored by Michigan Engineering
Dowson Tong, VP of Tencent, talks to students
ECE Family Fun Night draws over 500 attendees
Rick Flores leads a partnership of automakers into the autonomous future
Piston Group Leader Amit Singhi’s Four-Point Play to Life
The next medical markets of Collin Rich
Nino A. Masnari (1935 – 2018): In memoriam
Xiang Yin receives honorable mention for ProQuest Distinguished Dissertation Award
A Role Model at Raytheon: Katherine Herrick
Alumnus Garlin Gilchrist II serves as inaugural director of U-M Center for Social Media Responsibility
ECE Expeditions travels to Seattle
Improving communication between humans and robots in 20 noisy questions
Inaugural ECE Willie Hobbs Moore Alumni Lecture: Dr. Isaac R. Porche III
Charles and Patricia Krumm endow the George I. Haddad Graduate Fellowship Fund
The art of cyber war with Isaac Porche
Jordi Ribas: From video compression to leading AI products at Microsoft
Thomas B. A. Senior (1928 – 2017): In Memoriam
U-M, Cavium partner on Big Data research computing platform
Evigia founder Navid Yazdi creates essential sensor networks
Footsteps all her own
Claude Shannon: information icon
Rick Bergman, CEO of Synaptics – giving tech a sense of touch
Peter and Evelyn Fuss endow ECE chair
Peter S. Fuss: From Michigan to Leading a Global Network Technology Company
Elmer Gilbert: A Life in Control
Babak Parviz one of 20 alumni honored with U-M Bicentennial Award
ECE alum Kukjin Chun earns South Korea’s highest scientific honor
The ‘Power’ of a lunchbox
Won Pyo Hong, President of Samsung SDS, Presented with Inaugural ECE Alumni Impact Award
Making learning addictive
ECE Alum Kevin Johnson receives IEEE-USA Award
Alum Mariesa Crow is looking to the future of power
A Q&A with alum Angela Blanton: VP and CFO at Carnegie Mellon University
Azadeh Ansari receives ProQuest Distinguished Dissertation Award for research in GaN-based electro-acoustic devices
Alum Michelle Stock elected SPIE Fellow for development of the photonics industry
Queen of the hurricanes: An engineer and feminist for the ages
A Q&A with Rhonda Franklin – connecting diverse students
Sensors from head to toe – Todd Coleman makes measuring health simpler
Nader Behdad Receives the Inaugural ECE Rising Star Alumni Award for his Transformative Research in Antennas
Alum startup wins $25,000 at Accelerate Michigan Competition
MI business is his business
Having fun with ECE
U-M Shannon Centennial Symposium Celebrates the father of information theory
Rick and Mara Wallace establish ECE scholarship fund
Willie Hobbs Moore (1934–1994): A First in EE and Physics
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)Bill Joy
A native Michigander, Joy co-founded Sun Microsystems and designed UNIX and Java.Power to the Pixel: Photoshop is Born
How Thomas Knoll, a procrastinating Michigan graduate student, and his brother changed our view of the world.G is for Google
Larry Page changed the web forever in 1998, now he wants to change the world.Engineering a better life for people with diabetes
Claude Shannon centennial celebrants recall U-M grad’s advances, societal impact
Cutting the cost of hearing
Steven Battel elected to National Academy of Engineering
Dr. Mehdi Hatamian elected to National Academy of Engineering
Gift launches M. Alten Gilleo distinguished lecture series in optical sciences and optoelectronics
Robert J. Armantrout Establishes ECE Graduate Education Fund
ECE students and alumni celebrate research and progress at the 2015 Engineering Graduate Symposium
First-ever ECE Career Fair builds student careers and alumni connections
San Diego alumni connect and celebrate at ECE event
Ashraf Dahod: 2015 CoE Alumni Medal Award Winner
Jimmy Hsiao – A local player in a global market
Garlin Gilchrist II: Innovation for the People
Claude Gauthier and OmniPhy: Connecting to the ethernet revolution
Nader Najafi: A dream that saves lives
Oz Pearlman: An engineer’s magic moment
Engineering friendship
ECE alumni networking event at Transducers Conference
Chicago alumni connect at networking reception
Ernest S. Kuh (1928 – 2015): pioneer in electronic circuit theory and EDA
Four EECS companies make Crain’s list of most innovative companies, and one tops the list
ECE alum Ruba Borno to join Cisco’s new executive team
ECE alumni connections at IMS2015
The Mad Scientist’s Lab: A look inside Mitch Rohde and Quantum Signal’s school-sized playhouse
The gift of an education: Paul and Ruth Bauhahn fund the next generation of life-changing technology
Silicon valley entrepreneurs help bring WIMS2 technology to the world
Eric M. Aupperle (1935 – 2015): An internet pioneer leaves a remarkable legacy
Advancing computation: 4th U-M alum wins Turing Award
Yi-Chin Wu receives ProQuest Distinguished Dissertation Award for research in network security
Two ECE alums make top semiconductor CEOs list
Irma Wyman: Computer pioneer and advocate for women in engineering
Nick Yang: Investing in the age of robotics
ECE students and alumni celebrate research and progress at the 2014 Engineering Graduate Symposium
EECS alums are flying high with drone startup Skyspecs
Scott Hanson receives 2014 Arbor Networks Ph.D. Research Impact Award
Steve Mollenkopf: Leader of Qualcomm and Mobile Technologies
Peter Tchoryk: An entrepreneurial CEO
Alumni explore lots of EECS-related engineering with their kids
Kathryn Clay: A policy leader in the natural gas revolution
Alumni Spotlight: Steve Mollenkopf, New CEO of Qualcomm
PsiKick startup attracts financing for its Internet of Things technology
Dawson Yee: Kinect-ing Xbox to the World
Babak Parviz: The visionary behind the glass
Alumni Spotlight: Allan Evans and Avegant: Creating a brilliant multimedia experience from anywhere with Glyph
Nancy Benovich: Entrepreneur x 10
Andrew Farah: the spark behind the Volt
Steve Mollenkopf: What it takes to lead in technology
Hannah Goldberg: Crazy about asteroids
At the time of this interview, Goldberg was at Planetary ResourcesMichigan @ ISSCC 2013: Alumni and Friends Mixer
Alumni have fun exploring engineering with their kids
George Haley
Howard and Beverly Sachar: Alum who has made a difference
Hasso Niemann (1933-2013): From Michigan to probing deep space
ECE alum Kevin Xu wins Social Computing Challenge Competition
W. David Tarver: Building a Successful International Company was his Proving Ground
David Tarver (BSE MSE EE '75 '76) is a successful industrial turned social entrepreneurRichard P. Wallace – Reaching new heights
Ernest and Bettine Kuh honor ECE with the Ernest and Bettine Kuh Distinguished Faculty Scholar Award
Wireless Integrated MicroSensing and Systems (WIMS2) in California
Charles K. (Ned) Birdsall (BSE EE and Math, MSE EE, ’46 ’48): 1925-2012
Michael McCorquodale named 2012 UBM Electronics ACE Innovator of the Year
Alumni Spotlight: Syed B. Ali (MSE EE 81)
ePack, Inc. wins Masco Next Gen Manufacturing Award at Innovation Competition
Meera Sampath: Creative Problem Solving and Global Reach
U-M Alumni and Friends Mixer at ISSCC 2011
Curtis Ling: Making Things Happen
Eric Dattoli named National Academies Research Associate
Michael McCorquodale: Engineering a U-M Startup to Commercialized Technology in 5 Years
We spoke to Dr. Michael McCorquodale when he was here on campus as the 2009 CoE Alumni Society Recent Engineering Graduate Award. We provide updates since that time at the end of the story.Lee Boysel: the early history of microprocessing
Tony Fadell, Mastermind Behind the Apple iPod, Offers Advice for Students
Mehdi Hatamian: From Michigan to Microelectronics Leader
ECE alum Dr. Mehdi Hatamian is an industry leader and entrepreneur who helps bring products to market.Wayne Tsou: Taking Care of Business
Chen-To Tai (1915 - 2004): In Memoriam
Charles W. McMullen: In Memoriam (1924-2004)
Claude E. Shannon Statue Dedication at the University of Michigan
Tribute to William Gould Dow on the Occasion of his 100th Birthday
The tribute includes a timeline of Dow's life, milestones in the history of technology, and photos taken at various stages of his life.