Electronics, Devices, Computers

Part of the team that brought us the world’s smallest computer in 2015 brings the future of computing technology into the present.

Prof. David Wentzloff’s paper examining the trends and techniques to achieve ultra-low power receivers was honored by the IEEE Custom Integrated Circuits Conference

Prof. Ahmadi will contribute to the science and technology of efficient, high-frequency, high-power transistors for 5G and beyond

Wu is working on advanced metasurfaces, which could help next-generation wireless communication, commercial and military radar systems, imaging, and antenna systems.

Accurate gyroscopes are a bottleneck for backup navigation systems in autonomous vehicles.

Mahdavifar is preparing for a future of billions of connected devices and an unprecedented increase in mobile traffic.

Prof. Al-Thaddeus Avestruz and PhD student Xin Zan were honored at the IEEE Energy Conversion Congress and Exposition for their work improving the efficiency and reliability of wireless power transfer.

Blaauw’s innovations in low-power computing led to development of the Michigan Micro Mote, the world’s smallest computer.

Researchers demonstrated the use of stacked, transparent graphene photodetectors combined with image processing algorithms to produce 3D images and range detection.

Kim takes an interdisciplinary approach to tackle challenges in heterogeneous classes of energy-efficient and versatile communication systems.

A catalyst on a solar panel can make methane, the main component of natural gas, with carbon dioxide, water and sunlight.

Prof. Hun-Seok Kim helped design iGYM, an augmented reality system that allows disabled and able-bodied people to play physical games together.

Prof. Euisik Yoon and his team developed a new machine learning tool that enables large-scale testing of cancer drug effectiveness with microfluidics.

Thin film transistors stacked on top of a state-of-the-art silicon chip could help shrink electronics while improving performance.

U-M researchers have created a new means of enabling reliable wireless underwater communication, which could aid military, environmental, and conservation purposes.

Prof. Ahmadi will investigate promising new materials needed for an increasingly electrified world

Phillips – who specializes in optoelectronic devices for next generation infrared detectors, solar cells, and thin film electronics – shares his goals for the 13,500 sq. ft. state-of-the-art cleanroom facility.

Pioneering computer technology that is spurring innovation and disruption across industries has earned David Blaauw and Dennis Sylvester, professors of electrical engineering and computer science, this year’s Distinguished University Innovator Award.

With the help of two NSF awards totaling $1.7m, Prof. Hessam Mahdavifar is tackling new problems to improve the reliability of communication systems for 5G and beyond.

The new working group showcased Michigan’s strength in Quantum Science at a workshop attended by researchers throughout the University of Michigan.

Circuit elements that store information in their electrical resistances enable a brain-like form of computing, storing and processing information in the same place.

Terahertz and sub-terahertz imaging can provide superior results in some biomedical imaging, spectroscopy, and water saturation detection.

The Michigan Micro Mote gets a new gallium arsenide solar cell for added power and adaptability.

Researchers built the first visual SLAM processor on a single chip that provides highly accurate, low-power, and real-time results.

Capturing cancer cells from blood samples offers a non-invasive way to observe whether the cancer is disappearing or whether it is becoming resistant to the treatment.

Researchers built the first millimeter-scale transmitter and antenna that can talk Bluetooth Low Energy with ease.

New device caught more than three times as many cancer cells as conventional blood draw samples.

Prof. Stephen Forrest is developing an automated high-yield roll-to-roll process to manufacture organic LEDs for lighting.

Prof. Robert Dick and advisee Ekdeep Singh Lubana developed a new technique that significantly improves the efficiency of machine vision applications

Competition and cooperation, which regulate the strengthening and weakening of connections in the brain, can now be modeled directly.

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

Subscription service offers real-time monitoring

This device, the size of a match head, can bend light inside a crystal to generate synchrotron radiation in a lab.

Professors Ku and Steel are applying their expertise to take key next steps toward practical quantum computing

Keeping time in the Internet of Things with frequency scaling

Eric Michielssen has discovered a new way to rapidly analyze electromagnetic phenomena, and it’s catching on.

AI, weather forecasting and data science would all benefit from computers that store and process data in the same place. Memristors could be up to the task.

DARPA’s initiative to reinvigorate the microelectronics industry draws deeply on Michigan Engineering expertise.

U-M team will serve as model for nimble and innovative system-on-chip design.

The speedy and efficient system-on-chip could unify wireless communication.

Six-month hardware design process will be turned into 24-hour automated task.

Kim’s research is expected to impact the future design and wireless operation of the next generation of Internet of Things (IoT) devices

The latest from IBM and now the University of Michigan is redefining what counts as a computer at the microscale.

With a bit of metal, nanoparticles shine in colors based on size.

Electron states in a semiconductor, set and changed with pulses of light, could be the 0 and 1 of future “lightwave” electronics or room-temperature quantum computers.

A solar cell combined with a camera sensor collects photons to provide electricity.

Buildings, clothing could generate power.

Powered by a broadband infrared laser, the device can zero in on the ‘spectral fingerprint region’.

U-M researchers created a reservoir computing system that reduces training time and improves capacity of similar neural networks.

Millimeter-sized computers log the temperature and pressure from deep within oil wells.

The new partnership will provide scalable storage and an analytic software framework available to all U-M researchers.

Lasers are typically thought of as hot. What if they were able to cool?

A new NSF Tech Hub will put tools to rapidly advance our understanding of the brain into the hands of neuroscientists.

New memristor chips can see patterns over pixels.

A little silver goes a long way to improving touchscreens, displays, and much more

Extremely short, configurable “femtosecond” pulses of light demonstrated by an international team could lead to future computers that run up to 100,000 times faster than today’s electronics.

Professors Blaauw and Sylvester showcase capabilities of tiny computing

In this project, Prof. Peterson will develop new alloys of amorphous oxide semiconductors with precisely tuned semiconductor energy band structures, in order to enable new categories of electronic and opto-electronic devices.

The first-ever Engineering Research Center in Wireless Integrated Microsensing and Systems has forged advances in many fields.

Prof. Kanicki expects breakthroughs in both the flat-panel display and imager industries using his-ITZO TFT technology in the near future.

Some believed early Michigan brain researchers were engaging in “science fiction” – until development of an advanced tool for forging breakthroughs proved them wrong.

Prof. Deotare’s work will deepen our understanding of the underlying physics of exciton-mechanics interactions and help engineer novel devices for energy harvesting and up-conversion.

ICAN bring engineers and neuroscientists together to review the recent advancement in neurotechnology and neuroscience, define the need for next-generation tools, and enhance the translation of technology to the scientific community.

This platform has enabled a variety of sensors that can fit inside the human body, made possible by several breakthroughs in ultra-low power computing.

With a radio specifically designed to communicate through tissue, researchers from the Electrical and Computer Engineering are adding another level to a computer platform small enough to fit inside a medical grade syringe.

A pilot program will bring together researchers from different universities to collaborate on advancing research that may lead to a better understanding of the human brain.

Prof. Wei Lu and former student Dr. Sung Hyun Jo co-founded Crossbar, Inc. to tackle the physical limitations of conventional memory technology.

The power goes out. The aurorae stretch to the tropics. Could a major solar storm mean a year without electricity?

While 3D films are currently made using multiple cameras to reconstruct each frame, this new type of camera could record in 3D on its own.

The M3 is a fully autonomous computing system that acts as a smart sensing system.

Cyber-physical systems are smart, networked systems with embedded sensors, processors, and actuators that are designed to interact with the physical world.

PsiKick’s and other’s IoT applications are what many consider to be the next wave of computing and the next driving force of the semiconductor industry.

The new probes can control and record the activity of many individual neurons, and are believed to be the smallest implantable LEDs ever made.

A “dream team” of experts in sensors, electronics, data analysis and neuroscience has been awarded a $5 million grant to help unravel the mysteries of the brain and cross-train a group of internationally-connected neuroscientists and engineers.

An international team of researchers, led by faculty at the University of Michigan, have found that a layered form of graphene can expel heat efficiently, which is an important feature for its potential applications in building small and powerful electronics.

KACST will provide manpower and will collaborate with Michigan faculty and students on their projects.

Why do some cancer cells break away from a tumor and travel to distant parts of the body? A team of oncologists and engineers from the University of Michigan teamed up to help understand this crucial question.

Technology continues to transform the health care industry, and researchers at the University have utilized mobile apps to expand the impact of their work.

Her research interests include analog, digital, and mixed-signal designs.

The book is part of the Royal Society of Chemistry’s Smart Materials series.

Kyusang developed an innovative new fabrication technique to build lightweight, flexible devices not possible with conventional silicon.

Peterson’s findings could be used in wireless sensing and actuation systems, including those that deal with monitoring of the environment and medical conditions.

Yoon is leading a team that will design new light sources with lasers capable of zooming in on individual neuron circuits within the brain.

Tal is researching fabrication techniques for a micro rate-integrating gyroscope, using a vacuum mold and blowtorch.

This advance could be important for fighting lung cancers, as symptoms often appear too late for effective treatment.

The paper addresses how to manage multiple sources so that the user can maximize the information gained from each acoustic source.

The findings show, for the first time, exactly how some memristors remember.

With precarious particles called polaritons that straddle the worlds of light and matter, University of Michigan researchers have demonstrated a new, practical and potentially more efficient way to make a coherent laser-like beam.

All of the research being presented focuses on getting the absolute best performance from the tiniest circuits, sensors, and electronic devices.

The detector developed by University of Michigan engineering researchers doesn’t need bulky cooling equipment to work.

The cells, believed to be the first semi-transparent, colored photovoltaics, have the potential to vastly broaden the use of the energy source.

Michigan Engineering professor Duncan Steel explains how quantum computing works, using quantum bits that take on superpositions of 0 and 1 simultaneously.

Wentzloff aims to remove the necessity of a power outlet or even a battery to power miniature sensors.

Lu plans to design and fabricate a computer chip based on so-called self-organizing, adaptive neural networks.

RRAM is a new form of nonvolatile memory that has the potential to replace the flash memory commonly used in tablets, digital cameras and solid-state drives.

The research group developed special fabrication processes that allows them to stack and bond seven different devices in layers.

“It is no longer a scientific curiosity. It’s a real device.”

The new device improves upon the current technology and is much easier to make.

The project proposes to produce a parallel heterogeneous 3D near-threshold computing system with unprecedented energy efficiency.

A BEC is an unusual state of matter in which a group of boson particles can exist in a single quantum state, allowing scientists to observe novel quantum phenomena.

The research could lead to advanced color e-readers, more energy efficient electronic devices, and improved data storage and cryptography.

His research addresses critical needs in the area of wireless communication for the growing field of ubiquitous, energy-autonomous sensing devices.

The use of graphene-based hot carrier optoelectronics is the key novelty of Prof. Zhong’s research.

“We believe this could be used as an invisible knife for noninvasive surgery,” Guo said. “Nothing pokes into your body, just the ultrasound beam.”

McCullagh is working to develop energy harvesting devices and circuits to power wireless sensor nodes which can monitor bridge health.

Lee believes that graphene will play a pivotal role in realizing high speed, mechanically compliant, and transparent electronic systems in the future.

Roberts is helping to develop low-power sensor nodes that will be worn on the body to detect certain medical conditions.

The program aims to create wearable systems that monitor a person’s environment and health in search of connections between pollutants and chronic diseases.

Prof. Zhaohui Zhong and his team of graduate students have built the first flexible, transparent digital modulator for high speed communications.

The project involved designing new boards and writing test software, as well as writing software to control instruments and some integrated circuit design.

With an origami-like approach, manufacturers could use existing machinery to make high-tech “paper” that can be folded into the desired device.

The method can be useful in the design of low-profile antennas integrated into body panels of vehicles.

Though a number of research challenges remain to realize the potential of microdischarge-based devices, the authors’ work demonstrates their promise.

“This hybrid circuit is a critical advance in developing intelligent machines.”

Crossbar is developing a new nonvolatile memory technology that will offer unprecedented density and power improvements in tomorrow’s electronics.

The researchers have optimized an optical resonator to take an infrared signal from relatively cheap telecommunication-compatible lasers and boost it to an ultraviolet beam.

The carbon nanotube carpet is about half the thickness of a sheet of paper and absorbs 99.9 percent of the light that hits it.

Prof. Hofmann intends to design, build and test a 30kW brushless, self-excited synchronous field winding prototype machine that overcomes the weaknesses of the current technology.

Professor Jay Guo has developed the reflective photovoltaic color filter device that can convert absorbed light to electricity.

Freyman is studying Electrical Engineering and is a member of the Michigan Integrated Circuits Laboratory.

Ambiq Micro could revolutionize ubiquitous computing, with energy-efficient microcontrollers that are 10 times more energy efficient than conventional microprocessors.

The laser could treat acne by targeting the oil-producing sebaceous glands, which are known to be involved in the development of the skin disease.

This research is expected to have a fundamental and long term impact on a diverse set of applications ranging from energy conservation to health care.

The antenna is typically the largest wireless component in mobile devices, and shrinking it could leave more room for other gadgets and features.

The implant is called the BioBolt, and unlike other neural interface technologies that establish a connection from the brain to an external device such as a computer, it’s minimally invasive and low power.

The researchers have built a complete system that integrates a high-quality energy-harvesting piezoelectric material with the circuitry that makes the power accessible.

U-M faculty have developed what is believed to be the first complete millimeter-scale computing system, with applications in radio communication and wireless sensing.

The authors analyzed performance and accuracy for a variety of dynamic thermal analysis techniques and used their findings to develop a new analysis technique. Congratulations!

Until now, ubiquitous computing has been hampered by the size of necessary batteries—but Ambiq Micro is changing that, with their energy-efficient micro-controllers.

The resulting 65nm CMOS test chip achieved an energy efficiency of 21 pJ/bit making it a promising candidate for low-power, high-performance applications.

“Imagine a microprocessor so tiny and long lasting that it can be implanted in the eye of a glaucoma sufferer to measure the progress of the disease.”

The system could enable new biomedical implants as well as home-, building- and bridge-monitoring devices.

The energy-harvesting devices are highly efficient at providing renewable electrical power from arbitrary, non-periodic vibrations.

Steel will concentrate his efforts on solid state systems, specifically with epitaxially grown InAs/lGaAs semiconductor quantum dots.

The paper explores logic and memory circuit topologies for a new type of transistor in development at IBM.

The monitoring system will collect data from surface and penetrating sensors, then wirelessly relay the information to an inspector on site or miles away.

Guo’s computer chip imprinter is one of more than 300 inventions that researchers disclosed last year to U-M’s Technology Transfer office.