Research News

The study yields new insights into the survival of a native snail important to Tahitian culture and ecology and to biologists studying evolution, while proving the viability of similar studies of very small animals including insects

The ability to precisely tune electrical polarization switching through molecular beam epitaxy is a gamechanger

What should a robot do when it cannot trust the model it was trained on?

The researchers look to increase the diversity of the STEM workforce.

Scarborough was recognized by the European Conference on Antennas and Propagation for developing a superior method to model and simulate traveling-wave modulation along two dimensions in metamaterials.

Michigan Engineers involved in NSF Engineering Research Visioning Alliance, a force multiplier for high-impact research.

"Our discovery is a real game-changer. I’ve never seen such stability."

A new NSF-funded project will result in a unique engineering graduate course on professional responsibility

An interdisciplinary team from four universities are developing a new class of semiconductors for novel artificial photosynthesis and the production of clean chemicals and fuels using sunlight, as part of a DoD MURI

By putting a twist on new “2D” semiconductors, researchers have demonstrated their potential for using single photons to transmit information.

Prof. Mingyan Liu is a key member of a project to mitigate bias in Artificial Intelligence and Machine Learning systems for long-term equitable outcomes.

More than 250 students had a hand in a satellite launching on January 10th, the first in space for a project to keep nanosats in orbit by harnessing Earth’s magnetic field.

Research led by Prof. Stephen Rand, Director of the Center for Dynamic Magneto-optics (DYNAMO), has important potential for energy conversion, ultrafast switching, nanophotonics, and nonlinear optics.

Rather than installing new “2D” semiconductors in devices to see what they can do, this new method puts them through their paces with lasers and light detectors.

Johanna Mathieu is one of four principal investigators on a project to improve home energy efficiency and to lower monthly utility bills.

In S1E1, Prof. Zetian Mi talks unlocking quantum properties to close the loop on carbon emissions.

The digital beamforming chip offers significant advantages over current analog beamforming solutions.

New technology provides a contactless method to add respiratory rate and heart rate to temperature readings .

In a project funded by National Geographic, ECE researchers are teaming up with the department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology to advance our understanding of monarch butterfly migration with the most ambitious iteration of the Michigan Micro Mote yet.

University of Michigan researchers have been awarded an NSF grant to design an open source framework for robotic prosthetic legs that function more naturally and offer a wider range of capabilities.

A self-erasing chip for security and anti-counterfeit tech.

Plasma science has the potential to speed advances in medicine, energy, electronics and more—including helping us deal with pandemics.

By reflecting nearly all the light they can’t turn into electricity, they help pave the way for storing renewable energy as heat.

The researchers’ imaging technique is fast, accurate, and reproducible

With new funding in the company, the hardtech startup is bringing revolutionary technologies to reshape mmWave wireless.

Prof. Yogesh Gianchandani and Dr. Yutao Qin received an “Outstanding Paper Award” for their fully electronic micro gas chromatography system.

Research led by Prof. Zetian Mi to advance LEDs for high-efficiency, high-performance displays is recognized with the Distinguished Paper Award from the Society for Information Display.

Prof. Euisik Yoon and his team are recognized for their work designing low-noise, multisite/multicolor optoelectrodes that will help neurologists learn more about neural connectivity in the brain.

ECE postdoc Melissa Haskell works on improving functional magnetic resonance imaging so we can better measure and understand brain activity.

The WAND wireless sensor developed in a collaboration between Total, an oil & gas company, and the University of Michigan is revolutionizing well monitoring

Transparent solar panels on windows could take a bite out of a building’s electricity needs.

Brighter, crisper screens that draw half the power and lasts twice as long are possible with NS Nanotech’s next-gen LEDs.

Guo is working to boost the visibility of autonomous cars for improved safety, and Mi is building a prototype solar hydrogen production system that could out-compete electric cars.

Getting rid of some gears enabled a free-swinging knee, regenerative braking and brought the noise level down from vacuum cleaner to fridge.

Prof. Kamal Sarabandi and ECE PhD student Navid Barani won a best paper award for their research on how biological cells may use electromagnetic signal transmission to communicate.

Michigan Engineers change the game by making a conductive coating that’s also anti-reflective.

A new application for an ongoing NSF project could bolster contract tracing efforts.

To improve the prediction and identification of stem-like cancer cells, Prof. Euisik Yoon’s group developed a method that is 3.5 times faster than the standard approach.

‘Noncritical’ in-person research begins ramping up, with public-health protocols.

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

It will now be possible to study brain activity when timing is important, such as the consolidation of memory.

A major defense project pivots to explore how to encourage COVID-safe behavior effectively.

The algorithm can pick out weak signals from nuclear weapons materials, hidden in ordinary radiation sources like fertilizer.

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

Room-temperature plasma beams could essentially dissolve away bacteria and viruses.

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

Voxel51, a U-M startup led by Prof. Jason Corso, uses custom AI to continuously track vehicle, cyclist, and pedestrian traffic in real time at some of the most visited places in the world.

A wrist-worn device detected disrupted sleep 24 hours before study participants began shedding flu viruses.

Collaborative website launched while U-M researchers continue advanced testing.

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.

By looking at tissue oxygen and cell metabolism at the same time, doctors could have a fast and noninvasive way to monitor the health of brain cells.

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.

The three-petawatt system could unlock secrets of the universe, advance cancer treatments, improve security screenings for nuclear threats, and much more.

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.

Hero and Lindquist took a few minutes to talk about the impact of machine learning on Signal Processing and Control Systems, and what they plan to do about it

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.

Prof. Stephen Forrest, who serves as co-chair of the commission, attended the forum to address concerns and give updates on the plan of action.

Cassie Blue, the bipedal robot, takes advantage of the 2019 polar vortex to set a record-breaking walk.

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.

Finally, proof that organic photovoltaics can be as reliable as inorganic, with real-life desert testing

CE undergrad Amulya Parmar designed a machine learning algorithm to curb fake news as part of the Tavtech Fellowship program.

The team was awarded a Best New Application Paper Award by the IEEE Robotics and Automation Society for their work developing reliable control systems for Lane Keeping and Adaptive Cruise Control.

Predicting future disasters is an important goal of those participating in the IEEE Geoscience and Remote Sensing Symposium

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

The research impacts development of high-efficiency, micro LEDs, used in a variety of applications.

For the 50th anniversary of the Apollo 11 moon landing, U-M ECE takes a look back – and a look forward – to how our professors, students, and alums have made their mark on the field.

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

The symposium brings together 82 young engineers from different technical areas from around the country.

Second Prize overall went to doctoral student Xiuzhang Cai for his radar target classification research applicable to autonomous vehicles.

Mostafa Zaky has built an award-winning model that helps estimate the amount of water stored in snowpacks, which could improve climate change and flood forecasting, as well as overall water resource management.

The rays used by airport scanners might have a future in medical imaging.

Prof. Willingale’s research in plasma physics advances many research areas from spectacular astrophysical phenomena to cancer treatment to fusion power.

From Long Beach, CA, to a Nepalese national park and world heritage site, undergrads Ashley Gee and Camille Burke came away with unforgettable experiences and a greater appreciation for how engineering can change the world for the better.

The frame in which a human marks out the boundaries of an object makes a huge difference in how well AI software can identify that object through the rest of the video.

Voxel51 uses AI processing to identify and track objects and activities through video clips.

A new project funded by ARPA-E partners Achates Power and the University of Michigan in the development of a novel hybrid electric engine.

MRover placed 7th overall at the annual challenge where rovers use AI to navigate tough terrain while collecting soil samples to practice testing for evidence of life in the universe.

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 co-chair of U-M’s Commission on Carbon Neutrality as part of U-M’s commitment to combat climate change and craft a sustainable future for all.

EECS-ECE PhD student Navid Barani received the IEEE APS Doctoral Research Award for his work modeling how bacteria use electromagnetic waves to communicate, which could lead to medical breakthroughs.

Gérard Mourou, Professor Emeritus of EECS, returned to campus to discuss winning the Nobel Prize and his work in high-intensity optics.

Lasers of tomorrow might neutralize nuclear waste, clean up space junk and advance proton therapy to treat cancer, says Gerard Mourou.

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

Prof. Johanna Mathieu of EECS and Prof. Catherine Hausman of Public Policy are heading a new project to explore the social costs and benefits of battery energy storage on the electrical grid.

PhD student Brandon Russell is awarded the Rackham International Student Fellowship for his research on magnetic fields in high-energy plasmas, which could help advance the development of clean energy and our understanding of energetic astrophysical phenomena.

In an approach that won’t disrupt consumers, researchers will tackle two of the biggest issues in the energy industry.

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

Mathieu will develop optimization and control methods to leverage the flexibility available from distributed energy resources.

With $7.5M MURI grant, Professor Anthony Grbic is developing metamaterials for a new generation of integrated electromagnetic and photonic systems.

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

Electrical and Computer Engineering (ECE) faculty and students at Michigan are part of the revolution in data science that is happening today.

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

New sustainability research garners support from Department of Energy’s Solar Energy Technologies Office.

Windows in the buildings of the future could double as efficient solar cells.

Subscription service offers real-time monitoring

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.

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

Prof. Zetian Mi talks about a new way to create energy from the sun – borrowing from the idea of photosynthesis.

Prof. Kira was recognized for his pioneering contributions to the theory of semiconductor quantum optics.

Rare in engineering education research, the project involves a randomized control trial to determine if it’s effective.

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.

The law of small numbers could impact the next generation of tools that deal with data.

To dial in on exact wind speeds, researchers needed to reverse engineering the signals from satellites.

Inspired by startup funding models, Michigan Engineering reinvents its internal R&D grant structure.

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.

The most exciting use of AI for me focuses around a better collective use of our available resources, says Prof. Corso.

This year’s model, “Phoebe,” received a major design overhaul that gave her a speed boost and new codebase that can be used for years to come.

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.

PhD student Jean Young Song offers an improved solution to the problem of image segmentation.

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.

Five college teams test robotic suits that could enhance humans’ abilities.

In recognition of demand response research.

Dissertation recognized as unusually creative, ambitious and impactful.

New device doubles previous efficiency, opens path to commercial viability.

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.

An award-winning modeling method will help us better understand our natural environment

New tools could fight crime, protect financial system

The multi-layered organic solar cells will be able to curve in clothing or be transparently built into windows.

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

Hero and his team may have discovered a better way to facilitate communication using a twist on the classic game of 20 Questions.

Berenson works to improve the ability of autonomous robots to handle soft, deformable objects.

The satellite mission to collect global data of surface soil moisture can help weather forecasting around the world.

Research will focus on how autonomous vehicles adapt to wide-ranging changes.

Using some of the best lasers in the world, Willingale is shedding light on the impact of solar events on Earth.

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.

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.

This series of talks features world-renowned faculty with a long history at Michigan.

A water-absorbing hydrogel made from bacteria provides a safer soil solution.

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

New techniques to construct deep UV LEDs prove prize-worthy.

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

DARPA is trying to build a system that can turn large data sets into models that can make predictions, and U-M is in on the project.

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

It could enable tabletop particle and X-ray sources as well as the investigation of astrophysics and quantum dynamics.

How a building’s thermal energy can help the power grid accommodate more renewable energy sources.

Scar tissue left over from heart attacks creates dead zones that don’t beat. Bioengineered patches could fix that.

Prof. Jessy Grizzle has long said that his work in robotics could one day be used to help the disabled. Now he and his group, alongside French company Wandercraft, are working to make that claim a reality in the form of walking exoskeletons.

Built to handle falls, and with two extra motors in each leg, the new robot will help U-M roboticists take independent robotic walking to a whole new level.

Prof. Shai Revzen’s lab in ECE has developed an inexpensive technique to rapidly fabricate a variety of useful robots.

Phillips, Lenaway, Daly, and Foley concluded that early exposure to EE technical areas was likely the best way to draw more students to the field further down the line.

The paper outlines a better way to quantify forest structure, which has been successful in two tree species.

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

Fred Buhler founded Aweslome to provide custom-build chips for a broad range of applications, including machine learning, neural networks, security, and circuits testing.

The Michigan Aeronautical Science Association (MASA) won the first ever Spaceport America Cup, an intercollegiate rocket engineering competition with over 110 teams from colleges and universities in eleven countries.

Two electrical engineering students, Paul Giessner and Noah Mitchell-Ward, were awarded scholarships from the Utility Variable-Generation Integration Group (UVIG) to support their education in wind and solar power.

By developing a fast algorithm to map out the paths light takes through yogurt, researchers aim to someday see through skin.

Putting our arm movements into code.

New memristor chips can see patterns over pixels.

Anna Stuhlmacher, PhD in electrical engineering, is looking for ways to change the world through power and energy.

Michigan engineers release individual cells from a specially-designed chip using laser pulses.

Alumnus develops platform that allows instructors to turn almost any course into a multiplayer online game.

This award recognizes the paper published 15 years ago (2002) that has had the biggest impact on the field

A biologist turned roboticist takes a closer look at dog gaits to help design better movements for four-legged robots.

Yektakhah’s system improves on the speed, portability, and accuracy of many commercial models

Prof. Mathieu is partnering with IOE faculty to improve the nation’s grid system

How to build fast and cheap robots

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.

As a member of the DDOTS to PICS MURI, Revzen will advance modeling and control of dynamic systems.

Finelli takes on the future of educating engineers

Award for outstanding doctoral candidates near the end of their study.

New walking robot based on birds

Professors Blaauw and Sylvester showcase capabilities of tiny computing

Liu’s most recent research involves online learning, modeling of large-scale internet measurement data, and incentive mechanisms for security games.

Cassie is the first offering from new startup Agility Robotics, and is loosely modeled on the cassowary, a flightless bird similar to an ostrich.

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.

Office of Naval Research has awarded Dmitry Berenson, an assistant professor of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science, $1.1 million to help advance emergency response capabilities for robots.

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

Systems to study cancer stem cells, new methods to remotely measure snow and ice thickness, radar for autonomous vehicles, navigation systems that don’t rely on GPS, nanowire lasers, and methods to model lithium-ion batteries were just a few of the many winning projects presented by ECE students

Movellus Circuits won $25,000 in the University Research Highlight and People’s Choice categories

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.

Centralizing available data in the intelligent systems community through a COmputer Vision Exchange for Data, Annotations and Tools, called COVE.

A new tool for making sense of the cells believed to cause cancer relapses and metastases.

Just 10 percent shade cover can drop electricity production by 50 percent. A new U-M-led project aims to change that.

During his 30-year career, Prof. Singh enlightened students into the physics and mysteries of electrical engineering, and sharing his belief that technology can enhance healthy and peaceful living

Prof. Ozay’s award-winning work will be used in future space missions

IPAN sent eight undergraduates to Germany for a month of lab work, learning about the intricacies of the brain.

With the help of the grant, improved devices, in combination with a new coating from a U-M engineering lab, could make concentrated solar power cheaper and more efficient.

One of the paper describes and demonstrates a malicious hardware backdoor. The other demonstrated security failings in a commercial smart home platform.

For now, Grizzle and his graduate students are only attempting the easiest routes, between the grassy two- to three-foot moguls, over smaller undulations that he calls “merely very difficult.”

Armin’s research is focused on the development of a sub-millimeter-wave radar system for the next generation of navigation and imaging sensors.

Choi has developed a new technique for testing these antennas based on very-near-field measurements and a newly-developed, high-precision formula to compute the antenna’s radiation fields.

Mohammad has developed a new way to remotely measure the thickness of ice and snow with a technology he calls wideband autocorrelation radiometry (WiBAR).

The two papers from Michigan introduced the Sirius personal digital assistant and the MBus bus for modular microcomputing systems.

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.

Analytic software company FICO of San Jose, Calif., bought QuadMetrics to help in its development of a FICO Enterprise Security Score.

The NRI is a multi-agency effort to accelerate the development and use of robots that work beside or cooperatively with people.

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.

QuadMetrics offers a pair of services to help companies both assess the effectiveness of their security and decide the best way to allocate (or increase) their security budget.

The robot’s feedback control algorithms should be able to help other two-legged robots as well as powered prosthetic legs gain similar capabilities.

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

The goal of the class project was to control the safe landing of a rocket booster after it disengaged from the portion of the rocket that would continue into Space.

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

Shannon theorized the binary code of zeros and ones that makes cell phones, email and the Internet possible.

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.

Mr. Battel is an expert on low-noise instrumentation power systems and is internationally recognized for his expertise in the design and development of space high voltage systems.

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.

The award supports research that will help our understanding of how tissues form distinct shapes and structure to become organs, such as lungs, salivary glands, and mammary glands.

IoT applications are the next wave of computing and the next driving force of the semiconductor industry. The startup PsiKick [now Everactive] is helping shape this future.

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.

Eric is an international leader in the field of computational electromagnetics and specializes in the development of fast-solution methods and optimization algorithms.

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.

The results of Lin’s research can help us better understand how introducing DES affects the environmental impact of a power system.

By borrowing from kirigami, the ancient Japanese art of paper cutting, researchers at the University have developed solar cells that can move with the sun.

Ultra-low dose CT scans that provide superior image quality could not only benefit patients, but they could open up entirely new clinical applications.

Hamid is studying ways to increase the use of renewable energy sources on the grid.

One of the most promising avenues for achieving new target levels of high peak intensity and high average power in an ultrafast laser system is to turn to fiber lasers.

Directed by Kamal Sarabandi the new program aims to create theoretical models for remote sensing of ice and snow.

Stephanie seeks to provide continuous energy balancing on the grid by automatically controlling loads.

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

The small-scale embedded wireless systems Alyssa works with are used in a variety of applications spanning many fields; from structural to ocean engineering.

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.

Mr. Bell is investigating the potential of electrodynamic tether propulsion technology to enhance the capabilities of an emerging class of smartphone-sized satellites.

The tether could be used to deorbit out-of-use spacecraft, push spacecraft from low Earth orbit into higher orbits, or even push spacecraft out of Earth’s orbit altogether.

Thomas and his group are working to improve upon artificial neural network design through a process called sparse coding.

The center, to be built on North Campus, will offer state-of-the-art facilities in a 3-story, 100,000 square foot building.

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.

Profs. Shai Revzen and Herbert Winful spoke about their passion for their work at the sixth annual conference, themed “Constructive Interference”.

Prof. Forrest is widely acknowledged as one of the most successful academic inventors and entrepreneurs today.

Her dissertation focused on “opacity,” which captures whether a given secret of the system can be inferred by intruders who observe the behavior of the system.

The SMAP mission is NASA’s most ambitious sensing project yet for measuring global soil moisture levels.

Prof. Lee will develop improved methods for gene therapy by delivering corrected genes directly to the cell nucleus of damaged genes.

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

The grant is aimed at advancing organic photovoltaics, a carbon-based version of solar technology that promises to change the way the sun’s energy is collected.

The research aimed to find a happy medium between fuel economy and drivability in hybrid electric vehicles.

She computationally measures, represents, and analyzes human behavior data to illuminate fundamental human behavior and emotion perception, and develop natural human-machine interfaces.

The IEEE Geoscience and Remote Sensing Society is a remote sensing organization with more than 3700 members around the globe.

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

The professors addressed two very different problems the industry faces with current technology.

The grant is part of a new $12.5M initiative by the National Science Foundation to encourage computing innovations for a sustainable society.

Prof. Mathieu is working how best to integrate wind and solar power into the nation’s established electrical grid system.

Prof. 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.

Researchers at the University have extended the lifetime of blue organic light emitting diodes by a factor of ten.

Since coming to the University in 1984, Prof. Bhattacharya has pioneered several important technological advances.

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.

Iverson developed an experimental facility to simulate key characteristics of the space environment.

These faculty deepen ECE’s areas of expertise in computer vision, communications and information theory, environmental remote sensing, and laser-plasma interactions.

At MAC, Peter’s been able to combine his passions for scientific research and entrepreneurial creation.

The researchers believe that metasurfaces could one day be used to completely control the phase, amplitude, and polarization of light.

The Mikio Takagi Student Prize is given to the top three Student Prize Paper Awards granted at the IEEE International Geoscience and Remote Sensing Symposium.

Faculty and staff alike will miss his cheerful and gentle presence.

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

The fundamental objective of the research initiative is to uncover, explain, and exploit dynamic magneto-optical processes and materials for new technological capabilities.

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.

U-M researchers demonstrated a unique terahertz detector and imaging system that could bridge the terahertz gap.

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 idea behind Keravnos Energy is for there to be an energy transfer between three entities: the building, a large stationary battery, and the car.

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

Researchers at the University of Michigan and Queens College used light to create links between organic and inorganic semiconductors in an optical cavity.

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

One promising area of cancer treatment is photodynamic therapy, which combines the agents of a photosensitive drug, light, and oxygen.

This work will provide a way to efficiently reveal relationships between even distant entities in a network.

What if smartphones could act as mentors in mindfulness?

The Fellowship will help Song to continue his studies in the area of optoelectronics.

Chen’s work can be used in community detection in social networks, network vulnerability assessment in communication systems, and more.

MARLO and its counterparts represent the second bipedal robot model in the world with a gait that isn't flat-footed.

Several of the cubes enabled research to progress to the point that faculty are applying for larger grants to continue the work.

“The trip made me more aware of some of the practical things … like the sound of the turbines, and how they alter the look of the land.”

Their technique utilizes backscatter analysis to construct “perfectly transmitting” wavefronts.

The headpiece design is a big departure from today’s figure 8-shaped devices made of just two coils.

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

The three microdevices created at Michigan are each particularly suited to specific applications.

The goal of the study seeks to enhance the accuracy of determining ocean surface windspeed.

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

SHM systems are critical for monitoring aging structures and infrastructure in a cost-effective manner.

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.

“We present a novel strategy to scale up the number of electrodes with minimized risk.”

“The paper introduces a new management paradigm: ensure the desired lead time while maximizing the throughput.”

This research is targeted at developing a precision master clock for a chip-scale Timing and Inertial Measurement Unit.

By shining the laser on a target and analyzing the reflected light, researchers can tell the chemical composition of the target.

“This workshop is a first step toward developing a roadmap for practical innovations in nano/micro-manufacturing.”

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

The research provides a way to efficiently reveal relationships between even distant entities in a network.

The challenge problem required the participants to interpret data sets in a way that could be used to predict social behavior.

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.

The technology could potentially identify a hidden weapon from a distance in less than a second.

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.

These new insights could one day help engineers design steadier robots and improve doctors’ understanding of human gait abnormalities.

Revzen believes that his findings can be used to engineer better man-made devices, including prosthetic limbs and complete robots.

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.

The goal of MCubed is to jumpstart novel, high-risk and transformative research projects.

Thanks to HERCULES, scientists are now able to study very dense plasmas — a crucial step in nuclear fusion and astrophysical 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.”

Imagine a future when you could predict whether or not you are at risk of becoming sick.

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 research addressed voltage scaling of processors at the point where, at very low voltages, voltage leakage begins to dominate the computational power consumption.

Researchers have found a way to improve a computer’s human-tracking accuracy by looking at where the targets are going, but also at what they’re doing.

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.

Prof. Rais-Zadeh intends to develop a chip-scale timing unit that offers an order of magnitude higher performance compared to existing solutions.

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

“We have pioneered an integrated scene understanding framework that enables the automatic tracking of structural changes, allowing data to be collected easily.”

The UVIG works with the U.S. Department of Energy to provide a forum for the critical analysis of wind and solar technology.

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

Yang’s research is focused on designing plasmonic nano-structures to enhance efficiency of conventional photoconductive terahertz emitters.

The goal is to be able to monitor the soil moisture with as few measurements as possible and with a high degree of accuracy.

Nick’s primary research involves creating algorithms that decipher what the cameras and lasers are detecting to generate a map.

The five year project includes multiple research institutions, partners in industry, and educational outreach to the next generation of computer scientists.

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

The work advances the scientific understanding of laser cooling technologies currently being pursued to explore the boundary between classical and quantum physics.

The proposed emitter incorporates plasmonic photoconductors to more efficiently convert power from incident laser light into terahertz radiation.

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

The primary advance shown in this research as compared to earlier work is the successful use of a 3-D potential force field.

“We’re excited to be adding Veo to the measures we already have in place to ensure that we get diagnostic images using the lowest amount of radiation possible.”

Prof. Nadakuditi plans to provide an analytical characterization of the fundamental limits of multi-modal sensing of weak signals.

Nadakuditi’s research has applications in biomedical signal processing, wireless communications, geophysical signal processing, array processing, and finance.

Bao’s research is in Semantic Structure from Motion, a new framework for jointly recognizing objects as well as reconstructing their underlying 3D geometry.

The researchers succeeded in drastically suppressing the thermal emission rate in GaSb/GaAs quantum dots — resulting in more efficient solar cells.

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.

“ePack utilizes state of the art micromachining technology to provide a cost effective and high performance packaging service for micro- and milli-scale devices.”

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.

Applications of this research range from soil sensors which allow for increased understanding of global climate change to futuristic sensory skins which can monitor the integrity of an object.

The sensor network addressed in the paper assesses the operating conditions of a power plant. It is intended to measure process variables and assess plant status.

“We are proposing an integrated solution that will combine the construction of well-positioned storage facilities that will route excess energy to where it needs to be.”

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.

This MURI has the goal of laying the foundation for a new systems information theory that applies to general controlled information gathering and inference systems.

“Advances in photonics depend critically on new materials, and this new center brings together top minds to focus on two of the most exciting new directions in materials for nanophotonics.”

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.

If scientists can understand what happens at the genome level that makes people more or less susceptible to viral illness, they could potentially develop therapies to prevent illness.

The technique involves a visualization method that renders clinical flow cytometry data more interpretable to pathologists.

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.

MABEL, at one time the world’s fasted running bipedal robot, now sits in the biomechanics exhibit at the Chicago Field Museum.

Lee’s primary motivation is to apply his research methods to hematopathology, the study of blood-related diseases.

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.

Prof. Stark’s research relates to wireless networks and understanding their fundamental limits in terms of energy efficiency and bandwidth efficiency.

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

This new technique could make solar power cheaper and, with improved materials, more efficient.

“Energy will be the major concern in the United States for my generation,” Connor says. “Now is the time to research and invest in the technologies that will power our future.”

The goal of the research is to develop an alternative method to x-ray imaging that is safer and uses nothing stronger than radio frequency waves.

Berry is designing an emitter to operate as a light-weight, local oscillator for a terahertz spectroscopy system suitable for use in space.

Through visiting professorships, summer programs and more, the U-M community will contribute to the revitalization of the nation.

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 contest is highly competitive and features the best student projects from the largest and most prestigious conferences in their respective fields.

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!

The proposed research addresses the frontiers of error-correction coding and very-large-scale integration by advancing algorithms and circuit techniques.

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.

By using the wiggling motion of electrons in a plasma bubble generated by the ultrashort laser pulse, researchers produced X-rays comparable to that produced in a synchrotron facility.

Their paper introduces new techniques that improve speed, solution quality, simplicity, and integration with other optimizations for global placement technology.

Can the laser’s pulse propagate in such a way that it does not change its energy, and leaves the system in the excited state? Does the pulse speed up during propagation?

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.

Moghaddam will oversee the design and fabrication of the AirMOSS instrument, a high-powered, low-frequency radar that NASA/JPL collaborators will build for the project.

The team is working toward building organic lasers that, like many inorganic lasers today, can be excited with electricity rather than light.

“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 WIMS has impacted health care, environmental monitoring, the national infrastructure while CUOS specializes in ultrafast lasers.

SMAP is a satellite mission for mapping surface soil moisture and freeze/thaw states for the purpose of scientific advances and societal benefits.

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

The Award engages rising research stars and provides high-impact funding to develop their ideas in the context of Department of Defense needs.

The award acknowledges Prof. Jarrahi’s efforts to develop a new generation of compact high power terahertz sources.

The work, published in 2006, will be acknowledged at the EUSIPCO Conference in Denmark.

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

The research funded by Google involves redesigning servers and data centers to improve their energy efficiency.

Lu was awarded an NSF CAREER grant for his research project, which intends to develop unconventional, high-performance memory and logic systems.

The PECASE is the highest honor bestowed by the U.S. government on outstanding scientists and engineers beginning their independent careers.

The paper addresses the importance of knowing where networks of sensors are located once they’ve been deployed.

The award was given at the IEEE Conference on Automation and Engineering. Congratulations, Lindsay!

The award will support Professor Carmon in three years of basic research on continuous on-chip extreme UV emitters.

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

The research that will be conducted at the center could lead to more efficient solar cells, finer-featured microchips and new medical tools.

“The main goal of this project,” explained Opila, “is to bring advanced methods to HEV and plug-in HEV design.”

Long’s work describes a new algorithm for performing model-based methods in a way that requires less computation yet provides improved image quality.

Prof. Wentzloff is working to develop a wireless 3D interconnection fabric that can provide communication channels and crossbar routing.

“The paper studies the key enabling technologies of Cognitive Radio and makes contributions in two key areas: sensing and learning.”

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

The grant is to be used to develop new techniques for assessing the impact of wind generation on power system voltage control and transient stability.

Nazari’s research is focused on an information theoretic approach to the problem of multi-terminal communications systems.

Thiel’s detection method allows the analysis of human backscattering within a realistic building environment.

For his research, Benson plans to utilize SAR in order to estimate variable vegetated parameters and monitor the planet’s crustal movement.

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

The research has applications in health care, environmental monitoring, security, energy conservation and exploration, and more.

This work investigates the fundamental effects of illumination on amorphous InGaZnO thin-film transistors.

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

Comprised of electrical engineers, astrophysicists, physicists, materials scientists, biomedical engineers, and doctors, CUOS explore ultrafast laser applications.

Professor Winful sheds light on one of the most perplexing mysteries of quantum tunneling.

Tkaczyk hopes that his technique will be used to further the understanding, diagnosis, and treatment of cancer. Congratulations!

His work involves the conception and realization of synthetically modulated semiconductor structures and nanophotonic devices.