What are quantum computers going to do for us?

Prof. Duncan Steel, a leading expert in quantum computer technology, describes how these computers work, and what their implications are for cyber security.  

Biochips for better cancer therapy

Prof. Yoon's group is working to dramatically accelerate progress in a form of cancer therapy known as photodynamic therapy (PDT), which combines the agents of a photosensitive drug, light, and oxygen to attack cancerous tumors and lesions locally in the targeted region of the body by selective optical illumination.

Zhaoshi Meng Receives Best Paper Award at CAMSAP 2013

Zhaoshi Meng, a doctoral student in the Electrical Engineering:Systems program, received 2nd place in the Student Paper Competition at the 5th IEEE Int. Workshop on Computational Advances in Multi-Sensor Adaptive Processing (CAMSAP 2013).

Two-legged robot walks outside at U-Michigan

With prosthetic feet and hips that can swing sideways for stability, the University of Michigan's newest two-legged robot has taken its first steps outside. The machine named MARLO is the third-generation bipedal robot for Prof. Jessy Grizzle. While its predecessors were connected to lateral support booms and confined to the lab, MARLO can venture out into the sunlight. 

MCubed A Year Later: A Record of Fostering Innovative Research

The first annual MCubed Symposium served as a showcase for the 200+ projects that came into being thanks to the MCubed initiative. In ECE, the program enabled research to progress to the point that our faculty are applying for major grants to continue the work, submitting papers to conferences and journals, and founding new companies.

ECE Research on Display (with event photo gallery)

Research in electrical and computer engineering was on grand display at the 2013 CoE Graduate Symposium. With nearly 100 ECE posters displayed, current and prospective students were able to get a glimpse at the range of research happening in the department, and meet the graduate students making it all happen.

New algorithms and theory for shining light through non-transparent media

Curtis Jin, a graduate student in electrical engineering, is part of a research team that has developed theory and algorithms that can mitigate or even overcome loss in transmission power due to the multiple scattering of light in non-transparent (ie, scattering) media.

Making the Internet of Things Happen

Prof. David Wentzloff is helping to make a worldwide Internet of Things more than a dream through his research in low-power wireless communication, and more recently, through his new startup company called PsiKick.

Kyu Hyun Kim Receives Emil Wolf Outstanding Student Paper Award

Kyu Hyun Kim, Ph.D. candidate in electrical engineering, received an Emil Wolf Outstanding Student Paper Competition award at the 2013 OSA Frontiers in Optics conference for his work in microfluidic optomechanics. Potential applications of this research range from ultrasound mapping of a single living cell to fundamental quantum optomechanical experiments with superfluids.

How a metamaterial might improve a depression treatment

A brain stimulation technique that is used to treat tough cases of depression could be considerably improved with a new headpiece designed by University of Michigan engineers.  

Better miniaturized vacuum pumps for electronics and sensors 

ECE researchers have built three different types of record-breaking micro scale vacuum pumps that could greatly extend the capabilities of electronics and sensing devices that use these devices, such as gas analyzers for homeland security, healthcare, search and rescue, and other applications. They have also taken an important step towards building an integrated, easily manufactured, micro gas chromatography system that incorporates a vacuum micro pump.  

Research that will lead to sharper photos earns best paper award

Research by Dr. Paul Shearer, Prof. Alfred O. Hero, III and Prof. Anna Gilbert, earned Best Paper Award at the 2013 IEEE International Conference on Image Processing. The researchers tackled the problem of "camera shake," which is inevitable in cases where a tripod is either not available or practical for taking pictures. 

Image processing 1,000 times faster is goal of new $5M contract

Loosely inspired by a biological brain's approach to making sense of visual information, Prof. Wei Lu is leading a project to build alternative computer hardware that could process images and video 1,000 times faster with 10,000 times less power than today's systems, all without sacrificing accuracy.

Jae Young Park Receives Best Student Paper Award for Research Impacting Structural Health Monitoring   

Jae Young Park, a recent doctoral student in the Electrical Engineering:Systems program, received a Best Student Paper Award at the Signal Processing with Adaptive Sparse Structured Representations (SPARS 2013) conference. The method described in the paper is expected to increase the longevity of battery-based sensor devices that record structural information, increase the accuracy of basic data analysis techniques, and decrease the memory requirements of such tasks.

Faster, more powerful mobile devices: U-M startup Crossbar could disrupt the memory market   

Crossbar, Inc., co-founded in 2010 by Prof. Wei Lu, announced its emergence from stealth mode after its recent development of a working Crossbar memory array at a commercial fab. With its improvements in speed, power consumption, and endurance combined with half the die size, Crossbar is expected to enable a new wave of electronics innovation for consumer, enterprise, mobile, industrial and connected device applications. 

When GPS fails, this speck of an electronic device could step in

In a pellet of glass the size of an apple seed, University of Michigan engineering researchers have packed seven devices that together could potentially provide navigation in the absence of the satellite-based Global Positioning System (GPS).

A better single-photon emitter for quantum cryptography 

A silicon-based single-photon emitter developed by Prof. Pallab Bhattacharya and his group is simpler and more efficient than those currently available, and can be made using traditional semiconductor processing techniques.

Better than X-rays: A more powerful terahertz imaging system  

Prof. Mona Jarrahi and her group developed a laser-powered terahertz source that will allow for deeper imaging of tissue, and the sensing of smaller quantities of drugs and explosives from farther distances than is currently possible.

After Newtown: A new use for a weapons-detecting radar? 

In the aftermath of the Newtown school shooting, Prof. Kamal Sarabandi envisions a new use for a weapons-detecting radar system he's been developing for the past few years.

Scientific Milestone: A room temperature Bose-Einstein condensate

Prof. Pallab Bhattacharya and a team of researchers have created and directly observed what they believe to be a near-equilibrium room temperature Bose-Einstein condensate (BEC). A BEC is an unusual state of matter in which a group of boson particles can exist in a single quantum state, giving scientists the rare opportunity to directly observe novel quantum phenomena. A paper on the topic, co-authored by Ayan Das, Junseok Heo, Animesh Banerjee and Wei Guo, was published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.

Cockroaches and robots: Reverse engineering animals' balance systems [story and video]

Prof. Shai Revzen combines his expertise in control engineering and biology to bring a new perspective to robotics. For example, he and colleagues at UC-Berkeley found that running cockroaches start to recover from being shoved sideways before their dawdling nervous system kicks in to tell their legs what to do. This insight into how biological systems stabilize could one day help engineers design steadier robots and improve doctors' understanding of human gait abnormalities.

Next-gen e-readers: Improved 'peacock' technology could lock in color for high-res displays

Prof. Jay Guo and his group have found a way to lock in so-called structural color, which is made with texture rather than chemicals. A paper on the work is published online in the current edition of the Nature journal Scientific Reports.

Computers that Mimic the Brain [video]

Prof. Wei Lu and his group are developing a new type of electronic switch that mimics the behavior of a biological neuron in the human brain, which is able to perform complex tasks much more efficiently than regular computers. These artificial synapses would be created through "memristors" built through nanotechnology that can be used to connect a large number of processes, thereby creating a type of computer that can learn without being programmed. Featured in the video are Prof. Lu and Patrick Sheridan.

A laser to ID distant materials night and day [with video]

Can large-output lasers be used to identify materials at long distances? Prof. Mohammed Islam is working to create lasers that can identify items that are more than a kilometer away. Watch the video to learn more.

ECE faculty are MCubing to find answers - fast

Through the MCubed program, ECE faculty are teaming up with colleagues across the University of Michigan - from Epidemiology to Political Science, Ophthalmology to Psychiatry, Neurosurgery to Astronomy - to pursue new initiatives deemed to have major societal impact. The program funds "novel, high-risk and transformative research projects." Read about the 10 newly funded projects.

A Big Career from Small Things

Ken Wise, William G. Dow Distinguished University Professor Emeritus of EECS, had a strong hand in shaping the field of MEMS and Microsystems. What were some of the key innovations and steps necessary to do this?

Signal Processing at Michigan

Michigan signal processing faculty apply their research to a wide array of real-world problems, while predicting where the next sweet spot is for new algorithms that can do things that haven't been done before.

Imagine a future when you could predict whether or not you are at risk of becoming sick. Al Hero, R. Jamison and Betty Williams Professor of Engineering, is working to make that a reality with his research into the human genome's response to viral illnesses. Hero's group is working to build a mathematical algorithm that can predict whether or not an individual is susceptible to a virus. He envisions a future where a personal device could be used to monitor that individual's risk factor, thereby changing the field of preventive medicine

Jeffrey Fessler and his research group have collaborated with GE Healthcare to greatly reduce the amount of radiation required to produce the same high-quality image. This technology was originally introduced at UM Hospital in early 2012, and is now being used by many hospitals around the country.

A carbon-nanotube-coated lens that converts light to sound can focus high-pressure sound waves to finer points than ever before. This new therapeutic ultrasound approach could lead to an invisible knife for noninvasive surgery. Working on the project is an interdisciplinary team lead by Prof. Jay Guo, with Prof. Euisik Yoon, Prof. John Hart (ME), and Prof. Zhen Xu (BioMed)

New Method for Building a Low-cost, High-Performance Electric Machine and Drive Could Result in Huge Energy Savings

Prof. Heath Hofmann will be expanding his impact on the field of electric machines and drives in a newly funded project supported by the Bosch Energy Research Network. The research could potentially result in huge energy savings due to the widespread use of these machines and the applicability of Hofmann's research project to these devices

Popular Mechanics names Jessy Grizzle as a top 10 world-changing innovator for 2012

For his work with the bipedal robot known as MABEL, Prof. Grizzle was named a Top 10 Innovator for 2012 by Popular Mechanics. One of MABEL's biggest feats was mastering the run - becoming the fastest bipedal robot with knees. Her successor, MARLO, just arrived at Michigan - ready to take up where MABEL left off. 

Nathan Roberts Earns Best Paper Award for Research to Assist in Remote Patient Monitoring

Nathan Roberts designed an ultra-low power receiver for wireless sensor node applications that operates using nanowatts of power. The research will facilitate remote patient monitoring through wireless body area networks. His work earned him Best Student Paper Award at the 2012 IEEE Subthreshold Microelectronics Conference.

Research in nuclear material detection earns Randy Schiffer an Innovations in Fuel Cycle Research Award

Randy Schiffer (BSE EE '11), a master's student in electrical engineering, received an Innovations in Fuel Cycle Research Award from the U.S. Department of Energy for his research developing a scalable and portable hardware/software platform for the detection and classification of nuclear material.

New Webinar Series by the Center for Wireless Integrated MicroSensing & Systems (WIMS2)

Watch the webinars live, or listen to them after the fact online.

2012 ICCAD Ten Year Retrospective Most Influential Paper Award

For their ground-breaking research in the area of voltage scaling processors, this award went to Professors David Blaauw, Trevor Mudge, and alumni Dr. Steven Martin and Dr. Krisztian Flautner. Their 2002 paper was judged to be the most influential on research and industrial practice in computer-aided design of integrated circuits over the past ten years.

Most exciting optics research in the past year

Prof. Tal Carmon and his group showed that light can be used to cool objects at the range between atomic and device scale through spontaneous brillouin cooling. This surprising discovery has been recognized as among the most exciting peer-reviewed optics research of the past year by Optics and Photonics News. See the summary in the December issue, and the U-M Press Release describing the work.

Juan Rivas Receives CAREER Award for Research in Next-Generation Power Electronics

Prof. Juan Rivas was recently awarded an NSF CAREER award for his research project, Power converters with embedded passive components. With traditional methods nearing the end of their ability to improve much beyond their current state, Rivas will investigate new design techniques to dramatically improve the power density and performance of power electronics. 

Research on Display at the 2012 Graduate Symposium

More than 85 research posters were presented by graduate students in Electrical and Computer Engineering at the 2012 College of Engineering Graduate Symposium. Students winners were announced for all the sessions, which included Energy, MEMS, Engineering in Medicine, Signal Processing and Computer Vision, Solid State Materials and Physics, and many more.

Combining flexible, transparent electronics with high speed communications for the first time

Prof. Zhaohui Zhong and his team of graduate students, Seunghyun Lee, Kyunghoon Lee, Chang-Hua Liu, and Girish S. Kulkarni, have built the first flexible, transparent digital modulator for high speed communications, made solely out of graphene.

Bourne pursuit: Improving computer tracking of human activity

Prof. Silvio Savarese and his group have found a way to improve a computer's human-tracking accuracy by more than 30 percent by looking not only at where the targets are going, but also at what they're doing. His computer vision algorithms will help make cars safer on the road, in addition to various other applications

Developing the Wireless Component for Personalized Health Devices

Prof. David Wentzloff will be developing the wireless component for the next generation of personalized health devices as a member of a new 5-year, $18.5M NSF Nanosystems Engineering Center for Advanced Self-Powered Systems of Integrated Sensors and Technology (ASSIST), led by North Carolina State University.

Nano-origami project combines art and engineering to further technology   

Prof. P-C Ku is co-PI in a new project funded by NSF to find out whether the ancient art of origami could bring nanotechnology into the third dimension. The goal is for manufacturers to use existing machinery to make high-tech "paper" that can then be folded into the desired device.

Mina Rais-Zadeh Receives NASA Early Career Grant to Develop Technology Needed for PicoSatellites

Prof. Mina Rais-Zadeh will pursue research into a "Chip-Scale Precision Timing Unit for PicoSatellites" as one of ten researchers selected in the inaugural year of NASA's Space Technology Research Opportunities for Early Career Faculty. Prof. Rais-Zadeh intends to develop a chip-scale timing unit that offers an order of magnitude higher performance compared to existing solutions.

Silvio Savarese's research applying computer vision techniques to construction sites leads to best paper award and a new spinoff company

Prof. Silvio Savarese received the 2011 Best Paper Award from the Journal of Construction Engineering and Management for research that applies fundamental principles developed for real-world scene understanding to the problem of efficient construction site monitoring. He co-founded the company Vision Construction Monitoring, LLC, to offer the technology to the construction industry.

Sensors and Actuators for Portable Microsystems

U-M grad and research fellow Dr. Christine Eun (BSE MSE PHD, EE '04 '06 '11) and Prof. Yogesh Gianchandani describe the diversity of applications possible for sensors based on microscale plasmas (or microdischarges) in the paper, "Microdischarge-Based Sensors and Actuators for Portable Microsystems: Selected Examples," published in the IEEE Journal of Quantum Electronics, vol. 48, no. 6, and featured on the cover of the May-June print issue.

The worlds first two-legged robot with a trip reflex

The two-legged robot named MABEL can now recover from a stumble like a person, making her the world's first robot with a trip reflex, says Prof. Jessy Grizzle. The fastest bipedal robot with knees can now step up onto a platform that's in her path. She has no cameras, so she uses a sense of touch, so to speak, to keep steady footing. 

Ambiq Micro and Cyclos Semiconductor, 2 EECS startups, join the EE Times 60 Emerging Startups list

Ambiq Micro, specializing in intelligent energy-efficient ICs, was founded in 2010 by Profs. Blaauw, Sylvester, and EE alumnus Dr. Hanson. Cyclos Semiconductor, specializing in resonant clock-mesh technology for IC design, was co-founded in 2004 by Prof. Papaefthymiou. [more about Ambiq Micro] [more about Cyclos Semiconductor]

Prof. Mingyan Liu Receives Best Paper Award at the 11th ACM/IEEE Conference on Information Processing in Sensor Networks

The paper, "In-Situ Soil Moisture Sensing: Measurement Scheduling and Estimation using Compressive Sensing," by Prof. Mingyan Liu and Xiaopei Wu (a visiting student), was named Best Paper at the 11th ACM/IEEE Conference on Information Processing in Sensor Networks. This research aims to monitor soil moisture over time using as little energy as possible while maintaining a high degree of accuracy.
[Faculty: Mingyan Liu]

Computer Vision Course is Part of a Groundbreaking Online Initiative

An open and free online course on Computer Vision co-taught by Prof. Silvio Savarese and Prof. Fei Fei Li of Stanford will be offered as early as July 2012. The course is offered through the education company called Coursera, founded in 2011 and dedicated to providing free online courses taught by world-class faculty from the top universities.
[Faculty: Silvio Savarese]

$10 million NSF project to advance computer programming

Making computer programming faster, easier and more intuitive is the goal of a new $10 million NSF project, Expeditions in Computer Augmented Program Engineering (ExCAPE), that involves Prof. Stephane Lafortune and is based at the U. of Pennsylvania. Prof. Lafortune aims to automate the complicated, time-consuming and expensive software-debugging process.
[Faculty: Stephane Lafortune]

A new way to cool materials with light

New research that has come out of Prof. Tal Carmon's research group provides the first experimental evidence of an acoustical density wave in a solid using Brillouin scattering. This research overturns scientists understanding of how light and sound interact in the process called Brillouin scattering.
[Faculty: Tal Carmon] [Alumnus: Matthew Tomes] [PostDoc: Gaurav Bahl]

3-D electrical force fields manipulate microscale particles

Prof. Kamal Sarabandi and colleagues at the University of Michigan are using electrical energy as a 3-D force field to manipulate microscale objects. Potential applications for this research include biochemical reactions, sample analysis and synthesis, molecular genetics, cell manipulation, and biotechnology production.
[Faculty: Kamal Sarabandi]

Artificial synapses could lead to advanced computer memory and machines that mimic biological brains

In a step toward computers that mimic the parallel processing of complex biological brains, researchers from HRL Labs and Prof. Wei Lu's group have built a type of artificial synapse. They have demonstrated the first functioning memristor array stacked on a CMOS circuit. Memristors combine the functions of memory and logic like the synapses of biological brains
[Faculty: Wei Lu]

Using imprint processing to mass-produce tiny antennas could improve wireless electronics

Profs. Forrest and Grbic have found a way to mass-produce antennas so small that they approach the fundamental minimum size limit for their bandwidth, or data rate, of operation. These antennas could lead to a new generation of wireless electronics and mobile devices.
[Faculty: Stephen Forrest, Anthony Grbic]

Insect cyborgs to search and monitor hazardous environs

Research conducted by Prof. Khalil Najafi and doctoral student Erkan Aktakka may lead to the use of insects to monitor hazardous situations before sending in humans. They are finding ways to harvest energy from insects, and take the utility of the miniature cyborgs to the next level.
[Faculty: Khalil Najafi] [Alumnus: Erkan Aktakka]

New technology allows CT scans to be done with a fraction of the conventional radiation dose

A technological breakthrough is allowing the University of Michigan Health System to be the first teaching hospital in the U.S. to perform some CT scans using a fraction of the radiation dose required for a conventional CT image. Veo is not a new type of machine, but a new way of processing data developed by Prof. Jeff Fessler. Using a technique called Model-based Iterative Reconstruction (MBIR), the technology employs sophisticated algorithms to squeeze more information out of the existing X-ray data.
[Faculty: Jeff Fessler]

'Perfect black' coating can render a 3D object flat, raises intriguing dark veil possibility in astronomy

A carbon nanotube coating developed by Prof. Jay Guo acts as a "magic black cloth" that conceals an object's three-dimensional geometry and makes it look like a flat black sheet. The 70-micron coating, or carbon nanotube carpet, is about half the thickness of a sheet of paper. It absorbs 99.9 percent of the light that hits it.
[Faculty: Jay Guo]

A smarter way to make ultraviolet light beams

Existing coherent ultraviolet light sources are power hungry, bulky and expensive. Prof. Tal Carmon and Prof. Mona Jarrahi have found a better way to build compact ultraviolet sources with low power consumption that could improve information storage, microscopy and chemical analysis. The researchers have optimized a type of optical resonator to take an infrared signal from relatively cheap telecommunication-compatible lasers and, using a low-power, nonlinear process, boost it to a higher-energy ultraviolet beam.
[Faculty: Tal Carmon, Mona Jarrahi] [Alumni: Jeremy Moore, Matthew Tomes]

MABEL is now the world's fastest two-legged robot with knees

A robot can run like a human—a feat that represents the height of agility and efficiency for a two-legged machine. With a peak pace of 6.8 miles per hour, MABEL is believed to be the world's fastest bipedal robot with knees. Few robots can run, and the researchers say no machine but MABEL can do it with such a human-like gait. Its weight is distributed like a person's. It has a heavier torso and light, flexible legs with springs that act like tendons.
[Faculty: Jessy Grizzle]

Predicting who will get sick

Why do some folks who take every precaution still get the flu, while others never even get the sniffles? Prof. Al Hero uses genomics to begin to unravel what in our complex genomic data accounts for why some get sick while others don't. Eventually, if scientists can understand what happens at the level of the genome that makes people more or less susceptible to viral illness, they could potentially develop therapies to prevent the illness.
[Faculty: Al Hero]

Integrating Circuits, Sensing, and Software to Realize the Cubic-mm Computing Class

Faculty at the University of Michigan are continuing their pursuit of millimeter-scale computing with a 5-year, $3M NSF grant to develop cubic-mm size sensor nodes. These sensing platforms will incorporate transducers (i.e. imaging, temperature sensing), wireless communication, a high accuracy timer, processor, memory, battery and energy harvesting in a 1mm3 volume. Current wireless sensor nodes measure at least 1cm3 and are hampered by short lifetimes.
[Faculty: David Blaauw, Prabal Dutta, Dennis Sylvester, David Wentzloff]

Powering breakthrough technologies

Ambiq Micro’s microcontroller, just one square millimeter, is designed to last for dozens of years. The power-frugal, miniature package is what will allow high impact breakthroughs such as an implantable device to measure eye pressure in a glaucoma patient, or “smart paint” on bridges that can warn of impending failures.
[Faculty: David Blaauw, Dennis Sylvester] [Alumnus: Scott Hanson]

Most powerful millimeter-scale energy harvester generates electricity from vibrations

Electrical engineers at the University of Michigan have built a device that can harness energy from vibrations and convert it to electricity with five to ten times greater efficiency and power than other devices in its class. And it's smaller than a penny.
[Faculty: Khalil Najafi] [Alumnus: Erkan Aktakka]

MURI at Michigan will improve how information is gathered and interpreted in next-generation sensor networks

U-M is home to a new Multidisciplinary University Research Initiative (MURI) called: Value-centered information theory for adaptive learning, inference, tracking, and exploitation. This program will lay the foundation for a new systems information theory that applies to both general controlled information gathering and inference systems with mission planning, while accounting for the value of information.
[Faculty: Al Hero, Raj Nadakuditi]

New NSF center explores ways to manipulate light at the nanoscale

A new $13-million National Science Foundation center based at the University of Michigan will develop high-tech materials that manipulate light in new ways. The research could enable advances such as invisibility cloaks, nanoscale lasers, high-efficiency lighting, and quantum computers.
[Faculty: Ted Norris, Pallab Bhattacharya, PC Ku, Jamie Phillips, Duncan Steel, Roberto Merlin, Tony Grbic, Jay Guo, John Schotland]

Solar Power without Solar Cells: A Hidden Magnetic Effect of Light Could Make It Possible

A dramatic and surprising magnetic effect of light discovered by University of Michigan researchers could lead to solar power without traditional semiconductor-based solar cells. The researchers found a way to make an “optical battery.” In the process, they overturned a century-old tenet of physics.
[Faculty: Steve Rand]

Minimally-invasive brain implant to translate thoughts into movement

A brain implant developed at the University of Michigan uses the body's skin like a conductor to wirelessly transmit the brain's neural signals to control a computer, and may eventually be used to reactivate paralyzed limbs. 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.
[Faculty: Euisik Yoon, Ken Wise]

Toward computers that fit on a pen tip: New technologies usher in millimeter-scale computing era

A prototype implantable eye pressure monitor for glaucoma patients is believed to contain the first complete millimeter-scale computing system. And a compact radio that needs no tuning to find the right frequency could be a key enabler to organizing millimeter-scale systems into wireless sensor networks. These networks could one day track pollution, monitor structural integrity, perform surveillance, or make virtually any object smart and trackable.
[Faculty: David Blaauw, Dennis Sylvester, David Wentzloff]

New laser could treat acne with telecom technology

A laser developed at the University of Michigan is designed to melt fat without burning surrounding tissue. It could potentially be used to treat acne by targeting the oil-producing sebaceous glands, which are known to be involved in the development of the skin disease. The laser's 1,708-nanometer, infrared beam takes advantage of a unique wavelength that fat can absorb more efficiently than water, which makes up more than half of the human body.
[Faculty: Mohammed Islam]

VIDEO: Micro Electro Mechanical Systems – MEMS

Gain insight into the pervasiveness of MEMS in our lives, and its remarkable history here at Michigan.