Alumni News

2024 ECE Alumni Awards

Five ECE alumni are receiving departmental and College of Engineering awards for their contributions to society: Dixon Doll, Mehdi Hatamian, David Tarver, Leo Kempel, and Mariko Burgin.

Michigan Man Jack Underwood is an engineer through...

The veteran and Michigan Medicine IT Manager graduated with a degree in electrical engineering from U-M this year, fulfilling a decades-long dream.

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U-M alum Andrew Barto wins Turing Award

Barto is the 5th U-M alum to receive this honor, considered the “Nobel Prize of Computing,” in recognition of his contributions to reinforcement learning, a fundamental area of artificial intelligence.

Johanna Mathieu and Anna Stuhlmacher receive HICSS Best Paper Award for work on the potential of drinking water networks as flexible electric loads

The team found that drinking water distribution networks in the U.S. represent a sizable resource when used as flexible electric loads.

ECE alum Bernard Arfin celebrates his Michigan roots at his 100th birthday

Bernie Arfin graded papers for William Gould Dow, worked at Willow Run research facility, and enjoyed attending football and basketball games up to his 99th birthday.

Mariko Burgin receives ECE Alumni Rising Star Award

Burgin spoke about her journey as an electrical engineer interested in space, leading her to work for NASA and Blue Origin on space missions.

Samuel H. Fuller funds early-career professorship

Fuller gave an alumni lecture on the history of computing and the current state of AI before presenting the inaugural award to Hun-Seok Kim.

Mehdi Hatamian honored with ECE Alumni Impact Award

Hatamian’s work promises to revolutionize healthcare with affordable, quick, and easy cancer screenings.

Jiong Zhu receives 2024 CSE David J. Kuck Dissertation Prize

The annual award recognizes the excellence of his dissertation on graph neural networks for complex data.

CSE alum Fan Lai receives dissertation recognition at SOSP 2024

The honor recognizes the excellence of Lai’s dissertation on minimalist approaches for pervasive machine learning.

Leo Kempel receives ECE Distinguished Alumni Educator Award

Kempel delivered his award lecture on restructuring engineering education for the future.

David Tarver honored with ECE Alumni Merit Award

Returning to campus to receive his award, Tarver spoke about the arc of his professional journey from electrical engineer to community advocate.

CSE and UMSI team up for homecoming tailgate

Alums, faculty, and staff from UMSI and CSE came together to celebrate the Michigan homecoming football game.

These CSE PhD alums have accepted faculty positions

Congrats to these new faculty!

2024 ECE Alumni Awards Recognize Leaders, Innovators, Educators, and Rising Stars

Five ECE alumni are receiving departmental and College of Engineering awards for their contributions to society: Dixon Doll, Mehdi Hatamian, David Tarver, Leo Kempel, and Mariko Burgin.

From U-M to the Big Leagues: How a data science alum became a baseball analytics pro

U-M alum Danny Vargovick is leveraging his data science degree to build prediction systems for the Detroit Tigers.

Fulbright scholar and CSE alum Kevin Wang melds English and CS education in Poland

One of 27 student 2023-24 Fulbright recipients from U-M, Wang is leveraging his unique background to teach Polish university students English and computer science.

U-M alums bring better finance tech to entertainment

CS alums Akanksha Singh and Caitlin Short have launched Backdrop, a financial management startup for the entertainment industry, earning them wide recognition, including a nod for Singh in the Forbes 30 Under 30.

Remembering alum David Mills, who brought the internet into perfect time

Mills created the Network Time Protocol, which enables any device online to know precisely what time it is.

CS alum Jill Bender: working at the intersection of tech and climate

Her career is driven by a passion for innovative technologies, a commitment to addressing global challenges, and expanding opportunities for underrepresented groups in tech.

Rick Wallace, KLA President and CEO, on the importance of embracing challenges

Wallace, the 2023 ECE Alumni Impact Award winner, spoke to students about qualities that make successful leaders and companies.

Necmiye Ozay is the Recipient of the First Faculty Development Professorship in ECE

Dr. Enke Chen and Huiyi Luan established the fund in honor of Prof. Stéphane Lafortune.

Olgica Milenkovic receives ECE’s Distinguished Educator Award for excellence in teaching bioinformatics, machine learning, and more

Prof. Milenkovic’s research at the University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign spans the areas of algorithm design and computing, bioinformatics, coding theory, machine learning, and signal processing.

Curtis Ling on what makes a successful technology company

As the 2023 ECE Merit Alumni Award winner, Ling chronicled his experience co-founding the semiconductor startup MaxLinear and shared his insights for those interested in pursuing a similar path.

Alum Mo Faisal on building a successful semiconductor company

Faisal, the 2023 ECE Rising Star Alumni Award recipient, founded Movellus based on his doctoral research conducted under Prof. David Wentzloff.

U-M origins of legendary gaming mystery revealed

A look into the history of famed video game engine MUGEN and its University of Michigan beginnings.

Congrats to CSE alums who have accepted faculty positions

Congrats to these new faculty!

Cybernet CTO Charles Cohen works to shape the future of human-computer interaction, robotics, and artificial intelligence

Cohen (MS PhD EE ’91 ’96) talks about his career path, turning failure into opportunity, and the best thing his advisor Prof. Lynn Conway ever taught him.

Michigan Man Jack Underwood is an engineer through and through

The veteran and Michigan Medicine IT Manager graduated with a degree in electrical engineering from U-M this year, fulfilling a decades-long dream.

CSE alum Xinyu Zhang selected as recipient of ACM SIGMOBILE RockStar Award

The award recognizes Zhang’s outstanding contributions to the mobile computing field.

CSE alum and computer architecture innovator Kunle Olukotun chosen for top recognition by ACM/IEEE

He is recognized for his contributions and leadership in the development of parallel systems, especially multicore and multithreaded processors.

Laser-focused

Franklin Dollar, a pioneer in laser plasma research, is not only unraveling cosmic mysteries but also promoting equity and inclusivity in science education and research.

CSE announces updated National Advisory Board

New and continuing board members have been tapped to advise CSE on current academic and societal issues related to computing.

In a new Technical Sales course, students practice the skill set of selling technology to businesses

Alum Eli Neumann, the Senior Vice President of Worldwide Sales Engineers, co-designed the Center for Entrepreneurship course.

ECE Expeditions rides to the Lone Star State for a tour of engineering companies

Students networked with alums, tested demos of new technology, and toured labs at HPE, NASA, Ambiq, Dell, Torc Robotics, and NI.

Christopher Rutledge honored with the 2023 Willie Hobbs Moore Distinguished Alumni Lectureship

Rutledge shared his journey from growing up in rural East Texas to becoming a Distinguished Engineer at Verizon, one of the biggest telecommunications companies in the world.

Ruba Borno, VP of Amazon Web Services and ECE Alum, stresses empathy and accountability in leadership

Borno, an ECE Rising Star Award winner, recently spoke about her experience in leadership during the pandemic, how her refugee background shaped her life, and why she literally climbs a mountain a year.

ECE alum Kai Cui empowers consumers to make sustainable fashion choices with her new app

Cui is the founder and CEO of CarbonTag™, a startup that developed the first carbon emission calculator for consumer fashion products.

Centenarian and alumnus Gus Gaynor: tech leader, entrepreneur, and communicator

Gaynor’s remarkable career as an entrepreneur, director of engineering at 3M, author, and long-time volunteer for IEEE spanned more than seven decades.

ECE Rising Star Tanya Das helps shape nationwide science policy to address climate change and more

Das (BSE EE 2011), who previously served the Biden Administration as the Chief of Staff of the Office of Science at the U.S. Department of Energy, is currently the Associate Director of Energy Innovation at the Bipartisan Policy Center.

CSE alum Jennifer Rexford named provost at Princeton University

Rexford oversaw record growth and diversity initiatives as chair of the Princeton CS department.

Alumni profile: A conversation with Rich Uhlig

A Michigan engineer, Intel VP, and research lab director, Rich Uhlig is CSE’s Alumni Merit Award Winner for 2022.

Alum Paul Debevec honored with Emmy Lifetime Achievement Award for inventing a new kind of movie magic

Debevec’s groundbreaking imaging work revolutionized the film and television industry, helping create the special effects seen in Spider-Man 2, Avatar, The Hobbit, Blade Runner 2049, Gravity, The Mandalorian, and many more.

Vikram Verma talks the value of engineering and leadership to society as the 2022 ECE Alumni Impact Award winner

Verma credits his distinguished 30-year executive career with leading technology companies, including Savi Technology, Lockheed Martin and 8x8 Inc., to a combination of education, leadership, and luck.

$100,000 gift endows teaching faculty support fund inspired by David Chesney's socially conscious initiatives

The gift from the Daniel E. Offutt III Charitable Trust will provide teaching faculty with discretionary funding to enhance CSE's educational mission.

Community-builder Leon Pryor takes Detroit’s FIRST Robotics program to new heights

Having excelled in careers at Microsoft, Amazon, and now Meta, the alum and renowned video game engineer co-founded The Motor City Alliance to make Detroit a powerhouse for FIRST Robotics teams

Engineering tough

ECE alum Linda Zhang has the daunting task of bringing America's bestselling vehicle into the electric age.

ECE Expeditions goes hybrid

Students visited the new KLA headquarters in Ann Arbor and attended virtual presentations by NVIDIA and NASA.

Douglas Teeter (1964 - 2022): In Memoriam

Dr. Doug Teeter (PHD EE 1988 1992) is remembered by his doctoral advisors at Michigan as an outstanding researcher, friend, and family man.

ECE alum Dave Babicz pioneered the lab kits that became a staple for at-home engineering courses

The lab kits used in our Analog Circuits course during the pandemic were created by Babicz, Director of Engineering at Analog Devices Inc., and fellow colleagues back in 2015 for the purpose of improving equity in engineering education.

ECE alum Mihir Sheth receives Young Innovator Award from Innovate UK for making a medical device that weans patients off ventilators quicker

Sheth is the co-founder of Inspiritus Health and has developed a simple to use, non-invasive medical device that keeps patients’ muscles engaged when they are on a ventilator to prevent muscle atrophy.

Alum Murali Annavaram elected IEEE fellow for contributions to heterogeneous architectures for energy-efficient computing systems

Prof. Annavaram was named an IEEE Fellow, Class of 2021, “for contributions to heterogeneous architectures for energy-efficient computing systems.”

Gift from Daniel E. Offutt III Charitable Trust supports construction of new building, lecturers in CSE

In recognition of this gift, the maker’s space on the first floor of the new building will be named the Richard Orenstein and Daniel Offutt Maker’s Laboratory.

Katie Bouman talks legacy of the black hole imaging project and favorite U-M memories

Before Bouman became the face of the project that brought us the first ever image of a black hole, she was wowing ECE professors with design projects and hoarding Domino’s pizza with her HKN family.

Dr. Donnell Walton honored with the 2021 ECE Willie Hobbs Moore Distinguished Lectureship

Walton spoke about his career path and his current role as the director of the Corning Technology Center Silicon Valley.

Intel’s Jon Zapp plans the technologies of the future

Zapp, an EE alum who led the development of Intel’s Tiger Lake processor, talks combining his love of high tech with his skills in marketing and finance, his career at Intel, his favorite classes at Michigan, and his love of Backroom pizza.

Alumnus Nam Sung Kim named endowed chair at UIUC

Kim is a 2004 alumnus of the CSE PhD program at Michigan.

ECE alum Linda Guillory breaks two world records for vintage video game collections

Guillory, an electrical engineer at Texas Instruments, shares her memories of U-M and how her love of fixing broken video games helped her become a world-renowned gaming collector.

Deltek’s Senior Director Shirin Mangold found her passion and her voice through Michigan Engineering’s Co-op program

The Engineering Cooperative Education Program introduced Mangold (CE 1993) to life as a working engineer and inspired her to pursue a career in software engineering.

ECE alum and entrepreneur Fred Gibbons teaches engineers to make products that people need

From growing up in a small East Coast fishing village to becoming lifelong friends with Steve Jobs, Stanford Professor Fred Gibbons shares his journey as a first-generation college student and what inspired him to teach product management and design.

Q&A with entrepreneur, philanthropist, and alum Dr. B. Jin Chang

After graduating from U-M where he worked with Prof. Emmett Leith, Dr. Chang founded SurgiTel, which provides dental professionals and surgeons with ergonomic vision-aide products.

Dr. Jim and Judith Seydel’s gifts to ECE support students while honoring those who empowered his career

Seydel shares his memories of the early days of holography at U-M and how former ECE Chair Hansford W. Farris, as well as professors Thomas Senior and Emmet Leith, helped shape his career.

Qi Zhang selected as first recipient of David J. Kuck Dissertation Prize

His work is in the area of coordinating systems of autonomous agents that operate in uncertain, dynamic environments.

Raytheon’s Dr. Katherine Herrick is the 2020 ECE Alumni Merit Award winner

Herrick is Senior Fellow and Director of Advanced Enabling Technology at Raytheon Company and serves on the ECE advisory council.

Entrepreneur Dr. Scott Hanson awarded 2020 ECE Alumni Rising Star Award

Hanson is founder and CTO of Ambiq Micro, a startup semiconductor company that works to advance ultra-low power electronics for next generation Internet of Things.

Navin Shenoy, Intel’s Executive Vice President, awarded ECE’s highest Alumni Award Honor

Shenoy, who also serves as General Manager of the Data Platforms Group at Intel Corporation, is the recipient of the 2020 ECE Alumni Impact Award in recognition of his distinguished career.

Prof. Tara Javidi awarded ECE’s Distinguished Educator Award for her excellence in information and system theory education

Javidi is a professor of ECE at the University of California, San Diego, where she specializes in Communication & Information Processing Systems and Networks, and works to empower engineering students of all backgrounds.

Jian-Ming Jin awarded ECE’s Distinguished Educator Award for his excellence in electromagnetics education

Jin, a chair professor of ECE at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, describes his time at Michigan, and his career as an educator.

Alumni profile: A conversation with Robert Scott

A Michigan engineer and a corporate leader, Robert Scott is a team builder, a mentor to many, and champion for diversity, equity, and inclusion.

Lawser family scholarship supports EECS wolverines

John and Sarah Lawser created the fund to give back to U-M by empowering the next generation of EECS engineers.

Josh Meyer has built the software that your kids and teachers need

From his days as an online poker playing undergrad to his current role as a technology developer, Josh has discovered a passion – and built a platform – for online learning.

Tony Hsu and family establish new fellowship fund to support graduate students

In addition to the new fellowship, the Hsu family is supporting the department through the ECE fund.

Alumnus Yi-Jun Chang Wins PODC Dissertation Award

His work is in complexity theory of distributed computing.

Gift from Daniel E. Offutt III Charitable Trust endows CSE chair and funds targeted activities

The gift will be extremely valuable as CSE continues to progress as a computer science powerhouse.

The Renaissance of the American City

Improving the lives of others has remained a consistent, fundamental value across the entirety of Dr. Wardell’s career.

Gift from EECS alumnus David J. Kuck establishes CSE Dissertation Prize

Kuck’s impacts in the area of parallel computing are an inspiration to all of us, and this award will carry real significance for its recipients.

Advancing the future of circuit design with Intel’s Dr. Eric Karl

Karl (BSE MSE PhD EE) talks about how his time at Michigan helped prepare him for his dream job at Intel and a career advancing embedded memory technology and circuits.

Data security for a safer world

ECE alum Kurt Rohloff helped create one of the world’s best homomorphic encryption software libraries, and he reflects on how his time at Michigan helped shape his career.

Alum Adrienne Stiff-Roberts honored with the Willie Hobbs Moore Distinguished Lectureship

The Duke University Professor delivered a virtual talk on enabling hybrid thin films for optoelectronics and shared her memories of Michigan.

Katie Bouman wows U-M community with insider's look at the black hole imaging project

Speaking to a full house in Rackham, Dr. Katie Bouman – Michigan ECE alum – explained the history and science of the project that gave us the first ever photo of a black hole.

Alumnus Peter Wurman inducted into National Inventors Hall of Fame

Wurman and his cofounders were recognized for their invention of the Kiva system, a revolutionary warehouse order fulfillment system that uses mobile robots and control software to bring inventory shelves to workers.

Designing the future of the human-tech interface

Rick Bergman, EVP of Computing and Graphics at Advanced Micro Devices, came to campus to accept the 2019 ECE Alumni Impact Award and spoke about his career and the future of computing and human interface.

Xbox Kinect architect, Dawson Yee, wins 2019 College of Engineering Alumni Merit Award for ECE

Yee gave advice to students on how to best prepare for a career helping produce the next generation of high-tech electronics.

Georgia Tech Dean of College of Engineering, Steve McLaughlin, wins 2019 ECE Distinguished Educator Award

McLaughlin spoke about how academic institutions can take better care of their students’ mental health while providing a fuller academic experience, as well as his love for U-M.

Hailing the future of autonomous taxis

Ford acquires Quantum Signal AI, founded by ECE alum Mitchell Rohde, to make robotaxis and driverless delivery vehicles a reality within two years.

Engineering education trailblazer and industry innovator honored for by Michigan Engineering

For his work championing ECE from the classroom to the boardroom, Nicolaos Alexopoulos has received Michigan Engineering’s 2019 Alumni Award, the highest accolade given by the Michigan Engineering Alumni Board.

Bridge-builder for academia and industry wins distinguished alumni service award

For her outstanding dedication to electrical and computer engineering education at the University of Michigan, Karen Fireman is honored with the Distinguished Alumni Service Award.

Beyond Apollo 11: U-M ECE’s role in advancing space exploration

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.

KLA opens new R&D office in Ann Arbor

The global capital equipment company is looking to harness the engineering talent at U-M and power a brighter future with tech.

Advancing microelectronics and systems for the security of the future

As an ECE Distinguished Lecturer, Dr. Jeremy Muldavin (BSE EP; MSE PhD EE) spoke about a DoD initiative to improve the competitiveness of the U.S. in microelectronics.

Tony Hsu explores the legacy of his grandfather, iconic Chinese poet Xu Zhimo

Tony Hsu (BSE EE ’68) looks back on how a single moment as a freshman at U-M inspired him to pursue a lifelong quest to understand the life and legacy of his famous grandfather.

Dr. Hadavi sets up new endowment to help ECE wolverines change the world

Dr. Cyrus Hadavi (PhD CE ’83) shares his hopes for the future of the ECE program, his knowledge as CEO of a long-lasting company, and his memories of good ole Ann Arbor days.

CSE alum Qi Alfred Chen selected for ProQuest Dissertation Award

Chen’s dissertation research was dedicated to developing proactive defense approaches to the new security challenges of a hyper-connected world.

Black Engineers convention comes to Detroit and ECE is there to welcome the record-breaking 14,000 attendees

At this year’s convention for the National Society of Black Engineers, U-M professors, students, and alums came together with the other attendees to share experiences, offer career advice, and explore how to improve society.

U-M startup raises $6 million in venture funding

Movellus is a U-M startup founded by alumni Dr. Mo Faisal (now CEO) and Dr. Jeff Fredenburg (now VP of Engineering).

U-M alum is key player in first-ever image of a black hole

EECS-ECE alum Dr. Katie Bouman has helped expand our knowledge of the universe in a big way by shining light on one of the darkest mysteries in the cosmos.

Biopsy alternative: “Wearable” device captures cancer cells from blood

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

Robert J. Trew (1944-2019): In Memoriam

Bob Trew led a distinguished life as a professor, administrator, and public servant.

Zachary Lemnios: Helping to shape the new Frontier in Electrical Engineering and Computer Science

The Honorable Zachary Lemnios, recipient of the 2018 ECE Alumni Impact Award, believes we are entering the Golden Age of Engineering.

Art Meets Science: Tom Conrad’s Journey from Apple to Pandora to Snapchat

Conrad discussed his lifelong career in software and how he was drawn to the field for its creativity as much as its technical side.

Rick Bolander: Entrepreneurship is a team sport

Rick Bolander (BSE MSE EE ’83 ’85; MBA ’94, Harvard) has devoted his career to fulfilling the entrepreneurial dreams of others as much as his own.

A new company, Omniscent, is sniffing out dangerous levels of toxic chemicals in the air

Subscription service offers real-time monitoring

Alum Rhonda Franklin honored for her accomplishments with the Willie Hobbs Moore Award

From blowing up microwaves to inspiring a new generation of microwave engineers, Professor Franklin shares her research, insights, and thoughts on the future of women in engineering.

Computing visionary Sam Fuller honored by Michigan Engineering

The highest accolade from the Michigan Engineering Alumni Board goes to a thought leader with a track record of predicting the industry’s future.

Dowson Tong, VP of Tencent, talks to students

VP of the world’s largest gaming and social company, Tong spoke to students about AI, pursuing a global maximum in your career, and what it’s like to work in China when you don’t speak Mandarin.

ECE Family Fun Night draws over 500 attendees

Attendees explored engineering teams, labs, and projects with demonstrations and games.

Two-wheeled teacher

7,500 miles of riding, wrenching and coding.

Rick Flores leads a partnership of automakers into the autonomous future

Flores leads the development of frameworks for autonomous driving, connectivity, and electronic controls.

Piston Group Leader Amit Singhi’s Four-Point Play to Life

With an engineering background, Singhi has excelled in business.

The next medical markets of Collin Rich

An expert health sciences entrepreneur, Rich is ready to repeat success with revolutionary technology.

Nino A. Masnari (1935 – 2018): In memoriam

Nino Masnari, alumnus, friend, and former faculty member of Electrical and Computer Engineering, passed away May 19, 2018 at the age of 82.

Xiang Yin receives honorable mention for ProQuest Distinguished Dissertation Award

Yin researched cyber-physical systems and discrete-event systems.

Yongjoo Park is runner-up for Jim Gray dissertation award

The annual SIGMOD Jim Gray Doctoral Dissertation Award recognizes excellent research by doctoral candidates in the database field.

Zuckerberg Capitol Hill testimony: Engineering experts offer comments

U-M profs weigh new business model, European-style regulation

CSE alum startup SambaNova collects $56m in funding for AI chip research

SambaNova’s approach, stemming from work by Olukotun and co-founder Christopher Ré at Stanford University, seeks to create a new platform from scratch that is optimized specifically for AI operations.

CSE alum earns IEEE award for pioneering work in CPU design

Olukotun is often called “the father of multi-core processors” for his early contributions to this now commonplace technology.

Alumnus Garlin Gilchrist II serves as inaugural director of U-M Center for Social Media Responsibility

To address the growing concern of fake news, U-M has formed the School of Information Center for Social Media Responsibility, and hired EECS alumnus Garlin Gilchrist II.

Inaugural ECE Willie Hobbs Moore Alumni Lecture: Dr. Isaac R. Porche III

Porche discussed the changing definition of war and how information is playing a greater role than ever.

Charles and Patricia Krumm endow the George I. Haddad Graduate Fellowship Fund

Chuck and Pat Krumm look forward to the Fellowship Fund enhancing the ability of future engineers to contribute positively to society.

Alumnus Rob Rutenbar receives Phil Kaufman Award for distinguished contributions to electronic system design

Dr. Rutenbar (MSE, PhD CICE 1979, 1984), senior vice chancellor for Research at the University of Pittsburgh, was honored in a February 8th ceremony at the Glasshouse in San Jose, CA.

The art of cyber war with Isaac Porche

Porche shares the global state of cyber warfare, and how his time at Michigan led him to the front lines.

Jordi Ribas: From video compression to leading AI products at Microsoft

His PhD from Michigan ECE allowed him to lead one of the largest tech companies’ AI Products initiative.

Thomas B. A. Senior (1928 – 2017): In Memoriam

Thomas B. A. Senior, professor emeritus of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science, passed away peacefully November 24, 2017, at the age of 89.

U-M, Cavium partner on Big Data research computing platform

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

Claude Shannon: information icon

Early theoretical solutions led to practical applications that continue to power our digital world, while his inventions spanned the spectrum from playful to paramount.

Computing and data wide across the curriculum

Rob Rutenbar points out that people need a systematic middle way to take CS “wide” into diverse disciplines.

Rick Bergman, CEO of Synaptics – giving tech a sense of touch

ECE alum Rick Bergman, CEO of Synaptics, is working to make tomorrow’s technology user friendly, safe, and reliable. The company hopes to lead what they call “the human interface revolution.”

Peter and Evelyn Fuss endow ECE chair

Believing in the power of creativity and quick action, the Fusses wanted to give the department maximum flexibility to respond to new initiatives and special needs wherever and whenever they arose. They are especially interested in expanding student diversity.

Peter S. Fuss: From Michigan to Leading a Global Network Technology Company

Fuss’ solid foundation and curious nature led him to make lasting contributions first at Bell Labs, and then as a founder and president of Tellabs, International.

Elmer Gilbert: A Life in Control

Elmer Gilbert reflects on his illustrious career in Control

CS alumnae Tara Safavi chosen for Google Women Techmakers scholarship

Tara graduated in April 2017 with Highest Distinction and High Honors in computer science, and will return this fall to pursue a PhD in CSE under the advisement of Prof. Danai Koutra.

ECE alum Kukjin Chun earns South Korea’s highest scientific honor

Alumnus Kukjin Chun receives the highest national honor for a Korean scientist and engineer.

The ‘Power’ of a lunchbox

Vasanthakumar came back to Chennai in 2016 with a goal to reinvent traditional and widely used personal products, starting with one of the most versatile products –— the lunchbox.

Eric Vander Weele: Building Bloomberg LP

Since graduating from U-M, Eric N. Vander Weele has helped grow Bloomberg’s technology division and increased efficiency and production for employees and clients.

Won Pyo Hong, President of Samsung SDS, Presented with Inaugural ECE Alumni Impact Award

This honor, established in 2017, recognizes Dr. Hong for his pioneering work in the personal electronics industry, playing a key role in shaping our world.

Making learning addictive

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

Shawn Cooper: Changing the game

Shawn Cooper is using computer science to change the way we coach.

ECE Alum Kevin Johnson receives IEEE-USA Award

This award is given to those for Distinguished Public Service that is expected to help tech employees

Alum Mariesa Crow is looking to the future of power

Crow works on microgrids to upgrade infrastructure

A Q&A with alum Angela Blanton: VP and CFO at Carnegie Mellon University

From electrical engineering to University CRO

Azadeh Ansari receives ProQuest Distinguished Dissertation Award for research in GaN-based electro-acoustic devices

Award recognizes exceptional dissertations

CSE alumnus Jim Boerkoel awarded NSF CAREER Grant for research into autonomous systems

Boerkoel’s research will improve robustness and reliability in applications such as autonomous driving, automated warehousing, and personal robots.

Alum Michelle Stock elected SPIE Fellow for development of the photonics industry

SPIE chose Stock for her achievements in business development and science policy

Queen of the hurricanes: An engineer and feminist for the ages

Elsie MacGill, the world’s first female aircraft designer, drew strength from the women who came before her.

For Black History Month, CSE Spotlights Faculty and Alumni in Academia

In this article, we profile three CSE faculty and three of our alumni.

A Q&A with Rhonda Franklin – connecting diverse students

Franklin believes the best research results are achieved from a diversity of backgrounds, something she learned as a graduate student at Michigan and fosters in her own research group at Minnesota.

Sensors from head to toe – Todd Coleman makes measuring health simpler

Prof. Todd Coleman’s group is tackling the challenging problem of getting high-fidelity monitoring to work affordably at home.

Mount and Wu Scholarship Rewards Extracurriculars

This new fund will provide need-based support for in-state, undergraduate students with a preference for those engaged in College of Engineering extracurricular activities.

Nader Behdad Receives the Inaugural ECE Rising Star Alumni Award for his Transformative Research in Antennas

Behdad has tackled some of the toughest problems in antenna research. But for his applications, they need to be very small – small enough to be used to treat cancer.

Alum startup wins $25,000 at Accelerate Michigan Competition

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

Alumnus Tim Howes chosen for Arbor Networks PhD Research Impact Lecture and Award

Dr. Howes’ doctoral research focused on Internet directory services, and he co-invented LDAP, the Internet directory protocol, while a graduate student at U-M.

Nancy Benovich Gilby chosen as Woman of the Year by Michigan Council of Women in Technology

Benovich Gilby, an entrepreneur with 10 successful high-tech startups to her credit, was nominated by students and local entrepreneurs whom she has coached, mentored, advised and taught.

MI business is his business

Alumnus David Tarver founded the Urban Entrepreneurship Initiative (UEI) Inc., in 2014. UEI helps aspiring entrepreneurs tackle urban problems with innovative, sustainable and profitable business solutions.

Having fun with ECE

The event highlighted the projects and work of several student teams and labs, giving kids and adults alike a chance to see ECE’s ingenuity in action.

D’Souza scholarship supports CSE undergrads

The scholarship will provide need-based support to undergraduate students pursuing a degree in Computer Science and Engineering.

‘The most interesting tech IPO of the year’ was founded by alums

A Q&A with the Michigan Engineering alumni who founded Twilio, a “unicorn” in the tech industry.

New undergraduate program in data science grows rapidly, graduates first student

The first engineering student to graduate with a degree in data science was Ryan Schrader.

CSE alumna Adriane Chapman recognized with Test of Time Award from ACM SIGMOD

The SIGMOD Test of Time Award recognizes the best paper from the SIGMOD proceedings 10 years prior.

Rick and Mara Wallace establish ECE scholarship fund

This gift qualifies for the University’s Michigan Matching Initiative for Student Support, and proceeds will provide need-based scholarship support to electrical and computer engineering undergraduate students.

CSE alumnus Hsin-Hao Su selected for Principles of Distributed Computing Dissertation Award

Hsin-Hao’s thesis provides efficient algorithms for fundamental graph problems that arise in networks.

New Wurman computer science fund

Peter (MSE ’88, MS ’96, PhD ’99) and Nancy Wurman of Acton, Massachusetts, recently endowed the Wurman Family Computer Science Fellowship Student Fund.

CSE Alumna Arzucan Ozgur receives Science Academy Young Scientist Award

Her research interests include text mining, natural language processing, and bioinformatics.

Willie Hobbs Moore (1934–1994): A First in EE and Physics

The first Black woman at Michigan to earn a BS and MS in Electrical Engineering ('58 and '61), and first in the country to earn a PhD in Physics (1972)

Bill Joy

A native Michigander, Joy co-founded Sun Microsystems and designed UNIX and Java.

Power to the Pixel: Photoshop is Born

How Thomas Knoll, a procrastinating Michigan graduate student, and his brother changed our view of the world.

G is for Google

Larry Page changed the web forever in 1998, now he wants to change the world.

Engineering a better life for people with diabetes

Hygieia automates and streamlines diabetes treatment, a disease affecting over 29 million Americans.

Machine learning proves useful for analyzing NBA ball screen defense

The team used machine learning to extract information from NBA sports data for automatically recognizing common defense strategies to ball screens.

Claude Shannon centennial celebrants recall U-M grad’s advances, societal impact

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

Cutting the cost of hearing

MEMStim’s technology is already two phases into pre-clinical testing in preparation for FDA examination. Very few MEMS devices have made it this far.

Steven Battel elected to National Academy of Engineering

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.

Dr. Mehdi Hatamian elected to National Academy of Engineering

Dr. Hatamian is Fellow and Chief Scientist – Central Engineering at Broadcom Ltd. He joined the company in 1996.

Gift launches M. Alten Gilleo distinguished lecture series in optical sciences and optoelectronics

Robert J. Armantrout Establishes ECE Graduate Education Fund

The fund will provide merit-based support to graduate students studying Electrical and Computer Engineering.

Lees Make Gift to Empower CSE Student Activities

Dr. Peter Lee (BS MS PhD CCS ’82, ’82, ’87) and Susan Lee have made a $25,000 discretionary gift

Nadkarni gift invests in student entrepreneurs

Its purpose is to support student teams in junior/senior-level project-oriented courses in CSE in which students develop software and hardware prototypes, many of which have commercial potential.

Alumnus Nam Sung Kim Elected IEEE Fellow for Contributions to Circuits and Architectures for Power-Efficient Microprocessors

Kim (PhD CSE ‘04) is an associate professor at the University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign.

ECE students and alumni celebrate research and progress at the 2015 Engineering Graduate Symposium

Posters and presentations were judged by faculty and a visiting group of 14 returning ECE alumni, and winners were chosen in each area of study.

First-ever ECE Career Fair builds student careers and alumni connections

Local companies set up stands in the EECS Atrium to recruit from over 200 graduate and undergraduate students.

San Diego alumni connect and celebrate at ECE event

There were 40 alumni in attendance, with graduation years ranging from 1965 to 2014.

Ashraf Dahod: 2015 CoE Alumni Medal Award Winner

Dahod has combined an understanding of technology with a knack for recognizing market opportunities and built a string of successful technology companies.

Jimmy Hsiao – A local player in a global market

Jimmy founded Logic Solutions, Inc., a consulting company offering website development, web and mobile applications, and other tech solutions to companies around the world.

Garlin Gilchrist II: Innovation for the People

Garlin Gilchrist II set out on a lifelong mission to bring engineering solutions to communities in need.

Claude Gauthier and OmniPhy: Connecting to the ethernet revolution

Dr. Gauthier is co-founder and CTO of the semiconductor interface intellectual property (IP) company, OmniPhy.

Nader Najafi: A dream that saves lives

Dr. Nader Najafi is now leading the development of some of the most advanced micro-scale medical technology in the world.

Oz Pearlman: An engineer’s magic moment

Oz Pearlman is a professional magician and mentalist. His performances have made him one of the most well-known in this field.

Engineering friendship

Alum startup Jetivity aims to bring people together around shared interests with a free platform for posting activities.

ECE alumni networking event at Transducers Conference

About 65 alumni, students, faculty, friends and family gathered for dinner and an opportunity to catch up with the department.

Chicago alumni connect at networking reception

The ACC is one of the world's premier scientific and engineering conferences dedicated to the advancement of control theory and practice.

Ernest S. Kuh (1928 – 2015): pioneer in electronic circuit theory and EDA

As a devoted Michigan alumnus, he established the Ernest and Bettine Kuh Distinguished Faculty Scholar Award in Electrical and Computer Engineering at the University of Michigan.

Four EECS companies make Crain’s list of most innovative companies, and one tops the list

This annual ranking of innovative companies in SE Michigan is based on the quality of patents received during the past year.

ECE alum Ruba Borno to join Cisco’s new executive team

The young executive has an extensive history in both the business and tech worlds.

ECE alumni connections at IMS2015

Along with alumni, there were current and former faculty members, current students, friends, and colleagues, including several program managers, in attendance.

The Mad Scientist’s Lab: A look inside Mitch Rohde and Quantum Signal’s school-sized playhouse

Don’t let the retro arcade games and oscilloscopes fool you – Mitch’s company is as modern as they come.

The gift of an education: Paul and Ruth Bauhahn fund the next generation of life-changing technology

Paul E. and Ruth E. Bauhahn of have made a planned gift of $450,000 to establish the Ruth E. and Paul E. Bauhahn Fellowship Fund to support full-time graduate students in Electrical and Computer Engineering.

Silicon valley entrepreneurs help bring WIMS2 technology to the world

Shahin and Sassan discussed everything from the acquisition trends of small vs. large companies to the importance of building a team with a range of expertise.

Health and Fitness Company Founded by CS Alum Gets Acquired by Practo

Entrepreneur Dhruv Gupta bui;d his web and mobile based weight management program that provides customized diet plans and exercises in 2011.

Eric M. Aupperle (1935 – 2015): An internet pioneer leaves a remarkable legacy

Mr. Aupperle was a true Michigan man, devoting his career to the University and to the state of Michigan in his role as director and later president of Merit Network.

Shift Collaborative: Providing Creative Space and Community for Tech Students with Business on the Brain

Funded by an alum, there's a place on campus for those who live to hack.

Advancing computation: 4th U-M alum wins Turing Award

The Turing Award has honors the computer scientists and engineers who create the systems and underlying theoretical foundations that propel the information technology industry.

Advancing Computation: 4th U-M Alum Wins Turing Award

The Turing Award honors the computer scientists and engineers who created the systems and underlying theoretical foundations that have propelled the information technology industry.

Yi-Chin Wu receives ProQuest Distinguished Dissertation Award for research in network security

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.

Two ECE alums make top semiconductor CEOs list

Two ECE alumni were recognized in an ‘Electronics Weekly’ list of 2014’s top semiconductor CEOs.

Irma Wyman: Computer pioneer and advocate for women in engineering

Her experiences led her to establish the Irma M. Wyman Scholarship at the University’s Center for the Education of Women.

End of the Road for the Von Neumann Architecture? Not Yet.

So went the vote held in the debating chamber of the University of Cambridge Union.

Mourning the loss of an innovator

J. Robert Beyster, a namesake of the Bob and Betty Beyster Building and funder of Michigan Engineering’s largest fellowship program, has died. He was 90 years old.

Nick Yang: Investing in the age of robotics

At the age of 24, Yang sold his company ChinaRen for $35 million.

ECE students and alumni celebrate research and progress at the 2014 Engineering Graduate Symposium

ECE researchers had a strong presence at this year’s event, comprising nearly 80 of the day’s more than 240 presentations.

EECS alums are flying high with drone startup Skyspecs

SkySpecs is currently in the process of launching their first product, the Guardian, which will help prevent collisions.

Smita Krishnaswamy's Research Paper Published in Science Magazine

The paper focuses on computational methods to analyze single cell data in order to obtain a better understanding of how cells process signals.

Stephen Plaza's research paper published in Nature Scientific Journal

Plaza’s paper provides key insights into neuronal computations.

Scott Hanson receives 2014 Arbor Networks Ph.D. Research Impact Award

Dr. Hanson is the co-founder of a startup semiconductor company that plans to lead the low-power revolution in electronics by powering the Internet of Things.

UM Computer Science Alumni Create Cribspot.com

The startup helps college students find suitable places to live, while also helping landlords manage their properties.

Steve Mollenkopf: Leader of Qualcomm and Mobile Technologies

Mollenkopf was elected as the third CEO of Qualcomm, Inc., which has become the largest fabless semiconductor producer in the world.

Peter Tchoryk: An entrepreneurial CEO

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

Alumni explore lots of EECS-related engineering with their kids

Three hundred and eighty alumni and children stretched across North Campus, dabbling in drones and bones, rockets and radioactives.

Kathryn Clay: A policy leader in the natural gas revolution

Kathryn believes the country would benefit greatly if more scientific and technically trained people went into journalism or science policy.

Alumni Spotlight: Steve Mollenkopf, New CEO of Qualcomm

PsiKick startup attracts financing for its Internet of Things technology

The chips’ extreme energy efficiency enables them to be powered without a battery from harvested energy sources like vibration, thermal gradients, and more.

Dawson Yee: Kinect-ing Xbox to the World

Dawson is thrilled that his work on Kinect has bred creativity and enhanced lives beyond video games.

CSE Alum Dongyoon Lee Selected for ProQuest Dissertation Award

Babak Parviz: The visionary behind the glass

The inventor of Google Glass is now developing glucose monitoring contact lenses.

Alumni Spotlight: Allan Evans and Avegant: Creating a brilliant multimedia experience from anywhere with Glyph

Glyph is a wearable mobile personal theater and is the first head-mounted display coming to market that will have a virtual retinal display.

Héctor J. García Selected for Bouchet Graduate Honor Society

Nancy Benovich: Entrepreneur x 10

Nancy visits campus regularly as a speaker and is currently the mentor for a Michigan I-Corps innovation team.

Andrew Farah: the spark behind the Volt

Andrew Farah (BSE CE 1982; MSE Electrical Science 1984) was one of the chief architects behind the groundbreaking Chevy Volt.

Larry D. Leinweber gives $2.4 million to fund students in computer science

Steve Mollenkopf: What it takes to lead in technology

Steve Mollenkopf is the President and COO of Qualcomm and talked about the company’s current projects.

Michigan @ ISSCC 2013: Alumni and Friends Mixer

“Many of these people have known each other for years; it’s a great time to catch up.”

Alumni have fun exploring engineering with their kids

Hosted by the different engineering departments, the day-long event offered nine different workshops.

George Haley

George Haley describes himself as a simple man and in his own words he’s used to the finer things in life. “Theresa, food, wine, work – you name it, I’ve been lucky. You can put Michigan Engineering on that list; I wouldn’t be here without it.”

Howard and Beverly Sachar: Alum who has made a difference

You walk into a room and find a band (ragtime piano, guitar, violin, clarinet), an inventor, entrepreneur, executive, photographer, wine aficionado, husband, father and grandfather. How many people are in the room, other than you? Answer: one… Howard Sachar

Hasso Niemann (1933-2013): From Michigan to probing deep space

“He touched so many people scientifically and personally.”

Azarias Reda: Founder of Meritful.com

Azarias Reda spent his childhood shooting off rockets made of bamboo and firecrackers. Now he’s launching a new online social networking platform for high school students.

CSE Alum co-founds goal-tracking company Beeminder

ECE alum Kevin Xu wins Social Computing Challenge Competition

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

Founded by CS Alums, DeepField Grows in Ann Arbor

CSE Alum and Entrepreneur Azarias Reda Delivers Best Pitch at SXSW

Duo security introduces hardware-level security, grows more than 400%

Kyla McMullen, first African American woman to graduate from Michigan with a CSE PhD

W. David Tarver: Building a Successful International Company was his Proving Ground

David Tarver (BSE MSE EE '75 '76) is a successful industrial turned social entrepreneur

Richard P. Wallace – Reaching new heights

Whether it’s biking to the crest of Haleakala on Maui, or leading KLA-Tencor to the top of NASDAQ, Rick Wallace is familiar with making it to the summit.

Duo of CSE Alums Form and Grow Security Company in Ann Arbor

Serial entrepreneur Dug Song (CS BS 1997) and recent alum Jon Oberheide (CSE PhD 2011) founded security firm Duo Security in early 2010 and have rapidly grown their company to serve over 500 customers in 40+ countries around the world.

CSE alums launch Ann Arbor-based cloud data company

Ernest and Bettine Kuh honor ECE with the Ernest and Bettine Kuh Distinguished Faculty Scholar Award

This award is bestowed on a young ECE faculty member on the basis of teaching, research, and service, as well as a record of innovation and leadership.

Wireless Integrated MicroSensing and Systems (WIMS2) in California

The technical topics ranged from wireless and low power circuits, to MEMS, to microfabricated gas chromatographs.

Computer Science Alum Stephanie Forrest Selected for ACM Newell Award

Charles K. (Ned) Birdsall (BSE EE and Math, MSE EE, ’46 ’48): 1925-2012

Birdsall was a pioneer in microwave tubes and plasma physics, an avid runner, and a beloved member of the EC Berkley community.

Michael McCorquodale named 2012 UBM Electronics ACE Innovator of the Year

“Without McCorquodale’s vision, unwavering persistence, and leadership in the face of decades of thinking to the contrary, CMOS oscillators would not exist today.”

Alumni Spotlight: Syed B. Ali (MSE EE 81)

“I wanted to give back. If it wasn’t for Michigan I wouldn’t be where I am today.”

CSE Alum Jon Oberheide Named One of Forbes' 30 Under 30 in Technology

ePack, Inc. wins Masco Next Gen Manufacturing Award at Innovation Competition

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

Meera Sampath: Creative Problem Solving and Global Reach

U-M Alumni and Friends Mixer at ISSCC 2011

CSE alum Sushant Sinha named one of 18 "Young Innovators Under 35" in India

David Papa receives EDAA Outstanding Dissertation Award

Curtis Ling: Making Things Happen

“Failure is an essential part of success. Be afraid of not learning enough, or not working with the best people. Don’t be afraid of failure, which is frequently success in disguise.”

Eric Dattoli named National Academies Research Associate

The aim of Dattoli’s research is to improve and broaden the understanding of nanowire gas sensing behavior.

Lee Boysel: the early history of microprocessing

Microprocessing changed the computing world, and Michigan alumnus Lee Boysel played a pivotal role.

Tony Fadell, Mastermind Behind the Apple iPod, Offers Advice for Students

Mehdi Hatamian: From Michigan to Microelectronics Leader

ECE alum Dr. Mehdi Hatamian is an industry leader and entrepreneur who helps bring products to market.

Claude E. Shannon Statue Dedication at the University of Michigan

University of Michigan dedicates statue of Claude E. Shannon, alumnus and father of information theory.