IT Excellence at Illinois: News

blog posts

Models predict optimal airplane seating for reduced viral transmission

Jan 5, 2022 10:00 am0 views

CHAMPAIGN, Ill. — As airline ticket sales have soared during the holiday season and the omicron variant causes surges of COVID-19 cases, a new University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign study may help passengers and airlines reduce risk of COVID-19 transmission by optimally seating passengers to minimize potential virus spread.
Making AI Robust and Bringing It to the Edge

Jan 6, 2021 12:00 pm0 views

Enhancing so-called edge devices, such as cell phones, smart watches, and other IoT devices, with artificial intelligence (AI) capabilities is a major goal for researchers in both industry and academia. These devices generate huge volumes of sensory data from their built-in sensors in the form of cameras, microphones, gyroscopes, and other technology. Processing all this data is challenging due to the limited computational resources and constrained energy supply of edge devices. A team led by Illinois ECE Professor Naresh R Shanbhag, Jack S. Kilby Professor of Electrical and Computer Engineering, is working to improve the energy efficiency and functionality of these devices.
John Rogers talks about biosensors

Jan 7, 2011 8:00 am0 views

Professor John Rogers discusses his research in the field of biosensors. Rogers illustrates his work in creating ultra-thin and flexible biological monitoring devices
The informational history of international diplomacy

Jan 7, 2011 8:00 am0 views

In the wake of the recent WikiLeaks revelation, Professor Alistair Black explores the information and communication history of international diplomacy
Copiers: A Playful Look at How They Work

Jan 7, 2011 8:00 am0 views

Professor Bill Hammack uses power tools to take apart a photocopier. He shows how it works...
New sleep state classification method combines deep learning with WFCI

Jan 7, 2022 1:00 pm0 views

Innovation can come from curiosity. Other times, it comes from necessity. This time, new sleep study research from the Computational Imaging Science Laboratory, led by bioengineering department head and HCESC researcher Mark A. Anastasio, came from a mix of both. A paper on that research, in collaboration with Washington University in St. Louis, was recently published in the Journal of Neuroscience Methods.
iBioFAB: Reimagining our Approach to Synthetic Biology

Jan 8, 2020 10:30 am0 views

Across the University of Illinois campus — and at countless other research universities and institutes — biologists toil away at their lab benches, working on tedious tasks such as DNA assembly and microbe engineering.
New aircraft-scheduling models may ease air travel frustrations

Jan 9, 2019 8:00 am0 views

Flight schedules that allow for a little carefully designed wiggle room could prevent the frustration of cascading airport delays and cancellations. By focusing on the early phases of flight schedule planning and delays at various scales, researchers have developed models to help create schedules that are less susceptible to delays and easier to fix once disrupted.
ECE alumnus wins prestigious IEEE Edison Medal

Jan 10, 2022 10:15 am0 views

Illinois ECE alumnus Alan Bovik (BS CompE '80, MSEE '82, PhD '84) was recently honored with the IEEE Edison Medal "for pioneering high-impact scientific and engineering contributions leading to the perceptually optimized global streaming and sharing of visual media.”
Liberzon receives two NSF grants for hybrid systems research

Jan 11, 2013 8:00 am0 views

ECE Professor Daniel M. Liberzon recently won two, 3-year research grants from the National Science Foundation, both related to hybrid systems.
Karahalios Brings Social Computing Expertise To DARPA Group Focused On Techs Future

Jan 11, 2019 8:00 am0 views

Professor Karrie Karahalios has been invited to become part of the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agencys Information Science and Technology Study Group, joining Professor Sarita Adve to give Illinois Computer Science two researchers on the prestigious 30-member panel.
WILL at 100: Looking Back on A Century of Broadcasting

Jan 12, 2022 10:00 am0 views

URBANA – 2022 marks the 100-year anniversary of WILL-AM, the oldest component of Illinois Public Media. The University of Illinois launched the station at a time when the idea of using radio to reach a mass audience was new and cutting edge. There was no FM radio or TV, no internet or social media. The first trans-Atlantic telephone call was five years away.
Browser Boss

Jan 13, 2020 2:15 pm0 views

As a senior engineering director overseeing Google Chrome, Parisa Tabriz—aka the “Security Princess”—helps keep your computer safe against assaults by bedroom hackers, hostile nation states and everything in between.
Illinois ECE Graduate Student Wins Prestigious IEEE Awards

Jan 13, 2021 6:45 pm0 views

Illinois ECE graduate student Megan Culler recently won the 2019 IEEE-USA Jim Watson Student Professional Awareness Achievement Award, recognizing IEEE members who volunteer to share their professional experiences with students and encourage active, lifelong IEEE membership. This award was first established in 2011, but this is the first year that a student has been selected as the recipient.
Graduate Student, Alumna Win At 2018 Midwest Machine Learning Symposium

Jan 14, 2019 8:00 am0 views

A team of researchers, including ECE ILLINOIS graduate student Cesar Augusto Uribe Meneses, recently won one of three Best Poster Awards at the 2018 Midwest Machine Learning Symposium in Chicago.
Investigating Medical Imaging Hallucinations

Jan 14, 2022 11:00 am0 views

Researchers at the Beckman Institute developed a framework for understanding errors that can arise due to algorithmic bias in computed imaging systems, like MRI or CT, and may contribute to patient misdiagnosis. Their work provides insight into the factors that cause these so-called hallucinations.
These bots were made for walking: Cells power biological machines

Jan 15, 2013 8:00 am0 views

Designing non-electronic biological machines has been a riddle that scientists at the interface of biology and engineering have struggled to solve. The walking bio-bots demonstrate the Illinois teams ability to forward-engineer functional machines using only hydrogel, heart cells and a 3-D printer. With an altered design, the bio-bots could be customized for specific applications in medicine, energy or the environment. The research team, led by Rashid Bashir, published its results in the journal Scientific Reports.
The Power of Big Data

Jan 15, 2014 8:00 am0 views

As one of the most powerful supercomputers in the world, Blue Waters became fully operational last spring. Although Blue Waters is the fastest supercomputer on a university campus, it is just one piece of the computing puzzle. As a world leader in computing and information technology, Illinois traces its computational roots back to the original vacuum-tube Illiac, generations of mainframe supercomputers, as well as world-changing innovations such as PLATO and Mosaic.
You Can Run, But Can You Hide?

Jan 16, 2019 8:00 am0 views

Fitness enthusiasts have embraced mobile apps to track their workouts. Using GPS on a mobile phone, it is easier than ever to not only determine how far a run is, but also to log the exact route. Sharing workouts has also become popular, thanks to sites like Strava and Garmin Connect. It gives runners accountability and a sense of community, and the sites often include leaderboards. Like most social media outlets, its users have the option of who gets to see that information.
Illinois Professor Lane Martin Earns Presidential Early Career Award

Jan 17, 2014 8:00 am0 views

University of Illinois professor Lane Martin is among the 102 researchers to receive the 2013 Presidential Early Career Award for Scientists and Engineers (PECASE), the highest honor the U.S. government confers upon young investigators establishing their independent research careers.
PhD Student Willis Receives NIH Funding for Expansion Models Research

Jan 17, 2018 8:00 am0 views

Doctoral student Craig Willis has received funding from the National Institutes of Health (NIH) to work with the biomedical and healthCAre Data Discovery Index Ecosystem (bioCADDIE)/DataMED team on a pilot project.
Chemical Etching Method Helps Transistors Stand Tall

Jan 18, 2017 8:00 am0 views

University of Illinois researchers have developed a way to etch very tall, narrow finFETs, a type of transistor that forms a tall semiconductor "fin" for the current to travel over. The etching technique addresses many problems in trying to create 3-D devices, typically done now by stacking layers or carving out structures from a thicker semiconductor wafer.
Stevenson to Present App Authors Project at Children's Literature Symposium

Jan 18, 2019 8:00 am0 views

Deborah Stevenson, director of The Center for Children's Books at the iSchool, will present the App Authors research project at the Border-Crossing in Children's Literature: The Second International Symposium for Children's Literature, which will be held on June 14-15 at Princeton University. The symposium will facilitate an exchange of ideas on new issues in children’s literature research between scholars from the East and West.
Grant to Expand Data Capsule Service of the HathiTrust Digital Library

Jan 19, 2018 8:00 am0 views

The iSchool at Illinois is involved in a partnership that has received a research grant from the Institute of Museum and Library Services for an extension of the Data Capsule service, which enables remote access by the HathiTrust Digital Library to other collections managed by research libraries. The partnership is led by the School of Informatics and Computing at Indiana University.
Contest gives students chance to show how to reduce electronic waste

Jan 20, 2011 8:00 am0 views

Creative and environmentally conscious students will have the opportunity to showcase their ideas...
Fostering Geospatial Discovery and Innovation through a National CyberGIS Facility

Jan 21, 2015 8:00 am0 views

CyberGIS Center for Advanced Digital and Spatial Studies receives a Major Research Instrumentation grant from the National Science Foundation
NCSA Processes Data for the Dark Energy Survey in the Most Accurate Measurement of Dark Matter Structure in the Universe

Jan 22, 2018 8:00 am0 views

New measurements from data processed by the Dark Energy Survey Data Management (DESDM) project at the National Center for Supercomputing Applications (NCSA) at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign verify the theory that 26 percent of the universe is in the form of mysterious dark matter and that space is filled with an also-unseen dark energy, which is causing the accelerating expansion of the universe and makes up 70 percent of the universe’s contents.
Scientists Develop Gentle, Microscopic Hands to Study Tiny, Soft Materials

Jan 22, 2020 12:00 pm0 views

Handling very soft, delicate items without damaging them is hard enough with human hands, let alone doing it at the microscopic scale with laboratory instruments. Three new studies show how scientists have honed a technique for handling tiny, soft particles using precisely controlled fluid flows that act as gentle microscopic hands. The technique allows researchers to test the physical limits of these soft particles and the things made from them – ranging from biological tissues to fabric softeners.
Beckman Team Places in Top Three in Alan Alda Flame Challenge

Jan 23, 2015 8:00 am0 views

A Beckman Institute team, comprised of ECE Associate Professor Scott Carney, as well as Beckman Postdoctoral Fellows Bradley Deutsch and David Mayerich, and Bioengineering Professor Rohit Bhargava (an ECE ILLINOIS affiliate), decided to enter the Flame Challenge, a competition from the Alan Alda Center for Communicating Science at Stony Brook University in New York—and were named one of the top three finalists in the visual category, out of hundreds of applicants.
Novel Nanoparticle-Based Approach Detects and Treats Oral Plaque Without Drugs

Jan 23, 2019 8:00 am0 views

When the good and bad bacteria in our mouth become imbalanced, the bad bacteria form a biofilm (aka plaque), which can cause cavities, and if left untreated over time, can lead to cardiovascular and other inflammatory diseases like diabetes and bacterial pneumonia.
Huang and Hasegawa-Johnson's Team Investigates Health Literacy

Jan 24, 2018 8:00 am0 views

ECE ILLINOIS Professor Mark Hasegawa-Johnson and Swanlund Endowed Chair Emeritus Thomas S Huang are a part of a team of researchers led by Daniel Morrow investigating the connection between health literacy and advanced age. Both Huang and Hasegawa-Johnson are affiliated with the Coordinated Science Lab.
COMPASS Method Points Researchers to Protein Structures

Jan 25, 2016 8:00 am0 views

University of Illinois researchers have developed a new approach, dubbed COMPASS, that points directly to a protein's likely structure using a combination of advanced molecular spectroscopy techniques, predictive protein-folding algorithms and image recognition software. Led by U. of I. chemistry professor Chad Rienstra, the team published its results in the journal Structure.
Harnessing the Power of the Data Revolution

Jan 25, 2017 8:00 am0 views

CS@ILLINOIS alumni have been helping drive the data science revolution. Advances have included Siebel Systems' customer relations management software and C3 Energy's smart energy platforms (Tom Siebel, BA History '75, MBA '83, MS CS '85, Honorary '06), YouTube's enormous online video archive (Steve Chen, attended, and Jawed Karim, BS CS '04), Yelp's authentic user-generated local reviews (Russel Simmons, BS CS '98), PayPal's online payment system (Max Levchin BS '97) and Informatica's enterprise data integration and management applications (Sohaib Abbasi, BS CS '78, MS '80)
New Informatics Tool Makes the Most Of Genomic data

Jan 25, 2019 8:00 am0 views

The rise of genomics, the shift from considering genes singly to collectively, is adding a new dimension to medical care; biomedical researchers hope to use the information contained in human genomes to make better predictions about individual health, including responses to therapeutic drugs. A new computational tool developed through a collaboration between the University of Illinois and Mayo Clinic combines multiple types of genomic information to make stronger predictions about what genomic features are associated with specific drug responses.
Popular Science showcases NCSA's Advanced Visualization Lab

Jan 26, 2011 8:00 am0 views

Featuring AVL's unique combination of science and art...
Software Teaches Computers to Translate Words to Math

Jan 26, 2015 8:00 am0 views

U. of I. computer sciences professor Dan Roth and graduate student Subhro Roy published their work in the journal Transactions of the Association for Computational Linguistics, about software developed at the University of Illinois, which enables machines to learn to understand mathematical reasoning expressed in language which could greatly improve search engines and access to data as well as boost mathematics education.
HathiTrust Research Center receives NEH support for open research tools

Jan 26, 2022 10:45 am0 views

The HathiTrust Research Center (HTRC), cohosted by the iSchool at Illinois and the Luddy School of Informatics at Indiana University, has received a $325,000 Digital Humanities Advancement Grant from the National Endowment for the Humanities. One of 15 awarded nationwide, this grant will support the development of a new set of visualizations, analytical tools, and infrastructure to enable users to interact more directly with the rich data extracted from the HathiTrust Digital Library’s collection of more than 17.5 million digitized volumes.
ECE Receives Zedboard Donation for Research, Education

Jan 27, 2014 8:00 am0 views

Electrical and Computer Engineering students have started to use new design boards coupled with new design automation software in their classrooms and labs, and CSL and ECE Professor Deming Chen is one of the inventors of the algorithmic engine driving this software.
Genomics Among the Biggest of Big Data, Experts Say

Jan 27, 2016 8:00 am0 views

A new assessment from computational biologists and computer scientists at the University of Illinois and Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory found that genomics is poised to be a leader in data acquisition, storage, distribution and analysis. The team’s assessment is published in the journal PLOS Biology."As genome-sequencing technologies improve and costs drop, we are expecting an explosion of genome sequencing that will cause a huge flood of data," said Gene Robinson, a professor of entomology and the director of the Carl R. Woese Institute for Genomic Biology at Illinois.
TOYOTA Research Institute Launches Collaboration With Illinois, Other Academic Institutions

Jan 27, 2021 8:00 pm0 views

The Toyota Research Institute (TRI) announced today that it has selected 13 additional academic institutions to participate in the next five year phase of its collaborative research program. These universities join MIT, Stanford and the University of Michigan which have worked with TRI over the last five years to expand the body of research into artificial intelligence (AI) with the goal of amplifying the human experience.
Multi-Institution Team Advances Semiconducting Graphene

Jan 28, 2015 8:00 am0 views

Researchers from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, the University of Pennsylvania, and the University of California, Berkeley have demonstrated a new way to change the amount of electrons that reside in a given region within a piece of graphene, a proof-of-principle in making the fundamental building blocks of semiconductor devices using the 2D material. The study was a collaboration between the research groups of Andrew Rappe at the University of Pennsylvania, Lane Martin at the University of California, and Moonsub Shim, an associate professor of materials science and engineering and a Willett Faculty Scholar at Illinois. Its results were published in the journal Nature Communications.
Hu earns prestigious NSF CAREER award to merge control theory and machine learning

Jan 28, 2022 11:30 am0 views

For more than 50 years, control theory has guided the creation of sophisticated mathematical tools that underpin modern safety-critical and dynamic systems like commercial aircraft and nuclear power plants. More recently, machine learning algorithms have harnessed the power of massive amounts of data to enable computers to recognize a visual scene, understand written text, or perform an action in the real world.
Computer Simulation Playing Big Role in DOE-Funded Project

Jan 29, 2014 8:00 am0 views

A group led by Brent Heuser is nearing the end of its first year of research to develop improved cladding for nuclear fuel rods. Computer simulation led by Tomasz Kozlowski, an assistant professor in NPRE, is supporting research on the experimental side. Kozlowski is one of a growing number of researchers taking advantage of high-performance computers such as the Illinois Campus Cluster to predict optimal outcomes prior to experiments and in some cases to explain the outcomes afterward.
Illinois Researchers Making Virtual Surgery Simulation a Reality

Jan 29, 2016 8:00 am0 views

Researchers from the University of Illinois led by Professor of Industrial and Enterprise Engineering Kesh Kesavadas is at the forefront of a technology that will make that training virtual. Raven will allow future doctors hands-on training in robotic surgery without the use of a patient.
Researchers Explore the Mystery of Neuron Coding and Its Applications

Jan 29, 2018 8:00 am0 views

How neural impulses are timed--and how they can be replicated artificially--has been mathematically determined by a team of researchers composed of ECE ILLINOIS and CSL Professor and ADSC director Douglas L Jones, ECE ILLINOIS alumnus Erik Johnson (BSEE ’08, MSCompE ’13, PhD CompE ’16), and Rama Ratnam. These CSL affiliates have been developing their research in the Health Care Engineering Systems Center.
Kim Honored as ACM Fellow for Work on Power-Efficient Computing

Jan 29, 2021 11:45 pm0 views

Illinois ECE Professor Nam Sung Kim has been named a Fellow of the Association for Computing Machinery (ACM), the world's largest educational and scientific computing society. He is honored "for contribution to design and modeling of power-efficient computer architectures."
Bailey Wins ACM Best Paper Award for Heartbleed Research

Jan 30, 2015 8:00 am0 views

"The Matter of Heartbleed," a paper co-written by Associate Professor Michael Donald Bailey, won the best paper award at the Association for Computing Machinery's (ACM) Internet Measurement Conference.
Novel Silicon Etching Technique Crafts 3D Gradient Refractive Index Micro-Optics

Jan 30, 2017 8:00 am0 views

Working with colleagues at Stanford and the Dow Chemical Company, UIUC researchers fabricated 3-D birefringent gradient refractive index (GRIN) micro-optics by electrochemically etching preformed Si micro-structures, like square columns, PSi structures with defined refractive index profiles.
Smith's Theory of Pore-Scale Transport to Enable Improved Flow Batteries

Jan 31, 2020 11:15 am0 views

Redox flow batteries are an emerging technology for electrochemical energy storage that could help enhance the use of power produced by renewable energy resources. These power resources are inherently irregular in their supply, which doesn’t typically align with demand on the power grid. In principle, redox flow batteries can be designed to have an energy-storage capacity that is independent of its power rating. However, in practice, the ease with which redox-active molecules are transported to electrode surfaces plays an important role in determining their efficiency, the power that is produced or charged and, in some instances, their length of life.
Iyer Leads Search for New Computer Platform to Speed Genomic Data Interpretation

Feb 1, 2017 8:00 am0 views

The new Center for Computational Biotechnology and Genomic Medicine (CCBGM) seeks to develop a new platform for generating, interpreting, and applying genomic data for a variety of applications.

blog navigation

blog posts