2024

  1. UMich ECE Press Release on Matt's '"Top 15 Poster" at MMLS'

    The University of Michigan ECE department has provided a press release on PhD student Matt Raymond’s award-winning poster Joint Optimization Significantly Improves Gradient Boosting, which received a “top 15” award at the 2024 Midwest Machine Learning Symposium (MMLS), The press release can be found here.

  2. Angela Presents on Building Inclusive Communities for the UMich DEI Lecture Series

    Angela Violi presented a lecture on “Engineering SUCCESS (Supporting Undergraduate Career, Community Engagement, and Soft Skills in DEI) an innovative program designed to empower undergraduate students by connecting them with young alumni for invaluable insights on academic and professional pathways. In addition to academic guidance, the program emphasizes the importance of soft skills such as effective communication, teamwork and leadership, which are essential for professional success.” Her lecture will be available to watch here, and the archived event calendar can be found here.

  3. Matt Raymond Presents JOPLEn at IEEE MLSP

    PhD Candidate Matt Raymond presented his work on Joint Optimization of Piecewise Linear Ensembles (JOPLEn) at the 2024 IEEE International Workshop on Machine Learning for Signal Processing (MLSP) in London, UK. JOPLEn demonstrates the performance improvements and novel regularization approaches possible using Matt’s new approach to learning piecewise linear functions. More details available here.

  4. "Top 15 Poster" at MMLS

    PhD candidate Matt Raymond’s poster Joint Optimization Significantly Improves Gradient Boosting received a “top 15” award at the 2024 Midwest Machine Learning Symposium (MMLS), which includes a $500 prize. This poster contained preliminary results for Joint Optimization of Piecewise Linear Ensembles. Congratulations, Matt!

  5. Angela Violi receives grant for "AI-driven Accelerated Optimization for the Design of Sustainable Aviation Fuels"

    Angela Violi has received a 2024 Propelling Original Data Science (PODS) award to work on sustainable aviation fuels. This project seeks to create new designs for Sustainable Aviation Fuels (SAFs) that can be used in current aircraft engines while reducing environmental impact. By utilizing a machine learning framework, we aim to tailor the SAF formulations that uphold the necessary physical characteristics for compatibility with jet engines. Our method stands out by generating and analyzing an extensive range of potential SAF options, ensuring the best versions are both environmentally friendly and perform well, getting us closer to a future of cleaner skies.

  6. Matt Raymond receives the 2024-2025 Beyster Fellowship

    PhD Candidate Matt Raymond has received the 2024-2025 J. Robert Beyster Computational Innovation Graduate Fellowship for his work on machine learning in nanochemistry, with application for nanomedicine! This fellowship includes full tuition, stipend, and insurance for the 2024-2025 academic year.

  7. Geometric Deep Learning at the 2024 Dusty Plasma Workshop

    PhD Candidate Matt Raymond gives a talk and a poster presentation (not shown) on his work at the 2024 Dusty Plasma Workshop in Minneapolis, MN. Matt described his use of Geometric Deep Learning (GDL) to predict nanoparticle growth in nonthermal plasma. This presentation demonstrated that combining GDL with molecular dynamics simulations can save ~50% of the computational cost of nonthermal plasma simulations, and that GDL models can make accurate predictions for nanostructures that were unseen during training. The abstract can be seen here.

    This work is supported by Army Research Office MURI Grant W911NF-18-1-0240 (PI Prof. Kortshagen)

  8. Matt Raymond inducted into the 2024 ECE Honor Roll

    PhD Candidate Matt Raymond was inducted into the 2024 ECE Honor Roll for his work managing the Signal Processing in EECS (SPEECS) seminar during the 2023-2024 school year.

  9. Machine learning poster at MMLS 2024

    PhD Candidate Matt Raymond presented his work on Joint Optimization of Piecewise Linear Ensembles (JOPLEn) at the 2024 Midwest Machine Learning Symposium in Minneapolis, MN. His poster, titled “Joint Optimization Significantly Improves Gradient Boosting” demonstrates the performance improvements and novel regularization approaches possible using this new approach to learning piecewise linear functions.

    a) shows the training data for some function, b) shows the true function, c) shows a competing approach, and d) shows the function learned by JOPLEn.

  10. Predicting Organic Compounds Permeability in Cells at PIC 2024

    Professor Angela Violi gave a presentation on predicting the permeability of cells to organic compounds and its relevance to firefighter exposures and biomarkers at the 2024 PIC Congress.

  11. Presenting new optimization approaches for tree ensembles

    PhD Candidate Matt Raymond presented his research poster at the 2024 MSSISS Symposium. His work, “Joint Optimization of Piecewise Linear Ensembles”, proposes a new optimization approach to improve the performance of gradient boosted ensembles. These machine learning models are state-of-the-art in many settings, so any performance gains will provide direct improvements in many fields. This work was performed with the help of Matt’s co-advisors, Prof. Clayton Scott and Prof. Angela Violi.

2023

  1. Investigating the gut microbiome for the 2023 e-HAIL Symposium

    PhD Pre-Candidate Matt Raymond presented his research poster at the 2023 e-HAIL Symposium. His work, “A Taste of Your Own Medicine: Tracing Butyrate Production in the Gut”, used Graphical LASSO to detect bacterial cross-feeding interactions in gut microbiome data. This work was performed with the help of Dr. Clegg Waldron, Prof. Tom Schmidt, Prof. Angela Violi, and Dr. Paolo Elvati.

  2. Nanobiotics: AI for discovering where and how nanoparticles bind with proteins

    Read the press release here.

  3. 2023 Nature Paper Wins Journal Cover!

    Our paper entitled “Domain-agnostic predictions of nanoscale interactions in proteins and nanoparticles” was selected as a cover of Nature Computational Science!

    The image was made by graduate student Matt Raymond.

  4. 2023 ACS Paper Wins Journal Cover!

    Our paper entitled “Molecular Architecture and Helicity of Bacterial Amyloid Nanofibers: Implications for the Design of Nanoscale Antibiotics” was selected as a cover of ACS Applied Nano Materials!

    The image was made by undergraduate student Melissa Fang.

  5. Angela Receives U of M DEI Faculty Grant for Undergraduate Instruction

    Angela has received a DEI Faculty Grant for the University of Michigan Office of Culture, Community, and Equity (OCCE). This grant is “awarded to innovative activities that help create an engaging and inclusive environment for … students, faculty and staff.” Her project is titled “DEI-FY 101: Driving Equity, Inclusion and Success for Early Undergraduates”.

    View the full story here.

2022

  1. 2022 Chirality Paper Wins Journal Cover!

    In collaboration with the Kotov group, our paper entitled “Chiral chromatography and surface chirality of carbon nanoparticles” will get the cover of Chirality!

    The image was made with a combination of VMD and GIMP to demonstrate the chiral separation that was achieved for D- (black) and L-CNPs (red) using teicoplanin (background).

  2. Shriya Jaggi Awarded Undergraduate Research Award!

    Shriya is part of the BlueSky Project. Her research was recognized for her poster presentation at the UROP Spring Research Symposium. Congratulations, Shriya!

  3. PhD Candidate, Chloe Luyet, Is Selected For Distinguished Leadership Award!

    This award is conferred upon undergraduate and graduate students of the College of Engineering who have demonstrated outstanding leadership and service to the College, University, and community.

2021

  1. PhD Candidate, Chloe Luyet, Is Selected For Bps Travel Award And Rackham Conference Travel Grant!

    Chloe will be attending the 66th Biophysical Society Annual Meeting in February of 2022. She’s been awarded two awards worth $1,200 to help fund her travels. Congratulations, Chloe!

  2. Congratulations, Dr. Qi Wang!

    Our very own PhD student, Qi Wang, has just successfully defended his thesis “Stochastic Modeling of the Formation of Aromatics in Combustion”! He has secured a postdoc position at Kaust.

  3. Angela Is Selected For The 2021 Monroe-Brown Foundation Research Excellence Award

    Congratulations, Angela! [Press Release]

  4. Angela Is Selected For The 2021 Mechanical Engineering Department Achievement Award

    Congratulations, Angela! Press Release

2020

  1. Congratulations, Dr. Changjiang Liu!

    Our very own PhD student, Changjiang (Desmond) Liu, has just successfully defended his thesis “The Permeation Behavior of Nanoparticles in Lipid Membranes”! He has secured a position at Google.

  2. Bluesky Initiative: Angela Works On Podcast On Nanomaterials To Fight Superbugs.

    With the support from the College of Engineering, here is the link.

  3. Jacob Saldinger Is Awarded The 2020 Nsf Graduate Research Fellowship!

    The NSF GRFP is a very sought-after and prestigious award, reserved for the most outstanding graduate students, pursuing degrees in STEM fields. Congratulations, Jacob! We are very proud of you! [Press release]

  4. Angela Is Awarded The 2020 Aspire, Advance And Achieve Mentoring Award, U-M Women In Science And Engineering Program

    The award recognizes individuals who have served as outstanding formal or informal mentors to students. [Press release]

  5. Angela Violi Is Named A Thurnau Professor!

    The Thurnau Professorships are an incredibly sought-after and distinguished honor at the University of Michigan. Nominated tenured faculty must demonstrate a strong commitment to teaching and learning, excellence and innovation in teaching, and dedication to working effectively with a diverse student body, among other dedicated contributions to education (full criteria). Professor Violi was a very deserving candidate, being praised by her students for “comprehensively support[ing] her students in finding ways to think innovatively, take chances and find passion in their work”. Congratulations, Angela! [Press release]

  6. Phd Candidate In Violi Lab Speaks At U Of M Rackham Graduate School King Talks

    In her King Talk, Chloe Luyet speaks on the role the food industry has played in the overuse and misuse of antibiotics, contributing to overwhelming global bacterial resistance in her talk “How Antibiotics Have Failed Us: The Food Industry’s Role in a Global Epidemic”. It is the overuse and misuse of antibiotics, and resulting bacterial resistance, that necessitates the BlueSky project and the urgency to discover new methods to combat resistant bacteria.

2019

  1. Angela Is Awarded The 2020 Strategic Vision Award, For Creativity, Innovation And Daring, Michigan Engineering, University Of Michigan

    This fall marked the second year of a Michigan Engineering 2020 strategic vision initiative that rewards and recognizes staff and faculty who have demonstrated creativity, innovation and daring in helping the College build its culture. [Press release]

  2. Angela Violi Receives The J. Cordell Breed Award For Women Leaders

    This award recognizes women who are active in all sectors of the mobility industry who have achieved the best balance of life both professionally and personally. Recipients are selected based on outstanding performance or significant contributions in many areas including, service to her company and community, provides important engineering or technical contributions to the mobility industry, overcome adversity, and demonstrates excellent leadership as a supervisor, manager, or in team environments. [Press release]

    Congratulations, Angela!

  3. Angela Is Awarded The 2020 J. Cordell Breed Award For Women Leaders, The Society Of Automotive Engineers (SAE)

    Angela was one among three leaders in her field to receive this honor. She was one of two awardees to work in academia. For more information, visit the website. Congratulations, Angela! [Press release]

  4. Jake And Jacob Win Poster Competition At Pic 2019 Conference, Host: Angela Violi

    Jake Kovalic, undergraduate student, and Jacob Saldinger, PhD candidate, presented posters at the biennial PIC 2019 conference, hosted by Dr. Angela Violi at the University of Michigan. The conference had international attendance. Poster session winners were selected based on design, clarity of the presentation - both of the poster and also when talking to the presenter - and their scientific content.

    Jacob Saldinger presented a poster, entitled “Characterizing Aromatic Formation in a Coflow Diffusion Flame”.

    Jake Kovalic presented a poster, entitled “Methane Thermal Decomposition: A Case Study For Density-Functional Tight-Binding Molecular Dynamics”. He used DFTB and metadynamics to create accurate free energy surfaces for a bond breaking in methane and compared it to previous ab initio results.

    CONGRATULATIONS, JACOB AND JAKE!

    For more information about the PIC 2019 Conference, see this summary or the Outreach and Events page

  5. 16th International Congress On Combustion By-Products And Their Health Effects

    We organized the 16th International Congress On Combustion By-Products And Their Health Effects, which will be held on July 10th-12th 2019 in Ann Arbor, MI. [Press release]

  6. Chisang Park Passed The Rfe Exam

    Congratulations to Chisang for passing the RFE exam!

    Chisang Park is currently a PhD candidacy in the Department of Mechanical Engineering. He was awarded B.S. in Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering from Seoul National University. His research interests involve:

    • reaction pathway analysis and the reduction of the chemical mechanisms of hydrogen and hydrocarbons,
    • reactor scale modeling of nanoparticle growth and assembly, and
    • micro- and nanoscale atomistic simulation of plasma-grown materials.

  7. BI Innovator Awards For Yichun

    BI Innovator awards recognize members of the BI research community who are active participants in the research, innovation and translational ecosystem at BI.

    Dr. Yichun Wang is currently a postdoctoral research fellow in the Department of Chemical Engineering. She received her Ph.D. in Biomedical Engineering in 2016 at the University of Michigan with Professor Nick Kotov. Her research interests involve nanotechnologies in 3D cell cultures, biomimetic nanomaterials, and MD simulation for bio-nano interactions.

    Congratulations!

    Event: https://biointerfaces.umich.edu/bi-innovator-awards-recipients/

  8. Angela's Talk In BI Research Day

    Angela Violi is invited to give the keynote lecture during the Biointerface Institite (BI) research day, topic “The Attach of Nanopartice on Bacterial Communities”.

    The Biointerface Institite (BI) is designed to promote continual collaboration between life and physical scientists, research in the field of advanced materials and drug delivery, cell and tissue enginnering, nanotechnology, neural engineering and single cell technologies.

    Event: https://biointerfaces.umich.edu/event/bi-research-day/

2018

  1. Bluesky Initiative

    Angela Violi and her team are awarded one of the four Blue Sky awards to work on nanobiotics. The Blue Sky Initiative is one of three funding models introduced through the Research Pillar of Michigan Engineering’s 2020 Strategic Vision. Utilizing neural networks and machine learning, research hopes to identify nanoparticles which will serve as the next generation of antimicrobials.

    More information about the BlueSky Initiative

    Dept of Mechanical Engineering and BlueSky

    The Threat That Never Sleeps: Can Science Stop The Superbugs?

  2. Michigan Engineers Discuss Antibiotic Resistance

    “Antibiotic resistance is one of the most important public health problems of the 21st century,” said Angela Violi, professor of mechanical engineering and chemical engineering at U-M. Violi is one of many researchers at Michigan Engineering who are are tackling this issue from a variety of angles. Some are exploring new ways to combine antibiotics to stay one step ahead of the bugs. Others are looking beyond antibiotics to nanoparticles. Read more

  3. Lecture At Combustion Institute Summer School

    Prof. Angela Violi received an award from the Combustion Institute and Clean Combustion Research Center in recognition of the excellent invited Lecture at the Combustion Institute Summer School held at KAUST (King Abdullah University of Science and Technology), April 2018.

  4. Combustion Institute Summer School At Kaust

    Prof. Angela Violi was invited to teach at the Combustion Institute Summer School hosted by the KAUST (King Abdullah University of Science and Technology) Clean Combustion Research Center, April 1-7, 2018. The School is an opportunity to learn about fuels, flames, and engines to ensure that combustion technologies meet the societal and environmental challenges of the 21st century.

2017

  1. Angela Presented At The 15th Pic Congress Professor

    Angela Violi has been invited to present at the 15th International Conference on Combustion By-Products and their Health effects, PIC Congress, Seoul, Korea. Her topic was about The known knows and unknowns of nanoparticles interacting with cells: New insights on combustion generated particles and nano/bio materials.

    Link to the conference: http://www.pic2017.kr/

  2. Angela Received The 2017 Adel Sarofim Award

    Professor Angela Violi Received the 2017 Adel Sarofim Award. Congratulate to Angela!

    The Adel Sarofim award is presented every two years to a scientist(s) for outstanding advancements in understanding combustion processes, formation of combustion by-products and mechanisms of their health effects.

  3. Tyler Defended His Thesis

    On June 12 2017, Tyler Dillstrom successfully defended his dissertation on “Chemical Formation Pathways and Morphologies of Oxygenated Particle Precursors in Flames”. Congratulations to Tyler!

  4. Angela's New Appointment As M-Write Fellow

    Professor Angela Violi has been appointed as Fellow in the M-Write Seminar for Fall 2017. The M-Write Seminar brings together faculty and GSIs from multiple disciplines who share a commitment to using writing as a means of learning in large enrollment gateway courses.

  5. Angela Presented At Arc Annual Meeting

    On May 9 2017, Professor Angela Violi participated the 23rd Annual Automotive Research Center Program Review. Her topic was about our recent works on the burning process of jet fuels.

  6. UROP Symposium

    Caleb Sherwood, our undergraduate research program participant, presented his work at UROP Annual Research Spring Symposium. His work explored the relationship between the low temperature reactivity and the octane sensitivity of xylene isomers. Nice work Caleb!

  7. SAE 2017 World Congress

    Doohyun presented his work “The Relative Importance of Fuel Oxidation Chemistry and Physical Properties to Spray Ignition” at SAE 2017 World Congress in Detroit, 2017.

  8. Qi'S RFE Exam

    We are pleased that our PhD student Qi Wang just passed his RFE exam, a successful step toward his PhD degree. Congratulations to Qi!

2016

  1. High Cited Research In J. Aerosol Science

    Angela’s publication “Near-threshold photoionization mass spectra of combustion-generated high-molecular-weight soot precursors”, published in 2013 is among the most highly cited papers in the Journal of Aerosol Science. Congratulations to Angela!

  2. The 11th Engineering Graduate Symposium

    Our group members actively participated the 11th Engineering Graduate Symposium at U-M. Professor Angela Violi and Dr Paolo Elvati served as judges. And our Ph.D. student Changjiang Liu presented a poster in the section Engineering in Biological Systems.

    Changjiang’s Poster in PDF

  3. ALS Posted Our Research On The Formation Of Toxic Furans During Combustion

    Oxygenated hydrocarbons produced during combustion can have a wide range of detrimental effects on human health, air quality, and regional and global climate. Many studies have shown that Furans are toxic, whether ingested or inhaled, and thus pose a considerable threat to human health. We used first-principles electronic-structure calculations in conjunction with probabilistic models to study the formation and growth of the particles using atomistic simulations. Read more

  4. We Attended The International Combustion Symposium Held In Seoul

    Doohyun, Qi, Tyler, Angela presented at the International Symposium on Combustion in Seoul, Korea.

  5. New Publication In The Proceedings Of The National Academy Of Science (PNAS)

    Professor Angela Violi’s paper is titled “Formation and emission of large furans and oxygenated hydrocarbons from flames” and can be read on the Proceedings of the National Academy of Science’s site here. Violi is also a professor of Chemical Engineering, Biomedical Engineering, Macromolecular Science and Engineering, Applied Physics, and Biophysics. Below are the details of the paper.

  6. SPIE Highlight Our Research In GQDs

    Our research in graphene quantum dots received highlight from SPIE. Twisted graphene quantum dots, with chiral amino acids around their edges, enable a new biocompatible nanomaterial that displays chiral selectivity when interacting with live cells. (Read more)

  7. We Presented At The Future Fuels Workshop at KAUST

    Tyler and Angela presented at the Future Fuels Workshop at KAUST, Saudi Arabia in March 2016.

  8. Michigan News Highlighted Our Research

    Our research received Michigan News highlight! ANN ARBOR—Scientists at the University of Michigan have found evidence that some carbon nanomaterials can enter into immune cell membranes, seemingly going undetected by the cell’s built-in mechanisms for engulfing and disposing of foreign material, and then escape through some unidentified pathway. (Read more)

  9. Nature Highlighted Our Research In GQD

    Chiral nanoparticles are an exciting class of materials that show promise in areas such as optoelectronics, catalysis, bioanalysis and drug delivery. To date, research in chiral nanomaterials has overwhelmingly focused on inorganic (typically, plasmonic) systems. Our recent study on Chiral Graphene Quantum Dots was just selected to Nature highlight. (Read more)

2015

  1. Angela Violi Promoted To Professor

    Congratulations Professor Violi! Angela Violi promoted to professor.

  2. Angela Violi Received George Westinghouse Silver

    Professor Violi has been selected to receive the 2015 ASME George Westinghouse Silver Medal. This medal is awarded to one who is not yet 45 on June 30th of the year of the award and recognizes the distinguished service and achievements in the power field of mechanical engineering. Congratulations Professor Violi!

  3. Doohyun Graduated With Phd And Stayed For Post-Doctoral

    Congratulations to Dr Doohyun Kim! Doohyun just graduated with PhD in Mechanical Engineering and stayed with the group as a postdoc in January 2016. He will be working on the development of comprehensive surrogates for conventional and alternative jet fuels and CFD simulation of diesel spray.