Illinois ECE

As demand for AI computing continues to surge, new chip architectures are emerging to challenge conventional approaches. ECE Professor Deming Chen shares his expertise to the Financial Times article. Discover: https://www.ft.com/content/635957a4-7212-45fa-a399-89e5cea867f6

‘Age of electricity’ lights the path for Sun King’s solar success Company’s off-grid energy infrastructure is used by more than 50mn customers across sub-Saharan Africa

ECE Professor Katherine Driggs-Campbell and her team developed a new multimodal manipulation framework that helps robots better combine vision, touch, and other sensory inputs.

Learn more: https://csl.illinois.edu/news-and-media/new-computational-approach-enhances-multi-modal-manipulation
Explore audio, photos, and videos of the work: https://policyconsensus.github.io/

For 17 years, the Power and Energy Conference at Illinois (PECI) has provided students with a unique opportunity to lead, learn, and contribute to the future of energy research.

Organized entirely by students, PECI 2026 welcomed nearly 140 attendees from academia and industry for two days of technical presentations, keynote talks, networking, and collaboration. As the Midwest's longest-running, student-run power and energy conference, the event continues to help develop the next generation of leaders in energy, sustainability, and electrification.

Read more: https://ece.illinois.edu/news/peci-2026-generating-current-for-future-generations

ECE Founder Professor Cunjiang Yu was named a recipient of the 2026 American Society of Mechanical Engineers (ASME) Materials Division Centennial Mid-Career Award for the pioneering contributions in soft and stretchable electronics and their associated fundamental aspects of materials, mechanics, and device technologies.

Illinois ECE Professor Viktor Gruev and collaborators developed a bio-inspired imaging system that helps surgeons identify malignant lymph nodes in real time during cancer surgery. Discover: https://medicine.illinois.edu/news/ilinois-researchers-bio-inspired-imaging-system-instantly-pinpoints-malignant-lymph-nodes

Election to the AIMBE College of Fellows is a prestigious honor recognizing leadership, innovation, and lasting impact in medical and biological engineering. ECE recognizes three faculty members who were inducted this spring: Professors Viktor Gruev, Michael L. Oelze, and Cunjiang Yu. Read more: https://ece.illinois.edu/news/ece-aimbe-fellows-2026

Three ECE Faculty Elected to AIMBE College of Fellows ECE congratulates three faculty members elected to the American Institute for Medical and Biological Engineering (AIMBE) College of Fellows. Professors Viktor Gruev, Michael L. Oelze, and Cunjiang Yu earned this prestigious recognition and were formally inducted during AIMBE’s annual meeting in Vi...

A figure from a research article by Professor Erhan Kudeki was selected for the cover of the January 2026 issue of Radio Science. The cover image features Figure 11 from Kudeki's manuscript, which was published in the same issue. Discover: https://agupubs.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/toc/1944799x/2026/61/1

New research reveals the brain begins forming decisions before conscious thought, with ECE Professor Yurii Vlasov and graduate student Alex Armstrong helping uncover how sensory regions guide choice-making. These findings show the brain’s sensing and thinking regions work simultaneously, offering insights for next-generation AI systems.

Read more: https://www.earth.com/news/the-brain-starts-making-decisions-before-a-person-actually-thinks-about-it/

The brain starts making decisions before a person actually 'thinks' about it A new study reveals that the brain may begin making decisions before the rational part of the mind kicks in.

AI chip innovation continues to accelerate as Cerebras Systems gains attention for its wafer-scale architecture designed to push beyond traditional GPU limits. A recent Yahoo Finance feature highlights how the company is positioning itself in the increasingly competitive AI hardware landscape.

As ECE Professor Deming Chen explains, "smaller chips are easier to produce, cheaper, and can be scaled up by just adding more."

Read more: https://ca.finance.yahoo.com/news/why-cerebras-ai-chips-stand-out-in-the-nvidia-dominated-market-155742216.html

Why Cerebras AI chips stand out in the Nvidia-dominated market Cerebras' chips are far different from Nvidia's, but both are designed to power AI data centers.

ECE Ph.D. candidate Hyungyo Kim earns international recognition for research improving GPU efficiency and lowering AI computing costs through smarter system design. Discover: https://ece.illinois.edu/news/rising-star-lowering-cost-ece-phd-candidtate-receives-international-distinction

Rising star, lowering cost: ECE Ph.D. candidate receives international distinction for thinking outside the GPU ECE Ph.D. candidate Hyungyo Kim earns international recognition for research improving GPU efficiency and lowering AI computing costs through smarter system design.