Table of contents

• Dean's Message
• Research News - Sign over cell; Toxic chemicals in common household products; Harnessing the ocean’s energy
• Campus News - UW buys unique lithography machine; Inaugural safety and security conference; 13 new faculty members
• Coming Events - Fall lecture series: Engineering inspired by nature; Computer Science & Engineering distinguished lecturer series
• In the Media

Dean's Message

Dear friends of engineering,

We like to think big at UW Engineering—beyond the boundaries of our college and discipline.  Together with the UW School of Art and the Information School, we’ve formed a faculty and student alliance called DUB focused on the study of human-computer interaction (HCI) and design.  As computers increasingly become the focus of both our professional and personal lives, it’s imperative that we understand how people interact with machines.  We’re especially excited about four new faculty members in the Computer Science & Engineering, Electrical Engineering, and Technical Communication departments who bring expertise in HCI (see Engineering’s newest).

Speaking of the interface between human and machine, a few weeks ago some of our faculty from Computer Science & Engineering coordinated with Microsoft Research to host a fantastic workshop on neuro-engineering.  Yoky Matsuoka, Rajesh Rao, and their colleagues want to make the Pacific Northwest and the UW the world’s center for neural engineering.  They have created the Pacific Northwest Center for Neural Engineering, which includes stellar researchers from computer science & engineering, bioengineering, electrical engineering, biology, physics, and other disciplines.
 
In this latest issue of Washington Engineer, you can learn more about our new faculty members and neural engineering.  The issue also features several significant initiatives, including a new grant to harness energy from the tides, video technology to help the deaf use cell phones, and a study that found toxic chemicals in common household products.

We’re also pleased to welcome a new head of UW TechTransfer, Linden Rhoads, who arrived on campus in August with a long and successful entrepreneurial background at many local companies.  We’re sure she’ll be an invigorating leader for TechTransfer and a great partner to UW engineers who want to bring their innovations to the marketplace.

It’s been a great start to the academic year, and we can’t wait to see what happens next.  Thanks for taking the time to learn more about UW Engineering with this issue of Washington Engineer.

Matt O'Donnell
Frank and Julie Jungers Dean of Engineering

Research News

	'Can you see me now?' Sign language over cell phones comes to United States A group at the University of Washington has developed software that for the first time enables deaf and hard-of-hearing Americans to use sign language over a mobile phone. More »
	Toxic chemicals found in common scented laundry products, air fresheners A University of Washington study of top-selling laundry products and air fresheners found the products emitted dozens of different chemicals. All six products tested gave off at least one chemical regulated as toxic or hazardous under federal laws, but none of those chemicals was listed on the product labels. More »
	New DoE research center aims to capture ocean’s energy The University of Washington is a partner in a new center that will look for ways to use natural energy generated by waves and tides. More »

Campus News

	UW buys multimillion-dollar tool for nanotech research The University of Washington will acquire an electron beam lithography machine, a key instrument required to build devices at the nanometer scale. A $1.3 million gift from the Washington Research Foundation provides about half the cost of the $2.5 million electron beam lithography machine, which will be the only one of its kind in the Northwest.
	UW committee and conference organized for region’s safety A new group of researchers at the UW wants to make sure that our region is resilient in the face of an earthquake or other major disaster. 19 faculty members from 14 departments have formed the Interdisciplinary Committee on Safety and Security Research, and will hold a conference on campus later this month.
	Engineering’s newest The College of Engineering welcomes 13 new faculty members this year. This talented group will tackle varied subjects such as nanotechnology, photonics and human-computer interaction.

Coming Events

	2008 Engineering Lecture Series The first lecture in our 2008 series by Yoky Matsuoka on Oct. 16 was a great success. Please join us for the second and third talks in the series on Engineering Inspired by Nature. Attendance is free, but registration is required. Beyond Oil: Powering the Future Thursday, October 30, 2008 Miles P. Drake, Senior Vice President Research and Development, Chief Technology Officer, Weyerhaeuser Daniel Schwartz, Boeing-Sutter Professor, Chemical Engineering and Associate Dean of New Initiatives, College of Engineering. Back to Nature for the Next Technology Revolution Wednesday, November 19, 2008 Babak Parviz, Assistant Professor, Electrical Engineering
	Computer Science & Engineering Distinguished Lecturer Series Lectures are free and open to all. The 2008-9 Computer Science & Engineering Distinguished Lecturer Series kicked off Oct. 7 with a talk by Jeffrey Dean of Google and will run until Feb. 24, 2009. The next talks in the series are: David Ditzel (Intel), Oct. 28: “A 25 year perspective on binary translation: What worked, what didn’t.” Werner Vogels (Amazon), Nov. 18: “A head in the cloud: The power of infrastructure as a service.”

In the Media

	Alliance may one day aid paralyzed, amputees The Seattle Times, Oct. 13. UW Computer Science and Engineer’s Yoky Matsuoka and Rajesh Rao organized a workshop to kick off the new Pacific Northwest Center for Neural Engineering. This article describes their high hopes for the future of the brain-machine interface. More »
	Tracking laptop thieves safely Technology Review, Sept. 30. Technology Review, Sept. 30. Yoshi Kohno, UW professor of computer science and engineering, and his group developed a free tool to protect laptops from theft. The computers are registered, and the laptop owner can track its whereabouts remotely. More »
	New pill camera provides little discomfort ABC News, Sept. 1. UW mechanical engineer Eric Seibel takes visitors on a tour down his own throat in this video news segment. Seibel has designed a new fiber optic camera that is designed to search for damaged tissue in parts of your body where today's cameras cannot go, and is easy to swallow to boot. More »