Hi. I’m Matt O’Donnell; I’m dean of engineering at the University of Washington. Welcome to the new decade. At the end of the last decade, there was a lot of excitement around the Seattle area with the successful test flight of the Boeing 787, the Dreamliner. This was the culmination of a very long development period for Boeing in this new technology but it’s also a symbol of the long-term relationship between the UW and Boeing in the area of composite materials. It was an exciting day for anyone interested in the future of fuel-efficient transportation.

The new year has already been busy. At the end of the last year, we learned that we would be a partner in the $180 million Pacific Northwest Smart Grid Demonstration Project. We will work with our local utility company to make the UW campus a test bed for smart-grid technologies. All major buildings will be upgraded to smart-grid meters.

But what I’m most excited about is a test bed we’re putting together in two of our dormitories to detect usage down to the individual outlet level. It’s a fantastic opportunity for faculty and students to explore smart-grid technologies.

Finally, please join us May 2nd and 3rd for the NAE Challenge Summit. It’s a terrific opportunity for students, faculty, and engineering professionals to learn about the Grand Engineering Challenges of the 21st century. In this issue, NAE registration info is provided. Of course, there’s other news from around the College of Engineering as well. Thank you very much for reading Washington Engineer.