In this issue:

• Dean's Message
• Research - Open-Source Surgical Robots; Pushing the Envelope on Paper-Based Diagnostics; Plasma Pen to Diagnose Malnutrition
• Campus News - New Federal Transportation Center; iGEM World Championship; Rhodes Scholar in Bioengineering
• Events - Lecture Series on UWTV, WiSE Conference, Engineering Discovery Days
• In the Media

Dean's Message Dean Matt O’Donnell congratulates the UW’s world championship team at the International Genetically Engineered Machine (iGEM) competition and comments on Gov. Chris Gregoire’s proposal to boost undergraduate engineering enrollment in Washington. Play video »

Research

	Surgical robots to provide open-source platform for medical robotics research Seven identical robots named Raven will provide the first common research platform to develop the future of surgical robotics. The Economist | MSNBC | KCPQ
	Pushing the envelope on paper-based diagnostics UW researchers are working to make diagnosing a range of infectious illnesses as simple and cheap as a pregnancy test, without needing a high concentration of the pathogen.
	Plasma pencil diagnoses malnutrition in minutes The handheld tool could address health and child development issues by delivering blood tests in minutes, even in remote locations.

Campus News

	USDOT awards $3.5 million for UW-based regional transportation center The U.S. Department of Transportation has awarded a grant of $3.5 million to a multi-university, regional transportation center led by the University of Washington. The newly established Pacific Northwest Transportation Consortium, or PacTrans, will focus on safe and sustainable transportation systems.
	Engineered critters bring 'world' title to UW team UW students won the World Championship at the International Genetically Engineered Machine (iGEM) competition for their work in the genetic engineering of microbes for lactose intolerance and biofuels. Seattle Times | Team Profile
	BioE senior named Rhodes Scholar One of two UW students receiving 2012 Rhodes scholarships, Cameron Turtle co-founded Bioengineers Without Borders at the UW. He is also a social entrepreneur, launching a company that develops molecular medical diagnostic devices to interface with Android-based mobile equipment. Turtle will study cardiovascular medicine at Oxford starting October 2012.

Events

		Talks from the 2011 Fall Lecture Series, "Re-Engineering Aerospace: Flying Cleaner, Greener Smarter," are now available online. Shrinking the Aerospace Carbon Footprint Mary Armstrong (B.S. ChemE ’79), Vice President Environment, Health and Safety, The Boeing Company Repowering the Military with Alternative Energy Tim Vinopal (M.S. Engineering ’91), Director Environment, Health and Safety Engineering, Boeing Defense, Space and Security Flying Smart with Autonomous Vehicles Mehran Mesbahi, Professor, Aeronautics & Astronautics, and Principal Investigator, Distributed Space Systems Lab

	Women in Science and Engineering (WiSE) Annual Conference Saturday, Feb. 25, 8:30 a.m.–5 p.m. UW Seattle campus $20 students / $40 professionals
	Engineering Discovery Days Friday, April 20, 9 a.m.–2 p.m. Saturday, April 21, 9 a.m.–3 p.m. This year’s open house will coincide with HuskyFest, a three-day campus-wide event to celebrate the UW’s 150th anniversary.

In the Media

	Buildings and clothes could melt to save energy New Scientist | Jan. 5, 2012 A new building on the UW campus is about to melt. The soon-to-open Molecular Engineering and Science Building contains a gel that could cut energy needed for cooling by a whopping 98 percent.
	3-D printing on way to becoming affordable The Seattle Times | Dec. 26, 2011 Mechanical engineer Mark Ganter sees the future, and it's printing apple pies -- and maybe vital organs, furniture and buildings.
	Bill Gates: How to be super-rich, or save the world trying Los Angeles Times | Oct. 28, 2011 The atmosphere at his hometown university suggested a prince coming back from battle, holding court with the troops. Engineering majors and computer science grad students in beards and Facebook T-shirts were lining balconies around the lecture hall five stories high and massing on the open stairways.