NewsFlash is a monthly email of press items featuring our College's researchers. For a more complete and regularly updated list of COE media coverage, see In the Media.
Click on a headline to read that article on the web. Some links may require a subscription or no longer be active.
NewsFlash is a service of the UW College of Engineering and the UW Office of News and Information. If you have a newsworthy result about one month from publication, presentation or demonstration, please contact Michelle Ma at mcma@uw.edu@uw.edu or (206) 543-2580.
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NewsFlash, May 2012
May. 28, 2012 | New Scientist
3D blood vessels could aid artificial organs
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Growing artificial organs might help solve the transplantation shortage, but one major hurdle still exists: it is difficult to get blood vessels to grow all the way through a large organ. Bioengineer Ying Zheng has engineered a platform to promote the growth of microvessels. |
Engineered microvessels provide a 3-D test bed for human diseases
May. 14, 2012 | Gizmag
Lotus leaf inspires new diagnostic technology
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When building tiny medical and environmental diagnostic devices, how do you thoroughly mix tiny amounts of different fluids, or wrangle individual drops for analysis? Electrical engineer and bioengineer Karl Bohringer says the answer lies in the lotus leaf. |
Portable diagnostics designed to be shaken, not stirred
Jun. 02, 2012 | The Economist
Open-source medical devices: When code can kill or cure
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Applying the "open source" model to the design of medical devices promises to increase safety and spur innovation. The UW's open source surgical robot, Raven, is mentioned. |
Surgical robots to provide open-source platform for medical robotics research
May. 21, 2012 | The Washington Post (via New Scientist)
Microsoft devices turn the body into a wireless computer controller
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The advent of multi-touch screens and novel gaming interfaces means that the days of the traditional mouse and keyboard are well and truly numbered. With two new technologies, Humantenna and SoundWave, you won't even have to touch a computer to control it. |
May. 07, 2012 | Technology Review
Gesture control system uses sound alone
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SoundWave lets an ordinary laptop function like a Kinect sensor. The system was built by computer science PhD student Sidhant Gupta, computer scientist and electrical engineer Shwetak Patel, and collaborators at Microsoft Research. |
May. 25, 2012 | Popular Mechanics
Next up in Kinect-style motion sensing: ultrasound?
| Electrical engineering PhD student Sidhant Gupta developed a system called SoundWave that emits ultrasonic pulses and uses Doppler shifts to track human movements. The creators hope their accidental discovery could improve gesture-based controls. |
May. 31, 2012 | NPR: Morning Edition
Seattle area lacks computer science majors
| Graduates in computer science in Washington state are not keeping up with the demand for technology talent. Computer scientist Ed Lazowska and UW President Michael Young are quoted. |
May. 21, 2012 | The Seattle Times
UW, WSU expand enrollment in schools' engineering programs
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Both the UW and WSU are growing their engineering schools. The UW is also letting in more in-state freshmen this fall than last year. "Our quality's going off the charts, but we're leaving behind really good kids," said Matt O'Donnell, dean of engineering. |
May. 22, 2012 | The Seattle Times
Boosting engineering programs invests in state's economy
| The UW and WSU are making painful, but necessary sacrifices to grow their engineering programs, writes the Seattle Times' editorial board. |
May. 21, 2012 | KING 5
Cure for common flu may come from video game
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KING 5 anchor Jean Enerson visits the UW to play Foldit, a computer game where people design proteins that are then synthesized by biochemists to try and treat the flu. Electrical engineering grad student Dun-yu Hsiao is developing an Xbox Kinect version of the game, making it even more interactive. |
Gaming for a cure: Computer gamers tackle protein folding
Paper uncovers power of Foldit gamers' strategies
May. 23, 2012 | KING 5
Smartphone scanner developed at UW helps dieters count calories
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Electrical engineer Alexander Mamishev is developing a laser and app to let eaters quickly detect a meal's nutritional content and make better dietary choices. |
May. 21, 2012 | Nature News
Rewritable memory encoded into DNA
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After 750 rounds of 'debugging,' Stanford biologists finally succeeded in encoding rewritable memory in DNA. Electrical engineer Eric Klavins comments on the finding. |
May. 04, 2012 | GeekWire
Our future in space, and why it might be closer than we thought
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Aeronautical engineer Adam Bruckner is a guest on GeekWire's radio show. He shares his insights and perspectives on the emerging era of commercial spaceflight, asteroid mining, the potential impact on the Seattle economy, and the implications for humanity. |
May. 01, 2012 | seattlepi.com
UW wants to know: Why did the Titanic sink?
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A new documentary on the History Channel tests a leading theory about why the ship sank, with help from UW materials scientist Brian Flinn and lab manager Vince Chaijaroen. The conclusion: Things aren't as simple as scientists thought. |
History Channel's Titanic documentary features UW engineers
May. 22, 2012 | New Scientist
Robotic fish shoal sniffs out pollution in harbours
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An autonomous robotic fish designed to sense marine pollution is being tested in a Spanish harbor. Aeronautical engineer Kristi Morgansen comments, and predicts underwater robots for monitoring water systems will come soon to most ports. |
School of Robofish provides basis for teams of underwater robots
May. 08, 2012 | Popular Mechanics
Gray to green: How to make cleaner concrete
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Here's how some people are trying to make concrete more environmentally friendly. In Bellingham, Wash., engineers used crushed toilets to make concrete, earning the project the first Greenroads certificate. |
Bellingham roadway with recycled toilets is world's first official 'Greenroad'
May. 23, 2012 | Discovery News
Blanket is CO2 absorber, fertilizer and kiln
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Chemical engineer Dan Schwartz, with forestry resources PhD student Jenny Knoth, have developed a way to make fuel from forestry slash piles, without having to move them. Their "pyrolysis blanket" wraps around the pile, causing the waste to smolder into a charcoal-like substance. |
Turning slash piles into soil benefit
May. 18, 2012 | Renewable Energy World
The forest's treasure: A profitable solution to woody waste
| Chemical engineers at the UW are developing a portable technology to turn piles of forestry waste into treasure troves, by converting them into biochar—charcoal made from plant material that can be burned for energy or applied to soils, where it helps plants grow. |
Turning slash piles into soil benefit
May. 04, 2012 | GigaOM
Is this data scientist a consumer's best friend?
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Computer scientist Oren Etzioni's latest startup, Decide, wants to tell consumers when to buy -- that ideal moment when the price won't fall for a while, and you won't get burned by the release of a new model a week later. |
May. 04, 2012 | Fox News (via Reuters)
EBay, Wal-Mart search for revved-up search engines
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EBay Inc and Wal-Mart Stores Inc are developing new Web search engines to better compete against Amazon.com Inc in the fast-growing e-commerce market. Oren Etzioni, professor of computer science and engineering, is quoted. |
May. 05, 2012 | The New York Times
For hard of hearing, clarity out of the din
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To hear better in noisy coffee shops, hard-of-hearing composer Richard Einhorn pops on a pair of in-ear earphones and snaps a directional mike on his iPhone, which has an app to amplify and process sound. Bioengineer Jay Rubinstein is quoted. |
Researchers develop first implanted device to treat balance disorder
May. 16, 2012 | The (UW) Daily
Foldit wins student a national award
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The Association for Computing Machinery announced that Seth Cooper, creative director of the UW Center for Game Science, won its Doctoral Dissertation Award, presented annually for the best doctoral dissertation in computer science and engineering. |
Gaming for a cure: Computer gamers tackle protein folding
Paper uncovers power of Foldit gamers' strategies
May. 18, 2012 | ChEnected
A play-by play of the chem-e-car competition at the Pacific Northwest Regional Student Conference
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Sometimes, it just pays to pump iron. Chemical engineering students led by Dan Schwartz built a car that not only moves by using chemistry, but also uses chemistry to stop within a specified distance while carrying a load. |
May. 23, 2012 | Puget Sound Business Journal
Terex-sponsored UW electric race car gets put through paces
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Mechanical engineering senior Ryan Charrier spent a rain-soaked few hours at Terex's Redmond headquarters, putting a formula race car converted to electric power by fellow mechanical engineer Zach Fung through its paces. |
May. 21, 2012 | Composites World
Concrete canoe: University of Washington's entry wins design prize
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The UW civil and environmental engineers' concrete canoe did not finish first, due to a technical error. But its composite design -- which included white Portland cement, glass microspheres, lightweight sand aggregate, styrofoam beads, chopped polyvinyl alcohol fibers and more -- earned it a design prize. Onlookers were surprised it was even made of cement. |
May. 31, 2012 | GeekWire
Overachieving students take underwater robot to new depths
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A UW student team is making a robot that can descend to at least 100 meters, and operate in saltwater, so that it can ultimately be used by researchers in the field. Pre-engineering students Taylor Juve, Tysen Mulder, Ryan Cox and Brian au der Springe, and computer science major Scott Daley are shown launching the robot. |
Students design underwater robot that does more than score points
If you have a newsworthy result about one month from publication, presentation or demonstration, please contact Hannah Hickey. Notice of student and faculty awards and grants is also welcome.