NewsFlash: College of Engineering in the Media | Vol. 2, No. 5 | July 30, 2008 | A publication of the College of Engineering and uwnews.org, the UW Office of News and Information

UW College of Engineering NewsFlash | Vol. 2, No. 5 | July 30, 2008

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 Hannah Hickey at (206-543-2580, hickeyh@uw.edu).

July 29, 2008 | The Washington Post
About that clean, fresh scent

The fumes that waft from top-selling air fresheners and laundry products contain dozens of chemicals, including several classified as toxic or hazardous, according to a study by civil engineer Anne Steinemann.

SOURCE MATERIAL
Toxic chemicals found in common scented laundry products, air fresheners | July 23, 2008

July 23, 2008 | The Seattle Post-Intelligencer
Fresh scent may hide toxic secret

The fumes that waft from top-selling air fresheners and laundry products contain dozens of chemicals, including several classified as toxic or hazardous, according to a recent UW study.

SOURCE MATERIAL
Toxic chemicals found in common scented laundry products, air fresheners | July 23, 2008

July 23, 2008 | KING 5
Could products to clear air make you sick?

A new study by UW civil engineer Anne Steinemann finds toxic chemicals hidden in household air fresheners and fabric softeners, including carcinogens not listed on the labels. KING 5's Eric Wilkinson reports.

SOURCE MATERIAL
Toxic chemicals found in common scented laundry products, air fresheners | July 23, 2008

July 3, 2008 | The Guardian
Your life will be flashed before your eyes

Electrical engineer Babak Parviz wears contact lenses. But he's not yet using the new contact lenses he's made in his Seattle laboratory. Containing electronic circuits, they look like something from a science fiction movie.

SOURCE MATERIAL
Contact lenses with circuits, lights a possible platform for superhuman vision | Jan. 17, 2008

July 25, 2008 | Puget Sound Business Journal
Gulp! UW lands a developer for its 'camera in a pill'

Technology to create a minuscule “camera in a pill” that could keep many people from developing deadly esophageal cancer has been licensed by the UW to a medical device maker. The deal for the imaging technology, developed by mechanical engineer Eric Seibel, is one of the UW's largest technology transfer deals to date.

RELATED MATERIAL
Camera in a pill offers cheaper, easier window on your insides | Jan. 24, 2008

July 16, 2008 | Nova PBS
Bionic woman: Yoky Matsuoka

In a 12-minute segment that aired nationally this month on PBS' Nova program, learn how Yoky Matsuoka learned to embrace her inner scientist, and what she's doing to encourage young women to pursue scientific careers.

RELATED MATERIAL
UW computer engineer wins MacArthur Foundation 'genius' award | Sept. 24, 2007

July 7, 2008 | The Seattle Post-Intelligencer
Trying to give robots a human touch

Computer scientist Yoky Matsuoka wants to build a better robot by copying the wisdom of the human body. Her lab at the UW - full of mechanical hands, fingers and arm parts - looks like a repair shop for Arnold Schwarzenegger's Terminator.

RELATED MATERIAL
UW computer engineer wins MacArthur Foundation 'genius' award | Sept. 24, 2007

July 16, 2008 | The Associated Press
Web-based program gives the blind Internet access

Blind people generally use computers with the help of screen-reader software, but those products can cost more than $1,000, so they're not exactly common on public PCs at libraries or Internet cafes. Now a free new Web-based program for the blind aims to improve the situation.

SOURCE MATERIAL
Online service lets blind surf the Internet from any computer, anywhere | June 25, 2008

July 3, 2008 | ABC affiliates
New Web-based project helping the blind

A new Web-based program aims to make the Internet more accessible to the blind. Creator Jeff Bigham, a computer science PhD student, describes the project on ABC News.

SOURCE MATERIAL
Online service lets blind surf the Internet from any computer, anywhere | June 25, 2008

July 14, 2008 | MSNBC
Opening new portals for the blind: Free-range surfing

WebAnywhere is a free Web-based service released last month. It's not the only program to convert Web text to voice, but it's the first to do it on almost any computer. Computer scientist Richard Ladner and PhD student Jeff Bigham are quoted.

SOURCE MATERIAL
Online service lets blind surf the Internet from any computer, anywhere | June 25, 2008

July 25, 2008 | The Seattle Post-Intelligencer
Want to calculate a carbon footprint? Good luck, because numbers can vary widely

A recent study, co-authored by civil engineer Anne Steinemann, found online calculators that allegedly measure carbon footprints varied greatly in their results.

June 26, 2008 | Scientific American
Fact or fiction: Men have a biological clock

Does male fertility have an expiration date? Bioengineer Narendra Singh is quoted about his group's research on the effect of age on DNA damage in sperm.

RELATED MATERIAL
Research reveals a cellular basis for a male biological clock | Nov. 25, 2002

	July 27, 2008 \| The Seattle Times Hybridize research, economic development The Seattle Times' editorial board urges the state to continue to fund Innovation Research Teams. Work by electrical engineer Michael Hochberg is highlighted.

July 22, 2008 | New Scientist
Newtonian telescope makes for greener TV screens

Building the pixels of flat-panel displays like tiny telescopes could make them much more power efficient, or make screens easier to read in direct sunlight. Electrical engineering PhD student Anna Pyayt worked with Microsoft engineers to build the "telescopic pixels."

July 3, 2008 | KUOW
Fun with robots!

Is that a shark in the water? No, it's a robot! The UW unveils its latest underwater inventions, RoboFish and Seagliders, on KUOW's Weekday radio program with host Steve Sher.

SOURCE MATERIAL
School of Robofish provides basis for teams of underwater robots | June 5, 2008

July 16, 2008 | The Chronicle of Higher Education
Every user deserves a personalized interface

One size does not fit all, at least when it comes to user interface design. UW researchers have come up with a system to automatically generate interfaces that fit the users’ vision and motor abilities, making clicking easier.

SOURCE MATERIAL
For your eyes only: Custom interfaces make computer clicking faster, easier | July 15, 2008

July 21, 2008 | EE Times
Tool targets faulty, 'one-size-fits-all' computer interfaces
User interfaces should adapt to individual skills and style, rather than forcing users to adapt to the size, location and layout of buttons and menus, say UW researchers. Computer science PhD student Krzysztof Gajos is quoted.

SOURCE MATERIAL
For your eyes only: Custom interfaces make computer clicking faster, easier | July 15, 2008

July 22, 2008 | The New York Times
If you have a problem, ask everyone

"Open-source science," in which the Internet is used to match problems with potential problem-solvers, is gaining popularity. The UW has recently recruited computer gamers to help address the knotty issue of protein folding. Computer scientist Zoran Popović is quoted.

SOURCE MATERIAL
Computer game's high score could earn the Nobel Prize in medicine | May 8, 2008

	July 4, 2008 \| The Chronicle of Higher Education Playing the science game Could the person who finds the cure for cancer be a gamer? The creators of an online game that allows players to help scientists design new proteins with therapeutic properties hope so. SOURCE MATERIAL Computer game's high score could earn the Nobel Prize in medicine \| May 8, 2008

	July 14, 2008 \| InfoWorld New service tracks missing laptops for free Lose your laptop these days and you lose part of your life. But now, computer scientists at the UW and UCSD have found a way to give you a shot at getting your life back: A new laptop tracking service, called Adeona, that is free and private. Computer scientist Yoshi Kohno is quoted.

June 23, 2008 | Wired magazine
Tracking air fares: Elaborate algorithms predict ticket prices

Computer scientist Oren Etzioni discusses the science of airline ticket prices.

RELATED MATERIAL
Airfare analyzer could save big bucks by advising when to buy tickets | April 1, 2003

	July 22, 2008 \| The Washington Post Which is right? Bioengineer Eric Chudler has found that more than 26 percent of college students and 19 percent of college professors acknowledge having difficulty telling left from right -- occasionally, frequently or always.

July 15, 2008 | Yakima Herald-Republic
Life is short, so just DO-IT

Before going to the UW for the DO-IT program, 17-year-old Shelby Vanderpol-Grove of Yakima, who was born with a benign brain tumor, decided to dye her hair purple. DO-IT is a program that helps prepare students with disabilities prepare for college life and careers in technology, science, engineering and math.

RELATED MATERIAL
Technology summer camp welcomes disabled high-school students | July 17, 2007

July 13, 2008 | The Seattle Times
Dreamliner problem solver helps everyone 'get it done'

A profile of UW mechanical engineering graduate Pat Shanahan, the new boss of Boeing's delayed 787 Dreamliner project.

If you have a newsworthy result about one month from publication, presentation or demonstration, please contact Hannah, hickeyh@u.washington.edu. Notice of student and faculty awards and grants is also welcome.