Washington Engineer - April 2008

Contents:

Message from Dean Matt O'Donnell
Research news: Future of social networking explored in UW's computer science building; Security risks in implanted medical devices; Popcorn-ball design improves solar cells
Campus news: $6.25 million for artificial-intelligence research; Engineers Without Borders-USA conference; Young hotshots
Coming events: Engineering Open House; Diamond Awards; Bill Gates on campus
In the media

Message from Dean Matt O'Donnell

Dean Matt O'Donnell discusses the College's growth: a successful $250 million fundraising campaign, a new center for molecular engineering research, and an ambitious faculty recruitment campaign. More »

Research news

Future of social networking explored in UW's computer science building
A pilot project in the University of Washington's computer science building explores the next step in social networking, wirelessly monitoring people and things. It's one of the largest experiments looking at RFID tags in a social setting.
Read UW News story »
Read more: Guardian | The Chronicle of Higher Education | Wired | Seattle Times

Implantable cardiac defibrillators could expose patients to security, privacy risks
Researchers from the UW, Harvard and UMass Amherst showed that patients’ private medical information could be extracted from implantable devices. The medical settings could also be reprogrammed without patients’ authorization or knowledge.
Read UW News story »
Read more: The NY Times | AP | Seattle Times

Popcorn-ball design improves solar cells
By using a popcorn-ball design – tiny kernels clumped into much larger porous spheres – materials scientists can more than double the efficiency of a new type of solar cell.
Read UW News story »

Campus news

$6.25 million for artificial-intelligence research
Pedro Domingos, a UW associate professor of computer science and engineering, leads the multi-institutional team awarded a $6.25 million Multidisciplinary University Research Initiative (MURI) grant by the U.S. Department of Defense. The project will use artificial intelligence to learn from vast amounts of data, including video, satellite and sensor measurements.
Read story »

Engineers Without Borders-USA conference held in Seattle
For those who missed the sold-out Engineers Without Borders-USA conference, see the links below for reports of the successful event. Congratulations to the University of Washington student chapter, which received the 2007/2008 EWB International Humanitarian Award for its ongoing work in rural Bolivia.
Read more: Seattle Times | Seattle Post-Intelligencer | Op-ed by Bernard Amadei
View slideshow of the award-winning UW project »

Young hotshots
Young members of the College have earned many prestigious grants in the past months.

NSF CAREER awards go to Hong Shen, Christine Luscombe, and Alberto Aliseda.
A DARPA Young Investigator Award also went to Christine Luscombe.
An Air Force Young Investigator Research Award was given to Michael Hochberg.
A Sloan Research Fellowship was awarded to Tadayoshi Kohno.

Coming events

Engineering Open House 2008 - Science for everyone

Friday, April 25: 9 a.m. to 3 p.m.
Saturday, April 26: 10 a.m. to 2 p.m.
University of Washington, Seattle

Next week's Engineering Open House is an opportunity to explore engineering and science with computer games, robots and liquid nitrogen ice cream. The event is free to students of all ages.
More information and registration at Engineering Open House 2008

UW Engineering Diamond Awards

Friday, May 30, 6 - 9 p.m.
Hotel Deca, Seattle

The Diamond Awards ceremony recognizes engineering alumni for their outstanding contributions. The 2008 recipients include Jeet Bindra, president of Chevron Global Refining, and Savio Woo, a world leader in sports medicine research.
More information at UW Engineering's Diamond Awards

Bill Gates Unplugged: On Software, Innovation, Entrepreneurship, and Giving Back

Friday, April 25, 3:15 – 4:30 p.m.
Live Web cast on UWTV

UW President Mark Emmert and UW Computer Science & Engineering host Microsoft co-founder Bill Gates for the final stop of his six-university tour, as Gates transitions from Microsoft to the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation.
More information at UWTV.org

In the media

Seattle taps its inner Silicon Valley
Many communities dream of becoming the next Silicon Valley. Seattle is actually doing it. According to the article, a crucial part of the chemistry is the UW, in particular its computer science and electrical engineering departments.
The New York Times, Feb. 8, 2008 (registration required)

Developing tools that help disabled students use the Web
An interview with Richard Ladner, UW professor of computer science and engineering. Ladner was recently recognized by the Computing Research Association for his work advancing underrepresented groups.
The Chronicle of Higher Education, March 21, 2008

Someday we may be surfing with our eyes closed
Move over, Bionic Man. Electrical engineer Babak Parviz has come up with a nanotech device that Steve Austin would have loved: a contact lens that displays images, letting a person surf the Web, read e-mail, scan a spreadsheet or play a video game, all without using a computer screen.
The Washington Post, March 25, 2008