Accolades
Engineering's Highest Honor
Kudos to New National Academy of Engineering Fellows
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Matthew O’Donnell, dean and professor of bioengineering, was elected to NAE for his contributions to biomedical ultrasonics and real-time ultrasound imaging technologies. His research ranges over ultrafast optics, in-vivo microscopy, catheter imaging of coronary arteries, optoacoustic arrays, and elasticity and molecular imaging. O’Donnell holds some 55 patents and is associate editor of Ultrasonic Imaging. |
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The academy cited David Auth, affiliate professor of bioengineering, for inventing minimally invasive devices to treat gastrointestinal bleeding and coronary artery obstructions. Auth was a professor of electrical engineering from 1969 to 1982. He developed the Rotablator, a tool that removes calcified plaque from coronary arteries, and then founded and until 1995 led Heart Technology Inc. Auth holds some 100 patents in the medical-device field. |
NAE recognized alumnus Jeffrey Dean (CSE PhD ’96) for contributions to the science and engineering of large-scale distributed computer systems. He now works at Google Inc. in Mountain View, Calif. The college honored him with the 2006 Diamond Award for early career achievement.
NAE honored alumnus Moustafa T. Chahine (BSAA ’56, MSAA ’57) for his leadership in determining the structure and composition of Earth’s atmosphere from space. Chahine is a senior research scientist at NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory, where he founded the Earth and Space Sciences Division in 1984.
National Science Foundation Early CAREER Awards
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Maya Gupta, assistant professor of electrical engineering and adjunct in applied mathematics, was honored in December 2008 at a White House ceremony for winners of the 2007 Presidential Early Career Award for Scientists and Engineers. The NSF awarded her $1 million to develop theory and algorithms for estimation and statistical learning. |
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Magdalena Balazinska, assistant professor of computer science and engineering, has won a five-year, $500,000 award to develop new techniques for large-scale data management aimed at cloud-computing environments and scientific data analysis applications. Her work focuses on query processing techniques and management tools. |
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Luis Ceze, assistant professor of computer science and engineering, has won a five-year $450,000 NSF early career award for research that will make it much easier to program multicore processors. His work will improve software reliability and lead to energy savings in computer systems. |
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Tadayoshi Kohno, assistant professor of computer science and engineering, won a five-year $450,000 NSF early career award for his work to develop the framework and applications to enhance the security and privacy of records such as email and electronic voting audit logs. |
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Maryam Fazel, assistant professor of electrical engineering, has won a five-year $400,000 NSF early career award to develop mathematical tools and algorithms that apply convex optimization methods to find low-complexity models that explain observed data in a variety of engineering applications. |
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Nathan Sniadecki, assistant professor of mechanical engineering, has won a five-year $400,000 NSF early career award for studying the mechanics of vascular smooth muscle cells. He specializes in cell biomechanics and nano-mechanical instrumentation and his helping build an educational pathway between mechanical engineering and the biomedical fields. |
More Honors for UW Engineers
Buddy Ratner Wins Gold
Buddy Ratner, professor of bioengineering and chemical engineering, will receive the 2009 Acta Biomaterialia Gold Medal. It honors “an undisputed world leader in the field of biomaterials, whose accomplishments... are surpassing and known to all in the field.”
Three Awards for Richard Ladner
Richard Ladner, professor of computer science and engineering, is drawing recognition for his efforts to improve electronic communications for the blind and hard of hearing. He has won an award from the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation, a Purpose Prize from Civic Ventures, and the 2009 UW Outstanding Public Service Award.
UW Honoring Wayne Quinton
In June, the UW is bestowing the 2009 Alumnus Summa Laude Dignatus award on bioengineering pioneer Wayne Quinton (BSME ’58). In May, UW Engineering recognized him with a Diamond Award.
CSE Student in the Stratosphere in Putnam Math Competition
Will Johnson, a computer science and engineering junior, bested more than 3,600 students from 545 colleges and universities to place sixth in the 69th annual William Lowell Putnam Mathematical Competition. Students must solve 12 difficult problems in six hours during the online test of math wits. The top five scorers were from Harvard, MIT, Stanford, and Caltech. Read more.