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, January-February 2013
Mar. 03, 2013 | The Seattle Times
Aeronautical engineer is UW’s new engineering dean
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This summer, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign professor Michael Bragg will become dean of the University of Washington’s College of Engineering, bringing with him a résumé long on aeronautical-engineering qualifications. |
Michael B. Bragg selected as dean of UW College of Engineering
Feb. 26, 2013 | GeekWire
Startup vet, aeronautical expert to lead University of Washington’s college of engineering
| GeekWire reports on the selection of Michael Bragg as the new dean of UW Engineering and notes his experience with startup companies. |
Michael B. Bragg selected as dean of UW College of Engineering
Feb. 06, 2013 | The New York Times
Obama Chooses REI Executive to Lead Interior Dept.
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President Obama on Wednesday nominated Sally Jewell, the chief executive of Recreational Equipment Inc., to lead the Interior Department. Jewell is a UW regent and a UW mechanical engineering alumna. |
UW president calls Jewell selection ‘an inspired choice’
Feb. 06, 2013 | The Seattle Times
REI chief nominated as secretary of interior
| President Obama today nominated REI President and CEO Sally Jewell of Seattle as his next secretary of the interior. Jewell is a UW regent and holds a mechanical engineering degree from UW. |
UW president calls Jewell selection ‘an inspired choice’
Jan. 09, 2013 | Xconomy
New Advanced Computing Institute Bolsters NW Big Data Cluster
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The burgeoning big data cluster in Washington is getting a boost with a new partnership between the University of Washington and the federal government’s Pacific Northwest National Laboratory. |
UW, Pacific NW National Lab join forces on computing research
Jan. 09, 2013 | The Seattle Times
New advanced computing institute to tackle big problems
| The University of Washington and the Department of Energy’s Pacific Northwest National Laboratory are forming a new enterprise, the Northwest Institute for Advanced Computing, to tackle a wide range of the world’s most vexing issues -- from the causes of disease to how climate change will impact the planet. |
UW, Pacific NW National Lab join forces on computing research
Jan. 24, 2013 | GeekWire
New computing institute on UW campus will focus on big data problems
| The University of Washington is already a budding hub for computer science. Now, with some help from a national laboratory, the Seattle campus will become even more of a CS powerhouse. |
UW, Pacific NW National Lab join forces on computing research
Jan. 15, 2013 | MIT Technology Review
Tracking Lung Health With a Cell Phone
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A group at the University of Washington, in collaboration with Seattle Children’s Hospital, is developing a way to check how healthy your lungs are when you breathe out at your smartphone. |
App lets you monitor lung health using only a smartphone
Jan. 24, 2013 | Science Daily
Organic ferroelectric molecule shows promise for memory chips, sensors
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Researchers at UW and Southeast University in China have discovered a cheap, flexible, and nontoxic molecule well suited to a wide range of applications in memory, sensing and low-cost energy storage. Findings are published this week in the journal Science. Co-corresponding author Jiangyu Li, a UW associate professor of mechanical engineering, is quoted. |
Organic ferroelectric molecule shows promise for memory chips, sensors
Jan. 25, 2013 | King 5 News
UW molecule discovery opens computer, medical possibilities
| A joint U.S./China research project may have just opened the door on a cleaner, cheaper, and more efficient way to store computer memory and monitor health. |
Organic ferroelectric molecule shows promise for memory chips, sensors
Jan. 16, 2013 | The Seattle Times
Lithium-ion batteries pack a lot of energy -- and challenges
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From laptops on up to cars and now planes, lithium-ion batteries offer benefits but also risks. Jonathan Posner, associate professor of mechanical engineering, talks about the maturity of these batteries. |
Jan. 17, 2013 | Wired
How a Battery Grounded Boeing’s Revolutionary Dreamliner
| Battery issues have now led to the first grounding of a U.S. commercial airplane fleet since 1979. Wired covers the use of lithium-ion batteries in the Boeing 787. Eric Stuve, professor of chemical engineering, discusses characteristics of these batteries. |
Jan. 17, 2013 | The (Toronto) Globe and Mail
Dreamliner woes shift focus to outsourcing of components
| The grounding of Boeing Co.'s 787s around the world has prompted questions about the aircraft's lithium ion batteries, but also over how modern planes have become vast assemblies of outsourced components and operating systems. |
Jan. 03, 2013 | The Seattle Times
Noisy ships, ferries create racket below Puget Sound
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Recent work by University of Washington researchers shows noise in some Puget Sound shipping channels regularly meets or exceeds levels the federal government suggests may be harmful to marine life. |
Feb. 20, 2013 | Daily Journal of Commerce
PSEC honors six engineers
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Scott Rutherford, a UW professor of civil and environmental engineering, is one of six local engineers recognized by the Puget Sound Engineering Council at its 55th annual Engineering Awards Banquet on Saturday. He was named Academic Engineer of the Year. |
Jan. 02, 2013 | NPR: All Tech Considered
Tech Idea List: 5 Nerds To Watch In 2013
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Babak Parviz, affiliate professor in electrical engineering, is Nerd No. 2 on NPR's list. His work at UW led to Google Glasses: smart, wirelessly connected glasses. Think of them as another tiny screen but this one is less than an inch from your eye. |
Jan. 01, 2013 | The Seattle Times
UW grants degree to late student undaunted by terminal cancer
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The University of Washington has granted a rare posthumous degree to Nolan Roquet, a student who died from bone cancer. His degree is in mechanical engineering. |
Jan. 15, 2013 | Fortune
Meet your next surgeon: Dr. Robot
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A heart surgery provides the backdrop for a discussion of two very different surgical robots: the da Vinci, with a closed operating system, and the Raven, an open-source system developed in part at the UW BioRobotics Laboratory. |
Feb. 06, 2013 | The Daily (UW)
Mucosal study targets STDs
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A team of bioengineering researchers at the UW is working on engineering materials to prevent HIV infection and other sexually transmitted diseases. |
Jan. 10, 2013 | The Herald (Everett, WA)
Tribe's investment helping Arlington company hire 200
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The Stillaguamish Tribe is investing $5 million in MicroGREEN Polymers, which was co-founded in 2006 by mechanical engineering alumnus Krishna Nadella (now the Chief Technology Officer). This will allow the company to accelerate production capacity. |
Jan. 19, 2013 | The Seattle Times: Monica Guzman's blog
New tech tools aim to bring health care home
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Julie Kientz, assistant professor in HCDE and adjunct assistant professor in CSE, is studying the use of technology to improve lifestyles and bridge the gap between the world of health care and the possibilities of personal tech. The article profiles Kientz's work, including references to the Lullaby sleep-tracking system and Baby Steps, which helps track developmental milestones. |
Jan. 23, 2013 | Forbes
Free online college courses take big step forward
| Institutions are beginning to offer credit for "massive open online courses" and to use MOOCs as a way to attract students who may ultimately pay tuition and earn a degree (MOOC2Degree). UW's foray into giving credit for MOOCs is mentioned. |
Feb. 20, 2013 | The Daily (UW)
Rehabilitation through re-wiring
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The future of rehabilitation therapy for victims of stroke or spinal-cord injury may lie in a small computer chip -- called a neurochip -- being developed, in cooperation, by the Washington National Primate Research Center (WaNPRC) and the UW's College of Engineering. |
Feb. 15, 2013 | Chemical & Engineering News
Counting Cancer Cells Quickly
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Researchers have developed a simple method that can count cancer cells in patients’ blood in just a couple hours and with little sample preparation. Daniel T. Chiu, UW chemistry and bioengineering professor, is featured. |
Feb. 06, 2013 | Engineering News-Record
The 2012 Best of the Best Projects
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UW's Molecular Engineering & Sciences Building wins a "Best of the Best 2012" project award (Higher Education/Research category) in a national competition sponsored by Engineering News-Record. |
Feb. 03, 2013 | The Seattle Times
Import talent, but nurture local potential, too
| In this column, Jerry Large discusses proposed legislation to increase in the number of H-1B visas, allowing high-tech companies to hire more foreign workers. He notes clogs in the pipeline to STEM degrees which are preventing more hiring from within. |
Feb. 06, 2013 | The Seattle Times
Help wanted for tech jobs and our schools
| Columnist Jerry Large expands on his conversation with CSE's Ed Lazowska on preparing young people in Washington State to compete for the high-tech jobs created here. |
Feb. 04, 2013 | The Huffington Post
10 Organizations That Will Green Your World
| This Huffington Post blog entry highlights the 2012 winners of the Katerva Awards -- including Foldit, an online game that involves players in solving protein folding challenges. Foldit won in the Behavioral Change category. |
Jan. 24, 2013 | Popular Mechanics
Swallowable camera takes pictures through a pill
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Scientists create a camera they can send down into someone gastrointestinal tract without having to put the patient under anesthesia. UW mechanical engineering's Eric Seibel comments on the technology. |
If you have a newsworthy result about one month from publication, presentation or demonstration, please contact Michelle Ma, mcma@uw.edu. Notice of student and faculty awards and grants is also welcome.



























