Research centers & institutes

ADVANCE Center for Institutional Change

The ADVANCE Center for Institutional Change is a campus and national resource for best practices in academic leadership development, cultural change and policy transformation, and increasing the advancement and number of women in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) fields. ADVANCE offers leadership development workshops, career development resources for pre-tenure faculty, and mentoring programs.

Leadership: Joyce Yen (Director)
Contact: advcic@uw.edu 206-543-4215

Advanced Composites Center

The Advanced Composites Center (ACC) will be a robust innovation ecosystem for industry and academia to advance the field of data-driven methods for composites manufacturing. With state-of-the-art facilities and first-class industrial partnerships, the ACC will be a national magnet for the design, manufacturing, evaluation and certification of the latest in composite systems.

Leadership: Marco Salviato
Contact: salviato@uw.edu

AI Institute for Dynamic Systems

The UW-led AI Institute for Dynamic Systems will focus on fundamental AI and machine learning theory, algorithms and applications for real-time learning and control of complex dynamic systems, which describe chaotic situations where conditions are constantly shifting and hard to predict.

Leadership: Steve Brunton, Associate Director
Contact: sbrunton@uw.edu

Boeing Advanced Research Collaboration

The Boeing Advanced Research Collaboration (BARC) is an interdisciplinary Boeing-UW partnership for the future of flight. BARC unites UW faculty and students with Boeing subject matter experts to evolve aerospace systems with next-generation technologies such as new materials, digital twins, data-driven engineering, robotics, and human-technology partnership.

Leadership: Xu Chen
Contact: chx@uw.edu

Center for Collaborative Systems for Security, Safety, and Regional Resilience

The Center for Collaborative Systems for Security, Safety, and Regional Resilience (CoSSaR) is a multi-disciplinary center where professionals from a wide range of entities team with university experts to align strategies, processes and investments in systems for security, safety and resilience.

Flagship project: Enhanced Regional Traffic Incident and Congestion Management (TIM-CM). In collaboration with the Washington State Department of Transportation (WSDOT), the Seattle Department of Transportation (SDOT), Seattle Police, Seattle Fire, King County Metro, Washington State Patrol, and Challenge Seattle, CoSSaR is conducting foundational research towards the design and delivery of a Virtual Coordination Center (VCC) for enhanced regional traffic management.

Leadership: Mark Haselkorn
Contact: markh@uw.edu 206-543-2577

Center for Design of Analog-Digital Integrated Circuits

The Center for Design of Analog-Digital Integrated Circuits (CDADIC) is one of the few research consortiums in the country that address problems associated with analog and mixed-signal research.

Leadership: J. Chris Rudell
Contact: jcrudell@ee.washington.edu 206-685-1600

Center for Dialysis Innovation

The Center for Dialysis Innovation (CDI)'s mission is to improve the health and well-being of people receiving dialysis treatment. Our vision is that future dialysis therapy will be complication free, and restorative of kidney health.

Leadership: Buddy D. Ratner
Contact: info@cdi.washington.edu

Center for Engineering Learning and Teaching

The Center for Engineering Learning and Teaching (CELT) combines two missions: to conduct internationally recognized research in engineering learning and to promote teaching effectiveness in UW engineering classrooms.

Leadership: Cindy Atman
Contact: celtad@engr.washington.edu

Center for Game Science

The Center for Game Science at the University of Washington focuses on solving hard world-scale problems that neither people nor computers alone can solve by themselves. We do this by discovering unique tech-enabled learning pathways that drastically accelerate human learning and mastery; and by developing self-adapting algorithms that optimize joint outcomes. The Center studies ways to engage and inspire people reaching their potential through team work and symbiotic collaboration with computational methods. We have produced scientific discovery games that enabled novices to publish numerous world class scientific discoveries, games that discover optimal learning pathways and can teach algebra to all elementary school learners, games that change academic mindset and enable people to be more persistent when facing an obstacle. We primarily focus domains of scientific discovery and K-12 education, and mental health. To achieve our goals, our research spans many fields of computer science including: data science, crowd-sourcing, computer games, machine learning, intelligent tutors, inductive logic programming, program synthesis, self-adapting HCI, and computer graphics.

Leadership: Zoran Popovic
Contact: cgs-info@cs.washington.edu 206-616-2660

Center for Medical and Industrial Ultrasound

The Center for Medical and Industrial Ultrasound is an inter-departmental, multidisciplinary organization dedicated to ultrasound education, research and technology development for the academic, industrial and medical communities.

Leadership: Tom Matula
Contact: matula@uw.edu

Center for Neurotechnology

The Center for Neurotechnology (CNT), formerly named the Center for Sensorimotor Neural Engineering, is an NSF-funded Engineering Research Center launched July 2011. The CNT's mission is to develop innovative neural devices and methods for directing engineered neuroplasticity in the brain and spinal cord, which will improve sensory and motor function for people impacted by spinal cord injury, stroke and a wide range of other neurological disorders. Engineered neuroplasticity is a new form of rehabilitation that uses engineered devices to restore lost or injured connections in the brain, spinal cord and other areas of the nervous system. The Center brings together leaders in robotics, computer science, artificial intelligence, neuroscience, medicine, philosophy and other disciplines.

Leadership: Rajesh Rao
Contact: rao@cs.uw.edu 206-685-9141

Center for Reproducible Biomedical Modeling

The Center for Reproducible Biomedical Modeling is a multi-institutional partnership led by the University of Washington that aims to enable larger and more accurate systems biology models, as well as their applications to science, bioengineering, and medicine, by enhancing their understandability, reusability, and reproducibility.

Leadership: Herbert Sauro
Contact: info@reproduciblebiomodels.org

Center for Research and Education on Accessible Technology and Experiences

The UW CREATE center is led by an interdisciplinary team whose mission is to make technology accessible and to make the world accessible through technology.

Leadership: Jennifer Mankoff, Jacob O. Wobbrock
Contact: uw-create@uw.edu

Center for Synthetic Biology

The Center for Synthetic Biology (CSB) represents a community of interdisciplinary researchers exploring one of the most exciting frontiers in science and technology: the engineering and evolution of novel life-forms to address technical challenges in health, energy and the environment and to enhance our general understanding of living systems.

Leadership: James Carothers
Contact:

Center for the Science of Synthesis Across Scales

The Center for the Science of Synthesis Across Scales (CSSAS) is a multi-institution Energy Frontier Research Center (EFRC) established in 2018 with funding from the U.S. Department of Energy, Office of Science, Basic Energy Sciences. CSSAS is housed at the UW and operates in close integration with its institutional partners: Pacific Northwest National Laboratory, Oak Ridge National Laboratory, the University of California San Diego, and the University of Chicago.

Leadership: François Baneyx
Contact: cssasmgt@uw.edu

Center for Translational Muscle Research

The Center for Translational Muscle Research (CTMR) provides a unifying resource to accelerate and expand skeletal muscle research at the UW. With funding from the National Institute of Arthritis and Musculoskeletal and Skin Diseases, the UW CTMR offers tools, facilities, and expertise to facilitate novel insights into muscle pathologies and move therapeutics toward the clinic and the marketplace.

Leadership: Michael Regnier
Contact: ctmr@uw.edu

Center of Excellence for Advanced Materials in Transport Aircraft Structures

The Center of Excellence for Advanced Materials in Transport Aircraft Structures (AMTAS) seeks solutions to problems associated with existing, near- and long-term applications of composites and advanced materials for large transport commercial aircraft.

Leadership: Marco Salviato
Contact: salviato@uw.edu 206-543-0299

Clean Energy Institute

The Clean Energy Institute (CEI) was founded in 2013 with funds from the state of Washington. Its mission is to accelerate the adoption of a scalable clean energy future that will improve the health and economy of our state, nation, and world. To accomplish this mission, CEI supports the advancement of next-generation solar energy and battery materials and devices, as well as their integration with systems and the grid. The institute creates the ideas and educates the people needed to generate these innovations, while facilitating the pathways to bring them to market.

Leadership: Daniel T. Schwartz
Contact: uwcei@uw.edu 206-685-6410

CMMB Vision: Center for Satellite Multimedia and Connected Vehicles

CMMB Vision – UW EE Center on Satellite Multimedia and Connected Vehicles is dedicated to the advancement of satellite networking, multimedia, smart connected vehicles and artificial intelligence/machine learning technologies. Our mission is to develop cutting-edge solutions that enable delivery of information to people around the world at unprecedented speed, scale, and low cost.

Leadership: Jenq-Neng Hwang, Radha Poovendran, Sumit Roy
Contact:

DFab: Center for Digital Fabrication

The UW Center for Digital Fabrication (DFab) is a network of researchers, educators, industry partners, and community members advancing the field of digital fabrication at UW and in the greater Seattle region.

Leadership: Adriana Schulz, Nadya Peek
Contact: cecarrol@cs.washington.edu

Disabilities, Opportunities, Internetworking, and Technology (DO-IT) Center

The Disabilities, Opportunities, Internetworking, and Technology (DO-IT) Center is dedicated to empowering people with disabilities through technology and education. It promotes awareness and accessibility—in both the classroom and the workplace—to maximize the potential of individuals with disabilities and make our communities more vibrant, diverse, and inclusive.

Leadership: Mary Mulvihill
Contact: doit@uw.edu 206-685-DOIT

eScience Institute

The eScience Institute empowers researchers and students in all fields to answer fundamental questions through the use of large, complex, and noisy data. As the hub of data-intensive discovery on campus, we lead a community of innovators in the techniques, technologies, and best practices of data science and the fields that depend on them.

Leadership: Sarah Stone
Contact: exec-director@escience.washington.edu 206-616-2611

Global Innovation Exchange (GIX)

The University of Washington’s Global Innovation Exchange (GIX) is an engineering-and-business institute for emerging and established technology leaders.

Launched in 2017 with generous support from Microsoft, GIX is jointly supported by the University of Washington’s College of Engineering and Foster School of Business. Operating from world-class facilities in Bellevue, Washington, GIX partners with corporate, government and non-profit organizations to deliver transformational learning through graduate education, global experiences, and professional development programs.

Leadership: Sean Carr
Contact: gix@uw.edu 206-897-9050

Industrial Assessment Center (IAC)

The IAC at UW comprises a diverse team of dedicated faculty, staff, and students with interests spanning across several engineering disciplines, including mechanical, environmental, chemical, electrical, and computer engineering, as well as atmospheric and computer science. It is part of a national network of 28 universities involved in the IAC program across the U.S.

The center views industrial energy management as a collective responsibility. The IAC at UW actively advocates for energy-efficient practices amongst local manufacturers and small businesses. Continuing the tradition of the Energy Analysis and Diagnostic Centers, their team conducts energy assessments that contribute significantly to both the local economy and the environment.

Leadership: Alex Mamishev
Contact: uwiac@uw.edu

Institute for Foundations of Data Science

The NSF-funded Institute for Foundations of Data Science (IFDS) is led by the University of Washington and partners with the University of Wisconsin-Madison, University of California-Santa Cruz, and University of Chicago. IFDS brings together mathematicians, statisticians, computer scientists and engineers with the goal of developing the theoretical foundations of the field of data science to help tackle critical issues such as dynamic environments, algorithmic biases, and data privacy concerns. IFDS organizes its research around four core themes: complexity, robustness, closed-loop data science, and ethics and algorithms. By making concerted progress on these fundamental fronts, IFDS aims to lower the barriers to better understanding of data science methodology and to its improved effectiveness and wider relevance to application areas. Alongside its research agenda, IFDS engages the data science community through workshops, summer schools, and hackathons, and is committed to equity and inclusion through extensive plans for outreach to traditionally underrepresented groups.

Leadership: Maryam Fazel
Contact: mfazel@uw.edu

Institute for Stem Cell & Regenerative Medicine

The Institute of Stem Cell & Regenerative Medicine is engaged in the ethical pursuit of basic research and unleashing the potential of stem cells for improved therapies and cures for patients.

Leadership: Nathan Sniadecki, Interim Co-Director
Contact: kvosk@uw.edu

Joint Center for Aerospace Technology Innovation

The Joint Center for Aerospace Technology Innovation (JCATI) supports the aerospace industry in the state of Washington by pursuing industry-university research, helping develop internship and research opportunities at aerospace firms for engineering and computer science students at all of Washington's public four-year colleges and universities, and identifying research and tech transfer opportunities that benefit the State's aerospace industry.

Leadership: Mehran Mesbahi
Contact: mesbahi@aa.washington.edu 206-543-7937

Molecular Engineering & Sciences Institute

The Molecular Engineering & Sciences Institute (MolES) supports cutting-edge, interdisciplinary research and education related to the design and assembly of molecules for biotechnology and clean energy applications. MolES is home to the Molecular Analysis Facility (MAF), a state-of-the-art user facility with extensive microscopy, spectroscopy, and surface science capabilities.

Leadership: Suzie Hwang Pun
Contact: MolES@uw.edu 206-616-6627

National ESCA Surface Analysis Center for Biomedical Problems

The National ESCA Surface Analysis Center for Biomedical Problems (NESAC/BIO) is a state-of-the-art surface analysis instrumentation and research facility serving the biomedical research community. Their mission is to develop and apply new surface analysis technologies for biomedical research.

Leadership: David Castner and Lara Gamble
Contact: nesacbio@uw.edu 206-685-1229

NHERI RAPID Facility

The NHERI RAPID Facility is a NSF shared use major equipment facility that houses state-of-the-art equipment to support the collection of perishable data during and after the occurrence of natural hazards. High-quality reconnaissance data is crucial to improving our understanding of the vulnerability and resilience of communities to natural hazards. The facility supports the collection of high-quality scientific, engineering and social data.

Leadership: Joseph Wartman
Contact: wartman@uw.edu 206-685-4806

Northwestern Tribal Technical Assistance Program (NW TTAP) Center

The Northwestern Tribal Technical Assistance Program (NW TTAP) Center launched in November 2022 in collaboration with Eastern Washington University (EWU). One of seven national centers supported by the Federal Highway Administration’s National Tribal Technical Assistance Program, NW TTAP serves as a go-to local resource for Tribal transportation training, technical assistance and technology transfer needs. The NW TTAP center supports 45 Native American and Alaskan Native Tribes within the Northwestern Bureau of Indian Affairs Region 6.

Leadership: Yinhai Wang
Contact: OLW8@UW.edu

Pacific Marine Energy Center

The Pacific Marine Energy Center (PMEC) is a consortium of universities focused on the responsible advancement of marine energy, including wave, tidal, riverine, and offshore wind resources. Researchers from the University of Washington, Oregon State University, and University of Alaska Fairbanks work closely with marine energy technology developers, academic and National Laboratory researchers, coastal community members, ocean users, federal and state regulators, and other government officials to address key challenges in the sector and accelerate its emergence.

Leadership: Brian Polagye
Contact: bpolagye@uw.edu 206-543-7544

Pacific Northwest Transportation Consortium

The Pacific Northwest Transportation Consortium (PacTrans) is a Regional University Transportation Center (UTC) administered by the United States Department of Transportation. PacTrans acts as a hub for transportation research and education in the Pacific Northwest.

Leadership: Yinhai Wang
Contact: pactrans@uw.edu 206-685-0395

Plasma Science and Innovation Center

The Plasma Science and Innovation Center develops predictive capability for emerging concept experiments, allowing new experiments in fusion science and in other areas of plasma science without actual construction.

Leadership:
Contact: 206-685-3427

QuantumX

The QuantumX initiative at the UW seeks to facilitate and support activities to accelerate quantum discoveries and technologies. QuantumX faculty and researchers are exploring quantum computation, quantum materials, quantum communication and networks, quantum sensing and quantum simulation.

Leadership: Kai-Mei Fu, Jihui Yang
Contact: uwqis@uw.edu

Safeguarding the Entire Community of the U.S. Research Ecosystem (SECURE) Center

The SECURE Center will establish a national infrastructure and collaborative partnership of academic institutions, nonprofits and businesses, engaging them in the design, development and delivery of capabilities and information that will be used to safeguard the U.S. research investment.

Leadership: Mark Haselkorn
Contact:

Space Policy and Research Center

The UW Space Policy and Research Center is an interdisciplinary hub of faculty, researchers, policymakers, organizations and facilities operating at the intersection of technology, science, and policy in the Pacific Northwest. The UW convenes resources and knowledge to meet the emerging challenges and opportunities of expanding human interest and exploration in space. SPARC is organized by the William E. Boeing Department of Aeronautics & Astronautics and the Jackson School of International Studies and convenes space related faculty, research, and initiatives from all over the UW and the region, including the departments of Astrobiology, Buerk Center for Entrepreneurship, the iSchool, Mechanical Engineering, Materials Science and Engineering, Human Centered Design and Engineering, Industrial Systems and Engineering, Electrical and Computer Engineering, Computer Science and Engineering, Earth & Space Sciences, the Law School, Environmental Sciences, Math, UW Medicine, the Joint Center for Aerospace Technology Innovation, and more.

Leadership: Kristi Morgansen
Contact: sprag@uw.edu 206-543-6736

Supply Chain Transportation and Logistics Center

The Supply Chain Transportation and Logistics (SCTL) Center is a world leader in supply chain, transportation and logistics research and education serving the powerful nexus of industry, transportation infrastructure agencies, and policy makers. The Center is the go-to place to analyze and solve urban goods delivery, sustainability, logistic hubs and ports, and freight system performance management problems that overlay private and public spaces and control. The Center pilots and tests research concepts in its Urban Freight Lab. The SCTL Master’s program is an interactive online program that prepares working professionals to lead end-to-end management of transportation in global supply chains. It is anchored in engineering, focused on business results, and starts the year with an intensive week at the Seattle UW campus.

Leadership: Anne Goodchild
Contact: sctl@uw.edu 206-543-3747

Taskar Center for Accessible Technology

The Taskar Center for Accessible Technology (TCAT) develops, translates and deploys open source, universally accessible technologies, with a focus on benefiting populations with motor limitations or speech impairments. Housed in the Paul G. Allen School of Computer Science & Engineering, TCAT also engages undergraduate design and engineering students in participatory design best practices with community members and stakeholder populations.

Leadership: Anat Caspi (CSE)
Contact: caspian@cs.washington.edu

The Center for an Informed Public

The Center for an Informed Public (CIP) is an interdisciplinary effort at the University of Washington led by faculty from the Information School, Human Centered Design & Engineering, and the School of Law, with collaboration from numerous other university and community partners. The mission of the nonpartisan center is to resist strategic misinformation, promote an informed society, and strengthen democratic discourse.

Leadership: Kate Starbird
Contact: uwcip@uw.edu

Ultrasound-based Washington Molecular Imaging and Therapy Center

Funded by the Life Sciences Discovery Fund, Ultrasound-based Washington Molecular Imaging and Therapy Center (UWAMIT) focuses on the discovery, development, translation and commercialization of molecular imaging and therapy technologies.

Leadership: Mike Averkiou, Tom Matula, Matt O’Donnell
Contact: matula@uw.edu

University of Washington Engineered Biomaterials

UWEB-21 brings together a cross-disciplinary team of scientists, biologists, engineers, researchers and physicians, as well as industry leaders, to explore specific biological mechanisms in the development of medical innovations.

Leadership: Buddy Ratner
Contact: ratner@uweb.uw.edu

UW + Amazon Science Hub

The University of Washington and Amazon are partnering to launch the Science Hub to advance the fields of artificial intelligence and robotics in a collaborative and inclusive environment. The Science Hub seeks proposals in robotic manipulation; autonomous mobility; computer vision; machine learning; modeling; simulation and verification; human-robot interaction.

Leadership: Joshua Smith
Contact: amazonscience@uw.edu

UW Computational Neuroscience Center

The Computational Neuroscience Center (CNC) is a hub for research in mathematical and computational neuroscience, connecting researchers at the University of Washington across campus and to the extended neuroscience community in the Pacific Northwest. Research topics span the full spectrum of scales, mechanisms, and functions of the brain — from the cellular biophysics of computation to brain-wide models of neural processing and cognition to next-generation brain/computer interfaces. The Center, which also houses the Swartz Center for Theoretical Neuroscience, is the campus home for undergraduate, graduate and postdoctoral training and research programs linking theoretical and experimental neuroscientists to advance understanding of the principles of neural computation.

Leadership:
Contact:

UW Institute for Neuroengineering

With support from the Washington Research Foundation, the UW Institute for Neuroengineering (UWIN) collectively draws on the unique strengths of computing, engineering and neuroscience to support a rich array of research and educational programs, and advance our understanding of how neural systems function.

Leadership: Tom Daniel
Contact: uwin1@uw.edu

UW Molecular Engineering Materials Center

The UW Molecular Engineering Materials Center (UWMEMC) coordinates research efforts among two colleges and five departments across UW’s campus and Pacific Northwest National Laboratory (PNNL) to address major trans-disciplinary challenges in materials research. MEM-C is involved with designing, developing and deploying new complex nanomaterials that accelerate future technologies in broad sectors including information processing, sensing, energy, and research tools. It will prepare tomorrow's technology navigators and scientific leaders through an integrated interdisciplinary research/education program bolstered by active industry, national laboratory, and international partnerships.

Leadership: Xiaodong Xu, Kai-Mei Fu
Contact: uwmemc@uw.edu

Virginia Merrill Bloedel Hearing Research Center

The UW’s Virginia Merrill Bloedel Hearing Research Center brings together an interdisciplinary group of investigators to study hearing, balance and related communication disorders so that those who would, might hear. The Bloedel Center incorporates faculty in the College of Arts and Sciences, the College of Engineering and the School of Medicine.

Leadership: Jay Rubenstein (BioE/UW Med)
Contact: parkiw@uw.edu

Washington Nanofabrication Facility (WNF)

The Washington Nanofabrication Facility (WNF) is part of the Institute for Nano-Engineered Systems and a user facility in the National Science Foundation’s National Nanotechnology Coordinated Infrastructure (NNCI). WNF is a full-service micro and nanotechnology user facility focused on enabling basic and applied research, advanced R&D, and prototype production. Renovated in 2017, WNF is the largest public access fabrication center in the Pacific Northwest, with 15,000 sf of laboratories, cleanrooms, and user spaces.

Leadership: Karl F Böhringer
Contact: wnfinfo@uw.edu 206-685-2753

Washington State Transportation Center

The Washington State Transportation Center (TRAC) is a collaboration among Washington State University, the University of Washington, and the Washington State Department of Transportation to coordinate both state and commercial transportation research efforts and to develop research opportunities nationally and locally.

Leadership: Mark Hallenbeck
Contact: trac@uw.edu 206-543-8690