Dear Friends of Engineering,
At the University of Washington, we measure our success by our impact on the world and our communities. This issue clearly demonstrates how our students and faculty’s work is improving lives both here in Seattle and around the world. Whether it's by creating an app that can determine when someone has experienced an opioid overdose, investigating what's making a new bridge in Seattle so loud or developing houseplants that can remove carcinogens from the air, our researchers are committed to engineering projects that make a difference.
Their efforts have not gone unnoticed. For example, bioengineering professor Matthew O’Donnell received the 2019 IEEE Biomedical Engineering Award for his leadership in biomedical ultrasonics and medical imaging technologies. And four UW-led teams received Department of Energy funding to advance research in photovoltaic materials. Finally, computer science and engineering doctoral student Rajalakshmi Nandakumar became the UW's first early career researcher to receive a Young Scholar award from the Marconi Society for her work developing smartphone apps to detect potentially life-threatening conditions.
Winter quarter has just begun, and our students are already preparing for the next year by attending career fairs and exploring opportunities to study abroad. Many programs to support student success are in full swing, including our Industrial & Systems Engineering department’s yearlong Campus to Career program, in which our students are matched up with local industry mentors for guidance on how to transition from student life to the working world. Finally, to give students a chance to learn new engineering skills outside of class, we recently opened a new makerspace within one of the campus dorms through a collaboration between the College of Engineering and the UW's Housing and Food Services.
Thank you for taking the time to learn more about the exciting work at UW Engineering and for reading Washington Engineer.
Michael B. Bragg
Frank & Julie Jungers Dean of Engineering