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News & events

News archive for 2020

two people wearing masks carrying boxes

Thu, 04/16/2020 | UW News

How to move ‘hands on’ classes online

UW instructors offer creative solutions for courses that involve hands-on work.

A group shot of UW students all wearing purple sweatshirts

Wed, 04/15/2020 | Prism | ASEE

Bench Strength

The success of the STARS program was highlighted in the latest issue of American Society for Engineering Education's newsletter.

headshots of Arka Majumdar and Lillian Ratliff

Tue, 04/14/2020 | ECE News

Two UW ECE faculty members receive highly regarded ONR YIP award

UW ECE faculty members Arka Majumdar (left) and Lillian Ratliff (right) are each a recipient of the 2020 Office of Naval Research Young Investigator Program (ONR YIP) award. The early-career program award supports naval-relevant research and is highly competitive.

face shields

Tue, 04/14/2020 | UW News

UW’s 3D printed COVID-19 face shields: From innovation to delivery

3D printers across the UW's three campuses were running 24/7 to print face shields for health care workers on the front lines of the COVID-19 pandemic.

boy using a laptop

Tue, 04/14/2020 | UW News

How families can use technology to juggle childcare and remote life

HCDE researchers are beginning a national study to help families discover technology that helps them both successfully navigate home-based learning and combat social isolation.

A graphic showing the online status of four people -- Alice who is online at work, Bob who is offline, Carol who is online but has changed her status to appear offline to avoid Malory, and Malory who is waiting for Carol to get online to ask for a favor.

Mon, 04/13/2020 | UW News

‘I saw you were online’: How online status indicators shape our behavior

UW researchers found that many people misunderstand online status indicators but still carefully shape their behavior to control how they are displayed to others.

Eric Klavins and Julie Kientz

Tue, 04/07/2020 | College of Engineering

New chairs for ECE and HCDE

Dean Nancy Allbritton has announced two new chair appointments in the departments of Electrical & Computer Engineering and Human Centered Design & Engineering.

Truth

Mon, 04/06/2020 | UW News

Fighting COVID-19 misinformation

From debunking myths on social media to investigating how users react to fake content, UW researchers hope to slow the viral spread of the COVID-19 'infodemic.'

students painting an external wall

Fri, 04/03/2020 | UW News

Watch videos of UW students' ideas for public toilets, road safety and job matches in India

Students in the Grand Challenges Impact Lab spent winter quarter in Bengaluru, India, working with local organizations that are addressing problems in the area. View videos of the students' projects, including educating young drivers and connecting residents to sanitary restrooms.

student working on a laptop

Tue, 03/31/2020 | UW News

UW researchers need your (digital) coughs

If you are looking for a way to help during the coronavirus, UW researchers have a task for you: collect your coughs.

Parker Ruth

Mon, 03/30/2020 | UW News

Engineering student named Goldwater Scholar

Engineering student Parker Ruth is among 396 undergrads around the country named Goldwater Scholars for 2020.

The back of a person wearing a hat and a jacket. Drawn around the person's head are four speech bubbles: Each one contains a logo for either Skype, Facebook, Twitter or WhatsApp

Wed, 03/18/2020 | UW News

How people investigate — or don’t — fake news on Twitter and Facebook

UW researchers studied how people investigated potentially suspicious posts on their own Facebook and Twitter feeds.

Bus on a street

Tue, 03/17/2020 | UW News

Survey: What blocks your bus?

College of Engineering researchers are carrying out a project to investigate the reasons for bus delays.

Discovery Days logo

Wed, 03/11/2020 | College of Engineering

Discovery Days 2020 Canceled

After thoughtful consideration of our community and in accordance with public health guidelines we have decided to cancel Discovery Days scheduled for April 23 and 24.

The Age of AI

Wed, 03/11/2020 | UW News

CSE's Domingos featured in ‘Age of A.I.’ documentary

Pedro Domingos, professor in the Paul G. Allen School of Computer Science & Engineering, shares his expertise on artificial intelligence and data science in “The Age of A.I.,” a YouTube documentary.

Graduate student Ty Higashi at a NASA lab working on the heart tissue space flight experiment in preparation for the launch

Fri, 03/06/2020 | UW Medicine

3D beating heart tissue experiment heads to Space Station

Part of the Tissue Chips in Space program, this study will measure how microgravity affects human heart muscle.

a person rowing in water

Mon, 03/02/2020 | UW News

Navigating the potential pitfalls of tracking college athletes

Fitness trackers make it easy for college athletic programs to collect data about health and performance on athletes. This shift toward more data collection might encroach on college athletes’ autonomy.

Tue, 02/18/2020 | UW News

Simple, fuel-efficient rocket engine could enable cheaper, lighter spacecraft

UW researchers have developed a mathematical model that describes how rotating detonation engines work.

earthquake damage to brick building

Fri, 02/14/2020 | UW News

Researchers at AAAS to discuss latest science on Cascadia earthquake hazards

UW researchers share new results about how midrise to tall buildings would fare in various simulated magnitude 9 earthquakes at the AAAS annual meeting.

A river in the foreground while children run on the beach in the background

Thu, 02/13/2020 | UW News

Hydropower dams cool rivers in the Mekong River basin, satellites show

Researchers at the University of Washington were interested in studying how several hydropower dams affected the temperature of three major rivers in Southeast Asia's Mekong River basin. Using 30 years of satellite data, the team discovered that within one year of the opening of a major dam, downstream river temperatures during the dry season dropped by up to 3.6 degrees F (2 degrees C). The cooling persisted where the rivers meet the Mekong River, which showed, at most, a 1.4 F (0.8 C) cooling.

diagram of cell activation

Thu, 02/13/2020 | UW News

Immune cells consult with neighbors to make decisions

Scientists and physicians have long known that immune cells migrate to the site of an infection. Now, researchers at the University of Washington and Northwestern University have uncovered evidence that this gathering is not just a consequence of immune activation. Immune cells count their neighbors before deciding whether or not the immune system should kick into high gear.

Steve Kramer

Mon, 02/10/2020 | UW News

Steve Kramer elected to National Academy of Engineering

CEE professor Steve Kramer has been elected to the National Academy of Engineering, one of the highest professional distinctions in engineering, for “contributions to geotechnical earthquake engineering, including liquefaction, seismic stability and seismic site response.”

A researcher writes 'hello' on a computer screen by drawing out the letters in the air with a finger. The researcher is wearing the ring/wristband combo.

Mon, 02/03/2020 | UW News

The one ring — to track your finger’s location

Researchers at the University of Washington have created AuraRing, a ring and wristband combination that can detect the precise location of someone’s index finger and continuously track hand movements.

François Baneyx

Wed, 01/29/2020 | UW News

François Baneyx named UW Vice Provost for Innovation at inaugural meeting of UW Innovation Roundtable

François Baneyx has been named Vice Provost for Innovation at the University of Washington, Provost Mark Richards announced yesterday at the inaugural meeting of the UW Innovation Roundtable.

Rendering of red blood cells

Wed, 01/22/2020 | UW Medicine

Engineered capillaries model traffic in tiny blood vessels

The 3D microvessels can show how normal red blood cells squeeze through them, and malaria-infected cells become stalled.