UW’s interdisciplinary innovation centers ‘can serve as a model for research institutions’

“Higher education is developing an efficient and effective new model for 21st Century innovation” write University of Washington professors David Baker, Tom Daniel, Ed Lazowska and Dan Schwartz in a recent opinion piece.

“Research institutes such as [those at the UW] eliminate sclerotic silos and bureaucratic boundaries by deftly blending teams of super-smart students, faculty, and research scientists from interconnected subject areas. As a result, these institutions stand the best chance of identifying and solving the toughest scientific and technological challenges of our age – they are confronting tomorrow today. The University of Washington, where we work, has a system of centers that has seen success and can serve as a model for research institutions across the country.”

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UW trains Pakistan’s water managers to harness NASA data

NASA satellites are helping Pakistan’s water managers to more effectively monitor and manage scarce groundwater resources, thanks to a partnership with engineers and hydrologists at the University of Washington, supported in part by the Global Innovation Fund. After training at the UW, the Pakistan Council of Research in Water Resources began using satellite data from NASA’s Gravity Recovery and Climate Experiment, or GRACE, mission to create monthly updates on groundwater storage changes in the Indus River basin. This will allow them to see where groundwater supplies are being depleted and where they are being adequately recharged, better supporting Pakistan’s agriculture-base economy.

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Husky Presidential Ambassadors Leadership Institute facilitates inclusive engagement

Universities across the nation are working to further connect international students and create a globally engaged campus environment for all students. Increasing globalization also raises the demand for graduates with increased competencies in cross-cultural communication and practice. Engaging together in cross-cultural leadership studies, undergraduates learn to think and connect across boundaries, enhancing all students’ Husky Experience.

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UW-industry partnership manufactures clean, efficient cookstoves in Kenya

For much of the world’s population, gathering fuel to cook food is a dangerous proposition, and smoke from cookstoves poses a serious health threat. A more efficient and clean wood-burning cookstove — developed by the Vashon Island-based non-profit BURN Design Lab in close collaboration with University of Washington mechanical engineers — will reduce the amount of fuel families need to collect or buy by 55 percent. It will also reduce the exposure of these women and children to the harmful particulate pollution produced by traditional cooking flames.

The new wood-burning cookstove will be manufactured in BURN Manufacturing’s factory in Nairobi, Kenya beginning this summer — thanks to a recent $800,000 investment fromUnilever and Acumen — and sold across East Africa.

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Student research named in El Salvador family’s reunification story

Jackson School students in the 2015 capstone course “Promoting Human Rights and Healing in the Wake of Civil War” made two documentary films aimed to reunite San Salvadoran parents of “disappeared children.” The videos went public in March 2015, and in April, King 5 news covered the story. By early 2016, at least one mother and child from the documentary had been reunited, as documented in this article by the Asociación Pro-Búsqueda. The article references the UW student-produced documentaries.

Consul General of India, industry leaders engage together on campus

With support from the Global Innovation Fund, The South Asia Center and the Global Business Center are partnering to host a symposium, “US-India Economic Relations and the Contemporary Indian Economy” on campus. Ambassador Venkatesan Ashok, Consul General of India of San Francisco, as well as prominent members of the local community and UW faculty experts will address the group and engage in the symposium.

Event details

Friday, February 26, 2016
2:00-5:00 PM
Bank of America Executive Education Center, Douglas Forum
Symposium Agenda

Register to attend

New device shows great promise for in HIV prevention in Africa

Recent studies in Africa led by University of Washington researchers and others showed that a vaginal ring infused with a microbicide helped prevent HIV infection in more than half of women who used the device correctly.

UW a top producer of Fulbright scholars

The University of Washington is one of the top producers of Fulbright students for 2015-16, according to lists released Monday in the Chronicle of Higher Education. The Fulbright Program, operated by the U.S. Department of State’s Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs, is the government’s flagship international educational exchange program. Ten students from the UW — including undergraduate, graduate and recent alumni — were awarded Fulbright grants for 2015-2016. Of those 10, seven were undergraduate students and recent graduates.

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Learn about awarded UW students…

Find out more about the Fulbright and how to apply…

Re-thinking safari tourism

UW Bothell professors Ben Gardner and Ron Krabill will lead an exploration seminar called “Critical perspectives on ecotourism in Tanzania” to examine many of the issues raised in Gardner’s newly-released book “Selling the Serengeti: The Cultural Politics of Safari Tourism” and ongoing research in the area. The seminar is funded by a Global Innovation Fund grant.

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UW part of team that drilled first deep ice core at the South Pole

This January — high summer at the South Pole — a University of Washington glaciologist helped lead a project that surpassed its goal to drill the first deep ice core at the planet’s southernmost tip, providing material to help solve a climate puzzle.

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