August 20, 2009
Etc: News and notes from around campus
YOUNG AND BRILLIANT: The UW’s Shwetak Patel, an assistant professor in the departments of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science & Engineering, is one of 35 outstanding innovators under the age of 35 being honored by Technology Review magazine. Patel was chosen for creating devices that sense how people move through their homes and how they use electricity, gas and water. He will be featured in the September/October issue of the magazine and honored in September at a conference held at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Read about him here.
Also on this year’s list of TR35 winners are recent graduates from the UW’s Department of Computer Science & Engineering, who were honored for research begun at the UW. Jeff Bigham (Ph.D. ’09, with Professor Richard Ladner) is recognized for creating a free service that helps blind people navigate the Web, and Adrien Treuille (Ph.D. ’08, with Professor Zoran Popovic) is recognized for making complex simulations, such as airflow over racecars, run on personal computers.
FANTASTIC FORESTRY: Two forest resources employees were singled out for honors recently. Duane Emmons, the forest operations manager for the Center for Sustainable Forestry at Pack Forest, has been given the Society of American Foresters Presidential Field Forester Award. The selection is national recognition of Emmons’ dedication and contribution to the many ongoing projects at Pack Forest. Professor Bob Edmonds was given the Western International Forest Disease Work Conference 2009 Outstanding Achievement Award at its annual meeting in Durango, Colo., in July.
CONCRETE CHARMS: The Washington Aggregates and Concrete Association has presented the UW Capital Projects Office, along with the owner, architect, contractor, structural engineer, concrete contractor and ready-mix supplier, with an award for “Excellence in Concrete Construction” for the Harborview Medical Center (HMC) Bond Program buildings. The additions to HMC include the Norm Maleng Building and a new medical office building known as the Ninth and Jefferson building, in which more than 65,000 cubic yards of concrete have been placed.
TOPS IN STATS: June Morita, a principal lecturer in statistics, has received a Founders Award from the American Statistical Association. Morita is being honored for “outstanding leadership; for energetic service to the association as chapter president, as regional vice chair and chair of the Council of Chapters, as a member of the Council of Sections Governing Board, the Board of Directors, and numerous committees; for initiating, promoting, and sustaining effective programs to enhance quantitative and statistical literacy in schools nationally and internationally, including ‘Making Sense of Statistical Studies’ and programs to prepare undergraduates as mathematics/statistics tutors in middle schools; for setting a standard of fun and excitement to the Council of Chapters activities at Association meetings.”
BOARD FOR THE CURE: Sheila Edwards-Lange, vice president for minority affairs and diversity, was among seven people named to the Board of Directors for the Puget Sound affiliate of Susan G. Komen for the Cure. The organization is the world’s largest grassroots network of breast cancer survivors and activists “working together to save lives, empower people, ensure quality care for all and energize science to find the cures.”
SITTING AT THE ROUNDTABLE: Norm Arkans, associate vice president for media relations and communications, was chosen recently to join the Higher Education Roundtable. The roundtable, an informal gathering for university communicators concerned about the issues and challenges confronting higher education in the United States, is limited to about 40 to 50 active members. Only practitioners who have achieved the highest standards and success in their fields are invited to join.
CARING AT THE EEU: A dozen employees of the architectural firm the DLR Group will spend all day Sept. 11 volunteering at the UW’s Experimental Education Unit as part of the United Way’s Day of Caring. The visitors will do some cleaning and fixup at the small school, and may also consult a bit on how the unit uses its space. You can learn more about the United Way Day of Caring online here.
Do you know someone who deserves kudos for an outstanding achievement, award, appointment or book publication? If so, send that person’s name, title and achievement to uweek@u.washington.edu.
