UW News

Engineering


May 30, 2013

Transportation fuels from woody biomass promising way to reduce emissions

Log ends include one with green arrows going round and round signifying the sustainable potential of biofuels,

Two processes that turn woody biomass into transportation fuels have the potential to exceed current Environmental Protection Agency requirements for renewable fuels.


May 29, 2013

UW to host student steel bridge competition this weekend

UW team competes at regional competition 2013

Just a week after the Interstate 5 Skagit River Bridge collapse north of Seattle, the University of Washington will host a national steel bridge competition for undergraduate civil engineering students. Forty-nine finalist teams will converge on campus for the 2013 National Student Steel Bridge Competition.


May 24, 2013

Infrastructure experts: Engineers who can speak about bridge collapse

University of Washington structural engineers, architects and freight transportation experts are available to speak with reporters about the I-5 Skagit Bridge collapse on Thursday, May 23. Charles Roeder Professor, Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering Office: 206-543-6199 E-mail: croeder@uw.edu   Web: http://www.ce.washington.edu/people/faculty/faculty.php?id=36 Expertise: Gusset plates and steel bracing frames; seismic behavior of steel and composite structures; fatigue…


May 22, 2013

News Digest: Seaglider technology licensed, lecture revisits the Boldt decision, U. of Minnesota president to speak

Seaglider

UW Seaglider technology is licensed commercially; Richard Whitney, emeritus professor of fisheries, will deliver a talk about the Boldt decision; U. of Minnesota president and former UW faculty member Eric Kaler will deliver a talk about challenges facing research institutions.


May 20, 2013

New K-12 science standards add focus on practices, engineering and early learning

Student using bunsen burner

The recently updated K-12 science education learning goals outline a vision for what all U.S. citizens should know about science. Philip Bell, director of UW’s Institute for Science and Math Education, talks about what’s new about the goals.


May 14, 2013

Engineered biomaterial could improve success of medical implants

Two tissue samples showing differences in collagen build-up.

University of Washington engineers have created a synthetic substance that fully resists the body’s natural attack response to foreign objects. Medical devices such as artificial heart valves, prostheses and breast implants could be coated with this polymer to prevent the body from rejecting an implanted object.


May 8, 2013

New ‘academic redshirt’ program to support undergraduate STEM education

Math Academy 2012 students

The University of Washington in collaboration with Washington State University is developing an “academic redshirt” program that will bring dozens of low-income, Washington state high school graduates to the two universities to study engineering in a five-year bachelor’s program.


May 6, 2013

New device can extract human DNA with full genetic data in minutes

close-up view of the device.

A new device will give hospitals and research labs a much easier way to separate DNA from human fluid samples to help with genome sequencing, disease diagnosis and forensic investigations.


April 29, 2013

Grocery delivery service is greener than driving to the store

Webvan.com was a one-time grocery delivery company.

New University of Washington research shows it’s much more environmentally friendly to leave the car parked at home and opt for groceries delivered to your doorstep.


April 23, 2013

Robots, solar-powered cars at Engineering Discovery Days, April 26-27

A student gets a hug from a robot.

Engineering Discovery Days is April 26-27 at the UW campus and will feature exhibits and demonstrations from engineering departments and student groups.


April 22, 2013

Professor of computer science and engineering remembered through UW scholarship fund

David Notkin, professor of computer science and engineering at UW.

David Notkin, University of Washington professor of computer science and engineering, died April 22. He was 58.


April 15, 2013

Preparing to install the world’s largest underwater observatory

Applied Physics Laboratory engineer Mike Harrington leads development of the science junction boxes for the underwater laboratory..

Engineers at the UW’s Applied Physics Laboratory are under pressure to build and test parts for installation this summer in the world’s largest deep-ocean observatory off the Washington and Oregon coasts.


High glucose levels could impair ferroelectricity in body’s connective tissues

Figure shows how glucose can suppress ferroelectric switching

Researchers found that a protein in organs that repeatedly stretch and retract can lose their functionality when exposed to sugar.


April 12, 2013

New device could cut costs on household products, pharmaceuticals

Surfactant gel structure forms after passing through device.

A new procedure that thickens and thins fluid at the micron level could save consumers and manufacturers money, particularly for some soap products.


April 4, 2013

Rocket powered by nuclear fusion could send humans to Mars

Image of a spacecraft powered by a fusion-driven rocket.

Astronauts could be a step closer to a fast journey to Mars using a unique manipulation of nuclear fusion devised by UW scientists and those at a Redmond company.


March 26, 2013

Gene therapy may aid failing hearts

Alya Red heart model

Scientists come closer to boosting heart muscle by powering its contractile machinery.


March 19, 2013

Tenfold boost in ability to pinpoint proteins in cancer cells

Lab image of cells

New research offers a more comprehensive way to analyze a cell’s unique behavior, revealing patterns that could indicate why a cell will or won’t become cancerous.


February 26, 2013

Michael B. Bragg selected as dean of UW College of Engineering

UW engineering buildings

Michael B. Bragg, professor and interim engineering dean at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, has been selected as dean of the UW College of Engineering.


January 24, 2013

Organic ferroelectric molecule shows promise for memory chips, sensors

Image of electric response

A paper in Science describes an organic crystal that shows promise as a cheap, flexible, nontoxic material for the working parts of memory chips, sensors and energy-harvesting devices.


January 9, 2013

UW, Pacific NW National Lab join forces on computing research

Hyak supercomputer at UW.

The University of Washington and the Pacific Northwest National Laboratory have formed the Northwest Institute for Advanced Computing, a joint institute based at the UW that will foster collaborative computing research.


January 7, 2013

Judith Ramey appointed interim dean of UW College of Engineering

Judy Ramey

Judith Ramey, professor and former chair in the UW’s Department of Human Centered Design and Engineering, is named interim dean of the University of Washington’s College of Engineering.


December 21, 2012

Training Xchange puts UW research advances into practitioners’ hands

The UW is expanding its Training Xchange initiative to help researchers transmit innovations in healthcare and other fields to professionals locally and beyond the Northwest.


December 13, 2012

Energy Dept. funds UW project to turn wasted natural gas into diesel

ARPA-E logo

The U.S. Department of Energy this month awarded $4 million to a team, led by UW chemical engineers, that aims to develop bacteria to turn the methane in natural gas into diesel fuel for transportation.


December 7, 2012

Crowdsourcing site compiles new sign language for math and science

Richard Ladner and students

The ASL-STEM Forum is a crowdsourcing project, similar to Wikipedia or the Urban Dictionary, that creates a new sign language for the latest scientific and technical terms.


November 30, 2012

Electrically spun fabric offers dual defense against pregnancy, HIV

Magnified image of fibers and sperm

Electrically spun cloth with nanometer-sized fibers show promise as a cheap, versatile platform to simultaneously offer contraception and prevent HIV. New funding from the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation will further test the system’s versatility and feasibility.


November 29, 2012

Rules devised for building ideal protein molecules from scratch

These principles could allow scientists to custom-make, rather than re-purpose, protein molecules for vaccines, drugs, and industrial and environmental uses.


November 9, 2012

UW Department of Aeronautics & Astronautics named for William E. Boeing

William E. Boeing and pilot Eddie Hubbard flew the first international mail flight to the U.S.

The UW Board of Regents yesterday approved a name change to the William E. Boeing Department of Aeronautics & Astronautics, recognizing the shared history of UW aeronautics and The Boeing Company, and honoring the man who launched them both.


October 25, 2012

Students win $100K for 3-D printer to turn waste plastic into composting toilets, rainwater harvesting systems

students winning the award

Three undergraduates won $100,000 to form a company that will work with partners in Oaxaca, Mexico, to build machines that can transform waste plastic into composting toilets and pieces for rainwater harvesting systems.


October 17, 2012

Living Voters Guide adds fact-checking by Seattle librarians for 2012 election

The Living Voters Guide, created by the UW and presented with Seattle’s CityClub, just won a regional award and has been updated for the 2012 election. This year the guide has expanded to include a California edition, and the Washington guide will include fact-checking of selected points by Seattle Public Library staff.


October 12, 2012

Maria Klawe, national leader promoting women in science and technology, speaks Tuesday at UW

Maria Klawe

Maria Klawe, professor of computer science and president of Harvey Mudd College, will speak Tuesday at the UW about how her institution over three years quadrupled its female representation in undergraduate computer science majors, to 40 percent.


October 11, 2012

Mug handles could help hot plasma give lower-cost, controllable fusion energy

New hardware lets engineers maintain the plasma used in fusion reactors in an energy-efficient, stable manner, making the system potentially attractive for use in fusion power plants.


Molecular engineering is focus of College of Engineering’s fall lectures

Three public lectures by UW engineering professors will give an overview of molecular engineering and applications in biotech and alternative energy.


October 2, 2012

Sticky paper offers cheap, easy solution for paper-based diagnostics

Fluorescent image of a Husky

Global health researchers are working on cheap systems like a home-based pregnancy test that might work for malaria, diabetes or other diseases. A new chemical technique makes medically interesting molecules stick to regular paper — a possible route to building such paper-based diagnostics from paper you could buy at an office-supply store.


September 27, 2012

Browser plug-in helps people balance their political news reading habits

Screenshot of Balancer tool

As the U.S. presidential election approaches, many voters become voracious consumers of online political news. A new tool tracks whether all those articles really provide a balanced view of the debate – and, if not, suggests some sites that offer opinions from the other side of the political spectrum.


September 20, 2012

The original Twitter? Tiny electronic tags monitor birds’ social networks

New Caledonian crow with UW tag

A tiny digital tag developed at the UW can for the first time see when birds meet in the wild, offering a window into animal social networks. A study in Current Biology used the tags to track the social habits of New Caledonian crows, and found a surprising amount of interaction among the tool-using birds.


September 18, 2012

Local scientists chosen for NIH High Risk High Rewards program

The scientists were selected for their inventive ideas to transform their field of research and improve the health of the public.


App lets you monitor lung health using only a smartphone

Feeling wheezy? You could call the doctor. Or soon you could use your smartphone to diagnose your lung health, with a new app that uses the frequencies in the breath to determine how much and how fast you can exhale.


September 12, 2012

UW celebrates opening of new Molecular Engineering & Sciences Building

Molecular Engineering & Sciences Building

The UW’s new Molecular Engineering and Sciences Building opens this fall with a series of kick-off events focused on this emerging area of research. The associated Institute will focus on research applications in medicine and clean energy.


September 5, 2012

Encyclopedia of DNA elements compiled; UW a key force in Project ENCODE

An international team of researchers has made headway toward a comprehensive listing of all the working parts of the human genome. More than 30 scientific papers appear today, include major work by UW researchers. The London Museum of Science celebrates with ceiling banners and aerial dancers.


August 30, 2012

New program joins computer science and design experts at UW, Tsinghua University

Rii User Interface

This summer the UW hosted the first World Lab Summer Institute, which brings together computing and design students from the UW and Beijing’s Tsinghua University. The students spent seven weeks devising ways that technology could be used to address global issues in health, environment and education.



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