Engineering
December 2, 2019
Carpentry Compiler helps woodworkers design objects that they can actually make
![A wooden birdhouse](https://uw-s3-cdn.s3.us-west-2.amazonaws.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/6/2019/12/01130135/IMG_1275-150x150.jpg)
UW researchers have created Carpentry Compiler, a digital tool that allows users to design woodworking projects. Once a project is designed, the tool creates optimized fabrication instructions based on the materials and equipment a user has available.
November 27, 2019
A method with roots in AI uncovers how humans make choices in groups and social media
![Woman holding a smart phone](https://uw-s3-cdn.s3.us-west-2.amazonaws.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/6/2019/11/26125833/priscilla-du-preez_unsplash-150x150.jpg)
Using a mathematical framework with roots in artificial intelligence and robotics, UW researchers were able to uncover the process of how a person makes choices in groups. And, they also found they were able to predict a person’s choice more often than more traditional descriptive methods.
November 20, 2019
Emissions from electricity generation lead to disproportionate number of premature deaths for some racial groups
![A coal power plant in West Virginia.](https://uw-s3-cdn.s3.us-west-2.amazonaws.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/6/2019/11/18174600/2751535024_b6d919aab9_o-150x150.jpg)
UW researchers have found that air pollution from electricity generation emissions in 2014 led to about 16,000 premature deaths in the continental U.S. In many states, the majority of the health impacts came from emissions originating in other states.
November 15, 2019
UW aerospace engineer part of $1.7M grant to study corals
![A healthy reef in Indonesia teems with life.](https://uw-s3-cdn.s3.us-west-2.amazonaws.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/6/2019/11/15131907/Indonesia_CreditMichaelWebster-150x150.jpg)
An interdisciplinary team of researchers from multiple institutions — including the University of Washington — has received a two-year $1.7 million National Science Foundation grant to study coral growth.
November 12, 2019
New Weill Neurohub will unite UCSF, UC Berkeley, UW in race to find new treatments for brain diseases
![An image of neurons under a microscope](https://uw-s3-cdn.s3.us-west-2.amazonaws.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/6/2019/11/11181105/cytoskeleton-of-neuron-from-ips_UCSF_web_cropped-150x150.jpg)
With a $106 million gift from the Weill Family Foundation, UC Berkeley, UC San Francisco and the University of Washington have launched the Weill Neurohub, an innovative research network that will forge and nurture new collaborations between neuroscientists and researchers working in an array of other disciplines — including engineering, computer science, physics, chemistry and mathematics — to speed the development of new therapies for diseases and disorders that affect the brain and nervous system.
November 5, 2019
Fall storms, coastal erosion focus of northern Alaska research cruise
![freight shipping container in foreground and research ship in background](https://uw-s3-cdn.s3.us-west-2.amazonaws.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/6/2019/11/05131211/Siquliaq-5-150x150.jpg)
A University of Washington team is leaving to study how fall storms, dwindling sea ice and vulnerable coastlines might combine in a changing Arctic.
November 4, 2019
Single discrimination events alter college students’ daily behavior
![Five hands making fists in a circle. All arms have black Fitbit trackers on them.](https://uw-s3-cdn.s3.us-west-2.amazonaws.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/6/2019/11/04095914/hands3-150x150.jpg)
UW researchers aimed to understand both the prevalence of discrimination events and how these events affect college students in their daily lives. Over the course of two academic quarters, the team compared students’ self-reports of unfair treatment to passively tracked changes in daily activities, such as hours slept, steps taken or time spent on the phone.
Light-based ‘tractor beam’ assembles materials at the nanoscale
![A diagram of an optical trap](https://uw-s3-cdn.s3.us-west-2.amazonaws.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/6/2019/11/04082311/Nature-Communications-Highlight-Image-150x150.jpg)
Researchers at the University of Washington have developed a method that could make reproducible manufacturing at the nanoscale possible. The team adapted a light-based technology employed widely in biology — known as optical traps or optical tweezers — to operate in a water-free liquid environment of carbon-rich organic solvents, thereby enabling new potential applications.
October 29, 2019
Popular third-party genetic genealogy site is vulnerable to compromised data, impersonations
![A hand holding a tube in front of a 23andMe kit](https://uw-s3-cdn.s3.us-west-2.amazonaws.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/6/2019/10/28112504/46741832614_ce21ba8e2a_o-150x150.jpg)
UW researchers have found that the third-party genealogy site GEDmatch is vulnerable to multiple kinds of security risks.
October 23, 2019
UW team sending autonomous surfboard to explore Antarctic waters
![researchers on ship lowering large surfboard into water](https://uw-s3-cdn.s3.us-west-2.amazonaws.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/6/2019/10/23095951/waveglider_img_9478-150x150.png)
This week a UW team is releasing a robotic surfboard to explore the surface ocean around Antarctica.
October 15, 2019
First smart speaker system that uses white noise to monitor infants’ breathing
![A baby in a basket in a living room](https://uw-s3-cdn.s3.us-west-2.amazonaws.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/6/2019/10/11131353/Breath_Junior_web001-150x150.jpg)
UW researchers have developed a new smart speaker skill that lets a device use white noise to both soothe sleeping babies and monitor their breathing and movement.
October 7, 2019
How bike sharing in Seattle rose from the ashes of Pronto’s failure
![Docked Pronto bikes along Seattle's waterfront](https://uw-s3-cdn.s3.us-west-2.amazonaws.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/6/2019/10/07093643/Pronto_photo_WEB-150x150.jpg)
University of Washington transportation researchers looked into why the docked bike-share program Pronto failed while dockless bike sharing has been so successful.
October 4, 2019
New metasurface design can control optical fields in three dimensions
![An image showing how the optical element focuses light to a specific point in 3D space above the element's surface.](https://uw-s3-cdn.s3.us-west-2.amazonaws.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/6/2019/10/04104108/Performance_1550nm-150x150.jpg)
A team led by scientists at the University of Washington has designed and tested a 3D-printed metamaterial that can manipulate light with nanoscale precision. As they report in a paper published Oct. 4 in the journal Science Advances, their designed optical element focuses light to discrete points in a 3D helical pattern.
October 1, 2019
Engineering lecture series focuses on future of food
![Future of food banner. Purple text over a picture of people harvesting rice](https://uw-s3-cdn.s3.us-west-2.amazonaws.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/6/2019/09/30144510/ELS19-Header-150x150.jpg)
This fall the University of Washington’s annual engineering lecture series will feature three UW engineers and scientists who are working across disciplines to manage the quality and quantity of the food we eat and grow.
September 19, 2019
Plasma flow near sun’s surface explains sunspots, other solar phenomena
![orange sun with spots](https://uw-s3-cdn.s3.us-west-2.amazonaws.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/6/2019/09/18154357/sunspots_NASA_Goddard_SORCE-150x150.jpg)
A new model for plasma flow within the sun provides novel explanations for sunspots, the 11-year sunspot cycle, solar magnetic reversals and other previously unexplained solar phenomena.
September 16, 2019
Americans would rather drive themselves to work than have an autonomous vehicle drive them, study says
![A traffic jam on a huge freeway at night](https://uw-s3-cdn.s3.us-west-2.amazonaws.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/6/2019/09/12134335/traffic-jam-1703575_1920-150x150.jpg)
Are you willing to ride in a driverless car? Researchers at the University of Washington studied how Americans’ perceived cost of commute time changes depending on who’s driving.
August 21, 2019
3 UW graduate students earn NASA fellowships, continue legacy of success
![rainier vista](https://uw-s3-cdn.s3.us-west-2.amazonaws.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/6/2019/08/21120139/i-NTDHmg9-X3-150x150.jpg)
Three University of Washington graduate students are among this year’s recipients of a prestigious NASA fellowship that funds student research projects in the fields of Earth and planetary sciences and astrophysics.
August 20, 2019
New tools to minimize risks in shared, augmented-reality environments
![A person holding up an iPad that shows a digital world over the real world.](https://uw-s3-cdn.s3.us-west-2.amazonaws.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/6/2019/08/19133959/patrick-schneider-87oz2SoV9Ug-unsplash-150x150.jpg)
UW security researchers have created ShareAR, a toolkit that lets developers build collaborative and interactive features into AR apps without sacrificing their users’ privacy and security.
August 19, 2019
How ergonomic is your warehouse job? Soon, an app might be able to tell you
![A factory ceiling with low hanging lights](https://uw-s3-cdn.s3.us-west-2.amazonaws.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/6/2019/08/15112810/tomas-williams-yn7KJ0FaOiE-unsplash-150x150.jpg)
Researchers at the UW have used machine learning to develop a new system that can monitor factory and warehouse workers and tell them how ergonomic their jobs are in real time.
August 13, 2019
Dr. Nancy Allbritton named dean of UW’s College of Engineering
![headshot](https://uw-s3-cdn.s3.us-west-2.amazonaws.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/6/2019/08/12145635/20130722_allbritton_nancy_0048-150x150.jpg)
Dr. Nancy Allbritton has been named the next Frank & Julie Jungers Dean of the College of Engineering, University of Washington Provost Mark Richards announced today. Allbritton’s appointment, set to begin Nov. 1, is subject to approval by the UW Board of Regents.
August 9, 2019
Artificial intelligence could yield more accurate breast cancer diagnoses
![](https://uw-s3-cdn.s3.us-west-2.amazonaws.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/6/2016/04/04154306/IMG_3973-150x150.jpg)
Researchers at UW and UCLA have developed an artificial intelligence system that could help pathologists read biopsies more accurately, and lead to better detection and diagnosis of breast cancer.
August 8, 2019
UW, UC San Diego, UC Berkeley receive $5M NSF award to simplify researcher access to public clouds
![](https://uw-s3-cdn.s3.us-west-2.amazonaws.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/6/2016/01/04161021/IMG_4058-S-150x150.jpg)
The National Science Foundation has awarded a five-year, $5 million grant to the University of California, San Diego, the University of Washington and the University of California, Berkeley to develop CloudBank, a suite of managed services to simplify public cloud access for computer science research and education.
July 29, 2019
Stressed at school? Art therapy reduces teenage girls’ headaches
![hands paining with watercolors](https://uw-s3-cdn.s3.us-west-2.amazonaws.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/6/2019/07/29092346/arttherapy_title_web-150x150.jpg)
In a pilot study led by the UW, researchers explored art-based mindfulness activities that schools could use to reduce headaches, a common side effect of stress in adolescent girls. After three weeks of twice-weekly mindfulness and art therapy sessions, eight teenage girls reported experiencing significantly fewer headaches.
July 17, 2019
UW hosts student robotics challenge Friday to mark 50th anniversary of Apollo 11 moon landing
![three girls with drone](https://uw-s3-cdn.s3.us-west-2.amazonaws.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/6/2019/07/30131408/Astro-Aphelion-150x150.jpg)
This Friday, teams of 5th- through 12th-grade students from across Washington state will complete a challenge in Kane Hall to mimic the 1969 Apollo moon landing, using drones and Lego robots.
First-ever visualizations of electrical gating effects on electronic structure could lead to longer-lasting devices
![Image of a 2D material](https://uw-s3-cdn.s3.us-west-2.amazonaws.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/6/2019/07/17092250/nanoARPES-150x150.png)
Scientists have visualized the electronic structure in a microelectronic device for the first time, opening up opportunities for finely tuned, high-performance electronic devices. Physicists from the University of Washington and the University of Warwick developed a technique to measure the energy and momentum of electrons in operating microelectronic devices made of atomically thin — so-called 2D — materials.
July 16, 2019
8 UW professors elected to the Washington State Academy of Sciences in 2019
![Suzzallo Library at night](https://uw-s3-cdn.s3.us-west-2.amazonaws.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/6/2018/03/04130536/32088696475_7577696879_h-1-150x150.jpg)
Eight scientists and engineers from the University of Washington have been elected this year to the Washington State Academy of Sciences.
July 9, 2019
UW professors to receive 2019 Presidential Early Career Award for Scientists and Engineers
![](https://uw-s3-cdn.s3.us-west-2.amazonaws.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/6/2016/11/04145313/IMG_4058-150x150.jpg)
Six University of Washington professors are to receive a Presidential Early Career Award for Scientists and Engineers, according to an announcement July 2 from the White House. The award, also known as the PECASE, is the highest honor given by the U.S. government to early-career scientists and engineers “who show exceptional promise for leadership in science and technology.”
July 1, 2019
How you and your friends can play a video game together using only your minds
![](https://uw-s3-cdn.s3.us-west-2.amazonaws.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/6/2019/07/01110107/BrainNet_web009-150x150.jpg)
UW researchers created a method for two people help a third person solve a task using only their minds.
June 19, 2019
Partnerships for Impact: NSF Awards an additional $4M to the West Big Data Innovation Hub co-led by the UW eScience Institute
![](https://uw-s3-cdn.s3.us-west-2.amazonaws.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/6/2019/06/19173044/DVCaebOx_400x400-150x150.jpg)
The National Science Foundation is awarding a second round of funding for the Regional Big Data Innovation Hubs — organizations launched in 2015 to build and strengthen data science partnerships across industry, academia, nonprofits and government to address scientific and societal challenges. The University of Washington, in collaboration with the University of California, Berkeley and the University of California, San Diego, will continue to coordinate the West Big Data Innovation Hub.
‘Alexa, monitor my heart’: Researchers develop first contactless cardiac arrest AI system for smart speakers
![An Amazon Alexa lights up](https://uw-s3-cdn.s3.us-west-2.amazonaws.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/6/2019/06/18170145/Alexa-web-1-150x150.jpg)
UW researchers have developed a new tool to monitor people for cardiac arrest while they’re asleep — all without touching them. The tool is essentially an app for a smart speaker or a smartphone that allows it to detect the signature sounds of cardiac arrest and call for help.
June 11, 2019
Behind the magic: Making moving photos a reality
![Picasso's "Niña con corona y barco" steps out of the frame](https://uw-s3-cdn.s3.us-west-2.amazonaws.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/6/2019/06/10165715/picasso-freeze-frame-150x150.jpg)
UW researchers have figured out how to take a person from a 2D photo or a work of art and make them run, walk or jump out of the frame. The system also allows users to view the animation in three dimensions using augmented reality tools.
May 29, 2019
Video: Origami-inspired materials are designed to soften impact
![A person holding a chain of unit cells](https://uw-s3-cdn.s3.us-west-2.amazonaws.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/6/2019/05/23135349/Origami_inspired_metamaterials004-150x150.jpg)
University of Washington researchers have developed a novel solution to change the feeling of impact when one thing hits another. It has potential for use in spacecraft, cars and beyond — inspired by origami.
May 24, 2019
Origami-inspired materials could soften the blow for reusable spacecraft
![a hand pointing to the paper model](https://uw-s3-cdn.s3.us-west-2.amazonaws.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/6/2019/05/23135337/Origami_inspired_metamaterials001-150x150.jpg)
University of Washington researchers used the paper folding art of origami to develop a novel solution to help reduce the forces associated with impact — like in car crashes, football helmets, landing spacecraft and more.
May 20, 2019
Scientists use molecular tethers and chemical ‘light sabers’ to construct platforms for tissue engineering
![](https://uw-s3-cdn.s3.us-west-2.amazonaws.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/6/2016/11/04145200/IMG_40581-150x150.jpg)
In a paper published May 20 in the journal Nature Materials, a team of researchers from the University of Washington unveiled a new strategy to keep proteins intact and functional in synthetic biomaterials for tissue engineering. Their approach modifies proteins at a specific point so that they can be chemically tethered to the scaffold using light. Since the tether can also be cut by laser light, this method can create evolving patterns of signal proteins throughout a biomaterial scaffold to grow tissues made up of different types of cells.
May 15, 2019
First smartphone app that can hear ear infections in children
![a smartphone displaying the app](https://uw-s3-cdn.s3.us-west-2.amazonaws.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/6/2019/05/14134924/Detecting_ear_fluid_WEB001-150x150.jpg)
Researchers at the UW have created a new smartphone app that can detect fluid behind the eardrum by simply using a piece of paper and the phone’s microphone and speaker.
May 9, 2019
Former cleantech executive leads development of University of Washington energy research and technology center
![A future building on the University of Washington campus.](https://uw-s3-cdn.s3.us-west-2.amazonaws.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/6/2019/05/09173900/CAMCET_exterior_rendering-150x150.png)
The University of Washington and its Clean Energy Institute named Kevin Klustner executive director of the Center for Advanced Materials and Clean Energy Technologies, or CAMCET. When complete, CAMCET will be a 340,000-square-foot building that will bring together UW scientists and engineers with industry, civic and nonprofit partners to accelerate clean energy solutions for a healthy planet.
May 3, 2019
Researchers take a bottom-up approach to synthesizing microscopic diamonds for bioimaging, quantum computing
![Two people operating a laser to heat material and make nanodiamonds.](https://uw-s3-cdn.s3.us-west-2.amazonaws.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/6/2019/05/03105808/UW_nanodiamonds_0096_web-150x150.jpg)
Researchers at the University of Washington, the U.S. Naval Research Laboratory and the Pacific Northwest National Laboratory discovered that they can use extremely high pressure and temperature to introduce other elements into nanodiamonds, making them potentially useful in cell and tissue imaging, as well as quantum computing.
April 26, 2019
Video: Kids have fun with science at Engineering Discovery Days
![](https://uw-s3-cdn.s3.us-west-2.amazonaws.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/6/2019/04/26144146/discovery-days-150x150.jpg)
Engineering Discovery Days is a yearly event that invites Washington state fourth- through eighth-graders to have fun leaning about STEM with the College of Engineering.
April 18, 2019
Project Sidewalk helps users map accessibility around Seattle, other cities
![Project Sidewalk logo](https://uw-s3-cdn.s3.us-west-2.amazonaws.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/6/2019/04/18090504/ProjectSidewalk_logo_cropped-150x150.png)
UW researchers have led the development of Project Sidewalk, an online crowdsourcing game that lets anyone with an internet connection use Google Street View to virtually explore neighborhoods and label curb ramps, missing or rough sidewalks, obstacles and more.
April 15, 2019
Synthetic peptide can inhibit toxicity, aggregation of protein in Alzheimer’s disease, researchers show
![a chemical structure of a peptide](https://uw-s3-cdn.s3.us-west-2.amazonaws.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/6/2019/04/15104112/AP407_alpha-sheet_structure-150x150.jpg)
A team led by researchers at the University of Washington has developed synthetic peptides that target and inhibit the small, toxic protein aggregates that are thought to trigger Alzheimer’s disease.
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