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Changing the world: Faculty and students demonstrate CSE’s impact to the UW Foundation Board

Ricardo Martin with UW Foundation board membersLast week, UW CSE faculty and students joined the University of Washington Foundation board at its fall meeting to offer hands-on demonstrations and chat with members about their latest research. The UW Foundation advances the mission of the university by raising private support for its many programs that serve students and society – including UW CSE.

CSE professor Ed Lazowska provided an overview of CSE’s impact across campus and in the community before inviting board members to learn more about the groundbreaking research and multi-disciplinary collaborations they enable through their support:

Wireless power: CSE and EE professor Josh Smith and EE Ph.D. student Ben Waters from the Sensor Systems Lab demonstrated a wireless power transfer system that will enable new capabilities in a range of industries, from consumer electronics to health care – including a battery-free, implanted heart pump.

Mobile health and sustainability sensing: CSE and EE professor Shwetak Patel and Ph.D. students Tien Lee (EE) and Alex Mariakakis (CSE) shared a number of innovations developed in the Ubiquitous Computing Lab that combine sensing, machine learning and human-computer interaction to diagnose and monitor disease and measure home energy and water consumption at the appliance level.

Technology for people with disabilities: CSE professor Richard Ladner and CSE Ph.D. student Catie Baker showed how they are expanding access to technology for all users with innovations such as DigiTaps and Tactile Graphics with a Voice, which enable blind and low-vision users to access digital information by “seeing” with their fingers and ears.

Sensorimotor assistance: A multi-disciplinary team that included CSE professor Raj Rao, who leads UW’s Center for Sensorimotor Neural Engineering, and BioE Ph.D. students Nile Wilson, Justin Vrana and Maitham Naeemi demonstrated Symbalance, an app that can detect the onset of a fall and help reorient the user by piping music through headphones – saving people suffering from vestibular and balance disorders from potentially debilitating injuries.

Technology for the developing world: Recent CSE Ph.D. alum Nicki Dell and current Ph.D. students Trevor Perrier and Waylon Brunette showed board members how the Open Data Kit and Mobile WaCH (Women and Child Health) are having a positive impact on the lives of people in developing countries across the globe.

Computational photography: CSE professor Steve Seitz and Ph.D. student Ricardo Martin demonstrated the latest advances from UW CSE’s Graphics and Imaging Laboratory (GRAIL), including the creation of time-lapse videos from millions of tourist photos posted online.

Games for learning and for discovery: CSE professor Zoran Popović and his team from the Center for Game Science, including producer Matthew Burns, game developer Roy Szeto and Ph.D. student Dun-Yu Hsiao, invited board members to try their hand at Foldit, the protein folding game that advances scientific discovery, and Treefrog Treasure, which teaches kids mathematical concepts as they explore different worlds as a frog.

A few photos of the demo session are below, and links to Ed Lazowska’s overview materials and various handouts are here. Our sincere thanks to UW Foundation board chair Jodi Green and all of the board members for their enthusiastic participation and support for UW CSE education and research!

Catie Baker with UW Foundation board members  Tien Lee and Alex Mariakakis with UW Foundation board membersJosh Smith with UW Foundation board members  Dun-Yu Hsiao and Roy Szeto with UW Foundation board membersBen Waters with UW Foundation board member  Richard Ladner with UW Foundation board membersTien Lee with UW Foundation board members  Nile Wilson (left) and Maitham Naeemi with UW Foundation board members