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Allen School team earns ACM PODS Alberto O. Mendelzon Test-of-Time Award for helping scientists better understand complexity behind parallel database query processing

Sylvan Grove column against blue sky A chance encounter helped Paul Beame, Paris Koutris (Ph.D., ‘15) and Dan Suciu create a model that aids scientists in understanding some of the deeper nuances surrounding big data management. Their paper "Communication Steps for Parallel Query Processing" earned the 2023 ACM PODS Alberto O. Mendelzon Test-of-Time Award for providing a deeper understanding of the complexity behind database query evaluation. Read more →
July 20, 2023

Allen School professor and Smale Prize recipient Shayan Oveis Gharan on counting without counting, his drive to solve TSP and cooking up methods from scratch

Shayan Oveis Gharan, clad in a grey t-shirt and standing in front of a tall potted tree, holds up a shiny sphere-like object in one hand while smiling for the camera. Shayan Oveis Gharan, a professor in the Allen School’s Theory of Computation group, combines all the essential ingredients of a trailblazing researcher who, as his colleagues will attest, also happens to be a genuinely nice guy. The combination has proved to be a genuine recipe for success, as he has racked up a series of accolades in theoretical computer science. His most recent honor, the Stephen Smale Prize from the Society for the Foundations of Computational Mathematics (FoCM), celebrated Oveis Gharan’s “breakthrough results on the applications of algebraic and spectral methods to the design of algorithms and to combinatorial optimization.” Read more →
July 18, 2023

Seeing is believing: Linxing Preston Jiang and Rajesh Rao earn Best Paper Award at COGSCI for developing a new approach to understanding human visual perception

Close-up of a brown-colored eye with dark eye lashes. There is an old saying that perception is everything, and with regard to human senses and computer models that attempt to demonstrate how human sensory systems work, everything is highly complex. This includes our system of visual perception, which allows humans to interact with the dynamic world in real time. Allen School Ph.D. student Linxing Preston Jiang and professor Rajesh Rao have developed a computational model to simulate how humans process visual information. Their paper, “Dynamic Predictive Coding Explains Both Prediction and Postdiction in Visual Motion Perception,” earned a Best Paper Award in the Perception and Action category at this year’s COGSCI conference. Read more →
July 13, 2023

College of Arts & Sciences Dean’s Medalist Meghna Shankar strings together success and scholarship as a dual major

Meghna Shankar, wearing a purple sash and white dress, holds a viola and bow while looking to her right. She is standing in front of a brown and black background. The possibility of a greener future inspired Meghna Shankar to study alternative energy and help wean society off of fossil fuels. The recent Allen School alum, who also spent four years as part of the UW Symphony Orchestra, was named a 2023 Dean's Medalist in the Natural Sciences by the College of Arts & Sciences in recognition of her many scholastic achievements. Read more →
July 11, 2023

Super 8: How the Allen School’s most recent NSF CAREER Award-winning faculty are reimagining the future of computing

A large, dark "W" stands on a white pedestal in front of a forest background. There is sunlight coming through the trees. For faculty members who are at the start of their research journey, the National Science Foundation’s CAREER Awards are one of the most prestigious honors recognizing early-career scholarship and supporting future leaders in their respective fields. The latest Allen School recipients are no exception. From using machine learning to fight implicit bias to devising new architectures that bridge electronics and biology, here are eight rising stars who are advancing the field of computing at the University of Washington and reaching new heights. Read more →
June 30, 2023

Allen School student entrepreneurs behind AI-powered college advising platform place first at 2023 Dempsey Startup Competition

Ayan Gupta, wearing a blue shirt and dark pants, stands to the right of Faraz Qureshi, who is wearing a blue shirt, gray blazer and dark pants. Both smile while holding a large check with the word, "Cledge" across it, in honor of winning the 2023 Dempsey Startup Competition. They are standing in front of a white fence and an evening sky of blue and purple. The scene overlooks the water. Ayan Gupta and Faraz Qureshi are the co-founders of Cledge, a college advising platform that uses artificial intelligence to help students plan their path forward. The pair recently led their young startup to the Herbert B. Jones Foundation Grand Prize of $25,000 at the 26th annual Dempsey Startup Competition organized by the UW Buerk Center for Entrepreneurship. Read more →
June 26, 2023

‘Take advantage of the doors that open’: Allen School celebrates the Class of 2023

Closeup of graduates in regalia from behind, focused on a black undergraduate cap with gold tassel decorated by hand with fabric flowers, gold cord and beads, and glitter and the words "there's a great big beautiful tomorrow" written in script On Friday, June 9, more than 4,000 family and friends from near and far gathered on the University of Washington campus to celebrate the Allen School’s 2023 graduates. The celebration commenced with a casual open house and meet-and-greet with faculty and staff in the Paul G. Allen Center and Bill & Melinda Gates Center. It culminated in a formal event in the Hec Edmundson Pavilion at the Alaskan Airlines Arena, where graduates made the brief journey across the stage to mark the start of a new journey as Allen School alumni. Read more →
June 22, 2023

Making a difference, one symphony at a time: Concert piano or computer, Allen School undergraduate Michael Gu strikes the right key

Michael Gu, wearing a black shirt and a blue suit jacket, smiles for a portrait in front of a white and gray wall with a picture frame to his right. Allen School undergraduate Michael Gu balances performing as a concert pianist with coding as a computer science student. The winner of the UW School of Music's annual concerto competition is using his creative talents, both in the classroom and beyond, to help his community. Read more →
June 20, 2023

‘One of a kind’: Allen School administrator extraordinaire Jennifer Worrell receives College of Engineering Professional Staff Award

Portrait of Jennifer Worrell wearing a black and tan patterned shirt with a black scarf around her neck and draped over one shoulder, smiling and leaning against a concrete wall inside the Gates Center atrium. The atrium is softly lit, with black and metal railings along two floors of the building visible behind her. “There is not one area of the school that she does not touch in some way.” “She” is Jennifer Worrell, the Allen School’s director of finance and administration. And that observation was made by a colleague advancing her successful nomination for a 2023 Professional Staff Award from the University of Washington College of Engineering. Each year, these awards honor faculty, research and teaching assistants, and staff like Worrell whose extraordinary contributions benefit the college community. Read more →
June 13, 2023

‘Not a job for a mere mortal’: Assistant Director for Diversity & Access Chloe Dolese Mandeville receives UW Distinguished Staff Award

Studio portrait of Chloe Dolese Mandeville smiling against a black background. Champion, advocate, role model…based on her colleagues’ descriptions, Chloe Dolese Mandeville sounds like a regular Girl Scout. Which, it so happens, she is: for the past two and a half years, the Allen School’s Assistant Director for Diversity & Access has volunteered as a troop leader for the Girl Scouts of Western Washington, hosting activities on campus and inspiring girls to see computing as a potential career path. It is but one example of the many ways in which Dolese Mandeville has helped students to engage with the field — efforts that have now earned her a 2023 Distinguished Staff Award from the University of Washington. Read more →
June 7, 2023

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