MIT Technology Review features TextRunner, software created by UW CSE’s Oren Etizioni and the KnowItAll group that extracts knowledge from billions of lines of text by analyzing basic relationships between words. TextRunner represents a scaling up in terms of both the number of pages and the scope of topics that it can analyze.
According to Etzioni, “what we are showing is the ability of the software to achieve rudimentary understanding of text at an unprecedented scale and scope.”
Read the full Technology Review article here. Read more →
A University Week profile of CSE professor Richard Ladner, winner of the 2009 University of Washington Outstanding Public Service Award for his work with the deaf and blind communities.
“‘It is kind of interesting at this point in my career. You would think I would be winding down,’ says Ladner, the Boeing Professor in Computer Science & Engineering … But instead of making plans for retirement, he has a pile of cell phones on his desk that he’s adapting to make them accessible, a project to bring American Sign Language to the UW campus, and ongoing relationships with groups on campus and around the country.”
Read the full article here. Congratulations Richard! Read more →
Each year, we invite our UW Computer Science & Engineering undergraduates to identify “influential teachers” who shaped their careers prior to arriving at UW. We host a dinner for the teachers, their guests, and the students who nominated them. There are three goals: to honor these life-changing teachers, to reacquaint them with their highly successful students, and (crassly) to get them to send us more great students.
This year’s dinner was held on June 3rd. Photos (taken by our own Bruce Hemingway) from the event may be viewed here. (Select “Inspirational Teacher Dinner-2009” in the upper left.) Information regarding past nominees may be found here.
Congratulations to the teachers recognized this year!!
- Michael Angelidis, Kentwood High School
- Janet Ash, Green River Community College
- Sue Black, Inglemoor High School
- Paul Bladek, Edmonds Community College
- Jeremy Brown, Newport High School
- Rachel Wade Brown, Edmonds Community College
- Dan Cerquitella, James A. Garfield High School
- Tim Crowder, Juanita High School
- Christine Donaldson, Kentwood High School
- Jay Elder, Olympia High School
- Kathy Ellingson, Shorecrest High School
- Rick Haag, Tahoma High School
- Dale Hoffman, Bellevue College
- Bryan Johns, Seattle Central Community College
- James Kirk, Edmonds-Woodway High School
- Bill Lemei, Coronado High
- François Lepeintre, Seattle Central Community College
- Jennie Mayer, Bellevue College
- Kim McClung, Kent-Meridian High School
- Paul McMillen, John F. Kennedy Memorial High School
- Alec McTavish, Bothell High School
- Dr. Paul Muckerheide, Oliver M. Hazen High School
- Jaime Roberts-Jones, Edmonds-Woodway High School
- Jan Sayers, Mercer Island High School
- Jan Stuckey, Olympia High School
- Daniel Velasquez, Southridge High School
Read more →
Technology Review looks at Microsoft’s cherry new search engine, Bing, and turned to CSE web search expert Dan Weld for his take.
“Bing is a limited start, but for a reasonable set of queries, it is better.” But there’s still plenty of room for both search leader Google and Bing to improve. “Search can and will get much, much better,” says Weld.
Read the full article here. Read more →
The Robotics Team from Gatewood Elementary visited UW CSE’s Yoky Matsuoka back in February on a field trip with their after school program. Now two of the fifth graders, who share a passion for building robots, have been invited to spend a week this summer at Yoky’s lab.
Read the full post from the West Seattle Blog here. Read more →
In Fall 2009, each incoming University of Washington Computer Science & Engineering graduate student will receive a Kindle DX, Amazon’s latest wireless reading device, to use in place of traditional printed textbooks and research papers in their first-year graduate courses. The students also will receive textbooks and other required reading materials free of charge for the Kindle DX.
The University of Washington is one of seven colleges and universities conducting a Kindle DX pilot program. The goals of the pilot are to explore the use of electronic readers in university classes, and to discover their strengths and weaknesses relative to traditional content delivery. At the University of Washington, Computer Science & Engineering and the Foster School of Business are participating in the pilot. The other institutions taking part in the pilot are Princeton University, Case Western Reserve University, Reed College, Arizona State University, Pace University, and the Darden School of Business at the University of Virginia.
Learn more here!
TechFlash article here. Read more →
Scott Silver
Peter Wilson
TechFlash reported today that Scott Silver will be the new site director for Google’s Kirkland office. He will replace Peter Wilson, who is leaving to launch his own start-up. When asked for his reaction, UW CSE’s Ed Lazowska said, “‘The positive is that it contributes a seasoned veteran to the local startup scene – Peter spent a number of years at Microsoft before Google, so is really well connected and experienced. The great news is the diversity of the information technology businesses that have grown up around here, largely as a result of Microsoft making Seattle its home.'”
View the full article here. Read more →
