GeekWire excerpts a portion of the forthcoming book “Mastery” by Robert Greene which profiles former UW CSE professor Yoky Matsuoka, now VP of Technology at Nest:
“Her mind naturally works better on a larger scale, continually pondering the connections between things on high levels— what makes the human hand so weirdly perfect, how the hand has influenced who we are and how we think. With these large questions governing her research, she avoids becoming narrowly focused on technical issues without understanding the bigger picture. Thinking on such a high level frees the mind up to investigate from all different angles: Why are the bones of the hand this way? What makes the palm so malleable? How does the sense of touch influence our thinking in general? It allows her to go deeply into the details without losing a sense of the why.”
Read the GeekWire post here.
Yoky will deliver the UW CSE colloquium on Thursday December 6 at 3:30. Read more →
This past summer, UW CSE hosted three week-long summer daycamps for secondary school students under the umbrella of our DawgBytes (“a taste of UW CSE”) outreach initiative.
On Saturday, the middle school cohort re-connected at UW, where Cheryl Platz from Microsoft provided an overview of interaction design, followed by a workshop and an activity fair coordinated by UW CSE undergraduate Emily Harmell and UW ACMS undergraduate Patricia McKenzie. (Thanks also to UW CSE undergraduates Rachel Sobel, Kevin Wallace, Nicole Ford, and Kaida Masaki – and especially to Hélène Martin, our DawgBytes coordinator.)
Photographs here. Read more →
Services were held today for Neil Eney, father of long-time UW CSE undergraduate advisor (and her father’s daughter) Crystal Eney, who passed away on October 27.
A summary of Neil’s life appears here.
Our thoughts are with Crystal, her brother Neilson, and Neil’s wife of 43 years, Page. Read more →
Anna Karlin, Microsoft Professor of Computer Science & Engineering, has been named a Fellow of the ACM “for contributions to algorithms and to the boundary with systems, networking, data mining, and microeconomics.”
Anna is known for contributions in the area of algorithms, especially online and randomized algorithms, and for high-impact work at the boundary between algorithms and other areas of computer science. She combines mathematical prowess with a long-standing interest and experience in building and analyzing advanced computer systems. Areas of focus have included competitive analysis of online algorithms; probabilistic algorithms and probabilistic analysis of algorithms; topics at the intersection of theory with systems, networking, and data mining; and, most recently, problems at the intersection of game theory, economics, and algorithms.
Anna is the twelfth Fellow of the ACM among active UW CSE faculty members.
Congratulations Anna! Read more →
OK, we don’t get it either, but it’s the UW Daily – a report on the selection of a team led by CSE professor Emo Todorov to participate in the DARPA Robotics Challenge.
Read the UW Daily article here. Read a previous CSE News post here. Read more →
Congratulations to UW CSE emeritus professor Larry Snyder, who was named a 2012 Alumni Fellow by the University of Iowa College of Liberal Arts & Sciences. Snyder received his B.A. in 1968 in Mathematics and Economics. Snyder’s award citation reads, in part:
“Larry Snyder, Professor Emeritus of Computer Science at the University of Washington, is best known for his work to promote the discipline of computer science and expand computer science education, particularly during the 1990s – a time of critical transition for the discipline … His accolades and achievements are numerous … Still, he describes the most important and rewarding accomplishment of his 46-year career as having mentored 21 doctoral students.”
Congratulations Larry! Read the citation here. Read more →
A wonderful AP article featuring UW CSE Professional Masters Program alum Ian King:
“For tourists with an interest in Seattle’s role as a high-tech hub, there hasn’t been much here to see, other than driving over to Microsoft headquarters in suburban Redmond to take pictures of a bunch of boring buildings.
“But Microsoft co-founder Paul Allen has just opened the Living Computer Museum, with displays of old machines — all in working order — along with a geeky wish list of items he’d like to add, just in case anybody out there has an old tape drive or super-computer sitting around.”
The Living Computer Museum’s #2 geek – Paul certainly deserves the #1 ranking – is UW CSE Professional Masters Program alum Ian King, whose title is “Senior Vintage Systems Engineer.”
Read this super-interesting article, and see lots of great photos, here.
Read more →
Renowned economist Susan Athey will deliver the third CSE Distinguished Lecture of the year on Tuesday November 13 at 3:30 in the Atrium of the Allen Center. The title of her talk is “Machine Learning meets Economics: Using Theory, Data, and Experiments to Design Markets.”
Athey is a professor of economics at the Stanford Graduate School of Business. She earned her Ph.D. from Stanford in 1995 and taught at MIT for six years, at Stanford for five years, and at Harvard for six years, before returning to Stanford this fall. Her current research focuses on the economics of the Internet, online advertising and media markets, auctions, and marketplace design. She is the first female recipient of the John Bates Clark Medal, awarded to the American economist under the age of 40 who is judged to have made the most significant contribution to economic thought and knowledge. In 2012 she was elected to the National Academy of Sciences.
Further information here. Please join us! Read more →
This past summer, UW CSE hosted three week-long summer daycamps for secondary school girls under the umbrella of our DawgBytes (“a taste of UW CSE”) outreach initiative.
On Saturday, the girls re-connected at the Seattle Facebook office, where engineers Peter Brook, Cullen Walsh and Denise Noyes showed them around the office, taught them how to incorporate the Facebook API in their Processing programs, and participated in a panel where the girls asked phenomenal questions.
Thanks to Peter, Cullen, and Denise for a wonderful event! Photographs here. Read more →
