Annually, MIT Technology Review recognizes 35 technology innovators under the age of 35 with TR35 Awards. Hundreds of nominees are reduced to fewer than 100 finalists by the MIT Technology Review editors. A panel of judges rates the finalists on the originality and impact of their work. Finally, the editors take the judges’ scores into account to select the final group of TR35 Award winners.
The TR35 Award competition has always been very good to UW CSE faculty and alums, but even in that context, 2014 is special. This year’s awardees include:
- UW CSE professor Shyam Gollakota
- UW CSE bachelors alums Kuang Chen and Kurtis Heimerl. Kuang received his UW CSE bachelors degree in 2003, Kurtis in 2007. Both entered UC Berkeley’s Ph.D. program, where they worked with Berkeley professor and 2007 UW CSE Ph.D. alum Tapan Parikh, who himself received a TR35 Award in 2007, as well as being named the TR35 Humanitarian of the Year. (Tapan, Kuang, and Kurtis all work in the area of information technology for developing regions.) Got that? Two 2007 UW CSE bachelors alums win 2014 TR35 Awards, working with a 2007 UW CSE Ph.D. alum who won a TR35 Award and the TR35 “Humanitarian of the Year” Award in 2007.
Read the TR-35 writeups on these amazing members of the UW CSE famiily:
Shyam: “An expert on wireless technology figures out how to power devices without batteries.” (UW News article on Shyam’s selection here.)
Kuang: “A novel way to get data off paper records and into the digital age.”
Kurtis: “Inexpensive boxes could help bring mobile coverage to the billion people who lack it.”
Members of the UW CSE family previously recognized in recent years with TR35 Awards include:
- 2013: UW CSE adjunct professor Julie Kientz
- 2012: UW CSE adjunct professor Abie Flaxman
- 2011: UW CSE Ph.D. alum Noah Snavely
- 2010: UW CSE Ph.D. alum Scott Saponas
- 2009: UW CSE Ph.D. alum Jeff Bigham, UW CSE professor Jeff Heer, UW CSE professor Shwetak Patel, and UW CSE Ph.D. alum Adrien Treuille
- 2008: UW CSE affiliate professor Meredith Ringel Morris
- 2007: UW CSE professor Yoshi Kohno, UW CSE Ph.D. alum Karen Liu, UW CSE Ph.D. alum and affiliate professor Tapan Parikh (also named “Humanitarian of the Year”), and UW CSE affiliate professor Desney Tan
Congratulations to Shyam, Kuang, and Kurtis! (All 35 2014 winners listed here.)