More than 100 women are members of the UW Computer Science & Engineering student and faculty community. This brochure was prepared for a meeting of the Seattle Girl Geek Dinner group that we’re hosting tonight. Read more →
The Women of UW CSE
“Microsoft exec: Quitting Google as tough as stopping smoking”
Harry Shum, Brian Bershad
TechFlash reports on the Xconomy-sponsored “Future of Search” event held at the University of Washington on November 30. UW CSE’s Ed Lazowska moderated a panel of four experts: Google Seattle site director (and UW CSE affiliate professor) Brian Bershad, UW CSE professor (and Farecast founder) Oren Etzioni, Vulcan investment manager Steve Hall, and Microsoft Bing engineering director Harry Shum.
” … the primary challenge facing any company thinking about getting into the business was summarized succinctly in a zinger from panelist Harry Shum … ‘Google is like smoking cigarettes. It’s a habit that’s going to be difficult to give up.’ [Etzioni] joked in response: ‘It is a known fact that more Google users die every year than users of all other search engine combined.'”
The TechFlash article — a terrific synopsis of the evening — is here.
An Xconomy photo gallery is here.
Two Xconomy articles here and here. Read more →
CSE’s Justine Sherry, Rita Sodt, Eric Kimbrel recognized in CRA Outstanding Undergraduate Research Awards
Each year the Computing Research Association recognizes a small number of the nation’s undergraduates with the CRA Outstanding Undergraduate Research Awards.
In the 2010 competition, CSE’s Justine Sherry was selected as the national winner among females.
CSE’s Rita Sodt was selected as a finalist.
And CSE’s Eric Kimbrel received an honorable mention.
Congratulations to Justine, Rita, and Eric! They join 32 previous CSE undergraduates who have been recognized by CRA since the inception of this award in 1995. As of a year ago, UW CSE ranked #1 in the nation in the number of undergraduates recognized with CRA Outstanding Undergraduate Research Awards in the preceding decade; that record should continue. Read more →
CSE alum Ratul Mahajan wins SIGCOMM Rising Star Award
Ratul Mahajan, a 2005 UW CSE Ph.D. alumnus now working at Microsoft Research, has received the 2009 SIGCOMM Rising Star Award.
Each year, ACM SIGCOMM presents the “Rising Star” Award, recognizing a young researcher – an individual no older than 35 – who has made outstanding research contributions to the field of communication networks during this early part of their career. Depth, impact, and novelty of the researcher’s contributions are key criteria upon which the Rising Star Award Committee evaluates the nominees. Also of particular interest are strong research contributions made independently from the nominee’s PhD advisor.
Congratulations Ratul! Read more →
Bill Howe in NY Times
Bill Howe, Senior Scientist at the UW eScience Institute and adjunct professor in CSE, is quoted in a New York Times story on the democratization of access to scientific computing and scientific data.
“For decades, the world’s supercomputers have been the tightly guarded property of universities and governments. But what would happen if regular folks could get their hands on one?
“Bill Howe, a senior scientist at the eScience Institute at the University of Washington, has urged research organizations to reveal their information. ‘All the data that we collect in science should be accessible, and that’s just not the way it works today,’ he said.
“Mr. Howe said high school students and so-called citizen scientists could make new discoveries if given the chance.
“’Let’s see what happens when classrooms of students explore this information,’ he said.”
Read the story here. Read more →
“Advancing Our World – It’s the Washington Way”
Another very nice promotional video from the University of Washington, featuring a number of CSE faculty, students, and themes.
Watch it on YouTube here. Read more →
“Android Cellphones Dial Up African Health in University Project”
The Chronicle of Higher Education reports on research by UW CSE grad student Carl Hartung et al on using cellphones in rural Kenya to help test and counsel people about HIV.
“‘We were working in villages miles from electricity or running water, but we still had cell coverage,'” he wrote in an e-mail to The Chronicle.
The work is reported in Open Source Data Collection in the Developing World, an article in the October 2009 edition of the IEEE journal Computer. See abstract.
Read the full article here. Learn more about ODK here. Read the ars technica article here. Read more →
“Microsoft exec visits UW”
The UW Daily reports on Craig Mundie’s November 5 visit to UW.
“’In every generation, students have a blend of altruism, optimism and sensitivity with the issues that are forming,’ Mundie said … ‘We think computing is in its infancy … It’s going to be important to continue investing in computing. Without it, we’ll have difficulty solving these problems.’”
Read the complete article here. Read more →
“Future of Search Event Nov. 30 to Draw Top Startups, VCs, and Execs to UW”
“Online search and information discovery are being transformed before our eyes … A lot of the action is happening around Seattle … So get your tough questions ready for our panel, which will feature Brian Bershad from Google, Harry Shum from Microsoft (Bing), Steve Hall from Vulcan Capital, and Oren Etzioni from UW, Madrona Venture Group, and Farecast (acquired by Microsoft last year). Ed Lazowska will moderate the discussion …”
Read the full Xconomy post here. Read more →
UW CSE’s Gaetano Borriello named ACM Fellow
Chandu Thekkath
Gaetano Borriello
Professor Gaetano Borriello is the latest UW CSE faculty member to be named a Fellow of the ACM.
ACM is the major professional society in computer science. Roughly 1% of ACM’s members are elevated to the rank of Fellow. Gaetano is the 14th UW CSE faculty member to be named an ACM Fellow.
UW CSE Ph.D. alumnus Chandu Thekkath, a Principal Researcher at Microsoft Research, also was named an ACM Fellow this year. Read more →