Nature explores the potential of mobile phones. Their role as merely an accessory may be waning. Mobile phones – many of which now have cameras, GPS receivers, accelerometers, and internet access – are now starting to be used to collect data in an increasing number of disciplines. Among the research projects discussed in this article is work by UW CSE’s Gaetano Borriello about mobile phone applications in the developing world.
“‘For those of us working in the developing world, that’s the platform of choice,’ says Gaetano Borriello, a computer engineer at Google and [professor at] the University of Washington in Seattle who explores how technology can improve health care in underserved populations.”
Read the full article here. Read more →
On April 15, ABC News’ Nightline television program took a look a the UW’s “genius school” for thirteen-year-old gifted students, who enter the University of Washington as fourteen-year-old freshmen after participating in the year-long program. UW CSE student Raymond Zhang, whose parents moved here from New Jersey so that he could participate, is interviewed.
View the 7:40 video here. Read more →
A really engaging Wired article about Foldit, the protein folding game designed by David Baker, Zoran Popovic, David Salesin, and their collaborators.
“More than 100,000 people have downloaded Foldit since last summer, turning the game into massively multiplayer competition – global online molecular speed origami …
“Baker’s lab is developing targets for cancer, AIDS, and Alzheimer’s, and the folders’ task is to build a small protein drug with the right shape and binding properties. This isn’t just an intellectual exercise. Baker says he will synthesize the most promising structures and test them in his lab. These proteins could actually have therapeutic value in the real world, outside the game. And if they do, the Foldit players will share the credit. It might be the first time that a computer game’s high score is a Nobel Prize.”
Read the article here! Read more →
Xconomy reports on the major UW presence at the IEEE/ACM International Conference on Information and Communication Technologies and Development, in Qatar.
“Seattle-area researchers, specifically from the UW, made quite a showing at the meeting. Several Microsoft projects were presented too, and Bill Gates showed up to give the keynote talk.”
“‘Technology is naturally mixing with global health as there is much low-hanging fruit where a little tech can make a big difference,’ Gaetano Borriello, a University of Washington computer science professor, said in an email. ‘Seattle is a hub for both, so it is a natural place for this new development to be happening.'”
Read the full article here. Read more →
The New York Times offers a followup to a previous article regarding Amazon.com’s temporary de-listing of more than 50,000 books a week ago.
“‘Whenever something like this happens, people immediately blame it on conspiracy,’ said Ed Lazowska, professor of computer science and engineering at the University of Washington. ‘There are all kinds of ways for things to go wrong that are what I would call unintended consequences of either computer algorithms or human behavior.'”
Unfortunately, however, in typical “he said, she said” fair-and-balanced style, the article still gives weight to a number of conspiracy theorists. “If it bleeds, it leads.” See the full article here. Read more →
UW CSE’s Yoky Matsuoka is the Computing Community Consortium’s “Computing Research Highlight of the Week.”
“At the University of Washington, MacArthur ‘genius’ award-winner Yoky Matsuoka is leading an effort to build robotic hands and other devices that will take commands directly from the human brain – and revolutionizing the opportunities for people with disabilities to function more fully.”
See the complete post here. Read more →
The University of Washington has won three recent awards from the National Science Foundation related to cloud computing. Two of the grants will fund projects examining ocean climate simulations and analyzing astronomical images. Both provide tools so researchers can use cloud computing to easily interact with the massive datasets that are becoming more and more common in science. A third grant to the UW provides curriculum and training to teach cloud computing. The awards are to eScience Institute research scientist and CSE affiliate professor Bill Howe, Astronomy professor Andy Connolly, and CSE professor and eScience Institute director Ed Lazowska. See the full story here. Read more →
An Xconomy post describes UW CSE professor Ed Lazowska‘s take on the recent reorganization of Microsoft Live Labs, the organization that (among other things) created Photosynth by combing Seadragon’s streaming technology with UW and Microsoft Research’s PhotoTourism photo navigation technology. See the full post here. Read more →
When asked by Xconomy to name five young talents in the UW College of Engineering who are shaping the future of information technology, biotechnology, and clean technology, UW Dean of Engineering Matt O’Donnell’s list included UW CSE’s Yoshi Kohno and Magda Balazinska. Yoshi’s cybersecurity research has a number of potential applications, including helping people find stolen laptop computers, and protecting wireless signals given off by implantable medical devices. Magda’s research focuses on the use of the databases for science in cloud computing environments.
In his haste and myopia (the poor guy is a bioengineer), Matt neglected to note the many other equally extraordinary young faculty in CSE; take a look here.
Read the full Xconomy article here. Read more →
UW CSE Ph.D. student Raphael Hoffman is one of 20 students nationwide who have been recognized in Yahoo!’s “Key Scientific Challenges” program, which provides unrestricted research funds and the opportunity to interact with Yahoo! scientists.
Raphael, who is working with UW CSE professors Dan Weld and James Fogarty, is attempting to make computers easier to use by combining ideas from Information Extraction, Machine Learning, and Human Computer Interaction. Read more →
