On Wednesday, ten of Shwetak Patel’s students – undergraduate and graduate, from the Paul G. Allen School and the Department of Electrical Engineering – demonstrated smartphone apps for health screening/diagnosis as part of the Microsoft CEO Summit partner’s program.
Slides from presentations by Ed Lazowska and Shwetak Patel – on the general theme of “Tech to Serve” – here. Read more →
A team of University of Washington researchers has achieved liftoff of the world’s lightest wireless flying robotic insect, RoboFly. Developed by members of the Allen School’s Networks & Mobile Systems Lab and the Department of Mechanical Engineering’s Autonomous Insect Robotics Lab, RoboFly represents a milestone in autonomous flight that could launch a new wave of innovation in aerial robotics.
Insect-scale robots tend to rely on wire tethers for power and control, as existing systems for supplying the energy required for flight exceed their tiny load capacity. The wired approach may keep the load light, but it limits the robots’ range and mobility. In order to cut the cord, UW researchers would have to devise a system that could power their robot insect without weighing it down.
In order to find a solution, the interdisciplinary team led by Allen School professor Shyam Gollakota and Mechanical Engineering professor Sawyer Fuller took its inspiration from nature. RoboFly’s biologically inspired design features dual flapping wings driven by a pair of piezoelectric actuators. A lightweight microcontroller directs the wings’ action by issuing a series of pulses mimicking that of a biological fly’s wings.
“The microcontroller acts like a real fly’s brain telling wing muscles when to fire,” explained Vikram Iyer, a Ph.D. student in Electrical Engineering who works with Gollakota.
To power their novel system in the absence of cords or clunky batteries, Iyer and his colleagues direct a laser beam at a tiny photovoltaic cell mounted onto RoboFly. The cell converts the beam’s light into electricity that can be used by the onboard components. Those components include the first sub-100 milligram boost converter and piezo driver, which the researchers integrated into their flight control system to amplify the voltage generated by the cell from seven to more than 200 volts — the amount of energy required to power the flapping of RoboFly’s wings during takeoff.
“It was the most efficient way to quickly transmit a lot of power to RoboFly without adding much weight,” said Gollakota, who believes future designs could potentially rely on power harvested from ambient radiofrequency signals or even miniature batteries to augment lasers.
The UW team that gave RoboFly its wings. Front row: Vikram Iyer (left) and Johannes James; back row (from left): Yogesh Chukewad, Sawyer Fuller, and Shyam Gollakota.
When fully assembled, RoboFly is slightly larger than an actual fly and weighs in at just 190 mg — making it the lightest aerial robot to have achieved wireless flight. Currently, RoboFly can take off and land but cannot venture further afield without losing the required line of sight with its laser power source. However, with additional research and refinement, the team envisions a day when RoboFly and its ilk will put their small and nimble form factor to work for a variety of applications — from detecting environmental hazards, to aiding search and rescue, to surveying agricultural crops.
“Before now, the concept of wireless insect-sized flying robots was science fiction,” said Fuller, who contributed to the design of the wired RoboBee. “Our new wireless RoboFly shows they’re much closer to real life.”
The team — which also includes ME Ph.D. student and lead author Johannes James, and ME Ph.D. student Yogesh Chukewad — will present its findings at the International Conference on Robotics and Automation (ICRA 2018) in Brisbane, Australia next week.
Read the UW News release here, and the research paper here. Check out coverage in WIRED, The Economist, IEEE Spectrum, MIT Tech Review, TechCrunch, Discover Magazine, GeekWire, Popular Mechanics, Engadget, CNET, Digital Trends, Siliconrepublic, SlashGear, and Seattle Met.
Allen School alumna Cynthia Matuszek has been named one of “AI’s 10 to Watch,” a list of rising stars in artificial intelligence published by IEEE Intelligent Systems. Matuszek, who earned her Ph.D. in 2014 working with Allen School professors Dieter Fox of the Robotics and State Estimation Lab and Luke Zettlemoyer of the Natural Language Processing group, is a professor in the Interactive Robotics and Language Lab at the University of Maryland, Baltimore County.
“AI’s 10 to Watch” celebrates early-career researchers who have demonstrated outstanding achievements in the field within five years of earning their Ph.D. The publishers singled out Matuszek for her work at the intersection of robotics, natural language processing, and machine learning to address a long-standing problem for AI researchers: how to get robots to understand human needs and human communication.
The goal of Matuszek’s research is to enable robots to interact naturally and intuitively with humans in a variety of settings, from hospitals to people’s homes. To that end, she and her team focus on grounded language acquisition — an approach that is designed to help robots gain an understanding of language related to objects and tasks while simultaneously learning about the world around them through their interactions with users. By uniting the different fields of AI research, Matuszek aims to enable robots to learn, adapt, and follow instructions in such a way that they can integrate seamlessly into dynamic, unpredictable environments.
“Intuitively, learning language is easier in the physical context of the world it describes,” the article notes. “And robots are more useful and helpful if people can talk naturally to them and teach them about the world.”
“Cynthia’s research is at the forefront of making robots understand verbal human commands,” said Fox. “What has always impressed me is her ability to work on both conceptual AI problems and real robotic tasks.”
IEEE Intelligent Systems accepts nominations for “AI’s 10 to Watch” from around the globe. Members of the publication’s editorial and advisory boards evaluate nominees based on reputation, impact, expert endorsement, and diversity. The list is published on a biennial basis; previous honorees include Allen School professor Yejin Choi, who was recognized in 2016 for her work in natural language processing.
Read more about Matuszek and her fellow honorees in the 2018 “AI’s 10 to Watch” here.
Congratulations, Cynthia!
Kaitlyn Zhou, a senior who will graduate from the University of Washington this spring with bachelor’s degrees in computer science and human centered design and engineering, has been awarded the College of Engineering’s Dean’s Medal for Academic Excellence. Each year, the college selects two students to receive this award recognition of their academic achievement, leadership, and engagement in research and extra-curricular activities. During her time at UW, Zhou has ticked all of these boxes and then some.
“Kaitlyn is an outstanding student, researcher, and leader,” said Ed Lazowska, Bill & Melinda Gates Chair in Computer Science & Engineering at the Allen School. “She has contagious energy. She cares deeply about her community, and about all aspects of diversity. She is enormously effective. And she is a joy to be around.”
As an undergraduate, Zhou has pursued a demanding program of study that spans data science, data visualization, machine learning, algorithms, and software design while earning a place on the Dean’s List for 10 academic quarters. She supplemented this ambitious course load by studying abroad at the Aquincum Institute of Technology in Budapest, Hungary — where she maintained a perfect 4.0 grade point average — and completing a software engineering internship at Bloomberg.
While her commitment to academic rigor is impressive, Zhou has earned the appreciation of her professors and peers in particular for her active and insightful contributions to in-class discussions, online forums, and group projects. As a student in the Allen School’s first-ever undergraduate data visualization course, CSE 442, last spring, Zhou teamed up with classmates to produce “On the Other Side of the Canal,” an interactive article that guides readers through Seattle’s historical struggle with race and inequity through the lens of housing discrimination and school segregation. The result was, in professor Jeffrey Heer’s words, “a tour-de-force, exhibiting technical proficiency, effective design, scholarly depth, and social consciousness.” Zhou would go on to serve as a teaching assistant for CSE 442 the following fall, and for the Allen School’s Foundations of Computing II course this past winter.
Zhou carried over her commitment to excellence into the research lab, where she worked with Allen School professor Linda Shapiro on expression recognition for character animation using deep learning and with Department of Human Centered Design & Engineering professor Kate Starbird on research into the spread of online rumors during crisis events. For the latter, Zhou co-authored two papers that appeared at the Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems (CHI): Could This Be True? I Think So! Expressed Uncertainty in Online Rumoring (CHI 2016), and Centralized, Parallel, and Distributed Information Processing during Collective Sensemaking (CHI 2017).
Outside of her studies, Zhou has demonstrated her leadership abilities through a variety of extracurricular activities in service to her fellow students. She is the founding chair of the Allen School’s Student Advisory Council (SAC), which was established to better understand students’ needs and concerns, facilitate discussion, and produce educational — and impactful — programming geared toward undergraduates, including forums on issues such as accessibility and diversity in engineering. From June 2016 to June 2017, Zhou served as the Director of University Affairs for the Associated Students of the University of Washington (ASUW), representing the student body in discussions with faculty and administrative leaders on decisions related to academics, admissions, and tuition. In this role, she oversaw an organization with 60 employees, hundreds of volunteers, and an operating budget in excess of $1 million. She also was co-curator of the TEDxUofW conference that same year — an event that attracted eight speakers, $10,000 in sponsorships, and more than 700 attendees.
According to Allen School Director Hank Levy, Zhou is sure to make significant contributions, regardless of what career path she chooses.
“Kaitlyn is an exceptional scholar and an enthusiastic mentor to other students,” observed Levy, who also holds the Wissner-Slivka Chair in Computer Science & Engineering. “We expect to see remarkable achievements from her in the future.”
Heer, who got to know Zhou as both a student and a teaching assistant in his data visualization course, described her as “an example of the best that UW has to offer.” Fortunately for all of us here at UW, she plans to stick around campus a little while longer as a student in the Allen School’s fifth-year master’s program.
Learn more about the Dean’s Medal here, and check out HCDE’s article recognizing Zhou here.
Congratulations, Kaitlyn, and thank you for your many contributions to the Allen School, the College of Engineering, and the entire UW community!
Allen School senior Harrison Kwik will graduate with his bachelor’s in computer science this spring. He has spent the past year and a half as an undergraduate researcher in the Code & Cognition Lab directed by Amy Ko, professor in the Information School and adjunct professor in the Allen School. Kwik also took on the role of teaching assistant for the Allen School’s transfer student seminar, which helps new arrivals from campuses around the state to settle into the major and make the most of their Husky Experience. He knows firsthand what these students are going through, having arrived at the University of Washington as a transfer student from Bellevue College in fall 2016.
In the latest installment of the Allen School’s Undergraduate Spotlight, we talk to Kwik about finding his place on campus, his efforts to smooth the way for his fellow transfer students, and what he will take away from his own Husky Experience as he looks forward to pursuing his Ph.D.
Allen School: Congratulations on your impending graduation! What has made your time as an Allen School student meaningful and memorable?
Harrison Kwik: All of the professors and graduate students here in the school are working on very interesting problems, and I am constantly in awe of the research that is being done here. Additionally, I am very pleased with the quality of instruction in all of my CSE courses. Faculty members are always engaged with their teaching and really express a genuine passion for both the content that they’re teaching, as well as for the learning process of students. It has been a great privilege to study surrounded by so many amazing researchers and educators.
Allen School: What makes you so passionate about the transfer student experience?
HK: I really enjoy helping others make progress towards accomplishing their goals. As I learned firsthand, the transfer process introduces many unique challenges for students which can end up compounding the challenge of succeeding in the difficult (but rewarding) coursework. Despite these challenges, transfer students generally do not have the same opportunities to adapt to UW as our peers who entered as freshmen. They have usually had at least one or two years to learn the culture of the campus and make friends. Transfer students at UW and within the Allen School all come from different backgrounds and bring new perspectives. For this reason, I think that it is important to ensure that all transfer students have the resources they need to successfully transition into this wonderful community!
Allen School: What do you like best about being a TA for the transfer seminar?
HK: I like that I am able to meet many students from diverse backgrounds. The experiences that transfer students bring into UW are always intriguing and interesting, and I appreciate that I get to talk with students about both how they are doing now, as well as what they have done in the past. I also think that it’s great that the transfer seminar serves as an opportunity for students to build a community and friendships. Many students have told me that the transfer seminar helped them find peers to study with and hang out with outside of class, and I’m glad that I can help make that happen.
Allen School: You have carried over that passion from the classroom to the lab. Tell us about your research and what you are learning as a result.
HK: Since the beginning of my junior year, I have been working as a research assistant in Andy Ko’s Code & Cognition Lab. Andy and his students research questions and problems regarding computing education and human-computer interaction. Initially, I helped his graduate students work on their research projects, which gave me a lot of fantastic hands-on experience. Last summer, I began conducting my own independent research on the CS student experience, focusing specifically on the experiences of transfer students. While there is some research on transfer students in academia generally, there is little information about transfer students in STEM, particularly within computer science. My goal is to develop a strong understanding of what the CS student experience looks like, so that we can have the knowledge needed to properly accommodate students in what is one of the largest growing disciplines right now.
Allen School: Who or what has inspired you the most during your time as an Allen School student?
HK: I already mentioned faculty members at UW, but I would like to re-emphasize how great I think both the teaching and research is on campus. In particular, having Adam Blank and Ruth Anderson as instructors for my first few classes in the major was very influential in helping me develop a strong excitement and passion for computer science. For research, my advisor Andy Ko has been an excellent mentor and guide, providing me with constant feedback, opportunities, and resources to help me develop as a researcher. Overall, however, I find constant motivation in seeing all the great work that is achieved here!
Allen School: What advice would you give to new students following in your footsteps?
HK: It’s not the most unique advice, but I truly believe that it is critical for students to work together and socialize as much as possible. The courses that the school offers are extremely enriching, but they can also be very tough. Oftentimes, course content might require thinking about things in new ways, and being able to discuss concepts with other students is a useful way to quickly develop new perspectives and approaches to complex ideas. Having friends who you can work with helps ensure that you have a support group when things are especially challenging. The Allen School community is very welcoming and students are always willing to work with each other, so I encourage new students to get to know their peers and make new friends as soon as they can! Also, make sure to get a healthy amount of sleep every night!
Allen School: Is there anything else you want to share?
HK: I am so glad that I decided to transfer here! Although I may have arrived “late,” I feel like I still have had many opportunities to engage with campus and my school, and to make new friends. Attending UW has been hugely impactful on both my academic career and my future aspirations, and I am thankful for everyone who has helped me reach where I am now.
We appreciate Harrison’s commitment to making sure the Allen School is a truly welcoming community for all students, no matter what path they took to get here. Thanks for being a model transfer student, Harrison, and good luck in graduate school! Read more →
Photo credit: Dennis Wise/University of Washington
Video streaming technologies have traditionally had to make trade-offs between portability and power, with high-definition streaming heavily reliant on the latter. Now, thanks to a team of researchers in the University of Washington’s Allen School and Department of Electrical Engineering, the ability to stream high-definition video wirelessly and on the go — without the need for bulky batteries — is in sight. Using a technique called analog video backscatter, the researchers have developed a way to bypass the power-hungry hardware and computational requirements of typical HD video streaming. Their approach reduces the power required to stream HD video by up to 10,000x compared to existing technologies.
Not only does the team’s work create new opportunities for HD video streaming from low-power devices, but as professor Shyam Gollakota, director of the Allen School’s Networks & Mobile Systems Lab, notes, it also defies the prevailing wisdom on the limitations of backscatter technology.
“The fundamental assumption people have made so far is that backscatter can be used only for low-data rate sensors such as temperature sensors,” Gollakota explains in a UW News release. “This work breaks that assumption and shows that backscatter can indeed support even full HD video.”
Typical digital streaming cameras rely on heavy batteries and hardware components for processing and compressing HD video. Devices designed to lighten the load and make streaming more mobile, such as Snap Spectacles, have had to sacrifice quality to achieve the desired portability. Gollakota and his colleagues — Allen School Ph.D. student Mehrdad Hessar, EE Ph.D. alumni Saman Naderiparizi and Vamsi Talla, and Joshua Smith, director of the Sensor Systems Laboratory and Milton and Delia Zeutschel Professor in the Allen School and Electrical Engineering — get around having to make the same compromise by diverting the power-hungry functions from the camera to another device, such as a mobile phone.
Analog video backscatter works by feeding analog pixels directly from the camera’s photodiodes to the backscatter hardware. The system relies on a process called pulse width modulation to convert the pixel information in each frame from analog to digital, generating a series of pulses that vary in duration according to the brightness of each pixel — a concept reminiscent of how the cells of the brain communicate.
Left to right: Shyam Gollakota, Saman Naderiparizi, Mehrdad Hessar, and Joshua Smith. Not pictured: Vamsi Talla. Dennis Wise/University of Washington
“Neurons are either signaling or they’re not,” says Smith, “so the information is encoded in the timing of their action potentials.”
Smith and his colleagues devised novel compression techniques to reduce the bandwidth and power required to transmit the analog video signal. For intra-frame compression, they employed a method they refer to as zig-zag pixel scanning. Unlike analog television broadcasts that transmit each row of pixels from left to right — a process known as raster scanning — the team’s approach involves scanning pixels from left to right and right to left in alternating rows. This method, which takes advantage of the inherent redundancy in pixel values while decreasing discontinuity, effectively reduces the bandwidth required for wireless transmission.
To achieve greater inter-frame efficiency, the researchers employ a form of distributed compression in which the power-hungry computation is delegated to the reader device. The camera transmits an averaged set of adjacent pixel values — collectively known as a super-pixel — to the reader, which compares the values of the incoming frame with those of the previous frame. If the difference in value of an incoming super-pixel exceeds a predetermined threshold, the reader requests all of the corresponding pixel information. By once again leveraging redundancy, the team’s approach reduces the amount of analog pixel data transmitted between camera and reader.
Using a combination of analog video backscatter and new compression techniques, the team was able to simulate HD streaming at 720p and 1080p while consuming between 1,000 and 10,000x less power than existing systems. In addition to their HD prototype, the researchers built a low-resolution wireless camera system to demonstrate analog video backscatter’s potential for security, smart home systems, and other applications for which operating distance — rather than HD quality — is of paramount importance.
Having proved their concept, the researchers envision a time when cameras will no longer be constrained by their power needs. They provided a sneak preview of this battery-free future by demonstrating how to stream HD video using power harvested from ambient radio frequency signals at distances up to eight feet. The team is working with Jeeva Wireless, a UW spinout that was co-founded by Gollakota, Smith and Talla, to commercialize the technology.
The researchers presented their paper describing analog video backscatter at the 15th USENIX Symposium on Networked Systems Design and Implementation (NSDI 2018) earlier this month in Renton, Washington.
Read the UW News release here, and visit the project website here. Check out related coverage in Gizmodo, TechCrunch, Silicon Republic, Engadget, Digital Trends, and Geek.com.
Jennifer Mankoff
Many web users have become accustomed to navigating page content with the help of spatial and visual cues such as navigation bars, tabs, and icons. But for those who are blind or low-vision, the proliferation of visually rich, graphical user interfaces (GUIs) make it challenging to locate and consume information online — even with the help of a screen reader or braille display. Now, thanks to Allen School professor Jennifer Mankoff and colleagues at Carnegie Mellon University, help is literally at hand with new Spatial Region Interaction Techniques (SPRITEs) that leverage a standard piece of equipment – the keyboard – to access interactive elements onscreen.
SPRITEs is a set of tools that to enable non-sighted users to access web content that may be implicitly conveyed to sighted users but is integral to browsing and navigation for all users. Whereas most most websites tend to organize content in accordance with Gestalt psychology principles — for example, grouping similar items in close proximity to each other, or the consistent placement of items in familiar locations — most commercially available screen readers are set up to access only simple page elements such as headers, links, and lists. By combining a screen reader with SPRITEs, however, non-sighted users can quickly and easily access more robust content contained in elements such as menus, tables, and maps.
As Mankoff explains, SPRITEs is designed to supplement, not supplant, screen readers to enhance the user experience and keep up with current trends in website design.
“We’re not trying to replace screen readers, or the things that they do really well,” Mankoff says in a UW News release. “This study demonstrates that we can use the keyboard to bring tangible, structured information back, and the benefits are enormous.”
The aforementioned benefits include a significant improvement in users’ ability to complete online tasks thanks to the way SPRITEs maps the keyboard to various elements of a site. The researchers focused on the corners and edges of the keyboard — with the exception of the function keys, which are reserved for browser-level controls — to make it easy for the user to find the keys that they need. In keeping with their user-centric approach, the team assigned the scrolling function to the right-most column of keys, thus enabling the user to hold onto the edge of the keyboard and easily keep track of which key they pressed last. Once a user finds what they are looking for as the screen reader speaks each object, the user interacts with their target by double-pressing a key.
Certain categories of content — for example, grouped content such as menus and search results, or elements such as tables and maps — are assigned to the numerical row of keys, with those at either end reserved for scrolling. This functionality enables non-sighted users to engage with information that would otherwise be difficult, if not impossible, for them to access using existing accessibility tools alone.
The SPRITEs keyboard layout
The researchers evaluated SPRITEs in a user study involving 10 blind or low-vision individuals experienced with accessibility tools for the web. Participants were asked to complete a set of tasks using their preferred screen reader, and then asked to complete a similar task using SPRITEs. Use of the latter produced a three-fold improvement in task completion rates in five of eight tasks, including those related to navigation, menu interaction, and tables. There was also evidence that, even in this limited study, participants began to develop a mental model of the spatial or hierarchical structure of a page as it related to the keyboard.
With SPRITEs, the researchers have found a way to extend the advantages of Gestalt-driven web design — which sighted individuals tend to take for granted — to an entirely new population of users.
“Rather than having to browse linearly through all the options, our tool lets people learn the structure of the site and then go right there,” Mankoff notes.
Mankoff and her co-authors at CMU — Ph.D. students Rushil Khurana and Elliot Lockerman and recent bachelor’s alumnus Duncan McIsaac — are presenting their paper on SPRITEs at the CHI 2018 conference in Montreal, Canada next week. Mankoff plans to continue refining SPRITEs and building in robust functionality before making it available to the public as part of WebAnywhere, a web-based screen reader developed by Allen School Ph.D. alumnus Jeffrey Bigham, now a faculty member at CMU, and Allen School professor emeritus Richard Ladner.
Read the UW News release here, visit the project web page here.
Here’s a lovely video created by a University of Washington senior to encourage his kid sister to choose UW over other schools …
Four Allen School undergraduates — Amanda Chalfant, Aishwarya Mandyam, Melissa Medsker (Galloway), and Kimberly Ruth — have been selected for the 2018 class of the Husky 100. This annual program recognizes students across the University of Washington’s three campuses who are making the most of their “Husky Experience” and making a positive impact on the UW community both in and out of the classroom.
Amanda Chalfant is a senior majoring in computer science who will graduate with interdisciplinary honors in June. Throughout her time at the Allen School, she has exhibited a strong commitment to leadership and service, particularly in her mentorship of current and prospective students. Chalfant served as a teaching assistant for the Women in Computing seminar — a role in which she functioned more like a co-instructor, so great was her knowledge and enthusiasm for the class — and more recently, as a peer adviser to her fellow undergraduates. She also has been a passionate advocate for student wellness and diversity as a member of Allen School’s Student Advisory Council and serves as the scholarship chair of Alpha Delta Pi sorority.
In addition to her campus activities, Chalfant has demonstrated her technical excellence through multiple software engineering internships, including stints at Microsoft, Google, and Apple. Following graduation, she plans to join Microsoft full-time as a software engineer working on the Azure team.
“Whether interning at top Silicon Valley companies, taking courses on subjects I love, mentoring students from all backgrounds or planning events for the Allen School on topics I care about most, I have thrived immensely through every challenge and opportunity that has come my way at the UW,” said Chalfant.
Aishwarya Mandyam is a junior majoring in computer science and philosophy who has exemplified UW and Allen School values through her strong leadership and commitment to diversity. She has served her fellow students as an officer of the UW chapter of the Association for Computing Machinery — first as event coordinator, and more recently, as president — and encouraged students to explore technology as a force for good in her capacity as finance director for Dubhacks. She led the development of an Allen School honor code in consultation with faculty, staff, and peers aimed at cultivating a more inclusive, collaborative community, and served as a student ambassador to the Allen School’s Diversity and Inclusion Committee.
In addition to her service-oriented activities, Mandyam applied her technical expertise to the development of a low-cost neural orthosis, NEOGrasp, which won first place in the Neural Engineering Tech Studio competition organized by the Center for Sensorimotor Neural Engineering. Previously, she contributed to the development of the telemetry system for the Washington Hyperloop team and was selected as a TUNE House Scholar.
“I thrive and work my best at the intersection of people and technology,” Mandyam said. “I’m now learning how to apply the skills I learn in class to lead organizations like UW ACM, innovate in biotechnology and build inclusive communities.”
Melissa Medsker (Galloway) is a senior majoring in computer science and human-centered design and engineering who will enter the Allen School’s fifth-year master’s program in the fall. Since she made the switch from pre-med to computer science, Medsker has enthusiastically embraced opportunities to contribute to the Allen School community through both education and research. She has served as a teaching assistant for multiple courses, including introductory Java programming, web programming, computational theory, data structures and parallelism, and the Women in Computing seminar.
Medsker has contributed to improvements in teaching and learning outside of the classroom, including implementation of a new student grading tool and the Practice-It Java learning tool. She also engaged in undergraduate research under the guidance of professor Zachary Tatlock in the Programming Languages & Software Engineering (PLSE) group, where she focused on the application of programming language tools and techniques to optimize 3D printing as part of the Incarnate project.
“[M]y Husky Experience has been defined by discovery and a growing appreciation of the value of taking risks,” Medsker said. “I look forward to continue this experience in a master’s program, working toward a career in academia where I can pursue teaching while engaging in interdisciplinary research in CS, biochemistry and STEM education.”
Kimberly Ruth is a junior majoring in computer engineering and mathematics. She got her research career off to an early start working with professors Tadayoshi Kohno and Franziska Roesner in the Allen School’s Security and Privacy Research Lab, where she focuses on privacy and security issues associated with augmented reality. She collaborated with fellow lab member and Ph.D. student Kiron Lebeck on the development of Arya, a new AR system that protects users against buggy or malicious output — a project for which she taught herself the Unity graphics engine and co-authored a paper that appeared at last year’s IEEE Symposium on Security and Privacy. She has since taken the lead on a new project focused on security and privacy of multi-user AR platforms and was named a Goldwater Scholar in recognition of her work.
Outside of the lab, Ruth is helping her fellow students to succeed as a peer tutor for the Allen School’s Foundations in Computing course and inspiring the next generation through Go Figure, an initiative she founded to spark middle school students’ interest in math.
“My Husky Experience has been shaped by opportunities in research, tutoring, organizing and mentoring,” said Ruth. “As an undergraduate researcher, I strive to answer questions that have never before been explored.”
Read more about the Husky 100 class of 2018 here, and learn about previous Allen School honorees in 2017 here and 2016 here.
Congratulations to Amanda, Melissa, Aishwarya, and Kimberly — and thank you for your many contributions to the Allen School and UW!
Four Allen School Ph.D. students have been recognized for exceptional research as part of the National Science Foundation’s Graduate Research Fellowship Program (GRFP). Each year, the NSF celebrates the most promising student researchers in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics from across the nation. Allen School students Terra Blevins, Matthew Johnson, Eunice Jun, and Max Willsey helped to carry on the University of Washington’s tradition of excellence in the “Computer and Information Sciences & Engineering” category as part of the 2018 competition.
Fellowship winner Terra Blevins is a first-year Ph.D. student working with professor Luke Zettlemoyer in the Allen School’s Natural Language Processing group.
Blevins’ most recent project with Zettlemoyer and postdoc Omer Levy explored whether deep recurrent neural networks (RNNs) are capable of learning low-level linguistic features such as syntax when trained on traditional NLP tasks. She and her colleagues investigated four tasks — machine translation, semantic role labeling, dependency parsing, and language modeling — and determined that RNNs are learning syntactic features even in the absence of explicit supervision. Her latest work, which is in its early stages, focuses on multilingual language modeling.
Second-year Ph.D. student Matthew Johnson, who also won a fellowship, focuses on computer networking research. He is a member of the Allen School’s Information and Communication Technology for Development (ICTD) Lab, where he works with professor Kurtis Heimerl on projects related to the management and security of community-owned cellular networks.
Johnson’s current work aims to address the challenges associated with distributed management and network optimization within the context of community cellular networks. He also contributes to a project exploring the feasibility of crowdsourcing the maintenance and repair of rural cellular infrastructure by engaging members of the affected communities.
Fellowship winner Eunice Jun is a second-year Ph.D. student who works in human-computer interaction with Allen School professor Katharina Reinecke. Her research interests span collaborative learning, citizen science, artificial intelligence, and large-scale online experimentation.
Jun’s recent work has focused on gaining a better understanding of the motivation and behavior of participants in online experiments using LabintheWild, a platform for conducting large-scale experiments of user abilities and preferences. Through her research, Jun aims to promote the design of creative learning opportunities for participants while simultaneously supporting researchers in easily collecting novel kinds of data when conducting online experiments.
Second-year Ph.D. student Max Willsey earned an honorable mention for his application of programming language techniques to problems in computer architecture and synthetic biology.
Willsey’s recent work includes Puddle, an open-source operating system for microfluidics developed in collaboration with professor Luis Ceze and members of the Molecular Information Systems Lab. Puddle aims to make laboratory automation cheaper, more reliable, and easier to use. He also works alongside professors Ceze, Rastislav Bodik, and Alvin Cheung as part of the Sampa group applying programming language techniques to the hardware design process.
The Allen School honorees were joined by Hugh Chen of the UW Department of Statistics, who earned a fellowship for his work with Allen School and Department of Genome Sciences professor Su-In Lee on techniques for combining machine learning with big data to improve human health, and Alexander Kale, a Ph.D. student in the Information School.
NSF awarded a total of 122 fellowships and 71 honorable mentions in the “Comp/IS/Eng” category this year. The competition for NSF fellowships is always fierce; more than 12,000 applicants from across the country this year vied for 2,000 fellowships across 11 science and engineering fields. In the past five years, the NSF has recognized a total of 45 Allen School student researchers through its fellowship program.
Read the NSF announcement here and learn more about the program on the GRFP website here.
Way to go, team!
