Allen School News

UW CSE professor Pedro Domingos is generating considerable buzz with his new book, The Master Algorithm, “a popular science romp through one of today’s hottest scientific topics.” In the book, Pedro explores how machine learning is increasingly shaping the way we live and what he and his colleagues are doing to find the “Master Algorithm” – the ultimate learning algorithm that will be able to do what we want before we even have to ask.

UW Today has a terrific Q&A with Pedro about the book and his thoughts on a range of topics related to machine learning — from its potential role in finding a cure for cancer, to how President Obama’s campaign used it to win reelection, to teaching recommendation algorithms to work for YOU rather than for the companies trying to sell you things.

He also explains why we have nothing to fear from “The Terminator” films:

“Computers could be infinitely intelligent and not pose any danger to us, provided we set the goals and all they do is figure out how to achieve them — like curing cancer.

“On the other hand, computers can easily make serious mistakes by not understanding what we asked them to do or by not knowing enough about the real world, like the proverbial sorcerer’s apprentice. The cure for that is to make them more intelligent. People worry that computers will get too smart and take over the world, but the real problem is that they’re too stupid and they’ve already taken over the world.”

Pedro concludes by explaining where we are in the quest to find this elusive algorithm capable of knowing all things from data, and what inspired him to write about it:

“It could happen tomorrow, or it could take many decades. One of my fondest hopes in writing the eponymous book is that it will inspire a bright kid somewhere to come up with the key idea that we’ve all been missing — and make the Master Algorithm a reality, with all the extraordinary benefits for humanity that will follow.”

Read the full Q&A here.

You can hear more of Pedro’s thoughts on this topic when he speaks at Seattle’s Town Hall next Tuesday, September 22 at 7:30 pm. Find more details on that event here.

Press: Read The Wall Street Journal article here and The Washington Post article here. Listen to Pedro being interviewed on NPR’s Marketplace here. Read more →

Stanford…MIT…Harvard…University of Washington!

That’s right, UW is ranked #4 among the most innovative universities in the world according to Reuters, which examined hundreds of universities and ranked them based on the strength of their research and patent activity. In its assessment of UW’s performance, Reuters noted our competitiveness for federal research funding (UW consistently dominates among public institutions), the number of students pursuing STEM majors (roughly 37% of the entire student body), and our record-high commercialization activity.

From Reuters’ announcement:

“Since World War II, universities around the world have been relied on to convert public funding into knowledge and products that help drive the global economy. So how can potential partners, investors, faculty and students know if an institution is really transforming science and technology and impacting the global economy?

“The Reuters Top 100 World’s Most Innovative Universities gets to the essence of what it means to be truly innovative; the institutions recognized here most reliably produce original research, create useful technology, and have the greatest economic impact. They are the surest bets for anyone seeking to invest in and create real innovation.”

We wouldn’t dream of arguing with that! Remember: “The rankings in which we do well are authoritative and worthy of your attention. The others are methodologically defective and should be buried.”

Read the full article and view the complete list of universities that made it into the top 100 here. Check out Reuters’ assessment of UW innovation here, and read today’s GeekWire article on UW’s triumph here. Read more →

Earlier this month, we reported on MagnifiSense, a new low-power, wearable sensor system that tracks an individual’s usage of various devices that was developed by a team of UW CSE and EE researchers in the Ubiquitous Computing Lab led by professor Shwetak Patel.

Today, GeekWire published an excellent article showcasing MagnifiSense that quotes Shwetak and EE graduate student Edward Wang, who presented the team’s research at UbiComp 2015 in Osaka, Japan last week.

From the article:

“The coolest thing about a new electromagnetic-radiation sensing device from the University of Washington might be the elegant simplicity of its design.

“Or maybe it’s the fact that the wearable tech gadget could be put to important uses, such as measuring someone’s carbon footprint, helping prevent injuries for older people with dementia, and blocking inappropriate content from kids when they turn on a computer or TV.

“Or perhaps the best thing about the MagnifiSense sensor, which was built from off-the-shelf materials bought at RadioShack, is that its potential uses are still being discovered….

“The MagnifiSense project began as something seemingly less ambitious than a tool for a greener-living or making grandma and the kids safer.

“‘Our original problem we were trying to solve was figuring out what side of the car you were sitting on,’ Wang said.”

Read the full article here and the original UW press release here. Congratulations to Shwetak, Edward, and the entire team – EE graduate student Tien-Jui Lee, CSE graduate students Mayank Goel and Alex Mariakakis, and CSE Ph.D. alum Sidhant Gupta of Microsoft Research – on this well-deserved recognition. Read more →

UW CSE is co-presenting a very special event, the Gaetano Borriello Feet on the Ground Humanitarian Symposium, in memory of our friend and colleague who passed away earlier this year. The symposium, which will take place on Saturday, October 10 from 1:30 to 6:20 pm at the DoubleTree by Hilton Seattle Airport, is being organized as a special session of the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers’ Global Humanitarian Technology Conference (GHTC15).

The event will feature talks by researchers and humanitarian leaders who are applying technology solutions to real-world problems. Gaetano was a fellow of the IEEE and a recognized leader in developing technologies that improve the quality of life for people around the globe. Among his many contributions was the Open Data Kit (ODK), a suite of open-source mobile data collection tools that are used to advance public health, human rights, political participation and environmental stewardship. One of the highlights of the symposium program will be a panel of UW CSE researchers, including Ph.D. student Waylon Brunette and alumni Nicki Dell and Carl Hartung, who worked with Gaetano on the development of ODK.

Other highlights include technical talks by individuals who are using ODK and other technologies to address humanitarian challenges and improve conditions in low-resource settings. Speakers include John Bennett, Associate Vice Chancellor for Innovation Initiatives at the University of Colorado Denver and past president of Engineers Without Borders; Kiersten Israel-Ballard, Technical Officer for Maternal and Child Health & Nutrition at Seattle-based global health organization PATH; Lilian Pintea, Vice President of Conservation Science for the Jane Goodall Institute; David Thau, Manager of Developer Relations at Google Earth; Heather Underwood, Assistant Professor at the University of Colorado Denver and Associate Director of Inworks; Lorenzo Violante Ruiz, Learning & Innovation Coordinator at the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies; and Roy Want, Research Scientist at Google.

U.S. Senator Maria Cantwell and Jim Jefferies, President of IEEE USA, will join the symposium to make a special announcement, and Eric Brewer, professor of computer science at University of California, Berkeley, will deliver a keynote address on computer science and global development. UW CSE professor Ed Lazowska will open proceedings with a tribute to Gaetano’s life and work. UW CSE professor Richard Anderson and Sheree Wen, chair of IEEE Seattle, are co-chairing the event.

Attendance at the symposium is free, but advance RSVP is required. Learn more about the Borriello Symposium here, and be sure to reserve your place at this celebration of Gaetano’s legacy. Read more →

Last week, UW CSE faculty and students joined the University of Washington Foundation board at its fall meeting to offer hands-on demonstrations and chat with members about their latest research. The UW Foundation advances the mission of the university by raising private support for its many programs that serve students and society – including UW CSE.

CSE professor Ed Lazowska provided an overview of CSE’s impact across campus and in the community before inviting board members to learn more about the groundbreaking research and multi-disciplinary collaborations they enable through their support:

Wireless power: CSE and EE professor Josh Smith and EE Ph.D. student Ben Waters from the Sensor Systems Lab demonstrated a wireless power transfer system that will enable new capabilities in a range of industries, from consumer electronics to health care – including a battery-free, implanted heart pump.

Mobile health and sustainability sensing: CSE and EE professor Shwetak Patel and Ph.D. students Tien Lee (EE) and Alex Mariakakis (CSE) shared a number of innovations developed in the Ubiquitous Computing Lab that combine sensing, machine learning and human-computer interaction to diagnose and monitor disease and measure home energy and water consumption at the appliance level.

Technology for people with disabilities: CSE professor Richard Ladner and CSE Ph.D. student Catie Baker showed how they are expanding access to technology for all users with innovations such as DigiTaps and Tactile Graphics with a Voice, which enable blind and low-vision users to access digital information by “seeing” with their fingers and ears.

Sensorimotor assistance: A multi-disciplinary team that included CSE professor Raj Rao, who leads UW’s Center for Sensorimotor Neural Engineering, and BioE Ph.D. students Nile Wilson, Justin Vrana and Maitham Naeemi demonstrated Symbalance, an app that can detect the onset of a fall and help reorient the user by piping music through headphones – saving people suffering from vestibular and balance disorders from potentially debilitating injuries.

Technology for the developing world: Recent CSE Ph.D. alum Nicki Dell and current Ph.D. students Trevor Perrier and Waylon Brunette showed board members how the Open Data Kit and Mobile WaCH (Women and Child Health) are having a positive impact on the lives of people in developing countries across the globe.

Computational photography: CSE professor Steve Seitz and Ph.D. student Ricardo Martin demonstrated the latest advances from UW CSE’s Graphics and Imaging Laboratory (GRAIL), including the creation of time-lapse videos from millions of tourist photos posted online.

Games for learning and for discovery: CSE professor Zoran Popović and his team from the Center for Game Science, including producer Matthew Burns, game developer Roy Szeto and Ph.D. student Dun-Yu Hsiao, invited board members to try their hand at Foldit, the protein folding game that advances scientific discovery, and Treefrog Treasure, which teaches kids mathematical concepts as they explore different worlds as a frog.

A few photos of the demo session are below, and links to Ed Lazowska’s overview materials and various handouts are here. Our sincere thanks to UW Foundation board chair Jodi Green and all of the board members for their enthusiastic participation and support for UW CSE education and research!

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Nicola (Nicki) Dell has earned the 500th Ph.D. awarded by UW Computer Science & Engineering – a milestone by any measure!

Nicki was advised on her thesis – “Mobile Camera-Based Systems for Low-Resource Settings” – by Gaetano Borriello and Linda Shapiro. In January, she will be starting her new position as an Assistant Professor at Cornell Tech in New York City.

Nicki was born in Zimbabwe and received a B.Sc. in Computer Science from the University of East Anglia (UK) in 2004 and an M.S. in Computer Science & Engineering from UW in 2011. Her research lies at the intersection of Human-Computer Interaction (HCI) and Information and Communication Technologies for Development (ICTD) with a focus on designing, building, and evaluating novel computing systems that improve the lives of underserved populations in low-income regions. Her research and outreach activities have been recognized through several awards and fellowships, including a Graduate Facebook Fellowship, a Google Anita Borg Scholarship, and a Palantir Scholarship for Women in Technology. She has completed internships at Microsoft Research in Redmond, USA and in Bangalore, India and has led the Change group at the University of Washington since 2011.

Learn more about Nicki and her research from her website here and a short video here. Check out the roster of UW CSE Ph.D. recipients here.

Who will receive UW CSE Ph.D. number 2**9? We’ll find out soon! Read more →

UW faculty and student contributions to UbiComp 2015 are so extensive, we can barely keep up. The latest news to come out of the conference that puts UW innovation in the spotlight: technology from the Sensor Systems Laboratory led by UW CSE and EE professor Josh Smith that enables the creation of smart networks of self-localizing, battery-free cameras.

A team that includes Alanson Sample (a UW EE Ph.D. alum who also completed a postdoc in CSE before joining Disney Research), current CSE Ph.D. student Jim Younquist, and EE Ph.D. students Saman Naderiparizi and Eve Zhao devised a system in which battery-free RFID sensor tags enhanced with on-board cameras, known as WISPCams after the Wireless Identification and Sensing Platform on which they are built, are able to determine their location and orientation in relation to other cameras using LEDs.

From a Disney Research press release:

“Previous work at UW has produced battery-free RFID tags called WISPs with enhanced capabilities such as onboard computation, sensing, and image capture capabilities. WISPs operate at such low power that they can scavenge the energy needed for operation from radio waves. The new work shows that these WISPs with onboard cameras, or WISPCams, can use optical cues to figure out where they are located and the direction in which they are pointed. The ability of each node to determine its own location makes deployment of autonomous sensor nodes easier and the sensor data they produce more meaningful.

“‘Once the battery free cameras know their own positions it is possible to query the network of WISPCams for high level information such as all images looking west or sensor data from all nodes in a particular area,’ said Alanson P. Sample, a research scientist with Disney Research who previously was a post-doctoral researcher on the UW team that developed the WISP platform and the WISPCam.”

Having come up with a method to efficiently and precisely localize each camera optically – without the need for extra circuitry or components – the team envisions hundreds of WISPCams working together to measure their location with optical cues or localize and track objects of interest in 3D.

Read the full press release here, and the research paper here. Nice work, team! Read more →

The Google/CSE table at the UW Annual Recognition Gala: Darcy Nothnagle, Stephen Court, Dana Prouty, Jeff Prouty, Ed Lazowska, Lee Smith, Charlie Reis, Kate Everitt, Nicki Dell, Steve Seitz, and Lyndsay Downs

Google was honored on Friday, at the University of Washington Annual Recognition Gala, as the latest UW Presidential Laureate – individuals and organizations who have donated more than $10 million to the University of Washington.

The vast majority of Google’s generosity has come to CSE, in the form of research gifts and matches of philanthropic gifts by employees. We’re extremely grateful to companies such as Google for their support of our work.

At the event, recent UW CSE Ph.D. alum Nicki Dell described one aspect of the impact of Google’s generosity: the creation of Open Data Kit by Gaetano Borriello’s research group, used throughout the world for data collection in low-resource environments.

Jeff Prouty manages to heft Google’s UW Presidential Laureate Commemorative Globe

Yesterday we were thrilled to announce that UW CSE Ph.D. student Haichen Shen and his team captured a Best Paper Award and the inaugural Gaetano Borriello Best Student Paper Award at  UbiComp 2015, the 2015 ACM International Joint Conference on Pervasive and Ubiquitous Computing, currently underway in Osaka Japan. (The Gaetano Borriello Best Student Paper Award was named this year for long-time UW CSE professor Gaetano Borriello, who passed away earlier this year, decades before his time.)

But wait – there’s more!

Today, the UbiComp 2015 10 Year Impact Award – recognizing the paper presented at UbiComp 10 years ago that has had the greatest impact – was awarded to the paper “Place Lab: Device Positioning Using Radio Beacons in the Wild” by a team including UW CSE professor Gaetano Borriello, UW CSE Ph.D. alum and Intel Principal Engineer Anthony LaMarca (then at Intel Research Seattle), UW CSE Ph.D. alum and Google Software Engineering Manager Jeff Hightower (then at Intel Research Seattle), and (then) UW CSE Bachelors students James Howard, Jeff Hughes, and Fred Potter.

Pop quiz: Who won the UbiComp 2014 10 Year Impact Award? Answer: UW CSE’s Gaetano Borriello and Jeff Hightower!

Extra credit: Who won the UbiComp 2013 10 Year Impact Award? Answer: UW CSE’s Don Patterson, Lin Liao, Dieter Fox, and Henry Kautz!

Oh! Did we forget to mention that today, the Pervasive 2015 10 Year Impact Award also went to a team from UW CSE and Intel Research Seattle? Pervasive – which merged with UbiComp two years ago – recognized the paper “Learning and Recognizing the Places We Go” by a familiar set of authors including UW CSE’s Jeff Hightower, Anthony LaMarca, Ian Smith, and Jeff Hughes.

Go team! Read more →

“Innovation across the UW occurs across disciplines” … but 3 of the 6 examples that the UW alumni magazine chose to highlight in its September issue are from CSE:

“Shyam Gollakota captures energy out of thin air …

“Now a phone can diagnose sleep apnea …

“Computer scientist Shwetak Patel leads the UW’s Ubiquitous Computing Lab on projects to harvest power from variations in temperature, use humans as antennae, and use cell phone cameras to judge jaundice in newborns …”

Ayup. Read more here. Read more →