Allen School News

Allen School professor emeritus Richard Ladner, a leading researcher in accessible technology and a leading voice for expanding access to computer science for students with disabilities, has been named the 2020 recipient of the Public Service Award for an individual from the National Science Board (NSB). Each year, the NSB recognizes groups and individuals who have made significant contributions to the public’s understanding of science and engineering. In recognizing Ladner, the board cited his exemplary science communication, diversity advocacy,… Read more →

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Allen School professor and alumnus Michael Ernst (Ph.D., ‘00) has had a distinguished research career that spans more than two decades and includes multiple, influential contributions to programmer productivity through software analysis, testing and verification. In recognition of his impressive body of work, Ernst was recently recognized with the 2020 Outstanding Research Award from the Association for Computing Machinery’s Special Interest Group on Software Engineering (ACM SIGSOFT).  Since he returned to his alma mater in 2009 to take up a… Read more →

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No one could accuse Ph.D. student Vikram Iyer of just winging it. Since his arrival at the University of Washington, Iyer has advanced ground-breaking innovations in low-power wireless communication and computation to expand the Internet of Things, from 3D-printable wireless objects capable of storing and transmitting data, to insect-scale platforms that provide a bug’s eye view of the world. As a sign of just how his ideas have taken flight, today Iyer was named one of three recipients of the… Read more →

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Our latest student spotlight features Vancouver, Washington native Robert Minneker, who graduated in June with degrees in biomedical engineering and computer science and is continuing his studies in the Allen School’s fifth-year Master’s program. Using the skills they gained as undergraduates, Minneker and two friends created Tremor Vision, a web-based tool to help diagnose and treat Parkinson’s disease. The creators — Minneker, Allen School alumna Janae Chan (B.S. ‘19) and informatics graduate Drew Gallardo — were runners up… Read more →

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The University of Washington has established a new endowed professorship, the Senosis–Paul G. Allen Endowed Professorship in Computer Science & Engineering, through the generosity of professors Shwetak Patel and Julie Kientz. The $1 million endowment, which was made possible in part by the acquisition of Patel’s mobile health startup Senosis Health by Google in 2017, will support recruitment and retention of Allen School faculty who pursue high-impact research aimed at solving meaningful, real-world problems… Read more →

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Allen School professor Martin Tompa, an early and leading expert in computational molecular biology and a beloved mentor to undergraduate and graduate students, retired from the Allen School at the end of June. Tompa’s long and distinguished career spans an array of computer science research, including computational complexity, algorithms, and computational molecular biology. And then, of course, there’s his mastery of Schnapsen — the 300+ year old card game with… Read more →

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Allen School professor Byron Boots was recognized with an Early Career Award at the Conference on Robotics: Science & Systems (RSS 2020) for his work spanning machine learning, artificial intelligence and robotics. Each year, the RSS Foundation selects one or more early career researchers for the honor based on their outstanding research accomplishments and demonstrated potential to advance the field of robotics. Boots, who directs the Allen School’s Robot Learning Laboratory, focuses on the development of theory and systems… Read more →

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Professor Sham Kakade, a member of the Allen School’s Machine Learning and Theory of Computation groups, received a Test of Time Award at the International Conference on Machine Learning (ICML 2020) for his work on “Gaussian Process Optimization in the Bandit Setting: No Regret and Experimental Design.” In the winning paper, which was originally presented at ICML 2010, Kakade and his colleagues established the first sublinear regret bounds for Gaussian process (GP) optimization in the nonparametric setting.… Read more →

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Jeong Joon (JJ) Park, a Ph.D. student working with Allen School professor Steve Seitz in the Graphics and Imaging Laboratory (GRAIL) has been named a 2020 Apple Ph.D. Scholar. Park was recognized in the “Artificial Intelligence/Machine Learning” category for his focus on 3D reconstruction and understanding. Apple selects its scholars based on their innovative research, record as thought leaders and collaborators in their fields, and unique commitment to take risks and push the envelope in machine learning and… Read more →

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Earlier this spring, the National Science Foundation recognized nine Allen School student researchers as part of its 2020 Graduate Research Fellowship competition. The honorees — seven Ph.D. students and two undergraduate students — were recognized in the “Comp/IS/Engr” category for their potential to make significant contributions to science and engineering through research, teaching, and innovation. Each of them already has amassed an outstanding track record of pursuing high-impact research in their respective areas, including theoretical computer science, systems, machine learning,… Read more →

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