Allen School News

Here’s an excellent letter from the Technology Alliance to the President of Western Washington University: “Closing down a well-respected computer science program that prepares students for high-impact, rewarding careers and that supplies our innovative industries with high-caliber talent that enables them to grow and thrive does not serve the people of Washington or the students of WWU.  It clearly will harm our communities by eroding access to high-demand programs for our students and further depriving our fast-growing technology industries of… Read more →

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A two-day symposium “Computation and the Transformation of Practically Everything” was held on April 11-12 in celebration of the 150th anniversary of MIT (April 10 2011).  There were more than two dozen phenomenal talks (plus one by UW CSE’s Ed Lazowska).  The most phenomenal, though, was given by Eric Lander – Professor of Biology at MIT, Professor of Systems Biology at the Harvard Medical School, Founding Director of The Broad Institute at MIT, and Co-Chair of the President’s… Read more →

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You’ve read about the threatened demise of Western Washington University’s Computer Science Department, here and on GeekWire. You’ve watched the KING5 video on the red-hot computer science job market in the Puget Sound region. You’ve marveled at the bureaucratic gibberish from the administrative brainiacs at WWU in an email and a GeekWire interview. In the “What’s new?” department, here’s an excellent letter to WWU from the Washington Technology Industry Association.  The email message transmitting it said: “Washington’s… Read more →

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KING5 News profiles the red-hot Seattle market for computer science grads, focusing on Google, mentioning Zynga, and interviewing graduating UW CSE Ph.D. student John P. John and CSE undergraduate Cullen Walsh.  (The far-sighted bureaucrats at WWU also get a mention.) “The demand for computer scientists and computer engineers is unprecedented …”  “This is a great time to be a computer scientist …”  “Some people have gone to prestigious companies making 6-digit salaries immediately upon leaving UW …”  “The idea… Read more →

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Each year, the International Symposium on Computer Architecture – the premier forum for computer architecture research – presents the “Test of Time Award” to “the paper from the ISCA Proceedings 15 years earlier that has had the most impact on the field (in terms of research, development, products or ideas) during the intervening years.” For the second year in a row, a paper describing UW CSE research on Simultaneous Multithreading (SMT) has won this award! This year’s award goes to… Read more →

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Western Washington University has placed its Computer Science Department on the chopping block in a budget reduction effort. This move seems particularly goofy – even by the standards of education policy in Washington State – given the extreme demand for computer science graduates regionally and nationally, the fine record of WWU’s program, the fact that major programs such as those at the University of Washington, Stanford, and Carnegie Mellon are reporting all-time-record student interest, and reports that newly-minted University of… Read more →

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Aneesh Chopra, the Federal Chief Technology Officer, was interviewed by UW CSE’s Ed Lazowska at the Technology Alliance “State of Technology” luncheon on Tuesday. From GeekWire:  “Chopra discussed everything from how to increase the number of women entrepreneurs to the expansion of broadband services to President Obama’s policy on net neutrality to cybersecurity efforts.  But it was Chopra’s passion for the entrepreneurial process which stood out.” Chopra also participated in roundtables with regional tech leaders on “Innovation in Customer Relations,”… Read more →

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Shwetak Patel, a faculty member in CSE and EE, will receive a 2011 University of Washington College of Engineering “Community of Innovators” Award. Each year, these awards recognize UW College of Engineering faculty, students, and staff who have gone “above and beyond.”  Shwetak shares the Junior Faculty Innovator Award with EE’s Brian Otis. See all the award winners here.  Learn about Shwetak’s work here. (CSE staff members Tracy Erbeck and Melody Kadenko were nominated in the professional… Read more →

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Technology Review highlights work by UW CSE’s Shwetak Patel and Microsoft Research’s Desney Tan. “Our lives are awash with ambient electromagnetic radiation, from the fields generated by power lines to the signals used to send data between Wi-Fi transmitters. Researchers at Microsoft and the University of Washington have found a way to harness this radiation for a computer interface that turns any wall in a building into a touch-sensitive surface.” Read the article here.  NewScientist here.  Gizmodo here… Read more →

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Duh. Xconomy reports on a conversation with UW Dean of Engineering (and bioengineer) Matt O’Donnell. “Read all about it” – here.… Read more →

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