If, as Oscar Wilde once said, “Life imitates art far more than art imitates life,” then the art of film has a lot to answer for when it comes to the perpetuation of gender stereotypes. Thanks to researchers in the Allen School’s Natural Language Processing research group, we now have a way to measure the sometimes subtle biases in how men and women are portrayed on the big screen — and increase our understanding of how language shapes our perception… Read more →
Where the STEM Jobs Are (and Where They Aren’t)
The New York Times writes:
“What recent studies have made increasingly apparent is that the greatest number of high-paying STEM jobs are in the ‘T’ (specifically, computing). …
“‘There is a huge divide between the computing technology roles and the traditional sciences,’ said Andrew Chamberlain, Glassdoor’s chief economist.
“At LinkedIn, researchers identified the skills most in demand. The top 10 last year were all computer skills, including expertise in cloud computing, data mining and statistical analysis, and writing smartphone applications.”… Read more →
Fashion-forward: Allen School researchers invent smart fabric that stores data without electronics
Researchers in the Allen School’s Networks & Mobile Systems Lab have introduced a new kind of smart fabric imbued with computing and interaction capabilities — without the need for onboard electronics. Their work could redefine what we mean by “wearable” and usher in a fashionable new direction for computing.
Smart garments currently on the market typically pair conductive thread with electronic components, batteries, and sensors — elements that cannot be submerged under water or subjected to extreme temperatures. Allen School… Read more →
The Paul G. Allen School hosts Nancy Pelosi and Suzan DelBene
Today the Paul G. Allen School was honored to host a roundtable on “Women in 21st Century Jobs” with House Democratic Leader Nancy Pelosi and Congresswoman Suzan DelBene from Washington’s 1st Congressional District.
Undergraduate students, graduate students, faculty, and staff explored a wide variety of issues with Pelosi and DelBene including:
the barriers that women face in the tech industry
policies to encourage more women in STEM
public-private partnerships to help close the skills gap
sexual harassment in society at… Read more →
Anat Caspi earns Innovation Award from Northwest Access Fund
Anat Caspi, director of the Allen School’s Taskar Center for Accessible Technology, is being honored with the 2017 Innovation Award from Northwest Access Fund, a non-profit organization devoted to improving access and opportunity for people with disabilities throughout the Pacific Northwest. The Innovation Award recognizes a business, organization, or individual who has developed one or more products that improve quality of life for people with disabilities.
“Northwest Access Fund was honored to have Anat Caspi present on… Read more →
Where the jobs are: 2016-2026 edition
The U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics has just released its employment projections for the decade 2016-2026. It’s a highly detailed forecast: more than 1,000 specific job categories are included.
Computing occupations once again dominate STEM, accounting for 66% of all job growth, and 60% of all job openings (whether due to growth or to replacement).
BLS projects a growth of 546,000 computing jobs over the decade, and 3,475,000 job openings.
Whoaboy!… Read more →
Luke Zettlemoyer, Allen Institute for AI in NY Times
“Luke Zettlemoyer, a professor at the University of Washington … turned down a lucrative offer from Google, instead taking a post at the nonprofit Allen Institute for Artificial Intelligence so he could continue teaching.”
Luke and Ali Farhadi are heavily engaged in AI2, which is led by long-time Allen School professor Oren Etzioni. It offers the best of both worlds.
NY Times article here.… Read more →
Professor Jennifer Mankoff recognized with GVU Impact Award
Professor Jennifer Mankoff, a member of the Allen School’s human computer interaction research group, has been honored with a GVU Impact Award from the GVU Center at her alma mater, Georgia Tech. To mark its 25th anniversary, the center recognized Mankoff and 13 other current or former members who have had a significant impact on the world and contributed substantially to GVU’s reputation, influence, and community in pursuit of its mission to improve the human condition through technology.
Mankoff… Read more →
Cybersecurity researchers uncover how online advertising can be used to track individuals
Online ads may not only be trying to sell you something; they may be selling you out. That’s according to a team of researchers in the Allen School’s Security and Privacy Research Lab, who recently discovered how easy it is for someone with less than honorable intentions to turn online ads into a surveillance tool. They found that, for as little as $1,000, a person or organization could conceivably purchase ads that will enable them to track someone’s location… Read more →
Allen School alumnus and cybercrime fighter Stefan Savage wins MacArthur “Genius” Award
Stefan Savage, who earned his Ph.D. in Computer Science & Engineering from the University of Washington in 2002, has been named a 2017 MacArthur Foundation Fellow. The foundation selected Savage, a faculty member at the University of California, San Diego, for his groundbreaking research focused on “identifying and addressing the technological, economic, and social vulnerabilities underlying internet security challenges and cybercrime.”
The MacArthur Fellows Program — commonly referred to as MacArthur “Genius” Awards — celebrates exceptionally creative individuals… Read more →