May 6, 2004
Etc.: Campus News and Notes
TOPS IN TEACHING: Jan Spyridakis, professor of technical communication, received the national award for Excellence in Teaching from the Society of Technical Communication. The society gives out one Jay R. Gould Award annually at its International meeting in May. The award is given to emphasize a professor’s specific strengths in teaching and mentoring. Spiridakis’ strengths were described as “incorporating research into her classes and challenging students to learn in new ways about a variety of topics, and specifically for involving so many students in actively pursuing research.” This isn’t the first time Spiridakis has been honored for her teaching. She won the UW’s Distinguished Teaching Award in 1990, the College of Engineering Teaching Award in 1989 and the Educational Outreach Teaching Award in 2000.
IEEE STAR: Karl Bohringer, associate professor of electrical engineering, is one of just two people in the country to get an Early Academic Career Award in Robotics and Automation from the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers.
Bohringer was given the award for “contributions to physical and geometric algorithms and MEMS (micro electromechanical systems), with application to problems in parts manipulation and self-assembly,” according to the IEEE award citation. Last year, a Bohringer project that involved using tiny, pulsating cilia to precisely guide small satellites to docking ports on larger spacecraft was named by Discover magazine as one of the top 100 science stories of 2002. He joined the UW in 1998.
Do you know someone who deserves kudos for an outstanding achievement, award, appointment or book publication? If so, send that person’s name, title and achievement to uweek@u.washington.edu.
