October 19, 2011
Etc.: Campus news & notes
PEOPLE OF INFLUENCE: Five members of the UW community were included in Seattle Magazines listing of the citys most influential people for 2011. Engineering professors Henry Lai and Shwetak Patel, Affiliate Pathology Professor Valeri Vasioukhin and his colleague at the Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center Mark Silvis and Football Coach Steve Sarkisian all got the nod.
Lai was cited for his research on cell phones and cancer that set the cell phone industry against him. “But today, a new body of studies is backing up his research, and a number of lawmakers are using his work to push for tougher rules on radiation exposure from cell phones,” the magazine reported.
Patel, who recently won a MacArthur Fellowship, was lauded for his work in energy monitoring: “Thanks to a soon-to-be-released technology using sensors developed by Zensi, an energy-monitoring startup founded by … Patel, consumers will soon be able to monitor how much electricity, water and gas their homes use — right down to a gas-guzzling heater or water-wasting spigot.”
Vasioukhin and Silvis received kudos for their recent discovery of a gene responsible for the second-most-common skin cancer, squamous cell carcinoma, a discovery that is an essential clue for developing a drug to combat the disease.
Of Sarkisian, the magazine said, “[the] coachs rally cry ‘Expect to win! — posted in locker rooms, shouted in meetings and blazoned across campus — has become more than a marketing slogan; its become a sentiment living in the hearts of all Dawgs in 2011.”
Les Atlas, professor of electrical engineering and faculty coordinator of the Husky Bicycle Club, greets Seattle Mayor Mike McGinn.
BIKE CLUB MAYOR: Mayor Mike McGinn, a graduate of UW School of Law, rode his bike to the UW to meet members of the University of Washington Husky Cycling Club on their first team ride of the fall quarter Oct 15. Club president and UW undergraduate student Genevieve Gebhart thanked the mayor for his efforts in making Seattle a safer city for cyclists and presented him with an official UW cycling jersey, welcoming him as an honorary club member. Electrical Engineering Professor Les Atlas, UW Husky Cycling club faculty coordinator and bike racer, coodinated this event and enjoyed speaking to the Mayor about recent improvements in bicycle safety in Seattle and around the UW campus. Gebhart has a Mary Gates Leadership Award for her outstanding work as Husky Cycling President, with mentoring in this role from Atlas.
Judy Ramey
COMMUNICATION HONOR: Human Centered Design & Engineering Professor Judy Ramey is receiving the 2011 Ronald S. Blicq Award for Distinction in Technical Communication Education and the Best Paper Award from the IEEE Professional Communication Society. The Blicq Award recognizes innovative educators who have influenced the ways that technical communication is taught. Ramey is receiving the Best Paper Award for two papers: “The Systematic Literature Review as a Research Genre,” by Judy Ramey and Priya Guruprakash-Rao; and “Use of Mobile Phones by Non- or Semi-literate Users: A Systematic Literature Review,” by Priya Guruprakash-Rao and Judy Ramey. The awards will be presented this month at the 2011 International Professional Communication Conference.
