UW hyperloop team in the news

Seattle to Portland in 15 minutes? A group of University of Washington students is trying just that. They are attempting inventor Elon Musk’s dream of hyperloop, a conceptual form of high-speed travel. The UW students are finalists in a collegiate competition to build a hyperloop pod for competition in January. Read more from The Seattle Times and visit the UW’s team website to learn more about their project.

President Obama signs Daniel J. Evans Olympic National Park Wilderness Act

Earlier this month, President Obama signed Senate Bill 3028, the “Daniel J. Evans Olympic National Park Wilderness Act,” which re-designates the 1,370 square miles Olympic Wilderness within Olympic National Park as the Daniel J. Evans Wilderness. Comprising more than 95% of the park, it is the largest wilderness area in the State of Washington.

The Evans School was established in 1962 as one of the nation’s first schools of public policy at a public university. Formerly known as the Graduate School of Public Affairs, the Evans School was renamed in 2000 to honor Evans. In 2015 the school was renamed the Daniel J. Evans School of Public Policy & Governance to reflect the school’s intellectual and practical contributions to the fields of policy design and public leadership.

New from UW 360: Husky women’s golf takes home the national championship

Last spring, the Husky Women’s Golf Team captured the UW’s first NCAA golf title. Watch this video from UW 360 to see the amazing winning shots and learn more about the team and head coach, Mary Lou Mulflur.

UW-developed technology to expand reach to help children and families

Technology developed at the University of Washington to improve service delivery in child welfare, foster care and homeless youth systems will soon be expanded to other states.

New grant funding will allow Oliver — a social service management solution developed by Partners for Our Children, an organization in the UW School of Social Work — to be expanded to five communities in Washington, Oregon, and California.

Oliver was created about three years ago as a way of addressing the need for better data in the child welfare system. The program provides software and apps that streamline internal work processes for child welfare providers and help generate data on service delivery and outcomes.

External Affairs welcomes new state relations director

The University of Washington announced staffing changes in the Office of External Affairs this week, naming Joe Dacca director of state relations.

Dacca currently serves as district director for U.S. Rep. Derek Kilmer and previously worked for U.S. Rep. Norm Dicks from 2008 to 2012. Dacca holds a bachelor’s degree in political science from the UW.