Hamda Yusuf ’16 was awarded a Fulbright Scholarship in a first-ever cohort for a “Community-Based Combined Grant,” which requires both community work and teaching in a foreign country. In fall 2016, she’ll be heading to Austria for 9 months to support Refugees Welcome, a non-profit that is dealing with the Middle East refugee crisis there, and will be an English teaching assistant in secondary schools.
Category: Alumni
Alum leads smartwatch revolution from Beijing
As Chief Technology Officer of Mobvoi, UW Electrical Engineering (EE) alumnus, Mike Lei, leads a company focused on intuitive design, infallible functionality and brilliant human-machine interaction. The startup, which is shaking up the tech community, has already received multi-million dollar investments from search giant, Google.
Within ten minutes of opening their Kickstarter campaign for their newest invention – The Ticwatch 2, Mobvoi had already surpassed their $50,000 funding goal. Currently, The Ticwatch 2 had raised over $550,000, more than 11 times their original goal.
Although it appears born out of the talented stock of tech products in Silicon Valley, Ticwatch is different. The genesis of Ticwatch occurred nearly 6,000 miles from Silicon Valley in Beijing, China.
UW golf standout to represent Chinese Taipei in Rio
Former Washington men’s golf standout Cheng-Tsung Pan has been selected to represent Chinese Taipei in the 2016 Summer Olympics in Rio next month. Golf will make its return to the Summer Olympics for the first time since 1904 and Pan will be one of two from Chinese Taipei competing in the 72-hole stroke play event August 11-14.
For MEDEX student, a life spent learning patience
Growing up in Gambia with childhood injuries and persistent medical problems, Ismail Jatta cultivated patience that has served him well as a caregiver. Having recently completed physician assistant training at MEDEX Northwest, he reflects on his unique path.
UW a top producer of Fulbright scholars
The University of Washington is one of the top producers of Fulbright students for 2015-16, according to lists released Monday in the Chronicle of Higher Education. The Fulbright Program, operated by the U.S. Department of State’s Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs, is the government’s flagship international educational exchange program. Ten students from the UW — including undergraduate, graduate and recent alumni — were awarded Fulbright grants for 2015-2016. Of those 10, seven were undergraduate students and recent graduates.
Global architecture award goes to UW alum
University of Washington alumnus Steven Holl, a native of Bremerton and leader of Steven Holl Architects in New York City, received a 2014 Praemium Imperiale International Arts Award. The Japan Art Association gives the honor each year to recognize lifetime achievements in painting, sculpture, architecture, music and theater or film.
‘Support global health workers’, urges alumna in TEDx talk
At last month’s TEDxUofW event, UW alumna Julia Robinson spoke candidly about the importance of human resources in solving global health challenges like AIDS. New technologies are getting a lot of buzz, she told the crowd, but supporting health workers is the best way to solve health challenges globally.
“I think technology is amazing, but I also believe… that technology needs people to implement it. We need to put that same level of effort into supporting health workers.”
Julia is Deputy Director of Côte d’Ivoire Programs and Director of Advocacy Programs at Health Alliance International, a center of the UW Department of Global Health. She earned Master of Social Work and Master of Public Health degrees from the University of Washington.
US, Japanese leaders celebrate longstanding relations
Japanese General Consul Masahiro Omura spoke today near Drumheiller Fountain today to celebrate a recent gift of cherry trees to the UW American Ethnic Studies department from the people of Japan.
Also speaking at the ceremony were former congressman and U.S. Secretary of Transportation Norman Mineta and UW President Michael K. Young.
The new cherry trees, installed on central campus overlooking Drumheiller Fountain, were presented in honor of longstanding relations between the U.S. and Japan. They also honor the many Japanese and Japanese American students who have attended UW since 1894.
Alum’s smartphone microscopes headed to schools, clinics worldwide
UW mechanical engineering alumnus Thomas Larson (’13) invented a microscope lens for smartphones while still an undergraduate. Since graduation, he has sold 5,000 of his product, the Micro Phone Lens. The smartphone microscopes are being used in classrooms and in the field around the world. His next step? Working with global health experts to test the Micro Phone Lens at a clinic in Kenya.
Founded by UW alumni, Cairo tech start-up is aquired by NewsCorp
Alumni Allen Chen, Mohamed El-Zohairy and Bobby Mathews met as Computer Science & Engineering majors. A decade after graduation, they reunited in Cairo to found CloudPress, an online platform that allows users to create and share content like cookbooks, catalogs and instruction manuals. Their venture may have been risky – they started up during the Egyptian Revolution with the help of a tech accelerator – but it has paid off immensely. CloudPress was recently acquired by NewsCorp. Read more at GeekWire…