UW News

College of Engineering


March 19, 2013

Tenfold boost in ability to pinpoint proteins in cancer cells

Lab image of cells

New research offers a more comprehensive way to analyze a cell’s unique behavior, revealing patterns that could indicate why a cell will or won’t become cancerous.


January 24, 2013

Organic ferroelectric molecule shows promise for memory chips, sensors

Image of electric response

A paper in Science describes an organic crystal that shows promise as a cheap, flexible, nontoxic material for the working parts of memory chips, sensors and energy-harvesting devices.


January 9, 2013

UW, Pacific NW National Lab join forces on computing research

Hyak supercomputer at UW.

The University of Washington and the Pacific Northwest National Laboratory have formed the Northwest Institute for Advanced Computing, a joint institute based at the UW that will foster collaborative computing research.


January 7, 2013

Judith Ramey appointed interim dean of UW College of Engineering

Judy Ramey

Judith Ramey, professor and former chair in the UW’s Department of Human Centered Design and Engineering, is named interim dean of the University of Washington’s College of Engineering.


December 13, 2012

Energy Dept. funds UW project to turn wasted natural gas into diesel

ARPA-E logo

The U.S. Department of Energy this month awarded $4 million to a team, led by UW chemical engineers, that aims to develop bacteria to turn the methane in natural gas into diesel fuel for transportation.


November 30, 2012

Electrically spun fabric offers dual defense against pregnancy, HIV

Magnified image of fibers and sperm

Electrically spun cloth with nanometer-sized fibers show promise as a cheap, versatile platform to simultaneously offer contraception and prevent HIV. New funding from the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation will further test the system’s versatility and feasibility.


June 28, 2012

Plasma startup creates high-energy light to make smaller microchips

In one of the twists of scientific discovery, a UW duo working on fusion energy — harnessing the energy-generating mechanism of the sun — may have found a way to etch the next generation of microchips.


May 9, 2012

Portable diagnostics designed to be shaken, not stirred

A textured surface mimics a lotus leaf to move drops of liquid in particular directions. The low-cost system could be used in portable medical or environmental tests.


January 12, 2012

Surgical robots to provide open-source platform for medical robotics research

Seven identical robots created and built at the UW will be flown to campuses across the country, where they will provide the first common research platform to develop the future of surgical robotics. The robots will be display Friday at an open house.


September 20, 2011

Visionary innovator wins MacArthur ‘genius’ award

Shwetak Patel, an assistant professor of computer science and engineering and electrical engineering who explores how people and computers interact, has been named one of this years MacArthur Fellows.


August 19, 2010

Deaf, hard-of-hearing students do first test of sign language by cell phone

Person signing at smartphone

Editor’s note: Each year the summer academy hosts a premier of the students’ animated short films.


August 21, 2008

‘Can you see me now?’ Sign language over cell phones comes to United States

Anna Cavender signing

A group at the University of Washington has developed software that for the first time enables deaf and hard-of-hearing Americans to use sign language over a mobile phone.


May 20, 2004

Sign of caring: Ladner learns parents’ language, contributes to their community

Richard Ladner

In a way, Richard Ladner inherited his volunteer interests.



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