UW News
The latest news from the UW
May 7, 2015
UW researchers hack a teleoperated surgical robot to reveal security flaws
University of Washington researchers easily hacked a next generation teleoperated surgical robot — one used only for research purposes — to test how easily a malicious attack could hijack remotely-controlled operations in the future and to make those systems more secure.
Tag(s): College of Engineering • Department of Electrical & Computer Engineering • Howard Chizeck • UW BioRobotics Laboratory
Anthropologist Ruth Behar to deliver 40th annual Stroum Lectures May 18, 20
Ruth Behar, professor of anthropology at the University of Michigan, will deliver the 40th annual Samuel and Althea Stroum Lectures at 7:30 p.m. May 18 and 20, in room 220 of Kane Hall. Together, the lectures are titled “Dreams of Sefarad: Explorations of Modern Sephardic Identity, from Istanbul to Havana and Seattle.” They are presented…
May 6, 2015
Arts Roundup: Art, artifacts — and ‘The Magic Flute’
May starts strong, bursting with arts events for the community to enjoy. The School of Art + Art History + Design begins the month with the Painting + Drawing BFA graduation show, followed by the Kollar American Art Lecture featuring Kenneth Haltman. The School of Music starts its run of “The Magic Flute,” co-presented with Pacific MusicWorks, and the Burke Museum hosts the annual Artifact ID Day.
Tag(s): ArtsUW • Burke Museum of Natural History & Culture • College of Arts & Sciences • DXARTS • Jacob Lawrence Gallery • Meany Center for the Performing Arts • Meany Hall for the Performing Arts • School of Art + Art History + Design • School of Drama • School of Music
Catherine Brazil named UW director for Spokane and Eastern Washington relations
Catherine Brazil, who brings more than two decades of public affairs experience in Eastern Washington, has been appointed director of government and community relations for Spokane and Eastern Washington at the University of Washington, effective May 26, 2015. In this new role, Brazil will represent the UW and coordinate government, business and community relations from…
Fishermen, communities need more than healthy fish stocks
The Fishery Performance Indicators are the most comprehensive, global tool that considers social factors in addition to the usual biological measures when gauging a fishery’s health.
Tag(s): Chris Anderson • College of the Environment • School of Aquatic and Fishery Sciences
UW mapping app turns art into a sharable walking route
The Trace app turns a digital sketch that you draw on your smartphone screen — heart, maple leaf, raindrop — into a walking route that you can send to a friend. The recipient of the “gift” receives step-by-step walking directions that eventually reveal the hidden shape on a map.
Tag(s): College of Engineering • Daniela Rosner • Department of Human Centered Design & EngineeringMay 5, 2015
Documents that Changed the World: The Exaltation of Inanna, 2300 BCE
In the latest installment of his Documents that Changed the World podcast series, Joe Janes looks back more than 4,000 years at the Exaltation of Inanna, and what might be the first-ever claim of authorship.
Tag(s): Documents that Changed the World • Information School • Joe JanesMay 4, 2015
UW lecturer joins Farm Sanctuary president for May 8 talk on ethics of eating meat
Bill Clinton and Prince have embraced it, as have Moby, Ellen DeGeneres and Alec Baldwin. Veganism has moved from the foodie fringes into the mainstream in recent years, as celebrities and others are adopting a plant-based diet over concerns about health, animal welfare and the environment. Vegan celebrity chefs, meat-free products in grocery stores and…
Puget Sound’s clingfish could inspire better medical devices, whale tags
Researchers at the University of Washington’s Friday Harbor Laboratories are looking at how the biomechanics of clingfish could be helpful in designing devices and instruments to be used in surgery and even to tag and track whales in the ocean.
Tag(s): Adam Summers • College of Arts & Sciences • College of the Environment • Department of Biology • Friday Harbor Laboratories • Petra DitscheMay 1, 2015
UW, academic student employee union reach tentative agreement on new contract
After months of negotiations, and just hours before the current collective bargaining agreement expired, the University of Washington and UAW 4121, representing nearly 4,500 academic student employees (ASEs) including teaching assistants, research assistants, readers, graders and tutors, reached a tentative agreement Thursday for a new three-year contract. A ratification vote by union members on the…
UW biologist wins Saruhashi Prize for top woman scientist
Keiko Torii, a UW professor of biology, this month was awarded the 35th annual Saruhashi Prize, given each year to a female researcher in the natural sciences. Each year, one woman scientist receives the award recognizing both exceptional research accomplishments and mentoring of other women scientists. “I am especially pleased that the selection committee recognized…
April 30, 2015
Seafloor sensors record possible eruption of underwater volcano
Sensors on the ocean’s floor installed by UW researchers show that late on April 23, a seismic event took place on the 3,000-foot underwater volcano off Oregon’s coast.
Tag(s): Axial Seamount • John Delaney • Ocean Observatories Initiative • volcanoes
Sustainability progress should precede seafood market access, researchers urge
A team of researchers has evaluated fishery improvement projects, which are designed to bring seafood from wild fisheries to the certified market while promising sustainability in the future. In a policy paper appearing May 1 in Science, they conclude these projects need to be fine tuned to ensure that fisheries are delivering on their promises.
Tag(s): College of the Environment • Edward Allison • School of Marine and Environmental Affairs
Engineering a better solar cell: UW research pinpoints defects in popular perovskites
A new UW study demonstrates that perovskite materials — superefficient crystal structures that have recently taken the scientific community by storm — contain previously undiscovered flaws that can be engineered to improve solar cells and other devices even further.
Tag(s): Clean Energy Institute • clean or renewable energy • College of Arts & Sciences • David Ginger • Department of Chemistry
UW Regents seek public input at open forums as presidential search begins
The University of Washington Board of Regents began the process of selecting its next president, and board Chairman Bill Ayer is inviting students, faculty, staff and the public to a series of open forums about what they are looking for in the next leader of the university.
April 29, 2015
Arts Roundup: Piano, drama—and IMPFest
Drama and opera fill this busy week in the arts. From the final weekend of the School of Drama’s production of “Bus Stop” to the upcoming UW School of Music and Pacific MusicWorks collaborative production of “The Magic Flute,” there’s plenty to see on the University’s main stages. Also, don’t forget to check out the Improvised Music Project Festival (IMPFest) over the weekend at the Ethnic Cultural Center.
Tag(s): Henry Art Gallery • School of Art + Art History + Design • School of Drama • School of Music
Antarctic ice core shows northern trigger for ice age climate shifts
UW glaciologists were part of a team that used a new Antarctic ice core to discover which region triggered sudden global-scale climate shifts during the last ice age.
Tag(s): climate • College of the Environment • Department of Earth and Space Sciences • Eric Steig • glaciers • polar science
UW Tacoma junior wins prestigious Udall Scholarship
Faith Ramos, a junior studying sustainable urban development at UW Tacoma, was named one of 50 students nationally to receive the prestigious Udall Scholarship. Ramos worked for 15 years in arts and other nonprofits, including for National Parks programs that bring economically disadvantaged youth to the parks, before enrolling at UW Tacoma. She also has a strong background in…
UW autism center marks 15 years of research and service
When the University of Washington Autism Center opened its doors in 2000, the notion that the disorder could be detected in preschool-aged children was controversial. “We were diagnosing kids between 3 and 4 years of age,” recalled Steve Dager, a UW professor of radiology and the center’s former interim director. “People were still skeptical that…
Tag(s): Annette Estes • Stephen Dager • UW Autism CenterApril 28, 2015
UW apparatus measures single electron’s radiation to try to weigh a neutrino
UW researchers and their collaborators used an experiment in the physics building to measure the energy of a single electron emitted by radioactive decay, a key step in their strategy to measure the mass of the elusive neutrino.
Tag(s): College of Arts & Sciences • Department of Physics • Gray Rybka • Hamish Robertson
Research shows brain differences in children with dyslexia and dysgraphia
University of Washington research shows that using a single category of learning disability to qualify students with written language challenges for special education services is not scientifically supported. Some students only have writing disabilities, but some have both reading and writing disabilities. The study, published online in NeuroImage: Clinical, is among the first to identify…
Tag(s): College of Education • neuroscience & brain science • Todd Richards • Virginia BerningerApril 27, 2015
Tidal tugs on Teflon faults drive slow-slipping earthquakes
Teasing out how slow, silent earthquakes respond to tidal forces lets researchers calculate the friction inside the fault, which could help understand when and how the more hazardous earthquakes occur.
Tag(s): College of the Environment • Department of Earth and Space Sciences • earthquakes & seismology • Heidi Houston
New UW app can detect sleep apnea events via smartphone
The gold standard for diagnosing sleep apnea — a disease which affects roughly 1 in 13 Americans — requires an overnight hospital stay and costs thousands of dollars. A new smartphone app developed at the University of Washington can wirelessly test for sleep apnea events in a person’s own bedroom without needing special sensors attached to the body.
Tag(s): College of Engineering • Department of Neurology • Nathaniel Watson • Paul G. Allen School of Computer Science & Engineering • School of Medicine • Shyam Gollakota • UW MedicineApril 24, 2015
Harmonic Canon? Quadrangularis Reversum? Wild musical world of Harry Partch comes to UW
The bass marimba, big as a desk and twice as tall, uses an organ pipe as a resonator and answers the mallet with a musically wooden plonk. The Chromelodeon II, a retuned reed organ, wheezes a trio of soft tones with the press of a key. And the elaborate Cloud-Chamber Bowls deliver tones ranging…
Tag(s): Charles Corey • College of Arts & Sciences • Harry Partch • Harry Partch Institute • School of MusicApril 22, 2015
UW key player in new NASA coalition to search for life on distant worlds
The NASA Astrobiology Institute’s Virtual Planetary Laboratory, based at the University of Washington, has long brought an interdisciplinary approach to the study of planets and search for life outside our solar system. Now, a new NASA initiative inspired by the UW lab is embracing that same team approach to bring together 10 universities and two research institutions in the ongoing search for life on planets around other stars.
Tag(s): Department of Astronomy • Victoria Meadows • Virtual Planetary Laboratory
Arts Roundup: Music, drama — plus UW Symphony and Seattle Symphony ‘Side by Side’
This coming week, the School of Music leads the way with a variety of events to keep your calendar full. Highlights include the UW Symphony performing with the Seattle Symphony in a “Side by Side” concert, a faculty recital with faculty pianist Craig Sheppard, and the annual Improvised Music Project’s jazz festival.
Tag(s): Meany Center for the Performing Arts • School of Drama • School of Music
Two UW faculty named to American Academy of Arts & Sciences
Two University of Washington faculty members are among the leaders from academia, business, philanthropy, humanities and the arts elected as 2015 fellows of the American Academy of Arts & Sciences, one of the nation’s oldest and most prestigious honorary societies. Stanley Fields, a professor of genome sciences and medicine, and David B. Kaplan, a professor…
Guggenheim Foundation honors UW mathematician Tatiana Toro
Tatiana Toro, a University of Washington professor and associate chair of mathematics, is among 175 new fellows from the U.S. and Canada recognized this year by the Guggenheim Foundation. Winners, chosen from more than 3,100 applicants, receive grants of varying amounts that allow them to pursue creative projects of six to 12 months in the…
April 20, 2015
Study shows early environment has a lasting impact on stress response systems
New University of Washington research finds that children’s early environments have a lasting impact on their responses to stress later in life, and that the negative effects of deprived early environments can be mitigated — but only if that happens before age 2. Published April 20 in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences,…
Tag(s): College of Arts & Sciences • Department of Psychology • Katie McLaughlin
Engineering Discovery Days celebrates 100 years on UW campus, April 24-25
At the University of Washington’s first engineering open house, visitors marveled at early-1900s scientific advances: using electricity to cook and curl hair, sending wireless messages over a distance of five miles, experimenting with lightning. Engineering Discovery Days Fri., April 24, 9 a.m. – 2 p.m. (registration full) Sat., April 25, 9 a.m. – 2 p.m….
UW Stroum Center to host Spring Research Symposium May 1
The UW Stroum Center for Jewish Studies will host its third annual Spring Research Symposium 9:30 a.m. to 1:30 p.m. Friday, May 1, in room 214 of the HUB. The event is free but advance registration is recommended. This half-day event highlights research by the five members of the 2014-15 Jewish Studies Graduate Fellowship, with topics ranging from…
April 17, 2015
Workshop to explore the scientific potential of a hardwired seafloor volcano
Last summer, a team of University of Washington oceanographers successfully installed hardware deep underwater for an Internet-connected observatory off the Washington and Oregon coasts. Now scientists from around the country are meeting to discuss how this will change how people monitor and study seafloor geology. The Networked Observations and Visualizations of the Axial Environment, or…
Sheppard on Shostakovich: Professor of piano discusses upcoming recital
Craig Sheppard, professor of piano in the School of Music, will perform all of the 24 Preludes and Fugues, Opus 87, by Dmitri Shostakovich in a faculty recital at 7:30 p.m. on Saturday, April 25, in Meany Hall. He answered a few questions about the music and his approach to the performance. In a 1993…
UW will investigate seaweed as a tool to fight ocean acidification in Puget Sound
The University of Washington will be working with the Bainbridge Island-based Puget Sound Restoration Fund to see whether growing seaweed could help combat ocean acidification in Puget Sound waters. Like plants on land, kelps and other seaweeds naturally take up carbon dioxide. Puget Sound waters are already high in carbon dioxide and are projected to…
UW’s Jonathan Bricker a finalist for ‘Geek of the Year Award’
Some people think Jonathan Bricker is a geek, and they mean it in the best way possible. Bricker, an affiliate professor of psychology at the UW and a psychologist at Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center, is among five finalists for the annual “Geek of the Year Award” from Seattle technology news site GeekWire. The award…
April 16, 2015
Interim President Ana Mari Cauce opens a dialogue about race and equity on campus
UW Interim President Ana Mari Cauce will give remarks and lead a conversation about equity, racism and difference Thursday afternoon on campus at the Intellectual House. Updated 4/14: Transcript of Cauce’s remarks The roundtable event, which starts at 2 p.m., will encourage students to participate in a discussion about these issues. Space is limited and…
Research identifies barriers in tracking meals and what foodies want
University of Washington and Georgia Institute of Technology researchers studied how mobile-based food journals integrate into everyday life. A new study suggests how future designs might make it easier and more effective.
Tag(s): College of Engineering • James Fogarty • Paul G. Allen School of Computer Science & EngineeringApril 15, 2015
3-D printed blossoms a growing tool for ecology
3-D printing has been used to make everything from cars to medical implants. Now, University of Washington ecologists are using the technology to make artificial flowers, which they say could revolutionize our understanding of plant-pollinator interactions.
Tag(s): College of Arts & Sciences • Department of Biology • Toby Bradshaw • Tom Daniel
UW School of Law’s Gregoire Fellows Program to advance diversity in the legal profession
The University of Washington School of Law, supported by a number of leading Puget Sound-area businesses and law firms, has announced the creation of the Gregoire Fellows Program to help bring greater diversity to the school and the legal profession.
Tag(s): diversity • Kellye Testy • School of Law
Arts Roundup: Drama, music — and the Arty Party
Rounding out this month is a variety of events to keep you entertained. From the Lyon Opera Ballet, Emerson String Quartet and Simone Dinnerstein — all presented by UW World Series — to the annual, family-friendly Arty Party hosted by the Henry Art Gallery, prepare yourself for the rest of spring quarter because it’s looking bright!
Tag(s): Meany Center for the Performing Arts • School of Art + Art History + Design • School of Drama • School of Music« Previous Page Next Page »
