Congratulations to ME alumnus Ron, '61, and Wanda Crockett on receiving the University of Washington Gates Volunteer Service Award! Recipients of the Gates Volunteer Service Award exemplify the highest standards of service to the University of Washington. Sixty years ago, Ron Crockett received a scholarship that changed his life. Inspired by this experience, Ron and Wanda have bestowed 277 scholarships so far — and their influence keeps growing.
News
Fri, 09/08/2017 | University of Washington
Thu, 09/07/2017 | Microscopy Today
Congratulations to professor Jiangyu Li on receiving the 2017 Microscopy Today Innovation Award for his work developing scanning thermo-ionic microscopy (STIM), along with ME Ph.D. alumnus Ahmadreza Eshghinejad and A&A Ph.D. alumnus Ehsan Nasr Esfahani.
Thu, 09/07/2017 | Journal of Dynamic Systems, Measurement, and Control
A research paper led by ME Ph.D. alumnus Ivan Yeoh — with contribution from ME professors Per Reinhall and Eric Seibel (who also received the award in 2004), ME professor Martin Berg, and EE professor Howard Chizeck — will receive the ASME Journal of Dynamic Systems, Measurement, and Control Kalman Best Paper Award. The award, for the paper Electromechanical Modeling and Adaptive Feedforward Control of a Self-Sensing Scanning Fiber Endoscope, will be presented at the annual Dynamic Systems and Control Conference on October 12. Congratulations!
Wed, 08/30/2017 | Department of Mechanical Engineering
Congrats to EcoCAR, Formula Motorsports, Human Powered Submarine and Husky Robotics for their success during this summer’s competitions!
Tue, 08/22/2017 | NBC News
Mechanical engineering research scientist Hunter Hoffman has created a virtual reality game, called SnowWorld, to help burn patients cope with pain. Patients who play SnowWorld during treatment for their burns report up to 50 percent less pain than patients not playing the game. SnowWorld is now in clinical trial as a supplement to pain-killing medication.
Sat, 08/19/2017 | GeekWire
GeekWire visited the UW’s Clean Energy Testbeds to learn how the Testbeds are speeding up the process by which discoveries are transformed into scalable products. Mechanical engineering associate professor Devin MacKenzie, who is technical director of the Testbeds, stressed how difficult it is to make money in clean energy and how the open-access infrastructure provided the Testbeds is key in reducing the cost involved in turning innovative ideas into working prototypes. The Testbeds have attracted users ranging from startups to Microsoft—innovators large and small, all striving to create breakthroughs in clean energy.
Thu, 08/17/2017 | Q13 Fox
Mechanical engineering associate professor Devin MacKenzie has developed a new way to make solar cells using a material called perovskite. Perovskite takes much less energy to produce than the silicon chips used in today’s solar cells, but it is just as effective at turning sunlight into energy. Pervoskite is also lightweight and flexible, meaning it could be used to turn nearly any surface into a solar cell.
Fri, 08/11/2017 | GeekWire
GeekWire visited ME associate professor Brian Polayge and graduate student Emma Cotter to learn about their work measuring the impact of tidal and wave energy machines on marine life. The monitoring system used to capture animal interactions with the machines produces an immense amount of low-value data, so Cotter developed machine learning tools to help capture data only when marine life is nearby. The data will help advance the design of more benign marine energy systems.
Wed, 08/09/2017 | Popular Mechanics
Popular Mechanics covered the 2017 International Submarine Races, where students from across the globe competed in the unique challenge to build a human-powered submarine. The story features the University of Washington’s submarine, Knotty Dawg, which was built with wood from the Northwest School of Wooden Boat Building.
Sat, 07/29/2017 | The Seattle Times
The Seattle Times profiled the Engineering Innovation in Health program, which was founded in the Mechanical Engineering department, as part of their Education Lab spotlight. The Times highlighted projects like EpiForAll that got their start as part of the year-long program but have developed into ongoing endeavors as they progress on the path toward commercialization.
Thu, 07/27/2017 | UW Today
Congratulations to ME Professor Dayong Gao on his election to the Washington State Academy of Sciences, which elects members based on their outstanding record of scientific achievement and willingness to work on behalf of the academy in bringing the best available science to bear on issues within the state of Washington. The Washington State Academy of Sciences election announcement lauds Gao as a major contributor in the field of cryobiology and the science and technology of artificial organs.
Wed, 07/26/2017 | Department of Mechanical Engineering
UW researchers are developing devices to answer some of the trickiest questions about marine energy’s environmental effects. Working as part of the Northwest National Marine Renewable Energy Center, researchers have developed a detection system that captures important data about interactions between marine life and marine energy converters — but only when marine life is present. This detection system drastically reduces the extreme amount of low-value data that researchers would otherwise need to store and inspect.
Mon, 07/10/2017 | Department of Mechanical Engineering
At this year's mechanical engineering graduation ceremony, in addition to awarding nearly 160 bachelor's degrees, 80 master's and 20 doctoral degrees, the department honored ME grads from the Class of '67 in a 50-year reunion.
Wed, 07/05/2017 | National Institutes of Health
Dr. Francis Collins, director of the National Institutes of Health (NIH), reported on Jonathan Liu’s new light-sheet microscope for the NIH Director’s Blog. Collins lauds the potential the microscope presents for improving patient outcomes in cancer treatments.
Mon, 06/26/2017 | Department of Mechanical Engineering
The Engineering Innovation in Health (EIH) program is transforming education in health technology design and entrepreneurship by providing a framework for engineering students and faculty to partner with clinicians and develop affordable solutions to today’s pressing health needs. Highlighted are five projects that originated through EIH and are still building momentum.
Mon, 06/26/2017 | UW Today
A versatile light-sheet microscope, developed by a UW team including ME associate professor Jonathan Liu, can provide surgeons with real-time pathology data to guide cancer-removal surgeries and can also non-destructively examine tumor biopsies in 3-D. The microscope provides surgeons with proof that they have removed all cancerous tissue, preventing the need for further surgeries to remove cancerous cells that were missed during the initial procedure.
Mon, 06/26/2017 | Nature Biomedical Engineering
Associate professor Jonathan Liu explains how the opportunity to collaborate with the School of Medicine attracted him to the University of Washington and led to the development of his light-sheet microscope. The interdisciplinary work of engineers and pathologists was key to the success of the innovative microscope that can scan tumors during surgery and examine cancer biopsies in 3-D.
Mon, 06/19/2017 | Department of Mechanical Engineering
ME graduate student Jessica Zistatsis shares her journey through the commercialization process at the UW, thanks to Engineering Innovation in Health. Jessica is one of the innovators of PlayGait™, a pediatric exoskeleton that helps kids with cerebral palsy get more walking practice outside of therapy so they can learn to walk independently.
Wed, 06/07/2017 | Department of Mechanical Engineering
Professor Dayoung Gao is one of more than 40 world leaders in science and medicine who are calling for a modern-day "Apollo Program" to advance organ and tissue preservation research. Gao works at the forefront of cryobiology and views cryopreservation as having the potential to transform transplantation by extending the preservation window for organs.
Fri, 05/26/2017 | EcoCAR 3
Congratulations to UW EcoCAR 3 for picking up a number of awards at this year's national competition, including the NSF Innovation Award, Most Creative Outreach Event Award, and Best Fall Swimlane Report! Special shout-out to ME undergrad Rachel Krause, for receiving the General Motors Women in Engineering Rookie Award!
Thu, 05/25/2017 | Foster School of Business
Congratulations to the ME student teams that won prizes in the UW Buerk Center for Entrepreneurship's 2017 Business Plan Competition! They all originated out of ME's Engineering Innovation in Health program and include LC-Tourniquet (3rd place), EpiForAll (4th place) and PlayGait (Best Health/Healthcare Idea Prize).
Mon, 05/22/2017 | UWTV
UW 360 featured teams from this year’s Hollomon Health Innovation Challenge that are moving forward to bring their innovations to market. Among the projects featured were Epi4All and PlayGait, both of which got their start in ME’s Engineering Innovation in Health program.
Tue, 05/16/2017 | GeekWire
Phoresa is developing a quick, accurate test for infectious diseases that will allow clinics to diagnose and treat patients in a single visit. Phoresa grew out of work conducted in ME associate professor Jonathan Posner's research group, and the company is growing with the help of a National Science Foundation Small Business Technology Transfer grant.
Mon, 05/15/2017 | Department of Mechanical Engineering
EcoCAR is multi-phase challenge in which students work to convert a Camaro into a hybrid-electric car. UW Engineering’s Vertically Integrated Projects (VIP) program supports multidisciplinary, long-term projects like EcoCAR that present real-world, experiential learning opportunities to students.
Wed, 05/03/2017 | University of Washington
Sheri Imsdahl, who recently earned her Ph.D. in mechanical engineering, had the opportunity to spend eight months traveling to Kenya, Uganda, Rwanda, Tanzania, Malawi, Ethiopia, South Africa, Peru, Chile, Argentina, and Brazil as a Bonderman Fellow. Bonderman Travel Fellowships enable UW students to partake in independent, eye-opening travel where they explore unfamiliar cultures and places.
Jennifer Langston