UW develops diet aid designed to work with smartphone

The UW Sensors, Energy, and Automation Lab  and the Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center have developed a device that uses a smartphone to help people watch what they eat and maintain a healthy diet.

Read the announcement in TechFlash here.

Serials and Electronic Resources Review 2009

FYI: The UW Libraries is currently engaged in a serials and electronic resources review. Why? Estimated cuts in our information resources budget range from approximately $1.9 million to $2.4 million, which means we must start identifying possible titles to cancel.

A combined list of proposed titles for cancellation from all funds (including Engineering) will be posted on the web by summer 2009. Using faculty input and our principals and goals as guides, we will make final decisions in the fall.

You can find more information on the the official Serials and Electronic Resources Review 2009 page, including Frequently Asked Questions and a letter from the Dean of Libraries, Betsy Wilson.

If you have any questions or comments, please contact us.

How many engineers does it take to change a light bulb?

From the Rube Goldberg Contest at Purdue:

Inspired by cartoonist Rube Goldberg, college students nationwide compete to design a machine to complete a simple task using 20 or more steps.

The 2009 task was to replace an incandescent light bulb with a more energy-efficient, light-emitting design.

Check out our favorite entry, "Scene of the Crime," from the University of Illinois team. It won second place.

Yoky Matsuoka in the Seattle Times

In case you missed it, here's a link to a great article about UW Associate Professor of Computer Science & Engineering and MacArthur "genius" award-winner Yoky Matsuoka.

Article: The UW's Yoky Matsuoka is leading the quest for robotics that take orders from the brain

Barbara Liskov Wins 2008 Turing Award

From The Chronicle of Higher Education:

"Barbara Liskov, the first woman in the United States to earn a Ph.D. from a computer-science department and a professor at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, has been awarded the A.M. Turing Award for 2008."

From the ACM press release:

"The award cites Liskov for her foundational innovations to designing and building the pervasive computer system designs that power daily life. Her achievements in programming language design have made software more reliable and easier to maintain. They are now the basis of every important programming language since 1975, including Ada, C++, Java, and C#. The Turing Award, widely considered the "Nobel Prize in Computing," is named for the British mathematician Alan M. Turing. The award carries a $250,000 prize..."

HCDE moving to Sieg Hall on March 18th

Just an FYI: the department of Human-Centered Design and Engineering (HCDE), formerly Technical Communications, is moving its offices from Loew Hall to Sieg Hall on March 18, 2009.

The announcement can be found here: http://www.uwtc.washington.edu/navpeople/quickcontacts

Bioengineering + Art

From University Week:

"This picture, and other imaginative takes on UW bioengineering research, will be on display [February 27] through April 3 at the Harborview Medical Center cafeteria.

This is the first time the Harborview Art Program -- which regularly includes local artists, musicians and performers -- will feature scientific research.

The exhibit also serves as an artistic premiere of sorts for images from the laboratory of Albert Folch, a UW associate professor of bioengineering... "

Sounds pretty cool. Read the full article here.

Want a degree in engineering? Your options may expand.

Did you know that, as of right now, the University of Washington and Washington State University are the only public universities in Washington that are allowed by law to offer certain courses in engineering?

If you didn't know, don't bother memorizing this fact, for it looks like it may soon change.

According to an article in The Daily Evergreen, the Washington State legislature is considering a bill that would allow more universities to offer classes and degrees in engineering.

The Senate Bill Report says that supporters argue high demand for engineers necessitates this expansion.

TC becomes HCDE

The College of Engineering's Technical Communication department has a new name! According to University Week, it is now officially the Department of Human-Centered Design and Engineering (HCDE).

Why the name change? "The field is changing," said professor and chair Jan Spyridakis. "Given where the computing world is going, our field is much broader than simply writing and editing. The new name reflects that broader focus."

To find out more about the change, read the entire article in University Week.

Tiny Motors, Tiny Robots

The BBC has an interesting article/video about the development of nano-motors to power tiny robots. The innovation, which has applications in surgical procedures, was reported in the February 2009 issue of the Journal of Micromechanics and Microengineering. I believe the article is titled, "Piezoelectric ultrasonic resonant motor with stator diameter less than 250 µm: the Proteus motor," and is authored by James Friend and colleagues from the Micro/Nanophysics Laboratory at Monash University in Australia.

If you want to read the the original journal article, you're in luck! The University of Washington has a subscription to the electronic version, which means the Journal of Micromechanics and Microengineering (from 1991 to the present) is available to UW students, faculty, and staff online.

According the the BBC article, the "researchers' prototype measures a quarter of a millimetre wide - not much more than a couple of hairs side-by-side, and 70% smaller than the previous record holder."

If you need help accessing this (or any) article, just ask us.

NewsFlash!

Each month, NewsFlash highlights College of Engineering researchers (and sometimes students) who have been featured in magazines, newspapers, and other media.

For example, University of Washington professor Babak Parviz's work on developing a bionic contact lens was recently highlighted in a CNN.com article.

So subscribe to the NewsFlash RSS feed to keep up with the latest breaking news about your colleagues at the UW College of Engineering.

Top Tech Breakthroughs of 2008

To add another year-end list, here are Wired's Top 10 Technology Breakthroughs of 2008:

10. Flexible Displays
9. Edible Chips
8. Speedo LZR
7. Flash Memory
6. GPS
5. The Memristor
4. Video-Capable SLRs
3. USB 3.0
2. Android
1. Apple's App Store

There is already quite an argument in the Wired article's comments over whether Apple's App Store is really a tech breakthrough. What do you think?