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    EnVitrum Turns Trash Glass into Green Building Material

    Bricks and glassware date back to the earliest civilizations, and the raw materials and basic technologies haven’t changed much over six millennia. Now, two UW Engineering graduate students have exercised techno creativity to rethink both bricks and glass, driven by a goal to develop a useful product from vast heaps of low-grade glass that ends up in landfills. UW graduate students Grant Marchelli and Renuka… View More

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    Lodespin Targets Opportunity in Next-Generation Medical Imaging

    A new University of Washington spin-off company, Lodespin Labs, is emerging as a key player in the development of what could be the next big advance in medical imaging technology – magnetic particle imaging (MPI). It capitalizes on the magnetic properties of nanoscale iron oxide particles that can be injected into the bloodstream for real-time imaging of coronary blood flow and other heart functions. Lodespin… View More

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    UW Computer Security Researchers Release Tabletop Card Game: Control-Alt-Hack

    UW Professor Yoshi Kohno and PhD student Tamara Denning had a goal: to raise the public’s awareness of the vulnerability of computer systems and to create a new generation of programmers and managers who are on the alert for security holes. To accomplish this, they created an entertaining, high-quality game that will expose players to the world of computer security. “We designed Control-Alt-Hack to be… View More

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    Plasma startup creates high-energy light to make smaller microchips

    By Hannah Hickey for UW Today To bring their solution to market two UW engineers have launched a startup, Zplasma, that aims to produce the high-energy light needed to etch the next generation of microchips. “In order to get smaller feature sizes on silicon, the industry has to go to shorter wavelength light,” said Uri Shumlak, a UW professor of aeronautics and astronautics. “Were able… View More

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    Neurosurgeon and Bioengineer Aim for Paradigm Shift in Treatment of Hydrocephalus

    Advances in medical technology and surgical techniques have dramatically improved diagnosis and treatment of most disorders, saving and extending lives. Yet the technology revolution has bypassed a simple device used for 50 years to treat a relatively common but devastating condition in newborns — hydrocephalus, the excess accumulation of cerebrospinal fluid in the brain. If this fluid is not continuously drained through a catheter and shunt system, the pressure buildup can damage brain tissue and expand the skull bones leading to fatal consequences. Continue reading →… View More

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    CSE Professor Seeks to Transform Home-Monitoring Technology

    A new class of low-cost and easy-to-deploy sensing systems for homes being developed at the UW could revolutionize home monitoring, alerting homeowners to humidity or moisture in the attic, plumbing that could spring a leak, or the presence of carbon monoxide. The system employs UW Assistant Professor Shwetak Patel’s Ubicomp research lab technology. Patel joined UW as an assistant professor in both Computer Science and… View More

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    Rating System for Sustainable Roadways Gains Traction

    Greenroads, a sustainability rating system for roadway design and construction, is not just taking the road to market, it’s blazing the route. Greenroads is helping turn our highways and byways green with sustainability standards for paving materials and recycling, roadway design, noise and pollution mitigation, and protection of environmentally sensitive areas and natural resources. In just four years, the project evolved from a student’s inspiration… View More

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    The Bumblebee: UW Lab Creates Tiny and Energy Efficient Wireless Sensor

    In the world of wireless sensors, size matters—and for many applications, the tinier the better. On a quest for the ultra-small and lightweight, Assistant Professor Brian Otis and his electrical engineering research team are pushing sensor technology into new frontiers. Otis’ team has designed a low-power sensor called the Bumblebee that is four times more energy efficient than existing radio circuits, and the noise efficiency… View More

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    UW start-up company, MicroGREEN Polymers, takes recycling to a new level

    A UW spin-off company is on a mission to create a greener cup for your coffee and more environmentally friendly containers for your food. MicroGREEN Polymers, Inc., based in Arlington, Washington, is developing an expanded plastic made from recyclable water bottles (PET). The patented technology, created in the laboratory of Mechanical Engineering Associate Professor Vipin Kumar, creates billions of microcellular bubbles in solid thermoplastics to… View More

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    New Material Extends the Life of Touch Screen Devices

    If the letter “e” goes dead on the touch screen of an iPhone, Tablet PC, or other mobile device, a recycling or trash bin is the next stop. A supermarket touch screen wears out after about 50,000 uses. Alex Jen, Professor and Chair of Materials Science and Engineering, is developing new technology to extend the durability of these products, no small goal given the burgeoning… View More