Honors and awards | Technology | UW and the community | UW Notebook

July 9, 2021

Recent honors and achievements by University of Washington faculty include an early career award for study of family communication and a distinguished service award for decades in support of theoretical computing.

Kristina Scharp receives early career honor from International Communication Association

Kristina Scharp

The International Communication Association has given Kristina Scharp, UW assistant professor in the Department of Communication, its 2021 ICA Early Career Scholar Award.

The award, one of seven presented during the associations annual international conference held virtually May 27 to 31, honors a scholar no more than seven years past their doctoral degree.

Scharps work, the association noted, has greatly contributed to theory development and understanding in the areas of family estrangement and distancing, and it illustrates a rigorous commitment to securing hard-to-reach samples and employing mixed methods with mostly qualitative results.

Read more at the Department of Communication website.

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Allen Schools Paul Beame receives distinguished service award from Association for Computer Machinery

Paul Beame

Paul Beame, professor in the Paul G. Allen School of Computer Science & Engineering, has been honored by the Association for Computing Machinery, or ACM, for more than 20 years supporting the theoretical computer science community.

Beame has received the 2021 ACM SIGACT Distinguished Service Award, from the associations Special Interest Group on Algorithms and Computational Theory, or SIGACT. In its announcement, the group thanked Beamed for his selfless devotion and called him its SIGACT oracle and adviser to those responsible for running our main conferences every year.

An associate director of the Allen School, Beame is a member of the theory of computation group CS Theory @ UW. His research is concerned with computational complexity and proving lower bounds on the resources needed for solving computational problems.

Read more on the Allen School blog.

Read more:

Faculty/staff honors: Early career honor in communication, distinguished service award in theoretical computing - UW News

The School of Engineering has announced that MIT has granted tenure to eight members of its faculty in the departments of Chemical Engineering, Electrical Engineering and Computer Science, Materials Science and Engineering, Mechanical Engineering, and Nuclear Science and Engineering.

This years newly tenured faculty are truly inspiring, says Anantha Chandrakasan, dean of the School of Engineering and Vannevar Bush Professor of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science. Their work as educators and scholars has shown an incredible commitment to teaching and research they have each had a tremendous impact in their fields and within School of Engineering community.

This years newly tenured associate professors are:

Mohammad Alizadeh, in the Department of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science and the MIT Computer Science and Artificial Intelligence Laboratory, focuses his research in the areas of computer networks and systems.His research aims to improve the performance, robustness, and ease of management of future networks and cloud computing systems.His current research spans three areas of networking: learning-based resource management for networked systems, programmable networks, and algorithms and protocols for data center networks.He is also broadly interested in performance modeling and analysis of computer systems and bridging theory and practice in computer system design.

Kwanghun Chung, in the Department of Chemical Engineering, the Institute for Medical Engineering and Science, and the Picower Institute, is devoted to developing and applying novel technologies for holistic understanding of large-scale complex biological systems. His research team develops a host of methods that enable identification of multi-scale functional networks and interrogation of their system-wide, multifactorial interactions. He applies these technologies for studying brain function and dysfunction. His research interests include neuroscience, medical imaging, brain mapping, high-throughput technologies, polymer science, tissue engineering, microfluidics.

Areg Danagoulian, in the Department of Nuclear Science and Engineering, focuses his current research on nuclear physics applications in nuclear security. This includes technical problems in nuclear nonproliferation, technologies for treaty verification, nuclear safeguards, and cargo security. His current research areas include nuclear disarmament verification via resonant phenomena and novel nuclear detection concepts.

Ruonan Han, in the Department of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science, is a core faculty member of the Microsystems Technology Laboratories. His research aims at pushing the speed limits of microelectronic circuits in order to bridge the "terahertz gap" between the microwave and infrared domains. He is also interested ininnovative interplays among electronics,electromagnetics, and quantum physics for the development ofhigh-frequency, large-scale microsystems, which enable new applications in sensing, metrology, security, and communication.

Heather J. Kulik, in the Department of Chemical Engineering, leverages computational modeling to aid the discovery of new materials and mechanisms. Her group advances data-driven machine learning models to enable rapid design of open shell transition metal complexes. She advances fundamental theories to enable low-cost, accurate modeling of quantum mechanical properties of transition metal complexes and software for high-throughput screening to reveal design principles and develop data-driven machine learning models for the rapid design of open shell transition metal complexes. Her group uses these tools to bridge the gap from heterogeneous to homogeneous and enzyme catalysis. The methods she develops enable the prediction of new materials properties in seconds, the exploration of million-compound design spaces, and the identification of design rules and exceptions that go beyond intuition.

Elsa Olivetti, in the Department of Materials Science and Engineering, focuses her research on sustainable and scalable materials design, manufacturing, and end-of-life recovery within the larger context in which materials are used. She is especially interested in linking strategies to reduce the environmental burden of materials across different length scales from atoms and molecules to industrial processes and materials markets. She conducts work to inform our understanding of the complex and nuanced implications of substitution, dematerialization, and waste mining on materials sustainability.

Alberto Rodriguez, the Class of 1957 Associate Professor in the Department of Mechanical Engineering, leads the Manipulation and Mechanisms Lab at MIT (MCube), researching autonomous dexterous manipulation and robot automation. He is also associate head of house at MIT's Sidney-Pacific graduate dorm, where he lives with his family. He graduated in mathematics (2005) and telecommunication engineering (2006) from the Universitat Politecnica de Catalunya and earned his PhD (2013) from the Robotics Institute at Carnegie Mellon University. Rodriguez has received Best Paper Awards at conferences RSS11, ICRA13, RSS18, IROS'18, RSS'19, and ICRA'21, and the 2018 Best Manipulation System Paper Award from Amazon, and the 2020 IEEE Transactions on Robotics King-Sun Fu Memorial Best Paper Award. He has been a finalist for best paper awards at IROS16, IROS'18, ICRA'20, RSS'20, and ICRA'21. He led Team MIT-Princeton in the Amazon Robotics Challenge between 2015 and 2017, and received Faculty Research Awards from Amazon in 2018, 2019, and 2020, and from Google in 2020. He is also the recipient of the 2020 IEEE Early Academic Career Award in Robotics and Automation.

James Swan, in the Department of Chemical Engineering, focuses on how microstructured, in particular nano-particle, materials can be manipulated for the benefit of society. His research on soft matter is broad and has included accurate measurement of biophysical forces and the self-assembly nano-particles in microgravity. He aims to combine theory and simulation to model the fluid mechanics and out-of-equilibrium statistical physics that are fundamental to complex fluids and other soft matter. His other research interests include computational fluid mechanics and colloid science, flow properties, biophysical media, and directed self-assembly of nanomaterials.

Originally posted here:

The tenured engineers of 2021 - MIT News

Westerns faculty and students are engaged in exciting research and scholarship across a variety of fields, from marine science and climate change to teaching, the humanities, and the arts. Periodically, Western Today will share short summaries of the latest developments in scholarship and research at the University. Interested in reading in-depth stories about science and research at Western?Go to Gaia, the university's online journal of research, discovery and scholarship, and subscribe (it's free) tothat site by clicking the "Follow" button.Want more research news? Follow@WWUResearchon Twitter.

Johanna Urbachis a first-year graduate student of chemistry, with a special interest inbio-chemistry, who studies hemoglobin. She is a recipient of the WWU Graduate Research Award for her thesis entitled, Design and characterization of stable polymeric variants of human hemoglobin. She has presented her research at NORM2021 and at WWU Scholars Week.

A lot of research has gone into producing synthetic hemoglobin, which would make blood stores more accessible to victims of trauma and to people in need in the developing world. In the lab, Urbach focuses on hemoglobin-based oxygen carriers (HBOCs). Her goal is to optimize the expression ofrHb-cTRPand characterize the resulting polymeric hemoglobin. The process is complex, but Urbach hopes to see if attaching more than four hemoglobin units together will yield favorable results in the development of synthetic human hemoglobin.

Urbach says that as a person with a disability, she spent a lot of time in resource classes in elementary school. It was unclear whether she would be able to go to college, let alone succeed academically and pursue an advanced degree. But Urbach says her faculty have been overwhelmingly "supportive and amazing," and thatWWU has been completely accommodating of her disability and that the offer of help is real. Her mentors have fostered development and learning, and she says there is a level of respect that feels rare.

Urbachsfaculty advisor is Spencer Anthony-Cahill; she also gives thanks for Clint Spiegel for her time in his lab and to John Antos for guidance and use of his mass spectrometry.

Computer Science graduate student AnaisDawsonis utilizing virtual reality and wearable sensors to address challenges in the domain of assistive technology.

Under the guidance of professors Shameem Ahmed, Wesley Deneke, and Moushumi Sharmin, Dawson led a small group of undergraduate students to develop "InterViewR," a VR-based platform that provides training to autistic young adults to better prepare them for job interviews.

Dawsonsupervisedand trainedundergraduate students who previously had little awareness of the domains of Autism, Virtual Reality, and Human Computer Interaction. As a teaching assistant,Dawsonalso mentored students at all levelsbyproviding thoughtful, detailed, and encouraging feedback to them and by creating an inclusive and accessible environment for all students.

As a student researcher,Anaispublished her preliminary work inIEEECompSAC2020, presented her work in Grace Hopper Celebration of Women in Computing 2020, and is currently in the process of submitting her graduate research work inACM CSCW 2021 outstanding accomplishments for a graduate student who is just starting her research career.

More:

Research Recap for July 9: Work on hemoglobin and virtual reality assistive technology | Western Today - Western Today

Stuart Rabinowitz first arrived on the Hofstra University campus in 1972 to teach at its fledgling law school, drawn by its newness and ambition. The Bronx native, a lawyer with degrees from the City University of New York and Columbia University law school, felt the school aspired to become "as good as any law school in the country."

"I didnt think the university had that same ambition," he said in an interview in his Hofstra office in Hempstead on June 28. "And I couldnt understand that because there were so many advantages they werent taking advantage of."

When he steps down as Hofstras president at the end of this month, he will have led a 20-year push to transform the private university.

Hofstra University president Stuart Rabinowitzretires July 31 after 50 years on campus. A law professor, he became law school dean in 1989 and president in 2001.

Since 2001, Hofstra has added six schools:medical; nursing;engineering and applied science; government, public policy and international affairs;health professions and health services;and honors college. Enrollment has fallen, however.

Students of color went from 22% ofstudent body in 2001 to 46% in fall 2021, and students in the top 10% of high school class went from 12% to 32% by fall 2020.

Hofstra proudly lists the achievements under his two-decade watch: six new schools, including the Zucker School of Medicine and the Hofstra Northwell School of Nursing and Physician Assistant Studies, both in partnership with Northwell Health. There are more than eight new academic centers, including the National Center for Suburban Studies, four new buildings, an endowment 10 times larger, and rising academic standards for incoming classes.

Rabinowitz, 75, who became the law school dean in 1989 and president in 2001, said Boston University and George Washington University served as his models for what Hofstra could become: regional schools that grew to acquire national reputations.

"I dont think were quite there yet," he said. "But its doable."

What they had that Hofstra didnt, he said, "was a big endowment and a fully textured science program. We got a medical school in eight years" and established a separate engineering and computer science school, a nursing school first graduate and now undergraduate and programs in the health professions.

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"Im really proud we were able to do all that during one presidency because that can take decades," Rabinowitz said.

"I was motivated especially because of the Great Recession, where for a while there it looked like nobody wanted to send their kids to private schools that couldnt guarantee a return on investment in terms of jobs at the end of their educational experience," he said. "It was clear then and now [that] there are tons more opportunities in engineering, computer sciences and health sciences than in other areas."

As for Hofstras endowment, he sees its growth as critical for the universitys success. The endowment the invested donations and assets that spin off income to pay bills, fund scholarships and hold down tuition growth has risen from about $90 million in 2001 to close to $900 million now, he said.

"I really think the endowment is on the way to being adequate," he said, adding that if the school remained the same size, he'd like to see it rise to $1.25 billion to $1.5 billion, "and that's very doable." While the endowment is not large enough for Hofstra to compete as a top-tier school, he could see Hofstra as a "top 75 school."

As the university added schools, overall enrollment declined from about 13,000 in 2001, according to the universitys online records to more than 10,400 last fall, a trend that reflected greater selectivity in admissions and external forces such as the pandemic.

Faculty at Hofstra say they have seen the benefits of expansion, in the improved academics of incoming students drawn to its programs and in the schools growing reputation. But it also has added some strains on faculty and traditional liberal arts, said Elisabeth Ploran, associate professor of psychology and president of the Hofstra chapter of the American Association of University Professors, representing its 750 full- and part-time faculty.

Students in its new health and science programs must take undergraduate biology, chemistry and physics classes. But these traditional liberal arts departments like departments in universities nationally are increasingly forced to rely on short-term contracted contingent teachers instead of full-time tenure track faculty, she said.

"Without replenishing the faculty, its difficult to simultaneously support the expansion of new programs and maintain traditional liberal arts," she said. "The frustration of the faculty is to watch all this amazing growth and to feel like the traditional disciplines are being left behind."

Rabinowitz said the university was "scrambling at the last moment to add more chemistry, biology and physics professors and labs because the demand of freshmen students to major in the sciences is unprecedented. If they wanted to major in the sciences, they wouldnt have been coming here 20 years ago."

His strategic initiatives have involved sometimes controversial choices. When the university wanted to better fund its shift to the sciences, it took the step in 2009 of ending its football program, freeing up $4.5 million a year.

"I did take a lot of heat about that decision, but I dont have a single regret," he said.

As the academic strength of entering classes has risen, so too has the percentage of students identifying as people of color, rising from 22% in 2001 to 46% in fall 2021.

But top administrators at the university do not reflect that greater diversity. Bringing more ethnic and racial diversity to faculty and administration remains an ongoing challenge as schools compete with top-tier schools to woo candidates for positions, Rabinowitz said.

"Yes, it is an unfinished business there has to be a better way of figuring this out," he said.

According to Hofstra statistics for fall 2020, 19% of faculty was non-white.

The next president, Susan Poser, who is coming from the University of Illinois Chicago, where she was provost, has said diversity would be an important part of her mission. When she arrives Aug. 1 as the universitys ninth and first woman president, shell have a hand in the search to fill another top post, the successor to retiring longtime Provost Herman Berliner. Janet Lenaghan, Hofstras business school dean, will act as interim provost.

Looking forward, the coronavirus pandemic-induced pivot to online courses has hastened a move toward a lucrative market for online, especially graduate, education. An increasing number of courses will go online that, Rabinowitz acknowledged, "should have been online already."

And like higher education institutions nationally, Hofstra will continue to grapple with rising costs and tuition, as its sticker price before financial aid approaches $70,000 a year for tuition, room and board, fees and books. Ninety-five percent of students in fall 2020 received financial aid, according to Hofstra.

"A strong challenge is to keep tuition under control, but at the same time not water down the academic experience you offer," Rabinowitz said. Public institutions "are always going to cost lower, so you have to have programs and a kind of pedagogy that persuades people its worth the money to go to your university."

Looking back at past highlights, he points to the three presidential debates hosted by the university that he saw as an opportunity to raise Hofstras profile. When he applied to the Commission on Presidential Debates, he said, few took it seriously. To the surprise of some, Hofstra was selected to host one in 2008, then two more, in 2012 and 2016.

"It got our name out internationally and demonstrated that we could do things and do them well," he said. "At the same time, youre trying to persuade the world that we are better than they may think we are, [and] we have to persuade ourselves we can do better than we think we can."

As president emeritus, Rabinowitz said he likely will teach an undergraduate Introduction to American Constitutional Law course and finish his ongoing work as regional co-chair of the Long Island Regional Economic Development Council.

But first, the Woodbury resident plans a vacation to Colorado, visits with children and grandson, and some time off, as he considers future activities.

"Im going to sit back for a while and see how I survive without a 24/7 job," he said.

Carol Polsky writes news and features on wide-ranging topics, from superstorm Sandy, 9/11 and presidential elections to healthcare and the economy.

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Hofstra's outgoing president looks back at expansion, and at challenges ahead - Newsday