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Tue, 01/17/2017 | Department of Mechanical Engineering

Dayong Gao honored with Origincell Endowed Professorship, elected as President of the Society for Cryobiology

Professor Dayong Gao has been honored with an endowed professorship by Origincell, a Chinese company based in Shanghai that offers human cell collecting and storage services. Gao was also elected as President of the Society for Cryobiology, which aims to bring together researchers who share the goal of applying scientific research of low temperature biology and medicine for the benefit of mankind.

Tue, 01/10/2017 | Department of Mechanical Engineering

Passion never rests: Fethya Ibrahim’s journey through mechanical engineering

First in her family to attend college, senior Fethya Ibrahim is making the most of her time at the UW. Learn about why — thanks to her experiences in ME’s Cell Biomechanics Lab and in the Machine Shop — she decided to pursue a degree in ME.

Wed, 01/04/2017 | Department of Mechanical Engineering

Honoring Frank Alberti, ’44, for supporting ME’s advancements in engineering and health

Three students traveled to Lacey, WA, to present their Engineering Innovation in Health (EIH) projects to Frank Alberti, ’44. A longtime friend of the department, Alberti had recently made a major commitment to support ME’s advancements in engineering and health.

Tue, 01/03/2017 | Department of Mechanical Engineering

Paying it forward: David Coven on generosity in engineering

ME senior David Coven shared why he chose to study engineering and how he finds opportunities to practice compassion and generosity — two of his guiding values — everyday on campus.

Thu, 12/29/2016 | Department of Mechanical Engineering

Cookstove update: ME/BURN Manufacturing cookstoves rolling off production line in Kenya

Designed by UW mechanical engineers and Vashon Island’s BURN Design Lab, the Kuniokoa cookstove is now in production in BURN’s Kenyan factory.

Sun, 12/25/2016 | The Seattle Times

Seattle to Portland in 15 minutes? UW students competing to build 700 mph hyperloop

The Seattle Times explains how UW engineering students are finalizing their pod for the Space X sponsored Hyperloop competition. UW Hyperloop is one of thirty finalist teams, selected from 1,200 initial entries. They will send their prototype pod down the mile-long Hyperloop test track in January

Fri, 12/16/2016 | Department of Mechanical Engineering

Engineering students and volunteers hack toys for kids with disabilities

The 2016 Holiday Toy Hack brought together UW students, faculty and community members to adapt toys for children with disabilities. The event was led by the Taskar Center for Accessible Technology from the Department of Computer Science & Engineering, Bioengineering Outreach, Mechanical Engineering’s Ability & Innovation Lab, and AccessEngineering.

Tue, 12/13/2016 | Department of Mechanical Engineering

Student research spotlight: Bradley Wachter

ME senior Bradley Wachter has been working in the ME Ability & Innovation Lab to design body-powered orthoses to enrich the lives of those who depend on them. He was featured in “Helping the body heal, feel and move again,” a multimedia story about 10-year-old Jayna Doll. Here, Bradley speaks about his UW experiences and why he’s studying ME.

Tue, 12/06/2016 | Department of Mechanical Engineering

Empowering possibility through innovation

For over 15 years, ME has partnered with the Seattle VA’s Center for Limb Loss Prevention & Prosthetic Engineering. This collaboration has resulted in hands-on research opportunities for more than 50 ME students and has helped propel UW biomechanics research in new directions.

Mon, 11/28/2016 | Department of Mechanical Engineering

Sparking innovation through JikoPower

ME students have developed a generator that converts heat energy from fires into electricity to charge phones. The team won the Environmental Innovation Challenge in 2015, the Business Plan Competition in 2016, and now they aim to take their product, the JikoPower Spark, to market.

Wed, 11/23/2016 | Cambridge University Press

ME professor publishes new book on bioinspired actuators and sensors

Congrats to ME professor Minoru Taya on the publication of his latest book, Bionspired Actuators and Sensors, out this fall from Cambridge University Press! Co-written with researchers in the biological sciences, including UW Biology professor Elizabeth Van Volkenburgh, this is the first book to integrate sensor and actuator technology with bioinspired design. It explores how researchers apply principles of natural actuation and sensing mechanisms to the synthetic design of smart materials and devices.

Fri, 11/04/2016 | Department of Mechanical Engineering

Research team receives $1.5 Million NSF NRI Grant to explore nanorobotics design for cancer diagnosis and treatment

Nabtesco Endowed Professor Minoru Taya's team will explore nanorobotics design based on magnetically-active helices for cancer diagnosis and treatment through a new $1.5 million Nano Robotics Initiative grant from the National Science Foundation.

Wed, 11/02/2016 | Department of Mechanical Engineering

Undersea, undaunted: A naval engineer’s journey begins with mechanical engineering

An alumnus who aligned his passions for diving and oceanography with mechanical engineering, Glenn Piper, '80, spoke with ME about the value of hands-on learning.

Fri, 10/28/2016 | The Daily

UW Formula: Driven by passion

The Daily profiled ME’s Formula Motorsports team, describing the passion that motivates these students to create race cars from scratch every year. This year, Formula will be crafting both an electric and a combustion race car to bring to the US and international competitions in summer.

Tue, 10/25/2016 | GeekWire

Seattle startup JikoPower hopes Kickstarter lights a funding fire under its heat-powered generator

JikoPower, a UW startup that includes current and former ME students, developed the Spark to provide a reliable source of power to areas that lack electricity. The Spark is a thermoelectric generator that captures and converts excess heat from campfires or stoves into electricity, which can then be used to charge mobile phones or power lights. After received the $25,000 grand prize at the Buerk Business Plan Competition, JikoPower is now on its way to raising another $50,000 via Kickstarter to mass produce the Spark.

Fri, 10/21/2016 | Clean Energy Institute

Two ME projects awarded Clean Energy Institute Student Training & Exploration Grants

Two ME projects were among the six projects to receive grants from the Clean Energy Institute as part of the Student Training & Exploration Grant Program. This program was developed to encourage high-risk/high-reward research by Ph.D students and postdoctoral researchers. The awardees are Professor Jiangyu Li’s project, “Correlating microstructural evolution with device performance of perovskite solar cells via in-operando scanning probing microscopy” and Associate Professor Devin MacKenzie’s project, “Scalable tandem photovoltaics enabled by a novel top-contactless hybrid perovskite cell architecture achievable with self-aligned lithography-free processing.”

One student helping adjust the testing equipment for another student

Sun, 10/16/2016

Helping the body heal, feel and move again

From the Ability & Innovation Lab to the Center for Sensorimotor Neural Engineering, the College of Engineering is innovating novel devices to help people of all abilities live out their dreams.

Thu, 10/13/2016 | American Society of Mechanical Engineers

Hoping to walk this way

Assistant Professor Kat Steele’s work on the Walk-DMC motor assessment tool was featured by ASME. This tool helps determine whether children with cerebral palsy are more or less likely to benefit from surgery.

Thu, 10/06/2016 | UW Medicine

ME professors receive UW Medicine’s 2016 Inventor of the Year Award

Jonathan Posner, Per Reinhall and Sam Bowd have been honored with UW Medicine’s 2016 Inventor of the Year Award for their collaborative work developing a football helmet designed to mitigate the forces thought to contribute to concussions. They will be recognized in a ceremony on Nov. 15, which also features a panel discussion with Fred Silverstein, Tom Clement and Nate Sniadecki. This event is open to all; register here.

Thu, 10/06/2016 | American Society of Mechanical Engineers

Professor Steve Shen to receive Myklestad Award

Congrats to ME professor Steve Shen for receiving the 2017 N. O. Myklestad Award from the American Society of Mechanical Engineers (ASME) for his contributions to vibration engineering. The award will be presented to him at the 2017 International Design Engineering Technical Conference next summer, at which he will also deliver the 2017 Myklestad Award Keynote Lecture.

Mon, 09/26/2016 | Materials Research Society Bulletin

Professor Jiangyu Li uses thermo-ionic imaging to trace ion movement

Professor Jiangyu Li’s research on nanoscale particles has been highlighted in the Materials Research Society Bulletin. Li and his team investigated how thermo-ionic imaging can be used to trace the movement of ions. The method used, scanning thermo-ionic microscopy or STIM, could lead to better understanding of the electrochemical materials used in batteries and fuel cells.

Mon, 09/19/2016 | Department of Mechanical Engineering

Student team wins 2016 Target Challenge grant to develop and advance pediatric exoskeleton

Congrats to PlayGait, a team of students, engineers and clinicians that has been awarded a grant to continue development of a pediatric exoskeleton for children with cerebral palsy.

Wed, 09/14/2016 | PBS Newshour

Turning down the volume on human noise pollution for marine life

Marine Construction Technologies, a UW startup launched from ME, helps mitigate marine noise pollution. It was recently featured on the PBS NewsHour.

Wed, 09/07/2016 | Department of Mechanical Engineering

Research team receives NSF PFI:BIC award for innovations in mobile dental diagnostic instruments

ME professor Eric Seibel’s research team will develop and test easy-to-use optical dental diagnostic and therapy monitoring instruments for trained non-dentists through a three-year, $1 million Partnerships for Innovation: Building Innovation Capacity award from the National Science Foundation.

Thu, 09/01/2016 | Puget Sound Business Journal

People in research: How Kat Steele applied her engineering roots to health care

Read the Puget Sound Business Journal’s recent profile about ME assistant professor Kat Steele.