The 91探花 and Microsoft have announced the expansion of their long鈥憇tanding partnership uniting world-class academic research with world-leading technology. 91探花and Microsoft aim to accelerate AI discovery, prepare students and workers for an AI-driven economy, and help communities understand and use AI responsibly.

The announcement, made today by 91探花President Robert J. Jones and Microsoft Vice Chair and President Brad Smith during an event at the UW鈥檚 Paul G. Allen School of Computer Science & Engineering, will increase the University鈥檚 access to the most advanced AI computing power, expand internship and applied research opportunities for its students, and develop community AI literacy programs, including a foundational AI course for working Washingtonians.

鈥淥ur long-standing partnership with Microsoft demonstrates what鈥檚 possible when universities and industry come together to support students and our society, and we are grateful for their continued support,鈥� Jones said. 鈥淭ogether, we鈥檙e expanding students鈥� access to hands-on learning, advancing AI research and strengthening our workforce.鈥�

This announcement builds on Microsoft鈥檚 decades-long support of the University, including $165 million of investments in student scholarships and enhancements to the UW鈥檚 world-leading computer science and engineering programs. In tandem with ongoing state and federal support, these investments have helped increase access to education and contributed to the state鈥檚 highly skilled workforce.

鈥淧resident Jones has outlined a bold vision for the 91探花, one that expands access and affordability in higher ed, forges radical partnerships and strengthens civic health,鈥� Smith said. 鈥淚t鈥檚 essential that this vision includes broad access to AI technology and the skills to use it, so students, workers and communities across Washington are prepared for this new era of computing and can share fully in its benefits.鈥�

The timing of the announcement comes as forecasts predict a need to fill 1.5 million job vacancies in Washington by 2032 鈥� about 640,000 new jobs and 910,000 openings due to retirements, according to Partnership for Learning. Up to 75% of those vacancies will require post-secondary credentials, with four-year and advanced degrees in highest demand. If current trends hold, experts predict a shortfall of nearly 600,000 credentialed workers in Washington over the decade.

鈥淚t鈥檚 critical that industry, colleges and universities, and policy makers continue to work together to maintain the region鈥檚 economy and climate of innovation and discovery,鈥� Smith said. 鈥淭hat includes avoiding going backward by making cuts to core state funding that would make a college degree less accessible to our state鈥檚 students.鈥�

The budgets proposed by the Washington State Legislature鈥檚 majorities would keep funding for the 91探花largely stable. Historically, the Legislature has created a fertile environment for workforce growth and training through the Washington Workforce Education Investment Act (WEIA) and the Washington State Opportunity Scholarship (WSOS).

Since passage in 2019, with support from Microsoft and other business leaders, the WEIA has generated more than $2 billion in dedicated funding to expand higher education access in Washington.听 WSOS 鈥� a first-of-its-kind public-private partnership in which private employers contribute philanthropic dollars that are matched by the State of Washington to expand access to higher education in high-demand fields 鈥� has delivered nearly $150 million in total scholarships statewide, combining private donations and state matching funds. One-third of WSOS scholars attend the UW.

鈥淭hese new elements of our partnership with Microsoft continue to position the 91探花and our state as leaders in access to higher education and at the forefront of the emerging technologies that can drive broad-based prosperity,鈥� Jones said.

Microsoft and the UW鈥檚 expanded partnership will:

• Provide faculty, researchers and students with access to advanced computing capabilities that enable modern AI training, experimentation and research, and instruction. Microsoft is supplementing this effort by donating Microsoft Azure cloud computing credits to help accelerate the development of a research cloud computing platform.
• Launch a new initiative to connect 91探花faculty, visiting professors and students with real-world research opportunities at Microsoft. This is based on a new 鈥渞esearch marketplace鈥� that will be established and supported by Microsoft鈥檚 AI for Good Lab. It will be complemented by 10 additional graduate student-researcher slots per year 鈥� eight through the Microsoft Research organization and two in the AI for Good Lab.
• Support undergraduate students as they become civic leaders, helping them build ethical judgment, digital citizenship and agency to co-design how emerging technologies, including AI, will serve communities and democracy.
• Join forces with UW鈥檚 Continuum College, an institution serving more than 50,000 learners annually through 400 programs serving young people, working adults and senior citizens. The 91探花and Microsoft will develop programming that helps Washingtonians navigate AI-related workforce transitions with confidence and purpose. This collaboration will result in new courses and other learning pathways focused on career resilience, evolving job demands and navigating the challenges that accompany shifting career identities.
• Beginning this fall, the 91探花and Microsoft will launch a new collaboration on Microsoft鈥檚 Redmond campus that reimagines how universities and industry work together. This part of the work will deepen workforce鈥慶onnected education and applied learning. The collaboration will support the co鈥慸evelopment of select courses and learning experiences for Microsoft employees navigating rapid AI鈥慸riven change, while enabling 91探花students to learn alongside industry professionals and gain real鈥憌orld insight as part of their academic experience. Additional details will be announced later this year.

Since becoming the UW鈥檚 34th president in August 2025, President Jones has set out three key priorities for the University: increasing access to education, including through the goal of making a 91探花degree debt-free for Washington undergraduates; spurring radical collaborations with businesses and communities to advance positive change; and eliminating any artificial barriers between the University and the communities it serves.

Along with strategic planning underway at the UW, Jones is engaging with corporate and civic leaders, as well as organizations throughout the region, to expand existing partnerships with the UW. Through these relationships, he aims to support access and affordability for students and the economic vitality and social fabric of Washington state and beyond.

For more information, contact Victor Balta at balta@uw.edu.

The 91探花鈥檚 incoming classes were welcomed Sunday at the University鈥檚 42nd annual New Student Convocation inside Alaska Airlines Arena at Hec Edmundson Pavilion.听 The ceremony was attended by thousands of students, family and friends.

Welcome, Huskies! Thousands of incoming @uofwa.bsky.social students gathered for an annual 'W' formation today after kicking off the school year with a convocation ceremony. #newhuskies2025 #uwdawgdazeMedia assets: drive.google.com/drive/folder…

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Preliminary figures show the incoming freshman class will be about 7,175 students, with around 4,550 from Washington.听 An additional 1,650 transfer students are expected to arrive this fall, including 1,375 of whom will be from Washington community colleges, according to preliminary university data. All figures are approximate. Official census information is announced later in the quarter.

New Student Convocation is one of two landmark occasions where the University president, the Board of Regents, the deans of the schools and colleges and the faculty gather for an academic ceremony focused on students. The other, of course, is the graduation ceremony, Commencement. These two events are the seminal 鈥渂ookend鈥� events of a college career.

Following the early morning ceremony, incoming students formed a giant block 鈥淲鈥� on the field inside Husky stadium.

91探花professor of aeronautics and astronautics took a ride Wednesday morning aboard a U.S. Navy Boeing F/A-18 Super Hornet 鈥� better known as one of the Blue Angels flight demonstration squadron.听

Shortly before 9 a.m., the Blue Angel jet with Hermanson aboard roared above the UW. Back safely on the ground, Hermanson said he enjoyed talking with the pilot and encountering firsthand what it’s like to to fly aboard high-performance jet aircraft. He experienced an afterburner takeoff, very tight turns and flying up-side down.

鈥淭he actual maneuverings are really something,鈥� Hermanson said. 鈥淲e got up to 7.5 Gs during one of those turns.鈥�

Hermanson is known for his decades of research on topics related to jet and spacecraft propulsion, but this was his first time flying at about 700 mph in a Navy jet. During his time at UW, Hermanson鈥檚 been a big supporter of the Navy at the UW: He has hosted high-ranking Navy officials and helped showcase many Navy career opportunities for students.听

During Wednesday鈥檚 flight, Hermanson told the pilot that he teaches students about acceleration, wing loading and other principles, but his time flying with the Blue Angels will add a deeper dimension.

鈥淚 could tell students what it is actually like, the high level of technology, the teamwork needed to make the flight possible and the importance of the Navy to our nation,鈥� Hermanson said.

Former 91探花President Mark Emmert, who left the 91探花in 2010, was the last 91探花faculty member invited to fly aboard the Blue Angels.

The Blue Angels are in Seattle for the annual Seafair Weekend Festival and the Boeing Seafair Air Show.

A new era of astronomy and astrophysics began Monday when the first images captured by the NSF鈥揇OE were released, demonstrating the extraordinary capabilities of the new telescope and the world鈥檚 largest digital camera.

Officials in Washington, D.C., unveiled large, ultra-high-definition images and videos, as well as discoveries of thousands of new asteroids. Astronomers and researchers around the world watched along at viewing parties, including at the 91探花鈥檚 Planetarium.

The images offer a preview of the most comprehensive census of the solar system scientists have ever conducted, and a peek into the exponential increase in discoveries and understanding of the cosmos this new telescope will make possible.

The 91探花was one of the founding members of Rubin鈥檚 ambitious undertaking and will play a key role in making sense of the discoveries. 91探花scientists and engineers were critical in advocating for the project, designing the observatory and developing the software that will analyze the petabytes of data from Rubin鈥檚 telescope, including the asteroid discovery algorithms.

鈥�91探花 faculty recognized early on that dreaming big about Rubin鈥檚 capabilities and leading the scientific charge would shape our knowledge of the solar system and propel innovation in data science not only in astrophysics but also across disciplines,” said 91探花Provost Tricia R. Serio. “We often talk about the impact the 91探花is making here and around the world. This project will take us far into space and give us information about the very origins of the universe and set the stage for future discoveries we can’t even imagine today.”

From its peak in the Chilean Andes, Rubin鈥檚 Simonyi Survey Telescope will scan the sky with its 8.4-meter mirror and enormous 3,200-megapixel camera, the largest digital camera in the world. The telescope鈥檚 sight path, the pace and frequency of observations and the vast field of vision required a new type of discovery algorithm to reliably make sense of the troves of data collected. Scientists and researchers at the 91探花worked across disciplines to evolve data science and computer science to meet Rubin鈥檚 demands.

In 2017, the 91探花鈥� with founding support from the Charles and Lisa Simonyi Fund for Arts and Sciences 鈥� established the , or DiRAC. The Institute, part of the , aims to be an interdisciplinary hub to address fundamental questions about the origins and evolution of the universe. Leaders recognized that the future of astrophysics relied on using software as the chief instrument for this exploration. Combined with the UW鈥檚 and the deep connections to the Pacific Northwest鈥檚 tech community, DiRAC has developed a global reputation for working toward new discoveries.

As the Rubin sets out on a 10-year mission to conduct the Legacy Survey of Space and Time (LSST), software created at the 91探花will be pivotal as scientists advance understanding of the cosmos and the origins of the solar system. UW’s faculty, students and staff have played key roles in the construction of this new facility They’ve also been pivotal in developing the algorithms that keep the telescope image sharp and creating the codes for mapping the solar system and discovering the most energetic and rarest phenomena in what astrophysicists call the 鈥� UW’s , a professor of astronomy, is the director of the federally-funded Rubin Construction Project.听

Unlike other telescopes 鈥� which tend to focus and 鈥渮oom in鈥� on a few objects of interest 鈥� Rubin is alone in the capability to quickly and repeatedly map the entire visible sky.听

鈥淩ubin has the unprecedented capacity to capture the cosmos,鈥� said , a professor of astronomy and director of UW鈥檚 . He鈥檚 also the co-principal investigator of the supported LSST Interdisciplinary Network for Collaboration and Computing (LINCC) Frameworks program to develop state-of-the-art analysis techniques capable of meeting Rubin鈥檚 scale and complexity.

鈥淩ubin will deliver the largest map the universe ever made: tens of billions of galaxies, billions of stars and millions of new small bodies in our own solar system. It鈥檚 a data analysis endeavor of epic proportions,鈥� Connolly said.听

For each object Rubin observes, there will be much more than a static image, the technology will produce a thousand-frame movie: trillions of measurements of billions of objects, said , a research associate professor and the science lead of Rubin鈥檚 time-domain software team.

鈥淲ith these data, scientists will better understand the universe, chronicle its evolution, and delve into science ranging from dangerous asteroids to the mysteries of dark energy,鈥� Bellm said.

For example, the UW鈥檚 team helped create simulation software to predict Rubin鈥檚 discoveries. The research found that the telescope will map more than 5 million main-belt asteroids, 127,000 near-Earth objects, 109,000 Trojan asteroids that share Jupiter鈥檚 orbit, 37,000 trans-Neptunian objects and about 2,000 Centaurs, or orbit-crossing objects.听

These objects, revealed in color and in more detail than was previously possible, help tell the story of the solar system鈥檚 origins, said , a professor of astronomy and the principal investigator of UW鈥檚 Rubin team.

Juric said that Rubin will help answer some fundamental questions: How did the planets form? Is there an unknown planet hiding in the outskirts of our solar system? Did comets bring water to the Earth? Or asteroids? And are there any that could still collide with us today?

鈥淭he first look we share today is a glimpse into the transformational capacity Rubin will bring to answer questions like these,鈥� Juric said.

The work to support the Rubin Observatory hasn鈥檛 been limited to 91探花faculty. Numerous 91探花undergraduate and doctoral students have played contributing roles, authoring important journal articles, developing simulation software and writing complex computer codes.听

Exposure to the LSST has helped prepare students to succeed post graduation, whether applying for work in industry or moving onto advanced academic degrees.

鈥淒eveloping cloud-based analytics platforms, or building pipelines to process large amounts of imaging data, are skills that allow one to do not just cutting-edge astronomy but also any other data-intensive problem,鈥� said Steven Stetzler, who recently completed doctoral work at 91探花and now holds a postdoctoral appointment at NASA鈥檚 Jet Propulsion Laboratory.

For more information, contact Juric at mjuric@uw.edu or James Davenport at jrad@uw.edu.听

91探花 President Ana Mari Cauce inspired graduates at the UW鈥檚 150th Commencement ceremony on Alaska Airlines Field at Husky Stadium on Saturday.

Cauce delivered her final address before ending her 10-year run as president and returning to the faculty.

“Graduates 鈥� right here, right now you stand on the edge of possibility, and you will be confronted with choices, challenges and opportunities that none of us can begin to imagine,” Cauce said. “That鈥檚 why all of us on this stage and in the audience are not only proud of your achievements, we are grateful 鈥� because the world urgently needs your voices and efforts.”

More than 7,400 91探花graduates of the Class of 2025 鈥� the most ever to pre-register 鈥� participated. About 50,000 family members and friends cheered the graduates from the Husky Stadium grandstands.

91探花Tacoma held its commencement June 13 at the Tacoma Dome. 91探花Bothell鈥檚 graduation ceremonies are scheduled for June 15 at Alaska Airlines Arena at Hec Edmundson Pavilion.

See highlights from Husky Stadium, Hec Edmundson Pavilion and the Tacoma Dome in the photo gallery below.

President Cauce presented nearly 18,833 degrees to the Class of 2025 across all three 91探花campuses鈥� ceremonies. Members of the 91探花Board of Regents, deans and other representatives of the University鈥檚 24 colleges and schools across all three campuses also will participate in the ceremonies.

The following data, drawn from preliminary information broken down by campus and prepared by the Office of the University Registrar, was presented at the Board of Regents鈥� June 12 meeting:听

• For work completed at the听Seattle听campus, about 15,412 degrees will be conferred, specifically: 8,712 bachelor鈥檚 degrees, 5,161 master鈥檚 degrees, 589 professional degrees, 17 Educational Specialist degrees, and 933 doctoral degrees.听
• 础迟听 91探花Bothell, about 1,663 degrees will be conferred, including 1,425 bachelor鈥檚 degrees and 238 master鈥檚 degrees.听
• And at听 91探花Tacoma,听students will receive about 1,758 degrees, including 1,393 bachelor鈥檚 degrees, 350 master鈥檚 degrees, 12 Educational Specialist degrees and three doctoral degrees.听

Degrees are awarded to those who have completed academic requirements during the 2024-2025 academic year. Many colleges and schools also hold separate graduation programs and investiture ceremonies.听

An associated video has been removed from this post.

As Baby Boomers hit retirement, about is now over the age of 65. The number of Americans living with dementia is 鈥� but the proportion of older Americans who develop dementia has actually decreased. The exact reason why is uncertain, but various lifestyle and environmental factors can of cognitive decline.听听

One recently discovered risk is air pollution. exposure to a type of air pollution called fine particulate matter, or PM2.5, with an increased risk of developing dementia, and researchers suspect that some sources of PM2.5 may pose a greater risk than others.听

New research led by the 91探花 found that wildfire smoke is especially hazardous. An analysis of the health care records of 1.2 million Southern California residents found that higher long-term smoke exposure was associated with a significant increase in the odds that a person would be diagnosed with dementia.听听听

The researchers at the Alzheimer鈥檚 Association International Conference in July and

鈥淭here have been studies that have found total PM2.5 is related to people developing dementia, but no one had looked specifically at wildfire PM2.5,鈥� said lead author , a 91探花associate professor of environmental & occupational health sciences. 鈥淲ildfire smoke is a different animal, in that it鈥檚 much spikier. There are many days where there鈥檚 no wildfire smoke, and there are some days where exposure is really, really extreme.鈥�听

Researchers analyzed the health records of 1.2 million members aged 60 and older of Kaiser Permanente Southern California between 2008 and 2019, all of whom were free from dementia at the start of the study period. They estimated each person鈥檚 long-term exposure to both wildfire and non-wildfire PM2.5 as a three-year rolling average, and then identified people who received a dementia diagnosis.听

Researchers found that for every 1 microgram per cubic meter (碌g/m3) increase in three-year average wildfire PM2.5 concentration, the odds of a dementia diagnosis increased by 18%. Exposure to non-wildfire PM2.5 also increased a person鈥檚 risk of dementia, but to a much lesser degree.听听

鈥淥ne microgram per meter cubed might sound fairly small, but we have to think about how people are exposed to wildfire smoke,鈥� Casey said. 鈥淢ost days they aren鈥檛 exposed at all, so this might represent a few days of exposure at a concentration of something like 300 碌g/m3, where the AQI is over 200 in someone鈥檚 community. When you think about it, it鈥檚 actually a few really severe wildfire smoke days that might translate into increased risk.鈥�听

That risk further increased among racialized people and those living in high-poverty census tracts, following long-term trends in which vulnerable populations often experience disproportionate effects of environmental hazards. The authors suggested that disparities might be related to lower-quality housing, which can increase the amount of smoke that enters people鈥檚 homes, or lower-income families鈥� inability to afford air filtration systems.听听

The study period does not include the summers of 2020 and 2021, which produced the most recorded in California. The climate crisis has the frequency and severity of wildfires across the American West, introducing 鈥渟moke season鈥� in many West Coast regions The influx of smoke has at air quality improvements made over the last century.听

“The main culprit here is climate change,鈥� Casey said. 鈥淚t’s a global problem. While individuals can protect themselves with air filters and masks, we need a global solution to climate change. It’s going to have to be many-pronged听鈥� many people have to be involved to solve this highly complex problem.”听

Co-authors on this study are Holly Elser of the University of Pennsylvania; Timothy Frankland of the Kaiser Permanente Hawaii Center for Integrated Health Research; Chen Chen and Tarik Benmarhnia of the Scripps Institution of Oceanography at UC San Diego; Sara Tartof and Gina Lee of Kaiser Permanente Southern California; Elizabeth Rose Mayeda of UCLA; Dr. Alexander Northrop of Columbia University; and Jacqueline Torres of UC San Francisco. This research was funded by the National Institute on Aging and the National Institute for Environmental Health Sciences.听

The 91探花 welcomed its incoming class and their families on Sunday at the University鈥檚 annual New Student Convocation, which was held in Alaska Airlines Arena at Hec Edmundson Pavilion.

The incoming class is expected to consist of about 7,150 students. Official information about class size and make up is announced later in the quarter.

Welcome, Huskies! Thousands of incoming students gathered at Husky Stadium for an annual 鈥榃鈥� formation today after kicking off the school year with a convocation ceremony.

— 91探花News (@uwnews)

, associate professor, Comparative History of Ideas, was the featured speaker. A Scottish immigrant and first-generation college grad, Mackenzie, who uses they/she pronouns, joined the 91探花in 2002. In 2024, they received the University鈥檚 Distinguished Teaching Award, given to faculty who exemplify a commitment to inclusive teaching and serve as mentors to other faculty.

91探花President Ana Mari Cauce, members of the Board of Regents, the deans of the 16 schools and colleges, and faculty members were听 in attendance.

and are also welcomed students back to campus with a string of activities, including Convocation ceremonies.

Husky Kickoff was held at Alaska Airlines Field at Husky Stadium, where incoming students participated in the anticipated annual tradition of forming a giant block 鈥淲鈥� on the field.

Fast facts:

• Preliminary figures show the incoming听freshman class听is expected to be about听7,150听students.
• Around听4,625听freshmen will be from Washington state.
• An additional 1,550 transfer students are expected to arrive this fall, about 1,300 of whom will be from Washington community colleges.
• 91探花Bothell and 91探花Tacoma also welcomed their incoming classes with about 1,170 and 700 freshmen, and about 630 and 715 transfer students expected, respectively.

Mild fall temperatures this week helped welcome the first group of students who moved into 91探花 residence halls and apartments. More than 10,000 students are expected to live in 91探花housing this year, including more than 77.5% of the freshman class. This year鈥檚 incoming class is expected to be around 7,150, according to preliminary information.

Given the high volume of move-ins, 91探花Housing & Food Services coordinated efforts to make the process run smoothly, including assigned move-in appointments and detailed instructions for families on how to get students unloaded and settled into their rooms.

鈥淲e want our students and their families to know that we鈥檙e expecting them. And we’re really excited that they’re here,鈥� said Pamela Schreiber, assistant vice president for Student Life and executive director of 91探花Housing & Food Services. 鈥淲e are very proud of the residential experience that we offer students, and we know that it adds to their success and their connection to the university, as well as their connection with others, which is so important.鈥�

91探花President Ana Mari Cauce greeted students Tuesday afternoon near Denny Field, and Provost Tricia Serio will welcome more students Thursday morning. Move-ins are scheduled to take place through the end of the week.

It鈥檚 once again mini fridge season at the as students move into campus housing and prepare for the new academic year. 馃挏馃挍

— 91探花News (@uwnews)

The week will culminate with the New Student Convocation ceremony, which will include an official Husky welcome to the new class from President Cauce and other campus leaders, including the Board of Regents and deans of all 16 91探花schools and colleges. The ceremony will start at 10 a.m. Sunday in Alaska Airlines Arena at Hec Edmundson Pavilion and be live streamed . Later in the afternoon, new students are invited to participate in forming a giant 鈥淲鈥� on Alaska Airlines Field at Husky Stadium, as part of the annual Husky Kickoff celebration.

Fall quarter classes begin Wednesday, Sept. 25. 听听

For more information on move-in week, contact Jackson Holtz at jjholtz@uw.edu.

One of the drawbacks of fitness trackers and other wearable devices is that their batteries eventually run out of juice. But what if in the future, wearable technology could use body heat to power itself?

91探花researchers have developed a flexible, durable electronic prototype that can harvest energy from body heat and turn it into electricity that can be used to power small electronics, such as batteries, sensors or LEDs. This device is also resilient 鈥� it still functions even after being pierced several times and then stretched 2,000 times.

The team published Aug. 30 in Advanced Materials.

“I had this vision a long time ago,” said senior author , 91探花assistant professor of mechanical engineering. “When you put this device on your skin, it uses your body heat to directly power an LED. As soon as you put the device on, the LED lights up. This wasn’t possible before.”

Traditionally, devices that use heat to generate electricity are rigid and brittle, but Malakooti and team so that it can conform to the shape of someone’s arm.

This device was designed from scratch. The researchers started with simulations to determine the best combination of materials and device structures and then created almost all the components in the lab.

It has three main layers. At the center are rigid thermoelectric semiconductors that do the work of converting heat to electricity. These semiconductors are surrounded by 3D-printed composites with low thermal conductivity, which enhances energy conversion and reduces the device’s weight. To provide stretchability, conductivity and electrical self-healing, the semiconductors are connected with printed liquid metal traces. Additionally, liquid metal droplets are embedded in the outer layers to improve heat transfer to the semiconductors and maintain flexibility because the metal remains liquid at room temperature. Everything except the semiconductors was designed and developed in .

In addition to wearables, these devices could be useful in other applications, Malakooti said. One idea involves using these devices with electronics that get hot.

“You can imagine sticking these onto warm electronics and using that excess heat to power small sensors,” Malakooti said. “This could be especially helpful in data centers, where servers and computing equipment consume substantial electricity and generate heat, requiring even more electricity to keep them cool. Our devices can capture that heat and repurpose it to power temperature and humidity sensors. This approach is more sustainable because it creates a standalone system that monitors conditions while reducing overall energy consumption. Plus, there鈥檚 no need to worry about maintenance, changing batteries or adding new wiring.”

These devices also work in reverse, in that adding electricity allows them to heat or cool surfaces, which opens up another avenue for applications.

“We’re hoping someday to add this technology to virtual reality systems and other wearable accessories to create hot and cold sensations on the skin or enhance overall comfort,” Malakooti said. “But we’re not there yet. For now, we’re starting with wearables that are efficient, durable and provide temperature feedback.”

Additional co-authors are , a 91探花doctoral student in mechanical engineering, and , who completed this research as a 91探花postdoctoral scholar in mechanical engineering and is now an assistant professor at Izmir Institute of Technology. Malakooti and Han are both members of the 91探花Institute for Nano-Engineered Systems. This research was funded by the National Science Foundation, Meta and The Boeing Company.

For more information, contact Malakooti at malakoot@uw.edu.

Everyone is watching women’s sports. From the record-breaking of the 2024 NCAA women’s basketball title game to the two , and even , female athletes are finally having their moment.

Even though there’s much to celebrate, there are still some huge gaps. Pay is one example, with . Several common injuries also seem to haunt women鈥檚 sports, such as the ACL tears that . An ACL tear is two to eight times in the same sports.

, a 91探花 assistant professor of mechanical engineering, studies differences between how male and female tissues recover after sports injuries. Specifically, Robinson is interested in designing better methods to help female athletes train to prevent and recover from injuries.

With the Paris Olympics Opening Ceremony upcoming on July 26, 91探花News asked Robinson, who is also the endowed chair in women鈥檚 sports medicine and lifetime fitness in the orthopaedics and sports medicine department in the 91探花School of Medicine, to discuss common injuries for female athletes and how her research field is working to address them.

Let’s talk about ACL tears. We seem to hear about them happening in a variety of sports. Why?

ACL tears are extremely common in activities that require cutting, pivoting, quick turns of directions (high strain rate) and/or high-contact sports. We see this injury often in sports such as soccer, basketball, rugby, downhill skiing and football. I tore my ACL and my lateral meniscus playing soccer when I was 12 years old.

Why is it more common for women to tear their ACL?

There are many possible reasons including anatomical differences that lead to altered biomechanics, differences in tissue structure and properties, and sex hormone differences, including fluctuations that occur in women during the menstrual cycle.

How are ACL tears typically treated?

If the ACL is completely torn, it needs to be reconstructed. One method involves grafting a tendon from another part of the body. For example, using patellar or hamstring tendons are some of the most common options. But this can lead to additional risk for injury at the donor site 鈥� I strain my hamstring often because my hamstring tendon was used to repair my ACL tear.

Sometimes the reconstructions are torn again, which requires revision surgery. It鈥檚 not career-ending the first time this happens, but any subsequent injuries and/or post-traumatic osteoarthritis can make this career ending.

What makes an injury career-ending for female athletes?

I was just reading up on Olympian 鈥檚 total knee replacement this past spring. She鈥檚 39 years old and the typical age range for these types of surgeries is 60 to 70 years old. She鈥檚 had so many knee surgeries to treat multiple ACL, MCL and meniscus tears. That is career-ending.

This is personal for me. When I tore my ACL and meniscus, my orthopedic surgeon told me to stop playing soccer 鈥� I was 12 years old 鈥� to reduce the risk of additional injuries or post-traumatic osteoarthritis. When I was 16, I went back to the doctor with pain and they confirmed it was post-traumatic osteoarthritis. They told me again to just stop playing soccer, insinuating this wasn鈥檛 a major part of my life, a part of my identity, something I could make into a career.

If there has ever been a time to invest in ACL injury prevention, it鈥檚 now. For professional athletes, tracking ACL risk is critical for reducing the likelihood of degenerative conditions after acute injuries. These steps ensure athletes have long careers, livelihood and support for their families. Understanding ACL injury risk is also important for non-professionals, youth athletes, parents and coaches as well. It ensures a lifetime of peak physical and mental health.

How does your research focus on female athletes’ recovery from injuries?

We may think we know how women’s bodies operate. But we don’t. Most of the research is based on men’s bodies or bodies of undisclosed sex. Also, much of the research is based on what’s happening at the tissue and joint level without considering how the cells within the tissue are responding based on hormonal and mechanical signaling cues. But changes at the cellular level happen first and then lead to changes at the tissue level.

My research group is trying to determine what cues lead to tissue scarring versus regeneration so that we can develop processes that inhibit scarring and promote regeneration. How do sex hormones and mechanical cues regulate tissue structure and function? What happens to the cells in these tissues when there are different mechanical or hormonal changes?

We need this information to be able to design methods that reduce or prevent injury, provide clearer and more patient-specific surgical and therapy recommendations, and develop techniques to promote functional regeneration and reduce scarring.

Women’s sports are also having a moment in your research field. You’ve been attending multiple conferences that focus on women’s health and engineering. What are these conferences like?

This past summer I have been part of two meetings that bring together professionals in engineering for women’s health 鈥� the Engineering Research Visioning Alliance: Transforming Women鈥檚 Health Outcomes Through Engineering meeting and the ElevateHER meeting. They are both supported by the National Science Foundation and they aim to define the major questions we need to tackle in the next 50 years, especially around developing strategies to understand female physiology and address conditions that disproportionally impact women.

While I’m in these meetings, my thoughts have gone something like this:

• I’m so happy to be in a room with all these amazing researchers focused on women鈥檚 health! I鈥檓 pumped to continue working on these major questions
• Wow, there are so many basic questions that we don鈥檛 have any clue how to answer
• Oh, but the people in this meeting can figure it all out
• Wait, they don鈥檛 know how to approach these questions either
• Ahhh, we have so much to do
• OK, but there is hope because people are working in areas that we previously were clueless about and doing some really impactful research
• Now that we all know each other we can brainstorm and slowly but surely start to tackle these problems

This is a necessary step, and it’s been wonderful being in the same space with people who are all focused on women鈥檚 health and how to use engineering design principles and tools to tackle questions.

For more information, contact Robinson at jrobins1@uw.edu.