Three 91探花 faculty members have been awarded early-career fellowships from the Alfred P. Sloan Foundation. The new Sloan Fellows, announced Feb. 20, are and , both assistant professors in the Paul G. Allen School of Computer Science & Engineering, and , an assistant professor in the Department of Chemistry in the College of Arts & Sciences.

Sloan Fellowships are open to scholars in eight scientific and technical fields 鈥� chemistry, computer science, Earth system science, economics, mathematics, neuroscience and physics 鈥� and honor early-career researchers whose achievements mark them among the next generation of scientific leaders.

The 126 were selected by researchers and faculty in the scientific community. Candidates are nominated by their peers, and fellows are selected by independent panels of senior scholars based on each candidate鈥檚 research accomplishments, creativity and potential to become a leader in their field. Each fellow will receive $75,000 to apply toward research endeavors.

This year鈥檚 fellows come from 57 institutions across the United States and Canada, spanning fields from evolutionary biology to data science.

Du鈥檚 research interests are in the theoretical foundations of machine learning, such as deep learning, representation learning and reinforcement learning.

“Recent breakthroughs in machine learning have relied on large neural network models trained on big data. These powerful models have become the predominant method in many data-driven domains. Another direction of machine learning that is experiencing a paradigm shift is data-driven decision-making, witnessed by increasingly capable self-driving cars, and applications aiming to align with human values, such as in ChatGPT,鈥� Du said. “However, we still don’t have a good understanding of why these paradigms are so powerful. My research aims to open the black box by building the theoretical foundations of modern machine learning paradigms that involve large models and decision-making.”

厂肠丑耻濒锄鈥檚 research creates design tools and systems that aim to revolutionize how physical聽artifacts are built. A central challenge for design tools used in manufacturing is the need to聽simultaneously nurture the creative ability to conceive novel designs and the analytical capacity聽to critically evaluate and optimize functionality and production. In addition to increasing productivity and product quality, her work empowers people of diverse backgrounds to design and create. For example, she worked with 91探花Medicine to craft custom personal protective equipment at the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic.

鈥淢y research tackles the fundamental challenges in manufacturing-oriented design through innovative solutions that are grounded in the fundamentals of geometry processing and combine insights from machine learning and programming languages,鈥� Schulz said. 鈥淢oving forward, I plan to expand my efforts on sustainable design, exploring innovative design solutions that prioritize reusability and recyclability to foster circular ecosystems.鈥�

Velian鈥檚 research program targets the design of new materials that contribute to decarbonization, clean energy and quantum information technologies. A special focus of her program is to bring molecular precision into the synthesis of single-site catalysts that transform abundant molecules into compounds poised to play central roles in a green economy.

“The traditional trial-and-error approach, which has been effective in developing conventional industrially relevant catalysts such as the Haber-Bosch process for converting nitrogen聽to ammonia, falls short in addressing current urgent chemical challenges, such as transforming other small molecules like carbon dioxide into environmentally friendly, valuable compounds,” Velian said. “Synthetic strategies to precisely control the composition and surface chemistry of inorganic materials are necessary to design the next generation of catalytic materials.”

For more information, contact Du at ssdu@cs.washington.edu, Schulz at adriana@cs.washington.edu, and Velian at avelian@uw.edu.

Electrical engineering professor Visvesh Sathe receives 2020 Intel Outstanding Researcher Award

, associate professor of electrical and computer engineering, has received a from Intel Corporation for a project seeking to create more energy-efficient computer architecture.

A professor of biosystems and computing, Sathe was one of 18 researchers to receive the award, which annually recognizes exceptional contributions made by those conducting Intel-sponsored research at universities.

Sathe conducts research in a variety of areas applicable to circuits and architectures for low-power computing and biomedical systems. The research that brought him the award seeks to address computing inefficiencies created by “guard bands,” which are added to computer processors to help them keep operating despite changes in temperature and supply voltage.

Read an on the Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering website.

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Chemistry’s Alexandra Velian named a 2021 Cottrell Scholar

The Research Corporation for Science has named , assistant professor of chemistry, one of its 25 Cottrell Scholars for 2021.

The honors early career teacher-scholars in chemistry, physics and astronomy with discretionary awards for research. Each award comes with $100,000 “to foster advancements in research and educational accomplishments.” The scholars are chosen through a peer-review process based on candidates’ innovative research proposals as well as educational programs.

Velian’s is titled “Synthesis of Functional Metal Chalcogenide Lattices Using Symmetry-Encoded, Atomically Precise Clusters.” Cottrell Scholars are eligible to compete for additional funding later in their careers and meet annually to network and exchange ideas.

Read an on the Department of Chemistry website.

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iSchool’s Karen Fisher, Jacob O. Wobbrock receive Google Inclusion awards

and , professors in the Information School, are among 16 of inaugural 2020 Google Awards for Inclusion Research.

The award, to be given annually, supports academic research in computing and technology that addresses the needs of underrepresented populations. Each award comes with $60,000.

Fisher’s grant 鈥� which she shares with Yacine Ghamri-Doudane of in France 鈥� will support their work in designing culturally sensitive mobile technology for young Syrian refugee

women in Jordan. Such devices, and social media, can be crucial lifelines to refugees in the ongoing war.

Wobbrock’s award will support his work in creating an ability-based mobile toolkit to help programmers build applications that are aware of and responsive to the user’s abilities. A professor of human-computer interaction, Wobbrock is the founding co-director of the 91探花Center for Research and Education on Accessible Technology and Experiences, or .

Read more about and on the iSchool website.