Seven professors at the 91探花 are among 25 new members of the Washington State Academy of Sciences, according to a . Joining the academy is a recognition of 鈥渢heir outstanding record of scientific and technical achievement, and their willingness to work on behalf of the Academy to bring the best available science to bear on issues within the State of Washington.鈥�

Twenty of the incoming members for 2022 were selected by current WSAS members, while the other five were chosen by virtue of recently joining one of the National Academies.

91探花faculty selected by current Academy members are:

• , the Robert G. and Jean A. Reid Executive Dean of Nursing, 鈥渇or pioneering research in cultural competence, conducting international collaborative research with professionals and family caregivers of older adults with dementia, advancing assessment of cultural awareness and its impact on healthcare, and supporting establishment of UW鈥檚 Center for Global Health Nursing and the first Center for Anti-Racism in Nursing.鈥�
• , the Harry and Catherine Jaynne Boand Endowed Professor of Chemistry, co-associate chair of the Department of Chemistry, and associate vice provost for research cyberinfrastructure, 鈥渇or a body of work that supercharges computational chemistry, including pioneering work in time- dependent electronic structure theory and quantum mechanical techniques,鈥� and 鈥渇or exemplary collaborative efforts, as well as leadership in developing educational pathways for underrepresented minority students in STEM.鈥� Li is also a faculty member in the 91探花Clean Energy Institute and the 91探花Molecular & Engineering Sciences Institute.
• , the Steven and Connie Rogel Endowed Professor of Chemical Engineering, professor of chemistry, and chair of the Department of Chemical Engineering, 鈥渇or pioneering contributions that advanced the frontiers of molecular simulation, impacting the prediction of enzyme activity in ionic liquids, peptide interactions with surfaces and molecular design.鈥� Pfaendtner is also a faculty member in the Clean Energy Institute and the Molecular & Engineering Sciences Institute, as well as a senior data fellow with the 91探花eScience Institute and staff scientist at the Pacific Northwest National Laboratory.
• , the Klaus and Mary Ann Saegebarth Endowed Professor of Chemistry, 鈥渇or pioneering fundamental and applied studies in mass spectrometry, physical chemistry, and newborn screening鈥� as well as 鈥減ropagation of science, science education, and technical expertise contributions to startup companies in Washington state.鈥�
• , the Kyocera Professor in Materials Science & Engineering and vice dean of the College of Engineering, 鈥渇or pioneering contribution to the discovery of new thermoelectric and energy storage materials for clean energy, and for exceptional leadership to promote interdisciplinary collaboration among academia, industry, and national laboratories for creating transformational and sustainable impact for Washington.鈥� Yang is also a faculty member in the Clean Energy Institute and the Molecular & Engineering Sciences Institute.
• Dr. , professor of radiology and director of the 91探花Medicine Image-Guided Bio-Molecular Intervention Laboratory, 鈥渇or work as an internationally prominent physician-scientist in the field of image-guided minimally invasive interventional therapies鈥� and 鈥渇or pioneering contributions and outstanding achievements in developing innovative and cutting-edge medical imaging and interventional radiology for effective management of life-threatening diseases, such as atherosclerotic cardiovascular disease and cancer.鈥�

In addition, Dr. , 91探花professor of genome sciences, investigator with the Howard Hughes Medical Institute and faculty member in the Molecular Engineering & Sciences Institute, was selected by virtue of his election to the National Academy of Sciences 鈥渇or pioneering a variety of genome sequencing and analysis methods, including exome sequencing and its earliest applications to gene discovery for Mendelian disorders and autism; cell-free DNA diagnostics for cancer and reproductive medicine; massively parallel reporter assays; saturation genome editing; whole organism lineage tracing; and massively parallel molecular profiling of single cells.鈥�

New members to the Washington State Academy of Sciences will be formally inducted in September.

, professor in the Paul G. Allen School of Computer Science & Engineering, has been awarded a of $2 million for two years from the National Science Foundation as part of the NSF’s program.

The manufacturing life cycle starts with discovering new molecules and materials, often through computer simulations, and identifying promising candidates that can later be tested in laboratories. The grant, starting in September, will support development of new data science approaches to accelerate the engineering life cycle of design, characterization, manufacturing and operation.

Balazinska is principal investigator; co-principal investigators are chemical engineering professor , research associate professor ; and , senior data scientist with the UW’s eScience Institute.

For more information, contact Balazinska at magda@cs.washington.edu.

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, professor in the College of Education, has been awarded a of $1,400,000 across four years from the for a study to identify “malleable” reading factors 鈥� such as awareness and letter sounds 鈥� among elementary students with intellectual disabilities, with the long-term aim of developing effective literacy interventions.

Hudson is principal investigator; co-principal investigators, also in education, are assistant professor and associate professor . The National Center for Special Education Research is one of four research centers of . The grant was awarded in August.

Listen to a spring 2019 with Hudson about the effectiveness of interventions designed to help young readers on the autism spectrum.

For more information, contact Hudson at rhudson@uw.edu

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, clinical assistant professor of in the Department of Global Health 鈥� which bridges the 91探花schools of public health and medicine 鈥� has received a $200,000 grant from the Social Media and Adolescent Health Research Team at the University of Wisconsin-Madison. She will develop and pilot a program that uses social media to prevent depression in young pregnant women or women who have recently given birth.
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91探花Notebook is a section of the 91探花News site dedicated to telling stories of the good work done by faculty and staff at the 91探花. Read all posts here.

The was unveiled during a two-day summit at the UW, an event that included scientists and engineers from the three keystone institutions, as well as potential partners in academia and industry from across the Pacific Northwest.

鈥淭he technological and societal impact of the upcoming quantum revolution is going to be enormous,鈥� said , 91探花vice provost for research and professor of chemical engineering and microbiology. 鈥淭he 91探花is thrilled to partner with Microsoft and PNNL in this Northwest Quantum Nexus.鈥�

In alignment with the , the Northwest Quantum Nexus aims to develop a quantum-fluent workforce and economy in the Pacific Northwest region of the United States and Canada by accelerating research, technological development, education and training in the quantum information sciences, or QIS. Its objectives include:

• Forming cross-disciplinary research teams working across academia, government and industry toward scalable quantum computing 鈥� including quantum algorithms and programming 鈥� as well as research and development of quantum materials and devices
• Cultivating a workforce that is expert in quantum science, engineering and technology through education and training 鈥� including undergraduate and graduate education, curriculum development; and internships
• Promoting public-private partnerships as platforms to exchange knowledge and resources
• Translating QIS research to testbeds and relevant application areas such as sustainability and clean energy

QIS disciplines include quantum computing, quantum communication, quantum sensing and quantum materials and devices. All of these applications and fields are designed around and enabled by the principles of quantum mechanics, including quantum superposition, which is the property of existing in several different configurations at the same time. 聽For example, quantum computing uses the principles of quantum mechanics and quantum-mechanical processes to carry out computations, which could revolutionize fields from cryptography to molecular simulation. Quantum materials include materials in which new behaviors emerge from quantum interactions.

As QIS technologies progress from research and development to applications in clean energy, sustainability, computing and communications, the Northwest Quantum Nexus seeks to boost the region鈥檚 quantum workforce as well as research and educational capacity, according to coalition members.

鈥淲hile there has been a long history of quantum research and education in the 91探花physics department, the landscape has changed recently,鈥� said , associate professor of both physics and electrical and computer engineering. 鈥淧eople now see that you can harness the quantum nature of matter to realize new technologies.鈥�

鈥淭his change means a paradigm shift in education,鈥� added Fu, who is also a faculty member in the UW鈥檚 . 鈥淯nderstanding quantum mechanics is no longer an academic question but a required skill for people to develop quantum materials, quantum devices, quantum systems and quantum algorithms.鈥�

These goals also offer opportunities to expand the Northwest Quantum Nexus. Summit attendees included dozens of scientists, engineers and administrators from the keystone partners, as well as potential partners from private companies, startups and universities from across the Pacific Northwest. Three members of Washington鈥檚 congressional delegation also attended the summit: Senator Maria Cantwell, Representative Derek Kilmer and Representative Adam Smith.

The keystone partners have complementary strengths in QIS. For the past 15 years, Microsoft has been a major global driver of quantum computing research and software development. The PNNL鈥檚 research into QIS includes programming, algorithm development, materials synthesis and characterization, as well as applications in quantum chemistry and sensing.

The 91探花has deep roots in quantum research and discovery. Two 91探花scientists have earned the Nobel Prize in Physics for QIS research 鈥� Hans Dehmelt in 1989 for developing ion traps and David Thouless in 2016 for theoretical work on topological phase transitions and topological phases of matter. Today, researchers across the 91探花鈥� in the , the and the 鈥� are at the forefront of QIS research. The university recently established , which joins QIS research endeavors across the 91探花in fields such as quantum sensing, quantum computing, quantum communication and quantum materials and devices. Fu and , associate professor and chair of chemical engineering, serve as co-chairs of Quantum X.

The three institutions also work together in QIS research and development. 91探花and PNNL scientists collaborate on quantum materials research through the . Scientists with Microsoft Quantum are teaching an undergraduate-level course on quantum computing algorithms in the UW鈥檚 Paul G. Allen School of Computer Science & Engineering. Microsoft and the PNNL have collaborated on a chemistry library will inform chemistry research relevant to quantum computing.

The Northwest Quantum Nexus is a natural next step, according to the summit organizers.

鈥淭he Northwest Quantum Nexus summit was an amazing success for 91探花Quantum X and our keystone partners Microsoft and the PNNL,鈥� said Pfaendtner, who is also a faculty member in the UW鈥檚 .

鈥淲e are ready to roll up our sleeves and get to work competing for new private and public research funding, continuing UW鈥檚 long history of developing innovative and agile graduate and undergraduate education programs in the QIS field, and creating amazing new opportunities for our students and postdoctoral researchers.鈥�

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For more information, contact Fu at kaimeifu@uw.edu and Pfaendtner at jpfaendt@uw.edu.

Automation, advanced instrumentation and high-performance computing have revolutionized science through an exponential growth in data.

Materials scientists, chemists and engineers seeking to discover next-generation materials for energy are stymied by this abundance of information. “Big data” has an intoxicating allure, since the answers are in there 鈥� somewhere. But finding them requires new tools, techniques and approaches specifically designed for large datasets.

“In science today, people have big datasets collected from computers, instruments, microscopes,” said , associate professor of chemical engineering at the 91探花. “It’s not the amount of data we can collect that’s the limiting factor. Now the limiting factor is data-handling.”

Removing the logjam requires an overhaul in educating young scientists, and Pfaendtner is leading a new endeavor funded by the National Science Foundation, via its new flagship National Research Traineeship (NRT) program, to bring big data to graduate education in clean energy research at the UW. Known as DIRECT 鈥� or Data Intensive Research Enabling Clean Technologies 鈥� this traineeship will phase in practical, data-driven research projects for graduate students in fields such as chemistry, renewable energy and chemical engineering.

“There’s been a recent ‘explosion’ of data in these fields, and we need new approaches to help our graduate students grow into data-intensive researchers in these subjects,” said Pfaendtner, who is also a member of the UW’s Clean Energy Institute and the Molecular Engineering & Sciences Institute.

Masters and doctoral students in four 91探花departments 鈥� materials science and engineering, chemistry, chemical engineering and human centered design and engineering 鈥� will participate in DIRECT, as well as the (CEI), the (MolES) and the . The program will match students with short, goal-driven projects in renewable energy or materials science early in their graduate education.

This project will not replace independent thesis or dissertation research. Instead, students will work temporarily on a big-data project already underway at 91探花or a partner institution. Graduate students will learn as they go how to handle, organize and analyze large datasets, both furthering the project and boosting their analysis toolkits for their own master’s or doctoral research projects.

“These are not classroom exercises. These are not simulations. These projects will support ongoing research,” said Pfaendtner. “Graduate students completing our classroom training will be ready to do this, and learn as they go from senior scientists.”

For example, one graduate student could help develop machine-learning approaches to predict the properties of new materials that have not yet been produced. Her classmate might explore new methods to synthesize the next generation of light-harvesting solar cells. Pfaendtner envisions pairing students with projects that fit their interests, though he stresses that the skills they would acquire would be applicable across the physical and engineering sciences.

“Whether students move on to do experiments, simulations or modeling for their research, the big-data skills they learn here will be invaluable,” he said.

Partner institutions, which will field projects for DIRECT, are the , Boeing Research and Technology, Zhejiang University in China, the University of Campinas in Brazil and . The $3,000,000 in support from the NSF for the five-year NRT project is also supported by the 91探花to allow additional students to participate and leverage the grant to improve the diversity of doctoral students entering the 91探花to do clean energy research.

Pfaendtner’s co-principal investigators on DIRECT are associate professor of human centered design and engineering , chemistry professor , chemistry professor and professor in the Department of Materials Science & Engineering. Aragon is also a member of the eScience Institute, while Pfaendtner, Ginger, Li and Luscombe are members of the CEI and the MolES Institute.

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For more information, contact Pfaendtner at jpfaendt@uw.edu.