Human Centered Design & Engineering

Senior Camryn Soo explores HCDE roots

Camryn Soo (HCDE BS '25) spent two years researching the department’s history, tracing its roots in post-war efforts to bring more humanities into engineering education. Through archival research, interviews, and coursework, she uncovered how decades of curricular innovation and cross-disciplinary programs shaped HCDE into what it is today. For Soo, that effort to “rethink engineering” remains a powerful throughline in the department’s identity.

Lecture: Foundations & Futures of HCI

As part of HCDE’s 2025 graduation events, Professor Kate Starbird delivered a special teach-in exploring the foundations and future of human-computer interaction. Starbird traced how the technologies we use every day emerged from federally funded research, and emphasized the continued importance of inclusive, human-centered research. Her talk urged graduates and guests to recognize the role of public investment in shaping technology that serves people.

Introducing stacked master’s degrees

UW Engineering has launched two new stackable master’s degrees — and HCDE’s Graduate Certificate in User Centered Design is one of the building blocks. These new degrees let you customize your education by stacking interdisciplinary graduate certificates with a hands-on capstone project.

2025 Graduation Ceremony

On June 11, the Department of Human Centered Design & Engineering hosted its 2025 Graduation & Awards Ceremony, honoring the achievements of 220 graduates—90 bachelor’s, 127 master’s, and 3 doctoral students.  Find highlights and a recording of the ceremony here.