News

Tue, 06/11/2024

Trish Millines Dziko, Co-founder and Executive Director of the Technology Access Foundation, delivered the 2024 graduation address for the Department of Human Centered Design & Engineering. View the address here.

Wed, 05/22/2024

In a world facing complex challenges like climate change, how can design and engineering education evolve to meet these demands? This question lies at the heart of a pioneering partnership between Microsoft and HCDE. Together, they are reimagining design education to prepare the next generation of designers to tackle the greatest challenges of our time.

Tue, 05/21/2024

HCDE is pleased to announce the addition of three new faculty members: Dr. Shana Lee Hirsch, Cayla Key, and Emily Tseng. Together, their expertise enhances the department's focus in strategic areas such as environmental science and sociotechnical change, inclusive design and ethics, and equitable computing and social responsibility

Tue, 05/14/2024

HCDE Associate Professor Kate Starbird is recognized in the 54th annual University of Washington Awards of Excellence with the University Faculty Lecture Award. As part of this honor, Professor Starbird will deliver a campus-wide lecture about her research in the 2024-2025 academic year.

Tue, 05/14/2024

In an HCDE Design Jam led by PhD student Pitch Sinlapanuntakul and Professor Mark Zachry, students and mentors from Adobe explored AI-powered tools to support design work.

Wed, 05/01/2024

Working with teens, UW researchers, including HCDE's Elin Björling and Jennifer Sonney from UW Nursing, have designed RESeT: a snowy virtual world with six activities intended to improve mood. In a 3-week study of 44 Seattle-area teens, researchers found that most used the technology about twice a week without being prompted and reported lower stress levels after using the environment.

Wed, 05/01/2024

UW HCDE has strong presence at the 2024 Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems (CHI), the premier international conference on Human-Computer Interaction. HCDE researchers contributed to 20 papers, including one selected for the Best Paper Award recognition and two selected for Best Paper Honorable Mention recognition.

Tue, 04/30/2024

Human Centered Design & Engineering students Sourojit Ghosh and Austin Lee are named to the 2024 cohort of the Husky 100. This program annually recognizes 100 students across the UW's three campuses for making the most of their time at UW through their work and extracurricular achievements.

Mon, 04/15/2024

Robots are increasingly becoming a part of our daily lives at home, at work, and even in public spaces. But do people want to interact with them? Are they addressing real human needs? In a new course on Human-Robot Interaction, Dr. Elin Björling led HCDE graduate students to discover new use cases for social robots that can address modern challenges.

Sun, 03/24/2024

HCDE Associate Professor Kate Starbird appeared in a segment of 60 minutes that aired on March 24, 2024, about the right of free speech on social media platforms—an issue currently under discussion by the US Supreme Court.

Fri, 03/01/2024

HCDE Assistant Professor Nadya Peek has received a Faculty Early Career Development (CAREER) Program Award from the National Science Foundation. The five-year, over $700,000 grant will support Peek and students in her lab, Machine Agency, in revolutionizing how we approach small-scale automation across the digital/physical divide. 

Thu, 02/29/2024

HCDE Professor and Chair Julie Kientz is joining the esteemed ranks of the SIGCHI Academy, and Associate Professor Kate Starbird receives the prestigious 2024 SIGCHI Social Impact Award. These awards celebrate their remarkable contributions to Human-Computer Interaction, recognizing their excellence in research, teaching, practice, and service. 

Tue, 02/27/2024

Melissa Ewing and Meghan Oxley, staff in the Department of Human Centered Design & Engineering, were nominated for the 2024 UW Distinguished Staff Award in the category of impact, recognizing them for their exemplary contributions to the department and University.

Thu, 02/22/2024

Judy Ramey, one of HCDE’s founding faculty members and former department chair, has written a libretto for an opera titled Valparaiso, a chamber opera set in a retirement home that "explores the humor and pain, the love and loss, of four residents as they navigate the changes and challenges of advancing age." Ramey and composer Steven Luksan will debut Valparaiso at Seattle’s Horizon House in March 2024, with additional performances planned in the spring and summer.

Tue, 01/23/2024

HCDE and Allen School professors Sucheta Ghoshal, Daniela Rosner, and Vikram Iyer have been awarded a new $1.66 million grant from the National Science Foundation to explore community-based integration of smart technologies into black diasporic agriculture practices.
Collaborating with diasporic farming communities in the Seattle area and beyond, the researchers will study how AI impacts diasporic urban farming and how the co-development of AI-based tools shapes diasporic knowledge.

Tue, 11/28/2023

UW researchers, including HCDE PhD Candidate Sourojit Ghosh, found that when prompted to create pictures of “a person,” the AI image generator over-represented light-skinned men, sexualized images of certain women of color and failed to equitably represent Indigenous peoples.

Thu, 10/12/2023

Dr. Katya Cherukumilli, assistant professor in HCDE, brings a background in interdisciplinary research that combines methods in human-centered design, environmental engineering, and public health to advance equitable access to safe drinking water.

Mon, 10/09/2023

Dr. Shana Lee Hirsch, senior research scientist in HCDE and co-director of the Pacific Marine Energy Center, is the UW lead on a new grant to study the needs and opinions of coastal communities regarding potential offshore wind energy development.

Thu, 09/07/2023

In a keynote presentation delivered at the International Conference on Transdisciplinary Engineering, HCDE Professor Cynthia Atman overviews her decades of research exploring how engineering students and experts engage in design, and how her findings can be useful for teaching design to engineers.

Tue, 08/01/2023

HCDE Associate Professor Kate Starbird spoke with Dr. Umair A. Shah, Washington State Secretary of Health, for the Public Health Connects Speaker Series. In the 30-minute conversation, Starbird and Shah discussed the landscape of misinformation, disinformation, and rumoring on social media, and its impacts on public health. 

Fri, 07/28/2023

HCDE PhD Candidate Jay Cunningham has been named a 2023 University of Washington Bonderman Fellow. With support from this travel fellowship, Cunningham hopes to reconnect with his ancestral roots; explore vibrant cities, communities, and landscapes; and gain a deeper understanding of Black diasporic history and culture extending from West Africa to the Americas.

Mon, 07/17/2023 | UW Engineering

Since the 1980s, WE Rise has been dedicated to sharing the experiences of women in engineering. Open to all students, the program offers mentorship opportunities, advising and tutoring, leadership development and community building. Read how WE Rise impacted the careers of three UW alumni, including HCDE BS alumna and current PhD student Yuliana Flores.

Mon, 07/03/2023

HCDE PhD Candidate Jay Cunningham has received a Just Tech Fellowship from the Social Science Research Council (SSRC) to support his work developing a Black community-led research organization that equips communities with the knowledge, tools, and support to challenge racist assumptions in AI systems and the flawed data sets behind them.

Sun, 07/02/2023

The UW’s ALACRITY center, co-directed by HCDE Professor Sean Munson, aims to create innovative strategies for behavioral treatment for mental health problems. With support from a new five-year, nearly $11 million investment from the National Institute of Mental Health, Munson and his collaborators across campus are working to address critical issues in implementing psychosocial treatment in healthcare settings accessible to underserved communities.

Mon, 06/26/2023 | Designing Up

Through a multi-year involvement with a Directed Research Group, HCDE senior Alfie Aguilar Vidrio has worked to develop innovative patient-centered approaches for tuberculosis and HIV prevention and treatment management.