Fall 2019
Smart signals
Less snarl and more green with smart traffic signals and connected vehicles, thanks to research by Washington State University's civil and environmental engineers » More ...
Computer Sciences
Spring 2019
Arts and science
Storytellers, not machines, should decide how to act on data, according to the Matthew Jockers, the new dean of Washington State University's College of Arts and Sciences and the author of "The Bestseller Code." Jockers combines his English literature background with computer programming for literary analysis. » More ...
Spring 2019
Medical Big Data
Big data is a powerful new tool in the medical bag, and one that can put patients in charge of their own health. Medical students at Washington State University are learning about the potential use of the tool on medical teams, while a new data analytics program at WSU teaches future data analysts. » More ...
Summer 2018
Nella Ludlow comes home
Nella Ludlow knew who she really was from an early age. “As I got older, I thought, I just can’t do this anymore,” she says. So she came out as a transgender woman.
After earning a degree in math and physical sciences at Washington State University, the 1982 graduate joined the Air Force. There she trained as a fighter pilot, worked in military intelligence, and earned a doctorate in artificial intelligence from the University of Edinburgh, and did post-doctoral studies at Cambridge University.
She retired at the end of the Cold War and entered the business world at the height of the dot com … » More …
Summer 2018
Virtually yours
How do you walk through a building in Atlanta when you’re in a classroom in Pullman?
If you can’t be there physically, virtual reality can deliver a new level of engagement, whether it’s watching Shaun White’s snowboard whoosh inches from your head, or working collaboratively on construction projects with students from Georgia.
Virtual reality is also a rapidly growing business. There were an estimated seven million VR headsets in 2016, which is expected to balloon to 47 million by 2020.
That acceleration has pushed companies like Intel to ramp up their VR offerings, including the 2018 Winter Olympics in PyeongChang, South Korea. The VR technology … » More …
Summer 2017
Organic electronics on a roll
In the near future, your local hardware store could include a “green electronics” counter where friendly clerks unspool sheets of plastic film and print devices while you wait.
Need a few more solar panels? No problem.
How about a flexible LED lighting strip? This roll over here.
Computer? Loudspeaker? Or maybe transparent, energy-producing panels for your greenhouse? On sale today!
Though the scene is hypothetical, the emerging technology for organic, thin-film polymer plastics is up and running in laboratories around the world, including those of the Collins Research Group at Washington State University.
Led by assistant professor of physics Brian Collins, the enthusiastic … » More …
Summer 2017
AI
One of the most memorable moments of Matthew Taylor’s life so far would look to most people like just a jumble of numbers, brackets, and punctuation strung together with random words on a computer screen.
IF ((dist(K1,T1)<=4) AND
(Min(dist(K3,T1), dist(K3,T2))>=12.8) AND
(ang(K3,K1,T1)>=36))
THEN Pass to K3
And so on. Line after line of computer code flowing like a digital river of expanding possibilities.
Although sophisticated and wonderfully complex, it wasn’t so much the code itself that made this such a pivotal moment.
It was what came next.
Taylor, a graduate student in Texas at the time, … » More …
Summer 2017
Robowriters
Subject. Verb. Object.
These are the basic building blocks of written communication. It’s what you need to make a complete sentence like the one you’re reading now.
Structured. Logical. Direct.
This also is why parts of my chosen career are ripe for takeover by robots.
For millions of Americans, the defining realization of how fast artificial intelligence is evolving came in 2011 when Watson — IBM’s now-celebrated language processing computer — won the popular TV quiz show Jeopardy by beating two of the game’s top champions.
I watched with fascination as well. But, for me, the point was driven home even harder a few years … » More …
Spring 2016
Gallery: High-tech origami
WSU adjunct professor and origami master Robert Lang is known for his complex and elegant designs. He has studied the mathematics and theory of origami and is a leading expert in computational origami. He has developed a highly evolved system of crease pattern diagramming—here are a few examples:
Read more about “Crease Patterns as Art” on Robert Lang’s website.
Fall 2015
Cybersecurity and the smart grid
Chen-Ching Liu, Anjan Bose, Adam Hahn, and the other researchers at Washington State University’s Energy Systems Innovation Center explain the smart grid and how to safeguard it from hacking and natural disasters, with redundancy and testing.
You can read more about their work in “Out the hack door,” Fall 2015.
Videos produced by the WSU Video Team.
What is the Smart Grid?
WSU professors Chen-Ching Liu and Dr. Anjan Bose discuss the evolution of the electric power grid.
The Self-Healing Grid
Advancements in intelligent monitoring and automation, combined with robust, redundant sources of power serve to protect electricity-dependent communities from outages and … » More …