ALS, or amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, is a terminal disease that attacks motor neurons, causing patients to lose muscle function. Patients gradually lose their ability to move or speak. Since patients can still move their eyes, advances in eye-tracking technology allow them to operate computer programs, including text to speech software. This eye-tracking technology is the person’s last link to communication—the key to a social or productive life.
However, existing software and hardware is expensive and not accessible to most people with the disease. Led by Professor Dave Bakken ’85, a group of computer science students is working to develop a less … » More …
Seldom do software engineers get to see their work save lives. But new software developed by Washington State University alumnus Thanos Etmektzoglou is making a difference for cancer patients.
For the past 13 years Etmektzoglou has worked at Varian Medical Systems in Palo Alto, California, to develop a software control system that allows for more precise delivery of radiation to cancerous tumors.
Radiation is used in cancer treatment, because it more negatively affects cancerous cells than healthy ones. Doctors work to provide sufficient radiation to kill the cancer cells, while keeping injury to the surrounding healthy cells and organs at a minimum. With some cancers, … » More …
Wanted: Person with a bachelor’s degree in fine arts to help design and create software programs; location: Dusty, Washington, population 10.
These are just the kind of person whom Jon Ochs, president, CEO, and founder of Eureka Software, Inc., may soon be looking to hire for the multimedia communications company he runs from his family farm in very rural Eastern Washington.
“We actually have four employees that are here all the time, so it is no longer a mom and pop business,” he says, sitting on the porch patio among his wife’s flowers and scratching the head of his large and rather relaxed dog, Amber. … » More …