Congratulations, Class of 2025!
UW ECE offers our congratulations to the graduating Class of 2025. We wish you all the best for the future!
https://www.ee.washington.edu/spotlight/https-www-ece-uw-edu-news-events-graduation/
https://www.ee.washington.edu/spotlight/uw-ece-graduation-will-feature-two-student-speakers/
UW ECE Graduation will feature two student speakers
Niveditha (Nivii) Kalavakonda (Ph.D. EE ‘25) and Devan Perkash (BSECE ‘25) will speak at this year’s Graduation Ceremony, which will take place in the Alaska Airlines Arena at Hec Edmundson Pavilion on Wednesday, June 11, from 7 to 9 p.m.
https://www.ee.washington.edu/spotlight/2025-graduation-thy-tran/
Thy Tran from Micron Technology to speak at UW ECE Graduation
UW ECE alumna Thy Tran (BSEE ‘93) will be honored guest speaker for the 2025 UW ECE Graduation Ceremony, which will take place in the Alaska Airlines Arena at Hec Edmundson Pavilion on Wednesday, June 11, from 7 to 9 p.m.
https://www.ee.washington.edu/spotlight/unlocking-the-brain-with-the-fruit-fly/
Unlocking the brain with the fruit fly
UW ECE undergraduate Mary Bun studies multitasking in fruit flies to offer valuable insights into disorders like Parkinson’s disease. Her work is inspired by neural engineering research led by UW ECE and UW Medicine Professor Chet Moritz.
https://www.ee.washington.edu/spotlight/yiyue-luo-a-i-dressed-for-success/
Yiyue Luo — A I dressed for success
UW ECE assistant professor Yiyue Luo is developing smart clothing that can sense where a person is, know what movement is needed to perform a task, and provide physical cues to guide performance.
https://www.ee.washington.edu/spotlight/precision-at-the-smallest-scale/
Precision at the smallest scale
UW ECE students toured inside the Washington Nanofabrication Facility, where tiny tech is transforming research in quantum, chips, medicine and more.
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[_finalHTML:protected] => https://www.ee.washington.edu/spotlight/https-www-ece-uw-edu-news-events-graduation/Congratulations, Class of 2025!
UW ECE offers our congratulations to the graduating Class of 2025. We wish you all the best for the future!
UW ECE Graduation will feature two student speakers
Niveditha (Nivii) Kalavakonda (Ph.D. EE ‘25) and Devan Perkash (BSECE ‘25) will speak at this year’s Graduation Ceremony, which will take place in the Alaska Airlines Arena at Hec Edmundson Pavilion on Wednesday, June 11, from 7 to 9 p.m.
Thy Tran from Micron Technology to speak at UW ECE Graduation
UW ECE alumna Thy Tran (BSEE ‘93) will be honored guest speaker for the 2025 UW ECE Graduation Ceremony, which will take place in the Alaska Airlines Arena at Hec Edmundson Pavilion on Wednesday, June 11, from 7 to 9 p.m.
Unlocking the brain with the fruit fly
UW ECE undergraduate Mary Bun studies multitasking in fruit flies to offer valuable insights into disorders like Parkinson’s disease. Her work is inspired by neural engineering research led by UW ECE and UW Medicine Professor Chet Moritz.
Yiyue Luo — A I dressed for success
UW ECE assistant professor Yiyue Luo is developing smart clothing that can sense where a person is, know what movement is needed to perform a task, and provide physical cues to guide performance.
Precision at the smallest scale
UW ECE students toured inside the Washington Nanofabrication Facility, where tiny tech is transforming research in quantum, chips, medicine and more.
Niveditha (Nivii) Kalavakonda (Ph.D. EE ‘25) and Devan Perkash (BSECE ‘25) will speak at this year’s Graduation Ceremony, which will take place in the Alaska Airlines Arena at Hec Edmundson Pavilion on Wednesday, June 11, from 7 to 9 p.m. Photo of Nivii Kalavakonda by Ryan Hoover / UW ECE[/caption]
The University of Washington Department of Electrical & Computer Engineering is proud to announce that in addition to UW ECE alumna Thy Tran (BSEE ‘93), two outstanding students have been selected to speak at our 2025 Graduation Ceremony. Niveditha (Nivii) Kalavakonda (Ph.D. EE ‘25) will offer remarks on behalf of graduate students, and Devan Perkash (BSECE ‘25) will represent undergraduates. Kalavakonda and Perkash were selected for this honor because of their academic achievements, extracurricular activities, and service to the Department. This year’s Graduation Ceremony will take place in the Alaska Airlines Arena at Hec Edmundson Pavilion on Wednesday, June 11, from 7 to 9 p.m. The event will be presided over by UW ECE Professor and Chair Eric Klavins.
“I am thrilled to have such fine examples of students from our graduating class to be speaking at this year’s Graduation Ceremony,” Klavins said. “Nivii exemplifies going above and beyond, not only in her research, but also in her service and leadership roles outside of the classroom. I also think that Devan’s entrepreneurial activity and enthusiasm for using technology to better people’s lives is a great example of our students’ potential to impact the world in a positive way.”
Learn more about both students below.
Graduate student speaker
Niveditha (Nivii) Kalavakonda
(Ph.D. EE ‘25)
[caption id="attachment_37969" align="alignright" width="400"]
Niveditha (Nivii) Kalavakonda (Ph.D. EE '25)[/caption]
Nivii Kalavakonda is graduating with a doctoral degree in electrical engineering. Her research at UW ECE focused on developing an assistive robot for surgical suction that works cooperatively with a surgeon. She was advised by Professor Blake Hannaford and worked closely with Dr. Laligam Sekhar in UW Medicine. Kalavakonda was also part of the Science, Technology, and Society Studies program at the UW. She has held internships at Amazon, Apple, and NVIDIA.
Kalavakonda has received the Yang Outstanding Doctoral Student Award, the UW ECE Student Impact Award, and an Amazon Catalyst fellowship. She was selected to be part of the UW’s Husky 100, and she has been broadly recognized as part of the Robotics Science and Systems Pioneers and Electrical Engineering and Computer Science Rising Stars cohorts.
Kalavakonda was a predoctoral instructor for the ECE 543 Models of Robot Manipulation course. With the intention of supporting student wellness and success, Kalavakonda has also co-founded several initiatives at UW ECE, such as the Student Advisory Council; the Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion Committee; and the Future Faculty Preparation Program. After graduating, Kalavakonda will be seeking an academic position, where she hopes to continue working with students on robotics.
Undergraduate student speaker
Devan Perkash
(BSECE ‘25)
[caption id="attachment_37971" align="alignright" width="400"]
Devan Perkash (BSECE '25)[/caption]
Devan Perkash is graduating with a bachelor’s degree in electrical and computer engineering. At the UW, he specialized in machine learning and computer architecture, gaining practical experience through coursework and internships. His senior capstone project, done in partnership with Amazon, focused on quantizing large language models to run efficiently on edge devices, such as smartphones and laptops, bringing advanced artificial intelligence closer to end-users.
Perkash strongly believes that technology’s primary value lies in solving practical, real-world challenges. This belief fuels his passion for technological entrepreneurship. He took an active leadership role at the UW, serving as president of the Lavin Entrepreneurship Program, where he led over a hundred student entrepreneurs and managed resources dedicated to fostering successful startups. He also co-founded the UW Venture Capital Club, aiming to democratize access to venture capital knowledge and networks through initiatives, such as hosting speaker series with top Seattle-based venture capitalists.
After graduation, Perkash plans to deepen his knowledge by pursuing a master’s degree in electrical engineering and computer science at the University of California, Berkeley. There, he aims to gain deeper technical knowledge and entrepreneurial experience, preparing him to create technology solutions that positively impact people’s lives.
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UW ECE alumna Thy Tran (BSEE ‘93) will be honored guest speaker for the 2025 UW ECE Graduation Ceremony, which will take place in the Alaska Airlines Arena at Hec Edmundson Pavilion on Wednesday, June 11, from 7 to 9 p.m. Tran is Vice President of Global Frontend Procurement at Micron Technology.[/caption]
The University of Washington Department of Electrical & Computer Engineering is proud to welcome UW ECE alumna Thy Tran (BSEE ‘93) as honored guest speaker for our 2025 Graduation Ceremony. Tran is Vice President of Global Frontend Procurement at Micron Technology, a worldwide leader in the semiconductor industry that specializes in computer memory and storage solutions. She recently transitioned from her prior role as vice president of DRAM Process Integration, where she led a global team in the United States and Asia to drive DRAM (dynamic random-access memory) technology development and transfer into high-volume manufacturing fabrication facilities. Tran has over 30 years of semiconductor experience working in the United States, Europe, and Asia, including leading roles at two semiconductor fabrication facility startups. This year’s Graduation Ceremony will take place in the Alaska Airlines Arena at Hec Edmundson Pavilion on Wednesday, June 11, from 7 to 9 p.m. The event will be presided over by UW ECE Professor and Chair Eric Klavins.
“We are looking forward to having Thy as our honored guest speaker at Graduation this year,” Klavins said. “She has had a long and successful career in the semiconductor industry and is an international leader in her field. She understands the value of resilience and persistence first-hand, and I know there is much she can share with our graduates at this event.”
Tran joined Micron in 2008 and led several DRAM module development programs, including advanced capacitor, metallization, and through-silicon-via, or TSV, integration before taking on the DRAM Process Integration leadership role for several product generations. Her technical contribution has been integral to Micron’s DRAM Technology Development Roadmap and played a significant role in helping Micron achieve DRAM technology leadership. Prior to Micron, Tran worked on logic and SRAM (static random-access memory) technologies at Motorola and SRAM at WaferTech, now known as TSMC Washington. She also worked at Siemens (which later spun off Infineon and Qimonda), where she held several leadership roles in DRAM technology development transfer, and manufacturing.
In addition to receiving her bachelor’s degree from UW ECE, Tran is a recent alumna of the Stanford Graduate School of Business’s Executive Program and the McKinsey Executive Leadership Program. She is a senior member of the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers, known as IEEE, and a member of the Society of Women Engineers. She also serves as a strategic advisory board member for UW ECE as well as for the International Semiconductor Executive Summit and Mercado Global. She is a recipient of Global Semiconductor Alliance’s 2023 Rising Women of Influence award.
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[post_content] => Adapted from an article by Danielle Holland, UW Undergraduate Academic Affairs / Photos by Jayden Becles, University of Washington
[caption id="attachment_37906" align="alignright" width="600"]
UW ECE undergraduate Mary Bun studies multitasking in fruit flies to offer valuable insights into disorders like Parkinson’s disease. Her work is inspired by neural engineering research led by UW ECE Professor Chet Moritz, who holds joint appointments in UW Medicine.[/caption]
Mary Bun selects a three-day-old Drosophila fruit fly from the incubator and moves to her custom-built behavioral rig. She places the fly in a circular arena beneath a hidden camera and pulls the cloth curtain shut.
The rig’s design is both elegant and practical, featuring a black box, a top-down camera for video capture and a custom computer program Bun coded to control the experiment. With the lights off in the Ahmed Lab, the black box blocks any external light. Bred for this experiment, the fly’s neurons are activated by light, and even the slightest outside interference could skew the results. With a click, a red light triggers the neurons, causing the fly’s wings to extend. The camera captures the motion, measuring each subtle angle as the wings vibrate and contract.
Seated at her workstation, Bun watches the footage stream on her computer, her software controlling both the camera and the light stimulation. The rig’s sleek design, a product of her engineering expertise, reflects her dedication. “Every part of this setup has a purpose,” she says, her eyes fixed on the fly’s delicate movements. “This is a platform for discovery. There’s so much more to uncover.”
[caption id="attachment_37911" align="alignleft" width="400"]
A test tube containing one of the fruit flies Mary Bun studies in the Ahmed Lab[/caption]
Mary Bun’s fascination with how things work began long before middle school. Driven by a natural curiosity for problem-solving, she knew early on that, like her brothers, she would apply to the Transition School at the University of Washington’s Robinson Center, the Center’s one-year college preparatory program for high-achieving students.
“I wanted a challenge,” Bun recalls. “The traditional high school experience didn’t feel like it would push me enough. I needed something more.” The Transition School provided an immersive environment with advanced coursework, allowing her to transition early to the UW. “I could move quickly and start thinking about research much earlier.”
Bun’s time wasn’t just academic — it helped her find a community of other highly motivated peers. “Fifteen is such a critical period in your life,” she says. As she began her college journey, “the world had been turned upside down” with the coronavirus pandemic. During the pandemic, Bun found support in her cohort, navigating the challenges of remote learning and isolation together. “The Transition School gave me the tools to succeed, but it was the people who made it meaningful.”
A spark for neural engineering
[caption id="attachment_37916" align="alignright" width="600"]
Bun works on the rig she built for her research, left, and, right, the rig is ready to roll. She uses optogenetics (a technique that uses light to activate specific neurons) to study how fruit flies perform tasks like walking and vibrating their wings at the same time.[/caption]
In an Engineering 101 course, Bun was captivated by UW ECE Professor Chet Moritz’s work on neural stimulation devices for spinal cord injury rehabilitation. “I found it fascinating that we could externally influence the nervous system to help people,” she says.
Driven by this newfound passion, Bun pursued a double degree in electrical engineering and psychology. As a junior, she took on her first research opportunity in the lab of Dr. Sama Ahmed, where she applied her academic knowledge alongside her practical engineering skills.
“My first two years were about finding my footing,” she recalls. “But once I joined the lab, everything clicked. I realized how much I loved the process of discovery — asking questions, designing experiments and seeing results come to life.”
Bun’s research in the Ahmed Lab centers on an important question: How do neural circuits manage multitasking? Using optogenetics — a technique that uses light to activate specific neurons — she studies how fruit flies perform tasks like walking and vibrating their wings at the same time.
“Despite its simplicity, the fruit fly can perform surprisingly complex behaviors,” Bun explains. “By understanding how the fly brain processes multiple tasks, we can start to uncover fundamental principles about how more complex brains, like ours, might work.
Designing pathways
[caption id="attachment_37920" align="alignright" width="400"]
Bun reviews the movement she captured with her self-made rig. She studies multitasking in fruit flies to learn more about complex movement in people.[/caption]
Under Dr. Ahmed’s guidance, Bun began constructing her behavior rig, a device she designed and built from scratch to observe and analyze fly behavior. The rig integrates hardware and software to capture high-speed video of flies responding to light stimulation, enabling Bun to measure precise movements, like wing extension and walking patterns. “Building the rig was one of the most rewarding parts of my research,” she says. “It allowed me to apply my engineering skills and coursework to solve a real scientific problem.”
Bun’s work challenges the traditional approach of studying behaviors in isolation. “Most research looks at one behavior at a time,” she says. “But in the real world, animals — and humans — are constantly juggling multiple tasks within different states and environments. I wanted to explore how the brain handles that.”
Through the Office of Undergraduate Research, Bun received support in identifying funding opportunities for her innovative research. With their assistance, she applied for and was awarded the Mary Gates Research Scholarship in 2023 and the 2024-25 Levinson Emerging Scholars Award. This prestigious award supports students conducting creative research projects in biosciences under the guidance of UW faculty and recognizes scholars who demonstrate exceptional motivation and independence in their research. Bun is also a 2024-25 recipient of the Stephanie Subak Endowed Memorial Scholarship from the Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering.
Far-reaching impact
[caption id="attachment_37923" align="alignright" width="400"]
Bun, in the red light of the rig she made to study multitasking in fruit flies.[/caption]
Bun’s research, which explores how the brain prioritizes and processes information during multitasking, has significant implications. By understanding how the brain seamlessly combines some behaviors, her work could offer valuable insights into disorders like Parkinson’s, which affect cognitive function, potentially paving the way for new treatment approaches.
Bun will present her research as a Levinson Scholar at the Office of Undergraduate Research’s 28th Annual Undergraduate Research Symposium. Her time with the Office of Undergraduate Research and in the Ahmed Lab has been transformative, fueling both her research and growth as a scientist.
“Dr. Ahmed gave me the freedom to take full ownership of my project,” Bun said. In the Ahmed Lab’s collaborative, non-hierarchical environment, undergraduates are treated as integral members of the team, and Bun has thrived in this setting. She designed the behavior rig from the ground up, conducted her own experiments and even began writing a paper on the methods the lab developed.
Building on this experience, Bun plans to pursue a Ph.D. to study neural engineering after graduation.
“Research has taught me to embrace challenges and think creatively,” she says. “It’s not just about finding answers — it’s about asking the right questions and pushing the boundaries of what we know.”
Learn more about biosystems research at UW ECE on the Biosystems webpage. The original version of this article is available on the UW Undergraduate Academic Affairs website.
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[post_content] => Article by Kathryn M. O’Neill / MIT Technology Review; Photos by Ryan Hoover / UW ECE News
[caption id="attachment_37856" align="alignright" width="466"]
UW ECE assistant professor Yiyue Luo[/caption]
Physical tasks such as hitting a ball or drawing blood are difficult to learn simply by listening to instructions or reading descriptions. That’s one reason UW ECE assistant professor Yiyue Luo is developing clothing that can sense where a person is, know what movement is needed to perform a task, and provide physical cues to guide performance.
“In a conventional learning scenario—say, learning tennis—the coach would hold your hand and let you feel how to grasp the racket. This physical interaction is very important,” says Luo. “What we have been doing is to capture, model, and augment such physical interaction.”
Luo, who was named to the 2024 Forbes list of 30 innovators under 30, has already developed a posture-sensing carpet and a smart glove that can capture and relay touch-based instructions. Her goal is to gather information on how experts perform physical tasks and create wearables that can help people move the same way—by providing a nudge, for example.
[caption id="attachment_37996" align="alignnone" width="1024"]
Luo demonstrates a digitally machine-knitted assistive glove, designed to support hand movement.[/caption]
Raised in Guangzhou, China, Luo earned her bachelor’s degree in materials science and engineering from the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign, where she was introduced to the field of bioelectronics by one of its pioneers, Professor John A. Rogers. She then switched to electrical engineering for graduate school, earning her PhD at MIT with a dissertation on smart textiles—those with sensors, actuation capabilities, and the means to capture data. She now foresees developing smart textiles equipped with information about how to move—something like ChatGPT but for physical information. Gathering data about movement is the vital first step.
“I think patients and people in the health-care domain can potentially get huge benefits.” — UW ECE assistant professor Yiyue Luo
[caption id="attachment_38024" align="alignnone" width="1187"]
(Top left): samples from the UW ECE Wearable Intelligence Lab, showcasing digitally-knitted fabrics integrated with both customized and commercial fibers for multimodal sensing and actuation; (top right): a digital design program used for generating the knitting pattern; (bottom left): close-up of the knitting machine's individually actuated needles, which enable complex yarn manipulation via the yarn carrier; (bottom right): a knitted sleeve featuring integrated conductive electrodes for multimodal sensing. The sleeve can be worn like a conventional garment, offering a soft, conformal fit.[/caption]
ChatGPT can answer text-based inquiries because it has been trained on enormous caches of text-based data—all initially captured through such technologies as a keyboard and mouse, Luo explains. But, she says, “for a lot of physical information [for example, the pressure, speed, and orientation of an action], such input-output interfaces are still missing.”
Those interfaces are what Luo is working to develop, with an eye toward advancing robotics and improving human-robot interactions. Her hope is that the work will one day improve health care—by guiding patients through physical therapy exercises, perhaps, or by sensing and changing the position of an immobile patient to prevent bedsores.
“I think patients and people in the health-care domain can potentially get huge benefits,” she says.
[caption id="attachment_37998" align="alignnone" width="1024"]
The industrial-scale Shima Seiki digital knitting machine at the Digital Fabrication Lab at UW, capable of combining standard and conductive yarns.[/caption]
Reprinted with permission of Slice of MIT.
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[post_content] => Step inside the Washington Nanofabrication Facility, where tiny tech is transforming research in quantum, chips, medicine and more.
Story by Chelsea Yates, UW College of Engineering | Photos by Mark Stone, University of Washington
[caption id="attachment_37673" align="aligncenter" width="1124"]
Researchers wear full-body clean suits in the WNF to prevent contamination. The air in this environment is 1,000 times cleaner than in an operating room.[/caption]
Imagine a high-tech workshop where scientists and engineers craft objects so small they can’t be seen with the naked eye — or even a standard microscope. These tiny structures — nanostructures — are thousands of times smaller than a strand of hair. And they are essential for faster computers, better smartphones and life-saving medical devices.
Nanostructures are at the core of the research happening every day in the Washington Nanofabrication Facility (WNF). Part of the Institute for Nano-Engineered Systems at the UW and located in Fluke Hall, the WNF supports cutting-edge academic and industry research, prototyping and hands-on student training. Like many leading nanofabrication centers, it is part of the National Science Foundation’s National Nanotechnology Coordinated Infrastructure, a network that shares expertise and resources.
[caption id="attachment_37730" align="alignright" width="627"]
UW ECE MSEE student Katharine Lundblad, UW ECE undergraduate student Enrique Garcia, and WNF staff member Cameron Toskey follow the gowning process prior to entering the clean room to prevent particles from people or clothing from contaminating the wafers.[/caption]
Inside the WNF, which is the largest publicly accessible full-service cleanroom in the Pacific Northwest, researchers work in an ultra-clean environment. They wear full-body clean suits to prevent contamination. This protection isn’t necessarily for the workers but for the environment — the items being made are so small that a speck of dust, strand of hair or drop of sweat could ruin them. The air is 1,000 times cleaner than an operating room, and parts of the facility are bathed in yellow light to protect ultraviolet and blue light-sensitive materials.
Unlike many university nanofabrication labs, which were started by small academic research teams, the precursor to the WNF was founded by the Washington Technology Center as an incubator for companies working in nanotechnology R&D and prototyping. This early investment secured advanced tools from the start. In 2011, the UW took full ownership, and after a six-year, $37 million investment, transformed the WNF into a fully operational cleanroom with over 100 specialized processing and characterization tools.
Today it is critical for advancing semiconductor and quantum research.
A hub for semiconductor innovation
Semiconductor chips power everything from cars to smartphones. The WNF provides the expertise needed to design, build and test these chips, which contain millions of microscopic transistors controlling electricity flow. These components are so small they must be inspected at the nanoscale. Researchers use advanced techniques like photolithography and etching to carve precise patterns on silicon wafers, layering materials to form semiconductors.
[caption id="attachment_37735" align="aligncenter" width="1200"]
WNF staff member Darick Baker, along with UW ECE students Katharine Lundblad and Jared Yoder, look on as UW ECE undergraduate student Enrique Garcia follows an initial alignment step prior to photolithography exposure on the AB-M machine, where the wafer is exposed to UV light through a mask that transfers the pattern from the mask to the wafer. This alignment step is necessary to ensure that the mask is well aligned to the wafer for pattern transfer.[/caption]
Primarily a Micro-Electro-Mechanical Systems (MEMS) fabrication facility, the WNF enables the creation of microscopic devices that integrate mechanical and electrical components to sense, control and actuate on a micro scale — generating macro-scale effects. MEMS devices, including microsensors, microactuators and microelectronics, are fabricated using techniques similar to those used for integrated circuits. Car airbags rely on MEMS accelerometers, while smartphones use MEMS microphones and filters. In addition to MEMS, the WNF has recently begun fabricating chips and integrated circuits for photonics and trains students in critical semiconductor manufacturing skills — essential for expanding U.S. chip production.
“Remember the pandemic-era chip shortage that made buying a car or smart appliance difficult? If we manufacture more chips domestically, then we’ll be less reliant on importing them from other countries,” says WNF Director Maria Huffman. “Chips are critical not just for consumer goods but also for telecommunications — data transmission and processing, 5G networks and IoT connectivity — as well as national security, military systems and supply chain resilience.”
[caption id="attachment_37675" align="aligncenter" width="1049"]
Yellow lighting in parts of the facility protects light-sensitive materials, such as those used on the silicon wafer shown here.[/caption]
Enabling quantum research
Quantum technologies rely on nanoscale precision to explore and harness quantum phenomena. Quantum computers, for example, use qubits — basic units of quantum information — often built using superconducting materials. The WNF enables researchers to create some of these components with extreme accuracy, depositing ultra-thin layers of materials and fabricating structures at the atomic level.
Quantum systems depend on materials with special properties, such as superconductors — materials with zero electrical resistance — or 2D materials like graphene. Nanofabrication facilities allow researchers to customize the size, shape and composition of these materials. Quantum sensors also rely on nanofabrication for their development. They are used in applications such as ultra-precise timekeeping—including quantum clocks—and advanced navigation systems.
Collaboration on the nanoscale
[caption id="attachment_37737" align="alignleft" width="624"]
UW ECE undergraduate student Jared Yoder inspects the wafer during one of the alignment processes.[/caption]
Nanofabrication facilities like the WNF enable groundbreaking research, from next-generation semiconductors to quantum technology. But maintaining such a facility isn’t cheap — the WNF relies on grants, industry partnerships and user fees to stay at the cutting edge.
“Advancing tomorrow’s technologies isn’t possible with decades-old equipment,” says Huffman. “We need to be cutting edge to drive cutting-edge innovation.” Industry partners like Micron and Intel have contributed funding, Meta has donated equipment, and many others pay to use the facility for R&D and prototyping.
“Generally, companies aren’t resourced to build their own experimental spaces or disrupt or stop their production lines to try something new,” explains Darick Baker, the facility’s engineering and business development manager. “This is where the WNF can help.”
[caption id="attachment_37674" align="alignright" width="418"]
Advanced techniques like photolithography and etching create intricate patterns on silicon wafers like this one. A single 4- or 6-inch wafer can hold dozens of chips, depending on their size.[/caption]
Beyond industry use, the WNF is deeply invested in education. With support from Micron and Intel, it was one of the first in the Pacific Northwest to pilot introductory semiconductor short courses, which have since been replicated at other universities. This spring, the WNF is hosting hands-on classes where undergraduates — from UW engineering students to veterans in a Bellevue College technical training program — will build basic functional devices on silicon wafers.
“Industry needs people in many roles to be trained to work with nanomaterials — not just engineers and scientists but technicians, maintenance workers and more,” Baker says.
Whether advancing semiconductor research, unlocking quantum potential or training future innovators, collaboration is key. At the WNF, researchers, students and industry partners work side by side, tackling nanoscale challenges to shape the future in big ways.
Want to become a WNF user?
Discover more about the services, equipment and learning opportunities available to students, faculty and industry professionals.
Get involved!
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[post_content] => [caption id="attachment_37963" align="alignright" width="600"] Niveditha (Nivii) Kalavakonda (Ph.D. EE ‘25) and Devan Perkash (BSECE ‘25) will speak at this year’s Graduation Ceremony, which will take place in the Alaska Airlines Arena at Hec Edmundson Pavilion on Wednesday, June 11, from 7 to 9 p.m. Photo of Nivii Kalavakonda by Ryan Hoover / UW ECE[/caption]
The University of Washington Department of Electrical & Computer Engineering is proud to announce that in addition to UW ECE alumna Thy Tran (BSEE ‘93), two outstanding students have been selected to speak at our 2025 Graduation Ceremony. Niveditha (Nivii) Kalavakonda (Ph.D. EE ‘25) will offer remarks on behalf of graduate students, and Devan Perkash (BSECE ‘25) will represent undergraduates. Kalavakonda and Perkash were selected for this honor because of their academic achievements, extracurricular activities, and service to the Department. This year’s Graduation Ceremony will take place in the Alaska Airlines Arena at Hec Edmundson Pavilion on Wednesday, June 11, from 7 to 9 p.m. The event will be presided over by UW ECE Professor and Chair Eric Klavins.
“I am thrilled to have such fine examples of students from our graduating class to be speaking at this year’s Graduation Ceremony,” Klavins said. “Nivii exemplifies going above and beyond, not only in her research, but also in her service and leadership roles outside of the classroom. I also think that Devan’s entrepreneurial activity and enthusiasm for using technology to better people’s lives is a great example of our students’ potential to impact the world in a positive way.”
Learn more about both students below.
Graduate student speaker
Niveditha (Nivii) Kalavakonda
(Ph.D. EE ‘25)
[caption id="attachment_37969" align="alignright" width="400"] Niveditha (Nivii) Kalavakonda (Ph.D. EE '25)[/caption]
Nivii Kalavakonda is graduating with a doctoral degree in electrical engineering. Her research at UW ECE focused on developing an assistive robot for surgical suction that works cooperatively with a surgeon. She was advised by Professor Blake Hannaford and worked closely with Dr. Laligam Sekhar in UW Medicine. Kalavakonda was also part of the Science, Technology, and Society Studies program at the UW. She has held internships at Amazon, Apple, and NVIDIA.
Kalavakonda has received the Yang Outstanding Doctoral Student Award, the UW ECE Student Impact Award, and an Amazon Catalyst fellowship. She was selected to be part of the UW’s Husky 100, and she has been broadly recognized as part of the Robotics Science and Systems Pioneers and Electrical Engineering and Computer Science Rising Stars cohorts.
Kalavakonda was a predoctoral instructor for the ECE 543 Models of Robot Manipulation course. With the intention of supporting student wellness and success, Kalavakonda has also co-founded several initiatives at UW ECE, such as the Student Advisory Council; the Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion Committee; and the Future Faculty Preparation Program. After graduating, Kalavakonda will be seeking an academic position, where she hopes to continue working with students on robotics.
Undergraduate student speaker
Devan Perkash
(BSECE ‘25)
[caption id="attachment_37971" align="alignright" width="400"] Devan Perkash (BSECE '25)[/caption]
Devan Perkash is graduating with a bachelor’s degree in electrical and computer engineering. At the UW, he specialized in machine learning and computer architecture, gaining practical experience through coursework and internships. His senior capstone project, done in partnership with Amazon, focused on quantizing large language models to run efficiently on edge devices, such as smartphones and laptops, bringing advanced artificial intelligence closer to end-users.
Perkash strongly believes that technology’s primary value lies in solving practical, real-world challenges. This belief fuels his passion for technological entrepreneurship. He took an active leadership role at the UW, serving as president of the Lavin Entrepreneurship Program, where he led over a hundred student entrepreneurs and managed resources dedicated to fostering successful startups. He also co-founded the UW Venture Capital Club, aiming to democratize access to venture capital knowledge and networks through initiatives, such as hosting speaker series with top Seattle-based venture capitalists.
After graduation, Perkash plans to deepen his knowledge by pursuing a master’s degree in electrical engineering and computer science at the University of California, Berkeley. There, he aims to gain deeper technical knowledge and entrepreneurial experience, preparing him to create technology solutions that positively impact people’s lives.
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[post_content] => [caption id="attachment_37945" align="alignright" width="475"] UW ECE alumna Thy Tran (BSEE ‘93) will be honored guest speaker for the 2025 UW ECE Graduation Ceremony, which will take place in the Alaska Airlines Arena at Hec Edmundson Pavilion on Wednesday, June 11, from 7 to 9 p.m. Tran is Vice President of Global Frontend Procurement at Micron Technology.[/caption]
The University of Washington Department of Electrical & Computer Engineering is proud to welcome UW ECE alumna Thy Tran (BSEE ‘93) as honored guest speaker for our 2025 Graduation Ceremony. Tran is Vice President of Global Frontend Procurement at Micron Technology, a worldwide leader in the semiconductor industry that specializes in computer memory and storage solutions. She recently transitioned from her prior role as vice president of DRAM Process Integration, where she led a global team in the United States and Asia to drive DRAM (dynamic random-access memory) technology development and transfer into high-volume manufacturing fabrication facilities. Tran has over 30 years of semiconductor experience working in the United States, Europe, and Asia, including leading roles at two semiconductor fabrication facility startups. This year’s Graduation Ceremony will take place in the Alaska Airlines Arena at Hec Edmundson Pavilion on Wednesday, June 11, from 7 to 9 p.m. The event will be presided over by UW ECE Professor and Chair Eric Klavins.
“We are looking forward to having Thy as our honored guest speaker at Graduation this year,” Klavins said. “She has had a long and successful career in the semiconductor industry and is an international leader in her field. She understands the value of resilience and persistence first-hand, and I know there is much she can share with our graduates at this event.”
Tran joined Micron in 2008 and led several DRAM module development programs, including advanced capacitor, metallization, and through-silicon-via, or TSV, integration before taking on the DRAM Process Integration leadership role for several product generations. Her technical contribution has been integral to Micron’s DRAM Technology Development Roadmap and played a significant role in helping Micron achieve DRAM technology leadership. Prior to Micron, Tran worked on logic and SRAM (static random-access memory) technologies at Motorola and SRAM at WaferTech, now known as TSMC Washington. She also worked at Siemens (which later spun off Infineon and Qimonda), where she held several leadership roles in DRAM technology development transfer, and manufacturing.
In addition to receiving her bachelor’s degree from UW ECE, Tran is a recent alumna of the Stanford Graduate School of Business’s Executive Program and the McKinsey Executive Leadership Program. She is a senior member of the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers, known as IEEE, and a member of the Society of Women Engineers. She also serves as a strategic advisory board member for UW ECE as well as for the International Semiconductor Executive Summit and Mercado Global. She is a recipient of Global Semiconductor Alliance’s 2023 Rising Women of Influence award.
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[post_content] => Adapted from an article by Danielle Holland, UW Undergraduate Academic Affairs / Photos by Jayden Becles, University of Washington
[caption id="attachment_37906" align="alignright" width="600"] UW ECE undergraduate Mary Bun studies multitasking in fruit flies to offer valuable insights into disorders like Parkinson’s disease. Her work is inspired by neural engineering research led by UW ECE Professor Chet Moritz, who holds joint appointments in UW Medicine.[/caption]
Mary Bun selects a three-day-old Drosophila fruit fly from the incubator and moves to her custom-built behavioral rig. She places the fly in a circular arena beneath a hidden camera and pulls the cloth curtain shut.
The rig’s design is both elegant and practical, featuring a black box, a top-down camera for video capture and a custom computer program Bun coded to control the experiment. With the lights off in the Ahmed Lab, the black box blocks any external light. Bred for this experiment, the fly’s neurons are activated by light, and even the slightest outside interference could skew the results. With a click, a red light triggers the neurons, causing the fly’s wings to extend. The camera captures the motion, measuring each subtle angle as the wings vibrate and contract.
Seated at her workstation, Bun watches the footage stream on her computer, her software controlling both the camera and the light stimulation. The rig’s sleek design, a product of her engineering expertise, reflects her dedication. “Every part of this setup has a purpose,” she says, her eyes fixed on the fly’s delicate movements. “This is a platform for discovery. There’s so much more to uncover.”
[caption id="attachment_37911" align="alignleft" width="400"] A test tube containing one of the fruit flies Mary Bun studies in the Ahmed Lab[/caption]
Mary Bun’s fascination with how things work began long before middle school. Driven by a natural curiosity for problem-solving, she knew early on that, like her brothers, she would apply to the Transition School at the University of Washington’s Robinson Center, the Center’s one-year college preparatory program for high-achieving students.
“I wanted a challenge,” Bun recalls. “The traditional high school experience didn’t feel like it would push me enough. I needed something more.” The Transition School provided an immersive environment with advanced coursework, allowing her to transition early to the UW. “I could move quickly and start thinking about research much earlier.”
Bun’s time wasn’t just academic — it helped her find a community of other highly motivated peers. “Fifteen is such a critical period in your life,” she says. As she began her college journey, “the world had been turned upside down” with the coronavirus pandemic. During the pandemic, Bun found support in her cohort, navigating the challenges of remote learning and isolation together. “The Transition School gave me the tools to succeed, but it was the people who made it meaningful.”
A spark for neural engineering
[caption id="attachment_37916" align="alignright" width="600"] Bun works on the rig she built for her research, left, and, right, the rig is ready to roll. She uses optogenetics (a technique that uses light to activate specific neurons) to study how fruit flies perform tasks like walking and vibrating their wings at the same time.[/caption]
In an Engineering 101 course, Bun was captivated by UW ECE Professor Chet Moritz’s work on neural stimulation devices for spinal cord injury rehabilitation. “I found it fascinating that we could externally influence the nervous system to help people,” she says.
Driven by this newfound passion, Bun pursued a double degree in electrical engineering and psychology. As a junior, she took on her first research opportunity in the lab of Dr. Sama Ahmed, where she applied her academic knowledge alongside her practical engineering skills.
“My first two years were about finding my footing,” she recalls. “But once I joined the lab, everything clicked. I realized how much I loved the process of discovery — asking questions, designing experiments and seeing results come to life.”
Bun’s research in the Ahmed Lab centers on an important question: How do neural circuits manage multitasking? Using optogenetics — a technique that uses light to activate specific neurons — she studies how fruit flies perform tasks like walking and vibrating their wings at the same time.
“Despite its simplicity, the fruit fly can perform surprisingly complex behaviors,” Bun explains. “By understanding how the fly brain processes multiple tasks, we can start to uncover fundamental principles about how more complex brains, like ours, might work.
Designing pathways
[caption id="attachment_37920" align="alignright" width="400"] Bun reviews the movement she captured with her self-made rig. She studies multitasking in fruit flies to learn more about complex movement in people.[/caption]
Under Dr. Ahmed’s guidance, Bun began constructing her behavior rig, a device she designed and built from scratch to observe and analyze fly behavior. The rig integrates hardware and software to capture high-speed video of flies responding to light stimulation, enabling Bun to measure precise movements, like wing extension and walking patterns. “Building the rig was one of the most rewarding parts of my research,” she says. “It allowed me to apply my engineering skills and coursework to solve a real scientific problem.”
Bun’s work challenges the traditional approach of studying behaviors in isolation. “Most research looks at one behavior at a time,” she says. “But in the real world, animals — and humans — are constantly juggling multiple tasks within different states and environments. I wanted to explore how the brain handles that.”
Through the Office of Undergraduate Research, Bun received support in identifying funding opportunities for her innovative research. With their assistance, she applied for and was awarded the Mary Gates Research Scholarship in 2023 and the 2024-25 Levinson Emerging Scholars Award. This prestigious award supports students conducting creative research projects in biosciences under the guidance of UW faculty and recognizes scholars who demonstrate exceptional motivation and independence in their research. Bun is also a 2024-25 recipient of the Stephanie Subak Endowed Memorial Scholarship from the Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering.
Far-reaching impact
[caption id="attachment_37923" align="alignright" width="400"] Bun, in the red light of the rig she made to study multitasking in fruit flies.[/caption]
Bun’s research, which explores how the brain prioritizes and processes information during multitasking, has significant implications. By understanding how the brain seamlessly combines some behaviors, her work could offer valuable insights into disorders like Parkinson’s, which affect cognitive function, potentially paving the way for new treatment approaches.
Bun will present her research as a Levinson Scholar at the Office of Undergraduate Research’s 28th Annual Undergraduate Research Symposium. Her time with the Office of Undergraduate Research and in the Ahmed Lab has been transformative, fueling both her research and growth as a scientist.
“Dr. Ahmed gave me the freedom to take full ownership of my project,” Bun said. In the Ahmed Lab’s collaborative, non-hierarchical environment, undergraduates are treated as integral members of the team, and Bun has thrived in this setting. She designed the behavior rig from the ground up, conducted her own experiments and even began writing a paper on the methods the lab developed.
Building on this experience, Bun plans to pursue a Ph.D. to study neural engineering after graduation.
“Research has taught me to embrace challenges and think creatively,” she says. “It’s not just about finding answers — it’s about asking the right questions and pushing the boundaries of what we know.”
Learn more about biosystems research at UW ECE on the Biosystems webpage. The original version of this article is available on the UW Undergraduate Academic Affairs website.
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[post_content] => Article by Kathryn M. O’Neill / MIT Technology Review; Photos by Ryan Hoover / UW ECE News
[caption id="attachment_37856" align="alignright" width="466"] UW ECE assistant professor Yiyue Luo[/caption]
Physical tasks such as hitting a ball or drawing blood are difficult to learn simply by listening to instructions or reading descriptions. That’s one reason UW ECE assistant professor Yiyue Luo is developing clothing that can sense where a person is, know what movement is needed to perform a task, and provide physical cues to guide performance.
“In a conventional learning scenario—say, learning tennis—the coach would hold your hand and let you feel how to grasp the racket. This physical interaction is very important,” says Luo. “What we have been doing is to capture, model, and augment such physical interaction.”
Luo, who was named to the 2024 Forbes list of 30 innovators under 30, has already developed a posture-sensing carpet and a smart glove that can capture and relay touch-based instructions. Her goal is to gather information on how experts perform physical tasks and create wearables that can help people move the same way—by providing a nudge, for example.
[caption id="attachment_37996" align="alignnone" width="1024"] Luo demonstrates a digitally machine-knitted assistive glove, designed to support hand movement.[/caption]
Raised in Guangzhou, China, Luo earned her bachelor’s degree in materials science and engineering from the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign, where she was introduced to the field of bioelectronics by one of its pioneers, Professor John A. Rogers. She then switched to electrical engineering for graduate school, earning her PhD at MIT with a dissertation on smart textiles—those with sensors, actuation capabilities, and the means to capture data. She now foresees developing smart textiles equipped with information about how to move—something like ChatGPT but for physical information. Gathering data about movement is the vital first step.
“I think patients and people in the health-care domain can potentially get huge benefits.” — UW ECE assistant professor Yiyue Luo
[caption id="attachment_38024" align="alignnone" width="1187"] (Top left): samples from the UW ECE Wearable Intelligence Lab, showcasing digitally-knitted fabrics integrated with both customized and commercial fibers for multimodal sensing and actuation; (top right): a digital design program used for generating the knitting pattern; (bottom left): close-up of the knitting machine's individually actuated needles, which enable complex yarn manipulation via the yarn carrier; (bottom right): a knitted sleeve featuring integrated conductive electrodes for multimodal sensing. The sleeve can be worn like a conventional garment, offering a soft, conformal fit.[/caption]
ChatGPT can answer text-based inquiries because it has been trained on enormous caches of text-based data—all initially captured through such technologies as a keyboard and mouse, Luo explains. But, she says, “for a lot of physical information [for example, the pressure, speed, and orientation of an action], such input-output interfaces are still missing.”
Those interfaces are what Luo is working to develop, with an eye toward advancing robotics and improving human-robot interactions. Her hope is that the work will one day improve health care—by guiding patients through physical therapy exercises, perhaps, or by sensing and changing the position of an immobile patient to prevent bedsores.
“I think patients and people in the health-care domain can potentially get huge benefits,” she says.
[caption id="attachment_37998" align="alignnone" width="1024"] The industrial-scale Shima Seiki digital knitting machine at the Digital Fabrication Lab at UW, capable of combining standard and conductive yarns.[/caption]
Reprinted with permission of Slice of MIT.
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[post_content] => Step inside the Washington Nanofabrication Facility, where tiny tech is transforming research in quantum, chips, medicine and more.
Story by Chelsea Yates, UW College of Engineering | Photos by Mark Stone, University of Washington
[caption id="attachment_37673" align="aligncenter" width="1124"] Researchers wear full-body clean suits in the WNF to prevent contamination. The air in this environment is 1,000 times cleaner than in an operating room.[/caption]
Imagine a high-tech workshop where scientists and engineers craft objects so small they can’t be seen with the naked eye — or even a standard microscope. These tiny structures — nanostructures — are thousands of times smaller than a strand of hair. And they are essential for faster computers, better smartphones and life-saving medical devices.
Nanostructures are at the core of the research happening every day in the Washington Nanofabrication Facility (WNF). Part of the Institute for Nano-Engineered Systems at the UW and located in Fluke Hall, the WNF supports cutting-edge academic and industry research, prototyping and hands-on student training. Like many leading nanofabrication centers, it is part of the National Science Foundation’s National Nanotechnology Coordinated Infrastructure, a network that shares expertise and resources.
[caption id="attachment_37730" align="alignright" width="627"] UW ECE MSEE student Katharine Lundblad, UW ECE undergraduate student Enrique Garcia, and WNF staff member Cameron Toskey follow the gowning process prior to entering the clean room to prevent particles from people or clothing from contaminating the wafers.[/caption]
Inside the WNF, which is the largest publicly accessible full-service cleanroom in the Pacific Northwest, researchers work in an ultra-clean environment. They wear full-body clean suits to prevent contamination. This protection isn’t necessarily for the workers but for the environment — the items being made are so small that a speck of dust, strand of hair or drop of sweat could ruin them. The air is 1,000 times cleaner than an operating room, and parts of the facility are bathed in yellow light to protect ultraviolet and blue light-sensitive materials.
Unlike many university nanofabrication labs, which were started by small academic research teams, the precursor to the WNF was founded by the Washington Technology Center as an incubator for companies working in nanotechnology R&D and prototyping. This early investment secured advanced tools from the start. In 2011, the UW took full ownership, and after a six-year, $37 million investment, transformed the WNF into a fully operational cleanroom with over 100 specialized processing and characterization tools.
Today it is critical for advancing semiconductor and quantum research.
A hub for semiconductor innovation
Semiconductor chips power everything from cars to smartphones. The WNF provides the expertise needed to design, build and test these chips, which contain millions of microscopic transistors controlling electricity flow. These components are so small they must be inspected at the nanoscale. Researchers use advanced techniques like photolithography and etching to carve precise patterns on silicon wafers, layering materials to form semiconductors.
[caption id="attachment_37735" align="aligncenter" width="1200"] WNF staff member Darick Baker, along with UW ECE students Katharine Lundblad and Jared Yoder, look on as UW ECE undergraduate student Enrique Garcia follows an initial alignment step prior to photolithography exposure on the AB-M machine, where the wafer is exposed to UV light through a mask that transfers the pattern from the mask to the wafer. This alignment step is necessary to ensure that the mask is well aligned to the wafer for pattern transfer.[/caption]
Primarily a Micro-Electro-Mechanical Systems (MEMS) fabrication facility, the WNF enables the creation of microscopic devices that integrate mechanical and electrical components to sense, control and actuate on a micro scale — generating macro-scale effects. MEMS devices, including microsensors, microactuators and microelectronics, are fabricated using techniques similar to those used for integrated circuits. Car airbags rely on MEMS accelerometers, while smartphones use MEMS microphones and filters. In addition to MEMS, the WNF has recently begun fabricating chips and integrated circuits for photonics and trains students in critical semiconductor manufacturing skills — essential for expanding U.S. chip production.
“Remember the pandemic-era chip shortage that made buying a car or smart appliance difficult? If we manufacture more chips domestically, then we’ll be less reliant on importing them from other countries,” says WNF Director Maria Huffman. “Chips are critical not just for consumer goods but also for telecommunications — data transmission and processing, 5G networks and IoT connectivity — as well as national security, military systems and supply chain resilience.”
[caption id="attachment_37675" align="aligncenter" width="1049"] Yellow lighting in parts of the facility protects light-sensitive materials, such as those used on the silicon wafer shown here.[/caption]
Enabling quantum research
Quantum technologies rely on nanoscale precision to explore and harness quantum phenomena. Quantum computers, for example, use qubits — basic units of quantum information — often built using superconducting materials. The WNF enables researchers to create some of these components with extreme accuracy, depositing ultra-thin layers of materials and fabricating structures at the atomic level.
Quantum systems depend on materials with special properties, such as superconductors — materials with zero electrical resistance — or 2D materials like graphene. Nanofabrication facilities allow researchers to customize the size, shape and composition of these materials. Quantum sensors also rely on nanofabrication for their development. They are used in applications such as ultra-precise timekeeping—including quantum clocks—and advanced navigation systems.
Collaboration on the nanoscale
[caption id="attachment_37737" align="alignleft" width="624"] UW ECE undergraduate student Jared Yoder inspects the wafer during one of the alignment processes.[/caption]
Nanofabrication facilities like the WNF enable groundbreaking research, from next-generation semiconductors to quantum technology. But maintaining such a facility isn’t cheap — the WNF relies on grants, industry partnerships and user fees to stay at the cutting edge.
“Advancing tomorrow’s technologies isn’t possible with decades-old equipment,” says Huffman. “We need to be cutting edge to drive cutting-edge innovation.” Industry partners like Micron and Intel have contributed funding, Meta has donated equipment, and many others pay to use the facility for R&D and prototyping.
“Generally, companies aren’t resourced to build their own experimental spaces or disrupt or stop their production lines to try something new,” explains Darick Baker, the facility’s engineering and business development manager. “This is where the WNF can help.”
[caption id="attachment_37674" align="alignright" width="418"] Advanced techniques like photolithography and etching create intricate patterns on silicon wafers like this one. A single 4- or 6-inch wafer can hold dozens of chips, depending on their size.[/caption]
Beyond industry use, the WNF is deeply invested in education. With support from Micron and Intel, it was one of the first in the Pacific Northwest to pilot introductory semiconductor short courses, which have since been replicated at other universities. This spring, the WNF is hosting hands-on classes where undergraduates — from UW engineering students to veterans in a Bellevue College technical training program — will build basic functional devices on silicon wafers.
“Industry needs people in many roles to be trained to work with nanomaterials — not just engineers and scientists but technicians, maintenance workers and more,” Baker says.
Whether advancing semiconductor research, unlocking quantum potential or training future innovators, collaboration is key. At the WNF, researchers, students and industry partners work side by side, tackling nanoscale challenges to shape the future in big ways.
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