A distinguished career, marked by contributions to machine learning research and education
On July 5, 2025, UW ECE Professor Les Atlas officially retired and was appointed professor emeritus. Atlas has been a UW ECE professor for 41 years, making important contributions to the Department while producing groundbreaking research in machine learning and digital signal processing.
Fighting fire before it sparks
Voltair, a startup co-founded by UW ECE alums Ronan Nopp (BSECE ’25) and Hayden Gosch (BSECE ’25) is innovating drone technology to prevent wildfires from igniting along rural power lines.
Jungwon Choi — engineering power conversion systems for emerging technologies
UW ECE Assistant Professor Jungwon Choi is engineering high-frequency power converters for advanced and emerging technologies, such as electric vehicles, artificial intelligence, robotics, biomedical devices, and renewable energy systems.
Hossein Naghavi — developing high frequency electronics for imaging, sensing, and communication
UW ECE Assistant Professor Hossein Naghavi directs the Terahertz Integrated MicroElectronics Lab at the UW, where he designs microchips that use high frequency terahertz electronics built using integrated circuit design and electromagnetics techniques.
Bingzhao Li receives Activate Fellowship to commercialize compact, affordable LiDAR technology
UW ECE alumnus Bingzhao Li (Ph.D. ‘22) has received an Activate Fellowship to commercialize compact, affordable LiDAR technology he helped to develop in the UW Laboratory of Photonic Systems, which is directed by UW ECE and Physics Professor Mo Li.
Professor Kai-Mei Fu elected to the Washington State Academy of Sciences
UW ECE and Physics Professor Kai-Mei Fu has been elected to the Washington State Academy of Sciences. Fu received this honor for contributions to fundamental and applied research on the optical and spin properties of quantum point defects in crystals, and for quantum community leadership.
