[Updated 3:30 pm, 4/23/10. See below] Zoran Popovic, a computer scientist at the University of Washington, is constructing 3-D virtual recreations of real life. First step, the UW campus; next, the whole world. Building on a previous program called Photo Tourism that pieces together photos culled from Flickr into virtual 3-D models, PhotoCity is a … Continue reading “Creating a Virtual 3-D World: Inside PhotoCity from UW and Cornell”
Author: Rachel Tompa
UW Startup Nanocel Seeks Funding and Partners, Wants to Make Computers Cooler
Last May, the Seattle startup Nanocel won the University of Washington’s yearly business plan competition. Now the company—founded by UW mechanical engineering Ph.D. student Dustin Miller and recent UW MBA grad Daniel Rossi—is gearing up for a big year in 2010. Their planned first products, affordable fluid-based cooling systems for computer chips, will fill a … Continue reading “UW Startup Nanocel Seeks Funding and Partners, Wants to Make Computers Cooler”
UW’s Tadayoshi Kohno on Computer Security and How to Think Like the Bad Guy
Tadayoshi Kohno spends his career looking at life through the eyes of a criminal, and he’s teaching University of Washington students to do the same. The UW computer science and engineering assistant professor studies computer security and privacy, which to Kohno means anticipating the bad guy’s moves before he does. I chatted with him recently … Continue reading “UW’s Tadayoshi Kohno on Computer Security and How to Think Like the Bad Guy”
Lilipip, With Recent Focus on Animated Ads, Looks to Keep Growing Without Venture Capital
From architecture to kids’ videos to online animated ads, Ksenia Oustiougova’s path to founder of Seattle online ad company Lilipip has been unusual. To start, the company was funded not by investors, but on credit cards. The good news: after shutting down the kids’ video version of Lilipip and retooling to its current incarnation, Oustiougova … Continue reading “Lilipip, With Recent Focus on Animated Ads, Looks to Keep Growing Without Venture Capital”
Technologies for the Blind and Deaf Could Have Much Broader Impact, Says UW’s Richard Ladner
Think about the technological tools you use most often. For many of us, cell phones and computers rank high up on that list. But these devices are designed with the hearing and sighted in mind, and are constantly evolving, so there are numerous hurdles to clear to make a phone or a computer usable to … Continue reading “Technologies for the Blind and Deaf Could Have Much Broader Impact, Says UW’s Richard Ladner”
With Cash from Siemens and ArcelorMittal, Powerit Looks to Expand, Tap the Smart Grid
In the world of cleantech, there’s a lot of focus on alternative energy sources and power generation. But for Seattle’s Powerit Solutions, the name of the game is energy efficiency. Powerit is the North American division of the company, which also has a European division in Sweden (where the company started). It is a leader … Continue reading “With Cash from Siemens and ArcelorMittal, Powerit Looks to Expand, Tap the Smart Grid”
Zoodango Relaunches as GeoPage
Seattle-based Zoodango, a social site that combines map-based navigation and ratings of local businesses, relaunched nationwide today as GeoPage, according to a company announcement. The retooled site features new data on businesses around the U.S., resulting from a partnership with Citysearch. GeoPage uses an algorithm based on Citysearch and Yelp reviews, Zagat ratings, user reviews, … Continue reading “Zoodango Relaunches as GeoPage”
Thoughts on Bing and Search Engines of the Future, From UW Computer Scientist Dan Weld
Dan Weld spends a lot of time thinking about the Web and how to get the best information out of it. Weld is a professor of computer science and engineering at the University of Washington and a serial entrepreneur, having co-founded Netbot, AdRelevance, and Nimble Technology. He is also a venture partner with Seattle-based Madrona … Continue reading “Thoughts on Bing and Search Engines of the Future, From UW Computer Scientist Dan Weld”
Clarian Technologies Aims to Take Financial Sting Out of Wind Power with Jellyfish Turbine
[Updated with comments from Kelly Jo MacArthur on page 2] In recent years, we have seen an explosion of alternative energy devices, yet most of these technologies remain out of the reach of the average homeowner. To outfit your roof with solar panels, you’d probably be out $10,000 to $20,000 as an initial investment. Clarian … Continue reading “Clarian Technologies Aims to Take Financial Sting Out of Wind Power with Jellyfish Turbine”
Hydrovolts Hopes to Flip Open Door to Hydropower with Novel Underwater Turbine
Burt Hamner, founder and CEO of the tiny Seattle startup Hydrovolts, has an idea he hopes will revolutionize the hydropower industry. His invention, the “flip wing” turbine, is still in development. It is a simple and cheap spin on the paddle wheel, but comes with a twist that boosts its power production. The turbine is … Continue reading “Hydrovolts Hopes to Flip Open Door to Hydropower with Novel Underwater Turbine”
Seattle and the Developing World: Bill Gates, UW Profs Speak at Global Tech Conference in Qatar
Seattle has become a major global health hub over the last decade, thanks in no small part to having the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, one of the world leaders in funding for global health research, in our own backyard. Now, an emerging and related discipline is also finding an increasing number of connections here—global … Continue reading “Seattle and the Developing World: Bill Gates, UW Profs Speak at Global Tech Conference in Qatar”
UW’s Connie Bourassa-Shaw on the Genetics of Entrepreneurs, and Why Seattle Is Startup Mecca
Connie Bourassa-Shaw has been the director of the University of Washington’s Center for Innovation and Entrepreneurship (CIE) in the Foster School of Business for just three years. But her ties to the UW go back to 1987, when she was a writer for the UW economic and business magazine, Pacific Northwest Executive. She has played … Continue reading “UW’s Connie Bourassa-Shaw on the Genetics of Entrepreneurs, and Why Seattle Is Startup Mecca”
Optimum Energy Wants Buildings to Use More Software, Waste Less Power
If you work in a commercial building, you’re probably familiar with the vagaries of large-scale heating and cooling systems. Hear that whir click on and cold air suddenly gusting through the vents? That’s the sound of your building hemorrhaging money and energy. Seattle cleantech software company Optimum Energy wants to stanch the energy drain of … Continue reading “Optimum Energy Wants Buildings to Use More Software, Waste Less Power”
UW Computer Scientist Oren Etzioni on Startups, Venture Capital, and the Future of Web Search
Oren Etzioni, a computer science and engineering professor at the University of Washington, has certainly ventured out of the ivory tower since he first came to Seattle 18 years ago. The Israel-born computer scientist founded three startup companies out of UW: Netbot, a comparison shopping agent acquired by Excite in 1997, Clearforest, a text-miner acquired … Continue reading “UW Computer Scientist Oren Etzioni on Startups, Venture Capital, and the Future of Web Search”
UW Startup, Soluxra, to Form Around Organic Solar Cell Technology
A new startup company is in the works at the University of Washington, based on inexpensive, portable solar cells that could go far beyond the standard rooftop model. Conventional solar cells are made from expensive silicon, but the UW group, led by materials science and engineering professor Alex Jen, has come up with a way … Continue reading “UW Startup, Soluxra, to Form Around Organic Solar Cell Technology”
UW Starts Program to Train Faculty in the Art of Startups
The University of Washington’s TechTransfer department has launched a new program over the last four months that brings local entrepreneurs into the university to help academic researchers in the early stages of starting a company. This program, which is part of UW’s startup-support service, LaunchPad, matches volunteer entrepreneurs with faculty and other researchers interested in … Continue reading “UW Starts Program to Train Faculty in the Art of Startups”
Verdiem, Cisco Pair Up to Save Power
Cisco Systems announced today the release of software developed in partnership with Seattle-based Verdiem to automatically save energy in idling computers, phones, networked devices, and eventually, whole buildings. The first version of the product will be available in February as a free upgrade to Cisco’s network switch, to manage energy usage of IP devices. Next … Continue reading “Verdiem, Cisco Pair Up to Save Power”
Micronics to Roll Out Pocket-Sized Malaria, E. coli Tests This Year
Micronics has been around since 1996, so it hardly qualifies as a startup anymore. But the Redmond, WA-based biotech company has been moving in new directions over the last few years, and is now getting ready to bring its first diagnostic tests to the market. The 28-person company has been in the microfluidics business—the design … Continue reading “Micronics to Roll Out Pocket-Sized Malaria, E. coli Tests This Year”
Theo Chocolate Teams Up with UW to Sniff Out the Perfect Bean
Theo Chocolate, Inc. wants to unlock the cocoa bean’s secrets. Together with chemists at the University of Washington, Theo’s chief operating officer and food scientist Andy McShea is using “electronic nose” lab techniques to identify the best organic bean he can find. I met with McShea in the Seattle chocolate company’s office, which overlooks the … Continue reading “Theo Chocolate Teams Up with UW to Sniff Out the Perfect Bean”
How to Stand Out in the Mobile Apps Market: The Zumobi Plan
In a market glutted with free cell phone applications, and as advertising budgets dive along with the rest of the economy, what’s a mobile-media company to do? Seattle’s Zumobi has a few tricks up its sleeve. Namely, don’t charge your sponsors anything upfront, and find innovative ways to drive users of one of your applications … Continue reading “How to Stand Out in the Mobile Apps Market: The Zumobi Plan”
Zoodango Relaunches, Ditching Social Networking for Location-Based Meeting Up
For James Sun, runner-up on season six of The Apprentice and CEO of Seattle-based Zoodango, it’s all about getting people together. And he wants to help them find meeting spots. Yesterday, he announced the launch of the re-tooled Zoodango, once a social-networking site and now a map-based service where users use a “geo-search engine” to … Continue reading “Zoodango Relaunches, Ditching Social Networking for Location-Based Meeting Up”
ZeaChem Raises $34M for Oregon Biorefinery
ZeaChem, a Colorado-based clean fuel company, announced that they have raised $34 million from investors, led by Globespan Capital Partners and PrairieGold Venture Partners, to fund a green fuels refinery plant in Oregon. The company is developing technology to convert inedible plant matter into ethanol. ZeaChem announced last year that the plant will be built … Continue reading “ZeaChem Raises $34M for Oregon Biorefinery”
Clean Power Research Looks to Tap Seattle Software Developers for Solar Projects
On a grey winter day, it might not seem like Seattle has much to contribute to the solar power industry. But cleantech and IT are converging in the Northwest these days. And what we lack in sunshine we make up for in software developers, according to Jeff Ressler, head of the software division of Clean … Continue reading “Clean Power Research Looks to Tap Seattle Software Developers for Solar Projects”