Collaboration among mission-driven scientists from multiple disciplines and perspectives is a way of life in the University of Washington research community and a recognition that the greatest challenges our world faces are bigger than any single lab or institute can solve alone.
In that spirit, more than 60 faculty and trainees from two of the largest multidisciplinary research institutes at the UW recently gathered in Foege Hall for the inaugural ISCRM – MolES Scientific Exchange – a meeting of the minds between the Institute for Stem Cell and Regenerative Medicine and the Molecular Engineering and Sciences Institute.
Looking beyond incremental innovations in energy storage technology, Jie Xiao wants to catalyze a robust domestic battery industry — from mining to manufacturing.
Build a better mousetrap, the old saying goes, and the world will beat a path to your door.
Build a better battery… and the multitudes should arrive in an endless stream of autonomous electric vehicles.
Only, it’s not that simple with energy storage.
Most battery innovations begin in academic environments that are designed for discovery rather than the cost, time and scale pressures of industry.
The University of Washington Department of Electrical & Computer Engineering (UW ECE) congratulates Professor Lih-Yuan Lin, who has been elected into the National Academy of Inventors (NAI) 2025 Class of Fellows. This distinction recognizes her outstanding work and lasting impact in nanotechnology, photonics, and optoelectronics — fields that are shaping the future of technology. Lin is one of only 10 UW faculty members to ever receive this honor. She will be formally inducted as an NAI Fellow and presented with a medal by a senior official of the United States Patent and Trademark Office at the NAI 15th Annual Conference on June 4, 2026, in Los Angeles, California.
In his new book, “How the World Flows,” Albert Folch explores the miniature liquid networks that power natural phenomena, essential innovations and advanced biomedical devices.
Rainbows and rubber trees. Aquifers and fountain pens. Gauze pads and glucose strips. Candle wicks and carburetors. Pregnancy tests and 3D printers. Dialysis machines and DNA sequencers.
What’s the common denominator?
Each is enabled by microfluidics, miniature networks of liquids whose stable properties, at tiny scale, are essential to powering the natural world — and much of the manufactured world, too.
And each is explored in Albert Folch’s new book, “How the World Flows,” which invites readers to peer through the microscope into what he calls the “Lilliputian world of fluids at small scales.”
3rd year graduate student Jane Keth holding a piece of silicon wafer in front of the Bergsman Lab high-throughput molecular layer deposition reactor. (David Bergsman / University of Washington)
November 19, 2025
Semiconductor devices are a critical component of the many electronics that power our daily lives. The technological innovations that have driven their widespread success have relied on manufacturing smaller and smaller integrated circuits to build more powerful devices. The next generation of integrated circuit development will require features smaller than 10 nanometers, something that is not currently possible in today’s commercial manufacturing landscape. Read More
November 5, 2025 | Nano-Engineered Systems Institute
“Foam in Bloom”, by UW mechanical engineering graduate students Santhosh Sridhar (Microcellular Plastics Lab ), Ankush Nandi (Vashisth Research Lab ), and Shaunak Deshpande (Meza Research Group ) was named the Most Stunning image in the 2025 Plenty of Beauty at the Bottom image contest hosted by the National Nanotechnology Coordinated Infrastructure (NNCI). Sites from across the NNCI contributed stunning, unique, and whimsical images of the micro and nanoscale for the 2025 image contest. Read More
UW Chemical Engineering graduate student Joelle Scott, from the Bergsman Research Group, is working toward a more sustainable and equitable future through advanced materials research, testing new methods to remove toxic forever chemicals and other contaminants from wastewater.
Sept. 5 2023
Cholpisit “Ice” Kiattisewee
The Molecular Engineering Ph.D. program saw its largest graduating class in the 2022-2023 academic year, with 20 students successfully defending their theses. These graduates represent four cohorts and interdisciplinary research across 13 different departments and organizations. The newest alums were recognized in a graduation celebration on June 1.
During the ceremony, Cholpisit “Ice” Kiattisewee was awarded the Distinguished Dissertation Award for his publication, “Expanding the scope of bacterial CRSIPR activation with PAM-Flexible dCas9 variants.” His work was chosen by a review committee of faculty and staff in the Molecular Engineering and Sciences Institute. Read More
March 9, 2023
An interdisciplinary research team led by University of Washington Chemistry Professor Alshakim Nelson received $2 million in funding from the National Science Foundation's Emerging Frontiers in Research and Innovation (EFRI) program. The funding will be used to combine engineered microorganisms with 3D printing to create materials for sustainable built environments. This grant will provide funding to researchers at UW, the University of Texas at Austin, and University of California Davis over four years.
"Engineered living systems for construction and other building materials have the potential to afford a level of durability and sustainability that cannot be achieved with our traditional materials," said Nelson. Read More
The Molecular Engineering & Sciences Institute annual report for the 2019-20 academic year is now available. Learn about the work being done at MolES and the MAF by our faculty, students, and staff! The report features a snapshot of our institute, research highlights, faculty awards, our work to address racism in STEM, graduating students, and letters from the MolES and MAF directors.
Read the full report here . Read More