UPDATE Aug. 20, 2026: This story has been updated to include a faculty member who was originally omitted.聽

Twelve faculty members at the 天美影视传媒 have been elected to the Washington State Academy of Sciences. They are among 30 scientists and educators from across the state July 16 as new members. Election recognizes the new member鈥檚 鈥渙utstanding record of scientific and technical achievement and willingness to assist the Academy in providing the best available scientific information and technical understanding to inform complex policy decisions in Washington.鈥�

New WSAS members are selected by current members or by their election to national science academies. All 11 UW faculty members were voted on by current WSAS members:聽

, chair and PACCAR Endowed Professor of mechanical engineering and adjunct professor of neurological surgery and of aeronautics and astronautics, for 鈥渟ignificant contributions to scientific understanding of multiphase and biomedical flows, including the role of fluid mechanics on arterial disease, heart failure, biomedical devices, and surgical planning for respiratory disease, through work combining rigorous experimentation and analysis that has influenced both engineering and clinical practice.鈥�

, professor of materials science and engineering, for 鈥減ioneering research on structure鈥損rocessing鈥損roperty relationships and the aging of hard tissues that has shaped modern oral health science, and for influential contributions to advanced manufacturing, biomechanics, and bioinspired materials 鈥� coupled with exemplary educational leadership 鈥� that have made a lasting impact across disciplines and the STEM community.鈥�

, professor of health economics and Stergachis Family Endowed Director of The CHOICE Institute, for 鈥減ioneering health economic methods 鈥� including causal estimation of personalized treatment effects, cost-effectiveness frameworks, and value-of-information analysis 鈥� that have shaped national drug pricing policies, international discussions on the economics of innovation, and the scientific foundations of the economics of precision medicine.鈥�

, affiliate professor of health services and biostatistics and professor in the Public Health Sciences Division at the Fred Hutchinson Cancer Center, for 鈥減ioneering statistical models that transformed cancer early detection and screening policy, reshaping national and global guidelines and advancing equitable public health decision鈥憁aking, and for exceptional leadership, cross鈥慸isciplinary collaboration, and mentorship, influencing generations of scientists.鈥�

, Charles O. Cressey Endowed Professor of social work and executive co-director of the Indigenous Wellness Research Institute, for 鈥減ioneering research across historical trauma, cultural buffers, and healing; substance use/misuse prevention; indigenous health disparities and family wellness; and youth health interventions.鈥�

, Endowed Professor in Prevention in the School of Social Work and director of the Social Development Research Group, for 鈥渃ontributions to the economic assessment of prevention programs addressing substance abuse and mental health, and for advancing community-engaged research, and effective communication of findings to different audiences.鈥�

, director of and research professor in the UW School of Marine and Environmental Affairs, for 鈥渓eadership and contributions in ecosystem-based management, salmon conservation, urban ecology, and pioneering contributions to the development of social-ecological approaches to environmental problem solving.鈥�

, research professor of epidemiology and associate director for public health sciences at the Fred Hutchinson Cancer Center for 鈥渋ntegrating large鈥憇cale genomic, environmental, and tumor data to advance colorectal cancer prevention and reduce population disparities, and for her leadership at Fred Hutch, shaping precision prevention and population health science.鈥�

, affiliate professor of environmental engineering and chief scientist and laboratory fellow emeritus at the Pacific Northwest National Laboratory, for 鈥渉is seminal leadership and sustained contributions to soil and agricultural science and environmental geosciences, spanning basic and applied research, university-level teaching and mentoring, and exceptional service.鈥�

, professor of bioengineering, the Dr. James B. Bassingthwaighte Endowed Faculty Fellow in Bioengineering, director of the Center for Translational Muscle Research, and聽 associate chair of research and translation for the Department of Bioengineering, for 鈥渋nternationally recognized leadership in discovering the molecular mechanisms of contractile dysfunction with familial genetic mutations that lead to muscle dysfunction with disease, the design of novel, targeted therapies, and training the next generation of scientists and engineers to have further impact in understanding and treating heart failure and skeletal muscle diseases.鈥�

Dr. , professor and chair of radiology in UW Medicine, for 鈥渃ontributions to the science and clinical practice of radiological imaging and for leadership in national programs and professional and scientific societies that advance academic radiology.鈥�

, affiliate professor of civil and environmental engineering and chief scientist at the Pacific Northwest National Laboratory, for “pioneering the integration of climate science with power systems studies through computational, data-driven, experimental approaches, resulting in significant cost savings for energy customers and a safer, more reliable grid.”

Additionally, Dr. , professor emerita of global health and of medicine and epidemiology in the UW School of Medicine, was elected to the WSAS Board of Directors. Wassersheit has been a member of WSAS since 2008. An infectious disease physician and epidemiologist, Dr. Wasserheit played a central role in launching the UW Department of Global Health and served as chair from 2014-2022. She also served as co-director for the UW Alliance for Pandemic Preparedness. She was the founding chief of the U.S. National Institute of Health鈥檚 Sexually Transmitted Disease (STD) Research Branch, director of the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention鈥檚 STD/HIV Prevention Program and director of the FHCRC-based HIV Vaccine Trials Network. Her work on epidemiological synergy between HIV and sexually transmitted infections has shaped prevention policy worldwide.

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天美影视传媒 scientists are participating in three of these endeavors, known as Multidisciplinary University Research Initiative (MURI) grants. One, an effort to , is a collaboration among five universities led by UW electrical engineering professor . UW professors Peter Pauzauskie and Alberto Aliseda are part of two other MURI-funded efforts to develop innovative approaches to cutting-edge fields of engineering.

Cool ideas for lasers

In the Department of Materials Science & Engineering, assistant professor and his team have their eyes focused on laser innovations. Last year they an approach to cooling liquids using laser light. Now, as part of a MURI grant led by Mansoor Sheik-Bahae at the University of New Mexico, Pauzauskie’s research group is joining a larger collaboration to develop self-cooling lasers. Their efforts would address a major limitation in today’s laser technology.

“Because of the heat they generate, every laser based on optical fibers will melt down at high operating powers,” said Pauzauskie. “As a result, today we have to either limit the power at which lasers operate or accept that they’ll eventually burn out.”

But new laser designs using self-cooling materials could operate at a much higher powers. UW is one of four universities collaborating on this MURI grant, and they hope to create a prototype self-cooling laser that is significantly more powerful than what’s possible today.

In a laser pointer, a battery generates an electric current, which is converted into laser light through a semiconductor crystal. Researchers have also shown it is possible to amplify the power of conventional lasers by “stretching” laser materials into long optical fibers.

But even these devices are limited by the heat they generate. The MURI team will investigate materials that could both protect the fibers from mechanical damage and actively cool them as they operate. That, Pauzauskie says, could unlock a number of new applications for laser technologies, such as cutting and processing industrial materials or launching micro-satellites to remote parts of the solar system using the “radiation pressure” of light.

Out of the $7.5 million MURI grant to be shared among the five participating institutions, Pauzauskie’s group will receive $1.3 million over five years for experiments, equipment and personnel.

“I was over the moon to hear that we got the MURI grant,” said Pauzauskie. “This support will make it possible to bring at least three new graduate students or post-docs to our materials-science team to work specifically on this project.”

Spray secrets

Over in the Department of Mechanical Engineering, associate professor expressed similar elation. He and are part of a separate $7.5 million MURI collaboration among scientists at five universities to control the tiny liquid droplets that make up sprays.

“We want to take concepts from different approaches and disciplines and bring them together to address fundamental problems in controlling sprays,” said Aliseda. “Sprays form in many fast-moving liquids, and we want to control the droplets when they form and keep them from causing disruptions.”

While the sprays from ocean waves and spray bottles are generally harmless, sprays disrupt mechanical systems that depend on the reliable, predictable flow of liquids. Jet engines can stall if liquid fuel is injected improperly.

Led by Olivier Desjardins at Cornell University, the team wants to build upon past research in spray formation and apply that knowledge toward practical devices that can control the size and distribution of droplets in sprays.

One practical route for controlling sprays is the atomizer, the device that a liquid passes through to form a spray. Researchers can manipulate droplet size and concentration by modifying the atomizer’s design, such as the size of the injection needles. But the MURI team wants to explore other avenues to control the spray.

“We also want to take existing designs and modify their control, such as varying the pressure of the liquid or using acoustics or electrostatic forces to control spray droplets once they鈥檙e generated,” said Aliseda.

The team’s approaches will also include new sensors to monitor droplets and computational simulations of different sprays. The microscopic scale of manipulation they seek could increase control of liquid systems in a variety of settings, from diesel engines to ship wakes. Aliseda and his UW team will receive $2.2 million over five years. Like Pauzauskie, he plans to recruit and hire several researchers to work on this project.

“People have been thinking about these ideas for over 50 years,” said Aliseda. “What we’re trying to do is to advance the state of the science and technology so we can reach manufacturers soon through better and more practical scientific practices.”

And that is precisely what the MURI grants are designed to do.

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For more information, contact Pauzauskie at 206-543-2303 or peterpz@uw.edu and Aliseda at 206-543-4910 or aaliseda@uw.edu.

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