42 Informatics students take part in research symposium

Tuesday, June 2, 2026

More than 40 Information School undergraduate students presented their research projects recently at the 2026 Undergraduate Research Symposium.Held on May 15, the 28th annual University of Washington Undergraduate Research Symposium showcased interdisciplinary undergraduate research from across the three UW campuses. More than 1,500 students participated in the event, including 42 Informatics students who presented oral presentations, poster sessions, visual arts and performances.Senior Hamza Eqbal presented his research, "Practical and Policy Challenges in Enterprise Cybersecurity," analyzing

More than 300 students shine at Showcase

Tuesday, June 2, 2026

Students, faculty, staff, project partners, families and friends gathered at the University of Washington HUB ballroom to share Capstone projects, culminating experiences and more at the Information School Showcase on May 28.Professor and Associate Dean for Academics Amy J. Ko welcomed the crowd of approximately 700 people, including more than 300 students from all five Information School degree programs who presented their work. “I’m so excited to welcome all of you to this evening of recognition and celebration for our students’ learning and impact,” she said. “I can’t think

MSIM team designs guardrails for mental-health chatbot

Monday, June 1, 2026

You’re a teen, hurting and confused, certain no one in the world has ever felt so low. You’re too embarrassed to talk to friends about it or go to the school counselor, and your parents are … well … your parents. Therapist? No way. Who are you going to turn to?An AI-powered chatbot now in development may provide teens some needed solace and advice. It’s called He@lio and it’s being vetted by two Capstone teams from the UW’s Information School: team Infomaniacs (Rebecca Ko, Amber Lee, Veronica Lee, Koching Lu and Saba Ziadlou) and team Insight Innovators (Jaspreet Bhamipuri,

MLIS student's archive to help track ecological change

Thursday, May 28, 2026

Scientists at the National Ecological Observatory Network, or NEON, study how ecosystems change over time. But their field instruments and low-altitude aircraft capture only short windows of data, and NEON does not have a standing satellite imagery archive of the same sites.For his Information School Capstone, MLIS student John Adler is helping NEON address these limitations. His project, “Archiving a Large Satellite Ecological Dataset,” will create a large, offline archive of satellite imagery to help researchers develop more complete pictures of ecological change. The archive will includ

Informatics team helps get WSDOT's app in gear

Tuesday, May 26, 2026

The Washington State Department of Transportation app features extensive transportation information such as schedules, traffic alerts and weather reports, but it hasn’t been updated in about seven years. A team of Informatics students has kickstarted a redesign to help users take full advantage of the state’s public transportation. Seniors Arohee Kumar, Jules Braun, Keilani Uehara, Audrey Phan (pictured above, from left) and Daniel Bejar are developing a modernized version of the iOS Washington State Department of Transportation app, aiming to improve the user experience and create a

MSIM team helps media company harness its archive

Monday, May 25, 2026

Converge Media is an Emmy-winning video producer based in Seattle. For 10 years, it has been telling and uplifting the stories of the Black community in the Northwest. In that time, it has collected a massive archive of videos and photos — 160 terabytes. But when Converge was first beginning its work, it didn’t have a great system for labeling its content. It has a wealth of content featuring members of the Black community. What it doesn’t have is a great way to find that content. A group of University of Washington Information School students are working to help solve that pro

For Capstone, MLIS students help rural archives thrive

Wednesday, May 20, 2026

As residents of rural communities, Sophie Cade and Emily Prines understand that small archives and museums are often under-resourced. The two saw an opportunity to use their Master of Library and Information Science Capstone project to help their local archives. The online MLIS students are conducting research on the practices of rural community archive centers and museums for their Capstone project. Cade and Prines plan to provide management recommendations to enhance the capabilities of these small institutions. Cade, who lives in Olympia, focused on archives in rural Was

Student group's startup career fair attracts 200

Wednesday, May 13, 2026

The Association of Information Management Students recently hosted a startup career fair. With a turnout of around 200 students and 11 startups, conversation among employers and students could be heard echoing outside the HUB’s Lyceum. The Association of Information Management Students, or AIMS, advocates for student interests and promotes leadership by strengthening the bond between information, technology and people. AIMS President Elisheba Choppala has been leading AIMS for the past year. Two fellow AIMS leaders, Moniyat Chowdhury and Vedica Bafna, worked with Choppala

Impact awards honor 2 alumni working on frontiers of AI

Monday, May 11, 2026

The 2026 UW Information School Alumni Impact Awards honor a startup entrepreneur and an expert in value-sensitive design, both working at the forefront of the AI revolution.Distinguished Alumni Award recipient Prem Kumar, Informatics ’06, is the CEO of Humanly, a startup he founded in 2020. Humanly is a job candidate recruitment platform that uses artificial intelligence to automate candidate evaluation for employers, as well as to aid job seekers in their job search and career development. Humanly has grown rapidly in the past few years, serving more than 200 companies and raising $48

Museum visitors see impact of Museology students' theses

Monday, May 11, 2026

The Seattle Children’s Museum’s beloved Mountain exhibit is getting an update, thanks to a Museology thesis project. During the final quarter of the UW Information School’s Museology program, students complete their theses. In the form of research or a project, completed theses show future employers students' successes, interests and experiences in real museums. Zoe Velie, Brittany Matthews and Betty Mfalingundi's (pictured at top, from left) project is sponsored by the Children’s Museum. Through the update, the three students are prioritizing a focus on local representa

Ph.D. candidate leads research combating 'tilt' in esports

Monday, May 11, 2026

Sitting side-by-side or across the world from their teammates, esports players in competitive video gaming train intensively to win. Games like League of Legends, Dota and Counter-Strike: Global Offensive are popular worldwide and can draw multimillion-dollar prize pools. The camaraderie and thrill of the games keep players returning, but gaming can also affect their health and well-being.To better understand how teens conceptualize a “healthy player” and sustain mental well-being in gaming, University of Washington Information School Ph.D. candidate Johnny (Yeonhee) Cho has been working o

People analytics expert: Data reveals workforce's secrets

Thursday, May 7, 2026

The challenge for many companies these days isn’t simply finding talented employees; it’s retaining them. High compensation? Remote working opportunities? These perks don’t always keep workers around. But the field of people analytics can provide managers with the tools they need to better understand their hiring practices and workforce. And few people understand the subject better than Heather Whiteman, an associate teaching professor for the University of Washington Information School. “Many people have never heard of people analytics outside of human resources,” sai

Data science career outlook: Problem-solvers in demand

Tuesday, April 28, 2026

As a senior principal data scientist at Navy Federal Credit Union, Rahul Zende uses the predictive power of data to build solutions that enable better organizational decision-making and deliver improved service to members. “As much as we can anticipate our members’ needs ahead of time, that is for the better,” Zende said. For example, he builds predictive models to anticipate when members might be in the market for a car loan. Knowing that helps the nonprofit credit union reach out with strategies to help those with lower credit scores boost their chances of qualifying.“Then

Leadership brings out the best in MSIM student

Thursday, April 23, 2026

Early in her career, Elisheba Choppala worked as an intern for a consumer-packaged goods company. She worked on data analysis, and that experience made it clear how much businesses rely on clear information. The internship became a permanent position, and Choppala used data analytics to support the company for several more years. When Choppala was ready to continue her education, she was also looking for a change. Originally from Abu Dhabi, she’d been in the Midwest for eight years. She was ready to live somewhere new and, as she looked into her options, everything kept pointing toward

6 Information School students honored in 2026 Husky 100

Monday, April 20, 2026

The University of Washington honored six students from the Information School in the 2026 Husky 100. Awarded to graduate and undergraduate students making the most out of their time at the UW, the Husky 100 is celebrating its 10th anniversary. The Information School honorees consist of four Informatics students and two Ph.D. students. The recognition grants these students opportunities to expand their networks among the UW community, academically and professionally. Charles Bugre is a Ph.D. candidate researching the use of mobile technology in illiterate populations. I