When imagining the future of technology, sometimes all we need to do is look out the window — or into a microscope.
Our researchers take inspiration from nature to redefine what a computer can be, from data storage using synthetic DNA, to sensors modeled on insects and leaves. We also advance technologies to help solve biology’s biggest mysteries, such as computational approaches for understanding the mechanisms of disease and brain-computer interfaces that can restore or augment physical function and mobility.
Research Groups & Labs
Sensor Systems Laboratory
The Sensor Systems Laboratory invents new sensor systems, devises new ways to power and communicate with them, and develops algorithms for using them, with applications in the domains of bioelectronics, robotics, and ubiquitous computing.
Systems Neuroscience & AI Lab (SNAIL)
SNAIL develops computational models and algorithms for understanding how single-trial neural population activity drives our abilities to generate movements, make decisions, and learn from experience.
Faculty Members
Centers & Initiatives
Society + Technology is a cross-campus, cross-disciplinary initiative and community at the University of Washington that is dedicated to research, teaching and learning focused on the social, societal and justice dimensions of technology.
Computing for the Environment (CS4Env) at the University of Washington supports novel collaborations across the broad fields of environmental sciences and computer science & engineering. The initiative engages environmental scientists and engineers, computer scientists and engineers, and data scientists in using advanced technologies, methodologies and computing resources to accelerate research that addresses pressing societal challenges related to climate change, pollution, biodiversity and more.
Highlights
GeekWire
Allen School undergraduate Prisha Hemani and teammates won the grand prize in the 2026 Hollomon Health Challenge for CPRight, a real-time CPR feedback device. The annual competition is hosted by the UW’s Buerk Center for Entrepreneurship in the Foster School of Business.
UW News
A team led by UW researchers created a system that uses a phone’s existing speaker and microphone to accurately estimate fetal heart rate by mimicking Doppler ultrasound.
UW News
Iyer, co-director of the interdisciplinary CS for the Environment Initiative, was recognized among the 2026 class of fellows for his early-career efforts to address sustainability challenges — from recyclable electronics, to battery-free robotics, to AI-optimized hardware design.