Congratulations to the Class of 2021!

Skyler Hallinan

Skyler is graduating Cum Laude with a degree in Bioengineering, and a degree in Applied Computational Mathematical Science and Computer Science. As an undergraduate researcher, Skyler has contributed to multiple projects in the Allen School focused on techniques for analyzing misinformation, bias and propaganda in the media, understanding the defining linguistic features of bilingual speakers, and advancing commonsense reasoning of natural language models. He has also worked in Bioengineering to combat chronic kidney disease (CKD) through development of a method to effectively remove indoxyl sulfate from CKD patients’ blood via an orally ingestible hydrogel that would act as a substitute for a functional kidney. In addition to his outstanding work as a researcher, for which he was named a Levinson Emerging Scholar, Skyler has also served as a teaching assistant for the Allen School over multiple quarters. Skyler plans to pursue a Ph.D. in Natural Language Processing in the future.

Joy He-Yueya

Joy graduated Magna Cum Laude this past autumn with a bachelor’s in Computer Science with honors. Joy has pursued exceptional research in the Allen School’s Behavioral Data Science Group applying data science techniques to measures of patient behavior to assess how they might predict the onset of schizophrenia symptoms. She also contributed to a project at the Max Planck Institute for Software Systems in Saarbrücken, Germany that applies reinforcement learning to generate personalized curricula for students learning to code. This past year, Joy was recognized by the Computing Research Association as one of the top computing undergraduate researchers in North America. In addition to her research, Joy served as a TA for the Allen School and volunteered her time to a number of tutoring and peer mentoring roles — including leading workshops to help her fellow undergraduates get their own start in research and volunteering with UW’s Pipeline Project. After taking a gap year, Joy plans to apply to Ph.D. programs in computer science.

Parker Ruth

Parker is graduating Summa Cum Laude with degrees in Bioengineering and Computer Engineering. He is also a student in the University Honors Program and the Lavin Entrepreneurship Program. As an undergraduate researcher, Parker has produced exceptional work in mobile health and wearable sensing systems in the Allen School’s UbiComp Lab, where he developed tools that screen for conditions such as stroke and osteoporosis, detect cough, and measure pulse transit time. He has also contributed to projects for public health monitoring and assay automation. Parker was recognized by the Computing Research Association as one of the top undergraduate computing researchers in North America for two years in a row. He recently received the 2021 Dean’s Medal for Academic Excellence from the UW College of Engineering and a Graduate Research Fellowship from the National Science Foundation. Next year, Parker will begin his Ph.D. at Stanford University.

Eric Fan

Eric is graduating with a bachelor's in Computer Engineering and continuing his studies in our B.S./M.S. program. Throughout his time as an undergraduate, Eric has found countless opportunities to make the Allen School a better place. He has been a TA a remarkable nine times for seven courses. Students love working with Eric, as is clearly evidenced by his 2021 Bandes Award. In addition to his outstanding TA work, this past year Eric served as both an ACM officer and Student Advisory Council member-at-large. Eric had a hand in planning and executing the Allen School’s biggest student events during the virtual academic year, which greatly contributed to the student community. Eric exemplifies the type of student that makes the Allen School an exceptional place: beyond his passion for computer science instruction, Eric’s engaging and supportive personality truly enrich the Allen School community.

Eunia Lee

Eunia is graduating with a bachelor's in Computer Science. During her time at the UW, she has impacted thousands of students in the Allen School and beyond through her service work. That work has spanned multiple roles aimed at building community and encouraging students to engage with computer science, including lead Ambassador in our K-12 outreach program, chair of the UW chapter of ACM, and lead TA for our direct-to-major seminar for incoming freshmen admitted to the Allen School. Additionally, she served as a primary contributor to the formation of the Allen School's undergraduate Diversity & Access team. Eunia's passion for diversity, equity, and inclusion, as well as her enthusiasm and empathy for others, is evident in all that she does, and her impact will continue long after she graduates.

Joy He-Yueya

Assessing the Relationship Between Routine and Schizophrenia Symptoms with Passively Sensed Measures of Behavioral Stability

Supervised by Tim Althoff

Parker Ruth

Design Principles for Mobile and Wearable Health Technologies

Supervised by Shwetak Patel

Eric Fan (Winner)

Eric, who has earned his bachelor's in Computer Engineering on his way to enrolling in our combined B.S./M.S. program, was a TA for seven different CSE courses and served as TA Coordinator for the CSE 14x introductory programming series. According to one of his students, “Eric was an amazing TA who truly showed that he cared for the students that were under his section. He was always extremely open to us helping us in any way that he could and consistently reminded us about ways we could get help with the course content if needed. I also found him to be really approachable and open to communication, even to students that had to take the course asynchronously. All in all, Eric was a TA that contributed to my learning greatly, especially in a quarter that didn't have the best circumstances surrounding it.”

Taylor Ka (Winner)

Taylor, who is graduating with a bachelor's degree in Computer Science and continuing her studies in the Allen School's combined B.S./M.S. program, served as a TA for eight quarters of CSE 143 Computer Programming II. In the words of a faculty member who nominated her for the award, Taylor was "easily the best TA I have had across all courses at UW. Taylor was incredibly kind, approachable, and knowledgeable which made an otherwise daunting class much more manageable. The examples and diagrams during section made the material much easier to understand and her comments were incredibly helpful and detailed providing me with valuable feedback. She was also so kind and a pleasure to talk to!! I think I got super lucky this quarter. :)"

Andrew Wei (Winner)

Andrew, who is graduating with a master's degree from the Allen School's B.S./M.S. program, was a TA for eight different courses over 12 quarters. According to one of his students, Andrew has the distinction of having been "the most DEDICATED TA I have come across! Andrew would stay up for hours multiple times a week to help students struggling through the labs. He once worked with me until almost 4am when I was getting really frustrated and didn’t know what to do. His generosity and patience was super admirable and I would love for him to be recognized for everything he did as a TA. Thanks Andrew!!

Kyrie Dowling (Honorable Mention)

Kyrie, an undergraduate Computer Engineering major, has been a TA for CSE 333 Systems Programming and CSE 351 The Hardware/Software Interface multiple times. According to one student who worked with her, "Kyrie was amazing! She is easily my favorite TA and it is very evident she cares about the learning of all of her students. She is great at explaining concepts, but something that sets her apart is that she excels at providing additional explanation when needed. She is always there before and after class helping or talking to students. Despite being the earliest section she always has energy but not in a way that is (for lack of a better term) annoying. I also was in her section for 351 fall quarter and she's only improved! I cannot recommend her enough."

Liang He (Honorable Mention)

Liang, a Ph.D. student in the Makeability Lab, has served as a TA for 6 quarters in courses focused on human-computer interaction and physical computing. According to a faculty member who worked with Liang, "He has TA'd for me twice during the pandemic — both for studio-based courses that traditionally require specialized hardware and equipment. These are not typical CSE courses and are extraordinarily difficult to teach and TA for. Liang has worked tirelessly to adapt our physically-oriented lectures and coursework to online. He helped solder, prepare, and package over 50 hardware kits and worked with CSE staff to deliver them to students. This is a HUGE atypical effort for a CSE TA, especially given the short turnaround time of the quarters. Liang maintains a spirit of positivity and creative encouragement for the students and graciously shares his expertise and time.

Edward Misback (Honorable Mention)

Edward is a Ph.D. student who has served as a TA for CSE 341 Programming Languages, CSE 481 Sound and Media Capstone, and CSE 583 Software Development for Data Scientists. According to a grateful faculty member whose class he supported, "Edward has done an exceptional job this quarter in rising to the occasion to facilitate the students in developing their project. He has shepherded them through numerous technical pitfalls of networking and web serving, and always gently encouraged them to find solutions themselves with his help. He will make an excellent teacher if he chooses that path. I have had some great TAs before, but I have never witnessed this kind of effort from a TA. Thank you, Edward."