Ph.D. Dissertation Defense Talk: Methods Towards Improving Ecological Validity of Experimental Research in Human-AI Perceptions and Behavior
Speaker: Nikita Haduong, Advisor: Noah Smith, Supervisory Committee: Noah A Smith (Chair), Shane Noah Steinert-Threlkeld (GSR, Linguistics), Steven L Tanimoto, Yulia Tsvetkov, Abstract: AI agents are being increasingly used in production settings, but our understanding of how humans
expect AI to behave, and how AI usage influences human behavior, falls short because of the gap be-
tween controlled laboratory studies and real-world usage. In this thesis, I develop methodologies to
shrink this gap and further our understanding of how humans perceive and use AI in practice, and how
we can design more relevant technologies. My methodologies are anchored by the observation that par-
ticipants with greater task immersion and intrinsic motivation allow modeling more realistic behavior,
and simple manipulation of task settings, domains, and incentives can increase immersion. This thesis
discusses my key contributions to making AI research more relevant to potential downstream users.
I first consider the…
Tuesday, April 29, 2025, 9:00 AM – 10:00 AM.
Ph.D. Dissertation Defense Talk: Enhancing Multi-Tenant Disaggregated Storage Systems with H/W Innovations
Speaker: Jaehong Min, Advisor: Arvind Krishnamurthy, Supervisory Committee: Arvind Krishnamurthy (Chair), Akshay Gadre (GSR, Electrical and Computer Engineering), Baris Kasikci, Ming Liu (University of Wisconsin - Madison), Ratul Mahajan, Abstract: Storage disaggregation has gained significant interest recently, as it allows independent scaling of compute/storage capacities and achieves high resource utilization. Unlike traditional distributed file systems (e.g. Ceph), they expose low-level block abstraction via new protocols (NVMe-over-Fabrics), delivering raw device performance to the host. Simultaneously, new H/W innovations are emerging as a key hardware platform for implementing disaggregated storage. SmartNICs offer lower power consumption compared to traditional x86-based systems while still providing sufficient bandwidth for storage systems. In addition, NVMe Zoned Namespace (ZNS) is a newly introduced storage interface that has attracted significant attention from data center and enterprise storage…
Thursday, May 8, 2025, 10:00 AM – 11:00 AM.
Ph.D. Dissertation Defense Talk: Design for Sustainable Fabrication
Speaker: Yuxuan Mei, Advisor: Adriana Schulz, Supervisory Committee: Adriana Schulz (Chair), Afroditi Psarra (GSR, Digital Arts and Experimental Media), Vikram Iyer, Jennifer C Mankoff, Abstract: Design tools play a crucial role in how effectively the advances in manufacturing can be utilized to create objects of unprecedented complexity. The usability of these tools directly impacts who can design, customize, and ultimately enhance the performance of products. Meanwhile, the revolution in manufacturing, driven by advancements like 3D printing in aerospace and automotive industries, whole-garment knitting machines in apparel, and flexible substrates in electronics, is fundamentally changing what can be made and by whom, enabling on-demand production of complex and functional objects. Despite its ever-increasing potential, manufacturing continues to consume considerable natural resources and produce significant amounts of waste. This raises a critical research question that motivates the core of this work:…
Wednesday, May 14, 2025, 8:00 AM – 9:00 AM.
Accessible Presentations: Global Accessibility Awareness Day w/ CREATE
CREATE Director Jennifer Mankoff kicks off the UW's Global Accessibility Awareness Day (GAAD) midday session.
The session includes: Best practices for accessible presentations - CREATE participating postdoc Avery Mack , Basic disability studies history and concepts, important grounding for any kind of work with people with disabilities - CREATE participating postdoc Emma McDonnell , Welcome message by Andreas Bohman, Vice President for UW Information Technology , Presentation by UW Provost Tricia Serio, Registration required. Zoom link provided with registration.
Event Accommodations
Contact Susie Hawkey by April 30 to request accommodations: 206-543-6504, shawkey@uw.edu.
Also make sure to catch these CREATE offerings: Connecting Dots book talk with Joshua Miele - CREATE collaborator Joshua Miele will talk about his new memoir about the professional: his unique approaches to solving accessibility challenges; and the personal: canes and dogs, braille and babies, screen readers and spacecraft, and the…
Event interval: Single day event. Campus location: Student Union Building (HUB). Campus room: 250. Accessibility Contact: shawkey@uw.edu. Event Types: Diversity Equity Inclusion. Information Sessions. Special Events. Student Activities. Target Audience: All are welcome.
Thursday, May 15, 2025, 1:00 PM – 1:55 PM.
For more info visit create.uw.edu. Computing Instructors Workshop/Keynote with Amy Ko: Global Accessibility Awareness Day w/ CREATE
Zoom only workshop with CREATE faculty members: Kevin Lin hosts and Amy Ko delivers the keynote.
The workshop is designed for instructors in all disciplines–the humanities, arts, and sciences–who teach programming. Connect with and learn from other UW instructors. We will share resources and ideas for making our computing courses more accessible towards meeting the 2026 digital accessibility requirements. Learn from accessibility experts on topics such as pedagogy, community, teaching tools, assessments, and visuals.
Registration required. Zoom link provided with registration.
Accommodations
Contact Susie Hawkey by April 30 to request accommodations: 206-543-6504, shawkey@uw.edu.
Also make sure to catch these CREATE offerings at GAAD 2025: Disability History and Accessibility Best Practices. CREATE Director Jennifer Mankoff will introduce CREATE participating postdocs Emma McDonnell and Avery Mack.
, Connecting Dots book talk with Joshua Miele - CREATE collaborator Joshua Miele will talk about his…
Event interval: Single day event. Accessibility Contact: shawkey@uw.edu. Event Types: Diversity Equity Inclusion. Special Events. Workshops. Target Audience: Instructors of computing, programming, or data analysis from all disciplines: humanities, arts, sci.
Thursday, May 15, 2025, 2:45 PM – 4:15 PM.
For more info visit create.uw.edu. Joshua Miele book talk: Global Accessibility Awareness Day w/ CREATE
Connecting Dots book talk with Joshua Miele - CREATE collaborator Joshua Miele will talk about his new memoir. In the book, Miele shares his unique approaches to solving accessibility challenges, such as automated tools for generating tactile maps, a somewhat shady scheme for crowd-sourcing descriptions of YouTube videos, and a brief but brutal sabotage campaign against inaccessible ATMs in the late 90s. Along the way, he talks about canes and dogs, braille and babies, screen readers and spacecraft, and the rebellion and romance throughout his life that ties them all together.
Registration required. Zoom link provided with registration.
Accommodations
Contact Susie Hawkey by April 30 to request accommodations: 206-543-6504, shawkey@uw.edu.
Also make sure to catch these CREATE offerings at GAAD 2025: Disability History and Accessibility Best Practices. CREATE Director Jennifer Mankoff kicks off the midday GAAD session, which includes presentations by CREATE participating postdocs Emma McDonnell and Avery…
Event interval: Single day event. Campus location: Bill & Melinda Gates Center for Computer Science & Engineering (CSE2). Campus room: Bezos Seminar Room - G04. Accessibility Contact: kqvoss@cs.washington.edu. Event Types: Diversity Equity Inclusion. Information Sessions. Special Events. Student Activities. Target Audience: All are welcome.
Thursday, May 15, 2025, 4:30 PM – 6:00 PM.
For more info visit create.uw.edu. Ph.D. Dissertation Defense Talk: Biology and Computation for Improving Access to Health Screening
Speaker: Jason Hoffman, Advisor: Shwetak Patel, Supervisory Committee: Shwetak N. Patel (Chair), Andrea L Hartzler (GSR, Biomedical Informatics & Medical Educ), Luis H Ceze, Chris Thachuk, Abstract TBA.
Monday, May 19, 2025, 3:30 PM – 4:30 PM.
AccessADVANCE Capacity Building Institute
Join AccessADVANCE and colleagues from across the country to share challenges and solutions for creating systemic changes that supports the recruitment and participation of faculty with disabilities in STEM careers. We welcome the participation and perspectives of people with disabilities, administrators, faculty, and disability services professionals. Online via Zoom , In-person on the UW campus in Seattle , Learn more and apply , Apply to participate by April 11, Virtual and in-person participants are invited to propose and lead a flash talk (~15 minutes). You can also suggest panel discussions topics & volunteer to facilitate or join a panel. Virtual participants will receive Zoom links prior to the event. We will explore topics like: Accommodating faculty with disabilities , Funding accommodations , Finding community , Informal accommodations and interdependence , Intersectional issues particularly impacting women faculty with disabilities.
Event interval: Ongoing event. Accessibility Contact: doit@uw.edu. Event Types: Conferences. Diversity Equity Inclusion. Target Audience: People with disabilities, administrators, faculty, and disability services professionals.
Wednesday, May 21, 2025 – Thursday, May 22, 2025.
For more info visit docs.google.com. Ph.D. Dissertation Defense Talk: Technology and Power: Examining Imbalances Through Usable Security & Privacy Research
Speaker: Kentrell Owens, Advisors: Tadayoshi Kohno, Franziska Roesner, Supervisory Committee: Tadayoshi Kohno (Chair), Franziska Roesner (Chair), Martin Nisser (GSR, Aeronautics and Astronautics), Joseph Calandrino (Department of Justice), Abstract TBA.
Friday, May 23, 2025, 10:00 AM – 11:00 AM.
Memorial Day
Holidays
No classes. Most University offices and buildings are closed. Check with specific offices to confirm.
Event interval: Single day event. Year: 2025. Quarter: Spring. Event Types: Academics.
Monday, May 26, 2025.
For more info visit www.washington.edu. Ph.D. Dissertation Defense Talk: Mind the Metric: Metric-Informed Methods in Machine Learning
Speaker: Sandesh Adhikary, Advisor: Byron Boots, Supervisory Committee: Byron Emereth Boots (Chair), Yen-Chi Chen (GSR, Statistics), Abhishek Gupta, Sewoong Oh, Abstract TBA.
Wednesday, May 28, 2025, 9:00 AM – 10:00 AM.
Ph.D. Dissertation Defense Talk: Off-road Navigation Under Sensing Uncertainty
Speaker: Matthew Schmittle, Advisor: Siddhartha Srinivasa, Supervisory Committee: Siddhartha Srinivasa (Chair), Sawyer Buckminster Fuller (GSR, Mechanical Engineering), Byron Emereth Boots, Sanjiban Choudhury (Cornell), Abstract TBA.
Friday, May 30, 2025, 10:00 AM – 11:00 AM.
Ph.D. Dissertation Defense Talk: Beyond Scaling: Frontiers of Retrieval-Augmented Language Models
Speaker: Akari Asai, Advisor: Hannaneh Hajishirzi, Supervisory Committee: Hanna Hajishirzi (Chair), Lucy Lu Wang (GSR, Information School), Pang Wei Koh, Yulia Tsvetkov, Luke Zettlemoyer, Abstract TBA.
Tuesday, June 3, 2025, 12:00 PM – 1:00 PM.
Allen School Colloquium: Shaping AI for the Public Good via the Berkeley Lab Model
ABSTRACT:
This three-part talk summarizes the underlying philosophy and best practices of the Berkeley lab model, offers a perspective on improving AI’s impact, and describes a new research funding opportunity starting this Fall.
Senior computer scientists and rising stars in AI developed a balanced perspective on AI's societal impact informed by interviews with 24 experts including John Jumper, Barack Obama, Susan Rice, and Eric Schmidt (see www.ShapingAI.com). We believe we are in the early days of practical AI, and focused efforts by practitioners, policymakers, and stakeholders can still increase AI's upsides and reduce its downsides.
We suggest guidelines for enhancing AI development: i) Human-AI collaboration exceeds capabilities of either AI or people; ii) Focus on productivity improvements that generate more jobs; iii) Initially prioritize eliminating tedious tasks; and iv) Consider that AI impact varies by geography.
Rather than simply predict long-term AI impact, we've identified research…
Event interval: Single day event. Campus room: Amazon Auditorium | Room G20 (CSE2). Accessibility Contact: dso@u.washington.edu. Event Types: Lectures/Seminars.
Tuesday, June 3, 2025, 3:30 PM – 4:30 PM.
Gates Center (CSE2), G20 | Amazon Auditorium.
For more info visit www.cs.washington.edu. Instruction Ends - Spring Quarter
Dates of Instruction
Instruction ends.
Event interval: Single day event. Year: 2025. Quarter: Spring. Event Types: Academics.
Friday, June 6, 2025.
For more info visit www.washington.edu. Final Examinations - Spring Quarter
Dates of Instruction
Week of final examinations for spring quarter.
Event interval: Ongoing event. Year: 2025. Quarter: Spring. Event Types: Academics.
Saturday, June 7, 2025 – Friday, June 13, 2025.
For more info visit www.washington.edu. Ph.D. Dissertation Defense Talk: Support from Understanding to Access: A Human-Centered Approach to Designing Responsible AI Systems for Student Academic Well-Being and Inclusive Learning
Speaker: Han Zhang, Advisors: Anind Dey, Jennifer Mankoff, Supervisory Committee: Anind K. Dey (Chair, Information School), Jennifer C Mankoff (Chair), Gary Hsieh (GSR, Human Centered Design and Engineering), Yin Tat Lee, Abstract TBA.
Tuesday, June 10, 2025, 2:00 PM – 3:00 PM.
Ph.D. Dissertation Defense Talk: Identifying, Evaluating, and Mitigating Security and Privacy Threats in Augmented Reality Systems
Speaker: Kaiming Cheng, Advisors: Tadayoshi Kohno, Franziska Roesner, Supervisory Committee: Tadayoshi Kohno (Chair), Franziska Roesner (Chair), Tivon Rice (GSR, Digital Arts and Experimental Media), JON FROEHLICH, Abstract TBA.
Wednesday, June 11, 2025, 1:00 PM – 2:00 PM.
Ph.D. Dissertation Defense Talk: Towards Sociotechnical Security & Privacy and Against Online Abuse
Speaker: Miranda Wei, Advisors: Tadayoshi Kohno, Franziska Roesner, Supervisory Committee: Tadayoshi Kohno (Chair), Franziska Roesner (Chair), Mary Fan (GSR, Law - School of), Richard Anderson, Elissa Redmiles (Georgetown University), Abstract TBA.
Thursday, June 12, 2025, 12:00 PM – 1:00 PM.
Quarter Break - Summer
Dates of Instruction
Break between spring and summer quarters.
Event interval: Ongoing event. Year: 2025. Quarter: Summer. Event Types: Academics.
Saturday, June 14, 2025 – Sunday, June 22, 2025.
For more info visit www.washington.edu. Juneteenth
Holidays
No classes. Most University offices and buildings are closed. Check with specific offices to confirm.
Event interval: Single day event. Year: 2025. Quarter: Summer. Event Types: Academics.
Thursday, June 19, 2025.
For more info visit www.washington.edu. Instruction Begins - Summer Quarter - Full and A-term
Dates of Instruction
Instruction begins.
Event interval: Single day event. Year: 2025. Quarter: Summer. Event Types: Academics.
Monday, June 23, 2025.
For more info visit www.washington.edu. Independence Day
Holidays
No classes. Most University offices and buildings are closed. Check with specific offices to confirm.
Event interval: Single day event. Year: 2025. Quarter: Summer. Event Types: Academics.
Friday, July 4, 2025.
For more info visit www.washington.edu. Instruction Ends - Summer Quarter - A-term
Dates of Instruction
Instruction ends.
Event interval: Single day event. Year: 2025. Quarter: Summer. Event Types: Academics.
Wednesday, July 23, 2025.
For more info visit www.washington.edu. Instruction Begins - Summer Quarter - B-term
Dates of Instruction
Instruction begins.
Event interval: Single day event. Year: 2025. Quarter: Summer. Event Types: Academics.
Thursday, July 24, 2025.
For more info visit www.washington.edu. Ph.D. Dissertation Defense Talk: Primal-dual Methods for Policy Learning in Bandits and Reinforcement Learning
Speaker: Zhihan Xiong, Advisor: Maryam Fazel, Supervisory Committee: Maryam Fazel (Chair, Electrical and Computer Engineering), Yingfei Wang (GSR, Business - Foster School of), KEVIN G JAMIESON, Pang Wei Koh, Lin Xiao (Electrical and Computer Engineering), Abstract TBA.
Monday, July 28, 2025, 2:00 PM – 3:00 PM.