Faculty Directors
Ryan Calo
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M. Ryan Calo is the Lane Powell and D. Wayne Gittinger Professor at the University of Washington School of Law and formerly a director at the Stanford Law School Center for Internet and Society (CIS). Ryan researches the intersection of law and emerging technology, with an emphasis on robotics and the Internet.
Batya Friedman
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Batya Friedman is a Professor in the Information School at the University of Washington where she co-directs the Value Sensitive Design Research Lab. Batya’s research develops theory, methods, and toolkits for foregrounding human values in the design of new technologies, most recently with an emphasis on systems that will unfold over longer timeframes on the order of 100 years.
Yoshi Kohno
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Tadayoshi (Yoshi) Kohno is a Professor in the Paul G. Allen School of Computer Science & Engineering at the University of Washington. Yoshi’s research is focused on understanding and improving the computer security and privacy properties of current and future technologies.
Aylin Caliskan
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Aylin Caliskan is an Assistant Professor in the Information School and, by courtesy, Paul G. Allen School of Computer Science & Engineering at the University of Washington and a Nonresident Fellow in Governance Studies at The Brookings Institution, housed in the Center for Technology Innovation. Aylin is interested in artificial intelligence (AI) ethics, AI bias, computer vision, natural language processing, and machine learning. Aylin develops transparency-enhancing algorithms to analyze how machines learn biases and consequently impact humans and society.
Staff
Alex Bolton
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Alex is the Program Manager for the Tech Policy Lab. He has a JD from the UW School of the Law and an MPA from the Daniel J. Evans School of Public Policy & Governance. Previously, he worked in state government and higher education in a variety of roles. Alex is very interested in public policy and has a deep passion for UW.
Monika Sengul-Jones
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Monika Sengul-Jones is the program manager of an initiative to foster cross-campus collaboration on the social aspects of technology. She is also a part-time lecturer in communication and literary arts at the University of Washington in Seattle and Bothell. Monika earned her Ph.D. in Communication and Science Studies from the University of California San Diego.
Robin Blomster
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Robin is the Communications Consultant for the Tech Policy Lab. She has a BS in Journalism from Cal Poly, San Luis Obispo and works full-time at the School of Social Work.
Faculty Associates
Jan Whittington
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Jan Whittington is an Assistant Professor of Urban Design and Planning and the director of the Urban Infrastructure Lab at the University of Washington. She studies the economics of the Internet and related physical infrastructures as platforms for the exchange of information, with effects on public trust, public services, private markets, privacy, and cybersecurity.
Emily M. Bender
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Emily M. Bender is a Professor of Linguistics and Adjunct Professor of Computer Science & Engineering and the University of Washington. She is the founding Faculty Director of the Professional Masters in Computational Linguistics (CLMS) program. Her research interests include computational semantics (representing human language meaning in machine-readable form), multilingual natural language processing, and technology for assisting in the documentation of endangered languages.
Howard Chizeck
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Howard Jay Chizeck is an Emeritus Professor of Electrical & Computer Engineering at the University of Washington where he co-directs the Biorobotics Laboratory. He is also a faculty member in the Graduate Program in Neuroscience. His research interests are in telerobotics and neural engineering. Robotic research includes progressive autonomy control for robots operating underwater, in space and for terrestrial applications where it is too dangerous or otherwise inadvisable to have humans perform the tasks, and the security of these systems. His neural engineering research includes adaptive stimulation control to manage movement disorders such as essential tremor, and the design and security of brain-machine interfaces.
William Covington
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William Covington is a Senior Lecturer at the University of Washington School of Law and directs the Technology Law and Public Policy Clinic. The students in Bill’s Clinic study the policy making process and conduct in-depth examinations of areas where public policy and technology intersect.
Franziska Roesner
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Franziska (Franzi) Roesner is an Assistant Professor in Computer Science & Engineering at the University of Washington. Franzi is broadly interested in issues related to computer security and privacy, particularly designing and building systems that address security and privacy challenges faced by end users of existing and emerging technologies.
David Hendry
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David G. Hendry is associate professor at The Information School, University of Washington, where he teaches courses in human-computer interaction, information system design, and foundations of information science. He investigates tools, practices, and systems that create the conditions for sustainable, inclusive participation in the design of information systems.
Alan Borning
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Alan Borning is Professor Emeritus in the Paul G. Allen School of Computer Science & Engineering. Alan’s post-retirement projects include continuing work on tools to help make public transportation more accessible, easier, and more fun to use; and on critiquing and developing alternatives to surveillance capitalism.
Joe Lott
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Joe Lott is an Associate Professor in the College of Education at the University of Washington and the co-founder and Faculty Director of the Brotherhood Initiative, which focuses on empowering undergraduate men of color in areas of leadership, wellness, innovation, and social entrepreneurship. He investigates how design-based research methods can be leveraged to address the organizational cultures of large research universities that have created the conditions for disparate graduation rates between undergraduate men of color and their peers.
Students
Rachel McAmis
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Rachel is a PhD student in the Paul G. Allen School of Computer Science & Engineering and a member of the Security and Privacy lab and the Tech Policy Lab. Her research is generally in the area of security and privacy of emerging technologies. Recently, she published work about private information leakages in online real estate websites.
Rachel Hong
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Rachel Hong is a Ph.D. student in the Allen School of Computer Science & Engineering and a member of the Security and Privacy Lab, the Washington AI Lab, and the Tech Policy Lab. She studies bias in machine learning and is interested in bridging theoretical and empirical work in the field of algorithmic fairness.
Vannary Sou
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Vannary is an undergraduate student at the UW Information School. She is interested in data ethics, inclusive tech policy and improving accessibility to technology within marginalized communities.
Awo Mah
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Awo is an undergraduate student at the University of Washington Information School, interested in data privacy and how it impacts individuals. Awo is exploring the ethics of data, particularly interested in understanding where privacy boundaries are crossed and what constitutes acceptable practices in data handling and privacy protection.
Esha Jain
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Esha is a J.D. Candidate and Gregoire Fellow at the University of Washington School of Law. As a Hazelton Fellow for the Tech Policy Lab, she conducts interdisciplinary research on emerging technology policy. Esha is also Editorial Staff for the Washington Law Review and a 2024–2025 Student Attorney for the Technology Law and Public Policy Clinic.
Ilinca Slabu
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Ilinca Slabu is a JD Candidate at the University of Washington School of Law and a member of the Technology Law and Public Policy Clinic and Washington Law Review. She is interested in studying technology law, and more specifically, how legal frameworks can adapt to and shape advancements in AI.
Malik Messiah
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Malik is an undergraduate student in the University of Washington Information School while minoring in Economics and currently assists the Tech Policy Lab with community outreach and research. Malik’s personal connection with information science is driven by his interest in how law and policy pertain to data ethics and privacy, his dedication to raising public accessibility and awareness to information technology, and his determination to educate marginalized communities on how technological systems may disparately impact them.
Ryan Wei Tan
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Ryan Tan is an undergraduate student in The Information School, and member of the Tech Policy Lab. He studies the detection and deployment of malware with the goal of creating more robust methods for detecting malware.
Swara Seshadri
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Swara Seshadri is an undergraduate student in the Paul G. Allen School of Computer Science & Engineering and an intern at the Tech Policy Lab. She is interested in AI ethics, emerging tech policy and addressing the impact of technology on diverse populations.
Abirami Subramanian
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Abirami is an undergraduate student at the University of Washington and a Student Assistant at the Tech Policy Lab. She is interested in AI and Robotics, specifically mitigating its impacts on the environment and using Tech Policy to benefit diverse communities.
Alumni
Emily McReynolds
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Emily McReynolds was the first staff Program Director at the Tech Policy Lab. Emily’s research interests include privacy and security in emerging technology, particularly internet-connected toys and devices in the home and intelligent personal assistants.
Hannah Almeter
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Hannah Almeter was a Program Manager with the Tech Policy Lab. During her time at the Lab, she supported Lab operations, communications, and events, as well as the Diverse Voices project.
Stephanie Ballard
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Stephanie was a Ph.D. student at the UW Information School. Her research is in the area of emerging technologies and technology policy. In particular, Stephanie is interested in the design of data intensive tools and corresponding regulation.
Mike Katell
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Mike Katell earned his Ph.D. at the UW Information School. His interests include privacy, surveillance, and the commercial use of data collected about individuals. He has a specific interest in the aspects of trust and dependence inherent in the use of emerging technologies.
Madeline Lamo
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Madeline Lamo is a J.D. graduate of the University of Washington School of Law. She is interested in free speech and privacy law issues in technology, especially with regards to the challenges of reconciling national laws with the global Internet.
Kiron Lebeck
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Kiron Lebeck received his Ph.D. from the Allen School of Computer Science & Engineering. He is broadly interested in emerging consumer technologies such as virtual and augmented reality, with an eye towards the security and privacy challenges they present.
Lassana Magassa
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Lassana Magassa was a Postdoctoral Scholar and earned a Ph.D. from the UW Information School. His research explores how different modes of social control impact people’s perceptions and uses of technology. He is also interested in understanding the effect of digital inequalities on segments of the general population.
Peter Ney
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Peter Ney earned his Ph.D. from the Allen School of Computer Science & Engineering. As a postdoctoral researcher, he is a member of the Security and Privacy Lab, where he works to measure surveillance and build secure systems that enhance user privacy. He is also interested in studying the privacy impacts of machine learning and biosecurity.
Katherine Pratt
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Katherine Pratt received her Ph.D. in Electrical Engineering from the University of Washington. She is interested in neural security and eliciting personal information as it relates to non-invasive brain-computer interfaces.
Anna Kornfeld Simpson
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Anna Kornfeld Simpson is a Ph.D. student in Computer Science. She is interested in building secure systems that offer users more control over their privacy, and believes an understanding of policy is essential for making these systems secure and effective.