Welcoming new faculty to the School of STEM
The University of Washington Bothell School of STEM is excited to announce the arrival of several distinguished faculty members who bring a diverse range of expertise and a commitment to advancing education and research.
Konpal Ali
Assistant Professor
Division of Engineering & Mathematics – Electrical Engineering
Dr. Konpal Ali earned a Ph.D. in electrical engineering from King Abdullah University of Science and Technology. Before joining the University of Washington Bothell, she was a postdoc at the University of Manitoba and then at New York University (NYU) Abu Dhabi.
Research focus:
Performance analysis, optimization and design of large wireless networks that accurately model real-world networks.
Courses:
EE 341A Discrete Time Linear Systems
EE 517A Wireless Communications I
EE 235A Continuous Time Linear Systems
EE 518A Wireless Communications II
Miguel Balzan
Assistant Teaching Professor
Division of Engineering & Mathematics – Mechanical Engineering
Dr. Miguel Balzan is a mechanical engineer with a Ph.D. from the University of Alberta, specializing in fluid dynamics. With over 15 years of teaching and industry experience, he has collaborated with energy companies on improving fluid handling processes.
Research focus:
Complex fluid behaviors, including effervescent atomization and drop impacts.
Courses:
B ME 331 Thermodynamics
B ME 435 HVAC
B ME 223 Engineering Dynamics
B ENGR 321 & B ME 334 Laboratories in Mechanical Engineering
Dharma Dailey
Assistant Teaching Professor
Division of Computing & Software Systems
Dr. Dailey earned her Ph.D. in Human Centered Design & Engineering from the University of Washington College of Engineering. She has taught part-time in the School of STEM since 2021. Having mentored over 20 data science teams, she emphasizes the integration of human-centered practices to improve processes and results.
Research focus:
Investigating collaborations between professional software engineers and scientists at the Scientific Software Engineer Center at UW, while also organizing workshops for data science educators to exchange strategies for teaching Data for Good. Additionally, she supports digital equity projects in Washington state.
Courses:
CSS 142 Intro to Computer Programming I
CSS 478 Usability and User-Centered Design
Elizabeth Field
Assistant Professor
Division of Engineering & Mathematics – Mathematics
Dr. Elizabeth Field received her Ph.D. in Mathematics from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. She went on to work at the University of Utah where she was a National Science Foundation Postdoctoral Scholar.
Research focus:
Geometric group theory, geometric topology, and low-dimensional topology.
Courses:
MATH 300 Foundations of Modern Math
MATH 441 Topology
Elizabeth Ostrowski
Assistant Professor
Division of Biological Sciences
Dr. Ostrowski received her Ph.D. in Ecology and Evolutionary Biology from Michigan State University. Ostrowski will join UW Bothell in December from the University of Auckland, where she was a senior research fellow at the Liggins Institute. Ostrowski’s research background is in microbiology, evolutionary genetics and genomics. Her research combines studies of natural populations with laboratory evolution experiments that identify genetic changes in real-time.
Research focus:
Microbiology, evolutionary genetics and genomics.
Courses:
B BIO 375 Molecular Biology
B BIO 495 Investigative Biology
Han-Wei Shih
Assistant Professor
Division of Biological Sciences
Dr. Han-Wei Shih earned his Ph.D. in cell biology from Pennsylvania State University in 2015, focusing on cellular ion signaling in mechanosensing and gravity-sensing within the field of space biology. His postdoctoral research at the University of Washington Seattle explored signal sensing and transduction in cell differentiation and antibiotic resistance, specifically in the protozoan parasite Giardia.
Research focus:
Molecular mechanisms regulating encystation and antibiotic resistance.
Courses:
B BIO 375 Molecular Biology
B BIO 495 Investigative Biology
Jeff Stride
Assistant Teaching Professor
Division of Computing & Software Systems
Jeff Stride earned his M.S. in computer science from University of California Santa Barbara. began his career at Microsoft, where he spent 22 years in various roles. He contributed to notable products like Microsoft Bob, which introduced Clippy, and spent eight years at MSN, where his teams launched the Home Page for 500 million users and revamped the Entertainment channel. After his time in industry, Jeff transitioned to education, teaching AP Computer Science through the TEALS program. In 2017, he joined North Creek High School, where he taught until the 2023-24 school year.
Courses:
CSS 143 Computer Programming II
CSS 360 Software Engineering
Madhava Vemuri
Assistant Professor
Division of Engineering & Mathematics – Electrical Engineering
Dr. Madhava Vemuri completed his Ph.D. in Electrical and Computer Engineering at North Dakota State University in 2024. During his Ph.D., he worked on developing frameworks and methodologies for studying the newer generation of chip design using beyond Moore technologies. He also investigated various circuit design and optimization techniques for advanced process nodes.
Research focus:
Monolithic Integration, Beyond Moore Technologies, On-chip Power Delivery, Edge Computing, Artificial Intelligence for IC design, Biomedical and Agricultural projects.
Courses:
EE 528 Computer Organization
EE 425 Microprocessor System Design
EE 525 Embedded System Design