The University of Washington recognized three students from the Information School among the 2024 Husky 100, awarded to undergraduate and graduate students making the most out of their Husky experience.
Now in its ninth year, the Husky 100 celebrates students who have demonstrated excellence inside the classroom and beyond, showing a commitment to a set of criteria that include leadership, engagement and community impact.
The iSchool honorees this year include two students from the Bachelor of Science in Informatics program and one Master of Science in Information Management (MSIM) student. The students will be given exclusive networking opportunities along with access to support and engagement opportunities within the UW and professionally.
Thomas Emnetu, a third-year Informatics student with a focus on human-computer interaction, was thrilled to be a recipient. “It’s an honor to have my work be recognized," he said. "It’s a feeling I can’t quite describe, but it’s one of those things that further motivates me to strive for positive social change.”
He is pursuing his passion at the intersection of people, technology, and information through his UX Design Internship with UW-IT. In this role, he is working to troubleshoot and improve student-facing systems. He is also the founder and president of the student organization Black in Informatics (BINFO). After recognizing the underrepresentation of Black students on campus and within the iSchool, he founded BINFO to provide them with a source of community and support. He has also been engaged in policy advocacy on campus, working closely with various iSchool boards to help inform goals to increase representation for traditionally underserved students.
“Throughout my UW journey, whether founding BINFO or in my UX internship, I have consistently found myself applying the skills and design processes that I have learned in my iSchool classes,” he said. “I am grateful for the knowledge and support I have gained along the way that has allowed me to do the work I’m doing and to be in a position to uplift future generations of students.”
JP Lopez Garcia is a fourth-year Informatics major from Philadelphia. With an interest in public health and technology, Lopez has been involved in several related research projects on campus. His most recent position was working with the research start-up Caregiving for Caregivers Online to develop a multilingual AI-assisted chatbot for caregivers to help them manage the stress of caregiving while also allowing them to care for their own health. Lopez aims to harness his identity as a first-generation Latino student as a source of empowerment in his research. Last year, he worked alongside Maggie Ramirez, an assistant professor in Health Systems and Population Health, to develop digital tools and interventions designed to help Latinx caregivers care for patients with dementia. Lopez was also involved with the UnBIASED Project, analyzing and identifying ways of mitigating biases in patient-provider interactions with technologies.
“Coming into the UW, I knew I was interested in social justice, recognizing that one of the most essential forms of social justice is health and human well-being,” said Lopez. “But being at the iSchool has allowed me to take my interest in public health even further by learning about ways I can design and improve technologies to provide inclusive and effective health solutions for marginalized communities.”
Adrian Lavergne is an MSIM student making the most of his Husky experience by blending his passions for human-computer interaction and policy advocacy. As legislative organizing director for the Graduate and Professional Student Senate (GPSS), Lavergne is representing graduate students' interests while balancing military duty obligations. His advocacy stems from his experiences as a first-generation student, navigating higher education with the support of Washington state policies. Through GPSS, he hopes to ensure students have access to the state and university policies that can help support them. Drawn to the iSchool for its interdisciplinary approach and diverse curriculum, Lavergne envisions a future where he can leverage his policy background and technical skill set to create transformative experiences in design and robotics.
“The iSchool has provided me with the knowledge and skill set to apply design to enhance the human experience,” said Lavergne. “It has been amazing to work on assistive robots and leverage my knowledge to help people with disabilities through technology. The possibility of being able to continue helping people in the future through a field that I love is what excites me.”
In addition, iSchool Communications Assistant Shanzay Shabi is among this year’s Husky 100 honorees. She is a Law, Societies, and Justice and Political Science double major and Informatics minor who is drawn to the intersection of technology and fairness. She will graduate in June with plans to attend law school and pursue a career in regulating ethical AI. Among her many accomplishments at the UW include an indelible contribution to the iSchool’s communications and storytelling effort.