Faculty

Jon E. Froehlich is a Professor in Computer Science at the University of Washington (UW) and co-founder of Project Sidewalk, an open-source platform dedicated to mapping and assessing every sidewalk in the world using Human+AI techniques. His research in Human-Computer Interaction explores urban informatics, accessibility, and other high-value social domains.

At UW, Jon is Director of the Makeability Lab, Associate Director of the Center for Research and Education on Accessible Technology and Experience, and Faculty Chair of the Masters in HCI+Design program. His research has been recognized with 21 Best Paper and Honorable Mention awards, a Sloan Fellowship, the UW Distinguished Dissertation Award, and multiple Google Faculty Research Awards. Jon is also the author of an interactive textbook for Physical Computing that introduces microcontrollers, sensors and actuators, basic signal processing and machine learning, and more through project-based learning.

Jon was the General Chair of ASSETS’22, the premier academic conference in the design and evaluation of technology for people with disabilities. In 2021, he was selected for the UW College of Engineering Outstanding Faculty Award and, in 2022, the PacTrans Outstanding Researcher Award. From 2012-2017, Jon was an Assistant Professor in CS at the University of Maryland.