Navigating the Chasm between Curiosity- and Impact-Driven Research

Being in academia provides a unique opportunity to explore one's curiosity and build cool systems that advance human understanding of engineering and science. System researchers however also have a responsibility to build systems that can impact practice in the near-term and perhaps, even create a brand new industry. In my talk, I will focus on my efforts so far navigating this chasm between curiosity and impact driven research. Specifically, I will share two research themes I have been working on as an assistant professor at UW CSE, where what initially began as curiosity-driven projects were transformed by the urge to make immediate practical impact as well as be unique. In particular, I will first talk about our journey going from a science-driven project on ambient backscatter (Sigcomm'13) to building wireless backscatter systems that work reliably and address a key pain-point in the industry. Next, I will talk about how we shifted gears from working on wireless gesture recognition (WiSee, Mobicom'13) to addressing a medical need of millions of people in the United States that go undiagnosed from sleep apnea (ApneaApp, Mobisys'15) and our experience licensing our technology to a multi-national medical corporation. Finally, I will share my thoughts on how our research community can help us better navigate this chasm.