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The University of Washington honored six students from the Information School in the 2026 . Awarded to graduate and undergraduate students making the most out of their time at the UW, the Husky 100 is celebrating its 10th anniversary. 

The Information School honorees consist of four Informatics students and two Ph.D. students. The recognition grants these students opportunities to expand their networks among the UW community, academically and professionally. 

Charles Bugre is a Ph.D. candidate researching the use of mobile technology in illiterate populations. In order to support these marginalized communities, he navigates interventions to leverage mobile technology opportunities. He plans to finish his Ph.D. this spring and seek a tenure-track professor role. 

His long-term goal is to establish a hands-on learning center for children in his home community in Ghana. Currently, Bugre volunteers at the Blessed Sacrament Catholic Church Food Bank along with mentoring prospective UW students. He supports his community in Ghana through mentoring and financially supporting education accessibility and water distribution.

Regarding his experience at the UW, Burge said, “My study here at the Information School is helping me to explore opportunities such as student leadership and extracurricular activities that I missed during my undergraduate studies.”

Senior Emily Hao is pursuing a double major in Informatics and Visual Communication Design. From her involvement in the Information School and the School of Art + Art History + Design, Hao has brought a balanced perspective to her work.

“Through the iSchool, I've gained a much more technical and research-driven understanding of design that I wouldn't necessarily focus on in my design coursework alone. It's influenced the way I approach problem-solving,” she said. 

Outside of the classroom, Hao is involved in  and  where she has designed branding, marketing and event materials for over two years. She said her involvement in the Information School has helped make her a better designer because she is able to acknowledge the ethical considerations and technologies behind her designs. Currently, Hao works as a design curatorial assistant at the Jacob Lawrence Gallery. 

Senior Kelis Hightower is majoring in Informatics. From an early age, she has been devoted to helping communities through education and accessibility. She values that the Information School allows her to exercise both her passion for social justice and her interest in technology.

“From early classes to my upper-level courses and Capstone, everything reinforced thinking about how technology impacts people, not just how to build it,” she said. She also values project-based learning in the Informatics program. She said having something tangible to show for her work allows her to form a deeper understanding of the impact of real-world applications.

Hightower is involved in the Sisterhood Initiative at the UW as a peer mentor. She also works as a TA and a leasing assistant for off-campus housing, further strengthening her ties to her community. Hightower hopes to continue growing, traveling and learning from different perspectives while still giving back to the community that shaped her. 

Senior Zoe Huang is majoring in Informatics with a focus on data science. She said her passions lie in teaching and she enjoys analyzing complex concepts to aid others’ understanding. With an interest in technology and data, Huang hopes to utilize these tools to improve people’s lives. She said the Information School has shaped how she views technology in real contexts.

“It taught me that building technology isn’t just about making something work technically,” she said. “It is also about understanding the people and communities it serves.” Huang is involved with several UW communities. 

She serves as social chair for the  and plays a role in the , in which she organizes programs that support the UW community. After graduation, Huang intends to continue her academics at Harvard University. Her long term goal is to pursue a career in education as a professor or establish her own company to create products that will bring a positive change in society. 

Shahan Ali Memon is a third-year Ph.D. candidate researching AI guidance and impact in science and education. Through the Information School, Memon has taught a data science course as a predoctoral instructor, which he says was a “rewarding (and humbling) experience.” 

Because of his experience at the Information School, he said, he is able to approach problem solving in new ways. “It has pushed me to think beyond purely quantitative approaches and also engage with qualitative and design methods, which has opened me up to entirely new bodies of literature and made my thinking and research much more creative,” Memon said.

Outside of the classroom, he has worked with Washington state’s Office of Superintendent of Public Instruction to assist in drafting AI guidance in K-12 education. He has also co-led the Information School Ph.D. applicant feedback program, supporting prospective students. Memon hopes to continue meaningful, impactful research, shaping policies and systems that boost education accessibility. 

Sanjana Pavani is a senior majoring in Informatics with a minor in Data Science. Passionate about creating positive impact through AI and data, she has helped design imaging tools that aid breast cancer diagnostics in disadvantaged clinics globally. Additionally, she has developed accessible keyboard technology to support the communication of individuals with motor impairments.

Pavani is grateful for all of the opportunities the Information School has granted her, including studying coursework and being a TA for . “These experiences helped me develop an interdisciplinary perspective across technology, cybersecurity, design and product while applying what I learned to real-world challenges,” she said. 

She plans to pursue her master’s and create AI systems that bring positive impact to decision making in health care and enterprise systems.