Scott Hauck

Affiliation & Education

Scott Hauck is a Professor at the University of Washington's Department of Electrical & Computer Engineering and an Adjunct Professor in Computer Science & Engineering. He leads the Adaptive Computing Machines and Emulators (ACME) Lab. He earned his BS in EECS from UC Berkeley (1990), and MS/PhD in CSE from the University of Washington (1992/1995).

Research Focus

Dr. Hauck specializes in FPGA-based reconfigurable computing with applications in:

• Quantum Computing: FPGA controllers for trapped-ion quantum systems enabling precise laser control and quantum state readout.
• Medical Imaging: Portable radiation sensors for personalized cancer therapy and PET scanner enhancements.
• High-Energy Physics: FPGA readout systems for ATLAS pixel detectors at CERN's Large Hadron Collider.
• AI Acceleration: Real-time machine learning inference for scientific applications via projects like hls4ml.

His work bridges hardware innovation with computational physics, emphasizing real-time processing and low-latency systems.

Publication Trends

Recent research focuses on FPGA-accelerated machine learning for particle physics (e.g., transformer networks for LHC trigger systems) and quantum computing instrumentation. Earlier work established foundations in reconfigurable computing architectures and medical imaging electronics.

Awards & Recognition

• Distinguished Teaching Award, University of Washington (2010)

Advising & Funding

Leads the ACME Lab with extensive funding from NSF, DARPA, NIH, DOE, and industry partners including Intel, Xilinx, and Microsoft. Mentored over 30 MS/PhD students in VLSI, reconfigurable systems, and scientific computing.

Collaborations & Labs

Directs the ACME Lab (EE1-307), collaborating with UW Radiology (Prof. Robert Miyaoka), UW Physics (Prof. Shih-Chieh Hsu), and Drexel University (Prof. Josh Agar). Projects include quantum control systems, LHC readout electronics, and medical sensor networks.