Sea-Tac ramps up disinfection efforts as holiday travel season approaches, protein design and physics earn UW professors pair of prestigious breakthrough prizes, and more from this week’s Seattle in the Spotlight.

Sea-Tac Ramps Up Disinfection Efforts as Holiday Travel Season Approaches

Puget Sound Business Journal | Andrew McIntosh | September 10

https://www.bizjournals.com/seattle/news/2020/09/10/sea-tac-airport-covid19-disnfection-efforts-2020.html

“Seattle-Tacoma International Airport is boosting its disinfecting efforts, as the nation approaches peak travel periods for the holiday season in November and December. More intense cleaning and disinfection measures have been adopted as part of the airport’s action plan to protect travelers’ health and well-being and keep thousands of airport workers safe, including Transportation Security Administration (TSA) security checkpoint screeners. “A clean facility is necessary for a clean bill of health,” Sea-Tac Managing Director Lance Lyttle said in a statement. “Enhanced cleaning means we doubled down with more elbow grease, brought in medical grade disinfectants and invested in new cleaning technologies.”

Protein Design and Physics Earn UW Professors a Pair of Prestigious Breakthrough Prizes

GeekWire | Kurt Schlosser | September 10

https://www.geekwire.com/2020/protein-design-physics-earn-uw-professors-pair-prestigious-breakthrough-prizes/

“Researchers at the University of Washington working on both protein design and the understanding of gravity have been awarded the Breakthrough Prize in life sciences and fundamental physics. The so-called “world’s largest science prize,” announced Thursday, comes with a $3 million award. UW biochemist David Baker won one of four 2021 Breakthrough Prizes in Life Sciences for his work developing technology that allowed the design of proteins never seen before in nature, including novel proteins that have the potential for therapeutic intervention in human diseases.”

Seattle-Area Companies Join ‘The Board Challenge’ Pledging to Add Black Directors Within 12 Months

GeekWire | Lisa Stifflor | September 9

https://www.geekwire.com/2020/seattle-area-companies-join-board-challenge-pledging-add-black-directors-within-12-months/
“Seattle-area tech companies are joining a national movement to increase the diversity on U.S. corporate boards of directors by adding Black members. Companies including Accolade, Amperity, Heritage Environmental Services, RealSelf and Zillow are pledging to appoint at least one Black director to their boards within a year’s time. The effort, which officially kicks off Wednesday, is called The Board Challenge…More than 40 companies have come out in support.”