Presentation Title: From Experimentation to Infrastructure: How Universities Should Rebuild Research, Teaching, and Academic Culture in the Age of AI

Presentation Abstract:

This seminar offers an institution-level case discussion of how a university can navigate the rapid transition catalyzed by contemporary artificial intelligence, including generative systems and other automated reasoning tools. The talk synthesizes lessons from building AI-integrated programs, coordinating faculty and staff upskilling, and developing governance practices that address privacy, academic integrity, equity, and long-term sustainability. Rather than treating AI adoption as a set of isolated classroom experiments, the presentation frames the transition as a coordinated change-management problem spanning research workflows, curriculum architecture, assessment norms, and the culture of scholarly collaboration. The seminar also addresses tensions now appearing across campuses: uneven tool access, disciplinary differences in evidentiary standards, uncertainty around intellectual property, and the need to train students for hybrid human–AI work without eroding foundational literacies. The session concludes with a pragmatic framework for departments seeking to move from reactive experimentation to intentional strategy, emphasizing governance, faculty development, and research-centered evaluation of impact.

About the speaker:

James Hutson, PhD, PhD is a multidisciplinary scholar and academic leader specializing in artificial intelligence, higher education strategy, and interdisciplinary research transformation. He holds a PhD in Artificial Intelligence, alongside advanced training in the humanities, and serves as Department Head of Art History, AI, and Visual Culture at Lindenwood University, where he leads institution-wide initiatives integrating AI across research, teaching, and academic governance. His work focuses on how generative and decision-support systems reshape scholarly workflows, curriculum design, faculty development, and institutional policy, with particular attention to ethical deployment, transparency, and long-term sustainability. Hutson is the author and editor of multiple books and peer-reviewed publications on artificial intelligence in education, research, and culture, and he regularly advises universities, public agencies, and industry partners on navigating the organizational and cultural transitions associated with AI adoption.

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Presentation Title: The Stuff Between Cortex and Muscles

Presentation Abstract:

The mechanical complexities of vertebrate musculoskeletal systems have been extensively modeled. How those complexities are addressed by the many subsystems of the vertebrate nervous system remains unclear. Those subsystems emerged at different points of phylogenetic evolution and they develop at different times during individual ontogeny; nevertheless, they must all work together in the adult. Any attempt to interpret anatomical or physiological data from any of them involves implicit assumptions about the role of the others – a theory of computation. By studying very fast tasks like catching an unpredictable object, we have identified that subcortical systems are performing computations normally ascribed to cerebral cortex. By modeling the fetal self-organization of subcortical circuits, we have obtained insights into how that capability arises.

About the speaker:

Gerald Loeb is Professor of Biomedical Engineering and Director of the Medical Device Development Facility at the University of Southern California.

He received B.A. and M.D. degrees from Johns Hopkins University and surgical training at the University of Arizona. From 1973 to 1988, he was an intramural research scientist and Chief of the Section on Neurokinesiology in the Laboratory of Neural Control at the National Institutes of Health. He was Professor of Physiology and Director of the Biomedical Engineering Unit at Queen’s University in Kingston, Canada, until 1999.

Dr. Loeb’s research has alternated between basic research in musculoskeletal mechanics and sensorimotor control and applied research on implantable electronic devices, particularly neural prostheses. He has published over 400 articles (most available at http://mddf.usc.edu) and is an inventor on over 75 issued US patents. He is a Fellow of the National Academy of Inventors, served as Chief Scientist to Advanced Bionics Corp. and was a founding director of SynTouch Inc., designated a Technology Pioneer by the World Economic Forum.

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Presentation Title: Assembling and Disassembling Solids using Collective Action

Presentation Abstract:

Swarm robotics is a promising methodology for accomplishing complicated tasks through the collective behavior of multiple active units. Interactions between active individuals in animal collectives (like fire ants and worms) lead to emergent responses that remain elusive in synthetic systems. In this talk, I present shape-morphing polymers as a framework to create bio-inspired transient swarms that can self-assemble into a stable solid structure, modulate their mechanical properties, and disassemble on demand. The solids are composed of aggregates of many magnetic, heat-responsive liquid crystal elastomer ribbons. Dilute-suspensions of curved and moving ribbons mechanically interlock, inducing reversible aggregation. The degree of bend and twist of the ribbon and the motion of the ribbon in a rotating external field control how ribbons interact with one another. A mathematical model is developed that sheds light on the role of topological mechanisms in aggregation. The ribbon suspensions reversibly transition between fluid- and solid-like states, exhibiting up to 6 orders-of-magnitude increase in the storage moduli of the entangled aggregates compared with the liquid dispersions. Subsequent heating resulted in a 2-fold increase in both stiffness and yield stress. Controlled dissociation is induced by imparting kinetic energy to the individual ribbons at high magnetic field rotation speeds. Study results provide insights that can lead to advancements in control and task programming of such swarming systems, specifically, by designing mechanical and chemo-mechanical switches for system manipulation. Imparting dynamic collective behaviors into synthetic systems may enable a range of potential applications from autonomous bio-inspired soft robotics to injectable biomaterials.

About the speaker:

Dr. Asaf Dana is an assistant professor in the Department of Mechanical and Materials Engineering at the University of Nebraska – Lincoln. His research focuses on developing soft stimuli-responsive material platforms for applications in tissue engineering, soft robotics and materials processing. Dr. Dana received his Ph.D. (2022) from the Department of Mechanical Engineering at the Technion – Israel Institute of Technology, focusing on the design of a previously unaccessed high-rate actuation mode of shape memory alloys. His research interests include the mechanics of responsive materials with emphasis on processes involving phase transitions in fabrication and actuation. In his research, he develops new experimental systems and methods to study the fundamental relations between microstructural evolution and macro-scale response and employs this knowledge for the development of new engineering design tools for smart and responsive systems.

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