Making College “Worth It” – Season 3, Episode 3

In this episode, we explore the technical, ethical, and social complexities of using AI in engineering. We speak with Dr. Blake Hament, Assistant Professor of Engineering at Elon University, who shares an example of developing a voice-enabled robotic guide dog in close collaboration with members of the visually-impaired community. Our conversation also examines the long history of AI in engineering, illustrating that GenAI is an updated application of a longstanding technology.

View a transcript of this episode.

Meet our Guest

Professor Blake Hament is an Assistant Professor of Engineering at Elon University. He received a B.S. in Physics from Duke University and served as a research assistant at the European Center for Nuclear Research (CERN). After his undergraduate studies, Blake joined Teach for America, served as a robotics coach, and earned his M.Ed. in Science Education from University of Nevada, Las Vegas. He earned his Ph.D. with the Mechanical Engineering Department at University of Nevada, Las Vegas while conducting R&D with companies like Tesla, Lockheed Martin, Boston Dynamics, and local aerospace and robotics startups. Blake was awarded a US Congressional Commendation and a US Department of Transportation Outstanding Student of the Year award for these contributions. At Elon, Blake has been working to build bridges with other disciplines, with projects like Musical Theatre Robotics and UAV for Stormwater Sampling. 

Episode Credits

This episode is co-hosted by Jessie L. Moore, Director of Elon University’s Center for Engaged Learning, and Nolan Schultheis, a third-year student at Elon University, studying Psychology with an interest in law. Nolan Schultheis also edited the episode.

Episode art was created by Nolan Schultheis and Jennie Goforth. 

Funky Percussions is by Denys Kyshchuk (@audiocoffeemusic) – https://www.audiocoffee.net/. Soft Beat is by ComaStudio. 

Making College “Worth It” is produced by Elon University’s Center for Engaged Learning. 

Explore Resources Related to The Episode

Keefe, Amalie J., and Blake Hament. 2024. “Artificial Intelligence (AI) Voice Module for Robotic Service Dog.” IEEE Xplore 2024 Systems and Information Engineering Design Symposium (SIEDS). https://doi.org/10.1109/SIEDS61124.2024.10534692

Dr. Hament’s Google Scholar page – https://scholar.google.com/citations?user=CQNe4WcAAAAJ&hl=en

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