STEM-Talk: Mark Mattson on the brain’s most important neurotransmitter

The Godfather of Intermittent Fasting is back on STEM-Talk.

Dr. Mark Mattson is back for a third appearance on STEM-Talk. His first two interviews focused on the many ways that fasting optimizes healthspan and lifespan.

This time we shift gears to talk about Mattson’s work on glutamate following the publication of his new book, “Sculptor and Destroyer: Tales of Glutamate – The Brain’s Most Important Neurotransmitter.” The episode is available now on our website and wherever you listen to podcasts.

More than 90 percent of the neurons in the brain deploy the little-known molecule glutamate as their neurotransmitter. Glutamate also controls the structure and function of the brain’s neuronal networks and mediates many of our human capabilities, such as learning and memory, creativity and imagination.

But there’s also a dark side to glutamate.

Mattson shares how subtle aberrancies in the activity of neurons can deploy glutamate in such a way that it can cause disorders such as autism and schizophrenia and epilepsy as well as diseases such as Alzheimer’s and Parkinson’s and ALS.

You won’t want to miss this conversation with includes:

• Why Mattson feels his research on glutamate is his most important, given his substantial contributions in other areas such as intermittent fasting.
• His motivation to understand how the pieces of the ‘brain puzzle’ fit together and how that desire has fueled his broad scope of research.
• Why historically, researchers largely ignored the possibility that glutamate was a neurotransmitter and how a Japanese professor during World War II demonstrated that glutamate could excite neurons.
• And much, much more.

After receiving his doctorate from the University of Iowa, Mark did his postdoc research at Colorado State University and then took position at the University of Kentucky to establish his own lab and independent research program. In 2000, the National Institute of Aging recruited Mark to head its neuroscience laboratory. He spent almost 20 years there and today and is on the neuroscience faculty at Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine.

Review Mark’s previous STEM-Talks here in Episode 7, and here in Episode 133.

IHMC is a not-for-profit research institute of the Florida University System where researchers pioneer science and technology aimed at leveraging and extending human capabilities. IHMC researchers and staff collaborate extensively with the government, industry and academia to help develop breakthrough technologies. IHMC research partners have included: DARPA, the National Science Foundation, NASA, Army, Navy, Air Force, National Institutes of Health, IBM, Microsoft, Honda, Boeing, Lockheed, and many others.

 

 

 

IHMC Newsletter highlights human-machine teaming research and more

The latest edition of IHMC’s newsletter is now available, highlighting the work of our incredibly talented team.

Among the features in this issue is the work of Senior Research Scientist Dr. Matt Johnson, one of IHMC’s leaders in the human-machine teaming, working on technologies that can be applied in domains including disaster response, space applications, aviation, and military operations.

Johnson’s research into making human-machine teams more flexible, resilient, and effective also falls under this umbrella. Projects such as those Johnson is currently leading include using virtually reality, simulations and other tools to build training platforms to improve collaboration between humans and their machine partners.

“AI comes in a lot of flavors,” Johnson says. “It’s very broad, and IHMC’s been involved from the beginning with the different approaches.”

The newsletter, available here, also features:

• Research on how the Internet of Things could be applied to benefit military operators, disaster response and the like.
• An IHMC-designed haptic sensor in flight gloves that could make it easier for flight crew to operate safely in extreme environments.
• Our partnership with the American Magic yacht racing team.
• An update on construction of the $40 million Healthspan, Resilience, and Performance research complex, due to be completed later this year.
• Recaps of Science Saturdays, Robots Camp and other community outreach efforts.
• And much more.

IHMC is a not-for-profit research institute of the Florida University System where researchers pioneer science and technology aimed at leveraging and extending human capabilities. IHMC researchers and staff collaborate extensively with the government, industry and academia to help develop breakthrough technologies. IHMC research partners have included: DARPA, the National Science Foundation, NASA, Army, Navy, Air Force, National Institutes of Health, IBM, Microsoft, Honda, Boeing, Lockheed, and many others.

STEM-Talk: Marc Hamilton on the metabolic power behind the soleus push-up

Dr. Marc Hamilton has published pioneering work on the soleus push-up, a potent physiological method with the ability to elevate metabolism for hours, even while sitting.

Hamilton is well-known for a string of papers beginning in early 2000’s that found excessive sitting should be viewed as a serious health hazard.

In Episode 161 of STEM-Talk, available now on all podcast platforms, Hamilton shares his scientific evolution during a conversation with IHMC’s founder Dr. Ken Ford and Dr. Marcas Bamman, IHMC’s Director of Healthspan, Resilience, and Performance Research. Hamilton is a a professor of Health and Human Performance at the University of Houston.

Today’s interview is wide-ranging and covers:

• The inspiration his childhood history of hunting and studying animal biology had for his affinity for the real-world scientific problems he works on today.
• His work beginning in the early 2000s about how long periods of inactivity impact lipoprotein lipase regulation.
• How he came to the conclusion that excessive sitting should be considered a serious health hazard.
• How the study of the soleus muscle and its function evolved.
• What proper activation of the soleus muscle looks like and what it’s impacts can be.
• What’s next for Hamilton and his team.

Learn more about the soleus push-up, the science behind it, Hamilton and his lab.

IHMC is a not-for-profit research institute of the Florida University System where researchers pioneer science and technology aimed at leveraging and extending human capabilities. IHMC researchers and staff collaborate extensively with the government, industry and academia to help develop breakthrough technologies. IHMC research partners have included: DARPA, the National Science Foundation, NASA, Army, Navy, Air Force, National Institutes of Health, IBM, Microsoft, Honda, Boeing, Lockheed, and many others.

Science Saturdays welcome students with new sessions in 2024

Science Saturdays are back and ready to turn on new scientific minds in 2024.

These 90-minute educational enrichment sessions are a cornerstone piece of community outreach at Florida Institute for Human and Machine Cognition (IHMC). Topics in 2024 will include balloon cars, secret codes, genetics, the science of design, and more. The sessions are free to the families who attend, thanks to the support of community partners.

Science Saturdays is entering its 16^th year, and in the 2022-2023 school, more than 300 students attended the series, said Dr. Ursula Schwuttke, director of educational outreach for IHMC.

“Science Saturdays is one of the original community outreach efforts IHMC undertook,” Schwuttke said. “Our commitment to helping build future scientists, engineers and critical thinkers is integral to who we are as an organization. We have a great lineup of sessions coming to round out the 2023-2024 school year and we can’t wait to get to work.”

Sponsors for the 2023-2024 series in Pensacola include NextEra Energy Foundation/Florida Power & Light, Florida Blue Foundation, the Escambia County Sherriff’s Office (with Law Enforcement Trust Fund monies), and Cox.

Ocala supporters also include Lockheed Martin, Florida Blue Foundation, Cox, Ron and Phyllis Ewers, Eleanor and Gary Simons, and Ocala Electric Utility.

SCIENCE SATURDAY SPRING SCHEDULE

Use this link to stay up to date on dates and topics for these sessions. And share the link with friends with children in grades 3-6 https://www.ihmc.us/life/science_saturdays/

Pensacola Sessions

Jan. 20: Dr. Gwen Bryan, Balloon Cars.

Feb. 24: Dr. Jeff Phillips, Secret Codes.

March 23: Dr. Marcas Bamman, What Genes Are You Wearing?

April 27: Teresa Dos Santos and Blu Salmon, Science of Design.

Ocala Sessions

Jan. 6: Scott Weeks, Florida Engineering Society, Bridges.

Feb. 10: Dr. Archna Bhatia, More Computer Game Design.

March 9: Dr. Peter Polack, Ocala Eye, Vision and Optical Illusions.

April 6: TBA.

IHMC is a not-for-profit research institute of the Florida University System where researchers pioneer science and technology aimed at leveraging and extending human capabilities. IHMC researchers and staff collaborate extensively with the government, industry, and academia to conduct ground-breaking science and develop breakthrough technologies. IHMC research partners have included: DARPA, the National Science Foundation, NASA, Army, Navy, Air Force, National Institutes of Health, IBM, Microsoft, Honda, Boeing, Lockheed, and many others.

Evening Lecture series kicks off 2024 highlighting power of Internet of Things

You used the Internet of Things (IoT) today even if you didn’t realize it.

The GPS mapping tools that guided your commute, the traffic cameras that alerted you to a traffic delay or nabbed a red-light-runner, the smart-home devices that locked your front door, turned off the lights, and told you the weather — all are part of the IoT.

It’s likely that any errand you ran this week used these networked sensors to communicate and share data as part of a wide array of everyday things that exchange information, sense the environment, and act upon the environment.

The data gathered and analyzed by IoT has a range of applications for both military and civilian life, and IHMC’s Associate Director Dr. Niranjan Suri is among the leaders researching how this data trove could be leveraged. He kicks off the 2024 IHMC Evening Lecture Series with a talk highlighting this research area on Jan. 18. Reserve your seat here.

Throughout his career, Suri’s research has focused on networking, communications, distributed systems, information management, interoperability, Internet of Things (IoT), and the application of machine learning to all of those domains.

“They can essentially create a smarter thing, a smarter home, a smarter military — even a smarter city,” Suri said.

For several years, Suri and his team have investigated the ways the military community could utilize this publicly available, free data from the civilian IoT. Suri and his team also have considered how the military version of the IoT— the Internet of Military Things (IoMT) — could be maximized to improve logistics and protect the safety of our nation’s warfighters.

Public data treasure chest

Civilian IoT is a rich source of data with wide applications, some currently in use, some still in the idea phase:

— Cities increasingly are offering services that can tell you things like where you can park your car, when the next public bus, train, or subway is coming, or if there are delays and suggest alternate routes.

— Cities are using IoT sensors to create a real-time picture of the environment by tracking air quality, temperature, noise pollution, and ultraviolet radiation.

— Electrical grids can use IoT to monitor power consumption, balance uploads, and anticipate where there might be problems upcoming.

— Connected cars could use IoT so that the car in front of you talks to the car behind you about roadway conditions, so maybe your car can avoid the bump or the road hazard that the car in front of you went over.

“Sometimes it is behind the scenes. Sometimes you actually interact with it,” Suri said.

Networked sensors are part of a wide array of everyday things that exchange information, sense the environment, and act upon the environment. The data gathered and analyzed by the IOT has a range of applications for both military and civilian life.

“They can essentially create a smarter thing, a smarter home, a smarter military, even a smarter city,” Suri said.

For several years, Suri and his team have investigated the ways that the military community could tap into this trove of civilian data, much of which is free, and publicly available. Suri and his team also have considered how the military version of the IOT — the Internet of Military Things (IOMT) — could be maximized to improve logistics and protect the safety of our nation’s warfighters.

Military applications of IOT

Suri also has worked for several years on projects with IOT for military applications.

Beginning in 2014, Suri co-chaired a North Atltantic Treaty Organization (NATO) coalition of subject matter experts and thought leaders looking at all the military domains — logistics, automatic monitoring of equipment, health and wellness of soldiers, information gathering and sensing of the environment of cities — with an eye toward how to make civilian IoT data available to warfighters conducting humanitarian or military missions.

One exercise leveraged a real-world smart city’s IoT infrastructure to model a scenario in which the military has been called in to aid in disaster recovery.

Another exercise tackled finding the quickest route from an embassy to a train station with an injured person using IoT infused with edge computing to process video feeds to distinguish between military and civilian vehicles, people, and other hazards along the route.

“All of this information can come very quickly and helps you improve your situation awareness,” Suri said. “One of the major thrusts of our goal is to improve the situation awareness of these operators.”

The Internet of Battlefield Things

IHMC also supports a program with the U.S. Army that for the last six years has funded basic research into understanding how the Internet of Battlefield Things (IoBT) can be maximized to manage resources and keep servicemembers out of harm’s way.

One COVID-19-era innovation from this program — the Distributed Virtual Proving Ground — is having impact well beyond its origins as a workaround to travel restrictions in the pandemic era.

What was once limited to an annual in-person gathering of experts to test new ideas is now, with IHMC as a hub, a virtual testing network that supports distributed experimentation year-round, Suri said.

“Now we experiment year-round, just continuously doing this kind of testing and evaluation,” he said. “It has improved outcomes in every way imaginable.”

Daniel Duran is a Senior Research Associate who began his IHMC career as an intern in 2011. His past work has included developing computer vision algorithms to autonomously detect from high altitudes downed human pilots in the Australian Outback. He also designed and built a GPS-guided system used to deliver an emergency response payload to the pilots autonomously.

About a year and a half ago, he and the IHMC team began work on a threat detection system that could provide a lower-cost initial line of defense for critical infrastructure as well as for military personnel.

These networked sensors have five to 10 different sensing modalities, including tracking light, temperature, motion, even the ability to track chemical, biological, radiological, nuclear, and explosive (CBRNE) exposures.

“You can imagine how you might these around critical infrastructure like a military base or power plants or an airport, so that you can very quickly assess a situation,” Duran said.

This entirely autonomous system feeds data to the command center and to a warfighter in the field.

“So you can have a first-responder like a police officer, firefighter, or a warfighter simply attaching this to (their person) and they’re good to go,” Duran said. “And you can monitor their health and the threats around them very carefully from different distances.”

The wearable version of the device has additional applications in the field that are still being explored, Duran said. It is an innovation that could save time, money, and potentially lives.

Existing sensor technology in use is complicated and expensive — anywhere from $10,000 to $100,000 per sensor. These devices can sense anywhere from five to 10 different modalities in a single sensor for less than $100 each.

“The whole point of this technology is to complement already existing technologies,” Duran said. “We want not just to develop the framework itself, but also to miniaturize and develop the sensor technology to make it cheaper and more effective for usage on the field.”

IHMC is a not-for-profit research institute of the Florida University System where researchers pioneer science and technology aimed at leveraging and extending human capabilities. IHMC researchers and staff collaborate extensively with the government, industry, and academia to conduct ground-breaking science and develop breakthrough technologies. IHMC research partners have included: DARPA, the National Science Foundation, NASA, Army, Navy, Air Force, National Institutes of Health, IBM, Microsoft, Honda, Boeing, Lockheed, and many others.

STEM-Talk: Sten Stray-Gundersen on blood-flow restriction training and cardiovascular exercise physiology

This episode of STEM-Talk has a generational twist.

Dr. Sten Stray-Gundersen is our guest on Episode 161 which is now available on all podcast platforms and on our website. The conversation covers Sten’s research on blood-flow restriction training and cardiovascular exercise physiology. It’s a subject that Sten’s father, the late Jim Stray-Gundersen, pioneered in the United States. Jim was our guest on Episode 34 of STEM-Talk.

Sten is a post-doctoral research associate at the University of South Carolina and is an adjunct instructor at the university’s Arnold School of Public Health. Prior to his position at South Carolina, Sten was a teaching assistant at the University of Texas, where he earned his Ph.D.

The conversation with Dr. Ken Ford, IHMC’s founder and CEO, and Dr. Marcas Bamman, Senior Research Scientist at IHMC, includes the documented benefits of blood-flow restriction and how it not only increases muscle strength, but also improves endurance and reduces the risk of injury. Sten also talks about his research into hypoxia and endothelial function.

We also discuss:

• The influence of family on Sten’s athletic and career path.
• Sten’s experience trying blood-flow restriction (BFR) for the first time with his father.
• How blood flow restriction (BFR) training impacts training, muscle response, fitness, and endurance.
• How BFR’s different protocols of BFR can be implemented to yield different effects in the contexts of resistance training and aerobic training.
• A detailed discussion of the different approaches to BFR, each with tradeoffs. We also explore the differences in BFR for an elite athlete looking to gain a fractional advantage, versus a middle-aged or older person aiming to incorporate BFR to improve their health and functionality.
• Kaatsu, the original version of BFR, has been practiced in Japan for more than 30 years with a very low rate of serious complications. Ken mentions that for those listeners interested in Kaatsu, they should listen to Sten’s father’s interview on STEM-Talk episode 34.

IHMC is a not-for-profit research institute of the Florida University System where researchers pioneer science and technology aimed at leveraging and extending human capabilities. IHMC researchers and staff collaborate extensively with the government, industry and academia to help develop breakthrough technologies. IHMC research partners have included: DARPA, the National Science Foundation, NASA, Army, Navy, Air Force, National Institutes of Health, IBM, Microsoft, Honda, Boeing, Lockheed, and many others.

 

STEM-Talk: Euan Ashley on precision medicine’s potential to predict, prevent and diagnose diseases

STEM-Talk episode 160 featuring a conversation with a pioneer in the use of genomic sequencing is now available on IHMC’s website, podcast apps and YouTube.

Dr. Euan Ashley is a professor of cardiology and genetics at Stanford University in California who
is developing new technologies to solve some of the most puzzling medical mysteries that people face today. He is helping pioneer medical genomics, as well as the precision medicine that it will enable, that has the potential to predict, prevent, and diagnose many common (and uncommon) diseases.

In today’s interview, Dr. Ken Ford and his co-host Dr. Dawn Kernagis talk to Euan about:

— His work with a colleague who was just the fifth person in the world to have his genome sequenced.
— Precision medicine and how Euan has helped establish medical genomics.
— How Euan and his colleagues set the Guinness World Record for the fastest genomic diagnosis.
— Technological advances that made sequencing cost-effective for individuals.
— How pathogenic labels will transform healthcare.
— The Undiagnosed Disease Network, which includes physicians from across the country who work with patients and families to solve medical mysteries.
— Research coming out of Euan’s lab that shows how all forms of exercise, particularly endurance exercise, confer benefits across all domains of health and function.

Euan, who was born and raised in Scotland, led the team that conducted the first clinical interpretation of the human genome. He is associate dean of Stanford’s School of Medicine and the author of The Genome Odyssey: Medical Mysteries and the Incredible Quest to Solve Them.

IHMC is a not-for-profit research institute of the Florida University System where researchers pioneer science and technology aimed at leveraging and extending human capabilities. IHMC researchers and staff collaborate extensively with the government, industry and academia to help develop breakthrough technologies. IHMC research partners have included: DARPA, the National Science Foundation, NASA, Army, Navy, Air Force, National Institutes of Health, IBM, Microsoft, Honda, Boeing, Lockheed, and many others.

 

IHMC earns HIRE Vets award for commitment to hiring veterans

U.S. Acting Secretary of Labor Julie A. Su recognized the Florida Institute for Human & Machine Cognition as a recipient of the 2023 HIRE Vets Medallion Award during a virtual award ceremony on Nov. 8, 2023.

The Honoring Investments in Recruiting and Employing American Military Veterans Act (HIRE Vets Act) Medallion Program is the only federal award program that recognizes employers who successfully recruit, hire, and retain veterans. IHMC also won the award in 2021.

IHMC joins a select group of companies and organizations across the country recognized for hiring veterans and providing them with career opportunities that take advantage of the diverse skills they acquired during military service.

“We know very well the commitment to excellence and dedication that members of our military community bring to everything they do,” said IHMC founder and CEO Ken Ford.

Between its Pensacola and Ocala branches, nearly 14.8% of IHMC’s new hires last year were veterans, according to Associate General Counsel Stephanie Tillery Rothfeder, who coordinated IHMC’s submission for the award.

“We are honored to win this prestigious award for the second time in three years,” Rothfeder said.

To be considered for the award, an entity must meet a 7% hiring requirement, and we greatly exceeded that high standard,” she said. IHMC’s hiring and retention percentages demonstrate that the institute values veterans and provides them ample support and resources.

Recipients of the 2023 HIRE Vets Medallion Award meet rigorous employment and veteran integration assistance criteria, including veteran hiring and retention percentages; availability of veteran-specific resources; leadership programming for veterans; dedicated human resource efforts; pay compensation and tuition assistance programs for veterans.

IHMC is a not-for-profit research institute of the Florida University System where researchers pioneer science and technology aimed at leveraging and extending human capabilities. IHMC researchers and staff collaborate extensively with the government, industry, and academia to conduct ground-breaking science and develop breakthrough technologies. IHMC research partners have included: DARPA, the National Science Foundation, NASA, Army, Navy, Air Force, National Institutes of Health, IBM, Microsoft, Honda, Boeing, Lockheed, and many others.

STEM-Talk: An “Ask Me Anything” episode that covers AI, therapeutic ketosis, and more

STEM-Talk covers a wide array of topics, but there is a theme that our podcast returns to often — the role that mentorship plays in the lives of our guests. And our hosts.

Episode 159 of STEM-Talk — an “Ask Me Anything” episode where listeners ask Ken and Dawn to weigh in on a number of topics — brought up the question from a listener for Dr. Ken Ford, host and IHMC’s founder and CEO, about the mentors who have most profoundly influenced him. The episode is available now on podcast apps, YouTube and on IHMC’s website.

Dozens of STEM-Talk guests have spoken about a teacher, a coach, parent, or professor whose advice and support were critical to their development and career. Ken shared that his parents and his wife, Nancy, are his most profound influences. He also shares a little about another figure whose advice still rings true for him: Arthur Kershaw, legendary wrestling coach at East Greenwich High School, in East Greenwich, R.I.

“He was in a class by himself as builder of character in young men,” Ken says. “In many ways he was the best teacher of all. His lessons were important and they have lasted a lifetime. Coach Kershaw’s counsel often boomed across the gym in simple language. ‘Don’t be a knucklehead.’ ‘Don’t be a dumbbell.’ Or the classic, ‘Get off your back.'”

“Life gives us each many opportunities to be a knucklehead. Or not. And many opportunities to get off our backs. Or not. Though I had great mentors as a scientist and throughout my life, some of these early experiences shape a person in a way the latter ones really can’t. Some lessons last longer than others. Coach Kershaw’s lessons lasted the longest.”

It’s nice note upon which to close the episode, which covers a lot of ground on topics from AI, chat bots, therapeutic ketosis, kratom, and much more.

Ken, who is Fellow of the Association for the Advancement of Artificial Intelligence, answered several questions about the future of AI, Chat GPT, and whether AI might one day be able to do a better job of writing fact-based news stories than humans.

Other questions included:

• The competing recommendations for the daily intake of protein for healthy aging.
• The future of therapeutic ketosis.
• What it means for Chat GPT to “hallucinate.”
• Whether we’ll discover the existence of other life in the universe in the next 20 to 50 years.
• The potential of kratom to help relieve joint and arthritic pain.
• And much, much more.

New research complex making impact on downtown Pensacola skyline

The summer has seen marked progress on a new research complex that will expand the Florida Institute for Human and Machine Cognition (IHMC) Pensacola campus.

In June, the project marked a milestone, “topping out” the planned $40 million Healthspan, Resilience, and Performance Research Complex (HRP). “Topping out” is a builders’ rite traditionally held when the last beam (or its equivalent) is placed atop a structure during its construction.

Work on the HRP has progressed steadily since the ceremonial groundbreaking in February 2023. The building is expected to be complete in spring 2024, said Phillip Turner, IHMC’s director of architectural and engineering services.

“It has been particularly exciting to see the complex take shape in the downtown skyline,” Turner said.

The building, once completed, will substantially increase IHMC’s footprint in downtown Pensacola, which we have called home since 1999.

The 40,000 square-foot research complex is an investment in the intellectual capital of the region, creating a research nucleus that will help attract leading scientific minds to the region.

DAG Architects, partnered with Atlanta-based Cooper Carry, designed the building. Brasfield & Gorrie leads the construction of the facility located at the corner of Garden and Alcaniz streets in Pensacola.

When complete, it will expand IHMC’s downtown Pensacola campus to three primary buildings and will complement the Levin Center for IHMC Research, which primarily houses research in robotics and exoskeletons, human-machine teaming, and intelligent networked systems.

IHMC is a not-for-profit research institute of the Florida University System where researchers pioneer science and technology aimed at leveraging and extending human capabilities. IHMC researchers and staff collaborate extensively with the government, industry and academia to help develop breakthrough technologies. IHMC research partners have included: DARPA, the National Science Foundation, NASA, Army, Navy, Air Force, National Institutes of Health, IBM, Microsoft, Honda, Boeing, Lockheed, and many others.

STEM-Talk: Judith Curry on the uncertainties of climate change

Dr. Judith Curry wants more people to appreciate the large uncertainties associated with climate science.

It’s why Curry has worked to fight “groupthink” in science, advocate for transparency and engage critics. It is her way of keeping the conversation focused on the nuance that is a critical component of science and scientific discussion. Her appearance on Episode 158 of STEM-Talk, available now on podcast apps, YouTube and on IHMC’s website, reflects this.

Curry is president of the Climate Forecast Application Network and the host of the blog, Climate Etc. She also is Professor Emerita of Earth and Atmospheric Sciences at the Georgia Institute of Technology.

In scientific circles, she is known as a contrarian for pointing out the uncertainties and limitations of climate modeling. Her blog is a forum for climate researchers, academics, and technical experts from other fields as well as citizen scientists to discuss climate science and policy.

“In my opinion the worst possible scenario is that we are left to face extreme weather and climate impacts with a crippled energy system that drastically reduces our resilience,” Curry says. “Focusing on climate change leads us to ignore the broader ecological problems associated with our impact on the planet” including land use, overfishing, pollution, and degradation of the planet’s surface from mining and waste.

Our conversation covers:

• Her research interests in hurricanes, remote sensing, atmospheric modeling, polar climates, air-sea interactions, climate models, and the use of drones for atmospheric research.
• Her experience with the Surface Heat Budget of the Arctic Ocean (SHEBA) expedition to examine how sea ice, the ocean, and the atmosphere were interacting. The end of the Cold War also saw an end to a funding stream that had supported research in the Arctic Ocean, back when submarine warfare there was a key military strategy. “The climate modeling was a bit of a ploy to get this funded,” Curry says.
• Her takeaways from the 2010 unauthorized release of emails from the Climactic Research Unit at the University of East Anglia, otherwise known as “climategate.
• Her 2017 resignation from a tenured position at Georgia Tech partly because of the toxic nature of the scientific discussion around human-caused global warming.
• The release of her book “Climate Change and Uncertainty: Rethinking our Response.” The book offers a new way to think about climate change, the risks we face, and the way we respond.

STEM-Talk: Don Layman on the role of dietary protein in muscle, health, and disease

Few people know more about muscle development than Dr. Donald Layman.

As the world’s foremost authority on dietary protein and amino acids, he is known for his extensive research on muscle development and his studies of metabolic regulation for obesity, diabetes, and cardiovascular disease.

Layman’s interview with STEM-Talk co-hosts Drs. Ken Ford and Marcas Bamman is now available on IHMC’s website and YouTube as well as in popular podcast apps.

“I think everyone knows that our body has a lot of protein in it,” Layman says. “What people don’t realize is we have a constant process of turnover. Every protein in the body has a half-life. Some last an hour or two, some last 30 or 40 days. We have this constant rate of repair and replacement going on. That’s why we need to pay attention to protein turnover. How well we do this process of protein turnover has a lot to do with long term health and aging.”

Layman spent 31 years on the faculty at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign, where he is now a professor emeritus. His lab focused on understanding how metabolism works.

Today, he works as Director of Research for the American Egg Board and is a nutrition consultant for the National Dairy Council and The National Cattlemen’s Beef Association. He also is the Chief Science Officer for Qivana, a natural products marketing company that promotes the weight-loss program that Don developed at Illinois.

Our conversation includes:

• How Layman’s small-town childhood fueled his curiosity. “Growing up on a farm makes you curious, makes you wonder how to make things work,” he says. “I was always interested in why things worked, the math and science of it.”
• How life on the farm influenced him. “As a small-town boy whose horizons weren’t that broad, I was willing to go with the flow and figure things out.”
• Discoveries in the late 90s that the showed how important protein is to countering the effects of aging.
• The right amount of protein an individual should consume and mentions that there is much confusion on this issue, largely due to the food pyramid’s recommended daily allowance for protein of 0.8 grams per kilogram of body weight.
• The protein deficit that women experience. Don says 40 percent of women who are 60 and older consume less than the RDA for protein, which is likely the bare minimum. And among women between 16-22, only 20 percent consume the minimum RDA.
• The challenge that vegans face in getting the right amount of protein compared to carnivores and omnivores, largely because the amino acid leucine, which is vital for muscle repair and replacement, and is very low in plant-based foods.
• His 2005 paper titled “Dietary Protein and Exercise Have Additive Effects on Body Composition,” which demonstrated the synergy of protein and exercise.
• What sort of exercise should people do to build muscle after correcting their protein intake.
• The optimal amount of protein people should consume at breakfast and throughout the rest of the day.

And much more.

 

 

Fall Evening Lecture Series kicks off with expert in autonomous ocean robotics

Nic Radford wants us to love ocean exploration the way we romanticize space exploration.

He knows whereof he speaks. Radford is an engineer, roboticist, inventor, and entrepreneur who spent 14 years at Lyndon B. Johnson Space Center’s Dexterous Robotics Laboratory at NASA in Houston. He now is founder, president, and CEO of Nauticus Robotics Inc., a company that creates and deploys autonomous marine robotic systems.

He launched the Fall 2023 Evening Lecture season at the Florida Institute for Human and Machine Cognition (IHMC) with the talk, “From Outer Space to Inner Space: Developing Robots for Final Frontiers,” on Sept. 20. You can watch the lecture here if you missed it in person.

“Space flight dominates our romantic thinking,” Radford said. “I’d like to see us explore Mars, but there are lot of pressing challenges here on Earth and those pressing challenges could use investment.”

Radford calls Nauticus his life’s work and says it directly ties to his 14 years at NASA. Applying technological principles his team learned from spaceflight robotics, Nauticus challenges the aging and inefficient existing service infrastructure of the offshore industries, Radford says.

“The ocean is fundamental to almost every aspect of human life but is rarely top of mind for people and research for it is vastly underfunded,” he says.

He was the principal investigator leading the development of Valkyrie for participation in the 2013 DARPA Robotics Challenge and NASA’s future Mars robotics missions. At NASA, he received NASA’s Outstanding Leadership Medal.

He hopes that the Lecture audience comes away with a deeper understanding of how the investment we have made in space and space flight can translate into the realm that dominates the planet we call home.

“Nauticus is making strides for ocean exploration and methods for cleaner energy production while challenging status quo methods,” he said.

Space investment outpaces ocean investment by 100 times, but as Radford notes, “ocean space is 20 times more valuable” as an immediate economic and social resource to our species.

The ocean, Radford notes, is a huge economic engine for humanity. The clothes we wear, the food we eat, even the day-to-day transfer of information and energy all are tied to the ocean. Radford believes it’s time to give this vital space its due.

“The resources we all use every day are connected to the ocean,” he said.

The remainder of the Fall season of the Lecture series will feature experts in pavement design, robotics, planetary science, and more. Visit https://www.ihmc.us/life/evening_lectures/pensacola-lecture-series/ to stay up to date.

UPCOMING:

Dr. Stephen Anton

Anton has spent his career looking at the influence of lifestyle on healthy aging and chronic diseases including obesity, cardiovascular disease, and metabolic syndrome. His October lecture focuses on the importance of stress and recovery in healthy aging. Anton has previously been a featured guest on IHMC’s podcast, STEM-Talk, highlighting how eating and exercise behaviors can influence obesity, cardiovascular and metabolic conditions. A UF alumnus, he is currently a professor in the department of physiology and aging at the University of Florida. Watch his talk here.

Dr. Jeff Phillips

Phillips is a Senior Research Scientist at IHMC who develops mitigation strategies for common environmental, physiological, and cognitive stressors that break down optimal performance in military operators. Prior to joining IHMC, he spent six years as a research psychologist at the Naval Medical Research Unit in Dayton, Ohio. He worked almost exclusively on hypoxia in tactical aviation and served on a team that was instrumental in getting the F-22 Raptors back in operation. The Navy recognized his contributions to the F-22 project with the 2012 Delores M. Etter Top Scientists and Engineers in the Navy award.

Dallas Little

Little’s research interests include asphalt technology, pavement design, soil stabilization, fracture mechanics, soil mechanics and foundation engineering. He has served as principal investigator on more than $35 million in research in his academic career. He is a distinguished member of the American Society of Civil Engineers. Little has published more than 230 refereed journal publications, over 80 refereed proceedings, has contributed five books and has given more than 420 invited lectures.

Ocala lectures will include:

Sept. 28^: Dr. Alexander Fleming: In his Pensacola lecture earlier this year, Fleming spoke about aging. People are living longer, but also are suffering with multiple chronic diseases — and the exploding cost of managing those conditions — in the final and least productive years of life. In the first lecture of 2023, Dr. Alexander Fleming talked about efforts to understand how we can extend our productive, healthy years. He also touched on geroscience, a discipline focused on the biological roots causes of aging and disease, that ultimately could reduce the financial and societal burden of unhealthy aging. Watch his talk here.

Oct. 19: Dr. Lori Marino: Marino is a neuroscientist and adjunct professor of Animal Studies at New York University. She is the founder and president of The Whale Sanctuary Project and executive director of The Kimmela Center for Scholarship-Based Animal Advocacy. Her work focuses on the evolution of the brain and intelligence in dolphins and whales and on the effects of captivity on wildlife. Watch her talk here.

Nov. 16^: Dr. Niranjan Suri: Suri is a Senior Research Scientist and Associate Director at IHMC, the Division Associate for Research in the Military information Sciences Division at the US Army Research Laboratory, and a Director of Research Professor in the Intelligent Systems and Robotics Program at the University of West Florida. His research focuses on networking, communications, distributed systems, information management, interoperability, Internet of Things (IoT), and the application of Machine Learning these domains.

Dec. 5: Dr. Morley Stone: Stone is IHMC’s Chief Strategic Partnership Officer. He served as the Senior Vice President for Research at The Ohio State University. Prior to OSU, he served as the Chief Technology Officer for the Air Force Research Laboratory (AFRL), where he was responsible for assisting with the planning and execution of the Air Force’s science and technology program. From 2003 to 2006, he was Program Manager in the Defense Sciences Office at the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA).

STEM-Talk: Dr. Josh Hagen on performance lessons from athletes, warfighters

Baseball may be America’s pastime, but it also is a data scientist’s dream. 

Dr. Josh Hagen, director of the Human Performance Collaborative at Ohio State University, learned firsthand how deep the data mining well can go when it comes to tracking baseball player performance.  

Hagen, who appears on Episode 156 of the STEM-Talk podcast, was part of a longitudinal study of changes in a baseball player’s maximal strength as a result of resistance training. The study focused on the impact the exercise had on total home runs per game across three years of training in four competitive seasons for four teams.  

“Baseball is a fascinating sport when it comes to math and statistics,” Hagen says. “As far as American sports, baseball has gone head-first into statistics. I’ve been floored by the amount of staffing and infrastructure these teams have (around data)…. Every swing, every pitch is biomechanically analyzed.” 

Hagen’s STEM-Talk is co-hosted by IHMC Founder Ken Ford and IHMC’s Chief Strategic Partnership Officer Dr. Morley Stone, who has had an instrumental role in Hagen’s career.  

The conversation covers Hagen’s work at the Human Performance Collaborate, which brings together multidisciplinary teams of researchers, sports scientists, data scientists, and practitioners with the goal of optimizing human performance in Ohio State athletes. 

Hagen credits his high school chemistry teacher who made chemistry lively and compelling, with kickstarting his scientific career. Even when the challenges of his first semester at the University of Cincinnati studying to be a chemical engineer became clear, Hagen decided to push on.  

Hagen’s first job in private industry felt like a grind he couldn’t bear for the rest of his life. 

“I was watching a more senior engineer doing the same things I was doing and he’d been doing it for 20 years. I just thought, ‘I don’t think I can do this for 20 years.’” 

Advice from another trusted teacher led Hagen to pursue a Ph.D., which led to work at Wright Patterson Air Force Base, where he would first meet Stone. The rest is history. 

Within human performance research, Hagen leads two areas: Sport and Tactical Performance Science and Recovery Science. At Ohio State, Hagen works with other performance science researchers to evaluate the physical traits and capabilities of athletes. They collaborate with coaches and athletic trainers to make adjustments in the weight room, on the field, and during recovery after training or competitions. 

Hagen also works on federally funded projects with Special Operations Command, The Air Force Research Laboratory, the Office of Naval Research and several private foundations. He joined IHMC in 2022 as a Visiting Senior Research Scientist.  

 The conversation is wide-ranging and includes: 

— How lessons Hagen learned from his time in the private sector, at the Air Force Research Laboratory, and at West Virginia University, fed into his work at Ohio State University as the director of the Human Performance Collaborative. 

— Hopes that while his team largely works with two populations — sports athletes and the military — the applications of what they learn could be far-reaching. “We’re trying to maximize human performance for all humans, that sounds like a ridiculous, broad objective, but that is really what we’re trying to do,” Hagen said. “Every one of us can be optimized to some level.” 

— What Hagen means by “the need to understand performance on a system level” and how training-load monitors work to create usable feedback for athletes.  

— Hagen’s 2020 paper on monitoring neuromuscular performance in military personnel. 

— Hagen’s study of popular commercial off-the-shelf wearables that give health data to consumers. The study looked at the accuracy of heart rate variability, sleep, and heart rate data that these devices track. 

— Hagen’s study conducted on firefighters titled “Biomarker and Biometric Indices of Physical Exhaustion in the Firefighting Community.” 

— Hagen’s work with the Air Force’s 711th Human Performance Wing on a project he has led for the past decade called STRONG (Signature Tracking for Optimized Nutrition and TraininG), which aims to develop physical training routines and nutritional approaches that can enhance a warfighter’s performance and resilience.  

— An overview of IHMC’s research project that involves Hagen, Ohio State University, and the STRONG lab, called A2PEX (Assessing and Augmenting Performance in Extreme Environments). A2PEX aims for real-time assessment of a special operator’s cognitive performance over long-duration missions, often in extreme environments, as well as developing wearable devices and an integrated system that will help warfighters overcome fatigue and stress by continually sensing and assessing their performance. 

IHMC is a not-for-profit research institute of the Florida University System where researchers pioneer science and technology aimed at leveraging and extending human capabilities. IHMC researchers and staff collaborate extensively with the government, industry and academia to help develop breakthrough technologies. IHMC research partners have included: DARPA, the National Science Foundation, NASA, Army, Navy, Air Force, National Institutes of Health, IBM, Microsoft, Honda, Boeing, Lockheed, and many others.  

 

Back-to-school means back to Science Saturdays at IHMC

The Florida Institute for Human and Machine Cognition is where Gabriela Sullivan’s passion for science education flourished.  

This fall, she’s coming back to share it with the next generation. 

As a high schooler, Sullivan was a regular volunteer at IHMC’s Science Saturdays STEM enrichment program for students in grades 3 through 6. She remembers being in awe of the researchers and teachers who could encourage and inspire a room full of young minds. 

“Their ability to convey complex concepts in a way that was both understandable and exciting fascinated me,” she said. “It made me want a career that involved science education.” 

She made that dream a reality. Sullivan graduated from the University of Florida and now works for the City of Ocala as water conservation coordinator. In October she will lead a Science Saturday of her own at the Ocala campus. Her topic will be healthy wetlands. 

“Today’s youth will be the scientists of tomorrow, and throughout my session, I want students to feel engaged and included, knowing that there is a place for them in the field of science,” she said. 

For nearly 16 years, Science Saturdays has been opening doors for kids like Sullivan. IHMC’s popular monthly science enrichment series starts its next season Sept. 30 in Pensacola and Sept. 9 at the Ocala campus. Sessions slated for the fall include science of the mind, game design, healthy wetlands and more.  

Dr. Ursula Schwuttke is the director of educational outreach for both IHMC’s Pensacola and Ocala campuses. Schwuttke says that the impact of the series is what keeps it compelling for families — and for IHMC staff.  

Sometimes the impact is immediate — seeing the spark of imagination and engagement in a child’s face. Sometimes the reveal takes longer, but the payoff is immense.  

Sullivan is a perfect example of that. 

“Knowing that I can share my knowledge with students is a full-circle moment,” Sullivan said. “What makes it even more exciting, is that I get to talk about the science of water and wetlands, two areas of study that are often overlooked, but incredibly important to maintaining healthy a society.” 

Roman Bassett is a Pensacola High School graduate who now attends the University of Florida studying mechanical engineering. Bassett was a Science Saturdays volunteer in Pensacola and said it was an experience that made him realize how deeply invested in subjects he could become. It also helped him realize how much he enjoyed teaching and learning together, including both with younger students and with peers.   

He still distinctly remembers lessons from Science Saturday, including homemade electric motors and paper planes. He hopes that future Science Saturdays attendees leave with the same message he took from the experience: Have fun learning.  

“Exploring your interests and learning cool new things is one of the most exciting things you can do” he says.  

Last school year, more than 330 students from 28 Escambia and Santa Rosa elementary schools attended these weekend sessions. 

• 42 percent of attendees are female; 58 percent were male.  
• Parents of girls reported greater impact on scientific curiosity, self-confidence in science, and self-confidence overall. 
• Boys and girls alike got a boost in their enjoyment of science and grades in science from Science Saturdays. 

“We see that Science Saturdays makes a difference in the lives of our students, and we are grateful to our sponsors for helping us reach families who might not be able to offer their children hands-on science if our events weren’t free,” Schwuttke said. 

The sessions are free and sign up is available at https://www.ihmc.us/life/science_saturdays/   

In Pensacola, Premier Community sponsorship from Florida Power & Light supports the series. Annual sponsors Florida Blue Foundation and Cox, and season sponsors Escambia Sheriff’s Office, Barnes Insurance, and International Paper Foundation help make the Pensacola sessions possible. In Ocala, sponsors Lockheed Martin, Florida Blue Foundation, Cox, Ron and Phyllis Ewers, and Precision Sidewalk Safety support the series in that community. 

SCIENCE SATURDAY FALL SCHEDULE   

The schedule for Science Saturday for the Fall is complete. Share the link with friends with children in grades 3-6 https://www.ihmc.us/life/science_saturdays/  

Pensacola Sessions 

Sept. 23: Science of the Mind, Dr. Kevin Gluck.  

Oct. 28: Electric Motors, Dr. Robert Griffin. 

Nov. 18: Computer Game Design, Heath Parr, Brown-Barge Middle School.  

Dec. 17: Illusions, Dr. Toshi Miyatsu.    

Ocala  Sessions 

Sept. 8: The Lives of Moths, Dr. Andrei Sourakov, University of Florida. 

Oct. 7: Healthy Wetlands, Gabriela Sullivan, City of Ocala. 

Nov. 11: Computer Game Design, Dr. Ian Perera. 

Dec. 2: Arash Mahyari, Electric Circuits . 

IHMC is a not-for-profit research institute of the Florida University System where researchers pioneer science and technology aimed at leveraging and extending human capabilities. IHMC researchers and staff collaborate extensively with the government, industry and academia to help develop breakthrough technologies. IHMC research partners have included: DARPA, the National Science Foundation, NASA, Army, Navy, Air Force, National Institutes of Health, IBM, Microsoft, Honda, Boeing, Lockheed, and many others. 

 

Robotics Camp fires students’ STEM excitement through hands-on learning

This summer, the ordinarily quiet classrooms of the Florida Institute for Human and Machine Cognition’s Pensacola and Ocala campuses became engineering playgrounds as part of 2023 Summer Robotics Camp.

Over the course of four, one-week sessions, 66 middle and high schoolers got these hands-on experiences and more designing their own LEGO robots, learning the basics of computer programming, and interacting with researchers.

“We are reaching out to the next generation of scientists, helping them to discover what their future might look like,” said Dr. Ursula Schwuttke, IHMC’s Director of Educational Outreach.

Any future in STEM requires strong teamwork and problem-solving skills, and Robotics Camp is designed to teach just that.

Under the guidance of IHMC staff and volunteers from local high schools, campers worked in pairs to assemble LEGO Mindstorms robots. Students then used a block-based, visually appealing coding language to guide their creations through mazes and obstacle courses, debugging code and redesigning robots as they went. Campers attending the second Ocala session also learned how to program in Python.

“You don’t get too many chances to actually mess around with robots in day-to-day life,” said Max Truong, a former Science Saturdays attendee who is now a rising senior at Tate High School and a Pensacola camp volunteer. “Giving the kids that opportunity to build and code something themselves is pretty great.”

In addition to real-life engineering experience, Robotics Camp also provides students with inspiring professional role models. During the daily “Lunch With a Scientist” sessions, IHMC researchers explain their work and answer campers’ questions over a meal.

In Pensacola, these sessions included an interactive virtual reality demonstration from Senior Research Associate John Carff and Research Scientist Dr. Matt Johnson, exoskeleton exploration with Research Scientist Dr. Gwen Bryan, an introduction to brain science and human performance research from Research Scientist Dr. Toshi Miyatsu, and the ever-popular IHMC robotics lab tour. Heath Parr, a teacher at Brown-Barge Middle School, provided the daily robotics challenges and instructions.

During the Ocala sessions, IHMC staff introduced campers to concepts in computer game design (Research Scientist Dr. Ian Perera), natural language processing (Research Scientist Dr. Archna Bhatia), and artificial intelligence (Senior Creative and Multimedia Specialist William Howell).

Quantum Improvements Consulting Senior Scientist Dr. Cheryl Johnson shared the concept of human factors with campers, and Rachel Farmer and Ben Thompson, both from Lockheed Martin, gave presentations on careers in engineering.

“Sometimes you see a camper really awed by a one-on-one opportunity with an individual scientist,” said Schwuttke, recalling the connection that formed between Dr. Gwen Bryan and rising eighth-grader Sonja Christiansen.

“We had a lot of interests in common, and I thought that was awesome,” said Sonja about her conversation with Bryan. Schwuttke hopes that personal interactions like these will serve as turning points in the lives of STEM-curious campers.

Inspiring students to engage with science and engineering is a core part of IHMC’s community outreach, but not all local students have equal access to high quality STEM education experiences. To bridge this gap, IHMC provides free camp registration and lunch to qualifying students. These need-based scholarships are made possible by donations from sponsors, including Cox, Lockheed Martin, CareerSource, the Mid-Florida Regional Manufacturers Association, and the Escambia County Sheriff’s Office.

“I always thought that I might want to pursue robotics and engineering,” said rising eighth-grader Davis Coleman, an exceptionally enthusiastic Pensacola participant. “After camp, now I know that I do.”

Touring the robotics lab, designing a robot of his own, and meeting with research scientists all combined to spark a new career goal for Davis: “I hope one day after school I can come back to work at IHMC.”

Subscribe to the Robotics Camp email list here to be in the know for future sessions.

STEM-Talk: Dr. Chris McCurdy on kratom and pain management

What if the roots of a secret to treating chronic pain has lain for centuries in the tree leaves of a Southeast Asian evergreen?

Dr. Chris McCurdy has spent the last 15 years of his career researching that question, with a focus on the medical efficacy of kratom and its alkaloids.

Now, he’s back on STEM-Talk after five years to share what he and his lab at the University of Florida have learned since his 2018 interview on episode 61. McCurdy and his lab received two major grants from the National Institute of Drug Abuse to investigate kratom and its chemical components to better understand its potential to treat a multitude of conditions.

“One of the things that has been touted about kratom is that it does give energy,” McCurdy notes. “Its traditional use was to boost energy for outdoor labor in the hot humid tropical environment of Southeast Asia. It has this sort of paradoxical effect of stimulation but also euphoria” at different dosing levels. 

Kratom has been used in herbal medicine for hundreds of years to boost mood, energy and pain relief. Though it has become popular throughout the world for recreational purposes, it is being recognized in the medical and research communities for its treatment for chronic pain and its potential to alleviate opioid withdrawal symptoms.  

“There’s a lot of interest in pain,” McCurdy said. “Our focus has been looking at the opioid crisis and trying to understand how kratom could be used in opioid use disorder…. But certainly, pain is really an unmet need.” 

“We do need desperately for something to be as efficacious (as opioids) in pain treatment, but hopefully without the liabilities. And we see that kratom could be something promising in that area.” 

For more than 25 years, McCurdy has studied the design, synthesis, and development of drugs to treat pain, anxiety, and substance-abuse disorders. He is a professor in the Medicinal Chemistry Department in the College of Pharmacy at the University of Florida. He also is director of the of school’s Translational Drug Development Core and an Associate Dean for Faculty Development.  

In today’s interview, we talk about: 

— The disparity between the traditional use of kratom (in tea form brewed from freshly picked leaves) and the new often highly concentrated manufactured products sold in the U.S.  

— His lab’s study examining the effects of lyophilized kratom tea and its ability to alleviate withdrawal symptoms of opioid-dependence. 

— The potential of kratom alkaloids to serve as treatment for substance abuse disorders. 

— The benefits and risks associated with CBD usage. 

Here’s a link to our podcast webpage where you can find the McCurdy episode and an archive of all STEM-Talk interviews.

IHMC is a not-for-profit research institute of the Florida University System where researchers pioneer science and technology aimed at leveraging and extending human capabilities. IHMC researchers and staff collaborate extensively with the government, industry and academia to help develop breakthrough technologies. IHMC research partners have included: DARPA, the National Science Foundation, NASA, Army, Navy, Air Force, National Institutes of Health, IBM, Microsoft, Honda, Boeing, Lockheed, and many others.

 

IHMC researchers collaborating with American Magic team

New York Yacht Club American Magic’s move to Pensacola has resulted in a collaboration with the Florida Institute for Human and Machine Cognition (IHMC). 

Since 2018, the professional sailing team has used the Port of Pensacola for seasonal training. In 2023, they decided to make Pensacola their permanent home. This strategic move is expected to generate 170 jobs in advanced manufacturing, engineering, design, and high-tech research and development. 

The collaboration originated when Pensacola Mayor D.C. Reeves included IHMC on a city tour with the racing team.  

“Soon after this introduction, members of the IHMC team toured the American Magic facilities, and the brainstorming began,” said Ryan Tilley, IHMC’s director of strategic program execution and innovation. 

Leading the collaboration for IHMC has been Research Scientist Dr. Matt Johnson. Johnson said that on the tour, the team highlighted a number of technical challenges they were working on, including improving the interface used by the crew.  

“They are constantly developing and testing new ideas,” Jonson said. “Considering IHMC’s experience designing interfaces for advanced technology, it was a natural fit for collaboration between the two organizations.” 

Johnson’s research areas include human-machine teaming, human-machine system design, human-centered computing, human-machine interface design, and multi-robot control. 

The goal of any new interface design is to improve the team’s overall performance. Johnson says the interface design challenge is complicated. “Not only is the yacht itself complex, but it is also part of a greater system that involves eight crew members, each with their specific roles.” 

American Magic can be described as an “airplane on water… operated in a harsh, unforgiving environment where success hinges on narrow margins.” Johnson says. “The interface plays a crucial role in seamlessly integrating the crew with the yacht, ensuring that each crew member has access to the essential information required to fulfill their respective roles.” 

During a race, the demands on the team are extraordinary, so improving their ability to interpret system status quickly and intuitively is the goal.  

Johnson says IHMC has completed an initial analysis and the human-centered assessment approach has already proven helpful to the American Magic team. 

Working with IHMC on this project has benefited the team tremendously, said Anderson Reggio, Performance Manager of NYYC American Magic.  

“It has allowed our engineers to integrate ideas and suggestions from skilled subject matter experts that we do not typically encounter in the yachting world,” Reggio said. “It has been a phenomenal start to our relationship, and we hope that it will provide us with a competitive edge when we begin racing in Barcelona.” 

Tilley expressed optimism that this collaboration is the beginning of a long and fruitful partnership: “We look forward to a long-term relationship providing solutions for the American Magic team and hope to play a small role in their future victories.” 

IHMC is a not-for-profit research institute of the Florida University System where researchers pioneer science and technology aimed at leveraging and extending human capabilities. IHMC researchers and staff collaborate extensively with the government, industry and academia to help develop breakthrough technologies. IHMC research partners have included: DARPA, the National Science Foundation, NASA, Army, Navy, Air Force, National Institutes of Health, IBM, Microsoft, Honda, Boeing, Lockheed, and many others.

STEM-Talk: Dr. Brian Cole on advances in knee, shoulder, and elbow injuries

You can thank Bob Newhart for Dr. Brain Cole’s career. 

The classic 1970s sitcom gave Cole, then an impressionable middle schooler, a vision of the impact a physician could have on the lives of patients with good humor. 

“If you ask any individual in health care, the reason I chose this is I love to help people,” Cole says on the latest episode of STEM-Talk. “On ‘The Bob Newhart Show’ he was able to help people, but he did so with a sense of humor.”  

Something about the low-key way that psychology, sociology and humor fit together to make an impact on people appealed to young Cole. He says he has carried that with him throughout a career that led him to becoming a renown orthopedic surgeon. 

Today on STEM-Talk, Cole shares his journey with Dr. Ken Ford, IHMC’s founder and chief executive officer, and Dr. Marcas Bamman, Senior Research Scientist at IHMC.  

Cole specializes in cartilage restoration, orthobiologics, and advanced surgical techniques for the treatment of knee, elbow, and shoulder injuries. He is the team doctor for the NBA’s Chicago Bulls and the co-team doctor for the Chicago White Sox. He also is the host of the Sports Medicine Weekly Podcast. 

He practices at Midwest Orthopaedics, where his Master’s in Business Administration (MBA) is used in his role as managing partner of the practice.  

On STEM-Talk, Cole talks about his cutting-edge research into ways to treat knee, shoulder, and elbow injuries.  He also shares his novel approach to dealing with ACL tears, one of the most common sports injuries, and his investigations of methods to enhance the healing and recovery time following ACL reconstructions.  

Interview highlights include:  

•  Cole’s experience with professional athletes in the role as head team physician for the Chicago Bulls and the co-team physician for the Chicago White Sox. 
• His day-to-day practice with non-professional athletes, from children to senior citizens. “Understanding what (someone) needs and how to make a difference in their life is one of the greatest privileges… Having the privilege to see people and take care of them never gets old.”  
• How he fights the prevailing trend of “technology over reason” in medicine to focus on treating his patients and not on an X-ray or an MRI. It boils down to two concepts dubbed the “Brainless Application of Radiologic Findings” (BARF) and being a “Victim of Modern Imaging Technology” (VOMIT). 
• The impact that weight loss can have on knee pain. “I have a number of patients that I’ve made feel better through lifestyle modification and never giving them an injection, never doing surgery on them, just having a conversation. It is an enormous part of the holistic approach to managing patients.” 
• What is behind the huge jump in ACL tears among 14- to 18-year-olds, which have increased by 148 percent over the past 10 years, and what strategies are evolving to enhance ACL healing and accelerate recovery.  
•  Discussion of the best treatment of meniscal tears, one of the most common pathologies in sports medicine.  
• Treatment of rotator cuff repair, shoulder replacements, soft tissue injuries, osteoarthritis, the use of stem-cells, bone marrow aspirate and more. 

 

IHMC honors seven colleagues with emeritus status

At the Florida Institute for Human and Machine Cognition (IHMC), we stand on the shoulders of those who have come before us. 

This month, IHMC honored seven people who helped build the Institute from a closet in the computer science department at the University of West Florida into a research center with an international reputation in artificial intelligence, computer science, robotics and exoskeletons, and healthspan, resilience, and performance research.  

“Without the contributions of these individuals, IHMC quite simply would not be where it is today,” said Founder and CEO Dr. Ken Ford. “Their own sense of commitment to excellence inspired, and continues to influence, the culture of IHMC. We are grateful to each of them.” 

The honorees named to Emeritus status were: 

Senior Research Scientist Emeritus, Dr. James Allen 

Dr. Allen is a pioneer in artificial intelligence with substantial contributions to natural language understanding research. He is a professor emeritus at the University of Rochester where he has been on the faculty since 1978.  Dr. Allen joined IHMC in 2006 and served as an Associate Director. 

Computational linguistics is at the root of speech recognition systems, text-to-speech synthesizers, automated voice-response systems, internet search engines, text editors, language instruction material and more.  

His research uniquely combines what often are treated as separate fields in artificial intelligence — knowledge representation and reasoning, language understanding, planning, intention recognition, and learning.  

  

Senior Research Scientist Emeritus, Dr. Jeffrey M. Bradshaw 

Dr. Bradshaw is a pioneer in automated knowledge acquisition and multiagent systems.  

His book, “Software Agents” is a classic in the field of multiagent systems and is one of several books he has authored. Since 2000, the research group Dr. Bradshaw led at IHMC developed a framework for distributed systems management and human-agent-robot teamwork.

This framework has been used in scores of government-sponsored and commercial projects for network management, secure policy-based governance of complex systems, and for the coordination of human-robot teams. 

Senior Research Scientist Emeritus, Dr. Alberto Cañas 

Dr. Canas is a co-founder of IHMC, an innovator in knowledge modeling and the creator of CmapTools, a software tool used by schools, businesses, and organizations across the globe.  

His IHMC research projects include knowledge modeling, performance support systems, collaborative tools for education and research, distance learning, and corporate memory. 

CmapTools is an outgrowth of Dr. Cañas’ interest in the use of technology in the K-12 education system. Before going to the University of West Florida, he was the director of IBM’s Latin American Education Research Center in Costa Rica.  

His research includes the use of computers in education, knowledge management, knowledge acquisition, information retrieval, and human-machine interface. 

  

Senior Research Scientist Emeritus, Dr. William J. Clancey 

Dr. Clancey is a computer scientist whose research relates cognitive and social science in the study of work practices and the design of agent systems.  

Before joining IHMC in 1997, Dr. Clancey was at the Institute for Research on Learning in Menlo Park, Calif., from its founding in 1988, where he co-developed the Brahms multi-agent work practice modeling and simulation system. At the NASA Ames Research Center, where he served as Chief Scientist of Human-Centered Computing in the Intelligent Systems Division. His team developed the Mobile Agents software that automates file processing between Mission Control and the International Space Station. 

At Stanford’s Knowledge Systems Lab, he developed some of the earliest AI programs for explanation, meta-level reasoning, the critiquing method of consultation, tutorial discourse, and student modeling. 

 

Senior Research Scientist Emeritus, Dr. Robert Hoffman 

Dr. Hoffman is a recognized leader in cognitive systems engineering and human-centered computing. His research has centered on knowledge modeling, work analysis, cybersecurity, expertise studies, and several others. 

Dr. Hoffman has been recognized internationally in cognitive systems engineering, applied psychology, artificial intelligence, and human factors engineering—for his research on the methodology of cognitive task analysis and human-centering issues for human-systems integration systems technology.  

He has co-authored and co-edited 18 scholarly books and is co-author on over 100 publications in peer-reviewed journals.  

Deputy Director for Defense Research and Development Emeritus, Tim Wright  

Vice Adm. Tim Wright joined IHMC in 1996 as deputy director after having served for 35 years in the U.S. Navy. As a Naval aviator, he served primarily in fighter squadrons during his active flying career. He commanded a fighter squadron, a carrier air wing, a fleet oiler, an aircraft carrier, a carrier battle group and the U.S. Seventh Fleet.  

He holds a bachelor’s degree in engineering from the Naval Postgraduate School in Monterey, Calif., and a master’s degree in public administration from George Washington University. He also is a graduate of the Industrial College of the Armed Forces at the National Defense University. 

Board of Directors Emeritus, Carol Carlan 

Carol Carlan was the inaugural chair of IHMC’s Board of Directors and now serves as the Institute’s director of philanthropy. Her leadership helped guide the Institute from its early years to its status as a premier research institution. 

Her banking career spanned more than 35 years culminating in serving as the first female president of a large regional bank. As the President of the Ascension Sacred Heart Foundation, she led one of the largest capital campaigns in the region, resulting in a new children’s hospital and expansion of children’s services in the Destin market. 

As President of Carlan Consulting, she is a founding member of the John Maxwell Team, a global training organization for leaders with more than 50,000 members worldwide. 

Among the numerous accolades she has received: Pensacola Chamber PACE Awards recognized her as the Spirit of Pensacola and Business Leader of the Year, Leadership Pensacola gave her the Blue Angel Leadership Award, a participant of the Leadership Florida Class of 2011-2012, recognized for her many years of work as a Trustee of the Pace Center for Girls State Board of Trustees she was awarded the 25th anniversary Pioneer Award. 

IHMC is a not-for-profit research institute of the Florida University System where researchers pioneer science and technology aimed at leveraging and extending human capabilities. IHMC researchers and staff collaborate extensively with the government, industry and academia to help develop breakthrough technologies. IHMC research partners have included: DARPA, the National Science Foundation, NASA, Army, Navy, Air Force, National Institutes of Health, IBM, Microsoft, Honda, Boeing, Lockheed, and many others.