Last week I flipped a DNS record and retired a website that had served the research group for thirteen years—along with the recurring invoices it took to keep it alive. Its replacement was built in four days, in collaboration with an AI agent, on hosting… Continue »
Last class from the Spring 2026 course: "Generative AI for Engineering Research" (MAE 6291 Special Topics)Live class via Zoom on April 28, 2026.The lecture follows a previous presentation of the LLM-Wiki pattern, via a case study on building and maintaining an LLM-backed research wiki as…
Continue »Traditional assessment methods collapse when students use generative AI to complete work without genuine engagement, creating an illusion of competence where they believe they're learning but aren't. This paper presents the conversational exam—a scalable oral examination format that restores assessment validity by having students code…
Continue »Keynote delivered at the Northwestern Center for Engineering Education Research INSIGHT XVI workshop, December 16, 2025.Abstract: Higher education is currently teaching as if it is 2022, while students are living in 2025. With over 86% of students already integrating AI into their studies (2024 survey),…
Continue »
The National Academy of Engineering hosted a virtual forum on September 12, 2025, to explore the impact of Artificial Intelligence (AI) on engineering education and practice. The forum co-chairs were NAE Members Marian Croak, VP of Engineering at Google, and Wanda Sigur, former VP and… Continue »
Python code is running on Mars right now. It helped land the Perseverance rover, processes data from the Hubble telescope, and powers the AI systems reshaping our world. Today, it’s estimated that about 23 million developers worldwide regularly use Python. Yet this global infrastructure began… Continue »
This paper is a candid reflection on adopting generative AI in an undergraduate engineering computations course, revealing unforeseen challenges despite best intentions. Students quickly developed patterns of using AI as a shortcut rather than a learning companion, leading to decreased attendance and an ``illusion of…
Continue »This white paper presents a pilot project to create a catalog of retrieval-augmented generative-AI aids for course-level learning support. The pilot is supported by the George Washington University Trustworthy AI Initiative, and will develop and deploy the AI mentors over a range of courses, and…
Continue »Video of the presentation: https://youtu.be/02DC-oYU6kEStudents are using AI to help them with coursework, mostly ChatGPT on web or mobile to access OpenAI large language models [1]. At the same time, they are not confident of their AI skills, and may not be using these tools…
Continue »
