Dr. John Hurtado, interim dean and interim vice chancellor in the College of Engineering and professor in the Department of Aerospace Engineering, has been part of Texas A&M since he earned his master's and Ph.D. in aerospace engineering. Since then, his career has taken off, including working for Sandia National Laboratories on robots that are now part of a collection at the Smithsonian Institute. He's had great influence, both as a teacher and a mentor.
In this episode of SoundBytes, Hurtado talks about his engineering journey, the challenges he's had to overcome and the importance in promoting a STEM education across demographics.
Dr. John Hurtado, interim dean and interim vice chancellor in the College of Engineering and professor in the Department of Aerospace Engineering, has been part of Texas A&M since he earned his master's and Ph.D. in aerospace engineering. Since then, his career has taken off, including working for Sandia National Laboratories on robots that are now part of a collection at the Smithsonian Institute. He's had great influence, both as a teacher and a mentor.
In this episode of SoundBytes, Hurtado talks about his engineering journey, the challenges he's had to overcome and the importance in promoting a STEM education across demographics.
Dr. John Hurtado, interim dean and vice chancellor in the College of Engineering and professor in the Department of Aerospace Engineering, has been part of Texas A&M since he earned his master's and Ph.D. in aerospace engineering. Since then, his career has taken off, including working for Sandia National Laboratories on robots that are now part of a collection at the Smithsonian Institute. He's had great influence, both as a teacher and a mentor.
Hannah Conrad:I'm Hannah Conrad, and today my co-host, Steve Kuhlmann, and I sit down with Dr. Hurtado to talk about his engineering journey, the challenges he's had to overcome and the importance in promoting a STEM education across demographics. This is SoundBytes. Welcome to Engineer This!
Steve Kuhlmann:Dr. Hurtado, you're a first-generation college student, and you've accomplished so much in your career. How did you overcome the challenges along that path, and what was it like being the first person in your family to go to college?
Dr. John Hurtado:Wow, that's a great question. I think the challenges that I was faced being a first-generation college student are the same challenges that I think many, many students face. And that is not really knowing the path, not really knowing what's ahead. There are a lot of branch points as one grows up, matures and starts college. At each one of those points, I think I've always had a great mentor in my life that has really helped me figure things out, anywhere from college counselors, to professors, other people in my life. And that's really helped. I started at a community college. I did not attend college right out of high school; I took a few gap years. And when I did start at community college, I started at a pretty slow place. I wanted to make sure I was setting myself up for success. So, I was taking classes here and there without maybe a whole lot of direction. But I remember one day, the college counselor called me in, and she told me that I was done. And I kind of didn't know what she was talking about. And she said, "You're done here. You need to think about a four-year institution." And that was not in my plans. I was just taking some classes, not sure what was ahead but wanting to improve, improve my situation. She helped me think through some four-year schools; she saw that I had taken a lot of math and science, and she saw that I was getting good grades and that. She helped me pick a major, helped me decide on a school. And that is just one example of how these mentors in an individual's life help them overcome challenges, maybe especially with a first-generation student.
Hannah Conrad:So, continuing on that line, how and why did you land on aerospace engineering?
Dr. John Hurtado:So, I remember when I was maybe about eight or nine years old, our family, we bought our first house. Part of getting that new house, I had my own room, and my parents picked out or let me pick out some wallpaper for that room. And this was back, you have to understand this is back right after the Apollo years kind of. And so, I picked some space astronaut wallpaper. Now, fast forward to, you know, me being in community college and me taking the math and the physics courses. So, in discussing with that counselor, we're talking through, she said, "You know, you had to think about engineering." And so, we talked about that. I didn't really maybe fully understand what engineering was. And aerospace was there. It was one of the difficult majors maybe to get into. So maybe there was a little bit of pride setting in about choosing a difficult major. But you know, I certainly enjoyed space and thinking back to being a kid and Apollo and those times and, and that led me to aerospace engineering, and I've loved it ever since. It's, it was a fantastic choice.
Steve Kuhlmann:Throughout your career, you have accumulated multiple patented algorithms and robots, some of which are in the Smithsonian. What has that been like?
Dr. John Hurtado:Yeah, it's really exciting. You know, I've had great opportunities working with many individuals. And, you know, I talked a little bit about mentors playing a big role in helping to, helping one make choices. So, I was part of one group at Sandia National Laboratories and worked with great people. And then I was recruited to join another group, a robotics group, and I jumped at the chance. It was a little bit of forward-thinking group, and I got to meet some wonderful engineers. I was part of this really small team; there were four of us. And because it was such a small team, each one of us had a lot of responsibility within that team. We worked on something called swarm robotics. I developed the algorithms for that. And then it was after actually, I came here to Texas A&M, that I learned that they were picked by this Smithsonian Institute to be part of the permanent collection. And that was really exciting. That was about in, I don't know, 2003, 2004. They're in the Smithsonian Museum of American History.
Hannah Conrad:So, diving into that research a little. What are swarm robots?
Dr. John Hurtado:It's still a good topic of research, but maybe 15 years ago, 20, more than 20 years ago, it was a topic that was really coming forward. And the idea was the following. Could a collection of robots... accomplish things, simple robots with simple algorithms, simply designed? Could they accomplish things working as a group that a single robot working by itself, and maybe a single more sophisticated robot working by itself, could not? That was what that research was all about. Now, we were just trying out some concepts. And so one of the members of the team designed and constructed about 36 of these sugar cubed sized robots. Each one was independent. It decided what it was going to do, and it was mobile. It had these really tiny wheels and had an antenna had... it was really cleverly designed in that the body was made out of the circuit boards. So that would, would drive it and control it. What we did is we, each one had a temperature sensor, and we put a block of dry ice in this big room. And we outfitted these robots with small communication systems so that every robot, if it decided on its own, could broadcast. And every robot could receive that information, and on its own, decide what it wanted to do with that information. And again, these are sugar cube sized robots. The objective was if working together, could they locate the cube of dry ice? It was so neat to put these in the room and film the action and to see these robots converge on the dry ice working together. And one robot working on its own, there is no way it would figure out that problem.
Hannah Conrad:It reminds me of the little robots from Big Hero Six, you know.
Dr. John Hurtado:Exactly, exactly. Kind of art imitating real life. Yeah.
Jenn Reiley:Howdy, this is Jenn Reiley your producer here with a quick note. So those swarm robots Dr. Hurtado was talking about. Well, after they were placed in the Smithsonian, he was reunited with them in an unexpected way. While his daughter was a student at Texas A&M, she participated in an internship at the Museum of American History. Well, Dr. Hurtado and his wife were able to travel to Washington, D.C. to visit her and get a tour of the back rooms of the museum. And it turns out that his daughter had managed to find the robots, and so Dr. Hurtado came face to face with them, and he hadn't seen them in about 15 years. He said it was special to be able to share that with his family. I just thought that was a really heartwarming note to share with all of y'all. Next, we'll hear more about Dr. Hurtado's thoughts of Texas A&M's impact. Let's get back into the interview.
Steve Kuhlmann:In your career you've, you've worn a lot of hats, what impact has being a member of the faculty had on you?
Dr. John Hurtado:I started off as a faculty member when I came to Texas A&M. So, when I was at Sandia National Laboratories, I was an engineer at first in a experimental dynamic group and then in a robotics group. I loved that position, loved the work, but it didn't afford an opportunity to teach. You know, my wife and I had always thought about, "Wow, if, you know, I had a chance to get to university, that would be... that would be a good thing." And so I had an opportunity, and I came here. Having a chance, I think, to be in a classroom, to share my knowledge and my perspective with students in, in how I approached problems and maybe how I tackle difficult problems, was a way for me to help students see, see a way forward. And that was... that was really rewarding. I worked up through the ranks from assistant to associate to full professor and enjoyed working with the graduate students, the undergraduate students and the faculty that have been part of that journey. Some of the graduate students that I've had, I just appreciate them so much. The conversations that I've had with them, how we learned together, the relationships that I've built, it's been so rewarding, and I would not have had that opportunity without being a faculty member.
Hannah Conrad:What's it like to have gone from, you know, having these mentors that brought you to a four-year college to becoming the mentor to students going through college?
Dr. John Hurtado:Wow, that's, that's a great, great question. So, I think it's part of the responsibility and duty that comes with serving at a university. Notice that I didn't say serving as a faculty at a university, because I think that being part of an institution of higher education, whether you are a faculty member, whether you're a staff, maybe just being on this campus, so even if you're a peer. I think that there is a culture and a climate and an expectation of you to step up, be a mentor where you can and help propel lives forward.
Hannah Conrad:The student body and the faculty of the College of Engineering is so diverse. Why do you think it's important to celebrate that diversity?
Dr. John Hurtado:That's a great question. I think it's important because engineering is about problem solving. Engineering is about design that can have an impact on society and improving life. And so diversity in all of the dimensions is important because you never know where a good idea is going to come from. The other important part is that when people look at design solutions, they can look at it from their past experience, their perspective, how they might use it, how their family members and others that they interact with might use or have preferences or have ideas for the best use of something. And I think that richness can only help a design. And I think it can really help to steer a design away from these traps of, of a product always looking or functioning in the same way.
Hannah Conrad:You've overcome so many challenges to get to where you are now. What advice would you give to an underrepresented minority student who's considering a STEM education?
Dr. John Hurtado:The advice I would give an underrepresented individual to pursue STEM, or in pursuing stem would be, I think, two pieces that have served me well. Number one is seek out mentors. Mentors don't have to think like you; they don't have to look like you. They can be very different from you. They could be older; they could be younger. You just never know where good ideas and good mentorship will come from. You know, it is really helped me in my path forward. You know, and sometimes a mentor doesn't even have to know that they're a mentor to you, right? Because you're just observing them, and you see a style or you see an approach that you're thinking,"Wow, that was handled really well. And there's a lot I could learn from that." And so, I jus think mentorship is, is just s important. Another thing abou mentorship is, you know, yo don't have to get it all fro one individual. Having a team o mentors, is what I woul strongly recommend to students The second piece of advice would give is to give time t yourself to study and give tim to yourself to catch your breat as you're going through the pac of your study, whether it' engineering or liberal arts o economics, whatever it is. An the reason I say give time t yourself is because there wil be many pulls for your time fro student organizations, from al the different times a individual can get involve with. And it's great to have community. And I thin communities are important fo many reasons. But making sur that you give time for yoursel to study I think is reall important to sometimes reset catch your breath and clear you head
Steve Kuhlmann:When you look at Texas A&M, what is it that sets the university apart for you from its peers?
Dr. John Hurtado:You know, I go back to Texas A&M being a land grant institution. And I know, you know, there are other land grant institutions, but it starts with, with that and I think being committed to educate the citizens of this state. But what really starts to set it apart, I think, is the forward vision of leadership. So when you look at what Texas A&M University is doing, in terms of research. You know, we topped, what was it, a billion dollars in funded research. You see that this is a place where not only can individuals come and get a fantastic education that can not only change their lives but hange a family's trajectory. ut it's also a place where tudents and faculty members and raduate students can be a part f the research that can really hange the world. When I think f what it takes to accomplish hings like that: It takes top otch faculty; it takes students rom very diverse backgrounds; t takes the facilities and the perations to make it happen. nd the fourth important omponent are the support staff hat can help bring all of that ogether and help move it orward. What I see here in exas A&M University and in the ollege of Engineering is I see ll of that coming together.
Steve Kuhlmann:Can I ask you one bonus question?
Dr. John Hurtado:You can ask as many questions as you want.
Steve Kuhlmann:So, when you loo at your career so far, what i it that you're most proud of
Dr. John Hurtado:Wow, that's a great question. I'll tell you what I'm most proud of in my career. I'm most proud of my family, because I have made a deliberate choice to keep and build strong relationships with, with my wife and kids. And let me let... me back up what I mean by this. I think so many times an individual's career will allow them to be a fanatic. It certainly will allow you to spend as much time as you want at the office and spend as much time as you want on all the various activities. And I think an individual needs to make a deliberate choice to put a line and say, you know, "This is what I'm willing to give. If that is not enough, then maybe it's not for me." On the other hand, being willing to give it all up to that point, you don't want to fall short and feel like I had a little bit more to give. And so you can see it's a bit of a knife edge. And that is something I've been very mindful of throughout my career.
Hannah Conrad:Thanks so much for joining us. Is there anything else you'd like to add?
Dr. John Hurtado:I'd like to thank all the faculty and staff who have worked so hard helping our students learn, pivoting to teach remote when they did and all that they did to provide the best education that we could for our students. And I just really appreciate the opportunity to be on SoundBytes.
Steve Kuhlmann:We hope you enjoyed this episode of Engineering SoundBytes. Make sure to follow or subscribe to stay up to date with what's happening within Texas A&M Engineering. Until next time, stay safe and gig 'em.
Hannah Conrad:Thanks for listening to the Texas A&M Engineering SoundBytes podcast. The views and opinions expressed in this podcast are those of the hosts and guests and do not necessarily reflect the official policy or position of The Texas A&M University System. SoundBytes is part of the Texas A&M Podcast Network. To find more official Texas A&M podcasts, go to podcast.tamu.edu.