0:01

Dr. John

0:01

Hurtado, interim dean and vice

0:03

chancellor in the College of

0:03

Engineering and professor in the

0:06

Department of Aerospace

0:06

Engineering, has been part of

0:09

Texas A&M since he earned his

0:09

master's and Ph.D. in aerospace

0:12

engineering. Since then, his

0:12

career has taken off, including

0:17

working for Sandia National

0:17

Laboratories on robots that are

0:20

now part of a collection at the

0:20

Smithsonian Institute. He's had

0:24

great influence, both as a

0:24

teacher and a mentor.

0:28

I'm Hannah

0:28

Conrad, and today my co-host,

0:31

Steve Kuhlmann, and I sit down

0:31

with Dr. Hurtado to talk about

0:34

his engineering journey, the

0:34

challenges he's had to overcome

0:37

and the importance in promoting

0:37

a STEM education across

0:40

demographics. This is

0:40

SoundBytes. Welcome to Engineer

0:45

This!

0:47

Dr. Hurtado,

0:47

you're a first-generation

0:49

college student, and you've

0:49

accomplished so much in your

0:53

career. How did you overcome the

0:53

challenges along that path, and

0:59

what was it like being the first

0:59

person in your family to go to

1:02

college?

1:03

Wow, that's a

1:03

great question. I think the

1:05

challenges that I was faced

1:05

being a first-generation college

1:10

student are the same challenges

1:10

that I think many, many students

1:13

face. And that is not really

1:13

knowing the path, not really

1:18

knowing what's ahead. There are

1:18

a lot of branch points as one

1:23

grows up, matures and starts

1:23

college. At each one of those

1:26

points, I think I've always had

1:26

a great mentor in my life that

1:31

has really helped me figure

1:31

things out, anywhere from

1:35

college counselors, to

1:35

professors, other people in my

1:40

life. And that's really helped.

1:40

I started at a community

1:44

college. I did not attend

1:44

college right out of high

1:48

school; I took a few gap years.

1:48

And when I did start at

1:52

community college, I started at

1:52

a pretty slow place. I wanted to

1:56

make sure I was setting myself

1:56

up for success. So, I was taking

2:00

classes here and there without

2:00

maybe a whole lot of direction.

2:06

But I remember one day, the

2:06

college counselor called me in,

2:11

and she told me that I was done.

2:11

And I kind of didn't know what

2:15

she was talking about. And she

2:15

said, "You're done here. You

2:18

need to think about a four-year

2:18

institution." And that was not

2:22

in my plans. I was just taking

2:22

some classes, not sure what was

2:26

ahead but wanting to improve,

2:26

improve my situation. She helped

2:31

me think through some four-year

2:31

schools; she saw that I had

2:35

taken a lot of math and science,

2:35

and she saw that I was getting

2:39

good grades and that. She helped

2:39

me pick a major, helped me

2:43

decide on a school. And that is

2:43

just one example of how these

2:51

mentors in an individual's life

2:51

help them overcome challenges,

2:55

maybe especially with a

2:55

first-generation student.

2:59

So, continuing on

2:59

that line, how and why did you

3:02

land on aerospace engineering?

3:05

So, I remember

3:05

when I was maybe about eight or

3:11

nine years old, our family, we

3:11

bought our first house. Part of

3:15

getting that new house, I had my

3:15

own room, and my parents picked

3:20

out or let me pick out some

3:20

wallpaper for that room. And

3:25

this was back, you have to

3:25

understand this is back right

3:28

after the Apollo years kind of.

3:28

And so, I picked some space

3:33

astronaut wallpaper. Now, fast

3:33

forward to, you know, me being

3:39

in community college and me

3:39

taking the math and the physics

3:41

courses. So, in discussing with

3:41

that counselor, we're talking

3:46

through, she said, "You know, you had to think about engineering." And so, we talked

3:47

about that. I didn't really

3:51

maybe fully understand what

3:51

engineering was. And aerospace

3:56

was there. It was one of the

3:56

difficult majors maybe to get

3:59

into. So maybe there was a

3:59

little bit of pride setting in

4:02

about choosing a difficult

4:02

major. But you know, I certainly

4:05

enjoyed space and thinking back

4:05

to being a kid and Apollo and

4:09

those times and, and that led me

4:09

to aerospace engineering, and

4:13

I've loved it ever since. It's,

4:13

it was a fantastic choice.

4:17

Throughout your

4:17

career, you have accumulated

4:21

multiple patented algorithms and

4:21

robots, some of which are in the

4:26

Smithsonian. What has that been

4:26

like?

4:29

Yeah, it's

4:29

really exciting. You know, I've

4:32

had great opportunities working

4:32

with many individuals. And, you

4:38

know, I talked a little bit

4:38

about mentors playing a big role

4:41

in helping to, helping one make

4:41

choices. So, I was part of one

4:46

group at Sandia National

4:46

Laboratories and worked with

4:49

great people. And then I was

4:49

recruited to join another group,

4:53

a robotics group, and I jumped

4:53

at the chance. It was a little

4:58

bit of forward-thinking group,

4:58

and I got to meet some wonderful

5:03

engineers. I was part of this

5:03

really small team; there were

5:06

four of us. And because it was

5:06

such a small team, each one of

5:10

us had a lot of responsibility

5:10

within that team. We worked on

5:14

something called swarm robotics.

5:14

I developed the algorithms for

5:19

that. And then it was after

5:19

actually, I came here to Texas

5:23

A&M, that I learned that they

5:23

were picked by this Smithsonian

5:27

Institute to be part of the

5:27

permanent collection. And that

5:31

was really exciting. That was

5:31

about in, I don't know, 2003,

5:35

2004. They're in the Smithsonian

5:35

Museum of American History.

5:40

So, diving into

5:40

that research a little. What are

5:43

swarm robots?

5:45

It's still a

5:45

good topic of research, but

5:48

maybe 15 years ago, 20, more

5:48

than 20 years ago, it was a

5:54

topic that was really coming

5:54

forward. And the idea was the

5:57

following. Could a collection of

5:57

robots... accomplish things,

6:02

simple robots with simple

6:02

algorithms, simply designed?

6:07

Could they accomplish things

6:07

working as a group that a single

6:12

robot working by itself, and

6:12

maybe a single more

6:16

sophisticated robot working by

6:16

itself, could not? That was what

6:21

that research was all about.

6:21

Now, we were just trying out

6:25

some concepts. And so one of the

6:25

members of the team designed and

6:30

constructed about 36 of these

6:30

sugar cubed sized robots. Each

6:36

one was independent. It decided

6:36

what it was going to do, and it

6:42

was mobile. It had these really

6:42

tiny wheels and had an antenna

6:46

had... it was really cleverly

6:46

designed in that the body was

6:50

made out of the circuit boards.

6:50

So that would, would drive it

6:54

and control it. What we did is

6:54

we, each one had a temperature

6:59

sensor, and we put a block of

6:59

dry ice in this big room. And we

7:06

outfitted these robots with

7:06

small communication systems so

7:10

that every robot, if it decided

7:10

on its own, could broadcast. And

7:16

every robot could receive that

7:16

information, and on its own,

7:22

decide what it wanted to do with

7:22

that information. And again,

7:25

these are sugar cube sized

7:25

robots. The objective was if

7:29

working together, could they

7:29

locate the cube of dry ice? It

7:34

was so neat to put these in the

7:34

room and film the action and to

7:38

see these robots converge on the

7:38

dry ice working together. And

7:43

one robot working on its own,

7:43

there is no way it would figure

7:48

out that problem.

7:49

It reminds me of

7:49

the little robots from Big Hero

7:53

Six, you know.

7:56

Exactly,

7:56

exactly. Kind of art imitating

7:59

real life. Yeah.

8:02

Howdy, this is Jenn

8:02

Reiley your producer here with a

8:04

quick note. So those swarm

8:04

robots Dr. Hurtado was talking

8:08

about. Well, after they were

8:08

placed in the Smithsonian, he

8:11

was reunited with them in an

8:11

unexpected way. While his

8:15

daughter was a student at Texas

8:15

A&M, she participated in an

8:18

internship at the Museum of

8:18

American History. Well, Dr.

8:20

Hurtado and his wife were able

8:20

to travel to Washington, D.C. to

8:23

visit her and get a tour of the

8:23

back rooms of the museum. And it

8:28

turns out that his daughter had

8:28

managed to find the robots, and

8:31

so Dr. Hurtado came face to face

8:31

with them, and he hadn't seen

8:35

them in about 15 years. He said

8:35

it was special to be able to

8:38

share that with his family. I

8:38

just thought that was a really

8:41

heartwarming note to share with

8:41

all of y'all. Next, we'll hear

8:44

more about Dr. Hurtado's

8:44

thoughts of Texas A&M's impact.

8:47

Let's get back into the interview.

8:49

In your career

8:49

you've, you've worn a lot of

8:52

hats, what impact has being a

8:52

member of the faculty had on

8:57

you?

8:58

I started off

8:58

as a faculty member when I came

9:01

to Texas A&M. So, when I was at

9:01

Sandia National Laboratories, I

9:05

was an engineer at first in a

9:05

experimental dynamic group and

9:09

then in a robotics group. I

9:09

loved that position, loved the

9:14

work, but it didn't afford an

9:14

opportunity to teach. You know,

9:18

my wife and I had always thought

9:18

about, "Wow, if, you know, I had

9:21

a chance to get to university,

9:21

that would be... that would be a

9:24

good thing." And so I had an

9:24

opportunity, and I came here.

9:27

Having a chance, I think, to be

9:27

in a classroom, to share my

9:32

knowledge and my perspective

9:32

with students in, in how I

9:37

approached problems and maybe

9:37

how I tackle difficult problems,

9:42

was a way for me to help

9:42

students see, see a way forward.

9:47

And that was... that was really

9:47

rewarding. I worked up through

9:51

the ranks from assistant to

9:51

associate to full professor and

9:56

enjoyed working with the

9:56

graduate students, the

9:59

undergraduate students and the

9:59

faculty that have been part of

10:02

that journey. Some of the

10:02

graduate students that I've had,

10:06

I just appreciate them so much.

10:06

The conversations that I've had

10:11

with them, how we learned

10:11

together, the relationships that

10:15

I've built, it's been so

10:15

rewarding, and I would not have

10:19

had that opportunity without

10:19

being a faculty member.

10:23

What's it like to

10:23

have gone from, you know, having

10:27

these mentors that brought you

10:27

to a four-year college to

10:31

becoming the mentor to students

10:31

going through college?

10:35

Wow, that's,

10:35

that's a great, great question.

10:38

So, I think it's part of the

10:38

responsibility and duty that

10:44

comes with serving at a

10:44

university. Notice that I didn't

10:48

say serving as a faculty at a

10:48

university, because I think that

10:52

being part of an institution of

10:52

higher education, whether you

10:56

are a faculty member, whether

10:56

you're a staff, maybe just being

10:59

on this campus, so even if

10:59

you're a peer. I think that

11:03

there is a culture and a climate

11:03

and an expectation of you to

11:09

step up, be a mentor where you

11:09

can and help propel lives

11:14

forward.

11:16

The student body

11:16

and the faculty of the College

11:18

of Engineering is so diverse.

11:18

Why do you think it's important

11:23

to celebrate that diversity?

11:25

That's a great

11:25

question. I think it's important

11:27

because engineering is about

11:27

problem solving. Engineering is

11:31

about design that can have an

11:31

impact on society and improving

11:37

life. And so diversity in all of

11:37

the dimensions is important

11:43

because you never know where a

11:43

good idea is going to come from.

11:47

The other important part is that

11:47

when people look at design

11:53

solutions, they can look at it

11:53

from their past experience,

11:57

their perspective, how they

11:57

might use it, how their family

12:03

members and others that they

12:03

interact with might use or have

12:07

preferences or have ideas for

12:07

the best use of something. And I

12:13

think that richness can only

12:13

help a design. And I think it

12:19

can really help to steer a

12:19

design away from these traps of,

12:26

of a product always looking or

12:26

functioning in the same way.

12:32

You've overcome

12:32

so many challenges to get to

12:35

where you are now. What advice

12:35

would you give to an

12:38

underrepresented minority

12:38

student who's considering a STEM

12:42

education?

12:43

The advice I

12:43

would give an underrepresented

12:46

individual to pursue STEM, or in

12:46

pursuing stem would be, I think,

12:51

two pieces that have served me

12:51

well. Number one is seek out

12:56

mentors. Mentors don't have to

12:56

think like you; they don't have

13:01

to look like you. They can be

13:01

very different from you. They

13:04

could be older; they could be

13:04

younger. You just never know

13:07

where good ideas and good

13:07

mentorship will come from. You

13:11

know, it is really helped me in

13:11

my path forward. You know, and

13:15

sometimes a mentor doesn't even

13:15

have to know that they're a

13:20

mentor to you, right? Because

13:20

you're just observing them, and

13:24

you see a style or you see an

13:24

approach that you're thinking,

13:28

"Wow, that was handled really

13:28

well. And there's a lot I could

13:32

learn from that." And so, I jus

13:32

think mentorship is, is just s

13:37

important. Another thing abou

13:37

mentorship is, you know, yo

13:41

don't have to get it all fro

13:41

one individual. Having a team o

13:45

mentors, is what I woul

13:45

strongly recommend to students

13:49

The second piece of advice

13:49

would give is to give time t

13:55

yourself to study and give tim

13:55

to yourself to catch your breat

14:01

as you're going through the pac

14:01

of your study, whether it'

14:04

engineering or liberal arts o

14:04

economics, whatever it is. An

14:09

the reason I say give time t

14:09

yourself is because there wil

14:13

be many pulls for your time fro

14:13

student organizations, from al

14:19

the different times a

14:19

individual can get involve

14:21

with. And it's great to have

14:21

community. And I thin

14:25

communities are important fo

14:25

many reasons. But making sur

14:29

that you give time for yoursel

14:29

to study I think is reall

14:33

important to sometimes reset

14:33

catch your breath and clear you

14:37

head

14:38

When you look at

14:38

Texas A&M, what is it that sets

14:42

the university apart for you

14:42

from its peers?

14:45

You know, I go

14:45

back to Texas A&M being a land

14:48

grant institution. And I know,

14:48

you know, there are other land

14:52

grant institutions, but it

14:52

starts with, with that and I

14:55

think being committed to educate

14:55

the citizens of this state. But

15:00

what really starts to set it

15:00

apart, I think, is the forward

15:04

vision of leadership. So when

15:04

you look at what Texas A&M

15:08

University is doing, in terms of

15:08

research. You know, we topped,

15:12

what was it, a billion dollars

15:12

in funded research. You see that

15:16

this is a place where not only

15:16

can individuals come and get a

15:21

fantastic education that can not

15:21

only change their lives but

15:26

hange a family's trajectory.

15:26

ut it's also a place where

15:30

tudents and faculty members and

15:30

raduate students can be a part

15:35

f the research that can really

15:35

hange the world. When I think

15:38

f what it takes to accomplish

15:38

hings like that: It takes top

15:42

otch faculty; it takes students

15:42

rom very diverse backgrounds;

15:48

t takes the facilities and the

15:48

perations to make it happen.

15:52

nd the fourth important

15:52

omponent are the support staff

15:56

hat can help bring all of that

15:56

ogether and help move it

15:59

orward. What I see here in

15:59

exas A&M University and in the

16:03

ollege of Engineering is I see

16:03

ll of that coming together.

16:06

Can I ask you one bonus question?

16:08

You can ask as many questions as you want.

16:11

So, when you loo

16:11

at your career so far, what i

16:14

it that you're most proud of

16:16

Wow, that's a

16:16

great question. I'll tell you

16:19

what I'm most proud of in my

16:19

career. I'm most proud of my

16:23

family, because I have made a

16:23

deliberate choice to keep and

16:30

build strong relationships with,

16:30

with my wife and kids. And let

16:35

me let... me back up what I mean

16:35

by this. I think so many times

16:39

an individual's career will

16:39

allow them to be a fanatic. It

16:44

certainly will allow you to

16:44

spend as much time as you want

16:47

at the office and spend as much

16:47

time as you want on all the

16:50

various activities. And I think

16:50

an individual needs to make a

16:54

deliberate choice to put a line

16:54

and say, you know, "This is what

16:59

I'm willing to give. If that is

16:59

not enough, then maybe it's not

17:05

for me." On the other hand,

17:05

being willing to give it all up

17:11

to that point, you don't want to

17:11

fall short and feel like I had a

17:15

little bit more to give. And so

17:15

you can see it's a bit of a

17:18

knife edge. And that is

17:18

something I've been very mindful

17:21

of throughout my career.

17:24

Thanks so much for joining us. Is there anything else you'd like to add?

17:27

I'd like to

17:27

thank all the faculty and staff

17:30

who have worked so hard helping

17:30

our students learn, pivoting to

17:35

teach remote when they did and

17:35

all that they did to provide the

17:39

best education that we could for

17:39

our students. And I just really

17:44

appreciate the opportunity to be

17:44

on SoundBytes.

17:48

We hope you enjoyed this episode of Engineering SoundBytes. Make

17:50

sure to follow or subscribe to

17:54

stay up to date with what's

17:54

happening within Texas A&M

17:56

Engineering. Until next time,

17:56

stay safe and gig 'em.

18:02

Thanks for listening to the Texas A&M Engineering SoundBytes podcast.

18:04

The views and opinions expressed

18:08

in this podcast are those of the

18:08

hosts and guests and do not

18:10

necessarily reflect the official

18:10

policy or position of The Texas

18:14

A&M University System.

18:14

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18:17

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