ATLAS Colloquium
Tuesdays, 11:30 am - 12:30 pm
Each week during the fall and spring semesters, the ATLAS Colloquium features dynamic speakers from academia and industry who work in fields of interest to the creative technology and design community. Whether artists, creatives, entrepreneurs or free spirits, these speakers share their interdisciplinary experience and knowledge in an intimate, small-group setting. Talks may be attended in person in the ATLAS hackery (ATLS 208) or, in most cases, online.
The ATLAS Colloquium is organized and curated by Ellen Do, professor of computer science with the ATLAS Institute and director of the ACME Lab. Talks are free and open to the public. Students have the option of taking the one-credit听ATLAS Seminar ATLS-7000-001.
In most cases, colloquia are recorded.
Fall 2025 Colloquia
Check out the听 for more updates.
Synth: AI-Powered Materials Discovery
Speaker: Grant Zukel
Tuesday, August 26, 11:30am - 12:30pm MT
Abstract: The discovery of new functional materials has traditionally been slow, expensive, and dominated by trial-and-error. Conventional 鈥渃omposition-first鈥 approaches start with a candidate formula, simulate or synthesize it, and only then evaluate whether it meets the desired properties. Too often, it doesn鈥檛.
Synth offers a new paradigm: a property-first materials discovery platform. By starting from the properties we want 鈥 rather than a fixed composition 鈥 Synth uses physics-informed candidate generation based on peer-reviewed science libraries, surrogate property models, and GPT-5鈥檚 multi-perspective expert reasoning to rapidly narrow the vast search space.. The system prioritizes candidates by thermodynamic stability (Ehull) and synthesis likelihood, producing visualized, expert-style reports and 3D structures.
Synth integrates established computational chemistry libraries (pymatgen, ASE, matminer, scikit-learn, and others) with GPT-5 reasoning to create a reproducible, auditable workflow. It produces actionable insights for researchers while learning continuously from user feedback and experimental data. The result is a faster, smarter way to move from target properties to viable candidate materials 鈥 enabling researchers to explore new frontiers in superconductivity, dielectrics, catalysts, and beyond.
Bio:听Grant Zukel is the founder of Synth, an AI-assisted materials discovery platform. His background spans philosophy, software engineering, military intelligence, DevOps, and international telecom. Grant began programming at age 8, built software for multi-million-dollar companies by 14, and later served in military intelligence, where he developed software to process satellite feeds and enhance mission targeting.
After the military, he became a DevOps engineer, eventually leading AI infrastructure projects at AT&T and founding a DevOps school that trained and placed over 100 engineers into the industry. Today, he serves as a Director of DevOps while also leading an investment group with projects in agriculture, energy, and telecommunications across Africa.
As Chairman and President of YourTel Inc., Grant developed a graphene concrete battery technology to power remote telecom towers. The challenges of designing such advanced materials inspired him to create Synth 鈥 a property-first AI materials discovery platform. His mission is to accelerate materials innovation by combining physics-grounded machine learning with reasoning capabilities to bridge disciplines and shorten the path from discovery to application.
Who is Kurt Smith?听 Why is he here? And what in the world is vagalometry
Speaker: Kurt Smith
Tuesday, September 2, 11:30am - 12:30pm MT
Abstract: In this Colloquium seminar talk, Kurt will provide us with an overview of his career and discuss a career-long research interest in the field of human-machine interactions that promote improved healthcare & wellness.听 Specifically, Kurt will introduce the wild-eyed notion of vagalometry as a field of study and development of the phenomenology of the human-machine interaction with the expressed vision of enabling a neuroceptive-type relationship that supports wellness and sustainability for the individual and for society.
Bio:听From music to engineering, Kurt Smith, D.Sc., a pioneer in the medtech industry, made a remarkable professional pivot that was incredibly fortunate for patients and the medtech industry as a whole.听 Initially aspiring to be a singer and songwriter, he reevaluated his path when he recognized the challenges of achieving a sustainable and profitable career in the music industry. During a fortuitous meeting with his college counselor, Smith learned that thanks to his passion for math and the numerous related courses he had already completed, he was just a year-and-a-half away from obtaining an electrical engineering degree. This helped convince him to make the shift, and he went on to complete undergraduate and graduate degrees at Southern Illinois University as well as a Doctor of Science in electrical & biomedical engineering from Washington University in St. Louis.
Engineering a long and storied career over the past four decades, Kurt went on to spend lengthy stints at Medtronic and other leading medtech firms, and helped found 20 ventures鈥攎any of which are still active growth programs at Medtronic and other organizations. He holds more than 30 patents and has earned numerous awards and accolades, including being named an AIMBE Fellow and Medtronic Bakken Fellow. Along the way, he鈥檚 touched well over 10 million patients with products he鈥檚 invented and developed. He also has held numerous board appointments and been published extensively.
Eager to share his knowledge with the next generation, Smith started the Engineering Entrepreneurship program at the University of Colorado, Boulder, which is now a minor offered in the School of Engineering. He also has served as an adjunct professor at the Johns Hopkins University School of Engineering, St. Louis University School of Medicine, and Southern Illinois University and developed and taught an Innovation Short Course in Shanghai for several years as part of the Jia Tong University and University of Michigan Engineering School Joint Program.听
While his list of accomplishments is impressive, what Smith says he鈥檚 most proud of during this accomplished career is how he鈥檚 changed the lives of hundreds of young innovators and entrepreneurs through mentoring, leadership and teaching.听 鈥淚鈥檝e always focused on creating a strong culture wherever I鈥檝e gone, aiming to inspire a 鈥榗an-do鈥 attitude where people support and really care for each other,鈥 he says. 鈥淭he heart of developing a culture is ensuring there鈥檚 an environment of safety where people feel confident that hey can fully be themselves.鈥澨
While he has more than made his mark on the medtech industry, Smith didn鈥檛 abandon his musical dreams, having built and run a professional recording studio for fifteen years, and now he is in the process of putting out his second album as a singer-songwriter. Among other hobbies, he enjoys all the hiking and trail running that Colorado offers. With a certificate in Organizational Chaplaincy from Upaya Zen Center Chaplaincy Program, Smith has also continued practice and involvement with the center in Santa Fe.
Beyond Reality: Crafting the Future of Human Interaction in Augmented Reality
Speaker: You-Jin Kim
Tuesday, September 16, 11:30am - 12:30pm MT
Abstract:听In this talk, Dr. You-Jin Kim will explore his pioneering research in the Dynamic Reality Lab (DRL), where user inputs such as EEG, EMG, natural locomotion, and eye gaze are leveraged to make digital content interaction in augmented reality (AR) reflect human intent and expression. He will showcase his projects, such as Dynamic Theater, World Tracer, FractalBrain, Spatial Orchestra, and Reality Distortion Room, to illustrate how narratives unfold through user interaction in AR. The presentation will emphasize how these initiatives extend human interactivity by seamlessly blending physical and virtual worlds, providing new insights into the future of human-computer interaction, particularly within the field of engineering.
Bio:听You-Jin Kim is an Assistant Professor and director of the Dynamic Reality Lab (DRL) at Texas A&M University, as well as a core faculty member in the Visual Computing and Interactive Media PhD program. The DRL combines research in engineering and the arts to enhance human interactivity in the blended world of physical and virtual objects, including augmented reality (AR) navigation and immersive theatrical environments. The lab specializes in human-computer interaction in wide-area AR environments, utilizing technologies like EEG, EMG, and eye-tracking. You-Jin envisions the future of virtual production and entertainment through experimental spatial computing techniques.听
Circular Futures: Prototyping through Eco Materials and Digital Fabrication
Speaker: Beth Ferguson
Tuesday, September 23, 11:30am - 12:30pm MT
Abstract:听Beth Ferguson will share recent research and design work from the Circular Futures Lab at University of California, Davis which investigates climate solutions through ecological design, digital fabrication, and sustainable materials. One of the lab鈥檚 key projects, the Eco Materials Library, provides practical guidance for Makerspaces to create their own collections of regenerative and waste-based materials including biomaterials, upcycled resources, and locally sourced natural materials like clay and bamboo. These materials offer new opportunities for low-carbon product design and architecture. Ferguson will also present her new Hybrid Basket project, which integrates craft with computational design through the fusion of handwoven reed and custom 3D-printed support rings. The forms explore structure and material relationships within fiber vessels, leveraging digital fabrication to expand the possibilities of woven forms. Together, these projects reflect the Circular Futures Lab鈥檚 commitment to rethinking material culture through systems thinking, craft, and climate resilience.
Bio:听Beth Ferguson is an ecological designer whose work integrates solar engineering, active mobility, digital craft and sustainable materials to advance climate resilience and reduce carbon emissions. She is an Associate Professor in the Department of Design at the University of California Davis, where she directs the Circular Futures Lab. Her projects have been exhibited internationally at Ars Electronica, Dutch Design Week, Otago Museum, and Centre d鈥橝rts Santa M貌nica, and nationally at SXSW, the ZERO1 Biennial, TEDxPresidio, and the Exploratorium. Her work has been featured in Fast Company, BBC News, The New York Times, Wired Italy, and Radio New Zealand. Ferguson has held residencies at the Autodesk Technology Center in San Francisco, Haystack Mountain School of Crafts, and the American Arts Incubator in New Zealand.听