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Brent Feske, Ph.D., has been named associate vice president for Research in the Office of Research and Economic Development, effective March 1. Feske has served as the interim associate vice president for Research since Sept. 1, 2024. In this short time, he has already significantly impacted the University’s research enterprise. As interim associate vice president for Research, Feske prioritized engaging with the people in his office and the colleges conducting research. “I’ve settled in and moved past the introductory phase,” he said. “I feel I’ve gained a strong understanding of each college’s needs, wants, and aspirations. Together, we’ve laid a solid foundation, and I’m excited to see how our scholarship enterprise can grow and how the Office of Research and Economic Development can help each college reach its full potential.” With nearly twenty years of experience as a dedicated faculty member, Feske brought valuable leadership to the Office of Research and Economic Development. Under his guidance, the office increased internal funding mechanisms to support research, doctoral students and external grant writing. He has also led improvements in how research expenditures are captured and properly coded, providing a clearer picture of the Georgia Southern research landscape. Additionally, he has played a key role in expanding the pre-award team, ensuring better support for faculty and staff throughout the grant submission and award process. “I’m thrilled to have Dr. Feske permanently join the team,” said Vice President for Research and Economic Development David C. Weindorf, Ph.D. “His experience as an administrator and a faculty member really does give him a 360-degree view of the research enterprise and makes him uniquely qualified to lead and help us grow in every aspect. We’ve already accomplished so much, and I can’t wait to see what comes next.” If you want to book time to talk or interview with Brent Feske about his new role, then let us help - simply click on his icon now or contact Georgia Southern's Director of Communications Jennifer Wise at jwise@georgiasouthern.edu to arrange an interview today.
Have you ever dreamed of being an Olympic athlete? Perhaps you have wondered what it would feel like to stand on that podium in front of the world as your national anthem plays. For most Olympic athletes, the journey begins very early in life. But imagine what it would be like if you started training for this event in your 60s? Read on if you want an edge to discover how to win the Retirement Games and still pass the drug test (let’s face it, peeing is not an issue for many at that age)! Here is your chance to get on the podium at the most crucial game of your life. On Your Marks, Get Set, Ready, Go! Retirement was more like a coffee break five decades ago—brief, predictable, and over before your muffin cooled. In 1975, the average Canadian could expect to live about 73.53 years. Fast forward to 2025; we're clocking in at nearly 83.26 years. Even juicier? The lastest research shows half of today's 20-year-olds in Canada are expected to live past 90. That’s why we need to think of retirement these days, not as a sprint; instead, it’s an ultramarathon with hills, potholes, and the occasional pulled hamstring. Most of us never expected to be training for it in our sixties, but here we are—so pull up your compression socks and move. The starter's pistol is about to fire, whether you're ready or not! Surprise! You're Retired While you may dream of selecting your retirement date like a fine wine, many face the reality of a boxed kind instead. Approximately 6 in 10 Americans retire earlier than they planned. Research from the Transamerica Center for Retirement Studies shows that many individuals experience unexpected early retirement due to personal health issues, employer discretion, or family-related circumstances. https://www.cbsnews.com/news/retirement-age-in-america-62-claiming-social-security-early/ Sometimes, it's a health scare, a loved one’s illness, or a harsh employer downsizing. Nobody whispers the term "ageism," but when companies replace senior employees with younger, more affordable talent (or AI bots), it’s not subtle—it’s math.As Morgan Housel reminds us in his bestseller, The Psychology of Money, "The most important part of every plan is planning for your plan, not going according to plan." Expect the unexpected. Train as if retirement could sneak up on you—because it just might. Get Fit, Stay Sharp: Health is the First Leg of the Race Physical and mental health are the fuel for your retirement. The rest doesn’t matter without them; we’re not just talking about lifting weights. (Though, yes, lift some weights.) Regular physical activity provides numerous benefits for older adults, including a reduced risk of dementia and enhanced cognitive function. Exercise can help maintain brain health, reduce mental decline, and even reverse some age-related brain shrinkage. Additionally, physical activity can improve mood, reduce anxiety, and enhance balance and coordination, leading to a better quality of life. • Strength training enhances bone density, metabolism, and mental health. (Source: Mayo Clinic) • Flexibility and balance? Try yoga or tai chi. Harvard Health says they reduce pain and stiffness. • Mental fitness? Cue up Wordle, Canuckle (the Canadian cousin), or Sudoku. • Dancing? It's beneficial for your brain and your swagger • Listening to music or playing an instrument can reduce stress and boost memory. Gold Medal Tip: Motivation is overrated; action is everything. Don’t be a couch potato. A new study conducted at the University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine shows that older adults who spend more time sedentary — such as sitting or lying down — may be at a higher risk for lower cognition and in areas linked to the development of Alzheimer’s disease, no matter how much they exercise! So make sure you show up, move, and the motivation will catch up. Wealth Training: Stop Hoping, Start Budgeting Here's a shocker: Retirement doesn't mean your expenses magically disappear. According to Steve Willems' podcast “10 Retirement Myths You May Not Want to Believe,” most retirees don’t spend less. Aside from the mortgage, spending remains surprisingly consistent, especially during the Go-Go years (ages 55-75)”. We like what we like: groceries, entertainment, travel, and stylish or comfortable clothes are still on our shopping lists. That’s why many of us in retirement will need to pay more attention to spending and budgeting. Check Obligation Spending Retirement is the perfect time to reevaluate expenses from obligation rather than genuine need or joy. Here's a thoughtful way to frame that idea: Retirement is the season of freedom, so why are you still paying for things that feel like a burden? Now that you’re no longer earning a regular paycheck, every dollar matters more than ever. This means it’s time to take a closer look at obligatory expenses. These might include: • Helping adult children financially (even when it stretches your budget) • Donating to every fundraiser or cause just because someone asked • Hosting large family gatherings that leave you exhausted and over budget • Maintaining memberships, subscriptions, or traditions that no longer bring you joy. (We talk a lot more about this in a previous post What’s your Retirement Plan B While generosity is admirable, it shouldn’t jeopardize your financial security or peace of mind. Retirement should focus on investing in what truly matters to you now, rather than keeping up appearances or adhering to outdated expectations. Here’s a gentle mantra to adopt: “I’ve earned the right to say no with love and confidence.” Freeing yourself from obligation spending doesn’t mean becoming stingy; it means becoming intentional. Give where your heart feels full, not where your guilt feels heavy. After all, you didn’t work all those years to keep writing checks out of habit. Balance Beam- Budget What’s your plan when overtime isn’t an option and the budget doesn’t balance? Start with a good old-fashioned reality check: • Write down ALL expenses. • Tally up your income. • Look for a surplus (yay, trip!) or a shortfall (boo, time to pivot). Look at Canadian Government Pensions • Here's the math. Old Age Security (OAS): Max is about $713/month or $8,556/year. And don’t forget the dreaded government clawback (formally known as the Old Age Security Pension Recovery Tax which starts at ~$90,997. • Canada Pension Plan (CPP): The average monthly payment is $758, while the maximum is $1,364 per month or $16,368 per year. So with these two programs combined, provided you meet requirements, as a senior, you're looking at somewhere between $17,000–$25,000/year before tax. If your lifestyle needs a bit more jazz hands, here’s how to bridge the gap: DIY Income Builders: • Slash debt. Every dollar you don't spend is one you keep. • Downsize and bank the equity. • Buy or build an ADU and rent it. I have written more about ADU's here. • HELOC or Reverse mortgage (borrow strategically). • Withdraw from investments (4% rule). • Monetize your skills: consulting, tutoring, or writing that novel you started in 1993. Gold Medal Tip: Track your joy per dollar. If you’re going to spend, make it worth it. Rewire, Don’t Retire: Finding Purpose The biggest myth of retirement? That doing nothing feels good forever. (Spoiler alert: it doesn’t.) Passion is your GPS. It guides you towards what fills your heart. Whether you write poetry, walk dogs, or paint birds wearing tiny hats, your joy matters. And legacy? That’s just purpose with staying power. There’s science to support the benefits of this lesson. A study in JAMA Psychiatry found that people with a sense of purpose had a lower risk of mortality and disability Purpose-Driven Paths: • Volunteer: Look for a cause that fires you up. • Get a part-time job: Perhaps you can fill in at a local bookstore, garden center or be a barista? • Hobbies: Take up painting, pottery, or poetry. • Go Back to School: Many Universities such as The University of Toronto offer free, non-credit courses through programs as part of their community outreach. Seniors (over 60) enrolled at York University may have all or part of their academic fees waived at the domestic fee rate for York University degree credit courses as part of their mature student program. • Spend real time with people you love, maybe your grandkids or elderly parents. • Reconnect with old friends – not just on Facebook, but in person • Get out of your backyard and see the world Gold Medal Tip: You're never too young (or too old) to chase what lights you up. Start a business, get that degree you always wanted, and write that book. Go. For. It. Support: No One Trains Alone Retirement can be lonely. As we age, friends pass, routines fade, and isolation creeps in. That’s why your squad matters more than ever. Find Your Pod: • Family & Friends: Set expectations. Ask for help. Host Sunday dinners. Stay connected. • Fitness & Social Clubs: Join a walking group or participate in a gym class, followed by regular post-sweat coffee. • Faith Communities: Spirituality and structure in one. Sing in the choir. Serve at events. • Third Places: As sociologist Ray Oldenburg says, these are neutral hangouts like libraries, community centers, or your local café. They’re tied to lower loneliness and better mental health. Think of Cheers: “Where everyone knows your name!” Gold Medal Tip: Your local pickleball court or knitting circle might just be your new training ground. Attitude Training: Stop Acting Your Age Here’s a radical thought: Maybe we feel old because we act old. Want to stay young? Stay curious, try new things. Try line dancing, pickleball, bird watching, improv, or learning to code. Yes, code. What was the worst advice our mothers gave us? “Act your age.” Nonsense! Whoever said, “You’re only as old as you feel” was on to something – but let’s take it up a notch: How about you’re only as old as your playlist! The Power of a Youthful Attitude in Retirement A successful retirement isn’t just about savings accounts and spreadsheets — it’s about mindset. A positive, youthful attitude is one of the most powerful (and overlooked) assets you can carry into retirement. Even if you don’t feel youthful or optimistic, “fake it ‘til you make it” is more than just a catchy phrase—it’s a strategy. The goal isn't to accurately describe your aches, fears, or fatigue but to set yourself up for success! Science backs it up: a positive outlook boosts health, sharpens cognition, and increases longevity. From a practical perspective, optimism makes it easier to try new things, adapt to change, and enjoy the present—all essential in retirement. So, if the voice in your head says, “I’m too old for that,” try responding with, “This is my time.” You begin to build because what you tell yourself matters, as does what you believe. Retirement is your reward. Approach it like the vibrant, capable, unstoppable human you are because attitude, not age, sets the tone. Gold Medal Tip: You’re only as old as the last thing you tried for the first time. Try something ridiculous, I double dare you! Final Stretch The Retirement Games are here, and let me be crystal clear: this isn’t amateur hour. This is your Olympic moment, with medals awarded for stamina, strategy, and a solid sense of humour. Whether you're rounding the first turn at 45 or doing your victory lap at 75, now is the time to train. You’ve built strength, stretched your budget, flexed your purpose muscle, assembled your dream team, and rebooted your mindset. Now it’s time to lace up, lean in, and live life to the fullest. This isn’t about perfection; it’s about preparation. You won’t achieve a podium finish through wishful thinking; you’ll attain it through action, adaptation, and a great deal of repetition. So, put on your metaphorical tracksuit (or actual tracksuit if it's laundry day) and begin training with determination. The gold medal retirement isn’t just possible—it’s within reach. Cue the confetti cannon. You’re not just aging—you’re advancing. And champions, as we know, don’t retire… they rewire, recharge, and rewrite the playbook. On Your Marks, Get Set, THRIVE! Don’t Retire … Re-Wire! Sue
Could China Beat America in the Race to Get Boots Back on the Moon?
Call it a matter of pride, national security or a desire for astronomical dominance; there's a sense of urgency within the U.S. government to return to the moon, sparked by China's team of taikonauts, who could land there before American astronauts get back to the lunar surface. The latest space race is a topic that is making national news. Florida Tech's experts are lending their opinions and insights about the likelihood of a lunar return, and what it might mean. NASA, with the urging of many politicians, has been racing to get astronauts back to the moon — before the Chinese land taikonauts on the lunar surface. But what’s the rush to return to a place the United States has already been and left 53 years ago? Especially when Mars looms as an enticing option for interplanetary travel. Space experts say there’s plenty of reasons for the urgency: national pride and national security. But also returning to the moon and building habitats would mean long term dominance in space and ensure access to resources that NASA didn’t know where there when the Apollo missions flew. Now with the Chinese making significant progress in human space exploration, the clock is ticking. “The Chinese in the last 20 years have made amazing strides in all aspects of space. They’re sending robots to the moon on a very regular basis. Now they’re doing some pretty amazing activities even on the far side of the moon, and they have a Chinese space station now in Earth orbit,” said Don Platt, associate professor of space systems at Florida Tech. Can China beat NASA to the moon? “The Chinese have really caught up,” said Platt. “I do believe that the Chinese are definitely advancing their efforts on the moon, and are identifying it as a critical aspect of their strategic future in space." When asked about the prospect of Chinese astronauts making it to the moon before NASA's planned Artemis III mission, Platt said he believes it’s a possibility and he cited the efforts China is making to highlight the importance of the nation's space efforts to its own populace. “They have some amazing videos. They’re really engaging the Chinese public, and really using it to do what what we’ve always done in space, and that is to inspire the next generation and to show the world the technical abilities of the Chinese,” said Platt. May 21 - USA Today The race is on, and it's getting a lot of attention. If you're a journalist following this ongoing story, let us help with your coverage. Dr. Don Platt's work has involved developing, testing and flying different types of avionics, communications and rocket propulsion systems. He also studies astrobiology and biotechnology systems and human deep space exploration tools. Don is available to speak with media anytime. Simply click on the icon below to arrange an interview today.
Professor Gina Rippon signs a copy of The Lost Girls of Autism for talk attendee Dr Georgie Agar Professor Gina Rippon’s new book, The Lost Girls of Autism, investigates why autism was thought to be a male condition for so long She gave a public talk at Aston University on 6 May 2025 exploring the central themes of the book Women and girls with autism have long been overlooked as they are better at masking and camouflaging so ‘fail’ standard tests. Autism in women and girls has been overlooked for decades, and Gina Rippon, professor emeritus of cognitive neuroimaging at Aston University Institute of Health and Neurodevelopment (IHN), has given a talk about her new book on the topic at Aston University. The book, The Lost Girls of Autism, was released on 3 April 2025, coinciding with Autism Acceptance Month, with the subtitle ‘How Science Failed Autistic Women and the New Research that’s Changing the Story’. Autism is characterised by a number of now well-known traits, including social awkwardness, extreme obsessions, and unusual movements and coping mechanisms known as ‘stimming’. It was (allegedly) first described in the 1940s separately by Austrian psychiatrists Leo Kanner and Hans Asperger. Originally identified as a rare developmental condition, since the 1980s, there has been an 800% increase in diagnoses, leading to concerns about an ‘autism epidemic’. There is a strong and enduring belief that it is a condition much more prevalent in males. Professor Rippon described her research as “looking at how brains get to be different and what that means for the owners of those brains”. This includes looking at the functions of different areas of the brain using scanners. During research into a number of brain conditions and diseases with obvious differences between the sexes, including how the disease progresses, such as Alzheimer’s in women, or prevalence in one particular sex, such as Parkinson’s in men, Professor Rippon also became interested in autism, also assumed to be largely a condition in males. However, during a research review, she found that many autism studies made no reference to sex differences. Amalgamated data from autism studies found that 80% of participants were male, and 25% of testing centres only tested males with autism. By only looking at males, Professor Rippon explained, the notion that autism is a male disorder became self-fulfilling. This does not just refer to scientific research. Even now, boys are ten times more likely to be referred for assessment for autism and twice as likely to be diagnosed than girls, even when they have exactly the same traits. 80% of autistic females have received multiple wrong diagnoses, including borderline personality disorder, social anxiety or obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD). But why? The reason is the unchallenged belief that ‘autism is a “boy” thing’ causing a male spotlight problem in all aspects of the autism story. It could also be that females with autism express the condition differently. Professor Rippon said: “This took me back to [my previous book] The Gendered Brain when I was looking at the very clear view of what males should be like and what females should be like. If you look at the autistic population you have this clear idea that males are like this, but females, er, not so much? Females have poor social skills, but not as poor, or obsessive interests, but not as obsessive, so the trouble with females, is that they are not autistic enough.” The gold standard tests for autism are the Autism Diagnostic Observation Schedule (ADOS) and the Autism Diagnostic Interview (ADI) tests. Professor Rippon believes these are heavily biased towards how the condition manifests itself in males, such as social awkwardness or extreme obsessions. For example, parents may well be asked if their son has an unusual interest in weather patterns or train timetables, but they are not asked if their daughter has an unusual interest in Barbie dolls, because dolls are seen as socially acceptable. Research has shown that females with autism are more likely to ‘camouflage’ their symptoms, watching how ‘normal people’ behave, even practising social interactions, so they appear more normal. They are also more likely to ‘mask’ symptoms behind a persona, such as the ‘class clown’ or ‘star athlete’, in an effort to fit in. Autistic females describe this behaviour as a ‘survival strategy’ to avoid being spotted as different. It is also the case that girls are more likely to have sensory processing problems, such as aversion to strong smells, which can be enough to affect their day-to-day lives. This has only recently been added to the diagnostic criteria for autism. If the camouflaging or masking collapses, rates of other conditions such as disordered eating or anorexia, self-harm and gender dysphoria are disproportionately high, and it is these which will become identified as the underlying difficulty, rather than autism itself. Professor Rippon said: “The next stage should be asking why this group of individuals persists in hiding their autism, especially when autism has been defined as a lack of interest in social connection. There’s what I call the ‘born to be mild’ effect, where little girls are trained to socialise more, to behave, not to make a fuss, if you feel uncomfortable, don’t tell anyone else about it. There’s a lovely comment from one late-diagnosed female who rues the fact that she was so well behaved and wishes that she had just burned more cars so that someone would have spotted her carefully camouflaged distress!” The final slide in the presentation covered what Professor Rippon called “an ironic footnote”. While Leo Kanner and Hans Asperger are described as the fathers of autism, writing in the 1940s, it was in fact a Soviet female psychiatrist, Grunya Sukhareva, writing in the 1920s, who first described autism, even clearly examining the differences in the condition between boys and girls. Why her research was ignored for so long is unclear, but the male spotlight problem may well have been avoided. For more information about The Lost Girls of Autism, visit https://www.panmacmillan.com/authors/gina-rippon/the-lost-girls-of-autism/9781035011629.
#Expert Research: The Use of AI in Financial Reporting
Artificial intelligence (AI) is developing into an amazing tool to help humans across multiple fields, including medicine and research, and much of that work is happening at Emory University’s Goizueta Business School. Financial reporting and auditing are both areas where AI can have a significant impact as companies and audit firms are rapidly adopting the use of such technology. But are financial managers willing to rely on the results of AI-generated information? In the context of audit adjustments, it depends on whether their company uses AI as well. Willing to Rely on AI? Cassandra Estep, assistant professor of accounting at Goizueta Business School, and her co-authors have a forthcoming study looking at financial managers’ perceptions of the use of AI, both within their companies and by their auditors. Research had already been done on how financial auditors react to using AI for evaluating complex financial reporting. That got Estep and her co-authors thinking there’s more to the story. “A big, important part of the financial reporting and auditing process is the managers within the companies being audited. We were interested in thinking about how they react to the use of AI by their auditors,” Estep says. “But then we also started thinking about what companies are investing in AI as well. That joint influence of the use of AI, both within the companies and by the auditors that are auditing the financials of those companies, is where it all started.” The Methodology Estep and her co-authors conducted a survey and experiment with senior-level financial managers with titles like CEO, CFO, or Controller – the people responsible for making financial reporting decisions within companies. The survey included questions to understand how companies are using AI. It also included open-ended questions designed to identify key themes about financial managers’ perceptions of AI use by their companies and their auditors. In the experiment, participants completed a hypothetical case in which they were asked about their willingness to record a downward adjustment to the fair value of a patent proposed by their auditors. The scenarios varied across randomly assigned conditions as to whether the auditor did or not did not use AI in coming up with the proposed valuation and adjustment, and whether their company did or did not use AI in generating their estimated value of the patent. When both the auditor and the company used AI, participants were willing to record a larger adjustment amount, i.e., decrease the value of the patent more. The authors find that these results are driven by increased perceptions of accuracy. It’s not necessarily a comfort thing, but a signal from the company that this is an acceptable way to do things, and it actually caused them to perceive the auditors’ information as more accurate and of higher quality. Cassandra Estep, assistant professor of accounting “Essentially, they viewed the auditors’ recommendation for adjusting the numbers to be more accurate and of higher quality, and so they were more willing to accept the audit adjustment,” Estep says. Making Financial Reporting More Efficient Financial reporting is a critical process in any business. Companies and investors need timely and accurate information to make important decisions. With the added element of AI, financial reporting processes can include more external data. We touched on the idea that these tools can hopefully process a lot more information and data. For example, we’ve seen auditors and managers talk about using outside information. Cassandra Estep “Auditors might be able to use customer reviews and feedback as one of the inputs to deciding how much warranty expense the company should be estimating. And is that amount reasonable? The idea is that if customers are complaining, there could be some problem with the products.” Adding data to analytical processes, when done by humans alone, adds a significant amount of time to the calculations. Research from the European Spreadsheets Risks Interest Group says that more than 90% of all financial spreadsheets contain at least one error. Some forms of AI can process hundreds of thousands of calculations overnight, typically with fewer errors. In short, it can be more efficient. Efficiency was brought up a lot in our survey, the idea that things could be done faster with AI. Cassandra Estep “We also asked the managers about their perspective on the audit side, and they did hope that audit fees would go down, because auditors would be able to do things more quickly and efficiently as well,” Estep says. “But the flip side of that is that using AI could also raise more questions and more issues that have to be investigated. There’s also the potential for more work.” The Fear of Being Replaced The fear of being replaced is a more or less universal worry for anyone whose industry is beginning to adopt the use of AI in some form. While the respondents in Estep’s survey looked forward to more efficient and effective handling of complex financial reporting by AI, they also emphasized the need to keep the human element involved in any decisions made using AI. What we were slightly surprised about was the positive reactions that the managers had in our survey. While some thought the use of AI was inevitable, there’s this idea that it can make things better. Cassandra Estep “But there’s still a little bit of trepidation,” Estep says. “One of the key themes that came up was yes, we need to use these tools. We should take advantage of them to improve the quality and the efficiency with which we do things. But we also need to keep that human element. At the end of the day, humans need to be responsible. Humans need to be making the decisions.” A Positive Outlook The benefits of AI were clear to the survey participants. They recognized it as a positive trend, whether or not it was currently used in their financial reporting. If they weren’t regularly using AI, they expected to be using it soon. I think one of the most interesting things to us about this paper is this idea that AI can be embraced. Companies and auditors are still somewhat in their infancy of figuring out how to use it, but big investments are being made. Cassandra Estep “And then, again, there’s the fact that our experiment also shows a situation where managers were willing to accept the auditors’ proposed adjustments. This arguably goes against their incentives as management to keep the numbers more positive or optimistic,” Estep continues. “The auditors are serving that role of helping managers provide more reliable financial information, and that can be viewed as a positive outcome.” “There’s still some hesitation. We’re still figuring out these tools. We see examples all the time of where AI has messed up, or put together false information. But I think the positive sentiment across our survey participants, and then also the results of our experiment, reinforce the idea that AI can be a good thing and that it can be embraced. Even in a setting like financial reporting and auditing, where there can be fear of job replacement, the focus on the human-technology interaction can hopefully lead to improved situations.” Cassandra Estep, is an assistant professor of accounting at Goizueta Business School, and a co-author of the forthcoming study looking at financial managers’ perceptions of the use of AI. She's available to speak about this important topic - simply click on her icon now to arrange an interview today.
When an invitation to sit on the Georgia Governor’s Council of Economic Advisers arrived in an informal email from a colleague, Michael Toma, Ph.D., welcomed the chance to share his ongoing research on the economic health of southeastern Georgia with Gov. Brian Kemp, the Georgia House of Representatives and Senate leadership and their constituents. However, when he joined a small group of colleagues from around the state in a legislative office near the capitol in Atlanta late last year, the opportunity felt far from casual. “It does seem like it’s an honor because I looked around the table and there were only 10 or so of us from the entire state of Georgia,” said Toma, the Fuller E. Callaway professor of economics in Georgia Southern University’s Parker College of Business. “It’s nice to be invited to join this council informing the executive and legislative branches of government about economic conditions in the state of Georgia. I know the southeastern part of the state, so it’s nice to be recognized and be invited to speak about this region to a state-level audience.” The Governor’s Council of Economic Advisers is a select group of mostly higher education economists from various University System of Georgia institutions, in addition to the chief economist from Georgia Power, who meet annually. Toma, who specializes in macroeconomics and regional economics, is well known for his expertise throughout Savannah and the surrounding region. Since 2000, he has written and distributed The Economic Monitor, a quarterly publication housed within Georgia Southern’s Economics Department and Center for Business Analytics and Economic Research. The economic analysis offers a snapshot of the Savannah Metropolitan Statistical Area economy, including Bryan, Chatham and Effingham counties, and informs business owners across the Coastal Empire. He also regularly speaks to chambers of commerce and business groups in the region. In the governor’s council meeting, which was televised to state legislators, the economists took turns speaking about their respective areas of expertise to Gov. Kemp as part of an educational process and annual update for the executive and legislative branches. “The academics from the different institutions discussed economic conditions in their regions of the state,” Toma said. “I highlighted the activity here in Savannah, the growing manufacturing base and the wages associated with the Hyundai plant being injected into the regional economy, and the build-out of the supply chain for the Hyundai plant. “I discussed manufacturing development in the context of broader economic growth within the region that’s layered on top of our normal growth pattern, and that the economic development initiative is starting to pay the dividends it was anticipated to pay.” Following each individual presentation, the governor held an open forum for all in attendance to speak more fluidly with the group. “He had questions for the panel in general about small business activity,” stated Toma. “So I was able to characterize the ecosystem for small businesses in Chatham County. “He said that was a great report.” Toma holds a Ph.D. in economics from George Mason University. He joined Georgia Southern on the Armstrong Campus in Savannah in 1997. If you're interested in learning more about this topic and want to book time to talk or interview with Michael Toma then let us help - simply click on his icon now or contact Georgia Southern's Director of Communications Jennifer Wise at jwise@georgiasouthern.edu to arrange an interview today.
When Luis Quiroga-Nuñez, Ph.D was appointed director of Florida Tech’s Ortega Observatory and its primary tenant – a non-functioning, 32-inch telescope – in 2023, he decided it was time to provide astronomy students and others a window to space. The observatory is already a base for research across a spectrum of cosmic exploration through disciplines such as astronomy and astrophysics, heliophysics, planetary science and astrobiology. However, current students have yet to see the stars up close, as the aging telescope, commissioned in 2008, has sat dormant for the last several years. With restoration, the telescope could be a powerful tool to train students to use professional telescopes and make observations – critical skills that will help prepare them for their future careers. It soon became apparent, however, that this was no simple task. The restoration would necessitate reverse engineering on a large scale to even understand how to fix and upgrade the telescope, much less actually repair it. It would also, as Quiroga-Nuñez wisely recognized, be its own powerful educational opportunity, providing unique hands-on learning opportunities for students in the College of Engineering and Science. “We are an institute of technology. We have perfectly capable people, like these young students, ready to join hands-on projects, get crazy and start to be creative.” Luis Quiroga-Nuñez With various issues to tackle and eager to support home-grown expertise, Quiroga-Nuñez and Lee Caraway, Ph.D, an instructor in the department of electrical engineering and computer science, recruited students with varied backgrounds, from astronomy to electrical engineering and computer science. Students could apply what they learned in class and grow their portfolios with a real-world project, the sort of experiential learning that is a hallmark of a Florida Tech education. Some improvements have been made, but the project remains an exciting puzzle for students and faculty alike. Here’s how they are doing it. An Interdisciplinary Project In January 2023, Quiroga-Nuñez partnered with Caraway to rebuild the telescope from the inside out. They say the conversation started over lunch, sketching ideas on a napkin. With various issues to tackle and eager to support home-grown expertise, Caraway and Quiroga-Nuñez recruited students with varied backgrounds, from astronomy to engineering to computer science. “This is about as real-world as you can get without leaving school. We have this giant piece of technology that is not working. Figure out why,” said recent graduate Adrianna Agustin ’24, who helped update the telescope’s communication system. “All of those problem-solving skills will directly translate to wherever we go in the future.” The project’s multidisciplinary nature also boosts collaboration between both sides of the college. “We keep integrating different parts of the university and involving students in a project that we were blinded by,” Quiroga-Nuñez says. “We sit between the scientists and the engineers.” And there’s no shortage of tasks. In addition to the refurbishment, Quiroga-Nuñez and Caraway are also completing routine telescope maintenance, with students taking on adjacent projects around the observatory. With the telescope repair, each student is given their own task, such as redesigning a small clip that supports the dome’s electric current, reviewing the conditions of the finder’s lens or understanding how analog devices control the telescope’s focus. This allocation allows each student to claim their own individual contribution to the greater telescope puzzle. Opening a Time Capsule The telescope’s biggest issues were mechanical and electrical, all exacerbated by age. Its motors were decades old and naturally failing, Caraway said. These motors controlled the telescope’s right ascension and declination – essentially, its ability to move. The chaotic interior also involved multiple individual systems with dozens of wires. And the circuits controlling the motors, which dated back to the 1980s, were also failing due to age. As Caraway noted, his students are sweeping off “dust older than them.” “The technology back then simply did not exist to control the motors, run the diagnostics and make it all happen,” Caraway explained. “They’re not designed to run 30 years.” Additionally, the computer program that controlled the motors was outdated and did not meet to the university’s security requirements. Given all this, the team needed to develop a new communication system for the telescope, starting with the computer software. They decided instead of purchasing an upgraded computer system, they could build and program their own in-house from scratch. Next, once the new computer was up and running, it needed motors to command. Marisa Guerra ’24 worked on a senior design project involving a robotic arm whose motor structure was the same as the telescope’s. She crafted a blueprint for the telescope’s new motors using what she learned for her capstone project. At the same time, Agustin worked on developing a cleaner communication system between the computer to the motors. Her senior design research focused on electric vehicles and their internal circuit systems, and she could replicate something similar within the telescope – but not without digging through the decaying electronics first. “We had to reverse engineer and actually redraw the circuits, which was good practice because a lot of the time, for senior design at least, you don’t really have to design a new circuit. You are just kind of puzzle-piecing it together,” Agustin said. “But with this circuit, all of them were bad.” Using Guerra’s and Agustin’s senior design research, the team reprogrammed the telescope’s circuits. What once took 20 wires to operate now only takes two. They also reduced the weight of the telescope’s motors from 40 pounds to just 2 pounds. Once the communication system was finished, the team was just waiting for mobility. And on a day in Spring 2024, thanks to the refurbished system, they were able to create movement within the telescope for the first time in years. “I didn’t even know if that device could move internally,” Quiroga-Nuñez says. The moment was celebrated, but the team knew this success triggered a new challenge. It was time to tackle high astrometric precision – a crucial element of properly tracking movement in space. “We are pointing to tiny points in the sky. If we do not track that properly, we are going to be lost in the universe,” Quiroga-Nuñez says. The Value of Time Perfecting precise movement is expected to take some time, but that’s not a bad thing, Quiroga-Nuñez says. He believes that a lengthy timeline will offer more value in the long run because it will give even more students a chance to get involved. Besides, its primary purpose will be to teach students how to use a telescope and allow them to make observations and prepare for their future careers. Ultimately, Quiroga-Nuñez predicts that the telescope could pick up its first image from space in about a year if everything stays on track. However, the team still has a lot of ground within the telescope to uncover, with an unpredictable number of potential troubleshooting challenges. For example, while rebuilding the motor, they discovered that the internal mirror that illuminates the telescope’s visuals was in poor condition – it needed cleaning and new aluminum to reflect enough light to see the telescope’s imagery, Agustin explains. So, the team had to remove the mirror and ship it to New York for refurbishment – a process that took several months. Once the mirror is reinstalled, they can return to their quest for better precision. The mirror is just one example of unpredictability in reverse-engineering. Ultimately, dedicating more time to understanding and solving the unforeseen challenges allows more students to participate in the telescope’s journey, Quiroga-Nuñez says. “This is like a big Lego for them,” he says. “They are learning the process, and the students, I think, will have found a very valuable life experience.” If you're interested in connecting with Luis Quiroga-Nuñez, director of Florida Tech’s Ortega Observatory - simply contact Adam Lowenstein, Director of Media Communications at Florida Institute of Technology at adam@fit.edu to arrange an interview today.
Expert Perspective: Mitigating Bias in AI: Sharing the Burden of Bias When it Counts Most
Whether getting directions from Google Maps, personalized job recommendations from LinkedIn, or nudges from a bank for new products based on our data-rich profiles, we have grown accustomed to having artificial intelligence (AI) systems in our lives. But are AI systems fair? The answer to this question, in short—not completely. Further complicating the matter is the fact that today’s AI systems are far from transparent. Think about it: The uncomfortable truth is that generative AI tools like ChatGPT—based on sophisticated architectures such as deep learning or large language models—are fed vast amounts of training data which then interact in unpredictable ways. And while the principles of how these methods operate are well-understood (at least by those who created them), ChatGPT’s decisions are likened to an airplane’s black box: They are not easy to penetrate. So, how can we determine if “black box AI” is fair? Some dedicated data scientists are working around the clock to tackle this big issue. One of those data scientists is Gareth James, who also serves as the Dean of Goizueta Business School as his day job. In a recent paper titled “A Burden Shared is a Burden Halved: A Fairness-Adjusted Approach to Classification” Dean James—along with coauthors Bradley Rava, Wenguang Sun, and Xin Tong—have proposed a new framework to help ensure AI decision-making is as fair as possible in high-stakes decisions where certain individuals—for example, racial minority groups and other protected groups—may be more prone to AI bias, even without our realizing it. In other words, their new approach to fairness makes adjustments that work out better when some are getting the short shrift of AI. Gareth James became the John H. Harland Dean of Goizueta Business School in July 2022. Renowned for his visionary leadership, statistical mastery, and commitment to the future of business education, James brings vast and versatile experience to the role. His collaborative nature and data-driven scholarship offer fresh energy and focus aimed at furthering Goizueta’s mission: to prepare principled leaders to have a positive influence on business and society. Unpacking Bias in High-Stakes Scenarios Dean James and his coauthors set their sights on high-stakes decisions in their work. What counts as high stakes? Examples include hospitals’ medical diagnoses, banks’ credit-worthiness assessments, and state justice systems’ bail and sentencing decisions. On the one hand, these areas are ripe for AI-interventions, with ample data available. On the other hand, biased decision-making here has the potential to negatively impact a person’s life in a significant way. In the case of justice systems, in the United States, there’s a data-driven, decision-support tool known as COMPAS (which stands for Correctional Offender Management Profiling for Alternative Sanctions) in active use. The idea behind COMPAS is to crunch available data (including age, sex, and criminal history) to help determine a criminal-court defendant’s likelihood of committing a crime as they await trial. Supporters of COMPAS note that statistical predictions are helping courts make better decisions about bail than humans did on their own. At the same time, detractors have argued that COMPAS is better at predicting recidivism for some racial groups than for others. And since we can’t control which group we belong to, that bias needs to be corrected. It’s high time for guardrails. A Step Toward Fairer AI Decisions Enter Dean James and colleagues’ algorithm. Designed to make the outputs of AI decisions fairer, even without having to know the AI model’s inner workings, they call it “fairness-adjusted selective inference” (FASI). It works to flag specific decisions that would be better handled by a human being in order to avoid systemic bias. That is to say, if the AI cannot yield an acceptably clear (1/0 or binary) answer, a human review is recommended. To test the results for their “fairness-adjusted selective inference,” the researchers turn to both simulated and real data. For the real data, the COMPAS dataset enabled a look at predicted and actual recidivism rates for two minority groups, as seen in the chart below. In the figures above, the researchers set an “acceptable level of mistakes” – seen as the dotted line – at 0.25 (25%). They then compared “minority group 1” and “minority group 2” results before and after applying their FASI framework. Especially if you were born into “minority group 2,” which graph seems fairer to you? Professional ethicists will note there is a slight dip to overall accuracy, as seen in the green “all groups” category. And yet the treatment between the two groups is fairer. That is why the researchers titled their paper “a burden shared is a burdened halved.” Practical Applications for the Greater Social Good “To be honest, I was surprised by how well our framework worked without sacrificing much overall accuracy,” Dean James notes. By selecting cases where human beings should review a criminal history – or credit history or medical charts – AI discrimination that would have significant quality-of-life consequences can be reduced. Reducing protected groups’ burden of bias is also a matter of following the laws. For example, in the financial industry, the United States’ Equal Credit Opportunity Act (ECOA) makes it “illegal for a company to use a biased algorithm that results in credit discrimination on the basis of race, color, religion, national origin, sex, marital status, age, or because a person receives public assistance,” as the Federal Trade Commission explains on its website. If AI-powered programs fail to correct for AI bias, the company utilizing it can run into trouble with the law. In these cases, human reviews are well worth the extra effort for all stakeholders. The paper grew from Dean James’ ongoing work as a data scientist when time allows. “Many of us data scientists are worried about bias in AI and we’re trying to improve the output,” he notes. And as new versions of ChatGPT continue to roll out, “new guardrails are being added – some better than others.” “I’m optimistic about AI,” Dean James says. “And one thing that makes me optimistic is the fact that AI will learn and learn – there’s no going back. In education, we think a lot about formal training and lifelong learning. But then that learning journey has to end,” Dean James notes. “With AI, it never ends.” Gareth James is the John H. Harland Dean of Goizueta Business School. If you're looking to connect with him - simply click on his icon now to arrange an interview today.
Do We Need to Worry About Safety at the United States' Busiest Airports?
For the second time in two weeks, air traffic controllers directing planes into the Newark, New Jersey, airport briefly lost their radar. The outages have sparked travel chaos, with hundreds of flight delays and cancellations after the FAA slowed air traffic to ensure safety. The country's aging air traffic control system is in the spotlight. Media, politicians and the public are demanding both solutions for the system and answers on how safe traveling is at the moment. To provide insight, Florida Tech's Margaret Wallace is lending her expert opinion and perspective on the issue. Margaret Wallace is Assistant Professor of Aviation Management at Florida Institute of Technology, where she teaches Air Traffic Control and Airport Management courses. She spent over 15 years in the industry prior to teaching as an Airport Manager (4 years) at Ramstein Air Base in Germany and an Air Traffic Controller (10+ years) in the U.S. Air Force. “The recent communication failure at Newark Liberty International Airport has raised serious concerns about the safety and dependability of air traffic control systems in the United States. On April 28, 2025, the Newark air traffic facilities lost all radio communication with approximately 20 airplanes for up to 90 seconds due to an equipment breakdown. During the outage, pilots and controllers were unable to communicate. Controllers were unable to maintain aircraft separation during crucial flight phases, and pilots were unable to receive air traffic clearances and instructions. Situations like this, as well as aircraft incidents, bring stress and trauma to the controller's mental state. Most people cannot fathom how much mental stress the controller experiences in everyday job settings. Situations with defective equipment, combined with lengthy work hours due to a scarcity of controllers, appear to have taken their toll based on the fact that several controllers have taken leave for mental stress. This situation posed a safety risk to all planes and passengers. Fortunately, there were no incidents, and everyone remained safe. However, this demonstrated some of the flaws in the outdated air traffic system equipment. Sean Duffy, the new Transportation Secretary, has acknowledged the critical need to improve our current technology. While air travel is generally safe, our current administration must continue to prioritize the upgrade of air traffic systems and increasing the staffing in air traffic facilities. To ensure safety, I believe we should consider having airlines restrict the number of flights available and the Air Route Traffic Command Center to introduce delays to avoid overloading the system.” Margaret Wallace If you're interested in connecting with Margaret Wallace about the ongoing issues at airports across the country, let us help. Contact Adam Lowenstein, Director of Media Communications at Florida Institute of Technology, at adam@fit.edu to arrange an interview today.
Most companies around the world have a leader, whether that title is a President, CEO, or Founder. There’s almost always someone at the very top of a corporate food chain, and from that position down, the company is structured hierarchically, with multiple levels of leadership supervising other employees. It’s a structure with which most people in the working world are familiar, and it dates back as long as one can remember. The word itself—leader—dates back to as far as the 12th Century and is derived from the Old English word “laedere,” or one who leads. But in 2001, a group of software engineers developed the Agile Workflow Methodology, a project development process that puts a priority on egalitarian teamwork and individual independence in searching for solutions. A number of businesses are trying to embrace a flatter internal structure, like the agile workflow. But is it necessarily the best way to develop business processes? That’s the question posed by researchers, including Goizueta Business School’s Özgecan Koçak, associate professor of organization and management, and fellow researchers Daniel A. Levinthal and Phanish Puranam in their recently published paper on organizational hierarchies. “Realistically, we don’t see a lot of non-hierarchical organizations,” says Koçak. “But there is actually a big push to have less hierarchy in organizations.” Part of it is due to the demotivating effects of working in authoritarian workplaces. People don’t necessarily like to have a boss. We place value in being more egalitarian, more participatory. Özgecan Koçak, Associate Professor of Organization & Management “So there is some push to try and design organizations with flatter hierarchies. That is specifically so in the context of knowledge-based work, and especially in the context of discovery and search.” Decoding Organizational Dynamics While the idea of an egalitarian workplace is attractive to many people, Koçak and her colleagues wanted to know if, or when, hierarchies were actually beneficial to the health of organizations. They developed a computational agent-based model, or simulation, to explore the relationships between structures of influence and organizational adaptation. The groups in the simulation mimicked real business team structures and consisted of two types of teams. In the first type, one agent had influence over the beliefs of rest of the team. For the second type, no one individual had any influence over the beliefs of the team. The hierarchical team vs. the flat structured team. “When you do simulations, you want to make sure that your findings are robust to those kinds of things like the scale of the group, or the how fast the agents are learning and so forth,” says Koçak. What’s innovative about this particular simulation is that all the agents are learning from their environment. They are learning through trial and error. They are trying out different alternatives and finding out their value. Özgecan Koçak Koçak is very clear that the hierarchies in the simulation are not exactly like hierarchies in a business organization. Every agent was purposefully made to be the same without any difference in wisdom or knowledge. “It’s really nothing like the kinds of hierarchies you would see in organizations where there is somebody who has a corner office, or somebody who is has a management title, or somebody’s making more than the others. In the simulation, it’s nothing to do with those distributional aspects or control, and nobody has the ability to control what others do in (the simulation). All control comes through influence of beliefs.” Speed vs. Optimal Solutions What they found in the simulation was that while both teams solved the same problems presented to them, they achieved different results at different speeds. We find that hierarchical teams don’t necessarily find the best solution, but they find the good enough solution in the shorter term. So if you are looking at the really long term, crowds do better. The crowds where individuals are all learning separately, they find the best solution in the long run, even though they are not learning from each other. Özgecan Koçak Özgecan Koçak (pronounced as ohz-gay-john ko-chuck) is associate professor of Organization & Management at Emory University’s Goizueta Business School. She holds a Ph.D. in organizational behavior from the Graduate School of Business at Stanford University. For example, teams of scientists looking for cures or innovative treatments for diseases work best with a flat structure. Each individual works on their own timeline, with their own search methodologies. The team only comes together for status updates or to discuss their projects without necessarily getting influence or direction from colleagues. The long-term success of the result is more important in some cases than the speed at which they arrive to their conclusion. That won’t work for an organization that answers to a board of directors or shareholders. Such parties want to see rapid results that will quickly impact the bottom line of the company. This is why the agile methodology is not beneficial to large-scale corporations. Koçak says, “When you try to think about an entire organization, not just teams, it gets more complicated. If you have many people in an organization, you can’t have everybody just be on the same team. And then you have to worry about how to coordinate the efforts of multiple teams. That’s the big question for scaling up agile. We know that the agile methodology works pretty well at the team level. However, when firms try to scale it up applied to the entire organization, then you have more coordination problems. Özgecan Koçak “You need some way to coordinate the efforts with multiple teams.” The Catch: Compensation Makes a Difference The simulation did not take into account one of the biggest parts of a corporate hierarchical structure—incentives and reward. The teams in the simulation received no monetary compensation for their leadership or influence. That is not something that happens in real life. Koçak says, “If you built up an organization with just influence, you just say we’re not going to have any authority, and we’re not going to give anybody the right to control anybody else’s actions. If we’re not going to be rewarding anyone more than the other, there’s not going to be any marks of status, etc. We’re just going to have some people influence others more. I would guess that would automatically lead to a prestige hierarchy right away. The person with more influence, you would start respecting more.” It’s almost like we’re incapable of working in a flat society, because somebody always wants to be or naturally becomes a leader and an influencer whether they planned on it or not. Özgecan Koçak The paper concludes that both methodologies, with either hierarchical and flat organization of teams, reach their goals. They just arrive at different times with different end results. If an organization has the luxury of time and money, a flat, agile methodology organization might be the right structure for that company. However, even agile workflow needs some coordination, according to Koçak. “There are also some search tasks that require coordination. You can’t always be searching on your own independently of others. There are some situations in which search needs to be done in a coordinated fashion by more than one person in teams. That’s because many of the knowledge-based settings where we do discovery require some division of labor, some specialization by expertise.” Communication is Key The key to any successful workflow, whether it be agile or hierarchical, is coordination and communication. Looking back to the example of scientific researchers, Koçak said, “You have scientific teams working independently of one another without a common boss dictating what they do research on or how they do it. Instead, they explore and experiment on their own. They write up their results, share their results, and learn from each other, because they are in the long-term game. The goal is to find the truth, however long it takes. “But when you look closely at a scientific team where everybody’s exploring, there is still some need for coordination. A lot of that happens through communication, and a lot of times projects will have a lead. Not necessarily somebody who knows better than the others, but somebody who’s going to help with coordination.” The leaner, flatter organizational structures in businesses might be gaining popularity. This simulation done by Koçak and colleagues, however, shows that it isn’t a perfect fit for every company, Further, some form of hierarchical workflow is necessary to maintain communication and coordination. Hierarchical structures don’t always find the best solution to a problem, but it’s almost always a good solution in a timelier fashion. Looking to know more? Özgecan Koçak is associate professor of Organization & Management at Emory University’s Goizueta Business School. She is available to speak with media about this topic - simply click on her icon now to arrange an interview today.
