Featured Post from University of Delaware

Gold medal-worthy experts for Olympic Summer Games coverage

Topics include health, injuries, business and science

Jul 23, 2024

2 min

The University of Delaware boasts several experts who can comment on health-related topics such as injuries and training and business-focused areas like marketing and team behavior as they relate to the 2024 Olympic Games in Paris.

Matt Robinson

Professor, sport management

Relevant expertise: Will be in Paris and can discuss the Olympics from an onsite perspective; can give the backstory on The International Coaching Enrichment Certificate Program (ICECP) and what’s new in the Paris Olympics.

Link to profile and contact

Tom Kaminski

Professor, kinesiology and applied physiology

Relevant expertise: Can comment on the impact of heading in Olympic soccer and has studied the risks of concussions in sports for nearly three decades.

Link to profile and contact

Karin Silbernagel

Professor, physical therapy

Relevant expertise: Research aims to advance the understanding of tendon and ligament injuries and repair. Can also discuss sailing.

Link to profile and contact

Tim DeSchriver

Associate professor, sport management

Relevant expertise: Sport finance, economics and marketing

Link to profile and contact

Other experts:

INJURIES:

Tom Buckley

Associate professor, kinesiology and applied physiology

Relevant expertise: Head impacts from boxing.

Stephanie Cone

Assistant professor, biomedical engineering

Relevant expertise: Studies the structure-function relationship that exists in tendons and ligaments with a special interest in changes in this relationship during growth and following injury.

Mike Eckrich

Clinical instructor, physical therapy

Relevant expertise: Weightlifting; can talk about the difference between men’s and women’s injuries and form in the sport.

Donald Ford

Physical therapy

Relevant expertise: Shoulder injuries/rehab expert

Jeffrey Schneider

Senior instructor, kinesiology and applied physiology

Relevant expertise: Athletic training and injury prevention, with a particular interest in ice skating injuries.

Worked with athletes competing in Winter Olympics (2002, 2006) as a strength and conditioning coach and athletic trainer.

EVENTS:

Jocelyn Hafer

Assistant professor, kinesiology and applied physiology

Relevant expertise: Race Walk events and how biomarkers are used in walking studies.

Airelle Giordano

Associate professor, physical therapy

Relevant expertise: Gymnastics; she was a collegiate gymnast

Kiersten McCartney

Doctoral student

Relevant expertise: Can chat about Paralympic Triathlon (running, hand cycling, swimming).

Steve Goodwin

Associate professor, health behavior and nutrition sciences

Relevant expertise: He is also in Paris leading a study abroad cohort. He has been to multiple Olympics, and can also speak to on-site experience, differences in games, etc.

George Edelman

Adjunct professor, physical therapy

Relevant expertise: How the "underwaters” technique gives Olympians an edge.

BUSINESS:

John Allgood II

Instructor, sport management

Relevant expertise: Sport business management, event management

SCIENCE:

Joshua Cashaback

Assistant professor, biomedical engineering

Relevant expertise: Specializes in neuromechanics and control of human movement. His research falls under two major themes: The neuroplasticity and adaptation research line tests how reinforcement feedback can subserve our ability to acquire new motor skills.

Connect with:

Matthew Robinson

Professor, Sport Management

Prof. Robinson is an expert on international sport development.

CoachingSports as a Diplomatic ToolInternational Sports GovernanceU.S. Sports ModelOlympics

Tom Kaminski

Professor, Kinesiology and Applied Physiology

Prof. Kaminski is a leading expert on issues related to purposeful headers in interscholastic and intercollegiate soccer.

Chronic Ankle InstabilityRepetitive Head ImpactsRecovery Assessment

Tim DeSchriver

Associate Professor of Sport Management; Area Head - Sport Management

Prof. DeSchriver’s research is in sport finance, economics and marketing; specifically professional sport and collegiate athletics.

Sport ManagementSports FinanceProfessional SportCollegiate Athletics

Karin Gravare Silbernagel

Professor, Physical Therapy

Prof. Silbernagel's research aims to advance the understanding of tendon and ligament injuries and repair.

Achilles TendinopathyPatellar TendinopathyAchilles Tendon RuptureTendon RuptureKnee Injuries

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1 min

Public health risks after a major flood

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Sep 18, 2026

3 min

Is AI ethical? One philosophy professor has an answer.

During a snowstorm last winter, University of Delaware philosophy professor Thomas Powers fixed his own thermostat by typing the error codes into ChatGPT and following the instructions it provided. As he discovered on that cold, snowy night, AI can make DIY projects that much easier, potentially saving time and money. Ever the philosopher, Powers wondered about the ethics of his solution: What is the impact of taking the repair job away from someone who relies on the work? What about the risk of being wrong? Is the environmental impact of using AI worth the result? After 20 years in the Department of Philosophy and as director of the Center for Science, Ethics and Public Policy, Powers is uniquely suited to explore questions about the ethics of AI. What does “ethical AI” mean? POWERS: We want AI systems that are helpful and useful, but also safe. We want systems that don’t produce biased or dangerous results. One approach to achieve that, which I’m hopeful about, is to create systems that are “safe by design” or “ethical by design.” In other words, instead of relying entirely on outside regulation to prevent harmful behavior, we try to design the systems themselves so that they behave in ways we consider ethical. Is it possible to make an AI system truly “safe by design” if it eventually becomes capable of acting in ways its creators didn’t anticipate? POWERS: There is a big difference between most technologies and AI. With the latter, especially current large language models (LLMs), it appears that there is some unpredictability in their behaviors. Thus, their apparent autonomy complicates the "safe by design" motto. AI autonomy introduces the need for "guardrails" that constrain what AIs can do. But even this may not be possible. Why are AI companies hiring philosophers, and what does this mean for the field of philosophy? POWERS: Some of the hardest questions in AI aren’t purely technical questions. To build systems that are safe, fair or aligned with human values, you first have to decide what those concepts actually mean and how they can be translated into something a computer system can use. The challenge is to educate people who can move between those worlds — who understand the technology but can also ask the deeper questions about what we should want that technology to do. How has AI changed philosophy? POWERS: Philosophers have long discussed the philosophy of action with the concept of agency. For decades we assumed that an agent must be human — someone who acts on their own behalf, or on the behalf of another person, with some kind of plan or attitude. This concept transfers to discussions about AI, and whether it can be considered an agent and be responsible for its actions. The next step is to ask harder questions: Are autonomous AI agents responsible, in some sense, for what they do, and does this suggest or imply that they are conscious? I don’t think AI will become conscious any time soon, but I don’t think it is impossible, and other philosophers and scientists are broaching the question. To speak with Powers further about the philosophy of AI, reach out mediarelations@udel.edu. ABOUT THOMAS POWERS Thomas M. Powers, Ph.D., is an associate professor in the Department of Philosophy at the University of Delaware. He is also the director of the Center for Science, Ethics & Public Policy at UD. Powers' current research focuses on the ethics of information technology and the philosophy of technology. He contributes to scholarship on rule-based conceptions of machine ethics, computer agency, the ethics of artificial intelligence, and other philosophical issues involving emerging technologies, including human-robot interaction.

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