Cosmic Missteps: Turning Research Failures into Art

Dive into a hands-on experience where scientific setbacks spark artistic breakthroughs on January 15 from 2:30–3:30 PM in the Scholars Event Theater of the Georgia Tech Library. Director of the Space Research Institute, Jud Ready, will share the story of solar cells in orbit that did not perform as intended, and artist Dylan Cawthrone will guide you in transforming that failure into a kinetic sculpture. Using the research as your creative catalyst, you’ll explore how unexpected outcomes can inspire new techniques and ideas. No art experience required—just curiosity and a willingness to experiment with the beauty of failure. click here to register for the event: https://gatech.campuslabs.com/engage/event/11960958

Artist: Dylan Cawthorne 

Dylan Cawthorne is an aerospace and drone engineer, applied ethicist, artist, activist, and former Associate Professor at the Drone Center at the University of Southern Denmark in Odense. He now consults through his company Dylan Cawthorne Consulting (Danish CVR Number 45718344). His goal is to make the world a better place using ethics, technology, activism, and art. He is a champion for the use of ethics and human values in engineering, and an activist engineer.  His academic area of expertise is using value sensitive design methods and ethical principles to design and build prototype drones, as documented in new book The Ethics of Drone Design. These drones are used in humanitarian and public healthcare contexts in Denmark, Africa, and beyond. He is interested in utilizing art, craft, and creativity to enhance engineering - and engineering to inform art.  A common theme in his work is de-centralized technologies and democratic, grassroots organizations and methods. Dylan won the Inspiration Prize from the University of Southern Denmark for his work with the United Nations Sustainable Development goals, and a Peace Rose from the pacifist organization “Never More War”.  

Researcher: Jud Ready 

W. Jud Ready is the executive director of the Space Research Institute. Prior to this role, he served as associate director of external engagement for the Georgia Tech Institute for Matter and Systems and director of the Georgia Tech Center for Space Technology and Research. He has also been an adjunct professor in the School of Materials Science and Engineering at Georgia Tech and a principal research engineer on the research faculty of Georgia Tech Research Institute (GTRI) for over a dozen years. Prior to joining the Georgia Tech faculty, he worked for a major military contractor (General Dynamics) as well as in small business (MicroCoating Technologies). He has served as PI or co-PI for grants totaling ~$17M awarded by the Army, Navy, Air Force, DARPA, NASA, NSF, NIST, industry, charitable foundations and the States of Georgia and Florida. His current research focuses primarily on energy, aerospace, nanomaterial applications, and electronics reliability.