When our computers are solving problems faster than people ever could, what do we do with the answers? How do we use the data in a way that serves everyone? This week, host Derek is joined by two experts to talk about the revolution happening now in machine learning and data collection. First, Mike Tamir is the Head of Data Science and AI for the Susquehanna International Group. Then, Nuria Oliver is the Co-Founder and Director of the Institute of Human Centered AI.  The two discuss how AI will be able to create and test products in the future, and how we can best succeed in the intersection between AI and creativity. 

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• What is LIDAR (Light Detection and Ranging) technology, and what type of information and data can it help us generate? 
• How do we hone data to make self-driving cars even safer and make the testing process even more efficient? 
• How cars have become more computerized, and what that automation will look like down the road. 
• Nuria discusses a high stakes user study that underwent ethics approval from MIT, and how they brought in the proper safety precautions.
• Some of the foundational things you need to be able to train machine learning models in a supervised fashion.  
• We can have systems that not only automatically detect and recognize the maneuver of drivers, but predict them. What are the opportunities for this, but also, what are the challenges? 
• What capturing human behavioral data looks like on a massive scale, and how machine learning can help identify business opportunities and create better customer satisfaction. 
• Human decisions have gotten us through a lot of situations, but we have unciouscnsess biases, we are susceptible to corruption, we have emotions that get in the way, physical needs, etc. 
• Nuria talks about the value in human collaboration and how automated work may help us be able to develop deeper relationships and free up time and energy to be more creative. 

Resources Mentioned: 

• NI
• Nuria Oliver
• Mike Tamir 

Our ears only have a limited range to pick up sounds, so how do we make the loud things soft enough and the quiet things loud enough that we can hear them? We test. This week, it’s all about sound as host Derek welcomes two experts in the field. First, Jim Underbrink is a Former Boeing Technical Fellow with 35 years of experience in Dynamic Data Acquisitions Systems and Test Methods. He details some of the rigorous testing a plane goes through to make sure it can operate correctly and determine not only how loud the airplane is, but how we can locate and reduce the loudest sources an aircraft emits. Then, Kevin Seitz-Paquette, Director of Phonak Audiology Research Center, shares some of the exciting advancements in hearing aid technology that combat hearing loss while lessening the surrounding stigmas that come with it. He touches on testing to make sure the products are built in a way that gives us real-world solutions in a safe and effective manner. 

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• How testing sound in aviation has developed over the years, and Jim gives us a behind-the-wings look at what goes on at Boeing’s noise lab. 
• How testers started studying different components of the whole airplane using models to see where certain noises were coming from, and how loud they were. 
• Why it matters to test the different volume noises given off by airplanes, not only to passengers and airline workers but also the community surrounding the airports. 
• How 800 microphones in a mathematical pattern were used to essentially take pictures of noise as airplanes approached and took off from a runway. 
• What race track patterns are and how they apply to testing. 
• Kevin talks about how the technological development of hearing aids can help lessen the stigma of hearing loss and having to wear a hearing device. 
• How they test hearing aids with a “crash test dummy” that models an actual human being and recreates real world examples of how the hearing aid may both work and malfunction.

Resources Mentioned: 

• NI
• James Underbrink 
• Kevin Seitz-Paquette 
• Phonak 

As our need for mobile and wireless connectivity becomes more essential, the technology and testing around our phones are also developing at breakneck speed. Cameras get bigger and better screens, confirming our identity becomes more seamless, and how we can quickly collaborate matches our need for connectivity on the go. This week, host Derek Burrows talks with two experts about the testing behind innovation, who’s got a front-row seat watching the need for speed, and who’s in the race to get us our data as fast as possible. First, Jennifer Alvarez is the CEO of Aurora Insight, an IT company that uses its proprietary technology to measure the radio frequency spectrum, and Jeremy McKinney is an associate attorney with Dunlap Codding, a law firm that specializes in intellectual property. They talk about testing in a race of innovation, the future of acceleration, and how times have changed from our flip phones in the 90s. 

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•  5G is not just enhanced 4g. It’s going to enable brand new applications that we can only imagine. Jennifer breaks down the different “G’s” and how we can drive innovation to solve problems. 
• Aurora is agnostic of the network operator and technology, making it easy to be independent and truly reflect what the network is doing. 
• The more data your signal can carry, the harder it is to actually transmit. 
• How do we connect machines and get rid of all those cables and instead, enable wireless connectivity that is super fast, low latency, very reliable, yet able to communicate high bandwidths of data? 
• How do we even begin to test tech that has to go through a sea change every time a new iteration drops? 
• A few of the pros and cons of technology where the speed of innovation is so important. 
• With Aurora Insight’s technology, the real innovation is its ability to vacuum  up all the spectrum, not just focusing on collecting cellular or LTE from a mobile network. 
• As an associate attorney specializing in intellectual property, Jeremy is able to observe the speed of innovation firsthand. 
• What is a standard essential patent? 
• Aurora Insight’s approach has been to make the software do all the work, and have relatively generic hardware. 

Resources Mentioned: 

• NI
• Aurora Insight 
• Dunlap Codding 

If we want to truly break our dependence on fossil fuels, we’re going to need to get really wild and find power in places we haven’t even thought of. That means new and novel technology, so how do we properly test and evaluate it? This week, we travel from Scotland to space to find out. First, host Derek Burrows welcomes Vicky Coy, the Head of Innovation Projects at Catapult in Glasgow, where they specialize in offshore renewables. Vicky talks about the testing of tidal power and how we can learn from the old to create the new. Then, we launch into space with David Poston, the Chief Technical Officer of Space Nuclear Power Corporation. David breaks down what it’s really like to put nuclear reactors into space, and why good testing is just as much about the doing as it is the dreaming and talking. 

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• What is tidal energy, and with something this new, how do you test it? 
• Vicky talks about some of the benchmarks they use in test. 
• Sometimes in test, it’s the things you wouldn’t expect that fail first. Vicky talks about what she and her team have learned in this arena and the ways they have adapted. 
• Even though the idea of drawing energy from the sea is new, the methods used to evaluate and test have been around for a long time. 
• David talks about why we need nuclear reactors in space. 
• In test, there are sometimes regulations that aren’t very well defined, but you still need to meet with the regulators and ensure everything works. 
• David is the Chief Reactor Designer for the NASA Kilopower Project, including the DUFF and KRUSTY reactor experiments. How can this lead to changes in the way we test all terrestrial reactors? 

Resources Mentioned: 

• NI
• Vicky Coy 
• David Poston

Our lightning-fast innovation helps patients and doctors get results and life-saving solutions at a quicker pace than ever before, but how do we make sure every piece of tech is used safely? Join host Derek Burrows this week as he explores how test is driving and safeguarding the tools that save lives, one patient at a time. First, he welcomes Kipp Bradford, who is on the faculty at the Harvard School of Engineering, a teacher at their Grad School of Design, and the founder of an air conditioner startup called Gradient. Next, Derek welcomes Aaron Feldstein, Manager of Test at Butterfly Network. 

Together, these two guests discuss the explosion of innovation and how we can use test to build and test devices for our medical community, getting them into the hands of doctors and patients who need them most. 

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•  How the democratization of tools has led to a broader community of people who can access life-changing medical care. 
• The explosion of innovation has been driven by makers and engineers who got into the medical field when they saw a need for their skill set, and also patients taking a greater interest in personalizing their own health experience. 
• With this new innovation, patients can work more in partnership with their doctors and use technology to track aspects of their own health and wellness. 
• Examples of a few tools that test has allowed us to release on the market, including hearing aids and an ultrasound device that you can run from your phone. 
• How do we use test and AI software to gather the data that we need to tweak and better our medical equipment? 
• How does regulation interfere with innovation…or does it actually help? 
• What elements do we need in test as we move forward toward the democratization of medicine?

Resources Mentioned: 

• NI
• Kipp Bradford 
• Gradient
• Aaron Feldstein
• Butterfly Network 

Whether we are talking cars, buildings, or aircraft, the future of test may just be entirely digital. However, in order to understand, build, and execute those tests, the right strategies and preparation must be in place. To walk us through the future of test in virtual reality, host Derek Burrows first heads over to the Yard of Bricks at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway, the most iconic place in the world for motorsports. There, he meets Paul Mitchell, Chairman and President of the Indy Autonomous Challenge, and learns how Paul’s team has pioneered virtual testing for their races. He then meets with Dr. Will Roper, Professor, and Former U.S. Air and Space Forces Weapons Chief. Will has worked with the Missile Defense Agency and the Air Force to develop exciting new systems, some of which might not even exist yet in the physical world. He explains what a digital thread is and how our digital twin can help us create faster, at lower cost, and have less impact on the environment. 

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• Before anyone from Paul Mitchell’s Indy Autonomous team touched a tool, the challenge was an entirely virtual competition. What did they learn while working in simulated environments, and how did that impact testing? 
• Paul discusses how their simulation tools got better once they began on-track testing. 
• Those who were leading the racecar team weren’t necessarily automobile experts, but the best in computer science and AI. In fact, one of the team leads didn’t even have a driver’s license! 
• The virtual component is not more valuable than the real world, but the two can support one another in gathering data and giving important feedback. 
• Will Roper explains how the focus of test engineers and testers in the future will be overcoming the new things that have been left in Pandora’s box for us to open. 
• How will virtual reality affect the way we test and design in aviation? 
• Will explains what a digital twin is, and how we can use it for more efficiency, out-of-the-box innovation, and less cost. 
• Virtual reality will help us fold AI more into our design.

Resources Mentioned: 

• NI
• Indy Autonomous Challenge 
• Paul Mitchell 
• Dr. Will Roper

The lightning-fast pace of innovation brought on by the rapid advances in our testing technology owes at least part of its success to building, writing, and deploying a coding language that allows humans to follow and track it in a way that resembles how we think. This week, we explore how software-defined test has helped us improve and optimize our test, the differences between spoken language and coding, and the opportunities that arise when you are armed with a new vocabulary. To explore how we can better speak the language of test, host Derek Burrows welcomes Kimberly Bryant, founder and CEO of Black Girls Code, and NI’s  Eli Kerry. 

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• What is Kimberly’s perspective on the differences between spoken language and coding language? What are the similarities? 
• How has software-defined test helped us improve and organize in the automotive domain and beyond? 
• While spoken languages may help us navigate and define the world around us, coding languages help us build them.
• Why was LabView created, and what does LabView code look like? 
• With novel technologies like AI, we are teaching the computer how to solve problems sequentially by following a set of algorithmic steps, much like the teacher teaches their student. 
• As our computers get smarter, will we see the line between our language and theirs start to blur? 

Resources Mentioned: 

• NI
• Kimberly Bryant
• Black Girls Code 
• Eli Kerry 

Before we can live in a renewable future, we will have to build and test the technology that will get us there. We have developed quite impressive innovation where we can pull power quite literally out of thin air, but once we have all this energy from the wind and sun, where do we store it? To help us answer those questions, along with giving us a glimpse into the future about economically storing our power and using energy efficiently, we welcome Seth Mansur, Regional Sales Manager of Genie Solar Energy, and Peter O’Brien, the Vice President of Sales and Marketing at NH Research. Seth and Peter talk to host Derek Burrows about the future of electric cars replacing fossil fuel, vampire energy, and the rigorous test that goes into batteries and solar panels. 

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• Seth shares how his time in Iraq serving for the Marines sparked his interest in creating a sustainable way to use solar-powered energy.
• The biggest challenge is finding a way to store our power economically. How does Seth see this adapting in the future?
• What is Vampire Energy, and why is it important to pay attention to how much energy our equipment uses when it’s not on?
• Having the data to know what’s going on in your facility and what’s causing a vampire energy load is the first step for people to really be able to take control and ownership of your energy.
• Peter discusses how battery innovation and testing are improving, and that the future of electric vehicles may be here even sooner than we think.
• Better batteries are going to require a lot of testing. How does the Evie battery emulate real-world conditions in its testing process?
• What is abuse testing?
• Flash Testing is one of the technologies used by solar panel manufacturers.

Resources Mentioned: 

•  Seth Mansur
• Genie Solar Energy 
• Peter O’Brien
• NH Research 
• Evie Battery