Introduction

My name is Jake Reilly. I'm from the Chicago suburbs and I'm finally being vindicated for my 21 years as a Cubs fan. As a senior in EE, my interests lie primarily in how engineering can influence business and how business and economic requirements should be considered whenever engineering work is done. Furthermore, many of the EE projects we do tend to be cross-disciplinary. I enjoy being exposed to many different lines of study and ways of thinking. Outside of class, I'm very involved with the technical crew at the DeBartolo Performing Arts Center, particularly in the realm of lighting design. I've designed lights for student productions, Broadway-level dance companies, Hip-Hop Night, and everything in between.

I'm looking forward to learning more about the social and ethical implications of emerging technologies including AI, self-driving cars, medical robotics, and the technical aspects of the sharing economy. In my opinion, the biggest issue facing any engineer is "We can do this, but should we?" For electrical and computer scientists and engineers, this question demands that we always consider our breakthroughs and products from the perspective of not only their necessity, but their moral acceptability. Artificial intelligence, in particular, begs the question of "should we" in a way we've never seen before. I'm looking forward to hopefully hearing more on this topic.