In 2019, Dr. Jacob George and fellow researchers at the U made waves with the “LUKE Arm” (named after the robotic hand given to Luke Skywalker in The Empire Strikes Back), a prosthetic arm that has the ability to feel objects by transmitting the appropriate signals to the brain. Not only can the arm feel, but it can be controlled by the user’s thoughts. In the 2023 Distinguished Gould Lecture, Dr. George will highlight this technology and the advances that have taken place since their breakthrough technology was first announced – including translation into bionic exoskeletons to aid individuals with paralysis and into smartwatches to allow anyone to seamlessly control smart devices and augmented reality by thought.

Dr. Jacob A. George is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Electrical & Computer Engineering and the Department of Physical Medicine & Rehabilitation at the University of Utah. He is the director of the Utah NeuroRobotics Lab and a foundational researcher in the Craig H. Neilsen Rehabilitation Hospital. Dr. George received his B.S. in Biomedical Engineering and a Certificate in Computational Science and Engineering from The University of Texas at Austin in 2016. He then received his M.S. and Ph.D. in Biomedical Engineering from the University of Utah in 2018 and 2020, respectively. Dr. George has been the recipient of several high-profile awards, including the NIH Director’s Early Independence Award and Forbes 30 Under 30.

The William R. and Erlyn J. Gould Distinguished Lecture on Technology and the Quality of Life was inaugurated October 7, 1992, at the University of Utah Marriott Library. In establishing the lecture series, Bill and Erlyn Gould both recognized the critical need for continuing public education about issues regarding modern technology and its impact on our daily lives. Inherent to the advantage of technology is the importance of understanding the ramifications and responsibilities that accompany modern scientific discovery. Only through continuing public education can scientific fact and social philosophy be successfully merged. The lecture series is intended to provide a forum for the discussion of problems, issues, experiences, and successful case histories of the regeneration and preservation of our communities through the application of modern technology. It is hoped that an increased awareness of obligation in the public trust will emerge among practitioners of technology as they address the very important environmental and life-deteriorating problems facing
society today.

Top image photo credit: The University of Utah