FACULTY Notes and Aca Dr. Seung-Jae Kim, professor of bioengineering, was named CBU’s 2020 Distinguished Scholar for his research proposal, “Artificial Intelligence in Human Movements.” Beginning his 10th year at CBU, Kim says he had just finished post-doctorate work at MIT when God led him to CBU. Since that time, Kim has developed many bioengineering courses, and he helped launch CBU’s biomedical engineering department. Kim’s neurorehabilitation research explores the use of machine learning methods in the biomechanics of human movement. Using artificial intelligence as it applies to rehabilitative engineering, the research may help health professionals optimize training as it relates to normal and abnormal walking ranges. One goal of Kim’s research is to enhance the process of acquiring and retaining motor learning. Kim says that artificial intelligence and bioengineering may accelerate rehabilitation programs for neurological disorders, as well as improve clinical decision-making. In Kim’s biomedical engineering classes, students learn engineering as it relates to health science applications. Research methods Kim has developed to evaluate the human gait are incorporated into class projects, as are the research results. Kim says that he nurtures his students and challenges them in ways that will prepare them for what they need to learn, and he trusts that they appreciate the knowledge they gain. Kim enjoys playing the piano, reading essays, and spending time playing tennis with his sons—which he was able to do almost daily over the summer break. He defines success as “how much we can be content with what we have.” Kim says, “Everyone has a different purpose, and we are to make use of what has been given to us.” As a Christian, Kim believes that CBU is a good place to find principles he values, as well as an intellective faculty and student body.
Dr. Erin Smith is an associate professor of psychology and the director of research for CBU’s Center for the Study of Human Behavior. Smith graduated from the University of California Riverside and is beginning her 10th year at CBU. Since July 2019, Smith has served as a science advisor in psychology and neuroscience for the Science in Seminaries Program, organized by the Dialogue on Science, Ethics, and Religion, a division of the American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS), the largest international and interdisciplinary science organization. She has served as a curriculum advisor and is a designated advisor at two seminaries. Smith takes her role in the College of Behavioral and Social Sciences (CBSS) seriously because she feels she is working for the Lord. As a professor, she meets each student where they are and believes her role in developing students within a Christian context is to show them the incredible diversity within science and religion. Because students often come to her class with the belief that they must choose between science and faith, she facilitates explicit conversations to move students “beyond black and white, either/or thinking.” By exploring how worldview and evidence interact, she hopes to move students into a space where they can critically engage information with nuance and integrity. By studying the different ways of understanding knowledge and beliefs in science and Christianity with students, she hopes to see more Christians represented in scientific fields as students discover that science and faith are not mutually exclusive. Smith minored in French as an undergraduate student and still adores the French language, saying had linguistics been a choice for a major in graduate school, she may not have chosen to study psychology. She spent a great deal of the summer making and eating ice cream with her three children, ages 15 months, 5, and 7 years. Smith says at CBU, every student is treated as a “wholeperson” and encourages anyone considering attending “to come to campus and notice the people who will look you in the eye, smile at you, and really see you.”
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