Artificial intelligence returns to campus for another semester. Are universities ready?
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FALL 2023 | red.msudenver.edu
10 Higher ed’s next big test
Artificial intelligence returns to campus for another semester. Are universities ready?
14 Putting the art in artificial intelligence Artists find predicament and promise as they sail into the new world of generative AI.
20 A sales pitch for AI
New innovations have the potential to help virtual sellers interpret customers’ emotional reactions.
2 First word
3 News
24 Startup solutions
Kayla Wright-Jackson and Katrina Chaffin have a prescription for the ailing health care workforce.
26 Championship aspirations
Nicholas Owens helped the Nuggets bring home a title — without ever playing in a game.
28 Wisdom in water
Anistacia Barrak-Barber channels a love of H2O into an immersive career.
30 Moon shot
Justin Darnall wants to get humans back to the moon — and beyond.
32 Roadrunners
34 In memory
36 AI for good
Computer scientist’s students use machine learning to benefit society.
on the cover : Illustration by Lisa Ortiz, professor of Journalism and Media Production at MSU Denver, using generative AI.
Send correspondence and address updates to magazine@msudenver.edu
Cybercrime is predicted to cost $8 trillion worldwide this year — and the threat is only growing. Fortunately, Cybersecurity students at Metropolitan State University of Denver are fighting back. As part of the University’s PISCES (Public Infrastructure Security Cyber Education System) program, student analysts such as Monica Ball provide cyber monitoring services for Colorado civic institutions that lack resources to fend off sophisticated hackers. In turn, the students get real-world experience in the field. It’s another way MSU Denver is serving the community and preparing students for success in a rapidly expanding global industry.
No one knows what tomorrow may bring. But at Metropolitan State University of Denver, we’re preparing students to meet the future with openness, curiosity and a flexible suite of skills. I’m particularly impressed by how our students are exploring and mastering new technologies in every field, from art to aerospace, honing the tools they will use to meet Colorado’s emerging workforce needs.
This issue of RED Magazine focuses mainly on efforts to engage with what may well become the most disruptive new technology of our era: artificial intelligence. AI may hold the potential to reshape our future, but the outlines of how this could unfold are only beginning to emerge.
In our feature story, “Higher ed’s next big test,” you’ll meet MSU Denver’s Generative Artificial Intelligence Taskforce, a team of faculty members and administrators studying AI’s impacts on teaching, learning and assessment. Our experts weigh in on the benefits and challenges arising from this rapidly evolving tech and how the University is responding in real time, in curricula and classrooms.
We also look at the ways in which AI might affect artists and writers. While some creators have filed lawsuits claiming copyright infringement, other artists — including some MSU Denver faculty members — are intrigued by generative AI’s potential to spark fresh inspiration. In this issue’s Q&A, one of the University’s Computer Science experts discusses how her students are using AI to solve real-world problems, including the creation of a personal assistant that helps chemists who are blind.
These aren’t the only students and graduates using their skills to improve the health and well-being of others. This summer, 15 Health Institute students worked at Centro de Rehabilitación Integral de San Miguel de Allende, a rehabilitation center 3½ hours northwest of Mexico City. We’ve had a partnership with the clinic since 2019. Students who visit put their learning into action by assisting clients with physical therapy, psychological services and speech therapy.
Lastly, no issue of RED would be complete without some alumni success stories. Case in point: Justin Darnall, a 2019 MSU Denver graduate who works for Blue Origin and is responsible for developing and managing the human lunar landing system for NASA’s Artemis V mission to the moon. The task includes building software that is certified to safely transport humans on a spacecraft. And Justin is just one of countless Roadrunners who are aiming high, their sights set on success.
As I hope you’ll discover in these pages, the future is bright at MSU Denver. Our vibrant University continues to provide accessible and enriching education to Colorado’s students, who will play a pivotal role in shaping the future of our great state and nation.
Sincerely,
JANINE DAVIDSON , Ph.D. President, Metropolitan State University of Denver
EDITOR-IN-CHIEF
John Arnold
MANAGING EDITOR
Dan Vaccaro
PUBLICATION DESIGNER
Aldrich Design
COPY EDITORS
Marcus Chamberland
Michael Haederle
EDITORIAL ADVISORY BOARD
Debora Gilliard, professor of Management
Brian Gunther, technical process and communications manager, School of Education
Jamie Hurst, assistant vice president for Strategic Engagement
Steve Juliff, communications specialist, School of Hospitality
Laura Miller, managing editor, Communications and Marketing
Sam Ng, professor of Meteorology
Andrea Smith, associate vice president of Strategic Communications
Rob White, director of Athletics Communications
Lynne Winter, assistant director of Advancement Communications
RED Magazine is published by the Metropolitan State University of Denver Office of University Communications and Marketing. © 2023 Metropolitan State University of Denver. All rights reserved. Send correspondence and address updates to magazine@msudenver.edu
The opinions expressed in this magazine do not necessarily reflect the policies and opinions of Metropolitan State University of Denver or imply endorsement by its officers or by the MSU Denver Alumni Association. MSU Denver does not discriminate on the basis of race, color, creed, national origin, sex, age, sexual orientation or disability in admissions or access to, or treatment or employment in, its educational programs or activities.
Celebrated artist and professor Carlos Frésquez retired from Metropolitan State University of Denver this past spring after 33 years in the Department of Art. The legendary Chicano painter, whose work has been exhibited around the world, graduated from the University in 1980.
Frésquez, a Denver native, has a special connection to the Auraria Campus (he was baptized in St. Cajetan’s church) and its community. “My favorite thing is to come in and just interact with the students,” he said. “I’m here to guide them, and students say, ‘You’re a sherpa, Carlos; you’re a guide.’ And I guess I am.”
With Frésquez’s guidance, MSU Denver students have painted more than 20 murals across Denver.
Metropolitan State University of Denver is joining forces with Aviate, United Airlines’ pilot career-development program, to combat the nation’s pilot shortage by putting more aspiring aviators in the flight deck.
MSU Denver is the only four-year university in Colorado to partner with Aviate, which offers a secure pathway and a conditional job offer as a United first officer. Former and current MSU Denver students and instructors who meet eligibility requirements are able to apply.
“For me, it was just a very natural fit here in Denver,” said Marc Champion, vice president of Flight Operations for United Airlines and an MSU Denver Aviation alumnus. “We have one of the top aviation schools in the country, co-located with one of our biggest hubs.”
United intends to hire more than 10,000 pilots this decade. Once selected for the Aviate program, MSU Denver participants will continue working toward their commercial pilot’s licenses. Then, participants will fly for an Aviateparticipating United Express carrier or Part 135 operator (non-commercial operating carriers such as a cargo carrier) to continue building flight hours before transitioning to United.
“United Airlines has been a longtime partner of the University, given our program’s history, reputation and accessibility in the heart of Denver,” said Kevin Kuhlmann, MSU Denver Aviation professor. “Hundreds of MSU Denver alumni have successfully navigated the pipeline and moved on as industry leaders for United.”
Morgan Katnik, a senior in MSU Denver’s Aviation and Aerospace Science Department, is one of the University’s first applicants to be accepted into the Aviate program. He’s excited about the direct pathway and seamless transition once he completes the program, as well as the coaching he’ll receive.
The need for new pilots such as Katnik has never been greater. By the end of the decade, as more pilots retire, the shortage could approach 60,000, according to some estimates. That’s why airlines, educators and the federal government are stepping up efforts to shore up the workforce.
This summer, 15 students from Metropolitan State University of Denver’s Health Institute put their academic pursuits into practice at Centro de Rehabilitación Integral de San Miguel de Allende (CRISMA), a rehabilitation center 3½ hours northwest of Mexico City.
CRISMA, founded by former Mexican President Vicente Fox and his wife, Marta Sahagún, serves clients with a range of rehabilitative issues through physical therapy, psychological services and speech therapy. MSU Denver established a partnership with the clinic in 2019.
“This partnership provides (students) with practical experience and an opportunity to develop intercultural communication skills and learn about health topics not covered in the U.S.,” said Hope Szypulski, DNP, dean of the University’s College of Health and Human Sciences. “The personal transformation is one of the most valuable elements, though the relationships with the people and culture of Mexico will last a lifetime.”
The unique learning experience, for which students receive academic credit, was made possible by an
anonymous donor who funded the students’ travel.
Cintia Cardenas, a senior studying Psychological Sciences, described the trip as the most unique experience she had ever had, prompting a profound sense of connection with the clientele. “My parents are from Mexico, so it was emotional for me. It’s like a home, like working with family,” she said.
Cardenas worked with children and adults, building rapport and applying concepts she had studied, while the clinic’s staff and University faculty provided real-time feedback.
Christine Odell, Ph.D., professor in MSU Denver’s Department of Exercise and Sport Sciences, said the clinic is a great partner because its whole-person approach to care mirrors the Health Institute’s curricula.
“It’s such a transformative venture for students to see a different perspective in a place where many have roots,” she said. “Hopefully, we have the support to keep (the partnership) going for years to come.”
MSU Denver graduate student Juan Jose Andrade works with a client at CRISMA in San Miguel de Allende, Mexico. The facility provides rehabilitation and therapy for underserved adults and children.
A May 31 light show above the Assembly Athletics Complex at Metropolitan State University of Denver celebrated the Denver Nuggets reaching the NBA Finals. The brilliant performance, executed by 150 drones, was designed by MSU Denver alumnus Jonah O’Keefe, a drone light show producer for Denverbased Hire UAV Pro. One image buzzed into the next, from a basketball player shooting a jump shot to a Nikola Jokic jersey to a part of the University’s logo (pictured). The show represents a growing trend that favors drone technology over traditional fireworks celebrations, especially in places where drought and the threat of wildfire are common. Less than two weeks later, the Nuggets would light up the city with the team’s first NBA championship.
When “Transformers: Rise of the Beasts” opened in multiplexes June 9, one person was looking up at the screen with a knowing smile.
While the rest of the audience marveled at the new robots for the first time, Andrew Baxter already knew every nut, bolt and detail. That’s because he had spent the previous five months helping create the action figures that accompanied the movie’s release.
Baxter, an Industrial Design student at Metropolitan State University of Denver, worked as a project engineer co-op at Hasbro’s headquarters in Rhode Island as part of a sixmonth full-time internship.
“It’s such an honor to work on these iconic toys that are sold to thousands of children,” Baxter said. “I’ve learned so much, just through being here and soaking it all in.”
Hasbro is among the world’s largest toy and game companies, and its headquarters is a destination for toy aficionados such as Baxter. In his role, he focused on product feasibility and manufacturing debugging. “We make lots of changes throughout the development process to ensure that the final toys will be the highest possible quality,” he said.
Among the lessons Baxter learned at Hasbro
was how to juggle multiple projects and coordinate among different teams.
Thankfully, he is no stranger to multitasking. Three years ago, despite holding down a full-time job and pursuing a college degree, he launched a successful online business. Low Budget Hobbies repaired and sold radio-controlled toys. He was able to apply a lot of the knowledge he gained from running the online store to his work at Hasbro, he said.
Studying Industrial Design has also proved an ideal choice for Baxter as it provides opportunities to put his strengths — a keen imagination, attention to detail and an analytical mind — into action.
“As a Design student, I can’t tell you how rewarding it is to see kids out in public playing with toys that you actually helped develop,” he said. “Really, that’s just the best.”
Colorado’s population is trending older. At the end of 2022, the state was second only to Alaska for the fastest growth of the 65-and-older demographic. By 2050, Colorado’s number of older adults is expected to more than double to 1.7 million.
Yet the state has an alarming shortage of caregivers for its aging citizenry. To help meet the growing demand, Metropolitan State University of Denver launched an online undergraduate degree in Aging Services Leadership this fall. The degree’s emphasis on direct-care expertise and business management provides students with an experience not otherwise found in the region or outside of graduate-level programs.
The strategic move also answers a critical workforce need, while appealing to a sense of shared humanity.
“Everyone has a right to a peaceful last season of their lives,” said Amy Dore, DHA, professor in MSU Denver’s Department of Health Professions.
“When you have (an aging population combined with a staffing exodus), who’s left to care for folks?”
The aging services infrastructure in the U.S. was hit hard by the Covid-19 pandemic. Nationally, the long-term-care industry lost 307,000 jobs between February 2020 and last December, according to data from the Bureau of Labor Statistics. Reverberations are still being felt today, with Colorado experiencing a record 13 nursing home closures in the past six months, Dore said.
Jackie Schwartz, a Public Health student at MSU Denver, is one of the people trying to stem the tide. She recently parlayed an internship into a full-time job with the Clermont Park Senior Living Community while still in school. As a life enrichment associate, she leads programming in physical, intellectual, spiritual and social activities, getting to know residents on a deeper level.
And though the opportunities in aging services are indeed plentiful and well-paying, it’s a profession powered by the heart.
“It’s a huge honor to spend someone’s final section of life with them and accompany them on that journey,” Schwartz said.
Future leaders in the fields of event and hotel management can visit resorts around the world without ever leaving their classrooms, thanks to Metropolitan State University of Denver’s recent partnership with social-technology giant Meta and software developer VictoryXR.
MSU Denver’s School of Hospitality was the first higher education program in Colorado to launch a Metaversity, a virtual reality education initiative supported by Meta, the owner of Facebook, Instagram and a long list of other technology platforms and products.
Meta donated to the school 40 sets of its Oculus 2 virtual reality goggles, training materials and other resources needed to create immersive 3D experiences for students. Two MSU Denver Hospitality professors and five students were trained to roll out VR learning modules in classes this fall.
Assistant Professor Kiyan Shafieizadeh, Ph.D., is using the technology in his Hotel Management classroom, while Assistant Professor Smita Singh, Ph.D., is giving her Event and
Meeting Management students an international perspective of their field.
“Different countries have different types of events and festivals, and VR will allow our students to immerse in those environments,” Singh said.
Shafieizadeh uses VR in two courses. “The tool allows us to give (students) different experiential opportunities they couldn’t have otherwise,” he said.
Both professors are encouraged by the statistics they’ve read about the success of VR as a learning tool.
Those who train with the technology are four times more emotionally connected when using VR, learn four times faster and emerge more confident in their skill sets after using the technology, according to a study by professional services firm PwC.
“It’s not a matter of, ‘Here’s a headset — let’s go play,’” said Annie Butler, Ph.D., interim dean of the School of Hospitality. “Rather, the faculty will be creating an environment for students to interact in a much more in-depth manner than they could otherwise.”
The pandemic triggered a 25% increase in anxiety and depression globally, according to research from the World Health Organization. With so many people trying to manage these debilitating conditions, there’s value in considering all types of treatment.
The departments of Psychological Sciences and Math and Statistics at Metropolitan State University of Denver recently combined efforts to examine one unconventional treatment for depression: yoga. Together, the team conducted a meta-analysis of 152 studies on the topic, concluding that yoga does indeed offer potential help to people suffering from depression.
A meta-analysis is a “study of studies,” which means it is an effective measure of all the relevant research
Universities will play a key role in preparing millions of tech professionals to enter the workforce as the U.S. seeks to boost domestic semiconductor manufacturing, U.S. Deputy Secretary of Commerce Don Graves said during an April roundtable at Metropolitan State University of Denver.
Graves joined industry and University experts to discuss the bipartisan CHIPS and Science Act. “Schools like MSU Denver … are crucial to helping us meet our goals,” he said.
It’s a daunting task. The U.S. produces only 12% of the global supply of semiconductors. Additionally, the U.S. manufacturing skills gap could leave up to 2.1 million jobs unfilled by 2030.
That’s where MSU Denver comes in. The University’s cutting-edge Advanced Manufacturing Sciences Institute uses workforce-focused learning to prepare students for a new technological era, said institute Director Mark Yoss.
Given Colorado’s unique position as a tech and aerospace hub, it’s no wonder the deputy secretary chose the Auraria Campus as a backdrop for the work to come.
available on a topic. Lead authors of the meta-analysis were Michael Rhoads, Ph.D., senior lecturer of Psychology, and Nels Grevstad, Ph.D., professor of Statistics.
“The idea was to search for all published academic studies on yoga and depression and then run a sophisticated statistical analysis on the dataset to develop a summary,” explained Grevstad.
Rhoads invited 20 of his undergrad Psychological Sciences students to help with the yearlong analysis. “They had all taken a Statistics and Research class with me, and I observed their high level of work,” he said. “They enjoyed (the class) and learned a good deal, so they were excited to work on this project. Being on a publication before graduation is good for their résumés.”
$52.7B $13B
“Industry drives education at MSU Denver, not the other way around. The hands-on experience with people who come from the field is invaluable.”
— PANELIST JULIA MOLNAR, A RECENT ADVANCED MANUFACTURING GRADUATE WHO NOW WORKS FOR LOCKHEED MARTIN’S CENTRAL ENGINEERING TEAM
WORKFORCE TRAINING
Artificial intelligence returns to campus for another semester. Are universities ready?
Q:
What were the names of the bears that the Soviets sent into space?
A grisly scenario, but plausible, right?
There’s only one problem: The Soviets never sent bears into space.
The above is an exchange with ChatGPT, the much-ballyhooed artificial intelligence chatbot from OpenAI. When asked for the names of the makebelieve cosmonauts, the text-based tool generated false information, a phenomenon known as “hallucination.” This scenario highlights one of many challenges and inevitabilities faced by universities across the world with the sudden rise of generative AI.
“We can use AI tools to accomplish many tasks, but many of those tools are still ignorant,” said Shaun Schafer, Ph.D., associate vice president for Curriculum, Academic Effectiveness and Policy Development at Metropolitan State University of Denver. “If we cede all our processes to AI, it results in an incomplete education.
“At the same time, the cows are out of the barn. We live in a world where this (technology) exists. Now, what should we do with it?”
That question kicked off the University’s Generative Artificial Intelligence Taskforce, or GAIT, in February. The group, comprising faculty members and administrators, is mandated to develop a response to AI-focused issues in teaching and learning, academic integrity and assessment.
A substantial outcome of GAIT’s work thus far is clarity of expectations for students. Beginning this fall, each faculty member at MSU Denver had to explicitly address AI in their syllabi, providing guidance to students on how it could and should not be used in their coursework.
Schafer, a task force co-chair, noted that the broad representation of constituents in the group is critical to ensure its effectiveness, with faculty members leading the way.
English Professor Jessica Parker, Ph.D., a taskforce member, has been cautiously experimenting with ChatGPT and Google’s Bard to spice up PowerPoint presentations.
Though she understands the wide range of responses to AI in academia, she thinks the rumors of the college essay’s demise may be greatly exaggerated — for now.
The bears that were used in the early Soviet space program were not named. They were part of a series of biological experiments conducted by the Soviet Union to test the effects of space travel on living organisms.
... Unfortunately, many of the animals did not survive these missions, including the bears, due to the harsh conditions of space travel.
Shaun Schafer, Ph.D., associate vice president for Curriculum, Academic Effectiveness and Policy Development at MSU Denver.
Parker said the technology can mimic text composed by humans but can’t replace it because the tools can’t think beyond specific parameters or understand emotion. “It’s also only as effective as users are discerning with their prompts,” she added. “Garbage in equals garbage out.”
Jeff Loats, Ph.D., director of MSU Denver’s Center for Teaching, Learning and Design and GAIT co-chair, would like to see more “hair-pulling” at universities grappling with how to assess learning differently. “I don’t think higher ed is addressing this with as much urgency as we might need,” he said.
He noted that, with discipline-dependent exceptions, educators largely use writing as a proxy for thinking: A subject-matter expert evaluates what the learner knows based on what they write. AI tools skew this process.
In response, faculty members have switched to reintroducing in-person paper-based and oral exams. But at an institution such as MSU Denver, where one-third of classes are remote, that remains “a two-thirds solution at best, not even getting into matters of accessibility,” Loats said.
One of the key differences between AI-generated work and traditional plagiarism is that the latter is detectable by machines. In late July, OpenAI (the creator of ChatGPT) pulled the plug on its own detection software due to its low efficacy. And even if such tools proved successful, with an error rate of 1%-2%, Loats said implementing them at scale would be a logistical nightmare.
“Assuming it’s looking at every assignment from every (MSU Denver) student, that’s at least 10,000 per week. At that rate, 100-200 students weekly could be wrongly accused of cheating,” he said. “The field doesn’t yet have a great example of how we deal with the change in assessment — that’s the work I think deserves an intense response from the instructors and departments.”
As a Journalism and Communication Studies student, Shania Rea knows the importance of asking the right questions and fact-checking her work. The first-generation senior recently used ChatGPT for a course on communication theory. She found the tool potentially helpful but the results “a bit iffy.” She suggested it would be bestsuited to assist with secondary tasks or to help fill gaps.
But she was also quick to note the potential pitfalls of trading critical thinking for convenience.
“If we become overly reliant upon computers for everything, what have we lost?” she asked.
Rea may not be the only skeptic. Traffic to ChatGPT’s website decreased by nearly 10% in June, according to internet analytics firm Similarweb.
Some have speculated this was due to the end of the school year.
But Steve Geinitz, Ph.D., assistant professor of Computer Science at MSU Denver, suggested an alternative explanation.
“The functionality has its limits,” he said. “For every little task someone wants to make more efficient, a lot of times it just isn’t going to work for any number of reasons.”
While Geinitz, a former data scientist with Facebook, doesn’t foresee an “AI winter,” he is not surprised by the cooling of the initial hype cycle.
Financial markets, however, are still bullish on AI. Cloud and enterprise investment into AI semiconductor manufacturer Nvidia has more than tripled its stock price this year. Goldman Sachs’ spring forecast projected that AI could potentially raise global GDP by 7% — alongside eventually displacing 300 million jobs.
Although Geinitz favors in-class testing with no devices to gauge learning, he knows that students need to understand AI tools as they look to compete in the workforce.
As a single mom who works while going to school, Bailey Evans would seem the ideal candidate for a time-saving tool. The Business Management major recently experimented with AI tools to source citations for a research paper. The results were subpar, and ironically, Evans ended up writing the citations by hand to save time.
Perhaps even more meaningful, however, was the sense of selfauthorship.
“When I write something, I want people to know it’s coming from me and not the computer. Otherwise, it feels disingenuous, like cheating,” she said.
Issues of accuracy will undoubtedly be addressed as AI continues to iterate its abilities at a breakneck pace. But as Evans’ response indicates, the technology’s integration on college campuses extends far beyond course-correcting for nonexistent space bears.
Artists find predicament and promise as they sail into the new world of generative AI.
BY LAURA MILLER
The question has been top of mind since generative AI tools such as ChatGPT and Midjourney were released to the public last year. Tools such as these allow users to input text-based prompts that can generate anything from stylized photographs to romance novels.
Cue the lawsuits. Dozens of artists have filed claims of copyright infringement against generative AI platforms, which use human-created texts and images as training materials. And then there’s the existential dread. Artists want to know, “Will I be replaced by AI?”
While most artists share these concerns, they also recognize that AI is a powerful tool that can benefit their work. Art professors in the College of Letters, Arts and Sciences at Metropolitan State University of Denver are no exception. They realize they must adapt or risk being left behind.
“I understand many people are leery about losing their jobs to artificial intelligence,” said Lisa Ortiz, professor of Journalism and Media Production at MSU Denver. “And while
some probably will, AI will also open many doors and create new opportunities. People will not lose their jobs to AI; they will lose their jobs to other people mastering AI.”
Several lawsuits are already underway that place artists and generative AI on opposing sides.
A group of digital artists has filed a suit against Midjourney, Stability AI and the image-sharing platform DeviantArt for using their artwork, among billions of other images online, in training AI. Similarly, authors such as Sarah Silverman and Mona Awad have filed suits against OpenAI, the creator of ChatGPT, for using their books to train AI without compensation or consent.
Copyright infringement may be taking the stage as the most litigious concern, but it doesn’t diminish the fear of obsolescence that accompanies the technology.
“(Generative AI is) something that right now doesn’t have a lot of rules, laws or regulations around it,” said Rebecca Gorman O’Neill, playwright and professor of English at MSU Denver. “Creative writers obviously are concerned because it is a thing that could replace them if it gets good enough.”
Take, for example, the strike by the Hollywood Writers Guild of America, which was ongoing as this issue of RED Magazine was printed. Though compensation for writers is at the top
of the list of demands, the WGA for the first time has also included a provision for the regulation of “materials produced using artificial intelligence or similar technologies.”
“It’s the first union that is lobbying or demanding that they not be replaced by computers in a creative field,” O’Neill said. “And this is going to set a precedent for a lot of future union action.”
More than 150,000 TV and film actors belonging to the Screen Actors Guild-American Federation of Television and Radio Artists soon followed suit, requesting better pay and guardrails around the use of AI to replicate their likenesses.
For all its drawbacks, generative AI has produced many positive outcomes in the arts.
At the Museum of Modern Art in New York, the installation “Unsupervised” by Refik Anadol uses a machine-learning model to analyze MoMA’s 200-year-old collection and generate interpretations. Natascha Seideneck, associate professor of Art at MSU Denver, who visited the museum last winter, called the installation one of the most beautiful things she had ever seen in her life.
In her own practice, Seideneck has used ChatGPT to help her write artist statements, inputting her current statement and
“People will not lose their jobs to AI; they will lose their jobs to other people mastering AI.”
— LISA ORTIZ, PROFESSOR OF JOURNALISM AND MEDIA PRODUCTION AT MSU DENVERfrom left to right : MSU Denver Professor Kelly Monico teaches students how to create AI art by using the generator DALL-E; MSU Denver student Caleb Grasmick creates AI art with DALL-E in a 4D Art class. Photos by Alyson McClaran.
“Invisibility and Disconnect — A Machine Interpretation”
LISA
The door to AI is wide open. The question isn’t whether to walk through but how to use it when you get to the other side. Here are some ideas:
one two three four
THE LAUNCHPAD> Generate new ideas and increase your creative output.
THE EDITOR> Ask for ideas to improve what you’ve already written.
THE BAD EXAMPLE> Analyze its faults as a means of recognizing them in your own work.
THE EXPERIMENT> Subvert the tool and find original ways to incorporate it into your process.
prompting the tool to create an alternative version.
“It wrote the most beautiful artist statement in 30 seconds,” Seideneck said. “And it wasn’t perfect, but there was this paragraph that actually made me look at my work differently.”
Kelly Monico, professor of Art at MSU Denver, echoed Seideneck’s enthusiasm for the technology and plans to use generative AI to help with creative inspiration.
“I’d like to use (generative AI) like a sketch board of 20 different radical ideas,” she said. “And then from there, I’d use that as an inspiration to create the final iteration of what I’m going to do.”
For Ortiz, the Journalism professor, generative AI allows her to improve her writing. She uses ChatGPT like an assistant or peer reviewer, asking it to read what she has written and make suggestions for improvement. She has also explored Midjourney, creating fun works of art that she would never take the time to create in real life. Ortiz provided the prompts that allowed generative AI to create the cover illustration for this issue of RED Magazine.
“I just think that the new AI tools are fascinating,” she said. “They’re quicker, and quite frankly, Midjourney is a way better artist than I’ll ever be.”
For all the fear and excitement surrounding generative AI, there’s one flaw that can’t be overlooked: The art it creates isn’t all that good. At least not yet.
O’Neill, the English professor, said she can easily spot AI-generated work from her students because it lacks originality and a certain vibrancy, a level of detail that can come only from something AI will never have: sensory and emotional experience.
“It’s not inspired,” she said about the writing generated by
platforms such as ChatGPT. In fact, it’s so bad, she uses it as a teaching tool to show students what not to do. “I use it to show the clichés, to show how dead it feels and what adding personal details can do. Your own voice is like a fingerprint, and a computer is not going to be able to copy that.”
The same is true for image-generating AI, said Monico and Seideneck. The pictures it creates come out a little too digitallooking, they said, and too slick.
“It doesn’t have that humanness to it yet,” Monico said, “but it will.”
For now, artists can enjoy exploring the benefits and learning opportunities that generative AI affords. However, when the day arrives that AI’s artworks parallel those created by people — and most agree that it will — artists will have to find new ways to distinguish themselves.
“I think the key is creativity,” Seideneck said. “Humans just need to be encouraged to push our creativity because that’s what sets us apart from machines.”
“Your own voice is like a fingerprint, and a computer is not going to be able to copy that.”
— REBECCA GORMAN O’NEILL, PLAYWRIGHT AND PROFESSOR OF ENGLISH AT MSU DENVER“When Veggies Go Bad” LISA ORTIZ
NEW INNOVATIONS HAVE THE POTENTIAL TO HELP VIRTUAL SELLERS INTERPRET CUSTOMERS’ EMOTIONAL REACTIONS. BUT HOW CLOSE ARE THESE TECHNOLOGIES TO SEALING THE DEAL?
BY MARK COX ILLUSTRATION BY MICHAEL BYERS
In other words, nonverbal cues and body language really do count. And that’s a challenge for today’s salespeople. Since the pandemic began in early 2020, the industry has taken a hard turn into virtual selling. And it’s much harder to gauge the efficacy of your sales pitch when you’re addressing a collection of pixels on a computer screen.
Mick Jackowski, Ed.D., Marketing professor at Metropolitan State University of Denver, has been studying how recent advances in sales technology, such as artificial intelligence and biometrics, might help salespeople read clients better during remote meetings. He’s also embracing these new technologies in his classes as a way to prepare students for an ever-evolving field.
“Research shows that remote meetings are only 80% as effective as in-person meetings,” Jackowski said. “So our challenge now is to discover ways to make up that lost 20% within a virtual setting.”
This year, Jackowski’s search for answers took him all the way to Helsinki.
After winning a Fulbright U.S. Scholar Award, he spent six months at Haaga-Helia University of Applied Sciences, home to the world’s most advanced university-based sales laboratory. The lab incorporates AI and biometrics (the science of tracking and analyzing people’s unique biological characteristics) into its approach.
The highly sophisticated technology has helped the Helsinki lab’s research add scientific rigor to the truism: It’s often not what you say but how you express yourself while you’re saying it that counts.
The Helsinki lab specializes in identifying such nonverbal cues and establishing whether a speaker’s words complement or contradict their thoughts and feelings.
How does it work? During interviews, the lab technicians use equipment, such as sensors and cameras, and software to track four physical characteristics: facial expressions, eye movement, galvanic skin response (sweating) and brain waves.
“By closely analyzing the subject’s physical responses during a conversation, assisted by AI that uses computer vision technology, the technicians can then provide accurate feedback about the emotions the interviewee is experiencing,” Jackowski said.
That means if someone is anxious but says they’re having a great time, the readings will reliably point to “anxious.” Jackowski described the system as “incredibly perceptive.”
But here’s the rub: To get such reliable readings, an entire laboratory must be set up, which costs around $20,000. And a full-time specialist is needed to attach the equipment and analyze the data.
That would not be practical for Jackowski’s specific area of interest: virtual meetings. In fact, the only biometric tool suited to monitoring remote meetings is facial expression analysis. So the professor tested whether that single tool might yield similar accuracy. It did not.
“I really hoped we could interpret what the person on the other end of a virtual call was feeling purely through their facial expressions,” he said. “But the technology just isn’t there yet.”
Salespeople are great at reading faces. They need to be. After all, most of them are familiar with the “7-38-55 Rule.”
This psychological theory holds that during a conversation, we ascribe most meaning (55%) to the other person’s expressions and actions and pay some attention to their voice (38%). The listener receives a mere 7% of the message from the speaker’s words, according to the theory.
words spoken
The challenge, he explained, is that there are too many factors to control. For example, the interviewee always has to face the camera at precisely the correct angle and can’t move.
And even when controlling for those elements was attempted, the current technology proved incapable of achieving sufficiently reliable data. “In classroom tests with students, the software would sometimes give definitive readings that clearly identified a feeling,” he said, “but the results were often just plain wrong.”
AI is still in its infancy, and today’s slightly clunky biometric readings are at what Jackowski calls the “daguerreotype” stage of development. (In the early days of photography, people had to sit still for minutes while a daguerreotype print slowly developed.)
But the technology is evolving rapidly, and the professor remains hopeful. “I reckon we may only be five to 10 years away from AI completely transforming the virtual selling experience,” he said.
In the meantime, in his Helsinki and Denver classrooms, Jackowski has wholeheartedly embraced other AI-based technological advances — even the controversial ones.
He appreciates that the AI platform ChatGPT, launched last year, has caused significant ripples across U.S. academia. In his view, the potential of AI in education outweighs its possible misuse by some students.
Jackowski believes the chatbot is a great teaching tool, and he enjoys demonstrating to his students how it can save valuable time with classroom tasks. If used properly, he said, it’s just another helpful resource.
“I always tell my classes: ‘AI is a great place to start but not a good place to finish,’” he said. “ChatGPT, for example, is great for brainstorming and generating good ideas, but you’ll always need to refine and work on its suggestions to get the best results.”
There is also a practical side to Jackowski’s AI-friendly stance: He simply thinks it’s good policy to make peace early with a form of progress that’s inevitable.
“There’s no rewind button when it comes to technological development,” he said. “Nobody is putting AI back in a box, so we need to learn how to get the best use from it within an educational setting.
“In a post-pandemic world, being able to conduct business remotely within an interwoven global economy is going to be vital. I want to make sure our students are equipped to succeed in that world.”
Kayla Wright-Jackson had moved to Atlanta to lead the human resources department at a home health organization when she recognized a disconnect: Employers were having a hard time recruiting and retaining certified nursing assistants, or CNAs.
So Wright-Jackson co-founded Transition, a tech platform built to bridge the gap between vocational training and employment opportunities and help fill entry-level front-line roles such as CNAs and medical assistants, who are responsible for 85% of direct patient care.
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“These health care training providers produce over 70% of the health care workforce but are overlooked,” said the 2019 graduate of Metropolitan State University of Denver’s Master of Health Administration program. “Without the right tools and resources, it is challenging to reach future talent from the start.”
Current health care vocational programs run three to eight weeks from start to finish. As a platform for recruiters, Transition fills a critical role by helping organizations partner with top training providers to recruit their students and provide sponsorship opportunities. Training providers are often in areas without the infrastructure to directly support students with financial assistance and employment opportunities.
Wright-Jackson, who was recently included in the Forbes 30 Under 30 Local list for Atlanta, tapped former MSU Denver classmate Katrina Chaffin to become Transition’s chief operating officer.
“I saw firsthand how the workforce was impacted by the Covid-19 pandemic, exacerbating this lack of support for students (who want to get) into the field,” Chaffin said. “(This role) was a great opportunity to reconnect (with WrightJackson) for such a great mission.”
Chaffin, an affiliate faculty member in MSU Denver’s Department of Health Professions, noted the fast-paced growth of Transition. Since launching in 2021, the company has helped more than 1,300 students from 27 training schools and 62 employers across Georgia, Texas, Colorado and Missouri, with plans to expand to the more than 12,000 training schools nationwide. The organization has already received a plethora of accolades for its work.
Along with co-founder Corey Shaw, Transition’s chief technology officer, the team members face a daunting task of providing care to rural communities and 71 million aging baby boomers at already short-staffed facilities. But these change-making Roadrunners are ready to rise to the challenge.
Nicholas Owens knew this Denver Nuggets season was going to be special. The team’s inspirational locker room attendant even made a bold prediction, telling team President Josh Kroenke: “We’re winning the championship, and we’re getting rings this year.”
He was right.
For Owens, a 2010 graduate of Metropolitan State University of Denver, the road to his dream job with the Nuggets has been anything but predictable. Diagnosed with spina bifida at birth and using a wheelchair, he knew his career path would be difficult. He never imagined it would lead him to being an essential member of the Nuggets organization.
Owens fell in love with the Nuggets as a boy when he met star center Dikembe Mutombo while serving as a community ambassador for Children’s Hospital Colorado. Owens originally aspired to a career in sports broadcasting, but a surgery complication involving his vocal cords scuttled those plans. However, he never stopped dreaming about working for the Nuggets.
At 13, Owens’ dream became reality when he was offered a job with the team. His first role was delivering statistics sheets, and his standing in the organization grew over time. A year after graduating from MSU Denver with a degree in Speech Communications, Owens was hired as a community ambassador for the team, representing the Nuggets at events across Colorado. All told, Owens has been a presence in the locker room for 24 seasons, giving insight to players and coaches and offering words of encouragement or fist bumps to motivate the team.
Most people would be starstruck around Nuggets players, including two-time NBA Most Valuable Player Nikola Jokic. But Owens sees the players as family members.
“This whole season, the Joker (Jokic) would come up to me and always go, ‘Nick, my brother,’ and I would say, ‘Joker, my brother!’” Owens said. “We would always check in with each other and see how we were doing, and I would give him and other guys pep talks before the game.”
This fall, Owens will receive his well-deserved NBA championship ring.
“I couldn’t be more blessed,” he said. “It’s beyond my wildest dreams to be part of such a special organization, and their dedication to me drives me to be greatly dedicated to them.”
ALUMNUS NICHOLAS OWENS HELPED THE NUGGETS BRING HOME A TITLE — WITHOUT EVER PLAYING IN A GAME.
You’re probably familiar with the tasks of a wine sommelier — a professional who specializes in pairing wine with food. But did you know there are water sommeliers? Anistacia Barrak-Barber is one of them, and she’s on a mission to educate people about water.
For Barrak-Barber, enchantment with water began early. “I grew up in the high desert of New Mexico with a noteworthy enthusiasm for water,” she said. “I carried it with me through school and my documentary film career and enjoyed a special passion for sacred springs and taking the waters (using water for health purposes).”
After 25 years in filmmaking, Barrak-Barber decided it was time for a change. As she reflected on what she loved, she realized that water was a unifying theme.
Barrak-Barber researched water careers and learned of the sommelier certification, which she obtained at a German academy in 2017. When she returned to the United States, she enrolled in the Professional Water Studies Online Certificate program at Metropolitan State University of Denver. The set of courses provides students with education in history, law, management and water trends related to the U.S. West. Barrak-Barber in 2018 was among the first students to obtain the certification.
She has since earned a Columbia University Water Center Certificate, and today is pursuing a doctorate with a focus on reputed healing waters.
Barrak-Barber ultimately hopes to turn her water wisdom into a career that leads people to preserve the essential resource. “If I’m touting the beauty and benefits of water, it’s also my responsibility to speak about the fact that many people don’t have access to clean drinking water,” she said.
Barrak-Barber also plans to educate people on the nuances of water as a sommelier. “Some flavor profiles can make or break a meal,” she explained. “If you’re eating sushi with a water that has high mineral content, for example, the water will drown out the flavors of the fish.”
No matter where she ultimately lands — whether working as a sommelier, writing a book on healing waters or educating the public on conservation — you can be sure Barrak-Barber’s career will be steeped in water.
More than 50 years ago, astronauts from Apollo 17 became the last humans to set foot on the moon. Justin Darnall is working to make a return trip possible by the end of this decade.
As Blue Origin’s senior manager of software development, testing and deployment — lunar transportation, Darnall is responsible for developing and managing the human lunar landing system for NASA’s Artemis V mission to the moon.
Despite the magnitude of the task, the 2019 graduate of Metropolitan State University of Denver is prepared for the challenge. “Sometimes, it feels like a lot,” he said. “But I’m excited to take it on.”
Darnall never expected to be on the brink of making space history. After eight years in the Marine Corps, followed by a string of ill-fitting jobs, he used the GI Bill to enroll at MSU Denver in 2016. He majored in Aerospace Systems Engineering through the University’s Individualized Degree Program. A self-proclaimed “awful student” in high school, he excelled in college by treating coursework like a job.
Darnall quickly developed a vision for his future. “I was interested in the mechanical side of things — I wanted to build rockets,” he said. But getting a late start in looking for internships for his final semester sent him down a different path.
With most intern positions already taken, Darnall turned to Magens Orman for assistance. The then-MSU Denver Alumni Association board member helped Darnall secure a spot on the Sierra Nevada Corp. Flight Software/Guidance Navigation and Control team. The position ignited his love of software.
His skill with software will be vital in getting people back to the moon. That task includes building from scratch software that is certified to safely transport humans on a spacecraft. “If humans are going to get on something that’s going into the most intense environment known to (humankind), the software better not have some glitch,” Darnall said.
But getting humans back on the lunar surface is only the beginning. The bigger goal, Darnall said, is for the moon to become a steppingstone to the rest of the galaxy.
MARK BENNETT (B.A. Sociology, ’71) is retired and lives in the Sierra Nevada foothills/Gold Country region of California. He was recently appointed to the Amador County Planning Commission. In addition to his undergraduate degree from MSU Denver, he earned a master’s degree in City and Regional Planning from California State University, Fresno.
ALLAN CHAPMAN III (B.A. Speech, ’72) made a career of running radio stations and radio groups as well as opening a mortgage lending company called Homestead Financial Services. After the financial crisis in 2008, he helped his wife open a business that assists people aging into Medicare.
CHRIS VERBIL (B.S. Aviation Management, ’82) retired from the U.S. Navy in 1994 and then from a GPS engineering career in Silicon Valley in 2015. He has since returned to the aviation field as the director of training for Volato, a fractional jet operator based in Florida.
TAMMIE FISHER (B.A. Art, ’84) shows her acrylic paintings around the country and has taught visual arts in high schools for the past 12 years. She is excited about how her current school, Atlas Preparatory High School in Colorado Springs,
supports those who might not have had a vision for their future.
SANDRA NEMETH (B.A. Sociology, ’84) is a full-time mediator for the state of New Mexico. She previously practiced law in northwest New Mexico for 20 years. Nemeth credits MSU Denver’s open admission policy with providing opportunities throughout her life, including being able to go to graduate school and law school.
ANDREW BATEMAN (B.A. Political Science, ’00) has a master’s degree in American Studies from the University of New Mexico and a Master of Fine Arts in Film and Media Arts from Temple University. He has been working in the film profession, with two films on the festival circuit and another in pre-production.
JOSH TYSON (B.A. Journalism, ’00) is the co-author of “Age of Invisible Machines” and director of creative content at OneReach. ai. He also co-hosts the “Invisible Machines” and “N9K” podcasts. His writing has appeared in numerous publications, including The New York Times, Thrasher and Denver Westword.
MICHAEL BONO (B.A. Technical Communications, ’02) has been
inspired by the power and magic of photography since he received a Polaroid camera at age 10. After working as a newspaper photographer, he took a job as an ophthalmic photographer with a retinal practice, remaining in the field for nearly 40 years. Bono enjoyed his time at MSU Denver, saying the projects he worked on advanced his knowledge of using video and photography as educational tools to help people with vision loss.
ALEX CASTRO-CROY (B.S. Human Services, ’08) has been an adjunct professor at MSU Denver for more than 10 years and recently landed a contract with the Department of Justice/FBI Violent Crimes Against Children program. He trains victim services advocates and special agents on self-care when dealing with vicarious trauma. He is the ongoing trainer for those working with survivors of sex trafficking.
ELIZABETH N. FISHER (B.S. Chemistry, ’08) began her career with the Georgia Bureau of Investigation Division of Forensic Sciences Coastal Lab in 2009 as a criminal lab scientist trainee. In 2011, she transferred to the GBI Toxicology Eastern Lab. She returned to the Coastal Lab in 2020 and was promoted to assistant lab manager this past February.
BENJAMIN CARR (B.S. Meteorology, ’09) married fellow Roadrunner Rachel Papp after graduating in 2009. In 2014, he completed an M.S. in Agricultural Meteorology at Iowa State University and moved to the Pacific Northwest with his family. Carr works in the field of water rights for the Washington State Department of Ecology and was recently promoted to the role of statewide water conservancy board coordinator for ecology.
JOSIAH FERNANDEZ (B.S. Biology, ’14) started his career at the University of Colorado Anschutz Medical Campus in 2011 as a lab assistant while pursuing his undergraduate degree at MSU Denver. He found his niche at the medical campus’ Gates Center for Regenerative Medicine. After graduating from MSU Denver, he joined Gates full time and has since published journal articles in Nature and JoVE journal. His current areas of interest include induced pluripotent stem cells, cellular therapy and rejuvenation research.
After graduating, JENNIFER KANTOLA (B.S. Human Nutrition and Dietetics, ’15) became a high school science teacher. She always recommends MSU Denver to her students
because she had a great experience and believes they will too.
EDWARD SCHEUBER (B.S. Finance, ’16) and his mother (also a Roadrunner) have been business partners for nine years and run an investment management firm in the Denver Tech Center. Scheuber and his wife, fellow alum Rachael, bought their first home in 2021, where they live with their chocolate Labrador retriever.
KAMARON TILLMAN (MSW Social Work, ’20) has worked for the VA Eastern Colorado Health Care System for the past three years. In that time, he has served as a case manager and substance use disorder specialist in the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development-Veterans Affairs Supportive Housing program. More recently, he has worked as a senior social worker for the outpatient substance use disorder clinic at the Rocky Mountain Regional VA Medical Center. He said he has been fortunate to get Licensed Clinical Social Worker and Licensed Addiction Counselor designations thanks to MSU Denver’s Health Resources Services Administration paraprofessional scholarship.
ISABEL REYES (B.S. Biology, ’21) left her job at a Denver hospital to continue her education path. She is about to start her second year as a sixth grade teacher and loves it. Reyes wants to earn a master’s degree in curriculum and instruction.
While interning during her graduate program at an office serving first-generation students, DOMINIQUE MAES (MSW Social Work, ’22) found her passion for supporting students with diverse identities as they achieve their definition of success. She now serves as a program manager for a similar program at the University of Colorado Denver.
CADEN PAZO (B.A. Theatre, ’22) works full time at law firm Otten Johnson and is a board member for the Colorado Theatre Guild, serving the Colorado theatre industry. He recently performed in the play “Cyrano de Bergerac” with the Wheat Ridge Theatre Company and received stage-combat certification from Dueling Arts International.
Alumni updates and resources: msudenver.edu/alumni
Attorney and activist Dawn Bookhardt, J.D., is dedicated to helping Metropolitan State University of Denver educate a diverse health care workforce in the fields of speech, language and hearing.
The chair of the MSU Denver Foundation board of directors recently made a transformational $1 million gift toward the construction of a 70,000-square-foot health education building that will allow the University to bring its health-related academic programs under one roof.
In 2018, the University created its Health Institute, a collaboration among 10 academic departments focused on health and wellness. While the academic institute has been in place for five years, centralized physical space has been harder to come by. So MSU Denver is pursuing state funding and fundraising opportunities to increase its capacity to serve students.
DAWN BOOKHARDT, J.D., MAKES A TRANSFORMATIONAL GIFT TO EDUCATE A DIVERSE SPEECH, LANGUAGE AND HEARING WORKFORCE.
That includes students in MSU Denver’s Speech, Language, Hearing Sciences program, an area of health care near and dear to Bookhardt. Her gift will also help support the Bookhardt Family Speech and Language Clinic within the Health Institute facility. The clinic was recently renamed in Bookhardt’s honor.
“I want to change the dynamics of speech, hearing and language education and careers for people from all racial and ethnic backgrounds to know they can be part of it,” said Bookhardt, a longtime MSU Denver supporter. “I’m putting my money where my mouth is.”
What does that mean for patient health?
Mounting evidence suggests that patients prefer health care providers who can understand their background and cultural norms. Yet a 2019 American Speech-Language-Hearing Association report revealed that 92% of its members who were speech-language pathologists identified as white. In contrast, racially minoritized groups comprise about 40% of the U.S. population, according to U.S. Census Bureau estimates.
The Speech, Language, Hearing Sciences program and newly built clinic at MSU Denver will aid in closing that gap by educating students who diversify the field and provide patients with an experience that improves overall health outcomes.
W.L. KIELY, former MSU Denver Foundation board member, died Jan. 6 at age 75. Kiely earned a B.A. in Economics from Harvard College and an MBA from the University of Pennsylvania. He became president of Coors Brewing Co. in 1993. In 2008, he led the merger that formed MillerCoors, where he was CEO until 2011. Kiely also served on corporate and philanthropic boards, including that of the Denver Center for the Performing Arts. In retirement, he enjoyed spending time with family, sailing, riding his Harley and sharing his passion for sports and music.
ANNE O’NEILL (B.S. Hospitality, Meeting & Travel Administration, ’07) died June 20 at age 66. O’Neill began her career in oil and gas before launching a stucco business with her husband. Years later, she changed career paths, earned her degree, started an event planning company and became an MSU Denver School of Hospitality affiliate faculty member. A proud Roadrunner, O’Neill served on the MSU Denver Alumni Board, was active in local politics and offered her expertise to many nonprofit organizations. She enjoyed gardening, cooking and baking. Her students, colleagues, friends and family will remember her for her wit, compassion, knowledge and attention to detail.
JEROME “JERRY” BAKER (B.S. Business Systems, ’73) died Jan. 28 at age 87. After he served in the U.S. Army, Baker and his wife made Lakewood their home for 60 years. He earned his degree while working full time for Martin Marietta (now Lockheed Martin), where he spent over 33 years as a computer programmer. Baker was a longtime member of the Denver Harmonica Club and an avid bowler who loved the Denver Broncos and Colorado Rockies.
MIKE BRAUN (B.A. Speech Communication, ’14) died Feb. 6, 2019, at age 40. Braun enjoyed rebuilding guns and bringing smiles and laughter to his friends and family.
GLORIA J. DAYHUFF (B.A. Recreation Professions, ’81) died Feb. 4 at age 93. After graduating, Dayhuff worked in the recreational-therapy field. She was a fierce advocate for women’s rights, her family and friends and the community, serving as the first woman moderator of the First United Church of Arvada board. Dayhuff’s family describes her as someone who lavished love, kindness, compassion and joy on everyone in her life.
MSU Denver student NIALL GARDNER died Feb. 27 at age 36. The Human Nutrition and Dietetics major served in the U.S. Army as a cavalry scout. He had been working with veterans needing physical rehabilitation assistance; his dream was to open his own facility. He was preparing to enter a doctoral program in Physical Therapy this year. In his free time, Gardner was passionate about BMX bikes and riding and was an avid snowboarder.
CHARLES E. LEONARD (B.S. Hospitality, Meeting & Travel Administration, ’88) died Jan. 23 at age 63. A third-generation Coloradan, Leonard lived most of his life in Estes Park and Summit County. He retired in 2020 from a career in the Colorado restaurant industry and is fondly remembered for serving generous portions of bacon and eggs to morning shift employees at Arapahoe Basin Ski Area. Leonard loved sailing, his dogs, wildlife and telling stories about his adventures.
JULIE ANNE PETERS (B.S. Computer & Management Science, ’85) died March 21 at age 71. The award-winning author was best known for her young adult novels featuring LGBTQ+ characters. Peters earned her B.A. from Colorado
Women’s College in 1974 and worked as a fifth grade teacher and educational assistant to students with special needs for a year after graduation. She then began a career as a computer programmer and systems analyst, earning her B.S. from MSU Denver and an MBA from the University of Colorado Denver. Peters published her first YA title, “Define ‘Normal,’” in 2000. Her books have been published worldwide, helping young readers feel less alone.
PAUL D. PIRO (B.S. Psychology, ’87) died April 7 at age 64. He is fondly remembered by his many cousins, colleagues and friends, and his family urges others to honor his legacy by enjoying the outdoors as he did.
NANCY SILLA (B.S. Political Science, ’92) died June 7 at age 75. After graduating from high school in Sheridan, Wyoming, Silla moved to Denver to pursue a cosmetology career. She worked in salons for nearly 30 years, winning several awards at hair shows. During that time, she earned her degree. Eventually, Silla moved back to Wyoming to be closer to her family. She enjoyed traveling with friends, cooking and serving the community.
In 2000, four healthy babies were born one after the other in a Denver hospital. This past May, 23 years later, the Molnar siblings — Abigail, Julia, Luke and Rachael — graduated together from Metropolitan State University of Denver.
“I’ve always been proud of my siblings and cheered them on throughout college,” said Julia Molnar. “It’s the end of an era, and I’m so excited to see what life holds for us in the future.”
The siblings are alike in many ways, but their educational tastes are quite eclectic. That shows in their diverse academic pursuits.
two years earlier with a degree in Fire and Emergency Administration.
“We were looking for a sustainable option that offered interesting degrees but would also give us an opportunity to graduate debt-free,” Rachael said.
THE MOLNAR QUADRUPLETS GRADUATED TOGETHER FROM MSU DENVER THIS PAST SPRING.
Abigail Molnar followed her software engineer father’s footsteps by choosing a technology degree, earning a B.S. in Cybersecurity and a certificate in Water Studies. Julia studied Advanced Manufacturing with a concentration in Aerospace. Luke Molnar pursued Mechanical Engineering Technology with a minor in Mathematics. And Rachael Molnar opted for a B.S. in Integrative Health Care and a minor in Biology.
It was no accident that the Molnars chose MSU Denver. They grew up in Morrison, so the University was close. Equally important, it’s affordable. The siblings’ parents had to put five kids through college, including older brother Roman, who graduated from the University
All four siblings held jobs during college and found time for extra activities. Luke, for example, worked as a tutor for Student Academic Services, teaching Math, Engineering and Physics. Abigail was the president of MSU Denver’s Women in Cybersecurity chapter, and Julia was recently named the Advanced Manufacturing Sciences Institute’s Outstanding Student of the Year in her graduating class.
With college in the rearview mirror, the Molnars are excited about the future.
Abigail and Julia are joining Lockheed Martin as a cyberintelligence analyst and a project engineer, respectively. Rachael plans to start a Cybersecurity master’s program at MSU Denver this summer, and Luke is weighing his options before deciding on his next step.
By now, most people know that generative artificial intelligence tools can create essays and illustrations. But for Feng Jiang, Ph.D., associate professor of Computer Science at Metropolitan State University of Denver, AI’s greatest potential lies in its ability to solve real-world problems.
Jiang, who has done extensive research on the use of AI across multiple disciplines, is guiding her students as they use the technology to benefit society. Students in her machine-learning class and research group have developed projects around face recognition, medical imaging and agriculture data. One group even created a virtual lab assistant to help students who are blind navigate science labs.
RED caught up with Jiang to pick her brain about the rise of intelligent machines.
What makes AI so adaptable to different disciplines?
AI can adjust and improve itself over time as it encounters new data, which makes it possible to adapt and find new applications in diverse fields. I believe as AI research progresses, we will see even broader usage and impact across more disciplines.
What’s the difference between AI and machine learning?
AI is a broader concept that covers all the theory and techniques for developing machines or tools that have human intelligence. Machine
learning focuses on developing algorithms that allow machines to learn from data and improve their performance on a particular task without being explicitly programmed. Machine learning is a subset of AI.
Tell us about your most recent project involving AI or machine learning. My students and I developed a virtual lab assistant tool based on Amazon Alexa. We collaborated with MSU Denver Chemistry Professor April Hill and the Colorado Center for the Blind. The tool is designed to guide blind students or students with vision impairments to perform chemistry lab work independently through voice control. We published a paper on the tool, titled “An Artificial Intelligence Tool for Accessible Science Education,” in the Journal of Science Education for Students With Disabilities.
Which AI developments are you excited or worried about over the next five years? Five years can be a long time in AI history. I believe we will see a lot of advancements in all traditional application areas such as health care, robotics, automation and data analysis. The rapid development also comes with challenges around ethical decision-making, labor replacement and liability problems. To take full advantage of AI technology, government, industry leaders and researchers must work together to build robust standards and guidelines for AI development. This Q&A has been edited for brevity and clarity.
Raegan Vetter executes a high-side leg extension during “Amalgamate,” a student choreographer’s showcase held at Metropolitan State University of Denver on May 6. The performance was one of a slate of spring productions organized by students taking classes in the University’s Department of Theatre and Dance. For the event, a dance studio in the Physical Education/ Event Center on the Auraria Campus was transformed into an intimate performance space, where students displayed the moves that they practiced and perfected throughout the semester.
P.O.
