Norma Jane Mattei will discuss the ethical use of AI in engineering education in the first lecture of the Dr. Robert A. Savoie College of Engineering Dean’s Distinguished Lecture Series.

University of New Orleans emerita civil engineering professor Norma Jane Mattei will discuss the ethical use of AI in engineering education in the first lecture of the Dr. Robert A. Savoie College of Engineering Dean’s Distinguished Lecture Series. Her lecture will take place on Oct. 29 at 12:30 p.m. in the Dohse Auditorium of the Engineering Building. 

The presentation will be given to freshmen engineering students enrolled in ENGR 1000, Introduction to Engineering, but it is free and open to the public. Offered in partnership with the Louisiana Engineering Society New Orleans Chapter, members of the local engineering community who attend can earn a Professional Development Hour toward licensure. 

“This lecture series will be a great opportunity for members of our community to learn and understand big ideas that apply to engineering,” said Lizette Chevalier, dean of the Dr. Robert A. Savoie College of Engineering. “Our students will also be able to network with employers, while local engineering firms can begin to build relationships with our future engineers.” 

Mattei’s presentation will begin with a history of AI; she will then present pros and cons of AI leading into a discussion on its ethical use in engineering education and engineering practice. She will also address the future artificial intelligence tools that we will use in the coming years.

Mattei is an emerita professor in the Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering at the University of New Orleans. President Joe Biden recently appointed Mattei to the National Infrastructure Advisory Council. She just completed ten years as one of two civilian civil engineer commissioners on the Mississippi River Commission, nominated by President Barack Obama. She was 2017 president of the American Society of Civil Engineers, chairing that organization’s Board of Direction.

Other lectures in the series will be UNO alumnus Timmy Couvillion, president and CEO of the Couvillion Group, on November 12 and Dr. Robert A. Savoie, for whom the college is named, on December 3. All lectures will be in the Dohse Auditorium at 12:30 p.m.