Provost Lecture Series - NPS Online
Overview
Talks offered as part of this series are cross-disciplinary presentations intended to be accessible to broad audiences. One of the unique features of the Provost Lecture Series is its interdisciplinary approach, as the presentations transcend traditional disciplinary boundaries, making them accessible and engaging to a broad general audience. Attendees can expect to be enlightened and inspired as they listen to a world-class expert and thought-provoking discussions that will provide a deeper understanding of current, critical topics, ranging across science, technology, and social sciences.
Application Deadlines
No upcoming deadlines.
Academic Calendar
No upcoming events.
Video modules
Hypersonic
By: Dr. Garth Hobson
Why Faster Isn’t Just Faster, But a Game Changer. Dr. Garth Hobson presents why Hypersonic flight provides an unprecedented capability by simultaneously extending range and reducing transit time—enabling rapid reach and global targeting. High performance hypersonic offensive and defensive weapons require efficient aerodynamic designs with light-weight, durable control surfaces and leading edges capable of sustaining the extreme exposure temperatures (above metal melting) during flight.
The Quantum Promise
By: Dr. Frank A. Narducci
In celebration of the 2022 Nobel Prize for Physics—awarded jointly to Quantum physicists Alain Aspect, John F. Clauser and Anton Zeilinger for their experimentation with entangled photons, establishing the violation of Bell inequalities and pioneering quantum information science—NPS’ own Dr. Frank Narducci explains the science behind their discovery, unraveling the mysteries of “The Quantum Promise.”
What Will Keep the Lights On?
By: Dr. Giovanni Oriti
Blackouts remind us of our dependency on the electrical grid. The Department of Defense is investing millions of dollars in microgrids to increase energy security and reduce fossil fuel consumption, but microgrids are complex electronics-based power systems whose functionality is hard to understand. In this general-audience presentation. Dr. Giovanni Oriti, NPS Professor in the Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering will explain how microgrids work and their role in the energy transitions. Dr. Oriti will also examine the future of resilient microgrids, their applications in both Naval and general contexts, and how NPS is leading the way in microgrid innovation for the Navy and Marine Corps.
The Sun Never Sets on Crew Endurance Research
By: Dr. Nita Shattuck
“Sleep is for the weak!” “Five and Dime watchbills” …These disturbing phrases were all too common across the Navy when the Submarine force operated on an 18-hour day while the Surface force operated primarily on a 15-hour day. Sleep was undervalued - and going without it was considered a badge of honor for many members of the military. This talk will describe the 20+ year journey by the NPS Crew Endurance Team. The team studied cadets at US military service academies, Army, Airforce, and Navy; Marines who guard embassies; Medevac aircrew in Alaska; F-22 pilots in Hawaii, and Coast Guard personnel on icebreakers in the Arctic Ocean – and even a study at the White House! Dr. Shattuck will describe her journey with her students and colleagues to revise policy and shift the culture around work and rest patterns in the Navy and beyond. And perhaps you can pick up some tips for your own sleep habits!
Outsourcing Duty: The Moral Exploitation of the American Soldier
By: Dr. Bradley J. Strawser
America's relationship with its soldiers has grown troubled over the past generation. Despite widespread expressions of gratitude and support for servicemembers, Dr. Strawser argues that beneath the surface lies a morally problematic dynamic. He contends that America has shifted its moral responsibilities onto a small segment of society, leading to what he terms "moral exploitation." This exploitation involves an unfair burden placed on soldiers, including ethically challenging decision-making and the moral toll of such actions. Strawser explores this concept of "Outsourced Duty," its implications for both society and the military, and potential solutions to address this imbalance.
Fighting the Home Game: The Growing Threat to American Homeland Defense
By: Erik J. Dahl
Throughout most of its history, the U.S. military has focused on fighting the “away game”—keeping America secure by facing adversaries as far from our soil as possible. This has been an effective strategy, and it continues to dominate national security thinking today, as reflected in concepts such as power projection and expeditionary warfare. But thanks to new technologies and a changing global security landscape, adversaries can now threaten the United States homeland in ways that hadn’t been possible before. In this presentation Erik Dahl argues that the Navy and the rest of the military need to pay more attention to homeland defense and preparing to fight the home game.
Brakes Make Trains Go Faster
By: Dr. Joshua A. Kroll
This talk describes Prof. Kroll’s research on developing and operationalizing a practical framing for safe computing systems, including AI tools and autonomous platforms: scoping what safety should include and how it supports normative goals like ethical and responsible use; tracking the assumptions needed to apply safety methods and grounding those assumptions empirically; applying systems safety analysis methods concretely; examining how risk perception at the technical level supports improving organizational risk management; and contextualizing the value of safety cases for avoiding accidents and losses. Moving beyond safety, the talk also discusses similar equities – norms of ethical use; privacy; and cybersecurity, each of which shares with safety that it is straightforward to demonstrate when it has gone wrong but not possible to provide an absolute claim that it won’t or can’t go wrong." - Dr. Joshua A. Kroll, Assistant Professor, Computer Science