Ted Pavlic urges scholars to be undisciplined in TEDxASU talk

Above: Assistant Professor Ted Pavlic presents his TED talk at the TEDxASU event held March 22 at the Tempe Center for the Arts.

Earlier this year, leading minds from throughout Arizona State University and the surrounding Phoenix community convened at the Tempe Center for the Arts for TEDxASU.

Ted Pavlic, an assistant professor in the School of Computing, Informatics, and Decisions Systems Engineering, one of the six Ira A. Fulton Schools of Engineering, was one of many presenters to speak on the event’s theme, Innovators. Recalling his early days as a graduate student at Ohio State University, his presentation focused on blurring traditional disciplinary lines to foster innovation between researchers of all fields. Pavlic, who holds a joint appointment in ASU’s School of Sustainability, researches adaptive decision-making in autonomous systems. His lab examines decision-making strategies in the natural world, such as social insect colonies and seeks to determine theoretical frameworks of rational behavior that are applicable across biology, economics, and engineering. Watch Pavlic’s talk in its entirety below. 

The March 22 event marked the second TEDxASU held in Arizona, this year’s theme being “Innovators.” TEDx events are organized independently from the TED media organization, but use the TED conference format.