The AI systems changing the world run on hardware that is already hitting its limits. Duke engineers are building what comes next. Quantum systems that solve problems no classical computer can, and semiconductor materials, including neuromorphic and photonic devices, that move computing beyond silicon. A $57M investment in the Pierre R. Lamond Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering anchors both efforts, placing Duke among a small number of programs in the nation advancing the full quantum computing stack.
Every day, AI tools get more capable, and deployment is outpacing our understanding of what they get wrong. In Episode 1 of Pratt Blueprint, Duke Engineering Dean Jerry Lynch connects with three Duke University experts to break down where that gap is already showing up: in cybersecurity, in the everyday AI tools people use to get advice, and in health care.
We have the ideas, we have the talent and we’re building the hardware that will carry us to the next great leap.
Tania RoyAssociate Professor of Electrical and Computer Engineering
Virtually every major technological advancement of the past 50 years has been enabled by improvements in semiconductor technology.
Untold future innovations depend on its continued investment and advancement. We’re committed to engineering the foundations of a technological society 50 years from now that we cannot even dream of.
A Duke Engineering education leads to lives of purpose and integrity that are as rewarding as they are impactful. Explore our supportive and inclusive community that defines excellence in engineering.
If 2D semiconductors enable a true continuation of Moore’s Law through further transistor scaling and increased chip-level packing density, the impact would be profound. Advancing scaling would unlock new capabilities in computationally intensive applications ranging from artificial intelligence to large-scale data processing.
Aaron FranklinEdmund T. Pratt, Jr. Distinguished Professor of Electrical and Computer Engineering
A landmark $57 million commitment from the Lamond family has named the Pierre R. Lamond Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering at Duke’s Pratt School of Engineering. The gift establishes the prestigious Pierre R. Lamond Presidential Distinguished Chair in Electrical and Computer Engineering, supporting groundbreaking research in semiconductors, nanoelectronics, advanced computing, and next-generation technologies.
The five-year renewal will focus on developing an AI-native edge stack that supports autonomous interaction among users, agents and the physical environment, integrated with national-priority technologies such as quantum computing.
Featured conference speakers include General Charles Q. Brown (Ret), NSA Deputy Director Tim Kosiba, Congresswoman Deborah Ross and Congresswoman Valerie Foushee.
September 14-20 is Duke undergraduate students’ chance to discover the people, programs, and tools that can help them thrive at Duke. Throughout the week, there will be opportunities to connect […]
Dr. Wenpin Hou’s research lies at the intersection of computational biology, artificial intelligence, and statistical genomics, with a focus on developing computational methods to understand gene regulation using single-cell, spatial, […]
Take a break with Pint-Sized Pasture & GSPS! It’s week four of the fall semester, and it’s time for a little break! The Graduate Student Programs & Services (GSPS) team […]
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![Every day, AI tools get more capable, and deployment is outpacing our understanding of what they get wrong. In Episode 1 of Pratt Blueprint, Duke Engineering Dean Jerry Lynch connects with three Duke University experts to break down where that gap is already showing up: in cybersecurity, in the everyday AI tools people use to get advice, and in health care.Charley Kneifel, AVP and Chief Technology Officer for Duke's Office of Information Technology, explains how generative AI has compressed the time between a discovered vulnerability and a working exploit from months to under a day, and breaks down how deepfaked identity documents have become sophisticated enough to fool routine identity verification processes across higher ed and beyond.Brinnae Bent, Executive in Residence at Duke's Pratt School of Engineering and Director of the Duke TRUST Lab, explains why the same human preference data that makes chatbots feel helpful also makes them sycophantic, and points to a widely reported case of a pregnant woman wrongfully arrested after a facial recognition misidentification, to show what happens when a black box system fails and no one can explain why.Jessilyn Dunn, Theodore Kennedy Associate Professor of Biomedical Engineering at Duke, walks through how bias baked into training data gets perpetuated in clinical AI tools, and why clinicians are more likely to double-check an alarming AI output than a reassuring one, even when the reassuring one is wrong. The overarching narrative is AI earns trust by appearing competent, and that appearance of competence is exactly when human verification tends to collapse. Dean Lynch closes the episode on why judgment, not just technical skill, has to be part of how the next generation of engineers is trained.Chapters:0:00 AI Risks in 20261:01 The judgement gap2:05 Cybersecurity4:05 Why AI is trained to please you7:02 Using AI in healthcare9:23 The takeawayLearn more about our guests: Charley Kneifel: [https://oit.duke.edu/profile/charley-kneifel/]Brinnae Bent: [https://scholars.duke.edu/person/brinnae.bent]Jessilyn Dunn: [https://scholars.duke.edu/person/Jessilyn.Dunn]Duke University | Pratt School of Engineering | https://pratt.duke.eduSubscribe for future episodes of Pratt Blueprint.](https://pratt.duke.edu/wp-content/plugins/youtube-feed-pro/img/placeholder.png)
