Engineering Spotlight: Jason Rock

How did you get into AI/ML/Computer Vision?

It's a total cliche, but I got really interested in re-CAPTCHA as a high school student. I thought both the whole concept of CAPTCHAs as a mechanism for validating human-ness and the fact that there were people out there that could program a computer to read obfuscated text super cool.

Why did you decide to work in Aerospace?

After my PhD, rather than staying in a research role, I was looking to do applied AI work. The aerospace domain has really cool problems, and a lot of systems that depend on human intelligence to maintain an impressive safety record. Being able to responsibly apply modern AI techniques to reduce some of the burden on those human systems while maintaining that record of safety was a really appealing opportunity.

What’s the biggest takeaway from the last year at VTI?

I've been really impressed with our systemic approach to identifying problems and solutions.  It's easy to say that you want to solve problems the right way when you start a project, but it can be hard not to cut corners when the deadline is looming. Doing good applied ML/AI work requires getting the details right, so it's great to see that in action. It’s also been really great to see how we’ve expanded from a vision system focus to a more full featured assistant that we demonstrated at OshKosh. As machine learning research pushes the boundaries of what’s possible, organizations like VTI that understand both the problem space and the technology offer a good balance between research and applications.

What do you enjoy outside work?

My primary outlet is climbing. There's not much better than spending a nice spring day on a mountain.

Any advice for aspiring engineers?

One of the pieces of advice that I felt like I understood a bit too late in my PhD was how important relationships with people who are your peers are. Unlike people in positions of more power, networking with peers is a lot easier and doesn't have nearly the same transactional feel. You also generally don't have to fight to get a few seconds of time with a peer, especially early in your career. I really appreciate the relationships I've built with my former labmates and teammates over the years.