Celebrating 90 Years of Innovation and Impact
This Tech Connects features Courtney Crooks, Principal Research Scientist and Senior Staff in SEAL’s Command, Control, Communications Division (C3D).
Courtney’s research expertise is in forensic cyberpsychology, behavioral analysis, and human-centered design of artificial intelligence (AI) and other technology with health and defense applications. Courtney’s research applies foundational psychoanalytic theory to understand the national security, ethical, and societal implications of psychological responses to cyber-enabled information ecosystems and emerging technology such as AI. She further specializes in understanding the mechanisms of human-machine teaming, cognitive security, malign influence, and coercive control, through the application of human-centered design principles to build exploratory decision support technologies and human system analysis of the lived experience of key stakeholder populations.
The focus of Courtney’s research is on developing a human-centered AI research portfolio and testbed in SEAL's Command, Control, and Communications Division (C3D). This portfolio and testbed will support exploratory and applied research and development in human-AI teaming concepts that will address current operational needs in the C3 environment. Courtney’s first set of projects, one of which is funded through the Defense Advanced Research Project Agency’s (DARPA) Exploratory Models of Human-AI Teams (EMHAT) program, support the exploration of approaches to develop human digital twins (HDTs) of C3 operators in specific operational roles. These HDTs will be leveraged to then design and assess potential artificial intelligence/machine learning (AI/ML) solutions developed to mitigate cognitive burden and risk experienced by the C3 operator during battlespace operations. This exciting research explores AI-based solutions as new technologies that will assist C3 operators with operational tasks in a very cognitively demanding, complex air battle management context. This presents a unique opportunity to make an immediate, positive impact on the C3 community's operational experience and effectiveness.
Join the Slack Q&A with Courtney beginning Friday, September 27th on the #tech-connects channel.
The latest episode of the Georgia Tech Research Podcast highlights the research and integration efforts of GTRI and the United States Department
The latest episode of the Georgia Tech Research Podcast is devoted to the research and integration efforts of Georgia Tech and GTRI. The episode’s
The latest Georgia Tech Research Podcast episode covers the 2025 International Production & Processing Expo (IPPE). Georgia Tech
This episode features a conversation with Lee Wadzeck, the 2023 GTRI Leadership Award recipient. During the course of the podcast, he details his leadership style.
This episode of the Georgia Tech Research Podcast features a conversation with Lee Wadzeck, the 2023 GTRI Leadership Excellence Award recipient. During the course of the podcast, he details his leadership style.
Wadzeck is Chief of the Command, Control, and Communications Division (C3D) within the Sensors and Electromagnetic Applications Laboratory (SEAL) at Georgia Tech Research Institute (GTRI). In that role, Wadzeck leads a team of researchers focused on identifying and delivering critical state-of-the-art tactical airborne communications and networking solutions to address a wide array of problem sets.
Wadzeck and podcast host Stephanie Richter, a GTRI Research Scientist, discuss philosophies of leadership, as well as practical examples drawn from Wadzeck's life and career.
Prior to joining GTRI, Wadzeck served more than 20 years in the United States Air Force. His last duty assignment was as 18th Wing Superintendent of Exercises/Joint Interface Control Office, stationed at Kadena AFB, Okinawa, Japan.
Wadzeck shares his journey from radio broadcaster to working in the Federal Bureau of Prisons to ultimately becoming a senior researcher at Georgia Tech Research Institute, highlighting his experiences in the Air Force and the importance of resilience and leadership. Wadzeck gives several examples of how he bounced back from problems and setbacks and pivoted to take different personal and career paths along the way.
He shares anecdotes about his early aspirations of being a professional football player and his tribulations and triumphs as an amateur bodybuilder and powerlifter.
Key among the many tenets he discusses during the podcast: being a good follower.
"Naturally, my personality is a kind of charge a hill, sometimes referred to as 'Shoot. Ready. Aim' type of personality," Wadzeck shares, saying that is not "probably not the best approach."
He goes on to say "I had some mentors grab me early on and explain that you need to be a good follower. You need to master 'followership.' And what does followership really mean? Well, you have to be engaged with your senior leaders. You have to know what they want. You have to be a critical thinker. You have to be reliable, right as a teammate. You got to be a collaborator. You can't go tackle things on your own, as well as loyalty and support are fundamental to being a good follower. In order to be a good leader of any time, you need to master followership. And so I would say that that's where I started. And thankfully, joining the military gave me that opportunity to grow my leadership skills at different levels."
His leadership is now on full display at GTRI. He now leads the nearly 80 staffers within the Command, Control, and Communications Division, which he has led the rapid growth of from being a nascent program office.
Wadzeck and Richter also expand the discussion to a broad leadership vision that he believes is key to helping GTRI as a whole grow in the future.
The latest episode of the Georgia Tech Research Podcast highlights the research and integration efforts of GTRI and the United States Department
The latest episode of the Georgia Tech Research Podcast is devoted to the research and integration efforts of Georgia Tech and GTRI. The episode’s
The latest Georgia Tech Research Podcast episode covers the 2025 International Production & Processing Expo (IPPE). Georgia Tech
Understanding the Physics of Giant Electrical Discharges Above Thunderstorms
Cloud top discharges are the largest electrical discharges on planet earth and produce many spectacular colors, including purple, blue, and red. These discharges span up to 50 miles long and can directly transfer electric charge to outer space, yet the scientific community still doesn’t understand how they do this. With support from the National Science Foundation, Levi’s research into cloud top discharges dives deep into the physics to learn scientifically how these discharges develop during sever weather and how they interact with the atmosphere and impact the environment. For example, these discharges produce nitric oxide (NOx), which affects the amount of ozone in the stratosphere, which in turn affects the warming and cooling of the planet.
Levi’s research will seek to capture electrical discharges above the clouds using a high-speed imaging system to learn more about their physics and how thunderstorms produce such massive discharges. The goal is to gain a better understanding as to why some storms produce cloud top electrical discharges while others do not. This will also lead to a better understanding about the physical properties of these type of discharges such as their conductivity and energy. The high-speed imaging system that Levi and his team will use will be the first of its kind, and will be able to measure up to four simultaneously electromagnetic wavelengths at high speeds.
The latest episode of the Georgia Tech Research Podcast highlights the research and integration efforts of GTRI and the United States Department
The latest episode of the Georgia Tech Research Podcast is devoted to the research and integration efforts of Georgia Tech and GTRI. The episode’s
The latest Georgia Tech Research Podcast episode covers the 2025 International Production & Processing Expo (IPPE). Georgia Tech
GTRI Conference Center
250 14th St. NW
Atlanta, GA 30332
United States
From Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport and Points South of Atlanta
Complimentary parking is available in the parking deck that is located between the GTRI Headquarters Building and the Georgia Public Broadcasting Building.
The Metropolitan Atlanta Rapid Transit Authority (MARTA) north line trains take you from the airport baggage claim to the Midtown (N4) station.
The free GT Stinger Bus provides service to and from the Midtown MARTA Station. The Stinger Bus route operates on an east-west route through Georgia Tech's campus, providing service from the Midtown MARTA Station to the GT Transit Hub.
Note the route does not travel north of 10th Street.
The latest episode of the Georgia Tech Research Podcast highlights the research and integration efforts of GTRI and the United States Department
The latest episode of the Georgia Tech Research Podcast is devoted to the research and integration efforts of Georgia Tech and GTRI. The episode’s
The latest Georgia Tech Research Podcast episode covers the 2025 International Production & Processing Expo (IPPE). Georgia Tech
A research team with members from the Georgia Tech Research Institute, the Aerospace Systems Design Laboratory, and the Space Systems Design Laboratory has developed a concept using a net to capture and de-orbit large debris.