Lorena A Barba
@labarba.bsky.social
Engineering professor, computational scientist, jazz buff, techie, academic writer & font geek. Faculty director of the GW Open Source Program Office.
https://lorenabarba.com
www.linkedin.com/in/lorenabarba
https://lorenabarba.com
www.linkedin.com/in/lorenabarba
𝗖𝗼𝗺𝗲𝘁 𝗿𝘂𝗻𝘀 𝗰𝗶𝗿𝗰𝗹𝗲𝘀 𝗮𝗿𝗼𝘂𝗻𝗱 𝗝𝘂𝗽𝘆𝘁𝗲𝗿
Friends, I watched an AI agent complete my students' coding exercises in real-time, and I'm shook 🤯
I tested Perplexity's Comet browser on a Jupyter notebook with eigenvalue problems I assigned to my class… (video at the bottom of this thread)
Friends, I watched an AI agent complete my students' coding exercises in real-time, and I'm shook 🤯
I tested Perplexity's Comet browser on a Jupyter notebook with eigenvalue problems I assigned to my class… (video at the bottom of this thread)
September 26, 2025 at 8:49 PM
𝗖𝗼𝗺𝗲𝘁 𝗿𝘂𝗻𝘀 𝗰𝗶𝗿𝗰𝗹𝗲𝘀 𝗮𝗿𝗼𝘂𝗻𝗱 𝗝𝘂𝗽𝘆𝘁𝗲𝗿
Friends, I watched an AI agent complete my students' coding exercises in real-time, and I'm shook 🤯
I tested Perplexity's Comet browser on a Jupyter notebook with eigenvalue problems I assigned to my class… (video at the bottom of this thread)
Friends, I watched an AI agent complete my students' coding exercises in real-time, and I'm shook 🤯
I tested Perplexity's Comet browser on a Jupyter notebook with eigenvalue problems I assigned to my class… (video at the bottom of this thread)
I just rejected a paper because it was pointless in the age of AI.
For the first time, I recommended a manuscript be rejected because its content was so easily replicable by an AI model with deep research capabilities.
#AcademicPublishing #AIinResearch
For the first time, I recommended a manuscript be rejected because its content was so easily replicable by an AI model with deep research capabilities.
#AcademicPublishing #AIinResearch
September 13, 2025 at 9:27 PM
I just rejected a paper because it was pointless in the age of AI.
For the first time, I recommended a manuscript be rejected because its content was so easily replicable by an AI model with deep research capabilities.
#AcademicPublishing #AIinResearch
For the first time, I recommended a manuscript be rejected because its content was so easily replicable by an AI model with deep research capabilities.
#AcademicPublishing #AIinResearch
🧵 Fall 2025 faculty: I wrote 7 pages on what you need to know about AI before classes start in a week or two—it's posted as PDF in the @figshare.com service under CC-BY: link below… Here are the highlights:
1/8
1/8
August 14, 2025 at 6:51 PM
🧵 Fall 2025 faculty: I wrote 7 pages on what you need to know about AI before classes start in a week or two—it's posted as PDF in the @figshare.com service under CC-BY: link below… Here are the highlights:
1/8
1/8
Reposted by Lorena A Barba
Good benchmarks allow a user to choose the best method for a particular application. “But the first question is, what do we mean by ‘better’?” Fascinating story by @drmichaelbrooks.bsky.social on benchmarking in #AI. Thx @labarba.bsky.social for the suggestion! 🧪 www.nature.com/articles/d41...
Is your AI benchmark lying to you?
Artificial intelligence models are too often assessed against flawed goals — a stumbling block for progress.
www.nature.com
August 6, 2025 at 4:13 PM
Good benchmarks allow a user to choose the best method for a particular application. “But the first question is, what do we mean by ‘better’?” Fascinating story by @drmichaelbrooks.bsky.social on benchmarking in #AI. Thx @labarba.bsky.social for the suggestion! 🧪 www.nature.com/articles/d41...
Had a hallway conversation at #SciPy2025 about #GenAI in coding education → one week later, a (partial) solution is shipped in @googlecolab.bsky.social 🤯
The magic of conference serendipity never gets old. Longer post with story on LinkedIn: www.linkedin.com/feed/update/...
The magic of conference serendipity never gets old. Longer post with story on LinkedIn: www.linkedin.com/feed/update/...
A week has passed since I got back from the SciPy Conference in Tacoma, WA, delighted as usual by the experience. | Lorena A. Barba
A week has passed since I got back from the SciPy Conference in Tacoma, WA, delighted as usual by the experience. I had skipped it last year, weary of crossing the whole continent for the event. But I...
www.linkedin.com
July 19, 2025 at 8:10 PM
Had a hallway conversation at #SciPy2025 about #GenAI in coding education → one week later, a (partial) solution is shipped in @googlecolab.bsky.social 🤯
The magic of conference serendipity never gets old. Longer post with story on LinkedIn: www.linkedin.com/feed/update/...
The magic of conference serendipity never gets old. Longer post with story on LinkedIn: www.linkedin.com/feed/update/...
Presentation slides for my talk yesterday at #SciPy2025
Barba, Lorena A. (2025). Embracing GenAI in Engineering Education: Lessons from the Trenches. figshare. Presentation. doi.org/10.6084/m9.f...
Barba, Lorena A. (2025). Embracing GenAI in Engineering Education: Lessons from the Trenches. figshare. Presentation. doi.org/10.6084/m9.f...
Embracing GenAI in Engineering Education: Lessons from the Trenches
Talk at the SciPy Conference, July 9, 2025. Tacoma, Washington.This talk presents a candid reflection on integrating generative AI into an Engineering Computations course, revealing unexpected challen...
doi.org
July 10, 2025 at 1:37 PM
Presentation slides for my talk yesterday at #SciPy2025
Barba, Lorena A. (2025). Embracing GenAI in Engineering Education: Lessons from the Trenches. figshare. Presentation. doi.org/10.6084/m9.f...
Barba, Lorena A. (2025). Embracing GenAI in Engineering Education: Lessons from the Trenches. figshare. Presentation. doi.org/10.6084/m9.f...
I did a hands-on tutorial for easily creating a static website using #Jekyll and #GitHub Pages. No local installations—everything is done directly on @github.com!
Follow along to:
– Fork a Jekyll theme
– Deploy with GitHub Actions
– Edit the content
– Solve issues with #GitHubCopilot
(link in reply)
Follow along to:
– Fork a Jekyll theme
– Deploy with GitHub Actions
– Edit the content
– Solve issues with #GitHubCopilot
(link in reply)
May 18, 2025 at 7:44 PM
I did a hands-on tutorial for easily creating a static website using #Jekyll and #GitHub Pages. No local installations—everything is done directly on @github.com!
Follow along to:
– Fork a Jekyll theme
– Deploy with GitHub Actions
– Edit the content
– Solve issues with #GitHubCopilot
(link in reply)
Follow along to:
– Fork a Jekyll theme
– Deploy with GitHub Actions
– Edit the content
– Solve issues with #GitHubCopilot
(link in reply)
I just released a preprint reporting on my experiment with generative AI in my Engineering Computations course. TL;DR: It was a mess. The biggest issue? The "illusion of competence."
#GenAI #education #edtech
#GenAI #education #edtech
May 4, 2025 at 4:23 PM
I just released a preprint reporting on my experiment with generative AI in my Engineering Computations course. TL;DR: It was a mess. The biggest issue? The "illusion of competence."
#GenAI #education #edtech
#GenAI #education #edtech
Starting now! So excited for our inaugural #GWOSCON
Dean Geneva Henry welcoming everyone with optimism about the role of #OpenSource in our university. Inspiring!
Dean Geneva Henry welcoming everyone with optimism about the role of #OpenSource in our university. Inspiring!
🍀 Best of luck to #CURIOSS member, @david-lippert.bsky.social, and all involved in the inaugural #GWOSCON next week!
🏆 What a great tagline from @labarba.bsky.social :
"Free to attend, free t-shirt, free lunch, free coffee ☕️ And of course, free and open source software 🚀"
ℹ️ bit.ly/4imRlDZ
🏆 What a great tagline from @labarba.bsky.social :
"Free to attend, free t-shirt, free lunch, free coffee ☕️ And of course, free and open source software 🚀"
ℹ️ bit.ly/4imRlDZ
March 24, 2025 at 1:16 PM
Starting now! So excited for our inaugural #GWOSCON
Dean Geneva Henry welcoming everyone with optimism about the role of #OpenSource in our university. Inspiring!
Dean Geneva Henry welcoming everyone with optimism about the role of #OpenSource in our university. Inspiring!
Reposted by Lorena A Barba
There's still time to book your free ticket for GW OSCON from March 24-25 next week.
Register: go.gwu.edu/oscon
#opensource #academicOSS #openscience #openresearch
Register: go.gwu.edu/oscon
#opensource #academicOSS #openscience #openresearch
March 18, 2025 at 5:12 PM
There's still time to book your free ticket for GW OSCON from March 24-25 next week.
Register: go.gwu.edu/oscon
#opensource #academicOSS #openscience #openresearch
Register: go.gwu.edu/oscon
#opensource #academicOSS #openscience #openresearch
March 2, 1867.
CHAP. CLVIII. — An Act to establish a Department of Education.
"…for the purpose of collecting such statistics and facts as shall show the condition and progress of education in the several States and Territories."
CHAP. CLVIII. — An Act to establish a Department of Education.
"…for the purpose of collecting such statistics and facts as shall show the condition and progress of education in the several States and Territories."
![[scan of old text]
March 2, 1867.
CHAP. CLVIII. — An Act to establish a Department of Education.
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, That there shall be established, at the city of Washington, a department of education, for the purpose of collecting such statistics and facts as shall show the condition and progress of education in the several States and Territories, and of diffusing such information respecting the organization and management of schools and school systems, and methods of teaching, as shall aid the people of the United States in the establishment and maintenance of efficient school systems, and otherwise promote the cause of education throughout the country.](https://cdn.bsky.app/img/feed_thumbnail/plain/did:plc:ayiaku5sfzpuzbtgw6cmrlkd/bafkreianf2opb5djyqpdf5vh6sl3axgxb6tm6qk66rqubifbqwmypmwf6a@jpeg)
March 14, 2025 at 8:19 PM
March 2, 1867.
CHAP. CLVIII. — An Act to establish a Department of Education.
"…for the purpose of collecting such statistics and facts as shall show the condition and progress of education in the several States and Territories."
CHAP. CLVIII. — An Act to establish a Department of Education.
"…for the purpose of collecting such statistics and facts as shall show the condition and progress of education in the several States and Territories."
I'm at the "Uncertainty Quantification and Trustworthy AI Algorithms for Complex Systems and Social Good" workshop" at the Institute for Mathematical and Statistical Innovation, IMSI, in Chicago. Should be fun!
(Funded by NSF.)
#UQ #AI #TrustworthyAI
www.imsi.institute/activities/u...
(Funded by NSF.)
#UQ #AI #TrustworthyAI
www.imsi.institute/activities/u...
UQ and Trustworthy AI Algorithms for Complex Systems and Social Good • IMSI
-2819
www.imsi.institute
March 3, 2025 at 3:29 PM
I'm at the "Uncertainty Quantification and Trustworthy AI Algorithms for Complex Systems and Social Good" workshop" at the Institute for Mathematical and Statistical Innovation, IMSI, in Chicago. Should be fun!
(Funded by NSF.)
#UQ #AI #TrustworthyAI
www.imsi.institute/activities/u...
(Funded by NSF.)
#UQ #AI #TrustworthyAI
www.imsi.institute/activities/u...
📣New paper alert:
"Verification and Validation for Trustworthy Scientific Machine Learning"
We propose 16 recommendations to establish trust in #SciML models through rigorous V&V practices adapted from computational science:
arxiv.org/abs/2502.15496
#MachineLearning #ComputationalScience
"Verification and Validation for Trustworthy Scientific Machine Learning"
We propose 16 recommendations to establish trust in #SciML models through rigorous V&V practices adapted from computational science:
arxiv.org/abs/2502.15496
#MachineLearning #ComputationalScience
Verification and Validation for Trustworthy Scientific Machine Learning
Scientific machine learning (SciML) models are transforming many scientific disciplines. However, the development of good modeling practices to increase the trustworthiness of SciML has lagged behind ...
arxiv.org
February 24, 2025 at 4:45 PM
📣New paper alert:
"Verification and Validation for Trustworthy Scientific Machine Learning"
We propose 16 recommendations to establish trust in #SciML models through rigorous V&V practices adapted from computational science:
arxiv.org/abs/2502.15496
#MachineLearning #ComputationalScience
"Verification and Validation for Trustworthy Scientific Machine Learning"
We propose 16 recommendations to establish trust in #SciML models through rigorous V&V practices adapted from computational science:
arxiv.org/abs/2502.15496
#MachineLearning #ComputationalScience
I'm finally getting around to editing videos from online teaching during pandemic times (to remove dead times and student names and likeness), and uploading them to YouTube.
This is for my "Engineering Computations" undergraduate course: #Python functions
#EngineersCode #Jupyter
This is for my "Engineering Computations" undergraduate course: #Python functions
#EngineersCode #Jupyter
February 17, 2025 at 2:34 PM
I'm finally getting around to editing videos from online teaching during pandemic times (to remove dead times and student names and likeness), and uploading them to YouTube.
This is for my "Engineering Computations" undergraduate course: #Python functions
#EngineersCode #Jupyter
This is for my "Engineering Computations" undergraduate course: #Python functions
#EngineersCode #Jupyter
The George Washington University, where I work, has joined a lawsuit as a co-plaintiff in challenge of the federal action to slash payment of facilities and administration (a.k.a. "indirect") costs for NIH research grants.
www.aau.edu/newsroom/pre...
www.aau.edu/newsroom/pre...
Statement of Association of American Universities, Association of Public & Land-grant Universities, and American Council on Education Regarding Their Legal Challenge to the Administration’s Cut to Lif...
AAU, ACE, and APLU have jointly filed suit in U.S. District Court in Massachusetts, along with a number of impacted research university co-plaintiffs, seeking to halt the NIH's proposed cut to life-sa...
www.aau.edu
February 11, 2025 at 7:42 PM
The George Washington University, where I work, has joined a lawsuit as a co-plaintiff in challenge of the federal action to slash payment of facilities and administration (a.k.a. "indirect") costs for NIH research grants.
www.aau.edu/newsroom/pre...
www.aau.edu/newsroom/pre...
The deadline to submit a regular or lightning talk for the inaugural GW OScon has been extended until Monday. Are you in the Washington DC area and love #OpenSource software? Apply to give a talk and join us in March!
We have great keynote speakers lined up, too. Check out: go.gwu.edu/oscon
We have great keynote speakers lined up, too. Check out: go.gwu.edu/oscon
#GeorgeWashingtonUniversity #OSPO are hosting their inaugural #opensource conference, GW OSCON from March 24-25 and it promises to be fantastic!
There's still time to apply to speak.
ℹ️https://ospo.gwu.edu/open-source-conference-gw-oscon
#academicOSS, #openscience, #openresearch
There's still time to apply to speak.
ℹ️https://ospo.gwu.edu/open-source-conference-gw-oscon
#academicOSS, #openscience, #openresearch
February 8, 2025 at 6:55 PM
The deadline to submit a regular or lightning talk for the inaugural GW OScon has been extended until Monday. Are you in the Washington DC area and love #OpenSource software? Apply to give a talk and join us in March!
We have great keynote speakers lined up, too. Check out: go.gwu.edu/oscon
We have great keynote speakers lined up, too. Check out: go.gwu.edu/oscon
DeepSeek is the perfect illustration for why you don’t want vendor lock-in. The university CTOs that signed a contract for ChatGPT Edu at $1.4million must feel sorry right now.
January 28, 2025 at 9:05 PM
DeepSeek is the perfect illustration for why you don’t want vendor lock-in. The university CTOs that signed a contract for ChatGPT Edu at $1.4million must feel sorry right now.
Reposted by Lorena A Barba
Our systems of peer review & publishing are crumbling.
Predatory publishers, exorbitant costs, unchecked bias, and AI are eroding trust.
It’s now more important than ever for scientists to be able to affordably and easily share their findings.
2/
Predatory publishers, exorbitant costs, unchecked bias, and AI are eroding trust.
It’s now more important than ever for scientists to be able to affordably and easily share their findings.
2/
November 14, 2024 at 7:47 PM
Our systems of peer review & publishing are crumbling.
Predatory publishers, exorbitant costs, unchecked bias, and AI are eroding trust.
It’s now more important than ever for scientists to be able to affordably and easily share their findings.
2/
Predatory publishers, exorbitant costs, unchecked bias, and AI are eroding trust.
It’s now more important than ever for scientists to be able to affordably and easily share their findings.
2/
Reposted by Lorena A Barba
Word of the Day is ‘uhtcearu’ [ucht-kay-aru, with the 'ch' as in the Scottish ‘loch']:
Old English for ‘the sorrow before dawn', when you lie awake in the darkness and worries crowd your mind.
Old English for ‘the sorrow before dawn', when you lie awake in the darkness and worries crowd your mind.
January 10, 2025 at 7:56 AM
Word of the Day is ‘uhtcearu’ [ucht-kay-aru, with the 'ch' as in the Scottish ‘loch']:
Old English for ‘the sorrow before dawn', when you lie awake in the darkness and worries crowd your mind.
Old English for ‘the sorrow before dawn', when you lie awake in the darkness and worries crowd your mind.
We absolutely need to deliberately teach students how to use a variety of AI tools, and so-called "AI skills" are real and more difficult than they appear. The temptation to overuse AI to skirt the hard work of authentic learning is strong! Unsupported, students' use of AI is harming them right now.
I don't think students should take classes on how ChatGPT Code Interpreter differs from ChatGPT Canvas - that would be like teaching MS Word specific VB macros in "intro to computers"
I do think there's a lot of space for helping teach students how to navigate these utterly weird new AI systems
I do think there's a lot of space for helping teach students how to navigate these utterly weird new AI systems
January 7, 2025 at 6:51 PM
We absolutely need to deliberately teach students how to use a variety of AI tools, and so-called "AI skills" are real and more difficult than they appear. The temptation to overuse AI to skirt the hard work of authentic learning is strong! Unsupported, students' use of AI is harming them right now.
I'm having way too much fun with AI-generated podcasts of my class materials 😂 — I hope students will enjoy them too!
youtu.be/dI8JBHB0kv0
youtu.be/dI8JBHB0kv0
Engineering Computations 1 – Lesson 1 – Interacting with Python
YouTube video by Lorena Barba
youtu.be
December 31, 2024 at 4:25 PM
I'm having way too much fun with AI-generated podcasts of my class materials 😂 — I hope students will enjoy them too!
youtu.be/dI8JBHB0kv0
youtu.be/dI8JBHB0kv0
"OpenAI is aggressively going after the education market, which it sees as a key area of growth."
techcrunch.com/2024/12/05/o...
University CTOs beware: we need to avoid vendor lock-in!
OpenAI GPT-4o may be the most-used model today, but things are moving fast in this sector.
techcrunch.com/2024/12/05/o...
University CTOs beware: we need to avoid vendor lock-in!
OpenAI GPT-4o may be the most-used model today, but things are moving fast in this sector.
A very bad deal for universities: $1.4million price tag annually, for an estimated 10k users, and vendor lock-in.
Reminds me of the first years of edX, when universities paid millions to become members of the "consortium" plus annual fees. A high price, resulting in no in-house capacity building.
Reminds me of the first years of edX, when universities paid millions to become members of the "consortium" plus annual fees. A high price, resulting in no in-house capacity building.
December 27, 2024 at 10:17 PM
"OpenAI is aggressively going after the education market, which it sees as a key area of growth."
techcrunch.com/2024/12/05/o...
University CTOs beware: we need to avoid vendor lock-in!
OpenAI GPT-4o may be the most-used model today, but things are moving fast in this sector.
techcrunch.com/2024/12/05/o...
University CTOs beware: we need to avoid vendor lock-in!
OpenAI GPT-4o may be the most-used model today, but things are moving fast in this sector.
I tried alphaXiv, from arXiv Labs: the platform for open discussion of #arXiv papers. But instead of commenting on one the latest research preprints, I added an author's comment on one of the first papers coming out of my group, 15 years ago!
www.alphaxiv.org/abs/0809.181...
www.alphaxiv.org/abs/0809.181...
Characterization of the errors of the FMM in particle simulations | alphaXiv
View 1 comments: This was the first paper coming out of my research group investigating the fast multipole algorithm (FMM), with my first ever PhD student. (Felipe Cruz is, fifteen years later, a seni...
www.alphaxiv.org
December 26, 2024 at 10:38 PM
I tried alphaXiv, from arXiv Labs: the platform for open discussion of #arXiv papers. But instead of commenting on one the latest research preprints, I added an author's comment on one of the first papers coming out of my group, 15 years ago!
www.alphaxiv.org/abs/0809.181...
www.alphaxiv.org/abs/0809.181...
Like many professors, I sometimes get bizarre requests from members of the public with an, ahem, scientific interest. This one ranks high on the bizarro scale!
December 21, 2024 at 1:54 PM
Like many professors, I sometimes get bizarre requests from members of the public with an, ahem, scientific interest. This one ranks high on the bizarro scale!
Here's a thought—what if we just, you know, stopped using number of publications as a measure of researcher quality? What if we decided that "publish or perish" was a bad idea from the start?
Just at thought.
Anyway, fascinating thread here!
Just at thought.
Anyway, fascinating thread here!
In the years ahead, the tools supporting scholarly misuse of AI will scale as technology does.
Increasingly convincing, refined and above all, large in volume, they are a hefty wave in the battle for reality.
A wave that has already broken and receded while another readies.
30/31
Increasingly convincing, refined and above all, large in volume, they are a hefty wave in the battle for reality.
A wave that has already broken and receded while another readies.
30/31
December 21, 2024 at 11:02 AM
Here's a thought—what if we just, you know, stopped using number of publications as a measure of researcher quality? What if we decided that "publish or perish" was a bad idea from the start?
Just at thought.
Anyway, fascinating thread here!
Just at thought.
Anyway, fascinating thread here!