Every Last Word

Dallas Innovates’ signature series capturing what leaders across North Texas are saying — in their own words — about innovation, impact, and what’s next.

The Last Word: UT Dallas’ Dr. Joshua Summers on Tech That Harvests Water From the Air

With mega-droughts drying up lakes out west and "water wars" predicted in the world's future, having reliable access to water is becoming more and more vital. A team at UT Dallas led by Dr. Xianming “Simon” Dai is doing something about it. They're working on a tech platform that could enable anyone to have "an affordable, portable device that could access water anywhere, anytime conceivably using no external energy," according to the university.
MORE
The Last Word: Colossal’s Ben Lamm on Seeing His Startup Fuel a ‘Jeopardy’ Answer
by | Oct 3, 2022
In August, Colossal Biosciences announced it is working to "de-extinct" the Tasmanian tiger with the help of an Australian university and “marsupial biobanking.” It didn't take long for the TV show "Jeopardy" to notice—and work it into an answer.
MORE
EVERY LAST WORD 2022: The Q3 Archive
These quotable North Texans inspire, inform, motivate, or simply make us laugh.
MORE
The Last Word: Arlington Mayor Jim Ross on How the City Is Creating a Skyline
Ross was elected mayor of Arlington in June 2021, and one of his goals for the city is to have something Dallas and Fort Worth are both known for: a signature skyline. He's a business owner (of the Mercury Chophouse on the city's Lamar Boulevard) and the principal attorney of the Jim Ross Law Group since 2008. But after reading Spencer Brewer's story about him in the Dallas Business Journal, you might add another job to his list: Skyline booster.
MORE

The Last Word: John Howard on How SMU’s New Lab Is Working to Reduce Bias in AI

by | Sep 28, 2022
The goal of SMU's Intelligent Systems and Bias Examination Lab (ISaBEL) is to quantify and minimize bias in artificial intelligence systems. It will explore how AI systems—like facial recognition algorithms—perform on a wide range of diverse people. The Lab will investigate ways that bias can be reduced in these systems through cutting-edge research, standards, and other peer-reviewed studies.
MORE