After listening in on Texas Tribune Festival panels for years, a UT professor found himself somewhere he never imagined his career would take him. In the Omni Hotel Ballroom at the festival this Friday, Jay Sankaran interviewed Ernest Moniz, the former United States Secretary of Energy and current co-chair and CEO of the Nuclear Threat Initiative.
Sankaran is an assistant professor at the Lyndon B. Johnson School of Public Affairs whose expertise spans emerging technologies, international and national security, nuclear warfare and engineering. Sankaran sat down with The Daily Texan to discuss his one-on-one with Moniz, his book, tentatively called “Bombing to Provoke: Rockets, Missiles, and Drones as Instruments of Fear and Coercion” which comes out Oct. 8 and what’s next for him in his academic career.
The Daily Texan: Will you bring any ideas discussed with Moniz into your teaching?
Jay Sankaran: This semester, I’m (teaching) a generic course (on) statistics and probability, (which can) inform defense planning. My students were there — at least two or three, so we’ll have a conversation in the class. Next semester, if I teach a course on new technologies and international security, topics (Moniz discussed) will come up. … This is (what) I do, (what) I teach. It’s very relevant.
DT: What made you switch from engineering to public policy?
JS: I got interested in a project (that) raised political science questions rather than engineering questions. … I remember my boss telling me, ‘Scientists don’t ask the why questions, we ask the how questions. … If those are the questions you want to ask, you should go somewhere else.’ So I shifted gears.
DT: How are you feeling about your upcoming book? How is it different from writing an academic publication?
JS: It’s exciting but also scary. Journal articles are quicker … The book took me two and a half years to write and another year and a half to (publish). … I’m very invested in it because it’s four years (of) my life. Papers are quicker, but a book lets you talk a lot more about the question that a paper does. It’s a different piece, but it’s more time-consuming (and) tedious.
DT: Moniz talked about nuclear energy and other alternative energy sources. What can we do in Austin and at UT, regarding alternative energy?
JS: UT is already playing a big part and will continue to do so as we perfect the process of nuclear fission-based reactors. There’s a lot of science to be done. (Moniz) quickly mentioned nuclear fusion. That’s aspirational. … The science is in theory existing, but the engineering and the principles have not been tested. UT has a strong engineering tradition, a nuclear engineering department and physicists who can help solve the problem.
DT: What’s in the future for you — more books, publications or focusing on teaching?
JS: I’m thinking about a second book. … Academic publishing is a big part of the job requirement. I spent last year on a sabbatical with the U.S. Air Force … I wouldn’t mind doing something very similar the next two (or) three years in the policy-making community (and) engaging with the policymakers.
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Publish date : 2024-09-09 18:42:00
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