EG: WHAT'S THE BIGGEST CHALLENGE YOU’VE FACED IN YOUR CAREER?
EG: WHAT DO YOU LIKE TO DO IN YOUR FREE TIME?
ORSO: I think probably creating the Scientific Software
Engineering Center at Georgia Tech was one of my biggest ones. It was the typical situation of, be careful what you wish for. We submitted the proposal, we got a considerable amount of funding, and we were starting from scratch with no idea how to build a center. I was very well-trained in hiring faculty members, but hiring real-world software engineers, not as much. The beginning was a really trial and error in many ways. But I found the right team, and everything worked out perfectly.
EG: WHAT ARE YOU MOST PROUD OF FROM YOUR TIME AT GEORGIA TECH?
ORSO:
I like to run when I when I can. Georgia in the summer is hot and humid, so I ended up getting a treadmill, which is now in the garage. So I like to run, and I really like to play music. I play a little bit of piano, guitar. I torment my family with my with my music. First thing I do when I come home on Friday night, I sit in front of the piano and I play the piano. I just love that. And of course, it goes without saying that I like spending time with my family. That's a given.
EG: WHAT'S YOUR FAVORITE THING ABOUT ATHENS? ORSO: Regretfully, I haven't had too much of a chance to
ORSO:
explore Athens. My family is still in Atlanta, so I basically have this bachelor pad. I go to work in the morning, I go back, I work after dinner. But the first weekend I was here, my kids came, so we explored a bit. It's great. It reminds me a little bit of my hometown—the feel of a small place with local restaurants, the farmer’s market, a really nice atmosphere. I'll be able to answer better in probably in a year or so, but right now, I really like the way that the city is.
EG: FAVORITE RECENT BOOK THAT YOU'VE READ?
EG: WHAT MOST EXCITES YOU ABOUT THE FUTURE OF ENGINEERING?
The center is definitely up there, but students become like your kids. I'm very proud of the students that I graduated and who went on to have their own careers. Every time I see them publish papers, or graduate students on their own and realize I'm an academic grandfather, it’s great.
ORSO:
I read plenty, and one book that keeps coming up in conversation that I have with people is Thinking Fast and Slow by Daniel Kahneman. That book really resonated with me, because as I was reading it, I was recognizing a lot of things that were happening to me. It's rare that you read a book and you can place whatever you're reading and say, ‘Oh yeah, that's why that thing happened.’ It also really affected the way in which I do some of the things that I do. 38 Engineering Georgia
ORSO: I think the fact that it's unknown. I'm not saying that engineering was ever completely stable. Engineering evolved. But I feel right now it's such a rapidly changing field, that it’s very exciting to think about what it could be. That’s it to me, finding out what’s around the corner. With all the changes that are occurring in technology, what's going to be
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