���Ҵ�ý�ƽ������

If you’ve roamed the halls of the ATLAS Institute in the last year and a half, you’ve seen purple-haired Leo Heuring, likely clad in an American Ninja Warrior hoodie with his handmade robot Corndog perched on his shoulder.

The sophomore in Creative Technology and Design (CTD) first found the spotlight as the “Dyslexic Nijna” (a deliberate misspelling referencing his dyslexia) on season 17 of the NBC obstacle-course reality TV show��American Ninja Warrior, but it’s Heuring’s lifelong love of robotics that will put him on the stage next as a speaker for .

Addressing the event’s theme “On the Contrary,” Heuring plans to use his network-controlled quadruped crawler to illustrate a discussion on the bond humans form with machines. “My favorite example—because everyone can relate—is autonomous vacuum cleaners,” Heuring said. “There are people who will effectively ‘adopt’ their robot vacuum cleaner, name it, welcome it to the family like a pet. Some people become so attached to these vacuum cleaners that when they send it in for a repair under warranty, they’ll stipulate that they want their exact unit returned to them.”

The Houston native has been interested in robotics since he first watched��Transformers on television as a kindergartener, but it was the boredom and isolation of the COVID-19 pandemic that motivated Heuring to build his first machine in eighth grade.��

“I had one Zoom class each day at 8 a.m., so I had the rest of the day free,” he explained. “I wanted to do something productive. My parents had bought me a good 3D printer, and I wanted to mess around with it and see what I could do. From there, I just tried new things, and every project taught me a valuable lesson in some way.”

Heuring developed foundational robotics skills by building interactive 3D-printed helmets, starting with a recreation of Master Chief’s headgear from the��Halo video game series. The helmet worked well enough for cosplay, but Heuring wanted to incorporate a camera for a heads-up display that could project information and help with navigation. “That was more complicated than I expected, but it gave me an idea of how the basics of the software work,” he said.��

When his sister asked for an Iron Man-style helmet a la Tony Stark from the Marvel Comics universe, Heuring got the chance to learn how various motors “can interact and how to drive them properly,” he said. “That’s how I learned to build the physical movement that Corndog is now known for.”

Corndog is becoming something of a local celebrity. As an ATLAS ambassador, Heuring now brings Corndog to tabling events and STEM conferences to illustrate the flexibility of the CTD program to prospective students. Using a portable gaming device, Heuring instructs Corndog to sit, shake and waggle side to side when people come for a closer look. It’s an apt example of the CTD program’s blend of engineering and design.

Built on a foundation of classical engineering curriculum and integrated with deep design skills and a block of customizable electives from across the university, a degree in CTD allows students like Heuring to focus on physical computing and robotics, while others focus on learning to build immersive art exhibitions, human-centered UX/UI, alternative arcade games, experimental textiles, interactive soundscapes and more.��

“Creative Technology and Design is a great program for people who don't fit neatly into any disciplinary category,” said Zack Weaver, an assistant professor and director of the BTU (Blow Things Up) Lab at ATLAS. “CTD celebrates generalization over hyper specialization and what that means is often we're not solvers of known problems but the inventors of new problems. Leo is one of those people.”��

Weaver taught Heuring as a sophomore in a class called Object, focused on the fundamentals of physical computing—concepts on which Heuring was already well versed. “Leo represents an uncommon opportunity for faculty because he is so technically and creatively skilled,” Weaver said. “Leo puts the faculty in the position of player-coach, where the learning process is spontaneous and improvisational. It feels like creative collaboration, not rote instruction.”��

Heuring now acts as a Learning Assistant for Object, helping other students fabricate objects from scratch and then integrate microcontrollers, sensors, actuators and other components to create a functional device.

Outside of class, Heuring and a handful of other CTD students worked alongside Weaver to launch Sh!tty Hacks in February, an “anti-hackathon” celebrating the joy of creation rather than polished pitches. “It was refreshing to be in a space where people aren’t trying to be the next Steve Jobs,” Heuring said. “Instead, people just enjoyed themselves and built goofy things.”

After college, Heuring hopes to share his passion for robotics with others by turning Corndog and other projects into sellable kits, “something people can make and assemble and see that it’s not that complicated,” he said. “I want to use Corndog as a stepping stone for people to experience STEM at a different level.”