Faculty Profile: Professor Peter Ludovice Bridges Humor and STEM Education

When Professor Peter Ludovice was in high school in Glen Ellyn, Illinois, he got voted both Class Clown and Hardest Working, two senior superlatives that might seem at odds.

But these traits have helped shape his career, as he researches the value of humor in STEM (science, technology, engineering, and math) education and travels across the United States performing as a standup comedian at colleges, clubs, theaters, and scientific conferences.

“Good comedians are much smarter than people think, and nerds can be much funnier than people expect,” Ludovice says.

One of his signature shows is called “Feel the Power of the Dork Side,” a humorous look at science & engineering and their practitioners. He also gives more serious presentations for technical audiences, most recently a departmental lecture titled “Humor Applied to Enhancing Technical Education, Communication, and Innovation” at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill in fall 2019.

Honored for Innovation in Education

In 2019, Ludovice won the American Institute of Chemical Engineers’ (AIChE) Education Division’s Award for Innovation in Chemical Engineering Education for his “for his unique and innovative application of humor to improve chemical engineering creativity and education and technical outreach.”

Ludovice, who joined the faculty of Georgia Tech’s School of Chemical & Biomolecular Engineering in 1993, had always told a lot of jokes in classes before his first go at a stand-up comedy routine at an open mic night at a club in Roswell, Georgia, where he got some laughs in his initial five-minute set. He eventually become a regular performer there and other local venues.

“What I tell new comedians is that if you don’t cry or wet your pants, it’s a successful open mic,” he says. “An advantage of stand-up comedy is that it’s very therapeutic, and it doesn’t cost $150 an hour. A lot of comedians use it to deal with our issues.”

After becoming a regular performer, Ludovice began to wonder, “How can I merge this midlife crisis with what I do in education?” He soon found both a research and comedic collaborator at Georgia Tech in Mathematics Professor Lew Lefton, who coached Ludovice in the art of improv.

NSF Grant for Humor

In 2013, Ludovice says he became the “first person on the planet” to win a National Science Foundation grant to study humor in engineering education. That led to a study, “Humor Applied to STEM Education,” published in 2016 in Systems Research and Behavioral Science.

“Most of us believe that learning should be fun, and studies indicate that humor in the classroom can improve student engagement and satisfaction,” Ludovice says.

However, he found that humor can sometimes be a distraction and lead to cognitive overload in STEM educational settings if handled improperly, according to the study he conducted in collaboration with Lefton and David Hu, an associate professor of mechanical engineering and biology at Georgia Tech.

The relevancy of the humor is key, they found. “We suggest that the effective use of humor in STEM education should involve the integration of humor into the STEM educational lesson and the associated problem solving exercises,” according to the researchers. “This integration adds the benefits of humor without significantly increasing the cognitive load.”

Medicinal Plant Research

Ludovice’s other research interests include the computer simulation of synthetic and biological polymers and plant alkaloids. Five years ago, he became interested in medical cannabis. He is now working on improving methods to extract cannibidiol (CBD) from the hundreds of other cannabinoids present in hemp plants (varieties of cannabis which are legal as long as they contain 0.3 percent or less tetrahydrocannabinol (THC), which is the psychoactive component of the cannabis plant.

He wants to improve the supercritical CO2 extraction technique that has been used for years in the food and beverage industry (e.g. decaffeinating coffee) by using a co-solvent that would increase the CBD yield. Other CBD extraction methods are more cost effective than supercritical CO2 but involve solvents that pose toxicity and safety hazards.

While the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) rules prohibit unsubstantiated medical claims for CBD, industry reports show that use of CBD oil ingested in various forms has exploded in recent years as users seek alternative methods to alleviate a variety of physical and mental conditions.

According a review of the latest CBD research published in Mayo Clinic Proceedings, a growing body of pre-clinical and clinical evidence indicates that CBD oil could be effective in treating chronic pain, inflammatory conditions, opioid addiction, and other afflictions. But more research is needed to establish efficacy and safety, researchers say.

Ludovice, who came certified as a scuba instructor last year, is personally curious to try CBD as a substitute for Dramamine in the alleviation of seasickness because the latter causes drowsiness.

In November 2019, Ludovice co-organized the “Hemp: Plant for the Planet” conference at Georgia Tech, focusing on the therapeutic, agricultural, processing, economic, and materials aspects of this rapidly growing field.

Ludovice will deliver his annual “Science of Cannabis” presentation from March 11^th from 7:30 to 9:15 at the Whole World Theater in Atlanta as part of the Atlanta Science Festival.

On the Radio and Tour

On Georgia Tech’s WREK radio station, Ludovice also regularly hosts the “Inside the Black Box,” whose motto is “Science, only funnier.”

With Lefton, he also co-directs the Tech’s Geekapolooza Comedy Tour, where students, faculty and alumni perform improv at events such as the Atlanta Science Festival and Dragon Con. Ludovice and Lefton, who are in the process of writing a book on applied humor, also lead Tech’s Humor Genome Project, a student-centered research program is to develop a quantitative model of humor.

Ludovice, who wears a pocket protector that reads, “Nerds: funny, not just funny looking,” says, “Most people realize scientists and engineers could use a few laughs.”

Faculty Profile: Professor Peter Ludovice Bridges Humor and STEM Education

When Professor Peter Ludovice was in high school in Glen Ellyn, Illinois, he got voted both Class Clown and Hardest Working, two senior superlatives that might seem at odds.

But these traits have helped shape his career, as he researches the value of humor in STEM (science, technology, engineering, and math) education and travels across the United States performing as a standup comedian at colleges, clubs, theaters, and scientific conferences.

“Good comedians are much smarter than people think, and nerds can be much funnier than people expect,” Ludovice says.

One of his signature shows is called “Feel the Power of the Dork Side,” a humorous look at science & engineering and their practitioners. He also gives more serious presentations for technical audiences, most recently a departmental lecture titled “Humor Applied to Enhancing Technical Education, Communication, and Innovation” at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill in fall 2019.

Honored for Innovation in Education

In 2019, Ludovice won the American Institute of Chemical Engineers’ (AIChE) Education Division’s Award for Innovation in Chemical Engineering Education for his “for his unique and innovative application of humor to improve chemical engineering creativity and education and technical outreach.”

Ludovice, who joined the faculty of Georgia Tech’s School of Chemical & Biomolecular Engineering in 1993, had always told a lot of jokes in classes before his first go at a stand-up comedy routine at an open mic night at a club in Roswell, Georgia, where he got some laughs in his initial five-minute set. He eventually become a regular performer there and other local venues.

“What I tell new comedians is that if you don’t cry or wet your pants, it’s a successful open mic,” he says. “An advantage of stand-up comedy is that it’s very therapeutic, and it doesn’t cost $150 an hour. A lot of comedians use it to deal with our issues.”

After becoming a regular performer, Ludovice began to wonder, “How can I merge this midlife crisis with what I do in education?” He soon found both a research and comedic collaborator at Georgia Tech in Mathematics Professor Lew Lefton, who coached Ludovice in the art of improv.

NSF Grant for Humor

In 2013, Ludovice says he became the “first person on the planet” to win a National Science Foundation grant to study humor in engineering education. That led to a study, “Humor Applied to STEM Education,” published in 2016 in Systems Research and Behavioral Science.

“Most of us believe that learning should be fun, and studies indicate that humor in the classroom can improve student engagement and satisfaction,” Ludovice says.

However, he found that humor can sometimes be a distraction and lead to cognitive overload in STEM educational settings if handled improperly, according to the study he conducted in collaboration with Lefton and David Hu, an associate professor of mechanical engineering and biology at Georgia Tech.

The relevancy of the humor is key, they found. “We suggest that the effective use of humor in STEM education should involve the integration of humor into the STEM educational lesson and the associated problem solving exercises,” according to the researchers. “This integration adds the benefits of humor without significantly increasing the cognitive load.”

Medicinal Plant Research

Ludovice’s other research interests include the computer simulation of synthetic and biological polymers and plant alkaloids. Five years ago, he became interested in medical cannabis. He is now working on improving methods to extract cannibidiol (CBD) from the hundreds of other cannabinoids present in hemp plants (varieties of cannabis which are legal as long as they contain 0.3 percent or less tetrahydrocannabinol (THC), which is the psychoactive component of the cannabis plant.

He wants to improve the supercritical CO2 extraction technique that has been used for years in the food and beverage industry (e.g. decaffeinating coffee) by using a co-solvent that would increase the CBD yield. Other CBD extraction methods are more cost effective than supercritical CO2 but involve solvents that pose toxicity and safety hazards.

While the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) rules prohibit unsubstantiated medical claims for CBD, industry reports show that use of CBD oil ingested in various forms has exploded in recent years as users seek alternative methods to alleviate a variety of physical and mental conditions.

According a review of the latest CBD research published in Mayo Clinic Proceedings, a growing body of pre-clinical and clinical evidence indicates that CBD oil could be effective in treating chronic pain, inflammatory conditions, opioid addiction, and other afflictions. But more research is needed to establish efficacy and safety, researchers say.

Ludovice, who came certified as a scuba instructor last year, is personally curious to try CBD as a substitute for Dramamine in the alleviation of seasickness because the latter causes drowsiness.

In November 2019, Ludovice co-organized the “Hemp: Plant for the Planet” conference at Georgia Tech, focusing on the therapeutic, agricultural, processing, economic, and materials aspects of this rapidly growing field.

Ludovice will deliver his annual “Science of Cannabis” presentation from March 11^th from 7:30 to 9:15 at the Whole World Theater in Atlanta as part of the Atlanta Science Festival.

On the Radio and Tour

On Georgia Tech’s WREK radio station, Ludovice also regularly hosts the “Inside the Black Box,” whose motto is “Science, only funnier.”

With Lefton, he also co-directs the Tech’s Geekapolooza Comedy Tour, where students, faculty and alumni perform improv at events such as the Atlanta Science Festival and Dragon Con. Ludovice and Lefton, who are in the process of writing a book on applied humor, also lead Tech’s Humor Genome Project, a student-centered research program is to develop a quantitative model of humor.

Ludovice, who wears a pocket protector that reads, “Nerds: funny, not just funny looking,” says, “Most people realize scientists and engineers could use a few laughs.”