Stories of a Techno-Optimist

On the first weekend of March, Cori Lathan ’88 visited the National Mall in Washington, D.C., to see a life-sized, orange, 3D-printed statue of herself — one of 120 statues honoring contemporary women in science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) — on display as part of a Smithsonian exhibit. “It was amazing to see the kids look at the statue, then look at you, and be like, ‘Wait a minute,’” says Lathan, an inventor and entrepreneur with a passion for inspiring girls to pursue careers in STEM.

When she was a Ph.D. student in neuroscience at Massachusetts Institute of Technology, she founded a STEM mentoring program for middle-school girls. She served as coach for both her daughters’ robotics teams, and is an ambassador for the IF/THEN Initiative — the force behind the Smithsonian exhibit — to inspire girls to pursue STEM careers. Lathan’s upcoming book, Inventing the Future: Stories from a Techno-Optimist, targets college students in STEM. Each chapter tells the story of a different invention her company created. “The theme is invention as a creative process, as a creative journey,” Lathan says. “We’re all makers, and we all have the ability to create the future that we want to see.”

The research and development company Lathan founded, AnthroTronix — Anthro human, Tronix instrumentation — specializes in human-computer interface technology and has developed a variety of technologies with biomedical, educational, or military applications. She is spending much of her time on electroceuticals, medical devices that deliver electrical stimulation, and has partnered with a medical-device company to commercialize a device, placed in the ear, that delivers electrical stimulation to the vagus nerve with the aim of stimulating the body’s anti-inflammatory processes.

“I’ve always been interested in how technology can enhance human capability,” Lathan says. “How can we shape our future, who we are, and what we can do using technology.”