Harley Johnson, the Associate Dean for Research in The Grainger College of Engineering and a Founder Professor in the Department of Mechanical Science and Engineering, spoke with the Lisa Dent Show on WGN Radio regarding a new research partnership with Amazon. “Here at the University of Illinois and The Grainger College of Engineering, we are very excited about this new partnership with Amazon. This is the division of Amazon that makes the Alexa device, and the new center is called the Amazon-Illinois Center on Artificial Intelligence for Interactive Conversational Experiences. So, this center is going to be devoted to research on making AI that understands human conversation better,” Johnson said.