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⚒️ Jesse Colin Jackson - Art, Architecture, Engineering & Technology: Building an Open-Ended Career in Academia

Guest: Jesse Colin Jackson — Artist, Designer, Professor, Associate Dean, Executive Director, and Relentless Builder of Ideas

Some careers unfold in a straight line. Jesse Colin Jackson’s career is more like one of his sculptures—layered, iterative, unexpected, and quietly brilliant once you step back and take in the whole form.

In this conversation, Jesse, a Canadian-born artist/designer/engineer-turned-academic leader, shares the unconventional path that took him from civil engineering… to art school… to architecture school… to a faculty career at UC Irvine where he now serves as a Professor of Electronic Art & Design, Associate Dean of Research & Innovation, and Executive Director of the internationally recognized Beall Center for Art + Technology.

We cover a lot of ground—creativity, curiosity, sabbaticals, building things that don’t exist yet, learning how to manage your energy, what college really offers students today, and the underrated value of wandering into the unknown and working hard even when you don’t know where it’s all leading.

This episode is a goldmine for students, young creatives, mid-career explorers, and anyone who’s ever wondered: How do you build a meaningful, original career when you’re interested in everything?

💡Some Highlights + One-Liners from Jesse

  • “Design thinking and art thinking? Same thing—designers just have clients.”
  • “I didn’t plan on being an artist. I didn’t plan on being a professor.”
  • “Iteration beats perfection. Generate lots of ideas fast—don’t labor over one perfect thing.”
  • “The sabbatical isn’t a vacation. It’s stepping away to think, imagine, and start something new.”
  • “Energy in → outcomes out. Hard work compounds, even when you don’t see it right away.”
  • “Students think professors aren’t nervous. Most are. Teaching is performance.”
  • “Don’t confuse what you’re good at with what actually feeds you.”
  • “You can’t predict where opportunities will come from. Don’t treat life like a transaction.”
  • “Some of the things you do for fun will end up shaping your career more than the things you did ‘on purpose.’”

🎙️What We Talk About

— How Jesse blended engineering, art, and architecture into a single creative lens

— Why dropping out (or being asked to leave) can become the best learning moment of a career

— What running a campus bike co-op taught him about leadership, collaboration, and creativity

— The value of iteration, restlessness, and trying a lot of things

— How AI is reshaping creativity—and what students should really be focused on right now

— Why college still matters (and what people misunderstand about its purpose)

— Advice for new grads entering the workplace

— His “underswell”: that open-ended need to build, explore, and make things that didn’t exist before

— The Beall Center for Art + Technology, UCI’s Arts + campaign, and the role of art as a form of inquiry

— His next big projects, including the delightfully ambitious curb machine artwork

🎧 Why Listen: Jesse’s story is a reminder that careers are long, winding, and much more malleable than we tend to believe. Your degree doesn’t define you. Your first job doesn’t define you. The things you build, explore, and put your energy into over time—that’s what shapes a career. For anyone navigating change, uncertainty, or a path that doesn’t quite fit the standard template, this episode offers both comfort and a spark. There’s wisdom here. And some very quotable insights.

🔗 Links & Resources:

Music🎵 by Lidérc

Inquire about being a guest on The Underswell at https://www.theunderswell.com/livewithderek