Nick Conn, PhD

Building agents and software for work, life, and fun. Founder/Chief Scientist turned Principal Algorithm Engineer. Medical devices, sensors, hardware, ML, data.

[Nick Conn, PhD @nicholasjconn]

Agents often write complex code. But complexity isn’t an excuse for you to stop asking questions. In scientific/technical work, if something’s slightly off, dig deeper. Know the architecture, not every line. One shrewd question can completely unravel a bad plan or implementation.

[Nick Conn, PhD @nicholasjconn]

@WisprFlow has just been great. I'm proud to say that my "most used word" ended up being "please"! One of these days I should count how many tokens I've wasted with pleasantries.

[Nick Conn, PhD @nicholasjconn]

Orchestrating coding agents has many parallels to managing human teams. To be effective, delegation matters, but so does culture. The system instructions in AGENTS.md set that culture—especially now that frontier agents are advanced enough not to need hand-holding.

[Nick Conn, PhD @nicholasjconn]

Anyone using coding agents can create a personal assistant. I first built Steward to control access to my email. Claude and Codex have plugins for this, but I’m REALLY glad I decided to build my own. Stew uses @LinkedIn, @X, @todoist, and more.

Read more: https://t.co/bxG0p3DMc1

[Nick Conn, PhD @nicholasjconn]

https://t.co/CDemjwR5Di

[Nick Conn, PhD @nicholasjconn]

@Forbes The Smart Seat is finally here! Almost 12 years after I came up with the idea and built the first prototypes at @RITtigers! A huge thank you to everyone who helped make it real. Bringing a one-of-a-kind invention to market took persistence, patience, and an incredible team.

[Nick Conn, PhD @nicholasjconn]

Here’s the exact raw input I gave Stew:

Posting on X starts with me picking a topic or idea, then writing or dictating free form stream of concious to my agent Stew. Stew will then run a skill on the raw input from me, and produce a post in my voice, with exact quotes from me. The intent is not for Stew to rewrite my ramblings, but instead make sure they are easy to read and fit in a single post. I also make sure Stew fact checks me. To see the initial version of this skill, take a look at the following article.

[Nick Conn, PhD @nicholasjconn]

Before posting more, I want to share how my personal agent Stew turns raw thoughts into X posts. I pick a topic or idea, type/dictate a free-form stream of consciousness. Stew uses my x-write skill (https://t.co/MkSRruXJdF) to write using my words. I edit and approve. Stew posts.

[Nick Conn, PhD @nicholasjconn]

Stew, my personal agent, showed me a post from an AI newsletter framing agentic coding as the best video game ever. That really resonated. I'm lucky enough to play this game for work and fun. I'm going to start sharing what I learn, hoping it will help someone. Stay tuned!

[Forbes @Forbes]

This smart toilet seat might save your life one day: https://t.co/sSPJRF0qrO

[Healthcare Scene @HealthcareScene]

Let's give a massive thank you to @GailZahtz for hosting this week's #HITsm chat and to each of you who participated.

[Nick Conn, PhD @nicholasjconn]

@techguy @ZDoggMD Thanks! We do not have a final price yet for a consumer version of the seat, we are working to keep costs reasonable. The measurements are all listed on our website https://t.co/juaqa72Eq5 #HITsm @kenrosenfeld @hearthealthinc

[Nick Conn, PhD @nicholasjconn]

@bigdatadavid13 @GailZahtz One challenge we have with timing is that there is no clear path for using data gathered from prototypes created in a university setting (or at a startup without quality controls) as part of an FDA submission. Understandable, but this increases time to market. #HITsm

[Nick Conn, PhD @nicholasjconn]

@techguy The jokes are endless, but part of the fun! The "butt print" is based off of the sensors we have in the seat, which also allow us to capture over 9 clinically relevant measurements (such as BP, cardiac output, etc.). There are many applications outside of heart failure!

[Nick Conn, PhD @nicholasjconn]

@LisaDani @bigdatadavid13 @GailZahtz @ShereesePubHlth @jkvedar I think in addition to the FDA, scientifically sound studies with peer-reviewed publications sharing results are important. Consumers deserve to know how accurate the devices they use are, even if not FDA approved. #HITsm

[Nick Conn, PhD @nicholasjconn]

Another interesting technology coming out of #Rochester. Seamless monitoring of arrhythmia through the camera of smart phones and tablets. #HITsm @VPGMedical https://t.co/koALwAvZgZ

[Nick Conn, PhD @nicholasjconn]

@techguy @kenrosenfeld @hearthealthinc Great question! We will be using biometric identification algorithms similar to how connected scales work but leveraging more measurements. Think of it as a "butt print", similar to how finger print sensors work on smart phones.

[Nick Conn, PhD @nicholasjconn]

@techguy @kenrosenfeld @hearthealthinc As Ken mention, we think there is a great opportunity for self-monitoring in the consumer market. Even though the technology is not designed for 24/7 monitoring, seamlessly captured daily measurements can provide a lot of value. #HITsm