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<title>USC Viterbi School of Engineering: Events</title>
<link>http://viterbi.usc.edu/news/events/</link>
<description><![CDATA[ USC Viterbi School of Engineering Calendar of Events ]]></description>
<webMaster>dziegiel@imsc.usc.edu</webMaster>
<lastBuildDate>Thu, 09 Feb 2012 18:18:01 -0800</lastBuildDate>
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<title>02-09-2012 EE Distinguished Lecturer Series </title>
<link>http://viterbi.usc.edu/news/events/?event=7551</link>
<description><![CDATA[Speaker: Dr. Mark D. Hill, University of Wisconsin, Madison

Talk Title: Amdahl's Law in the Multicore Era

Abstract: Over the last several decades computer architects have been phenomenally successful turning the transistor bounty provided by Moore's Law into chips with ever increasing single-threaded performance. During many of these successful years, however, many researchers paid scant attention to multiprocessor work. Now as vendors turn to multicore chips, researchers are reacting with more papers on multi-threaded systems. While this is good, we are concerned that further work on single-thread performance will be squashed.

To help understand future high-level trade-offs, we develop a corollary to Amdahl's Law for multicore chips [Hill and Marty, IEEE Computer 2008]. It models fixed chip resources for alternative designs that use symmetric cores, asymmetric cores, or dynamic techniques that allow cores to work together on sequential execution. Our results encourage multicore designers to view performance of the entire chip rather than focus on core efficiencies. Moreover, we observe that obtaining optimal multicore performance requires further research BOTH in extracting more parallelism and making sequential cores faster.


Biography: Mark D. Hill is professor in both the Computer Sciences Department and the Electrical and Computer Engineering Department at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, where he also co-leads the Wisconsin Multifacet project with David Wood. He earned a Ph.D. from the University of California, Berkeley. He is an ACM Fellow and a Fellow of the IEEE. His past work ranges from refining multiprocessor memory consistency models to developing the 3C model of cache behavior (compulsory, capacity, and conflict misses).

Host: Prof. Murali Annavaram

More Info: http://ee.usc.edu/news/dls/2011-2012-lectures/mark-hill.htm]]></description>
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<title>02-09-2012 Architecture as Communication </title>
<link>http://viterbi.usc.edu/news/events/?event=6909</link>
<description><![CDATA[Reception to follow. Admission is free. To RSVP, go to http://annenberg.usc.edu/rsvp.

Architects are essential contributors, and often the actual shapers, of the environment in which we live. This event will examine how architecture and design influence how we interact socially, culturally and within the new economy. It is not only the public use of buildings that makes architecture a social art, it is also the architect’s engagement with clients, communities, contractors and others whose participation is required to alter the environment. What kinds of communication are needed between the architect and client to develop the best possible designs? What is the role of public policy in developing architecture for the community? How do designs influence our environment for good or ill?  

Thom Mayne, founder of the Los Angeles–based architecture firm Morphosis, and Michael Govan, director and CEO of the Los Angeles County Museum of Art, will discuss the design process and the interplay between architecture and public policy as a source of creativity and tension. Mayne is an internationally renowned architect and recipient of the Pritzker Prize, architecture’s highest honor. Morphosis has been the subject of various group and solo exhibitions throughout the world, including a large solo exhibition at the Centre Pompidou in Paris in 2006. Prior to joining LACMA in 2006, Govan was president and director of the Dia Art Foundation in New York. Under his leadership, Dia dramatically increased its outstanding program of exhibitions, interdisciplinary programs and scholarly and critical publications. Their presentation will be followed by a discussion with Qingyun Ma, dean of the USC School of Architecture, and Larry Gross, director of the School of Communication at USC Annenberg.

Organized by the USC Annenberg School for Communication & Journalism.

For further information on this event:
visionsandvoices@usc.edu]]></description>
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<title>02-10-2012 Timing is Everything:  How to Manage Your Schedule </title>
<link>http://viterbi.usc.edu/news/events/?event=7859</link>
<description><![CDATA[This workshop will help students identify obstacles to good time management, and to develop time management skills and strategies for Spring 2012.  Lunch will be provided.  

RSVP here: https://uscviterbi.qualtrics.com/SE/SID=SV_cXVvjlp9YLwBQb2

For more info: e-mail viterbi.ced@usc.edu 
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<title>02-10-2012 W.V.T. Rusch Engineering Honors Colloquium; Airborne and Spaceborne Radar Observations of Hurricanes </title>
<link>http://viterbi.usc.edu/news/events/?event=7496</link>
<description><![CDATA[Speaker: Stephen L. Durden, Principal Engineer, Jet Propulsion Laboratory

Talk Title: W.V.T. Rusch Engineering Honors Colloquium; Airborne and Spaceborne Radar Observations of Hurricanes

Abstract: Dr. Stephen Durden, Principal Engineer at Jet Propulsion Laboratory, will present "Airborne and Spaceborne Radar Observations of Hurricanes" as part of the W.V.T. Rusch Engineering Honors Program.

Host: W.V.T. Rusch Engineering Honors Colloquium

More Info: http://viterbi.usc.edu/students/undergrad/honors/schedules/]]></description>
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<title>02-10-2012 W.V.T. Rusch Engineering Honors Colloquium; Airborne and Spaceborne Radar Observations of Hurricanes </title>
<link>http://viterbi.usc.edu/news/events/?event=7496</link>
<description><![CDATA[Speaker: Stephen L. Durden, Principal Engineer, Jet Propulsion Laboratory

Talk Title: W.V.T. Rusch Engineering Honors Colloquium; Airborne and Spaceborne Radar Observations of Hurricanes

Abstract: Dr. Stephen Durden, Principal Engineer at Jet Propulsion Laboratory, will present "Airborne and Spaceborne Radar Observations of Hurricanes" as part of the W.V.T. Rusch Engineering Honors Program.

Host: W.V.T. Rusch Engineering Honors Colloquium

More Info: http://viterbi.usc.edu/students/undergrad/honors/schedules/]]></description>
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<title>02-10-2012 EE-EP Seminar </title>
<link>http://viterbi.usc.edu/news/events/?event=7860</link>
<description><![CDATA[Speaker: Irfan Bulu, Harvard University, School of Engineering and Applied Sciences

Talk Title: Nano-plasmonics and Nano-photonics: Applications to Enhanced Single Photon Sources, and Mid-Infrared Photonics

Abstract: Plasmonics and photonics at the nano-scale offer new possibilities for improving the performance of photonic devices such as lasers, creating new functionality, and building chip-scale integrated optical devices. In the first part of my talk, I will present our recent experimental and theoretical work on plasmonic nano-cavities for efficient, room temperature single photon sources based on nitrogen-vacancy (NV) color centers in diamond. NV center is a stable single photon source even at room temperature, and exhibits long coherence times for both electronic and nuclear spins. As a result, it is a robust quantum system for applications ranging from quantum information processing to nano-scale magnetometry. These applications benefit from large single photon rates, which can be improved by the use of nano-photonic devices. I will discuss various plasmonic cavity designs and show that the emission rate, excitation rate, and collection efficiency from single NV centers can be improved significantly in an extremely small footprint device. Furthermore, I show that our scalable, top-down nanofabrication technique maintains the crucial properties of embedded NV centers, and is therefore compatible with requirements needed for realization of quantum systems based on diamond. In the second part of the talk, I will discuss our work on mid-infrared photonics. The mid-infrared is an exciting wavelength range for on chip photonic devices, with important applications in spectroscopy and gas sensing. We recently developed record high-Q (45,000) photonic crystal cavities on a CMOS compatible platform for trace gas sensing applications. I will discuss some of the methods that we developed in order to improve the quality factors of photonic crystal cavities at mid-infrared (4.5 µm), and report the observation and origin of optical bi-stability at this wavelength range.  Finally, I will discuss the prospects for future devices ranging from all-optical signal processing to on chip frequency combs at the mid-infrared.

Biography: Dr. Bulu received his Ph.D. from the department of physics at Bilkent University for his work on photonic crystals, surface plasmons, and metamaterials. He joined Professor Loncar’s lab at Harvard University as a postdoctoral fellow. Since joining Prof. Loncar’s lab, he developed efficient room temperature single photon sources based on single nitrogen vacany centers in diamond by using plasmonic nano-cavities, demonstrated optically reconfigurable photonic crystal filters, and worked on photonic crystal cavities at mid-infrared for sensing applications. He also collaborated with Schlumberger Limited and developed photonic platforms for oil and gas exploration. His current research interests include non-linear diamond nano-photonic devices for quantum information processing applications, silicon photonics at the mid-infrared wavelengths for applications in gas sensing and spectroscopy, development of new quantum emitters such as gallium nitride nanowires with embedded quantum dots/wells, and graphene plasmonics. His research resulted in more than 40 journal publications. 

Host: EE-EP/USC Quantum Information and Condensed Matter Physics

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<title>02-10-2012 Integrated Systems Seminar Series  </title>
<link>http://viterbi.usc.edu/news/events/?event=8101</link>
<description><![CDATA[Speaker: Dr. Arun Natarajan, IBM T. J. Watson Research Center

Talk Title: Millimeter-Wave Integrated Phased Arrays for Wireless Communication and Imaging

Host: Hossein Hashemi

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<title>02-11-2012 Sight Specific: LACPS and the Politics of Community </title>
<link>http://viterbi.usc.edu/news/events/?event=6910</link>
<description><![CDATA[Admission is free. Reception to follow.

Sight Specific: LACPS and the Politics of Community, curated by Tim Wride, will explore the personalities, programs and impact of the Los Angeles Center for Photographic Studies and how it set the stage for the future of image making within and beyond regional boundaries. In conjunction with the exhibition, a two-part symposium will explore the history, current state and future potential of artist-run and alternative spaces and organizations—both photocentric and non-media-specific—as a local, regional and national phenomenon and will engage contemporary artists about their relationship with the broader cultural community.

1 to 3 p.m.: Looking Back
Exhibition curator Tim Wride will moderate a panel with former members of LACPS to contextualize its importance as a cultural and community phenomenon. Panelists include Darryl Curran, Suda House, Deborah Irmas, Robert Glenn Ketchum and Howard Spector.

3:30 to 5:30 p.m.: Over the Edge
Rochelle Steiner, dean of the USC Roski School of Fine Arts, will moderate a panel featuring artists, cultural critics and arts administrators on the future of community within the arts. Panelists include Mark Allen, Edgar Arceneaux, Anne Bray, Evelena Ruether and Carol Stakenas.

Special reception to follow. 

Sight Specific: LACPS and the Politics of Community is part of Pacific Standard Time. This unprecedented collaboration initiated by the Getty, brings together more than 60 cultural institutions from across Southern California for six months beginning October 2011 to tell the story of the birth of the L.A. art scene. The presenting sponsor is Bank of America.

Organized by the USC Fisher Museum of Art and the USC Roski School of Fine Arts.

Image: Courtesy of John Divola
For further information on this event:
visionsandvoices@usc.edu]]></description>
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<title>02-13-2012 EE-Electrophysics Seminar </title>
<link>http://viterbi.usc.edu/news/events/?event=8118</link>
<description><![CDATA[Speaker: John Teufel, NIST Boulder

Talk Title: Quantum Microwave Optomechanical Circuits

Abstract: While mechanical oscillators are the basis for ultrasensitive detection of force, mass and displacement, only recently are these systems poised to encounter the limits and possibilities afforded by quantum mechanics.  Accessing the full quantum nature of a macroscopic mechanical oscillator first requires elimination of its classical, thermal motion.  The flourishing field of cavity optomechanics provides a nearly ideal architecture for both preparation and detection of mechanical motion at the quantum level.  We realize a microwave cavity optomechanical system by coupling the motion of an aluminum membrane to the resonance frequency of a superconducting circuit [1]. By exciting the microwave circuit below its resonance frequency, we damp and cool the membrane motion with radiation pressure forces, analogous to laser cooling of the motion of trapped ions.  The microwave excitation serves not only to cool, but also to monitor the displacement of the membrane.  A nearly quantum-limited, Josephson parametric amplifier is used to detect the mechanical sidebands of this microwave excitation and quantify the thermal motion as it is cooled with radiation pressure forces to its quantum ground state [2].
[1] Teufel, J. D. et al. ìCircuit cavity electromechanics in the strong-coupling regime,î Nature 471, 204ñ208 (2011).
[2] Teufel, J. D. et al. ìSideband cooling micromechanical motion to the quantum ground state,î Nature 475, 359ñ363 (2011).


Biography: Dr. John Teufel completed his Ph.D. in physics at Yale University in the group of Robert Schoelkopf while developing superconducting photon detectors.

Host: EE-Electrophysics

]]></description>
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<title>02-14-2012 Reshaping the Mind: The Benefits of Bilingualism </title>
<link>http://viterbi.usc.edu/news/events/?event=7851</link>
<description><![CDATA[Speaker: Professor Ellen Bialystok, York University

Talk Title: Reshaping the Mind: The Benefits of Bilingualism

Abstract: A growing body of research using both behavioral and neuroimaging data points to a significant effect of bilingualism on cognitive outcomes across the lifespan. The main finding is evidence for the enhancement of executive control at all stages in the lifespan, with the most dramatic results being maintained cognitive performance in elderly adults, and protection against the onset of dementia. A more complex picture emerges when the cognitive advantages of bilingualism are considered together with the costs to linguistic processing.  I will review evidence for both these outcomes and propose a framework for understanding the mechanism that could lead to these positive and negative consequences of bilingualism, including protection against dementia in older age.

Biography: Ellen Bialystok is a Distinguished Research Professor of Psychology at York University and Associate Scientist at the Rotman Research Institute of the Baycrest Centre for Geriatric Care.  She received her Ph.D. from the University of Toronto in 1976 studying the relation between children’s conceptual and linguistic development, especially as it applied to spatial cognition.  Her subsequent research investigated issues in second language acquisition, metalinguistic awareness, and literacy acquisition in young children. Much of her research in the past 20 years has focused on the effect of bilingualism on children’s language and cognitive development, showing accelerated mastery of specific cognitive processes for bilingual children. This research was then extended to investigations of adult processing and cognitive aging, showing the continuity of these bilingual advantages into adulthood and the protection against cognitive decline in healthy aging for bilingual older adults. She is the author or editor of 7 books and over 100 scientific papers in journals and books. She is a fellow of the Royal Society of Canada and among her awards are a Killam Research Fellowship, Walter Gordon Research Fellowship, Dean’s Award for Outstanding Research, the Donald T. Stuss Award for Research Excellence at the Baycrest Geriatric Centre, the President’s Research Award of Merit at York University, the Donald Hebb Award for Outstanding Contribution to Psychology, and the Killam Prize for the Social Sciences.

Host: Professor Shrikanth Narayanan

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