SUNMONTUEWEDTHUFRISAT
Conferences, Lectures, & Seminars
Events for September
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Emergent Hierarchies and Social Stability
Wed, Sep 05, 2018 @ 12:00 PM - 01:00 PM
Ming Hsieh Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering
Conferences, Lectures, & Seminars
Speaker: Márton Pósfai , Complexity Sciences Center and Department of Computer Science, University of California, Davis
Talk Title: Emergent Hierarchies and Social Stability
Series: Center for Cyber-Physical Systems and Internet of Things
Abstract: Hierarchy of social organization is a ubiquitous property of animal and human groups, linked to resource allocation, collective decisions, individual health, and even to social instability. In my talk, I will discuss aspects of modelling the dynamics of hierarchy formation. I will first focus on the role of talent versus social feedback in obtaining rank. Experimental evidence shows that both impact hierarchies; existing mathematical models, however, focus on the latter. I will introduce a rigorous model that incorporates both features and show effects that arise from the interaction of the two. In the second half of my talk, I will discuss our collaboration with the California National Primate Research Center, this joint work aims to model the social structure and stability of rhesus macaque groups. Rhesus macaques live in cohesive hierarchically-structured groups of approximately one hundred individuals. Their social organization is regulated by a multiplex network defined by kinship and a number of interactions including grooming, fighting and formal submission. A notable property of macaque societies is that they can become unstable: the hierarchical organization may collapse, culminating in large-scale fighting, dissolution of social order and disbanding of entire groups. I will briefly describe the structure of their social networks and how modelling their dynamics help us understand social collapse.
Biography: Márton Pósfai received his PhD in statistical physics at the Eötvös University, Budapest. During his PhD he spent two years at the Northeastern University, Boston in the lab of Prof. Albert-László Barabási and six months at TU Berlin as German Academic Exchange Service scholarship-holder. Currently, he is a postdoctoral researcher at the University of California, Davis working together with Prof. Raissa D'Souza. He is interested in complex systems and network science, with focus on network control, phase transitions in complex networks, emergence in social systems, and social organization of non-human primates.
Host: Professor Paul Bogdan
Location: Hughes Aircraft Electrical Engineering Center (EEB) - 132
Audiences: Everyone Is Invited
Contact: Talyia White
This event is open to all eligible individuals. USC Viterbi operates all of its activities consistent with the University's Notice of Non-Discrimination. Eligibility is not determined based on race, sex, ethnicity, sexual orientation, or any other prohibited factor. -
PhD Defense
Wed, Sep 05, 2018 @ 01:00 PM - 03:00 PM
Ming Hsieh Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering
Conferences, Lectures, & Seminars
Speaker: Jiun-Yu (Joanne) Kao, University of Southern California
Talk Title: Human Activity Analysis with Graph Signal Processing Techniques
Abstract: Analyzing and understanding human actions has long been a popular yet challenging research area with a broad range of applications. In this thesis, we explore model-based approaches to construct representations for captured skeleton-based motion data with prior knowledge about human skeletons being considered. The main challenge in achieving so is the irregularity in the skeletal structure and its corresponding actions, which we propose to leverage graph structures to tackle with, since graph has shown its superiority in modeling complex relationships among entities in irregular domains. In this
work, we propose graph-based motion representations which start with constructing a skeletal or skeletal-temporal graph, followed by applying a graph transform such as Graph Fourier Transform (GFT) or Spectral Graph Wavelet Transform (SGWT) to the graph signals, i.e., motion data, defined on the graph. We discuss the construction of a skeletal graph and further derive the spatial and spectral properties associated with this type of graphs, as well as the interpretations brought by GFT basis. Additionally, we discuss several desirable properties of the proposed representations, including
computational efficiency and easier generalization. As an extension, we explore the possibility of learning a set of action dependent graphs for classification purpose, where we propose a general discriminative graph learning problem together with an iterative algorithm to solve it. Furthermore, a closed-form solution can be derived when graph topology satisfies certain properties.
As for applications, we consider two real-world scenarios where skeleton-based motion data is captured for automated action analysis. The first one is a mobility assessment system where activities performed by patients with musculoskeletal disorders are captured and utilized to predict their current medication states. The other one is skeleton-based action recognition, which has been a popular research problem in computer vision. Employing our proposed representations can achieve recognition performance comparable to the state of the art, while at the same time provides
benefits in significantly lower time complexity, robustness to noisy and missing data, and easiness to re-apply to new datasets. Theoretical interpretations and comprehensive experimental results are presented for the proposed methods.
Biography: Jiun-Yu (Joanne) Kao is a PhD candidate in Department of Electrical Engineering at University of Southern California (USC), Los Angeles, CA. She received her B.S. degree in Electrical Engineering from National Taiwan University, Taipei, Taiwan in 2012. Her research focuses on human activity analysis and video understanding, with particular interests in graph based approaches.
Host: C.-C. Jay Kuo
More Information: Jiun-Yu Kao PhD Defense.pdf
Location: Hughes Aircraft Electrical Engineering Center (EEB) - 248
Audiences: Everyone Is Invited
Contact: Gloria Halfacre
This event is open to all eligible individuals. USC Viterbi operates all of its activities consistent with the University's Notice of Non-Discrimination. Eligibility is not determined based on race, sex, ethnicity, sexual orientation, or any other prohibited factor. -
Munushian Seminar - Chennupati Jagadish, Friday, September 7th at 2pm in EEB 132
Fri, Sep 07, 2018 @ 02:00 PM - 03:30 PM
Ming Hsieh Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering
Conferences, Lectures, & Seminars
Speaker: Chennupati Jagadish, Australian National University, Canberra, ACT 2601, Australia
Talk Title: Semiconductor Nanowires for Optoelectronics Applications
Abstract: Semiconductor Nanowires are considered as building blocks for next generation electronics and photonics. In this talk, I will discuss about growth of Semiconductor Nanowires using Vapor-Lqiuid-Solid (VLS) and Selective Area Epitaxy (SAE) methods and discuss about materials issues related to nanowires. I will present results on GaAs nanowire lasers, multi-quantum well nanowire lasers, zinc doped GaAs and InP nanowire lasers and nanopositioning of these lasers for flexible electronics applications. I will discuss about use of these nanowires for THz detectors, Solar Cells and neuroscience Applications.
Biography: Professor Jagadish is a Distinguished Professor and Head of Semiconductor Optoelectronics and Nanotechnology Group in the Research School of Physics and Engineering, Australian National University. He has served as Vice-President and Secretary Physical Sciences of the Australian Academy of Science during 2012-2016. He is currently serving as President of IEEE Photonics Society and President of Australian Materials Research Society. Prof. Jagadish is an Editor/Associate editor of 6 Journals (EIC-Progress in Quantum Electronics), 3 book series and serves on editorial boards of 20 other journals. He has published more than 880 research papers (600 journal papers), holds 5 US patents, co-authored a book, co-edited 11 books and edited 12 conference proceedings and 15 special issues of Journals.
He won the 2000 IEEE Millennium Medal and received Distinguished Lecturer awards from IEEE NTC, IEEE LEOS and IEEE EDS. He is a Fellow of the Australian Academy of Science, Australian Academy of Technological Sciences and Engineering, The World Academy of Sciences, US National Academy of Inventors, Indian National Science Academy, Indian Academy of Sciences, Andhra Pradesh Akademi of Science, IEEE, APS, MRS, OSA, AVS, ECS, SPIE, AAAS, FEMA, APAM, IoP (UK), IET (UK), IoN (UK) and the AIP. He received Peter Baume Award from the ANU in 2006, the Quantum Device Award from ISCS in 2010, IEEE Photonics Society Distinguished Service Award in 2010, IEEE Nanotechnology Council Distinguished Service Award in 2011 and Electronics and Photonics Division Award of the Electrochemical Society in 2012, 2013 Walter Boas Medal, 2015 IEEE Pioneer Award in Nanotechnology, 2015 IEEE Photonics Society Engineering Achievement Award, 2016 MRSI Silver Jubilee Anniversary Medal, 2016 Distinguished Fellow of Chinese Academy of Sciences, 2016 OSA Nick Holonyak Jr Award, 2017 Welker Award, 2017 IUMRS Somiya Award and 2017 Nayudamma Award. He has received Australia's highest civilian honor, AC, Companion of the Order of Australia, as part of 2016 Australia day honors from the Governor General of Australia for his contributions to physics and engineering, in particular nanotechnology. He holds honorary appointments in US, Japan, China and India.
Host: EE-Electrophysics
More Info: https://minghsiehee.usc.edu/about/lectures/munushian/
Location: Hughes Aircraft Electrical Engineering Center (EEB) - 132
Audiences: Everyone Is Invited
Contact: Marilyn Poplawski
Event Link: https://minghsiehee.usc.edu/about/lectures/munushian/
This event is open to all eligible individuals. USC Viterbi operates all of its activities consistent with the University's Notice of Non-Discrimination. Eligibility is not determined based on race, sex, ethnicity, sexual orientation, or any other prohibited factor. -
Joint CSC@USC/CommNetS-MHI Seminar
Mon, Sep 10, 2018 @ 02:00 PM - 03:00 PM
Ming Hsieh Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering
Conferences, Lectures, & Seminars
Speaker: Meisam Razaviyayn, University of Southern California
Talk Title: Finding a Local Optimum of a Constrained Non-Convex Optimization and its Connections to Global Optimality
Abstract: When is solving a non-convex optimization problem easy? Despite significant research efforts to answer this question, most existing results are problem specific and cannot be applied even with simple changes in the objective function. In this talk, we provide theoretical insights to this question by answering two related questions: 1) Are all local optima of a given optimization problem globally optimal? 2) When can we compute a local optimum of a given non-convex constrained optimization problem efficiently? In the first part of the talk, motivated by the non-convex training problem of deep neural networks, we provide simple sufficient conditions under which any local optimum of a given highly composite optimization problem is globally optimal. Unlike many existing results in the literature, our sufficient condition applies to many non-convex optimization problems such as training problem of non-convex multi-linear neural networks and non-linear neural networks with pyramidal structures.
In the second part of the talk, we consider the problem of finding a local optimum of a constrained non-convex optimization problem under strict saddle point property. We show that, unlike the unconstrained scenario, the vanilla projected gradient descent algorithm fails to escape saddle points even in the presence of a single linear constraint. We then propose a trust region algorithm which converges to second order stationary points for optimization problems with small number of linear constraints. Our algorithm is the first optimization procedure, with polynomial per-iteration complexity, which converges to $\epsilon$-first order stationary points of a non-manifold constrained optimization problem in $O(\epsilon^{-3/2})$ iterations, and at the same time can escape saddle points under strict saddle property.
This is a joint work with Maher Nouiehed.
Biography: Meisam Razaviyayn is an assistant professor at the department of Industrial and Systems Engineering at the University of Southern California. Prior to joining USC, he was a postdoctoral research fellow in the Department of Electrical Engineering at Stanford University working with Professor David Tse. He received his PhD in Electrical Engineering with minor in Computer Science at the University of Minnesota under the supervision of Professor Tom Luo. He obtained his MS degree in Mathematics under the supervision of Professor Gennady Lyubeznik. Meisam Razaviyayn is the recipient of the Signal Processing Society Young Author Best Paper Award in 2014 and the finalist for Best Paper Prize for Young Researcher in Continuous Optimization in 2013 and 2016.
Host: Urbashi Mitra
More Info: http://csc.usc.edu/seminars/2018Fall/razaviyayn.html
More Information: 18.09.06 Meisam Razaviyayn CSC@USC Seminar .pdf
Location: Hughes Aircraft Electrical Engineering Center (EEB) - 132
Audiences: Everyone Is Invited
Contact: Brienne Moore
Event Link: http://csc.usc.edu/seminars/2018Fall/razaviyayn.html
This event is open to all eligible individuals. USC Viterbi operates all of its activities consistent with the University's Notice of Non-Discrimination. Eligibility is not determined based on race, sex, ethnicity, sexual orientation, or any other prohibited factor. -
Fall 2018 Joint CSC@USC/CommNetS-MHI Seminar Series
Mon, Sep 17, 2018 @ 02:00 PM - 03:00 PM
Ming Hsieh Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering
Conferences, Lectures, & Seminars
Speaker: Soon-Jo Chung, California Institute of Technology
Talk Title: Multi-agent cooperative control and estimation for flying cars and spacecraft swarms
Abstract: Recent advances in self-driving car and drone technologies are turning a century-old dream of vertical-take-off-landing personal transportation vehicles into a reality with many existing projects in development. Caltech's Center for Autonomous Systems and Technologies (CAST)'s engineers and scientists have developed a 1/5 working scale model of their Autonomously Flying Ambulance (AFA) with innovative design ideas, including flight by a hybrid of distributed fans and deployable wings, bio-inspired flight and control, and vision-based navigation. The model has been flight-tested successfully in CAST's unique drone arena using an open-air distributed fan-array wind tunnel. CAST's AFA rotorcraft and autonomy technologies can provide solutions for a range of short-distance travel challenges: point-to-point delivery of packages on Earth or scientific samples on Mars. I will review some of the control theoretical results derived for control and coordination of novel aerial robotic platforms. First, I will present distributed, motion planning and multi-point routing algorithms for optimally reconfiguring swarms of vehicles with limited communication and computation capabilities from various pick-up locations to target locations. The real-time guidance algorithm solves both the optimal assignment and collision-free trajectory generation in an integrated manner. Three related approaches have been derived for optimal assignment problem for real-time routing: (1) distributed auction assignment, (2) novel probabilistic swarm guidance that employs time-inhomogeneous Markov chains; and (3) potential games solved by binary log-linear learning. Second, nonlinear tracking control and estimation is utilized to track optimal reconfiguration trajectories with a property of robustness (finite-gain Lp incremental stability). I will also show such nonlinear incremental stability analysis can be extended to a set of Ito stochastic nonlinear systems for synchronization control and nonlinear estimation, including exponential stability of a distributed Bayesian filtering algorithm, robust nonlinear estimation for visual SLAM, and consensus stability of distributed reinforcement learning for flying ambulances or taxis.
Biography: Prof. Soon-Jo Chung received the S.M. degree in Aeronautics and Astronautics and the Sc.D. degree in Estimation and Control with a minor in Optics from MIT in 2002 and 2007, respectively. He received the B.S. degree in Aerospace Engineering from KAIST in 1998 (school class rank 1 out of 120). He is currently Associate Professor of Aerospace and Bren Scholar in the Graduate Aerospace Laboratories of the California Institute of Technology (GALCIT). Prof. Chung is also a Research Scientist of the Jet Propulsion Laboratory. For August 2009-August 2016, Prof. Chung was on the faculty of the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. His research areas include nonlinear control and estimation theory and optimal/robust flight controls with application to aerial robotics, distributed spacecraft systems, and computer vision-based navigation. He is the recipient of the UIUC Engineering Dean's Award for Excellence in Research, the Beckman Faculty Fellowship of the U of Illinois Center for Advanced Study, the AFOSR Young Investigator Award, the NSF CAREER Award, and three best conference paper awards (2015 AIAA GNC, 2009 AIAA Infotech, 2008 IEEE EIT). Prof. Chung is an Associate Editor of the IEEE Transactions on Robotics and the AIAA Journal of Guidance, Control, and Dynamics.
Host: Mihailo Jovanovic
More Info: http://csc.usc.edu/seminars/2018Fall/chung.html
More Information: 18.09.18_Soon-Jo Chung_CSC@USC Seminar.pdf
Location: Hughes Aircraft Electrical Engineering Center (EEB) - 132
Audiences: Everyone Is Invited
Contact: Brienne Moore
Event Link: http://csc.usc.edu/seminars/2018Fall/chung.html
This event is open to all eligible individuals. USC Viterbi operates all of its activities consistent with the University's Notice of Non-Discrimination. Eligibility is not determined based on race, sex, ethnicity, sexual orientation, or any other prohibited factor. -
Multi-Mode Systems: LEGO-style Development for Cyber-Physical Systems
Wed, Sep 19, 2018 @ 12:00 PM - 01:00 PM
Ming Hsieh Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering
Conferences, Lectures, & Seminars
Speaker: Ashutosh Trivedi, University of Colorado Boulder
Talk Title: Multi-Mode Systems : LEGO-style Development for Cyber-Physical Systems
Series: Center for Cyber-Physical Systems and Internet of Things
Abstract: The recent "internet-of-things" (IoT) revolution has led to a profusion of miniaturized and cost-effective components such as microprocessors, wireless communication devices, sensors, and actuators. This has enabled the "LEGO style" design of complex cyber- physical systems. These systems integrate rich continuous dynamics, discrete switching, stochastic behaviors, and the presence of multiple rational agents. Thus the twin problems of reliable and secure design becomes extremely challenging. This necessitates a disciplined approach that guarantees correctness by construction.
In this talk, we will present multi-mode systems a mathematical formalism that captures fundamentals of building complex behaviors from simpler predefined primitives. Multi-mode systems naturally capture discrete switching, continuous dynamics, worst-case, and stochastic disturbances in a simple mathematical framework. We present fundamental results on computation and control of such systems with relevance to diverse areas such as robotic path planning, hierarchical and discrete-event control, and game theory.
Biography: Ashutosh Trivedi is an assistant professor of computer science at the University of Colorado Boulder. He holds a Ph.D. in computer science from the University of Warwick. Prior to joining the University of Colorado Boulder, Ashutosh worked as an assistant professor of computer science at the Indian Institute of Technology Bombay, and as postdoctoral researcher at the University of Pennsylvania and the University of Oxford. Ashutosh's research interests lies at the intersection of computer science and control theory. His research focuses on applying rigorous mathematical reasoning techniques for the design and analysis of safe and secure cyber -physical systems.
Host: Paul Bogdan
Location: Hughes Aircraft Electrical Engineering Center (EEB) - 132
Audiences: Everyone Is Invited
Contact: Talyia White
This event is open to all eligible individuals. USC Viterbi operates all of its activities consistent with the University's Notice of Non-Discrimination. Eligibility is not determined based on race, sex, ethnicity, sexual orientation, or any other prohibited factor. -
CENG Seminar
Thu, Sep 20, 2018 @ 02:00 PM - 03:00 PM
Ming Hsieh Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering
Conferences, Lectures, & Seminars
Speaker: Zhiyun Qian, University of California Riverside
Talk Title: Network Side Channel Attacks: An Oversight Yesterday, A Lingering Threat Today
Abstract: In this talk, I will discuss the history of attacks against one of the most widely used protocol --- TCP. As side channels were never really considered a threat when network protocols are designed, they suffer almost an endless stream of problems. I will demonstrate a blind off-path attacker can use side channels to hijack a remote TCP connection. Recently, we show two serious attacks: (1) a completely blind off-path attacker (not MITM) can hijack a TCP connection between any two arbitrary hosts (i.e., inferring the existence of connection, and sequence numbers). (2) a variation of the attack which exploits a fundamental design of Wi-Fi which is unfortunately impossible to patch in the short term. I will also give insights on how to systematically discover such problems
Biography: Dr. Zhiyun Qian is an associate professor at University of California, Riverside. His research interest is on system and network security, including vulnerability discovery, system building, applied program analysis, Internet security (e.g., TCP/IP), Android security, side channels. He has published more than a dozen papers at the top security conferences including IEEE Security & Privacy, ACM CCS, USENIX Security, and NDSS. His projects have resulted in real-world impact with security patches applied in Linux kernel, Android, macOS, and firewall products. His work on TCP side channel attacks won the most creative idea award at GeekPwn 2016 and winner award at GeekPwn 2017. His research is supported by 8 NSF grants (including the NSF CAREER Award) and two industrial gifts.
Host: Xuehai Qian, xuehai.qian@usc.edu
More Information: 18.09.20 Zhiyun Qian Seminar.pdf
Location: Hughes Aircraft Electrical Engineering Center (EEB) - 132
Audiences: Everyone Is Invited
Contact: Brienne Moore
This event is open to all eligible individuals. USC Viterbi operates all of its activities consistent with the University's Notice of Non-Discrimination. Eligibility is not determined based on race, sex, ethnicity, sexual orientation, or any other prohibited factor. -
Joint CSC@USC/CommNetS-MHI Seminar
Mon, Sep 24, 2018 @ 02:00 PM - 03:00 PM
Ming Hsieh Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering
Conferences, Lectures, & Seminars
Speaker: James Anderson, California Institute of Technology
Talk Title: Private Models and Distributed Control of Networked Systems
Abstract: Designing controllers to make networked systems autonomous is perhaps the most dominant problem in systems engineering. Distributed control, which is already a challenging task, is only part of the problem. In this talk, I will present recently developed theory and algorithms for synthesizing optimal distributed controllers via convex programming. The theory uses the notion of locality in a manner that ensures the synthesis complexity grows gracefully with the number of states in the network model. Recent robust extensions will also be presented. The remainder of the talk will focus on privacy and how it interacts with this notion of locality. In particular, we are concerned with how to build models from data that, for example, may contain sensitive information. We present a framework based on aggregation and differential privacy that will encourage information owners to contribute their data while ensuring certain privacy guarantees. It will be shown how the topology of the network and the sensitivity of a specific linear program influence the achievable privacy levels.
Biography: James Anderson is a Senior Postdoctoral Scholar in the Department of Computing and Mathematical Sciences at the California Institute of Technology. He obtained a DPhil (PhD) in Engineering Science from the University of Oxford, UK and the BSc and MSc degrees in Systems Engineering from the University of Reading UK. Prior to Caltech, he held a Junior Research Fellowship in Engineering Science at the University of Oxford and St John's College where he was based in the Control Group. His research interests include distributed control, convex optimization, and privacy preserving computation with applications in autonomy and cyber-physical systems - specifically power grids.
Host: Ketan Savla, ksavla@usc.edu
More Info: http://csc.usc.edu/seminars
More Information: 18.09.24 James Anderson CSCUSC Seminar.pdf
Location: Hughes Aircraft Electrical Engineering Center (EEB) - 132
Audiences: Everyone Is Invited
Contact: Brienne Moore
Event Link: http://csc.usc.edu/seminars
This event is open to all eligible individuals. USC Viterbi operates all of its activities consistent with the University's Notice of Non-Discrimination. Eligibility is not determined based on race, sex, ethnicity, sexual orientation, or any other prohibited factor. -
Trojan Blockchain Society & CCI presents
Mon, Sep 24, 2018 @ 06:30 PM - 08:30 PM
Ming Hsieh Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering
Conferences, Lectures, & Seminars
Speaker: Jason Lee, Director - NEM Foundation
Talk Title: Get to know the NEM Blockchain @ USC
Abstract: Welcome to an engagement on demystifying what blockchain is and explore how this revolutionary technology is changing the world. This discussion will also focus on the NEM blockchain and will be facilitated by Jason Lee.
This is done with USC through the auspices of the Trojan Blockchain Society and the Center for Cyber-Physical Systems and the Internet of Things center in the Viterbi School of Engineering which is doing research on blockchain (please see blockchain.usc.edu)
Biography: Jason is the Expansion Director for Australia and New Zealand with NEM Foundation based in Melbourne, Australia. NEM is a global blockchain protocol with a presence in over 40 countries.
Recently acknowledged in the Forbes 30 Under 30 Asia 2018 list, he has banking experience and has been a speaker, judge, mentor, consultant and investor in startups and is familiar with working with the private and public sector including regulators and incubator & accelerator programmes.
Jason will share his experience having traveled to 20 cities in the last one year on the progression of blockchain technology followed by an informal discussion in developing more understanding of this area.
For more information about the NEM Foundation and its mission.
Host: Bhaskar Krishnamachari, CCI
More Info: https://www.eventbrite.com.au/e/get-to-know-the-nem-blockchain-usc-tickets-50259665011
More Information: 18.09.24_TrojanBlockchain_NEMFlyer.pdf
Location: Hughes Aircraft Electrical Engineering Center (EEB) - 132
Audiences: Everyone Is Invited
Contact: Brienne Moore
Event Link: https://www.eventbrite.com.au/e/get-to-know-the-nem-blockchain-usc-tickets-50259665011
This event is open to all eligible individuals. USC Viterbi operates all of its activities consistent with the University's Notice of Non-Discrimination. Eligibility is not determined based on race, sex, ethnicity, sexual orientation, or any other prohibited factor. -
Intelligent Intersections Reduce Crashes and Will Support the Safe Introduction of Autonomous Vehicles
Wed, Sep 26, 2018 @ 02:00 PM - 03:00 PM
Ming Hsieh Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering
Conferences, Lectures, & Seminars
Speaker: Pravin Varaiya , University of California Berkeley
Talk Title: Intelligent Intersections Reduce Crashes and Will Support the Safe Introduction of Autonomous Vehicles
Series: Center for Cyber-Physical Systems and Internet of Things
Abstract: Intersections are dangerous. Approximately 40% of all crashes, 50% of serious collisions, and 20% of fatalities occur in intersections. Intersections are challenging due to complex interactions among pedestrians, bicycles and vehicles; absence of lane markings; difficulty in determining who has the right of way; blind spots; and illegal movements (e.g., vehicles running red lights). Many cities in California have developed Vision Zero plans, seeking to eliminate traffic injuries and deaths through physical modifications to the road infrastructure, such as adding bike lanes and refuge islands for pedestrians. However, these modifications can be expensive (e.g., a protected intersection can cost between $250,000 to more than a $1 million dollars) and have mixed safety results.
Autonomous vehicle (AV) manufacturers claim they will prevent 94% of all crashes involving human error. However, the safety performance of AVs today is far below that of human-driven cars. The number of accidents and disengagements per AV mile traveled is 13 to 100 times worse than that of human drivers. The AV fatality rate is equally as bad. AVs find intersections especially challenging; 58 of 66 (88%) AV crashes reported to the California Department of Motor Vehicles (DMV) during 10/2014-4/2018 occurred in intersections.
Crashes in intersections occur because vehicles, pedestrians, and bicyclists are missing critical information. Intelligent intersections can provide this information at a relatively low cost of $25,000 and $100,000 per intersection. Intelligent intersections report the traffic signal from all approaches; predict when the signal phase will change; relay information on blind spots; and predict red light violations before they occur. This information is broadcast via radio received by everyone in the intersection with a smartphone or Bluetooth device.
Biography: Pravin Varaiya is a Professor in the Department of Electrical Engineering and Computer Sciences at the University of California, Berkeley. His current research is devoted to transportation networks and electric energy systems. Varaiya has received the Field Medal of the IEEE Control Systems Society, and the Outstanding Researcher Award of the IEEE Intelligent Transportation Systems Society. He is a Fellow of IEEE, a Fellow of IFAC, a member of the National Academy of Engineering, and a Fellow of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences.
Host: Professor Rahul Jain
Location: Hughes Aircraft Electrical Engineering Center (EEB) - 132
Audiences: Everyone Is Invited
Contact: Talyia White
This event is open to all eligible individuals. USC Viterbi operates all of its activities consistent with the University's Notice of Non-Discrimination. Eligibility is not determined based on race, sex, ethnicity, sexual orientation, or any other prohibited factor. -
Munushian Seminar - Ali Hajimiri, Friday, September 28th at 2pm in EEB 132
Fri, Sep 28, 2018 @ 02:00 PM - 03:30 PM
Ming Hsieh Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering
Conferences, Lectures, & Seminars
Speaker: Ali Hajimiri, California Institute of Technology
Talk Title: Title: 1, 2, 3, infinity: The Power of Groups
Abstract: Many of today's technological marvels have emerged from putting apparently unrelated ideas together and creating something more than the sum of the parts. There is a tremendous still-to-be-realized potential in a large number of units operating as a collective, be it in a human society or on a silicon chip. Silicon integrated chips have come a long way from the days of first transistors. Nowadays, we can design using practically unlimited number of components, which leads to a plethora of new opportunities of applications and system, previously unimaginable. In this talk, we will discuss a holistic design approach to electronic and photonic integrated circuits leading to further proliferation of such technologies into our daily lives. We will discuss some of its exciting results, including low-cost tera-hertz imagers, optical gyroscopes, nanophotonic coherent cameras capable of forming 3D images, optical phased arrays, and space-based solar power transfer to name a few.
Biography: Professor Hajimiri's group does research on electronics and photonics integrated circuits and their applications in various disciplines, including high-frequency and high-speed communications, sensing, imaging, and bio-sensing. His research group engages in both the theoretical analysis
of the problems in integrated circuits as well as practical implementations of new systems.
Prof. Ali Hajimiri received his B.S. degree in Electronics Engineering from the Sharif University of Technology, and M.S. and Ph.D. degrees in electrical engineering from the Stanford University.
Before joining the Faculty of Caltech, he worked at Philips Semiconductors, where he worked on a BiCMOS chipset for GSM and cellular units, at Sun Microsystems working on the UltraSPARC microprocessor's cache RAM design methodology, and with Lucent Technologies (Bell Labs), Murray Hill, NJ, where he investigated low-phase-noise integrated oscillators.
In 1998, he joined the Faculty of the California Institute of Technology, Pasadena, where he is Bren Professor of Electrical Engineering and Medical Engineering, Director of Caltech Holistic Integrated Circuit Laboratory, and co-Director of the Space-based Solar Power Project. His research interests are high-speed and high-frequency electronics and photonics integrated circuits for applications in sensors, biomedical devices, photonics, and communication systems.
Host: EE-Electrophysics
More Info: https://minghsiehee.usc.edu/about/lectures/munushian/
Location: Hughes Aircraft Electrical Engineering Center (EEB) - 132
Audiences: Everyone Is Invited
Contact: Marilyn Poplawski
Event Link: https://minghsiehee.usc.edu/about/lectures/munushian/
This event is open to all eligible individuals. USC Viterbi operates all of its activities consistent with the University's Notice of Non-Discrimination. Eligibility is not determined based on race, sex, ethnicity, sexual orientation, or any other prohibited factor.
