Conferences, Lectures, & Seminars
Events for October
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Aerospace & Mechanical Engineering Seminar
Wed, Oct 04, 2017 @ 03:30 PM - 04:30 PM
Aerospace and Mechanical Engineering
Conferences, Lectures, & Seminars
Speaker: Matthew McHenry, Professor/UC Irvine
Talk Title: Predator Sensing and Evasion in Fish
Abstract: The ability to survive encounters with predators is fundamental to the biology of a broad diversity of species. However, it is largely unclear how prey animals sense and evade predators. We study how the sensory and motor systems of fishes facilitate predator evasion with a focus on zebrafish (Danio rerio), where the adults prey on larvae of the same species. We have learned that the flow-sensitive lateral line system is necessary for survival by rapidly triggering a 'fast start' escape response. By replicating these conditions with a predator robot and modeling the flow stimulus with computational fluid dynamics, we were able to examine the cues that prey fish use to sense a predator. We similarly modeled the visual stimuli presented by a predator's approach. For both stimuli, we found that larvae direct their escape rapidly with coarse directionality. By examining these interactions with pursuit-evasion game modeling, we found that these directional responses are effective due to the high speed of the escape relative to the slow approach of the predator. Therefore, zebrafish survive encounters with a predator using either visual or flow cues that trigger a poorly-directed, but fast, escape response.
Biography: Matt McHenry is a Professor of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology at UC Irvine. Since his freshman year at Vassar College, Matt has studied biomechanics and sensing in aquatic animals. He earned a doctorate with Mimi Koehl at UC Berkeley and completed postdoctoral studies with George Lauder at Harvard. His lab's research is supported by the National Science Foundation and the Office of Naval Research.
Host: Department of Aerospace and Mechanical Engineering
Location: Seaver Science Library (SSL) - 150
Audiences: Everyone Is Invited
Contact: Ashleen Knutsen
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. -
Aerospace & Mechanical Engineering Seminar
Tue, Oct 10, 2017 @ 11:00 AM - 12:00 PM
Aerospace and Mechanical Engineering
Conferences, Lectures, & Seminars
Speaker: Amos Winter, Associate Professor and GEAR Lab Director, MIT
Talk Title: Engineering Reverse Innovations: Using Emerging Markets' Constraints to Drive the Creation of High-Performance, Low-Cost, Global Technologies
Abstract: This presentation will demonstrate how the Global Engineering and Research (GEAR) Lab at MIT characterizes the unique technical and socioeconomic constraints of emerging markets, then uses these insights with engineering science and product design to create high-performance, low-cost, globally-relevant technologies. The talk will focus on three areas of GEAR Lab's research: high-performance, low-cost prosthetic feet: low-pressure, low-power drip irrigation, and solar-powered desalination. We have created a novel method of connecting the mechanical design of a foot to its biomechanical performance, which allows the stiffness and geometry to be optimized to induce able-bodied walking kinematics and kinetics. This theory has resulted in a single-part foot architecture which can be made of nylon to hit a $10 price point for developing countries, and which will be ruggedized and customizable for the US military/veteran population. By characterizing the coupled fluid/solid mechanics within drip irrigation emitters, we have designed new drippers that operate at 1/7th the pressure of existing products. This technology can cut the overall pressure, pumping power, and energy usage of drip irrigation systems by approximately 50%, and lower the capital cost of off-grid systems by up to 40%. GEAR Lab elucidated a disruptive market opportunity in arid countries for photovoltaic-powered electrodialysis (PV-ED) desalination, which requires half the energy and reduces water wastage from 60% toLocation: Ronald Tutor Hall of Engineering (RTH) - 211
Audiences: Everyone Is Invited
Contact: Ashleen Knutsen
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. -
Aerospace & Mechanical Engineering Seminar
Wed, Oct 11, 2017 @ 03:30 PM - 04:30 PM
Aerospace and Mechanical Engineering
Conferences, Lectures, & Seminars
Speaker: Mark R. Cutkosky, Fletcher Jones Professor, Stanford University
Talk Title: Bioinspired Robots: Embracing the Environment
Abstract: As we bring robots out of the laboratory and into the world, one of the most important lessons we can learn from nature is how to exploit interactions with materials and surfaces in the environment. Examples of robots that need to take advantage of surface interactions include multimodal flying/climbing robots, microtugs, and free-flying robots that grasp objects using gecko-inspired adhesives. These robots use specialized materials and mechanisms to manage interactions with the surfaces they contact. In each case dynamic models and tests lead to computed "envelopes" of conditions for which the robot is expected to perform reliably - for example, to latch onto a surface without slipping or bouncing off. As contact takes place the dynamics are typically fast, so passive properties of mechanisms are more effective than closed-loop control to dissipate energy, distribute forces and stabilize the robot. Nature offers many examples of structures and functional materials that help to manage these interactions. Investigations of surface interactions also allow us to discover new opportunities for synergy when combining multiple locomotion modes (e.g., flying and climbing). Here again, we find parallels in nature.
Biography: Mark R. Cutkosky is the Fletcher Jones Professor in the Dept. of Mechanical Engineering at Stanford University. He joined Stanford in 1985, after working in the Robotics Institute at Carnegie Mellon University and as a design engineer at ALCOA, in Pittsburgh, PA. He received his Ph.D. in Mechanical Engineering from Carnegie Mellon University in 1985.
Cutkosky's research activities include robotic manipulation and tactile sensing and the design and fabrication of biologically inspired robots. He has graduated over 47 Ph.D. students and published extensively in these areas. He consults with companies on robotics and human/computer interaction devices and holds several patents on related technologies. His work has been featured in Discover magazine, The New York Times, National Geographic, Time magazine and other publications and has appeared on PBS NOVA, CBS Evening News, and other popular media.
Cutkosky's awards include a Fulbright Faculty Chair (Italy 2002), Fletcher Jones and Charles M. Pigott Chairs at Stanford University, an NSF Presidential Young Investigator award and Times Magazine Best Innovations (2006) for the Stickybot gecko-inspired robot. He is a fellow of ASME and IEEE and a member of Sigma Xi. Cutkosky's laboratory and research can be found at http://bdml.stanford.edu.
Host: Department of Aerospace and Mechanical Engineering
Location: Seaver Science Library (SSL) - 150
Audiences: Everyone Is Invited
Contact: Ashleen Knutsen
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. -
Aerospace & Mechanical Engineering Seminar
Wed, Oct 18, 2017 @ 03:30 PM - 04:30 PM
Aerospace and Mechanical Engineering
Conferences, Lectures, & Seminars
Speaker: Jasmine Foo, Associate Professor, U. Minnesota
Talk Title: Field Cancerization in Head and Neck Squamous Cell Carcinoma
Abstract: High rates of local recurrence in tobacco-related head and neck squamous cell carcinoma (HNSCC) are commonly attributed to unresected fields of precancerous tissue. Because they are not easily detectable at the time of surgery without additional biopsies, there is a need for noninvasive methods to predict the extent and dynamics of these fields. Here, we developed a spatial stochastic evolutionary model of tobacco-related HNSCC at the tissue level and calibrated the model using a Bayesian framework and population-level incidence data from the Surveillance, Epidemiology, and End Results (SEER) registry. Our model predicted a strong dependence of the local field size on age at diagnosis. Similarly, the probability of harboring multiple, clinically unrelated fields at the time of diagnosis was found to increase substantially with patient age. This work highlights the importance of spatial structure in models of epithelial carcinogenesis and suggests that patient age at diagnosis may be a critical predictor of the size and multiplicity of precancerous lesions.
Host: Department of Aerospace and Mechanical Engineering
Location: Seaver Science Library (SSL) - 150
Audiences: Everyone Is Invited
Contact: Ashleen Knutsen
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. -
Aerospace & Mechanical Engineering Seminar
Wed, Oct 25, 2017 @ 03:30 PM - 04:30 PM
Aerospace and Mechanical Engineering
Conferences, Lectures, & Seminars
Speaker: Adam Steinberg, Associate Professor/University of Toronto Institute for Aerospace Studies
Talk Title: Thermoacoustic Dynamics in Aeronautical Gas Turbine Combustors
Abstract: Thermoacoustic instability in combustion systems refers to the tendency for small perturbations to grow into sustained high-amplitude oscillations, driven by feedback between heat release and pressure dynamics. This seminar will explore various aspects of thermoacoustic instabilities that were studied experimentally in a practical aeronautical gas turbine combustor using optical measurement techniques. Specific challenges arising in the application of optical diagnostics to high-pressure, liquid-fueled combustors will be addressed. We then will discuss two types of thermoacoustic behavior. The first involves apparently spontaneous increases and decreases in oscillation amplitude that occurred at particular operating points. The second pertains to conditions exhibiting steady and intense oscillations, but with extreme sensitivity between the operating point and oscillation amplitude. Both of these behaviors can be explained using the experimental data. Such insights help guide engine designers to more robust systems, and provide important information regarding the application of computational fluid dynamics simulations to thermoacoustically oscillating combustion systems.
Biography: Adam Steinberg is an Associate Professor at the University of Toronto Institute for Aerospace Studies, where he holds a Canada Research Chair (Tier II) in Turbulent Reactive Flows. His research focuses on the application of laser-based measurement techniques to solve problems in fundamental and applied thermo-fluids, with particular emphasis on aerospace and power generation systems. He obtained his PhD from the University of Michigan in 2009, and worked at the German Aerospace Center (DLR) before joining the University of Toronto in 2011. He is the recipient of the inaugural Hiroshi Tsuji Early Career Research Award from the Combustion Institute, as well as several other distinctions. He is a member of the Editorial Board of Combustion and Flame and the AIAA Propellants and Combustion Technical Committee, and is a Colloquium Co-Chair for the International Symposium on Combustion.
Host: Department of Aerospace and Mechanical Engineering
Location: Seaver Science Library (SSL) - 150
Audiences: Everyone Is Invited
Contact: Ashleen Knutsen
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.
