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Events for February 26, 2015
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CS Colloquium: Lydia E. Kavraki (Rice University) - Reasoning for Complex Physical Systems
Thu, Feb 26, 2015 @ 10:00 AM - 10:50 AM
Thomas Lord Department of Computer Science
Conferences, Lectures, & Seminars
Speaker: Lydia E. Kavraki, Rice University
Talk Title: Reasoning for Complex Physical Systems
Series: CS Colloquium
Abstract: Robots are rapidly evolving from simple instruments for repetitive tasks to increasingly sophisticated machines capable of performing challenging operations in our daily environment. As they make their way out of custom-made workspaces in factories, algorithms that integrate task and motion planning are needed to enable robots to autonomously execute high-level tasks. This talk will describe a novel framework for the synthesis of motion plans using specifications expressed in temporal logics and sampling-based motion planners. The power and extensibility of the framework has led to algorithmic advances for analyzing the motion and function of proteins, the worker molecules of all cells. The talk will conclude by discussing robotics-inspired methods for computing the flexibility of proteins and large macromolecular complexes with the ultimate goals of deciphering molecular function and aiding the discovery of new therapeutics.
The lecture will be available to stream HERE.
Biography: Lydia E. Kavraki is the Noah Harding Professor of Computer Science and Bioengineering at Rice University. Kavraki received her B.A. in Computer Science from the University of Crete in Greece and her Ph.D. in Computer Science from Stanford University. Her research contributions are in physical algorithms and their applications in robotics, as well as in computational structural biology and biomedicine. Kavraki has authored more than 200 peer-reviewed journal and conference publications and a co-author of the popular robotics textbook "Principles of Robot Motion" published by MIT Press. She is heavily involved in the development of The Open Motion Planning Library, which is used in industry and in academic research in robotics and medicine. Kavraki is a Fellow of the Association of Computing Machinery, a Fellow of the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers, a Fellow of the Association for the Advancement of Artificial Intelligence, a Fellow of the American Institute for Medical and Biological Engineering, a Fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Science, and a member of the Institute of Medicine of the National Academies. She was recently recognized with the Women in Science Award from BioHouston.
Host: Computer Science Department
Webcast: https://bluejeans.com/889544076Location: Olin Hall of Engineering (OHE) - 132
WebCast Link: https://bluejeans.com/889544076
Audiences: Everyone Is Invited
Contact: Assistant to CS chair
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Energy Informatics Distinguished Seminar
Thu, Feb 26, 2015 @ 10:30 AM - 11:30 AM
Thomas Lord Department of Computer Science, Ming Hsieh Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering
Conferences, Lectures, & Seminars
Speaker: Dr. Yale Patt, University of Texas at Austin
Talk Title: Parallelism: A serious goal or a silly mantra (...and what about the End of the Von Neumann Architecture)
Series: Distinguished Lecture Series in Energy Informatics
Abstract: The microprocessor of 2025 will have two things going for it: more than 50 billion transistors on each chip and an opportunity to properly harness the transformation hierarchy. We hear a lot about the parallelism that one will get from those 50 billion transistors. In fact, almost everyone in the computer industry these days seems to be promoting parallelism, whether or not they have any clue whatsoever as to what they are talking about. And, many also are announcing the demise of the Von Neumann Architecture, whether or not they have any idea what the Von Neumann architecture is. Both pronouncements are due in large part to the highly visible and well advertised continuing (temporarily) benefits of Moore's Law, manifest by more and more cores on a chip, as well as more and more accelerators on the chip. More transistors means more cores, which translates into more opportunity for parallelism. More transistors also means more opportunity to build the wildest of accelerators, touted as non-Von Neumann architecture. By 2025, we will clearly have more than 1000 cores on a chip -- whether we can effectively utilize them or not does not seem to curb the enthusiasm. And by 2025, we will also have lots of powerful accelerators. But without Von Neumann, they won't be of much use. What I would like to do today is examine parallelism, note that it did not start with the multicore chip, observe some of the silliness it has recently generated, identify its fundamental pervasive element, and discuss some of the problems that have surfaced due to its major enabler, Moore's Law. I would also like to try to show how the transformation hierarchy, without any observable fanfare, can turn the bad news of Moore's Law into good news, both for all those cores and for all those non-Von Neumann accelerators, and play an important role in the microprocessor of 2025.
Biography: Yale N. Patt is Professor of ECE and the Ernest Cockrell, Jr. Centennial Chair in Engineering at The University of Texas at Austin. He continues to thrive on teaching both the large (400+ students) freshman introductory course in computing and advanced graduate courses in microarchitecture, directing the research of eight PhD students, and consulting in the microprocessor industry. Some of his research ideas (e.g., HPS, the two-level branch predictor, ACMP) have ended up in the cutting-edge chips of Intel, AMD, etc. and some of his teaching ideas have resulted in his motivated bottom-up approach for introducing computing to serious students. The textbook for his unconventional approach, "Introduction to Computing Systems: from bits and gates to C and beyond," co-authored with Prof. Sanjay Jeram Patel of Illinois (McGraw-Hill, 2nd ed. 2004), has been adopted by more than 100 universities world-wide. He has received the highest honors in his field for both his reasearch (the 1996 IEEE/ACM Eckert-Mauchly Award) and teaching (the 2000 ACM Karl V. Karlstrom Outstanding Educator Award). He was the inaugural recipient of the recently established IEEE Computer Society Bob Rau Award in 2011, and was named the 2013 recipient of the IEEE Harry Goode Award. He is a Fellow of both IEEE and ACM, and a member of the National Academy of Engineering. More detail can be found on his web page www.ece.utexas.edu/~patt.
Host: Prof. Viktor Prasanna and the Ming Hsieh Institute
Webcast: https://bluejeans.com/275381990Location: Hughes Aircraft Electrical Engineering Center (EEB) - 132
WebCast Link: https://bluejeans.com/275381990
Audiences: Everyone Is Invited
Contact: Annie Yu
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CS Colloquium: Sam Malek (George Mason University) - Automated Analysis and Testing of Mobile Software
Thu, Feb 26, 2015 @ 04:00 PM - 05:15 PM
Thomas Lord Department of Computer Science
Conferences, Lectures, & Seminars
Speaker: Sam Malek , George Mason University
Talk Title: Automated Analysis and Testing of Mobile Software
Series: CS Colloquium
Abstract: App markets have fundamentally changed the way software is delivered to consumers, especially in the mobile domain. By providing a medium for reaching a large consumer base at a nominal cost, app markets have made it possible for small entrepreneurs to compete against prominent software companies. At the same time, since many of the entrepreneurs do not have the resources to employ proper software engineering practices, many apps provisioned on the markets are riddled with defects that not only inconvenience the users, but also easily exploited by attackers for nefarious purposes. In this talk, I first outline the architectural root cause of some of the security vulnerabilities found in Android. Afterwards, I describe a combination of static and dynamic program analysis techniques aimed at detecting such issues. Experimental evaluation of the tools realizing these techniques using real-world apps has been promising, resulting in their adoption for use by government and industrial collaborators. Finally, I conclude the talk with an outline of future research directions.
Biography: Sam Malek is an Associate Professor in the Computer Science Department at George Mason University. His general research interests are in the field of software engineering, and to date his focus has spanned the areas of software architecture, autonomic computing, software security, and software analysis and testing. He received his Ph.D. and M.S. degrees from the Computer Science Department at the University of Southern California and his B.S. degree in Information and Computer Science from the University of California Irvine. He is a recipient of the National Science Foundation CAREER award, GMU Emerging Researcher/Scholar/Creator award, and GMU Computer Science Department Outstanding Faculty Research Award. Malek is also a member of the DARPAâs Computer Science Study Group. He is currently serving on the editorial board of the IEEE Transactions on Software Engineering and the Springer Journal of Computing.
Host: Neno Medvidovic
Location: Henry Salvatori Computer Science Center (SAL) - 101
Audiences: Everyone Is Invited
Contact: Assistant to CS chair
