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Events for January 13, 2016
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Chevron Engineering Week Student Design Competition Application Deadline
Wed, Jan 13, 2016
Mork Family Department of Chemical Engineering and Materials Science
Student Activity
Viterbi Students are invited to participate in the 2016 Chevron Engineering Week Competition.
Competitions will be based on participation by teams each consisting of 7 students (Undergraduate and or/graduate) from any discipline studying at the USC Viterbi School of Engineering. Each team needs to select a team leader who must submit an application and must include the names of team members. No team additions/substitutions are allowed after the application has been submitted.
Application Deadline 12 noon PST January 14, 2016. Submit applications: https://uscviterbi.qualtrics.com/SE/?SID=SV_eQfcE6BabUzRAiN
Questions will be distributed to team leaders on January 15, 2016
Team projects are due Feb. 12, 2016
Presentations will be during Engineering Week (Feb 22-26)
Category 1 Petroleum Engineering Question
Category 2: Chemical Engineering Question
Application Deadline/ Rules:
1-No Faculty help may be solicited for the project.
2-Solution to Challenge question is due at 12 noon PST on February 12, 2016. Solution in digital format must be submitted to legat@usc.edu
3-The winning Team will be announced during Engineering Week.
4-All the engineering computations and backup materials must be included in the solution submitted.
Best of Luck!
Audiences: Everyone Is Invited
Contact: Juli Legat
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PhD Defense - Alok Gautam Kumbhare
Wed, Jan 13, 2016 @ 10:00 AM - 12:00 PM
Thomas Lord Department of Computer Science
University Calendar
**Ph.D. Defense Announcement**
"Adaptive and Resilient Stream Processing on Clouds"
Ph.D. candidate: Alok Gautam Kumbhare
Wednesday, January 13, 2016
10:00AM -“ 12:00PM
EEB 248
Abstract:
Ubiquitous deployment of physical and virtual sensors, coupled with tremendous increase in the number of connected devices has led to the explosion of data, not only in terms of the volume and but also the velocity at which it is being generated. Scalable stream processing systems are necessary to process these high velocity data streams and to derive useful insights in real-time. However, unlike high volume batch processing, stream processing applications need to run continuously with minimum downtime and hence are susceptible to the three dimensions of dynamism: domain dynamism -“ variations in domain requirements; infrastructure dynamism -“ temporal and spatial variations in infrastructure performance and system failures; and data dynamism -“ changes in input data rates over time, all of which adversely affect the application QoS and value achieved from the application.
We posit that applications that are aware of this dynamism and can adapt to the changing conditions are critical in achieving the desired QoS in a cost-efficient manner. We thus propose a novel Dynamic Dataflow Application model and execution framework that inherently supports flexible stream processing applications and allow seamless runtime recomposition. The model provides an extremely powerful tool to develop, deploy and execute long-running dynamic applications with minimum overhead and promotes the notion of value-driven execution through continuous adaptations to achieve the best value from the application.
We also propose several scheduling and resource mapping heuristics for deployment of these dynamic dataflows on public clouds that take advantage of the pay-as-you-go cost model to achieve the desired quality of service (QoS) and provide a balance between the application value, and resource cost. Finally, to ensure uninterrupted execution in the presence of infrastructure failures, we propose novel integrated approach for efficient runtime elasticity, fault-tolerance and load balancing that enables seamless scaling and provide high fault-tolerance with sub-second recovery latency and hence offer strong resilience and service guarantees.
Bio:
Alok Gautam Kumbhare is a PhD candidate at the department of Computer Science, University of Southern California under the guidance of Prof. Viktor K. Prasanna and Prof. Yogesh Simmhan (IISc Bangalore). His primary research focus is on developing adaptive scheduling algorithms and large-scale distributed systems for processing high-velocity and highly variable data streams on Cloud computing environments. His research interests also include big data analytics and large scale machine learning, resource management, and graph analytics. He completed his B.Tech from Indian Institute of Technology Guwahati in 2008.
Defense Committee: Prof. Aiichiro Nakano, Prof. Viktor K. Prasanna (chair), Prof. Cauligi Raghavendra
Location: Hughes Aircraft Electrical Engineering Center (EEB) - 248
Audiences: Everyone Is Invited
Contact: Lizsl De Leon
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EE-EP Seminar, Ashwin Seshia, January 13th, EEB 132 @ 11:00am
Wed, Jan 13, 2016 @ 11:00 AM - 12:00 PM
Ming Hsieh Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering
Conferences, Lectures, & Seminars
Speaker: Ashwin A. Seshia, University of Cambridge
Talk Title: Dynamics-Enhanced Sensory Processing
Abstract: Instruments based on resonant and oscillatory elements have historically been employed to conduct some of the most accurate physical measurements. This talk describes research to enable miniaturized electromechanical sensor systems wherein precise engineering of the dynamical response is instrumental in enabling new modes of transduction, energy conversion and sensing. A series of research results from my group will be provided to illustrate the approach. First, seismic-grade accelerometers based on resonant output principles will be described where the interaction of mechanical nonlinearities and noise processes sets limits on the achievable resolution. Further, by engineering the principle of vibration mode localization in weakly coupled resonators, passive immunity to environmental drift is achieved by recording eigenstate variations as a measure of differential structural perturbations. Next, net-zero power strain sensors for structural health monitoring applications are enabled by integrating vibration energy harvesters together with low-power temperature compensated resonant strain gauges. By engineering the principle of parametric resonance for vibration energy harvesting it is possible to engineer vibration energy harvesters with multi-frequency responsivity and substantially larger recoverable electrical power as compared to classical approaches based on direct (linear) resonance under specified conditions. Finally, with a view towards future application of engineered non-linearity in micro- and nanoelectromechanical systems, I will describe results from electro-acoustic biosensors utilizing noise and non-linear response as readout modalities, and the mutual synchronization of non-linear microelectromechanical oscillators demonstrating significantly improved frequency stability and potentially enabling fundamentally new energy-efficient approaches to sensory information processing. Micro- and nanofabricated devices engineered using these and similar approaches are now being integrated into monitoring tools and sensor systems for a variety of application scenarios.
Biography: Ashwin A. Seshia received the B. Tech. degree in engineering physics from IIT Bombay, India, in 1996; the M.S. and Ph.D. degrees in electrical engineering and computer science from the University of California at Berkeley, Berkeley, CA, USA, in 1999 and 2002, respectively; and the M.A. degree from the University of Cambridge, Cambridge, U.K., in 2008. He joined the faculty of the Department of Engineering, University of Cambridge, in 2002, where he is currently a Reader in Microsystems Technology and a Fellow of Queens' College. His Research interests are in the domain of micro- and nano-engineered dynamical systems. He serves on the editorial boards of the IEEE Journal of Microelectromechanical Systems, the IEEE Transactions on Ultrasonics, Ferroelectrics and Frequency Control, IOP Journal of Micromechanics and Microengineering, and the IEEE Transactions of Nanotechnology.
Host: EE-Electrophysics
Location: Hughes Aircraft Electrical Engineering Center (EEB) - 132
Audiences: Everyone Is Invited
Contact: Marilyn Poplawski
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Computer Science General Faculty Meeting
Wed, Jan 13, 2016 @ 12:00 PM - 02:00 PM
Thomas Lord Department of Computer Science
Receptions & Special Events
Bi-Weekly regular faculty meeting for invited Computer Science full-time faculty only. Event details emailed directly to attendees.
Location: Ronald Tutor Hall of Engineering (RTH) - 217
Audiences: Invited Faculty Only
Contact: Assistant to CS chair
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Communications, Networks & Systems (CommNetS) Seminar
Wed, Jan 13, 2016 @ 02:00 PM - 03:00 PM
Ming Hsieh Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering
Conferences, Lectures, & Seminars
Speaker: Dr. Emrah Akyol, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign
Talk Title: "Communication in Strategic Environments: Crawford-Sobel Meet Shannon"
Series: CommNetS
Abstract: Over thirty years ago, economists Vincent Crawford and Joel Sobel introduced the concepts of strategic information transmission (SIT) and cheap talk in their seminal Econometrica paper, as a way of understanding how information is strategically revealed (or not) by agents whose interests are only partially aligned. This theory has had tremendous success in explaining situations ranging from advertising to expert advice sharing, and many extensions of the original SIT model and the broader "principal-agent" class of problems have been extensively studied in the economics literature since. However, despite its name and even superficially obvious connection with information theory (IT), SIT has so far received very little attention from the IT community.
In this talk, I will present approaches to address such strategic communication problems from the lens of information and game theories. Specifically, I will focus on a strategic communication paradigm where the better-informed transmitter communicates with a receiver who makes the ultimate decision concerning both agents. While the economists have extensively studied the Nash equilibrium variant of this problem, the more relevant Stackelberg equilibrium enables the use of Shannon theoretic tools. I will present the fundamental limits of strategic compression and communication problems in the SIT context. Particularly, three problem settings will be considered, focusing on the quadratic distortion measures and jointly Gaussian variables: compression, communication, and the simple equilibrium conditions without any compression or communication. The analysis will then be extended to the receiver side information setting, where the strategic aspect of the problem yields rather surprising results regarding optimality of uncoded communication. Finally, several applications of the results within the broader context of decision theory will be presented.
Biography: Emrah Akyol received the Ph.D. degree in 2011 from the University of California at Santa Barbara. From 2006 to 2007, he held positions at Hewlett-Packard Laboratories and NTT Docomo Laboratories, both in Palo Alto, CA where he worked on topics in video compression and streaming. From 2013 to 2014, Dr. Akyol was a postdoctoral researcher in the Electrical Engineering Department, University of Southern California. Currently, Dr. Akyol is a postdoctoral research associate in the Coordinated Science Laboratory, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. His current research is on the interplay of networked information theory, game theory, communications, sensing and control. Dr. Akyol received the 2010 UCSB Dissertation Fellowship, the 2014 USC Postdoctoral Training Award and was an invited participant of the 2015 NSF Early-Career Investigators Workshop on CPS and Smart City.
Host: Prof. Ashutosh Nayyar
Location: Hughes Aircraft Electrical Engineering Center (EEB) - 248
Audiences: Everyone Is Invited
Contact: Annie Yu
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Aerospace and Mechanical Engineering Seminar Series
Wed, Jan 13, 2016 @ 03:30 PM - 04:30 PM
Aerospace and Mechanical Engineering
Conferences, Lectures, & Seminars
Speaker: Stefan Llewellyn Smith, Professor in the Department of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering at the University of California, San Diego
Talk Title: Hollow Vortices
Series: Aerospace and Mechanical Engineering Seminar Series
Abstract: Hollow vortices are vortices whose interior is at rest. They posses vortex sheets on their boundaries and can be viewed as a desingularization of point vortices. After giving a history of point vortices, we obtain exact solutions for hollow vortices in linear and nonlinear strain and examine the properties of streets of hollow vortices. The former can be viewed as a canonical example of a hollow vortex in an arbitrary flow, and its stability properties depend on a single non-dimensional parameter. In the latter case, we reexamine the hollow vortex street of Baker, Saffman and Sheffield and examine its stability to arbitrary disturbances, and then investigate the double hollow vortex street. Implications and extensions of this work are discussed.
Biography: Stefan G. Llewellyn Smith received his Ph.D. in applied mathematics from the University of Cambridge in 1996. He was a research fellow of Queens' College, Cambridge, from 1996 to 1999, working in the Department of Applied Mathematics and Theoretical Physics. He spent a year from 1996 to 1997 on a Lindemann Trust Fellowship at the Scripps Institution of Oceanography in La Jolla. He joined the Department of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering at UCSD in 1999 as Assistant Professor of Environmental Engineering. His research interests include fluid dynamics, especially its application to environmental and engineering problem, acoustics and asymptotic methods.
Location: Seaver Science Library (SSL) - 150
Audiences: Everyone Is Invited
Contact: Valerie Childress
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Viterbi Spring Welcome
Wed, Jan 13, 2016 @ 05:00 PM - 06:30 PM
Viterbi School of Engineering Student Affairs
Receptions & Special Events
We would like to invite new Viterbi students to the Viterbi Spring Welcome! Come meet your peers, upper-division Viterbi students, and staff next Wednesday, 1/13. The Viterbi Spring Welcome is for new freshmen and transfer students as well as students who have indicated interest in changing their major to Viterbi. There will be food, activities as well as plenty of resources to jump start your Viterbi Life!
To register, click here https://myviterbi.usc.edu/vasa/?PostingID=1234567986.Location: 211
Audiences: Undergrad
Contact: Jenny Vazquez-Akim
Event Link: https://myviterbi.usc.edu/vasa/?PostingID=1234567986
