USC - Viterbi School of Engineering

Mar
01

Viterbi Keynote Lecture
Thu, Mar 01, 2012 @ 03:00 PM - 05:00 PM
Ming Hsieh Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering
Conferences, Lectures, & Seminars

Speaker: Dr. Sergio VerdÃº, Eugene Higgins Professor of Electrical Engineering, Princeton University

Talk Title: What is Information Theory

Abstract: This wide-audience talk will address the history of Claude Shannonâs theory on the fundamental limits of data compression and data transmission through noisy channels. We will review the impact of information theory on the design of various information technologies, as well as its intersections with other fields. We will also discuss the evolving perception of information theory since its inception in 1948 among the wider scientific community.

3:00pm - Reception
4:00pm - Lecture

Biography: Sergio VerdÃº is the Eugene Higgins Professor of Electrical Engineering at Princeton University. A member of the National Academy of Engineering, he is the recipient of the 2007 Claude E. Shannon Award, and the 2008 IEEE Richard W. Hamming Medal. He received the 2000 Frederick E. Terman Award from the American Society for Engineering Education, and a Doctorate Honoris Causa from the Universitat PolitÃ¨cnica de Catalunya. In 1998, Cambridge University Press published his book Multiuser Detection. His papers have received several awards, including the 1992 IEEE Donald Fink Paper Award, the Information Theory Outstanding Paper Award in both 1998 and 2012, an IEEE Information Theory Golden Jubilee Paper Award, the 2002 Leonard G. Abraham Prize Award in the field of Communications Systems, the 2007 IEEE Joint Communications/Information Theory Paper Award, and the 2009 Stephen O. Rice Prize from the IEEE Communications Society. He served as President of the IEEE Information Theory Society in 1997, and is currently Editor-in-Chief of Foundations and Trends in Communications and Information Theory.

Host: Dr. Alexander Sawchuk

More Info: http://ee.usc.edu/news/viterbi_lecture-verdu.htm
More Information: 20120301 Verdu Print.pdf
Location: Ethel Percy Andrus Gerontology Center (GER) - Auditorium and Patio
Audiences: Everyone Is Invited

Contact: Mayumi Thrasher

Event Link: http://ee.usc.edu/news/viterbi_lecture-verdu.htm
Mar
02

W.V.T. Rusch Engineering Honors Colloquium; How Alien Astronomers Could Find Earth
Fri, Mar 02, 2012 @ 01:00 PM - 01:50 PM
USC Viterbi School of Engineering, Viterbi School of Engineering Student Affairs
Conferences, Lectures, & Seminars

Speaker: Dr. Joseph Lazio, Jet Propulsion Laboratory Astronomer

Talk Title: W.V.T. Rusch Engineering Honors Colloquium; How Alien Astronomers Could Find Earth

Abstract: Dr. Joseph Lazio, Astronomer at Jet Propulsion Laboratory, will present "How Alien Astronomers Could Find Earth" 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/
Location: Seeley G. Mudd Building (SGM) - 101
Audiences: Everyone Is Invited

Contact: Amanda Atkinson

Event Link: http://viterbi.usc.edu/students/undergrad/honors/schedules/
Mar
02

Integrated Systems Seminar Series
Fri, Mar 02, 2012 @ 02:30 PM - 04:00 PM
Ming Hsieh Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering
Conferences, Lectures, & Seminars

Speaker: Prof. Ralph Etienne-Cummings, Johns Hopkins University

Talk Title: How Do We Make Future Neurally Integrated Prosthetic Devices Speak the Same Language as the Nervous System?

Host: Hossein Hashemi

Location: Vivian Hall of Engineering (VHE) - 217
Audiences: Everyone Is Invited

Contact: Hossein Hashemi
Mar
05

Faster and Better: Signal Processing Approaches to High Dimensional MR Neuroimaging
Mon, Mar 05, 2012 @ 10:30 AM - 12:00 PM
Ming Hsieh Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering
Conferences, Lectures, & Seminars

Speaker: Research Assistant Professor Justin Haldar, University of Southern California

Talk Title: Faster and Better: Signal Processing Approaches to High Dimensional MR Neuroimaging

Abstract: Magnetic resonance (MR) imaging technologies have enabled new opportunities to reveal the mysteries of the central nervous system -- its function and organization, and what goes wrong when it is injured or diseased. MR experiments are quite flexible, and the MR signal can be manipulated to noninvasively probe anatomy, physiology, and metabolism. However, while MR imaging is decades old and has already revolutionized medical imaging, current methods are still far from utilizing the full potential of the MR signal. In particular, traditional MR methods are based on the Fourier transform, and suffer from fundamental trade-offs between signal-to-noise ratio, spatial resolution, and data acquisition speed. These issues are exacerbated in high-dimensional applications, due to the curse of dimensionality.

Classical approaches to addressing these trade-offs have relied on improved imaging hardware and more efficient pulse sequences. In contrast, our work addresses the limitations of MR using relatively less-explored signal processing approaches, which have recently become practical because of increasing computational capabilities. This talk will illustrate some of our new approaches in the context of MR diffusion imaging, a powerful 6 dimensional imaging modality that can be used to characterize the microstructure and connectivity of the brain. To reconstruct three of these dimensions, we leverage an appropriate imaging model to guide the design of both data acquisition and image reconstruction, which can free us from some of the constraints of traditional Fourier imaging. For the remaining three dimensions, we describe new linear transform techniques to extract important diffusion information from reduced data, i.e., data sampled on the surface of a Fourier 2-sphere. The benefits of these approaches are illustrated in the context of microstructural and connectivity assessments of the brain and spinal cord.

Biography: Justin Haldar received the B.S. and M.S. degrees in electrical engineering in 2004 and 2005, respectively, and the Ph.D. in electrical and computer engineering in 2011, all from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. He is currently a Research Assistant Professor in the Ming Hsieh Department of Electrical Engineering at the University of Southern California, where he is affiliated with the Signal and Image Processing Institute, the Dana & David Dornsife Cognitive Neuroscience Imaging Center, and the Brain and Creativity Institute. His research interests include image reconstruction, signal modeling, parameter estimation, and experiment design for biomedical imaging applications, with a particular focus on magnetic resonance imaging and spectroscopy. His work on constrained imaging has been recognized with a best student paper award at the 2010 IEEE International Symposium on Biomedical Imaging and the first-place award in the student paper competition at the 2010 international conference of the IEEE Engineering in Medicine and Biology Society. Weblink: http://mr.usc.edu/

Host: Professor Shrikanth Narayanan

Location: Hughes Aircraft Electrical Engineering Center (EEB) - 248
Audiences: Everyone Is Invited

Contact: Mary Francis
Mar
05

BME 533 (Seminar in Biomedical Engineering)
Mon, Mar 05, 2012 @ 12:30 PM - 01:50 PM
Alfred E. Mann Department of Biomedical Engineering
Conferences, Lectures, & Seminars

Speaker: Natasha Lepore, USC Keck School of Medicine, Dept. of Radiology, BME & Children's Hospital Los Angeles

Talk Title: Methods for group analyses of neonatal brain MRI data

Biography: Natasha Lepore, Ph.D., Assistant Professor of Research in Radiology at USC and Children's Hospital
Los Angeles, with joint appointment in Biomedical Engineering
Computational anatomy, post-processing methods for structural and diffusion brain MR images, group analyses of normal and abnormal brain development and of brain neurological disorders in adults, genetic analyses in twins

Location: Olin Hall of Engineering (OHE) - 122
Audiences: Everyone Is Invited

Contact: Mischalgrace Diasanta
Mar
05

Astani CEE Department Seminar
Mon, Mar 05, 2012 @ 01:00 PM - 02:00 PM
Sonny Astani Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering
Conferences, Lectures, & Seminars

Speaker: Kristina M. Wagstrom, Postdoctoral Associate, , Department of Civil Engineering, University of Minnesota

Talk Title: Relating Emissions and Particulate Matter Concentrations in the Complex Ambient Atmosphere

Abstract:

In order for policy makers to effectively regulate emissions, there needs to be a strong understanding of the relationships between emissions and resulting air pollutant concentrations even in the complex mixtures that make up many airsheds. In order to more fully relate sources and ambient pollutant concentrations, I have implemented and evaluated an algorithm capable of tracking the contributions of different sources types and locations to particulate matter concentrations in a three-dimensional atmospheric chemical transport model. I will discuss the details of this algorithm and its utilization to study the origins of particulate matter in the Eastern United States. I used three different approaches in order to create a more complete picture of pollutant origins:

1) I quantified the impacts of emissions from large source regions on the particulate matter concentrations in surrounding areas as pollutants are transported out of those areas into surrounding regions.

2) I studied the contributions from transported pollutants on local air quality problems by identifying the distance pollutants are transported before arriving in regions of interest.

3) I estimated the average age of particulate matter in the atmosphere by tracking when pollutants were emitted. Knowing the age of particulate matter gives us insight into the relative importance of many processes in the atmosphere.

This work has increased our understanding of the impacts of emissions and pollutant transport on particulate matter concentrations. Our studies have suggested that a large fraction of the ground level concentrations of primary (directly emitted) particulate matter in urban areas tend to be from local emissions while the concentrations of secondary species (formed in the atmosphere) such as sulfate or secondary organic particulate matter are more likely to result from regional sources. I found that the distance, direction and amount of particulate matter transport occurring from large source regions was highly variable in time and dependant on particulate matter species. The ages found for particulate matter species were highly variable in time, space (both horizontally and vertically) and by species. Primary species were found to have ages on the order of one to two days while secondary species had ages ranging from one to several days. These results provide information about the relative importance of different reactions and pollutant transport processes in the atmosphere which provides insight for future model development and guidance for policymakers.

Location: Kaprielian Hall (KAP) - 209 Conference Room
Audiences: Everyone Is Invited

Contact: Evangeline Reyes
Mar
06

Epstein Institute Seminar Series / ISE 651 Seminar
Tue, Mar 06, 2012 @ 03:30 PM - 04:50 PM
Daniel J. Epstein Department of Industrial and Systems Engineering
Conferences, Lectures, & Seminars

Speaker: Wei Sun, Ph.D., Albert Soffa Chair Professor, Drexel University, Philadelphia, PA & 1000plan Chair Professor, Tsinghua University, Beijing, China

Talk Title: "Printing In Vitro Biological Model for Tissue Science and Engineering"

Series: Epstein Institute Seminar Series

Abstract: For millions of years, cells have been thought of as Natureâs building blocks that make living organisms what they are. Advance in engineering and life sciences has emerged an interdisciplinary field of Biofabrication in which cells and other biologics are being used as engineering and/or biological building blocks to invent novel manufacturing processes and therapeutic products. Biofabrication encompass a wide range of engineering, physical, chemical, and biological processes with a broad application in tissue science and engineering, disease pathogeneses study, drug testing and discovery, biosensors, and cell and organ printing. This presentation will report our groupâs work on Biofabrication, focusing on cell printing of in vitro model for regenerative medicine and drug testing. Recent development of cell printing as an emerging field, the enabling cell printing techniques and the development of engineering model for predicting printing-induced cell damage will be presented. Examples of bioprinting of cells as tissue model for drug metabolism studies will be given. Challenges and opportunities of Biofabrication to modern design and manufacturing will also be discussed.

Biography: Dr. Wei Sun is appointed Albert Soffa Chair Professor of Mechanical Engineering, Drexel University; and 1000plan Chair Professor and Director of Biomanufacturing Engineering Research Institute, Tsinghua University, Beijing, China. Dr. Sunâs research has been focused on Biofabrication, Computer-Aided Tissue Engineering, CAD/CAM, and Additive Manufacturing. His research has been sponsored by National Science Foundation (NSF), Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA), National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA), National Institute of Standard and Technology (NIST), Army Research Laboratory (ARL), Johnson & Johnson (J&J), as well as the Chinese NSF and Chinese Ministry of Science and Technology. He has published over 300 journal and conference papers and abstracts, and conducted over 150 invited national and international presentations. He is currently an elected President for International Society of Biofabrication, and serving Editor-in-Chief for international journal Biofabrication.

Host: Daniel J. Epstein Department of Industrial and Systems Engineering

More Information: Seminar-Sun_Wei.doc
Location: Ethel Percy Andrus Gerontology Center (GER) - Room 309
Audiences: Everyone Is Invited

Contact: Georgia Lum
Mar
07

Approximate Message Passing and the Blessing of Dimensionality
Wed, Mar 07, 2012 @ 10:30 AM - 11:30 AM
Ming Hsieh Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering
Conferences, Lectures, & Seminars

Speaker: Arian Maleki, Ph.D. , Rice University

Talk Title: Approximate Message Passing and the Blessing of Dimensionality

Abstract: The problem of recovering a sparse signal from an underdetermined set of linear equations is paramount in many applications such as compressed sensing, genomics, and machine learning. While significant advances have been made in this area, providing useful insights and intuitions, many important questions are still open including the fundamental performance limits of the recovery algorithms. In this talk, I present a novel sparse recovery algorithm, referred to as approximate message passing (AMP), that uses the âblessing" of large dimensions to solve the $\ell_1$- norm regularized least squares or the LASSO problem very efficiently. In particular, AMP exhibits fast convergence and relies on inexpensive iterations, which renders it suitable for solving high-dimensional problems. Moreover, AMP provides a novel theoretical framework for analyzing the fundamental performance limits of the LASSO, by converting it into a sequence of classical signal plus noise estimation problems. I will show that this new framework settles several fundamental and practically important questions such as the noise sensitivity of the LASSO.

Biography: Arian Maleki received his Ph.D. in electrical engineering from Stanford University under the supervision of Prof. David Donoho in 2010. He then joined the DSP group at Rice University as a postdoctoral scholar. His research interests include massive data analysis, compressed sensing, signal processing, machine learning, and optimization. He received his M.Sc. in statistics from Stanford University, and B.Sc. and M.Sc. both in electrical engineering from Sharif University of Technology.

Host: Professor Antonio Ortega

Location: Hughes Aircraft Electrical Engineering Center (EEB) - 248
Audiences: Everyone Is Invited

Contact: Talyia Veal
Mar
07

Astani Civil and Environmental Engineering Seminar
Wed, Mar 07, 2012 @ 01:00 PM - 02:00 PM
Sonny Astani Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering
Conferences, Lectures, & Seminars

Speaker: George Ban-Weiss, Postdoctoral Research Associate , Lawrence Berkeley National Lab

Talk Title: Aerosols: From the Tailpipe to Climate Change

Abstract:

Aerosols are fine suspensions of liquid droplets and solid particles that exist in a vast variety of shapes, sizes, and compositions in Earthâs atmosphere. Aerosols can cause adverse health effects, degrade visibility, soil buildings and materials, damage crops, and alter Earthâs energy balance leading to climate change.

Aerosols are known to be an important cause of climate change, but the magnitude of the change is highly uncertain. The effect of aerosols on climate depends on many factors; some particle species cause global warming and some cause cooling. Black carbon aerosols absorb solar radiation and are widely thought to be the second most important cause of global warming after CO2. I will use results from global climate model simulations to show that the climate effect of black carbon is highly dependent on its altitude in the atmosphere. Black carbon at some altitudes can even cause global cooling despite the fact that they increase atmospheric absorption of sunlight.

Motor vehicle emissions are an important source of aerosols. Quantifying vehicle emissions using traditional laboratory methods can be challenging due to the need to extrapolate from a small sample of vehicles to the entire in-use population. This seminar will discuss measured aerosol emissions from a large sample of individual on-road heavy-duty diesel trucks. The statistical distribution of aerosol emissions from diesel trucks (i.e. the relative importance of high-emitters as a source of vehicle-related pollution), and the potential climate implications of diesel particle filter retrofit programs will be explored.

Location: Kaprielian Hall (KAP) - 209 Conference Room
Audiences: Everyone Is Invited

Contact: Evangeline Reyes
Mar
07

AME Department Seminar
Wed, Mar 07, 2012 @ 03:30 PM - 04:30 PM
Aerospace and Mechanical Engineering
Conferences, Lectures, & Seminars

Speaker: Young W. Kwon, Distinguished Professor. Dept. of Mechanical & Aerospace Engineering. Naval Postgraduate School. Monterey, California, USA. ywkwon@nps.edu

Talk Title: Analysis of Multiscale and Multiphysics Problems

Abstract: In order to better understand the behavior of materials and structures, multiscale and multiphysics analyses are useful and sometimes critical. For example, progressive damage and failure of laminated composite structures can be modeled successfully using the multiscale modeling technique. By doing so, damage and failure in composites can be described in terms of the constituent materials such as fibers and binding matrix regardless of the layer orientation, fiber architecture in each layer, etc. In other words, any damage and failure mode can be described in terms of fiber breakage, matrix cracking, and interface debonding. On the other hand, when a composite structure is in contact with water and subjected to dynamic loading, fluid-structure interaction plays an important role because composite has very comparable density as the water. Therefore, a multiphysics analysis is necessary to understand and predict the structural behavior with fluid-structure interaction. Various multiscale and multiphysics problems are presented.

Host: Prof. Veronica Eliasson

More Info: http://ae-www.usc.edu/seminars/index.shtml#upcoming
Location: Seaver Science Library (SSL) - 150
Audiences: Everyone Is Invited

Contact: April Mundy

Event Link: http://ae-www.usc.edu/seminars/index.shtml#upcoming
Mar
08

CENG Seminar
Thu, Mar 08, 2012 @ 10:30 AM - 12:00 PM
Ming Hsieh Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering
Conferences, Lectures, & Seminars

Speaker: Daniel Sanchez, PhD Candidate, Stanford University

Talk Title: Scaling Software and Hardware for Thousand-Core Systems

Abstract: Scaling multicores to thousands of cores efficiently requires significant innovation across the software-hardware stack. On one hand, to expose ample parallelism, many applications will need to be divided in fine-grain tasks of a few thousand instructions each, and scheduled dynamically in a manner that addresses the three major difficulties of fine-grain parallelism: locality, load imbalance, and excessive overheads. On the other hand, hardware resources must scale efficiently, even as some of them are shared among thousands of threads. In particular, the memory hierarchy is hard to scale in several ways:conventional cache coherence techniques are prohibitively expensive beyond a few tens of cores, and caches cannot be easily shared among multiple threads or processes. Ideally, software should be able to configure these shared resources to provide good overall performance and quality of service (QoS) guarantees under all possible sharing scenarios.

In this talk, I will present several techniques to scale both software and hardware. First, I will describe a scheduler that uses high-level information from the programming model about parallelism, locality, and heterogeneity to perform scheduling dynamically and at fine granularity to avoid load imbalance. This fine-grain scheduler can use lightweight, flexible hardware support to keep overheads small as we scale up. Second, I will present a set of techniques that, together, enable scalable memory hierarchies that can be shared efficiently: ZCache, a cache design that achieves high associativity cheaply (e.g., 64-way associativity with the latency, energy and area of a 4-way cache) and is characterized by simple and accurate analytical models; Vantage, a cache partitioning technique that leverages the analytical guarantees of ZCache to implement scalable and efficient partitioning, enabling hundreds of threads to share the cache in a controlled manner, providing configurability and isolation; and SCD, which leverages ZCache to implement scalable cache coherence with QoS guarantees.

Biography: Daniel Sanchez is a PhD candidate in the Electrical Engineering Department at Stanford University. His research focuses on large-scale multicores, specifically on scalable and dynamic fine-grain runtimes and schedulers, hardware support for scheduling, scalable and efficient memory hierarchies, and architectures with QoS guarantees. He has earned an MS in Electrical Engineering from Stanford, and a BS in Telecommunication Engineering from the Technical University of Madrid (UPM).

Host: Prof. Murali Annavaram

Location: Ronald Tutor Hall of Engineering (RTH) - 306
Audiences: Everyone Is Invited

Contact: Estela Lopez
Mar
08

AME Department Special Seminar
Thu, Mar 08, 2012 @ 11:00 AM - 12:00 PM
Aerospace and Mechanical Engineering
Conferences, Lectures, & Seminars

Speaker: Oscar M. Curet, Postdoctoral Fellow. School of Engineering Brown University. Providence, RI.

Talk Title: Biological Propulsion, Biomimetics, and Flow Control: The Mechanics of Fin Propulsion and a Self-Excited Flapper

Abstract: Swimming and flying animals have a remarkable ability to navigate through complex environments. As they propel themselves, they interact with the surrounding fluid medium. This fluid-animal interaction plays a fundamental factor in how animals actuate their muscle as well as how they have evolved. In order to incorporate biological-based designs into the next generation of underwater or air vehicles, it is crucial to understand the role of fluid dynamics in animal locomotion. In this talk, I will focus on two highly maneuverable animals: knifefish and bats. A knifefish uses an electric field to "see" at night in the Amazon River, and it propels itself using a long ribbon fin to navigate around its complex environment. I will present experimental and computational work that unveils the mechanical basis of fin propulsion and the rich locomotor capability of these fish. In the second part of the talk, I will present a physical model to explore an open and controversial question in the evolution and origin of bat flight: how bats' ancestors could have begun to employ flapping motions in their flight. I explore this question using a simple physical model which captures two key biological features: compliance and camber. The model is composed of a cantilevered flat plate (capturing the compliance) with a hinged trailing flap (modeling the variable camber). For slow wind speeds, the model is stationary, but above a critical wind speed, the wing starts to oscillate due to an aeroelastic instability. A positive angle of attack on the wing results in a positive lift force. Moreover, this lift force is significantly enhanced once the wing starts to oscillate. I will present particle image velocimetry (PIV) data to shed light on the aerodynamics of the self-excited flapping wing and to identify the mechanisms that generate the enhanced lift force. I will also discuss the implications of the results on the evolution of powered biological flight.

Host: Prof. Geoff Spedding

More Info: http://ae-www.usc.edu/seminars/index.shtml#upcoming
Location: Robert Glen Rapp Engineering Research Building (RRB) - 208
Audiences: Everyone Is Invited

Contact: April Mundy

Event Link: http://ae-www.usc.edu/seminars/index.shtml#upcoming
Mar
08

Lyman L. Handy Colloquium Series
Thu, Mar 08, 2012 @ 12:45 PM - 01:45 PM
Mork Family Department of Chemical Engineering and Materials Science
Conferences, Lectures, & Seminars

Speaker: Max Lagally, Materials Science and Engineering, University of Wisconsin-Madison

Talk Title: Semiconductor Nanomembranes: Sheet Science and Technology

Series: Lyman L. Handy Colloquium Series

Host: Priya Vashishta

Location: James H. Zumberge Hall Of Science (ZHS) - 159
Audiences: Everyone Is Invited

Contact: Petra Pearce
Mar
08

Astani Civil and Environmental Engineering Seminar
Thu, Mar 08, 2012 @ 02:00 PM - 03:00 PM
Sonny Astani Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering
Conferences, Lectures, & Seminars

Speaker: Lu-Maan Chang, Professor Emeritus, Purdue University , Professor and Director, High-Tech Facility Research Center, Department of Civil Engineering, National Taiwan University

Talk Title: HIGH-TECH FACILITY ENGINEERING IN NT ERA

Abstract:
Key Words: Cleanroom, Construction, Green Building, High-Tech, Microelectronics, Nanotechnology, Semiconductor, Vibration

Nanotechnology (NT) will not only improve the technology for understanding the foundation of matter at the atomic, molecular, and supermolecular levels but will have as profound an impact on our economy, quality of life, and education as the information technology (IT) has had in the last two decades.

To cope with the new challenges ahead, many academic institutes and industrial companies around the world have invested heavily in pursuing Nano-R&D and Nano-Manufacturing (Nano-R&D&M) in recent years. Predictably, the demand for high-tech facilities and the corresponding skillful engineers will be strong and inevitable. Presently, there is no university in Asia offering high-tech facility engineering program specifically for Nano-R&D&M. To facilitate the advancement of Nano-R&D&M, and to meet the potential demand of the engineers, the Civil Engineering Department of National Taiwan University initiated a High-Tech Facility Research Center in fall 2006 and is offering a High-Tech Facility Design course in spring 2007.

This paper will begin with the introduction of NT and its impact on facility design and construction following by the discussion of the sensitivity in micro-vibration of high performance nano-scopes. Since most of the Nano-R&D&M processes must be done in a stringently controlled cleanroom, without a proper cleanroom, the Nano-R&D&M can neither be performed well nor advanced further. Therefore, the paper will then focus on the fundamentals in cleanroom design. Finally, the NTU High-Tech Research Center and the High-Tech Facility Design course will be briefly presented.

This paper was published in CECI engineering technology, CECI, Taipei, Taiwan, April 2007, Vol.74, pp.22-37

Location: Kaprielian Hall (KAP) - 209 Conference Room
Audiences: Everyone Is Invited

Contact: Evangeline Reyes
Mar
09

All-optical Signal Processing of Ultra-High-Speed Serial Data Signals Exceeding 1 Tbit/s Using Optical Time lenses and Nonlinear Waveguides such as Silicon Nanowires and Highly Nonlinear Fibers
Fri, Mar 09, 2012 @ 11:30 AM - 12:30 PM
Ming Hsieh Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering
Conferences, Lectures, & Seminars

Speaker: Leif Katsuo OxenlÃ¸we, Technical University of Denmark

Talk Title: All-optical Signal Processing of Ultra-High-Speed Serial Data Signals Exceeding 1 Tbit/s Using Optical Time lenses and Nonlinear Waveguides such as Silicon Nanowires and Highly Nonlinear Fibers

Abstract: All-optical signal processing may be suitable for functionalities where many bits are processed in a few devices. This is the case where ultra-high-speed serial data signals are optically processed in one nonlinear optical waveguide. This talk will describe some recent experimental demonstrations where this has been the goal, including 640 Gbit/s wavelength conversion, 640 Gbit/s serial-to-parallel conversion, 640 Gbit/s RZ-to-NRZ format conversion and 640 Gbit/s packet switching. During the talk, it will also be shown that nonlinear silicon waveguides can indeed be used to process serial 1.28 Tbit/s serial data signals and describe various potentially energy-efficient schemes of conversion, focusing on wavelength conversion and serial-to-parallel conversion. It will also be shown that serial 1.28 Tbit/s data signals may be used to carry advanced data modulation formats and be successfully transmitted over standard fiber as well as being compatible with standard Ethernet traffic using optical time lenses.

Biography: Leif Katsuo OxenlÃ¸we received the B.Sc. degree in physics and astronomy from the Niels Bohr Institute, University of Copenhagen, Denmark in 1996. In 1998 he received the International Diploma of Imperial College of Science, Technology and Medicine, London, UK and the M.Sc. degree from the University of Copenhagen. He received the Ph.D. degree in 2002 from the Technical University of Denmark, where he has been working since at DTU Fotonik, Department of Photonics Engineering. Since 2007 he is the group leader of the High-Speed Optical Communications group and since December 2009 he is a Professor of Photonic Communications. He is working with experimental research in the field of ultra-high-speed serial optical communications (above 1 Tbit/s) and optical signal processing. He is the recipient of a European Research Council project (SOCRATES) dealing with the connection between ultra-high-speed serial data and Ethernet networks, a project that started in October 2009. He is also heading the Danish national research council projects NOSFERATU and NANO-COM and is involved in several other national and international projects. He has authored or co-authored more than 170 peer reviewed publications.

Host: Alan Willner, willner@usc.edu, x04664

Location: Hughes Aircraft Electrical Engineering Center (EEB) - 539
Audiences: Everyone Is Invited

Contact: Gerrielyn Ramos
Mar
09

W.V.T. Rusch Engineering Honors Colloquium; Technology in Video Games
Fri, Mar 09, 2012 @ 01:00 PM - 01:50 PM
USC Viterbi School of Engineering, Viterbi School of Engineering Student Affairs
Conferences, Lectures, & Seminars

Speaker: Matt Kimberling, Technical Director, Treyarch

Talk Title: W.V.T. Rusch Engineering Honors Colloquium; Technology in Video Games

Abstract: Matt Kimberling, Technical Director at Treyarch, will present "Technology in Video Games" as part of the W.V.T. Rusch Engineering Honors Colloquium.

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

More Info: http://viterbi.usc.edu/students/undergrad/honors/schedules/
Location: Seeley G. Mudd Building (SGM) - 101
Audiences: Everyone Is Invited

Contact: Amanda Atkinson

Event Link: http://viterbi.usc.edu/students/undergrad/honors/schedules/
Mar
09

Random-Access High-Resolution Distributed Fiber Sensor
Fri, Mar 09, 2012 @ 02:00 PM - 03:00 PM
Ming Hsieh Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering
Conferences, Lectures, & Seminars

Speaker: Dr. Avinoam (Avi) Zadok, Bar-Ilan University in Ramat-Gan, Israel

Talk Title: Random-Access High-Resolution Distributed Fiber Sensor

Abstract: Optical sensing offers an attractive solution to the societal concern for prevention of natural and human-generated threats and for efficient use of natural resources. The unprecedented properties of optical fibres make them ideal for implementing a 'nervous system' in structural health monitoring: they are small, low-cost and electrically and chemically inert. In particular, the nonlinear interaction of stimulated Brillouin scattering allows for the distributed measurement of strain and temperature with tens of km range. However, the resolution of SBS-based measurements is inherently restricted to the order of 1 m by the relatively long acoustic lifetime that is associated with the process. In this talk, I show a novel, radar-inspired technique for random-access Brillouin scattering-based sensors, making a significant step towards a real optical sensing nerve. The measurement principle relies on phase-coding of both the Brillouin pump and signal waves by a high-rate, pseudo-random bit sequence. The Brillouin interaction between the two waves is shown to be equivalent to match-filtering processes that are prevalent in radar systems. Temperature measurements with 1 cm resolution are reported. The measurement range is scalable to several km.

Biography: Dr. Avinoam (Avi) Zadok received his Ph.D. in Electrical Engineering from Tel-Aviv University, Israel in 2007 (with distinction). In between 2007-2009 he was a post-doctoral fellow with the group of Prof. Amnon Yariv at the Department of Applied Physics of the California Institute of Technology (Caltech). Starting in 2009, he is a senior lecturer at the School of Engineering of Bar-Ilan University in Ramat-Gan, Israel, and a member of the Bar-Ilan Institute of Nano-Technology and Advanced Materials. Dr. Zadok's group research interests are in electro-optic devices and fiber-optic communication and signal processing.

Host: Alan Willner, willner@usc.edu, x04664

Location: Hughes Aircraft Electrical Engineering Center (EEB) - 539
Audiences: Everyone Is Invited

Contact: Gerrielyn Ramos
Mar
14

Munushian Seminar
Wed, Mar 14, 2012 @ 02:00 PM - 03:00 PM
Ming Hsieh Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering
Conferences, Lectures, & Seminars

Speaker: John Joannopoulos, Massachusetts Institute of Technology

Talk Title: Nanotechnologies for Enhanced Survivability

Abstract: Although nanotechnology is a term that is bandied about, there is a unique aspect of it that goes beyond simply making things small. The intrinsic properties of matter become size-dependent below a critical length scale of about a hundred nanometers. This potentially enables opportunities for new materials and phenomena that do not occur in nature in bulk systems. Indeed, current advances in nanotechnology could provide revolutionary advances in toxic analyte sensing, protective lightweight materials, blast mitigation strategies, multispectral night vision and communications, drug and vaccine delivery, and endoscopic surgery. An overview with highlights of important and exciting recent accomplishments involving nanoparticles and nanostructured-fibers is presented.

Biography: Professor John D. Joannopoulos is the Francis Wright Davis Professor of Physics at MIT. Heis the author or coauthor of over 550 refereed journal articles, two textbooks on Photonic Crystals, and 70 issued U.S. Patents. He is also co-founder of 4 startup companies:OmniGuide Inc., Luminus Devices, Inc., WiTricity Corporation, and Typhoon HIL, Inc.

He is a member of the National Academy of Sciences, a Fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Science, a Fellow of the American Physical Society, a Fellow of the World Technology Network, an Alfred P. Sloan Fellow (1976-1980), a John S. Guggenheim Fellow (1981-1982), and has been on the Thompson ISI Most Highly Cited Researchers List since 2003. Professor Joannopoulos is the recipient of the MIT School of Science Graduate Teaching Award (1991), the William Buechner Teaching Prize of the Department of Physics(1996), and the David Adler Award of the American Physical Society (1997). He is a former Divisional Associate Editor of Physical Review Letters, and former Member of the Editorial Board of Reviews of Modern Physics. Currently he is Director of the Institute for Soldier Nanotechnologies at MIT.

Host: EE-Electrophysics

More Info: ee.usc.edu/news/munushian
Location: Seaver Science Library (SSL) - 150
Audiences: Everyone Is Invited

Contact: Marilyn Poplawski

Event Link: ee.usc.edu/news/munushian
Mar
15

EE-Electrophysics Seminar
Thu, Mar 15, 2012 @ 02:00 PM - 03:00 PM
Ming Hsieh Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering
Conferences, Lectures, & Seminars

Speaker: Irfan Bulu, Harvard University, School of Engineering and Applied Sciences

Talk Title: Quantum Plasmonics with Nitrogen Vacancy Centers in Diamond and, Mid-infrared Nano-photonics

Abstract: Diamond is an exciting material platform for nano-photonics and nano-plasmonics. It has a wide variety of stable color centers such as the nitrogen vacancy (NV) center, which is expected to be a crucial building block for solid state quantum information processing. As an optical material, diamond has a relatively large index contrast, a large Raman gain, and relatively large third order non-linear susceptibility, χ(3). My research aims to develop nano-photonic devices based on diamond and defect centers in diamond for applications in quantum information processing, all optical signal processing, and nonlinear photonics. 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 NV 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. Finally, I will discuss the future prospects for non-linear photonic devices such as Raman lasers from UV to THz frequencies, parametric oscillators, and on-chip frequency combs based on diamond.
In the second part of the talk, I will discuss our work on mid-infrared photonics. The mid-infrared (2-20 Âµm) is commonly referred to as the molecular fingerprint region. It is an exciting wavelength range for photonics research, with important applications in spectroscopy and gas sensing. My research aims to develop integrated on-chip photonic device platforms such as on-chip spectrometers for sensitive gas detection and spectroscopy at the mid-infrared wavelength range. A prerequisite to the realization of these applications with on-chip platforms is the development of high-Q optical cavities. 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 used in order to improve the quality factors of photonic crystal cavities at mid-infrared (4.5 Âµm), and report the observation and origin of optical bi-stability at this wavelength range.

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 Loncarâs lab at Harvard University as a postdoctoral fellow. Since joining Prof. Loncarâs 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-Electrophysics

More Info: ee.usc.edu/news
Location: Hughes Aircraft Electrical Engineering Center (EEB) - 248
Audiences: Everyone Is Invited

Contact: Marilyn Poplawski

Event Link: ee.usc.edu/news
Mar
19

BME 533 (Seminar in Biomedical Engineering)
Mon, Mar 19, 2012 @ 12:30 PM - 01:50 PM
Alfred E. Mann Department of Biomedical Engineering
Conferences, Lectures, & Seminars

Speaker: Dr. John Troy, Northwestern University

Talk Title: Development and testing of a new patch clamp electrode system

Series: Invited Chair Series

Host: BME Department

Location: Olin Hall of Engineering (OHE) - 122
Audiences: Everyone Is Invited
View All Dates
- Mon Mar 19, 2012
Contact: Mischalgrace Diasanta
Mar
19

EE-Electrophysics Seminar
Mon, Mar 19, 2012 @ 02:00 PM - 03:00 PM
Ming Hsieh Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering
Conferences, Lectures, & Seminars

Speaker: Owen Miller, University of California, Berkeley

Talk Title: The Opto-Electronic Physics that is Breaking Solar Cell Efficiency Records, and Inverse Design as a New Computation Paradigm

Abstract: The first half of the talk will be devoted to the physics of high-efficiency solar cells. As solar cells approach fundamental efficiency limits, their internal physics transforms. Photonic considerations, instead of electronic ones, are the key to reaching the highest voltages and efficiencies. The single-junction efficiency record was stuck at 25.1% from 1990-2007; proper photon management led to Alta Deviceâs recent dramatic increase of the solar cell efficiency record to 28.3%.

The second half of the talk will introduce inverse design as a new computational paradigm in photonics. An assortment of techniques (FDTD, FEM, etc.) have enabled quick and accurate simulation of the âforward problemâ of finding fields for a given geometry. However, scientists and engineers are typically more interested in the inverse problem: for a desired functionality, what geometry is needed? Answering this question breaks from the emphasis on the forward problem and forges a new path in computational photonics. The framework of shape calculus enables one to quickly find superior, non-intuitive designs. Novel designs for optical cloaking, nano-metallic antennas, and sub-wavelength solar cell applications will be presented.

Biography: Owen Miller is a Ph.D. candidate in the Yablonovitch group at UC Berkeley. He double-majored in Electrical Engineering and Physics at the University of Virginia, where he graduated first in his class. He was a recipient of a National Science Foundation Graduate Fellowship.

Host: EE-Electrophysics

More Info: ee.usc.edu/news
Location: Hughes Aircraft Electrical Engineering Center (EEB) - 248
Audiences: Everyone Is Invited

Contact: Marilyn Poplawski

Event Link: ee.usc.edu/news
Mar
19

On the Future of High Performance Computing: How to Think for Peta and Exascale Computing
Mon, Mar 19, 2012 @ 03:30 PM - 05:00 PM
Ming Hsieh Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering
Conferences, Lectures, & Seminars

Speaker: Prof. Jack Dongarra, University of Tennessee, Oak Ridge National Laboratory, and University of Manchester

Talk Title: On the Future of High Performance Computing: How to Think for Peta and Exascale Computing

Series: CEI Distinguished Lecture Series in Energy Informatics

Abstract: In this talk we examine how high performance computing has changed over the last 10-year and look toward the future in terms of trends. These changes have had, and will continue to have, a major impact on our software. Some of the software and algorithm challenges have already been encountered, such as management of communication and memory hierarchies through a combination of compile-time and run-time techniques, but the increased scale of computation, depth of memory hierarchies, range of latencies, and increased run-time environment variability will make these problems much harder.
We will look at five areas of research that will have an important impact in the development of software and algorithms. We will focus on following themes: Redesign of software to fit multicore and hybrid architectures, Automatically tuned application software, Exploiting mixed precision for performance, The importance of fault tolerance, and Communication avoidance.
Refreshments will be served

Biography: Prof. Jack Dongarra holds an appointment at the University of Tennessee, Oak Ridge National Laboratory, and the University of Manchester. He specializes in numerical algorithms in linear algebra, parallel computing, use of advanced-computer architectures, programming methodology, and tools for parallel computers. He was awarded the IEEE Sid Fernbach Award in 2004 for his contributions in the application of high performance computers using innovative approaches; in 2008 he was the recipient of the first IEEE Medal of Excellence in Scalable Computing; in 2010 he was the first recipient of the SIAM Special Interest Group on Supercomputing's award for Career Achievement; and in 2011 he was the recipient of the IEEE IPDPS 2011 Charles Babbage Award. He is a Fellow of the AAAS, ACM, IEEE, and SIAM and a member of the National Academy of Engineering.

Host: Prof. Viktor K. Prasanna

More Info: http://cei.usc.edu/news
More Information: Jack Dongarra Flyer - PRINT.pdf
Location: Seeley G. Mudd Building (SGM) - 101
Audiences: Everyone Is Invited

Contact: Yogesh Simmhan

Event Link: http://cei.usc.edu/news
Mar
20

CENG Seminar
Tue, Mar 20, 2012 @ 10:30 AM - 12:00 PM
Ming Hsieh Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering
Conferences, Lectures, & Seminars

Speaker: John Sartori, PhD Candidate, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign

Talk Title: Stochastic Computing: Embracing Errors in Architecture and Design of Processors and Applications

Abstract: All of computing today relies on an abstraction where software expects hardware to behave flawlessly for all inputs, under all conditions. While this abstraction worked well historically, due to the relatively small magnitude of variations in hardware and environment, computing will increasingly be done with devices and circuits that are inherently stochastic because of how small they are, or whose behavior is stochastic due to manufacturing and environmental uncertainties. For such emerging circuits and devices, the cost of guaranteeing correctness will be prohibitive, and we will need to fundamentally rethink the correctness contract between hardware and software. Such rethinking becomes particularly compelling considering that a significant amount of energy is wasted in guaranteeing reliability even for applications that are inherently error tolerant.

The primary goal of my research has been to revisit the correctness contract between hardware and software to enable extremely energy-efficient computing. Instead of computing machines where hardware variations are always hidden from the software behind conservative design specifications, my research advocates computing machines (stochastic processors) where (a) these variations are opportunistically exposed to the highest layers of software in the form of hardware errors, and (b) software and hardware are optimized to maximize energy savings while delivering acceptable outputs, in spite of errors. In this talk, I will describe architecture and physical design-based approaches to build and optimize stochastic processors. I will also discuss our ongoing work on building applications for such processors. As a proof of concept, I will discuss an example prototype system based on commodity hardware that exploits application-level error tolerance to maximize system efficiency. Finally, I will outline some other promising approaches to energy-efficient computing for emerging applications.

Biography: John Sartori received a B.S. degree in electrical engineering, computer science, and mathematics from the University of North Dakota, Grand Forks and a M.S. degree in electrical and computer engineering from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign (UIUC). He is currently finishing a Ph.D. in electrical and computer engineering at UIUC. His research interests include stochastic computing, energy-efficient computing, and system architectures for emerging workloads. John's research has been recognized by a best paper award [CASES 2011] and a best paper award nomination [HPCA 2012] and has been the subject of several keynote talks and invited plenary lectures. His work has been chosen to be the cover feature for popular media sources such as BBC News and HPCWire, and has also been covered extensively by scientific press outlets such as the IEEE Spectrum and the Engineering and Technology Magazine. When not doing research, John enjoys outdoor activities in the balmy Champaign weather, playing music, and studying and discussing philosophy.

Host: Prof. Bhaskar Krishnamachari

Location: Hughes Aircraft Electrical Engineering Center (EEB) - 248
Audiences: Everyone Is Invited

Contact: Estela Lopez
Mar
20

Epstein Institute Seminar Series / ISE 651 Seminar
Tue, Mar 20, 2012 @ 03:30 PM - 04:50 PM
Daniel J. Epstein Department of Industrial and Systems Engineering
Conferences, Lectures, & Seminars

Speaker: Cerry M. Klein, Lapierre Professor of Engineering, University of Missouri, Columbia, MO

Talk Title: "Current and Future Research Directions in Industrial and Systems Engineering"

Series: Epstein Institute Seminar Series

Abstract: As the problems societies face become increasingly complex and intertwined, the importance of engineering increases. However, engineering will only be able to address these problems if it develops a better contextual understanding of the problems and interactions. Industrial and Systems Engineering with its traditional focus on socio-economic and technical problems is well positioned to help address the problems. This presentation will review some current and emerging areas of research as well as address the impact and need for understanding policy. As part of the presentation it is hoped that a robust discussion of the role of engineering in dealing with societyâs most complex problems and policies will ensue.

Biography: Cerry Klein is in the Provostâs Office at the University of Missouri, leading an initiative on Sustainable Energy in the Mizzou Advantage Program. He is also a Lapierre Professor of Engineering, past chair of the Department of Industrial and Manufacturing Systems Engineering at the University of Missouri, and past Program Director for the Service Enterprise Systems program and the Manufacturing Enterprise Systems program at the National Science Foundation. Dr. Kleinâs research areas include energy systems and logistics, health care, entrepreneurship, nonlinear and linear integer programming, dynamic programming, network optimization, multi-criteria and multi-attribute decision making, and scheduling. Dr. Klein has also been involved in educational research involving freshman retention and the vertical integration of material, the development of K-12 teacherâs expertise in science and mathematics, and the development of introducing entrepreneurship across the engineering curriculum. He has received as a PI or Co-PI funding from several industrial and government institutions including the National Science Foundation, the Office of Naval Research, The Kauffman Foundation, Department of Education, Society of Manufacturing Engineers, Boeing, Union Electric, Missouri Department of Transportation, and Unilever. He has also worked as a consultant for several companies.

EDUCATION
Ph.D. in Industrial Engineering, School of Industrial Engineering, Purdue University, Dec. 1983.
M.S. in Mathematics, Department of Mathematics, Purdue University, 1980.
B.S. Ed. in Mathematics, Northwest Missouri State University (highest honors), 1977.

EXPERIENCE
Provostâs Office, Mizzou Advantage â Sustainable Energy â September 2010 â present
Program Director, Service Enterprise Systems program and the Manufacturing Enterprise Systems program at the National Science Foundation, November 2007 to 2010
Lapierre Professor, Department of Industrial and Manufacturing Systems Engineering, University of Missouri, September 2007 - present.
Chair, Department of Industrial and Manufacturing Systems Engineering, University of Missouri, September 2000 to October 2007.
Director of Graduate Studies, Department of Industrial and Manufacturing Systems Engineering, University of Missouri, September 1992 to 2000 and 2001- October 2007
Director of Undergraduate Studies, Department of Industrial and Manufacturing Systems Engineering, University of Missouri, September 1989-1992, and 2000- October 2007

AWARD Highlights
Named Fellow of the Institute of Industrial Engineersâ June 2010
Senior Faculty Research Award for Excellence in Research, College of Engineering, University of Missouri, 1999
Office of Naval Research Young Investigator, 1988 1991
UMC Outstanding Industrial Engineering Professor, voted by graduating seniors (26 times)
Outstanding Engineering Faculty Teaching Award, College of Engineering (twice)
Ralph R. Teetor Educational Award, Society of Automotive Engineers, 1989
William T. Kemper Fellowship for Teaching Excellence, University of Missouri â (Highest Teaching award given by the University)

Host: Daniel J. Epstein Department of Industrial and Systems Engineering

More Information: Seminar-Klein.doc
Location: Ethel Percy Andrus Gerontology Center (GER) - Room 309
Audiences: Everyone Is Invited

Contact: Georgia Lum
Mar
21

Adaptive Computing for a Dynamic, Data-driven World
Wed, Mar 21, 2012 @ 11:30 AM - 12:30 PM
Ming Hsieh Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering
Conferences, Lectures, & Seminars

Speaker: Dr. Yogesh Simmhan, Ming Hsieh Department of Electrical Engineering, University of Southern California

Abstract: The pervasiveness of technology is providing the unprecedented ability to observe the physical, social and cyber worlds, and offering access to massive datasets that can be used to manage and optimize these systems. Advances in computing are democratizing access to large scale, distributed resources on Cloud platforms, on-demand. The successful fusion of data availability with computational capability has the potential for disruptive advances for society; from personalized healthcare to sustainable energy to informed policies.
As an exemplar of this fusion, this talk will explore two facets of research into computational and informatics systems that are being leveraged for the Los Angeles Smart Grid Project: (1) Adaptive computing on Clouds for dynamic data, and (2) Scalable data analytics for decision support.
The growing data deluge is both dynamic and continuous, streaming in from smart power meters and social networks. Our research examines compositional programming frameworks that can adapt to changing data flows and evolving application needs, while ensuring resilience on Cloud infrastructure. We also investigate complex event pattern detection over moving data to trigger responses such as demand curtailment in a power grid.
The overwhelming size and diversity of data require automated analysis. Machine-learnt models can help forecast power demand and adapt to changing usage profiles. Analysis of social network graphs offers additional insight into load shaping strategies. We discuss the use of Map-Reduce and its variants for large scale data analytics on Clouds to support decision making in the USC campus microgrid.

Biography: : Yogesh Simmhan is a Senior Research Associate at the Ming Hsieh Department of Electrical Engineering and the Center for Energy Informatics, University of Southern California. His research focuses on adaptive programming frameworks, dynamic data management, and large scale data analytics on emerging platforms like Clouds, with the goal of building scalable, resilient software systems. Yogesh serves as a project manager in the Los Angeles Smart Grid Project where he leads research into innovative data driven architectures for the USC microgrid that will translate into optimized demand-response in the city's smart grid. Yogesh has a Ph.D. in Computer Science from Indiana University and was previously with Microsoft Research.

Location: Hughes Aircraft Electrical Engineering Center (EEB) - 248
Audiences: Everyone Is Invited

Contact: Estela Lopez
Mar
21

Understanding Two Multimodally Observable Systems: Speech Production and Human-Human Dyad Interaction
Wed, Mar 21, 2012 @ 01:00 PM - 02:00 PM
Ming Hsieh Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering
Conferences, Lectures, & Seminars

Speaker: Dr. Nassos Katsamanis, Postdoctoral Research Associate/Signal Analysis and Interpretation Laboratory/Signal and Image Processing Institute

Talk Title: Understanding Two Multimodally Observable Systems: Speech Production and Human-Human Dyad Interaction

Abstract: Speech production has been modeled at the physical level as an accurately-timed choreography performed by interacting articulators in the vocal tract, e.g., the tongue or the lips. Each of them participates in the realization of gestures that possibly overlap in time and are directly responsible for the generation of certain phoneme sequences. This abstract view of a system as the composition of multiple interacting units -each with certain constraints and different behavioral characteristics that may also entrain with one another- has also been adopted in a completely different domain, for the study of human-human dyads. Towards achieving a common goal, each of the participants is assuming a certain role and tries to fulfill the personal subgoals involved. The multimodal behavior of the dyad reflects the realization of these efforts as the participants are constrained by individual personality traits and adapt to the specifics of the interaction at each instant.

Adopting this system-based perspective (as opposed to a phenomenological approach), I will present a range of computational techniques to model and interpret the continuous multimodal observations in the two domains on the basis of the underlying, synchronously or asynchronously interacting processes. I will focus on three major subproblems: inversion, process interaction modeling and prototypical behavior estimation.

Biography: Nassos Katsamanis received the Diploma in electrical and computer engineering (with highest honors) and the Ph.D. degree from the National Technical University of Athens, Athens, Greece, in 2003 and 2009 respectively. He is currently a Postdoctoral Research Associate at the Viterbi School of Electrical Engineering in the University of Southern California, member of the Signal Analysis and Interpretation Laboratory. His current research mainly lies in the areas of speech and multimodal signal analysis and processing aiming at the broader goal of interpretation and modeling of human behavior from audiovisual observations. Further, he is strongly interested and has been conducting research in image, acoustic and articulatory data processing for speech production modeling. In the frame of his Ph.D. studies and European and U.S. research projects, he has also worked on multimodal speech inversion, aeroacoustics for articulatory speech synthesis, speaker adaptation for non-native and children's speech recognition and multimodal fusion for audiovisual speech and sign language recognition.

More Information: Katsamanis Seminar.pdf
Location: Hughes Aircraft Electrical Engineering Center (EEB) - 248
Audiences: Everyone Is Invited

Contact: Mayumi Thrasher
Mar
21

Astani Civil and Environmental Engineering Seminar
Wed, Mar 21, 2012 @ 01:00 PM - 02:00 PM
Sonny Astani Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering
Conferences, Lectures, & Seminars

Speaker: Scott C. James, Principal Member of the Technical Staff, Sandia National Laboratories

Talk Title: Reactive Flow and Transport in Environmental Systems: Energy Considerations

Abstract: This presentation is a compilation of some of my research interests that span the fields of groundwater hydrology, surface-water hydrology, and renewable energy (e.g., algal biofuels and marine hydrokinetic energy). More specifically, my research developments in the areas of (a) colloid transport in fractured formations, (b) computational fluid dynamics simulations for marine hydrokinetic energy, and (c) optimizing algae growth in open-channel raceways for biofuel production will be presented.

Analytical, theoretical, and computational investigations examining fate and transport of colloid and contaminant plumes in fractured porous media were conducted. Initially, analytical solutions to the mathematical model describing the transport of finitely sized colloids in a uniform-aperture fracture subject to several different boundary conditions were developed. A novel particle tracking algorithm was verified through comparisons to newly developed analytical solutions. This particle-tracking algorithm was used to examine general transport characteristics of polydisperse colloid plumes in a uniform aperture fracture, focusing on the effects of their finite size. Finally, because natural fractures are rough, the particle tracking algorithm was extended to examine colloid and contaminant co-transport within a quasi-three-dimensional spatially-variable-aperture fracture.

Marine hydrokinetic (MHK) energy research was conducted to gain a better understanding of how to convert energy (momentum) from a system with minimum impact on the marine environment. The EPAâs Environmental Fluid Dynamics (EFDC) code was modified to represent

MHK devices as momentum sinks with commensurate adjustments to the turbulent k- terms. Turbulence equation coefficients were calibrated to ensure that simulated wakes from a turbine in a laboratory flume matched the experimental data. Also, the sediment dynamics algorithms were updated to include a unified treatment of cohesive and noncohesive sediments as well as effects of bedslope and consolidation. Removing energy from a system can result in changes to circulation including decreased water-level ranges and increased residence times. The model helps determine an appropriate amount of energy that can be generated from an MHK site â an amount that prevents environmental degradation while also suggesting device locations that optimize energy capture.

Significant research on algae growth in open-channel raceways was conducted to better understand the important parameters affecting biomass production with the goal of achieving cost-competitive biofuels. Water-quality algorithms in EFDC were modified and improved to be applicable to high-density algal systems and to account for the effects of growth limitation as a function of CO2 concentrations and pH fluctuations. The model faithfully reproduced a few simple algae growth test problems and was easily extended to accurately simulate the data collected from an algae growth experiment conducted in a greenhouse. Working in conjunction with industry partners, the model is currently employed for the simulation of algae growth in various conceptual models of open-channel raceways.

Fluid dynamics research is integral to developing alternative energy platforms. Water and energy are inextricably coupled; it is virtually impossible to consider one independently from the other. Given the emphasis on energy and the environment, an environmental engineer must employ broad civil and mechanical engineering skills to tackle this multidisciplinary field.

Host: Sonny Astani Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering

Location: Kaprielian Hall (KAP) - 209
Audiences: Everyone Is Invited

Contact: Cassie Cremeans
Mar
21

EE-Electrophysics Seminar
Wed, Mar 21, 2012 @ 02:00 PM - 03:00 PM
Ming Hsieh Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering
Conferences, Lectures, & Seminars

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. Ã¬Circuit cavity electromechanics in the strong-coupling regime,Ã® Nature 471, 204Ã±208 (2011).
[2] Teufel, J. D. et al. Ã¬Sideband cooling micromechanical motion to the quantum ground state,Ã® Nature 475, 359Ã±363 (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. He then joined Konrad LehnertÃs group at JILA as a postdoctoral researcher, where he investigated nanomechanical resonators by coupling them to superconducting microwave circuits. He is currently a research affiliate in the quantum devices group at NIST Boulder, where he continues to use cryogenic microwave circuits to explore the quantum properties of mechanical systems.

Host: EE-Electrophysics

More Info: ee.usc.edu/news
Location: Hughes Aircraft Electrical Engineering Center (EEB) - 248
Audiences: Everyone Is Invited

Contact: Marilyn Poplawski

Event Link: ee.usc.edu/news
Mar
21

AME Department Seminar
Wed, Mar 21, 2012 @ 03:30 PM - 04:30 PM
Aerospace and Mechanical Engineering
Conferences, Lectures, & Seminars

Speaker: Bin Liu, Postdoctoral Research Associate. School of Engineering. Brown University. Providence, RI

Talk Title: Helical Swimming in Complex Fluid Media

Abstract: Many bacteria swim by rotating helical flagella. In Nature, these cells often live in a complex fluid environment, such as suspensions of polymers and other micro-scale structures. To explore the physics on how such complex environments affect the bacterial motility, the helical swimmer is simulated by a model system - a motorized helical coil that rotates along its axial direction. When the helix is immersed in a viscoelastic fluid, a model fluid of polymer suspensions, there is an increase in the swimming speed as compared with the Newtonian case. The enhancement is maximized when the rotation rate of the helix matches the relaxation time of the fluid. The magnitude of enhancement depends not only on the elasticity of the fluid but also on the geometry of the helix. In the second part of my talk, I will discuss on how such helical swimming is affected by spatial confinement of micro scales, such as a porous medium. As a reduced order model, the porous media is regarded as cylindrical cavities with solid walls. A modified boundary element method is introduced here to make full use of the helical symmetry. This method allows us to investigate a situation that the flagella are tightly confined by solid wall. To our surprise, at fixed power consumption, a highly coiled swimmer swims faster in a narrower confinement, while an elongated one swims faster in a cavity with a wider opening. These phenomena are explained with simple physical picture.

Host: Prof. Geoff Spedding

More Info: http://ae-www.usc.edu/seminars/index.shtml#upcoming
Location: Seaver Science Library (SSL) - 150
Audiences: Everyone Is Invited

Contact: April Mundy

Event Link: http://ae-www.usc.edu/seminars/index.shtml#upcoming
Mar
22

Distinguished Lectures Series
Thu, Mar 22, 2012 @ 12:45 PM - 12:45 PM
Mork Family Department of Chemical Engineering and Materials Science
Conferences, Lectures, & Seminars

Speaker: Joan Redwing, Materials Science and Engineering, Penn State University

Talk Title: Vapor-Liquid-Solid Growth of Silicon Micro/Nanowire Arrays for Energy Applications

Series: Distinguished Lectures Series

Host: Jongseung Yoon

Location: James H. Zumberge Hall Of Science (ZHS) - 159
Audiences: Everyone Is Invited

Contact: Petra Pearce
Mar
23

USC Physical Sciences in Oncology Center Monthly Seminar
Fri, Mar 23, 2012 @ 11:45 AM - 01:00 PM
Alfred E. Mann Department of Biomedical Engineering
Conferences, Lectures, & Seminars

Speaker: Alexander Anderson, Ph.D, Senior Member Moffitt Cancer Center

Talk Title: How Do Interactions Modulate Heterogeneity In Cancer Progression and Drug Resistance?

Abstract: The proteasome controls the concentrations of most proteins in the cytosol and nucleus of eukaryotic cells. The degradation signal or degron that targets proteins for proteolysis has two components, a proteasome binding tag, usually a poly-ubiquitin chain, and an initiation site in the form of an unstructured region in the substrate. The two degron components can function in trans when separated onto two different polypeptide chains so that a ubiquitinated adaptor can target a binding partner for proteolysis. Surprisingly, the initiation region contributes significantly to the specificity of Ubiquitin-Proteasome System. The length, location and amino acid sequence of initiation sites all affect whether a protein can be degraded or not. We define these rules in model systems and show how they apply to natural proteins. Once degradation has initiated, the proteasome normally digests its substrates processively to avoid the formation of fragments with undesirable activities. Interestingly, there are a few instances where this processivity breaks down and the proteasome generates partially degraded proteins. The partial degradation is caused by stop signals in the substrate proteins and we propose that this mechanism can explain steps in some signaling pathways and may involved in some neurodegenerative diseases.

Biography: Co-director of the Integrated Mathematical Oncology (IMO) department and Senior member at Moffitt Cancer Center. Dr. Anderson performed his doctoral work on hybrid mathematical models of nematode movement in heterogeneous environments at the Scottish Crop Research Institute in Dundee, UK. His postdoctoral work was on hybrid models of tumor-induced angiogenesis with Prof. Mark Chaplain at Bath University, UK. He moved back to Dundee in 1996 where he worked for the next 12 years on developing mathematical models of many different aspects of tumor progression and treatment, including anti-angiogenesis, radiotherapy, tumor invasion, evolution of aggressive phenotypes and the role of the microenvironment. He is widely recognized as one of only a handful of mathematical oncologists that develop truly integrative models that directly impact upon biological experimentation. His pioneering work using evolutionary hybrid cellular automata models has led to new insights into the role of the tumor microenvironment in driving tumor progression. Due to his belief in the crucial role of mathematical models in cancer research he moved his group to the Moffitt Cancer Center in 2008 to establish the Integrated Mathematical Oncology department.

Host: Center for Applied Molecular Medicine

Location: Harkness Auditorium #250
Audiences: Everyone Is Invited

Contact: kristina gerber
Mar
23

W.V.T. Rusch Engineering Honors Colloquium; One Engineer's Professional Journey, From School to Industry
Fri, Mar 23, 2012 @ 01:00 PM - 01:50 PM
USC Viterbi School of Engineering, Viterbi School of Engineering Student Affairs
Conferences, Lectures, & Seminars

Speaker: Deniz K. Armani, Senior Scientist, Glenair, Inc.

Talk Title: W.V.T. Rusch Engineering Honors Colloquium; One Engineer's Professional Journey, From School to Industry

Abstract: Dr. Deniz K. Armani, Senior Scientist at Glenair, Inc., will present "One Engineer's Professional Journey, From School to Industry" 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/
Location: Seeley G. Mudd Building (SGM) - 101
Audiences: Everyone Is Invited

Contact: Amanda Atkinson

Event Link: http://viterbi.usc.edu/students/undergrad/honors/schedules/
Mar
23

Integrated Systems Seminar Series
Fri, Mar 23, 2012 @ 02:30 PM - 04:00 PM
Ming Hsieh Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering
Conferences, Lectures, & Seminars

Speaker: Prof. Yun Chiu , UT Dallas

Talk Title: Equalization Techniques for Nonlinear Analog Circuits

Host: Hossein Hashemi

More Information: Seminar_Speaker_Chiu_2012_3_23.pdf
Location: Hughes Aircraft Electrical Engineering Center (EEB) - 248
Audiences: Everyone Is Invited

Contact: Hossein Hashemi
Mar
26

CENG Seminar
Mon, Mar 26, 2012 @ 10:30 AM - 11:30 AM
Ming Hsieh Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering
Conferences, Lectures, & Seminars

Speaker: Dr. Natasa Miskov-Zivanov , University of Pittsburgh and Carnegie Mellon University

Talk Title: âDynamic behavior of cell signaling networks - design and analysis of qualitative modelsâ

Abstract: One of the ultimate goals of systems biology is to be able to predict a systemâs dynamic behavior. At the same time, a greater understanding of how components interact to form integrated systems also informs and supports efforts in synthetic biology towards designing engineered biological systems. To this end, modeling and analyzing the dynamics of biological regulatory networks is a promising approach, but existing modeling methods often suffer from complexity issues and become inefficient with large networks.
In this talk, I will describe a methodology for designing and studying discrete models of cell signaling networks by utilizing engineering methods. This modeling approach allows for capturing a large network, which is otherwise hard to model and analyze using alternative approaches based on ordinary differential equations. This network can include cell stimulation and receptor signaling, signal transduction from receptors to activation of gene transcription factors, and cell response to stimulation. Although such coarser-grained models do not always include all mechanical details, they allow for very efficient studies of the system. These models help identify critical elements and connections, and provide means to test many hypotheses about the system. Specifically, I will present the model for T cell differentiation, which is critical in many immune-related pathologies. The determinants of the differentiation are not yet understood, and the analysis of the model led to new insights into this system: identification of key elements and regulation links, and the fact that relative timing on different pathways plays a crucial role in differentiation. Finally, I will also present a hardware-based approach, which allows for highly parallel model simulation and provides orders of magnitude speedup when compared to software simulation.
The methodology for discrete model design and analysis leverages the interactions between engineering and biology and will contribute to more efficient development of previously unattainable products, new strategies in medical research, and new therapies.

Biography: Natasa Miskov-Zivanov is a Research Associate in the Department of Computational and Systems Biology in the School of Medicine at the University of Pittsburgh, and an Adjunct Faculty at the Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering at Carnegie Mellon University. She received her Ph.D. and M.S. degrees in Electrical and Computer Engineering at Carnegie Mellon University, in 2008 and 2005, respectively, and a B.S. degree in Electrical Engineering and Computer Science from the University of Novi Sad, Serbia, in 2003. Her research interests include applications of computational methods, algorithms and tools for systems and synthetic biology, emerging technologies, bio-nanotechnology, and cyber-physical systems.

Host: Dr. Alice Parker

Location: Hughes Aircraft Electrical Engineering Center (EEB) - 248
Audiences: Everyone Is Invited

Contact: Estela Lopez
Mar
26

BME 533 (Seminar in Biomedical Engineering)
Mon, Mar 26, 2012 @ 12:30 PM - 01:50 PM
Alfred E. Mann Department of Biomedical Engineering
Conferences, Lectures, & Seminars

Speaker: Dr. Elizabeth Read,

Talk Title: Natural Immunity to HIV: Genetic Determinants versus Stochastic Dynamics

Host: BME Department

Location: Olin Hall of Engineering (OHE) - 122
Audiences: Everyone Is Invited

Contact: Mischalgrace Diasanta
Mar
26

EE-Electrophysics Seminar
Mon, Mar 26, 2012 @ 02:00 PM - 03:00 PM
Ming Hsieh Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering
Conferences, Lectures, & Seminars

Speaker: Zhifeng Ren, Department of Physics, Boston College, Massachusetts

Talk Title: Nanomaterials, Physics, and Applications in Clean Energy Research

Abstract: Physics is the foundation of sciences. Materials are the building blocks of the modern technologies. A deep understanding of the physics of materials is the key to energy research. Energy demand grows more and more, but the natural sources that provide the needed energy are shrinking and also unfortunately pollute the earth. Determining how we can efficiently utilize the abundant solar energy at low cost and without pollution is our responsibility to our children.

Nanomaterials have many potential applications in energy conversion systems due to their special structural and physical properties. Such applications often require materials to be manufactured at large scale and low cost. I will first discuss the role materials play in high temperature superconductivity; then the physics and manufacturing of nanostructured bulk thermoelectric materials at large scale and their improved thermoelectric properties by a low cost ball milling and hot pressing process; followed by our most recent demonstration of solar energy conversion into electricity at low cost using the improved nanostructured thermoelectric materials; and, finally, some new concepts, including nano coaxial cables, super-absorbers, and super-electrodes for high efficiency conversion of solar energy to electricity by the solar photovoltaic effect.

Biography: Dr Zhifeng Ren is currently a professor of physics at Boston College. He obtained his PhD degree from the Institute of Physics Chinese Academy of Sciences in 1990, master degree from Huazhong University of Science and Technology in 1987, and bachelor degree from Sichuan Institute of Technology in 1984. He was a postdoc and then research faculty at SUNY Buffalo (1990-1999) before joining BC as an associate professor in 1999. He specializes in materials synthesis and applications especially thermoelectric materials, solar thermoelectric devices & systems, photovoltaic materials & systems, carbon nanotubes & semiconducting nanostructures, nanocomposites, bio agent delivery & bio sensors, superconductors, etc. He is a fellow of APS and AAAS, a recipient of R&D 100 award. He has published extensively, and was ranked the 49th of the top 100 Materials Scientists worldwide for the past decade 2000-2010. He has co-founded companies in the field of carbon nanotubes, thermoelectric materials, and photovoltaics.

Host: EE-Electrophysics

More Info: http://ee.usc.edu/news/seminars/eep
Location: Hughes Aircraft Electrical Engineering Center (EEB) - 248
Audiences: Everyone Is Invited

Contact: Marilyn Poplawski

Event Link: http://ee.usc.edu/news/seminars/eep
Mar
27

Epstein Institute Seminar Series / ISE 651 Seminar
Tue, Mar 27, 2012 @ 03:30 PM - 04:50 PM
Daniel J. Epstein Department of Industrial and Systems Engineering
Conferences, Lectures, & Seminars

Speaker: Julie Simmons Ivy, Edward P. Fitts Department of Industrial and Systems Engineering, North Carolina State University

Talk Title: "Patient-based Pharmaceutical Inventory Management - A Two-Stage Inventory and Production Model for Perishable Products with Markovian Demand"

Series: Epstein Institute Seminar Series

Abstract: (Joint work with Dr. Anita Vila-Parrish)

Drug shortages have increased over the past decade, tripling since 2006. According to a recent editorial in the New England Journal of Medicine, these shortages have caused serious concerns about safety, cost, and availability of lifesaving treatments. The implications to patient care as a result of shortages are significant. In a 2010 national survey of 1,800 healthcare practitioners by the Institute for Safe Medication Practices, 25% of clinicians indicated that an error had occurred at their site because of drug shortages.

Pharmaceutical inventory management and patient care are inextricably linked â suboptimal control impacts both patient treatment and the cost of care. The pharmacist serves as the gate keeper of drug distribution by ensuring the accuracy and appropriateness of prescribed medications, but they must also make decisions regarding drug inventory levels and when to produce drugs in response to or in anticipation of patient demand. Pharmacy material managers are challenged with developing inventory policies given changing demand, limited suppliers, and regulations affecting supply.

We study a perishable inventory problem motivated by challenges in pharmaceutical management. Inpatient hospital pharmacies stock medications in two stages, raw material and finished good (e.g. intravenous). While both stages of material are perishable, the finished form is highly perishable. Pharmacy demand depends on the population and patient conditions. We use a stochastic âdemand stateâ as a surrogate for patient condition and develop a Markov decision process to determine optimal, state-dependent two-stage inventory and production policies. We define two ordering and production scenarios, prove the existence of optimal solutions for both scenarios, and apply this framework to the management of Meropenem, an antibiotic.

Biography: Julie S. Ivy

Associate Professor
Edward P. Fitts Department of Industrial & Systems Engineering
North Carolina State University
Fitts Faculty Fellow

Ph.D., Industrial and Operations Engineering, University of Michigan, 1998
M.S., Operations Research, Georgia Institute of Technology, 1992
B.S., Industrial and Operations Engineering, University of Michigan, 1991

Julie Ivy is an Associate Professor at North Carolina State University in the Edward P. Fitts Department of Industrial & Systems Engineering. She previously spent several years on the faculty of the Stephen M. Ross School of Business at the University of Michigan.

Dr. Ivy is actively involved in INFORMS and is a past president of the Health Applications Section of INFORMS. She has co-authored more than twenty journal articles, working papers, and conference proceedings.

Areas of Interest
Dr. Ivy's primary research interests are in the mathematical modeling of stochastic dynamic systems with emphasis on statistics and decision analysis as applied to health care, manufacturing, and service environments. The focus of her research is decision making under conditions of uncertainty with the objective of improving the decision quality. Dr. Ivy's research program seeks to develop novel concepts of maintenance and monitoring policies and associated scientific theories, and apply them specifically to two important application domains: industrial and medical decision making. She has experience in medical decision making as it relates to women's health including studying breast cancer screening and treatment policy development, policies for complex patients, health disparities and modeling of the patient and physician decision problem associated with birth delivery choice.

Host: Daniel J. Epstein Department of Industrial and Systems Engineering

More Information: Seminar-Ivy.doc
Location: Ethel Percy Andrus Gerontology Center (GER) - Room 309
Audiences: Everyone Is Invited

Contact: Georgia Lum
Mar
28

AME Department Seminar
Wed, Mar 28, 2012 @ 03:30 PM - 04:30 PM
Aerospace and Mechanical Engineering
Conferences, Lectures, & Seminars

Speaker: Attila Bergou, Postdoctoral Researcher. School of Engineering. Brown University. Providence, RI.

Talk Title: How Do Flying Animals Reorient Themselves?

Abstract: The flying ability of animals is spellbinding: they can catch their prey in midair, execute precise maneuvers, sustain flight for incredible amounts of time. For centuries scientists and engineers have toiled to unlock the secrets behind their flight adeptness. This research has lead to many breakthroughs in our understanding of the behavior and force production of fixed and flapping wings and in no small part lead to the invention of the airplane. Despite the centuries of research, and many breakthroughs, fundamental aspects of animal flight still elude understanding. One domain with surprising gaps in knowledge is how animals actuate and control flight maneuvers.

Here, I will present experimental and computational work showing the mechanisms behind flight maneuvers performed by two decidedly distinct flyers: fruit flies, and bats. In particular, we analyze how these animals reorient themselves in the air. Our organismal experiments, and novel motion tracking algorithms allow us to reconstruct the subtle wing and body kinematics of these animals at a level of detail previously unavailable. From these intricate kinematics, and morphological measurements, we build detailed dynamical models to infer the surprising mechanisms behind these maneuvers.

Host: Prof. Geoff Spedding

More Info: http://ame-www.usc.edu/seminars/index.shtml#upcoming
Location: Seaver Science Library (SSL) - 150
Audiences: Everyone Is Invited

Contact: April Mundy

Event Link: http://ame-www.usc.edu/seminars/index.shtml#upcoming
Mar
29

Munushian Seminar
Thu, Mar 29, 2012 @ 02:00 PM - 03:00 PM
Ming Hsieh Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering
Conferences, Lectures, & Seminars

Speaker: Dr. Barrie Gilbert, Fellow, Analog Devices Inc.

Talk Title: THE PENNY ANALOG COMPUTER

Abstract: Seventy years ago, analog computers were at the peak of their history. Today, it is commonly said that âanalog computing is a dead artâ. But the truth is that the core principles are still very much alive in a broad range of modern analog integrated circuits. Function generation, equation solving, correlation, power measurement â at frequencies ranging from sub-sonic seismic to 50 GHz â and the extraction of signal statistics â to mention just a few of such operations â are now in use in numerous IC products. Yet these ICs are tiny and truly inexpensive: many sell for not very many pennies, at as discrete-functions; some specialized nonlinear continuous-time and continuous amplitude processors â truly micro-miniature analog computers â may even represent less than one US penny in the overall cost of a large-scale IC.
This talk is in two parts. The first traces some of the vast history of âcontinuous-time computers using corresponding analogiesâ, especially those made during WW-2 years. They were often huge, filling large rooms, weighing tons, and consuming great amounts of power. Programming was tedious in the extreme, and their accuracy was not impressive. But during this passage, we quickly gravitate to the key principles of modern analog microcomputers, which are heavily reliant on the remarkable logarthmic/exponential properties of monolithic bipolar transistors.
The second part expands further on some seminal concepts, comprising the domain called âTranslinearâ design, in the hope of clearly illustrating not just the potency of the bipolar transistor in these roles, but also to demonstrate the elegant simplicity of the core cells. Several case studies of recent âpenny-level analog computersâ with significant capabilities will be presented.

Biography: Biography:Barrie Gilbert is the legendary circuit designer credited with the BJT translinear principle, which led to the development of the precision analog multiplier and numerous other circuits such as wide-range variable gain amplifiers. He has been involved with designing circuits from the days of electron tubes to present day high performance IC's, and many of his chip designs have remained in mass production for over 30 years. His original paper on the four-quadrant analog multiplier is the 5th most frequently cited in the history of the IEEE Journal of Solid-State Circuits.

Barrie has received an honorary doctorate from Oregon State University, and was elected Analog Devices Fellow, Life Fellow of the IEEE, and Member of the National Academy of Engineering.

Host: EE-Electrophysics

More Info: ee.usc.edu/news/munushian
Location: Hughes Aircraft Electrical Engineering Center (EEB) - 248
Audiences: Everyone Is Invited

Contact: Marilyn Poplawski

Event Link: ee.usc.edu/news/munushian
Mar
30

W.V.T. Rusch Engineering Honors Colloquium; A Closer Look: A Career in Spacecraft Guidance, Navigation, and ControlEngineering
Fri, Mar 30, 2012 @ 01:00 PM - 01:50 PM
USC Viterbi School of Engineering, Viterbi School of Engineering Student Affairs
Conferences, Lectures, & Seminars

Speaker: Rock Yin, Engineer VI and Section Head, ATK, Defense Electronic Systems Division, Alliant Techsystems Inc.

Talk Title: W.V.T. Rusch Engineering Honors Colloquium; A Closer Look: A Career in Spacecraft Guidance, Navigation, and Control Engineering

Abstract: Rock Yin; Engineer VI and Section Head at ATK, Defense Electronic Systems Division, Alliant Techsystems Inc.; will present "A Closer Look: A Career in Spacecraft Guidance, Navigation, and Control Engineering"

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

Location: Seeley G. Mudd Building (SGM) - 101
Audiences: Everyone Is Invited

Contact: Amanda Atkinson
Mar
30

Integrated Systems Seminar Series
Fri, Mar 30, 2012 @ 02:30 PM - 04:00 PM
Ming Hsieh Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering
Conferences, Lectures, & Seminars

Speaker: Prof. Eugenio Culurciello, Purdue University

Talk Title: Modeling the Human Visual System in Hardware

Host: Hossein Hashemi

More Information: Seminar_Speaker_eugenio_2012_3_30.pdf
Location: Vivian Hall of Engineering (VHE) - 217
Audiences: Everyone Is Invited

Contact: Hossein Hashemi

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