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Events for March 29, 2016

  • CS Colloquium: David Levin (Disney Research Boston) - Physically-Based Simulation for Animation and Fabrication

    Tue, Mar 29, 2016 @ 11:00 AM - 12:00 PM

    Thomas Lord Department of Computer Science

    Conferences, Lectures, & Seminars


    Speaker: David Levin, Disney Research Boston

    Talk Title: Physically-Based Simulation for Animation and Fabrication

    Series: CS Colloquium

    Abstract: This lecture satisfies requirements for CSCI 591: Computer Science Research Colloquium

    Physics-based simulation has become a transformative tool for solving problems in computer animation and computational fabrication. In this talk I will discuss how leveraging unique abstractions, new discretizations and data-driven techniques can allow us to animate and fabricate a wide-range of phenomena with improved performance, robustness and accuracy. I'll show how layered discretizations can enable photoshop like editing of physically-based animations, how Eulerian methods can be used to robustly simulate deforming objects in close contact, how 3D printing and simulation can produce new musical instruments, and more. I'll conclude by discussing the important challenges facing physics-based animation and fabrication now and in the future.

    Host: CS Department

    Location: Olin Hall of Engineering (OHE) - 136

    Audiences: Everyone Is Invited

    Contact: Assistant to CS chair

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  • USC Stem Cell Seminar: Ali H. Brivanlou, The Rockefeller University

    USC Stem Cell Seminar: Ali H. Brivanlou, The Rockefeller University

    Tue, Mar 29, 2016 @ 11:00 AM - 12:00 PM

    Alfred E. Mann Department of Biomedical Engineering

    Conferences, Lectures, & Seminars


    Speaker: Ali H. Brivanlou, The Rockefeller University

    Talk Title: Self-understanding of self-organization

    Series: Eli and Edythe Broad Center for Regenerative Medicine and Stem Cell Research at USC Distinguished Speakers Series

    Abstract: The earliest aspects of human embryogenesis remain a complete mystery. Using human embryonic stem cells (hESCs), we have recently developed an in vitro platform that provides, for the first time, a window into early human development. We use this platform to study the physical and molecular mechanisms underlying human gastrulation. We integrate this information to develop a quantitative model of human fate determination.

    Host: Neil Segil

    More Info: https://calendar.usc.edu/event/speaker_ali_h_brivanlou_the_rockefeller_university?utm_campaign=widget&utm_medium=widget&utm_source=USC+Event+Calendar%3A+Beta#.Vtj6NynFl04

    Location: Eli & Edythe Broad CIRM Center for Regenerative Medicine & Stem Cell Resch. (BCC) - First Floor Seminar Room

    Audiences: Everyone Is Invited

    Contact: Cristy Lytal/USC Stem Cell

    Event Link: https://calendar.usc.edu/event/speaker_ali_h_brivanlou_the_rockefeller_university?utm_campaign=widget&utm_medium=widget&utm_source=USC+Event+Calendar%3A+Beta#.Vtj6NynFl04

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  • RECRUITING SEMINAR

    Tue, Mar 29, 2016 @ 11:00 AM - 12:00 PM

    Information Sciences Institute

    Conferences, Lectures, & Seminars


    Speaker: Mayank Kejriwal, University of Texas at Austin

    Talk Title: Populating a Linked Data Entity Name System

    Series: Recruitng Seminar

    Abstract: Resource Description Framework (RDF) is a graph-based data model used to publish data as a Web of Linked Data. RDF is an emergent foundation for large-scale data integration. An Entity Name System (ENS) is a thesaurus for entities, and is a crucial component in a data integration architecture. Populating a Linked Data ENS is equivalent to solving an Artificial Intelligence problem called instance matching, which concerns identifying pairs of entities referring to the same underlying entity.

    This talk describes a system that automatically populates an ENS in a domain-independent fashion. Automation is addressed through inexpensive but well-performing heuristics that are used to generate a training set, which is employed by other machine learning algorithms in the pipeline. Data-driven alignment algorithms are adapted to deal with structural heterogeneity in RDF graphs. The full system is scaled by implementing it on cloud infrastructure using MapReduce algorithms.



    Biography: Mayank Kejriwal is finishing up his Ph.D in Computer Science at the University of Texas at Austin under the supervision of Daniel P. Miranker. His research focuses on instance-level information integration in the Semantic Web, and has been published in the International Conference on Data Mining, the Journal of Web Semantics, the International Semantic Web Conference, and the Extended Semantic Web Conference, where he won a best paper award at the 4th annual Know@LOD workshop. Prior to joining UT Austin in 2012, he obtained a dual undergraduate degree in Computer Engineering and Engineering Physics from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign.


    Host: Craig Knoblock

    Webcast: Webcast:http://webcasterms1.isi.edu/mediasite/Viewer/?peid=cd1440ac1ea54794b12eab29e42d60ee1d

    Location: Information Science Institute (ISI) - 11th floor Large CR

    WebCast Link: Webcast:http://webcasterms1.isi.edu/mediasite/Viewer/?peid=cd1440ac1ea54794b12eab29e42d60ee1d

    Audiences: Everyone Is Invited

    Contact: Alma Nava / Information Sciences Institute

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  • Cisco: Stream Processing in Practice

    Tue, Mar 29, 2016 @ 11:00 AM - 12:20 PM

    Information Sciences Institute

    Conferences, Lectures, & Seminars


    Speaker: Dr. Debojyoti Dutta, Cisco: Office of the CTO

    Talk Title: Cisco: Stream Processing in Practice

    Abstract: Networking is an example of a streaming paradigm in systems. We revisit the basics of networking and networked processing in particular and show how the same basic principles can be used to design real-world scalable streaming systems. We will touch upon streaming computations, frameworks, and event processing, via real world examples. We will cover what it takes to build streaming engines (e.g. a network switch or a data platform like http://ciscozeus.io). In addition we will also cover applied algorithms that work well for such streaming models.

    Biography: Dr. Dutta is actively developing streaming analytics solutions for operational insight and actions including optimizing infrastructure for I/O(/data) intensive applications on Openstack, and other scalable platforms for cloud computing and software defined networks. His work has spanned social collaboration techniques, software defined networks, applied algorithms for data mining, IoT platforms, and Cloud Ops. Dr. Dutta is a USC alum and graduated with his PhD from USC in 2004.

    Host: Alefiya Hussain

    Location: Mark Taper Hall Of Humanities (THH) - 210

    Audiences: Everyone Is Invited

    Contact: Alefiya Hussain

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  • EE-EP Seminar - Renjie Zhou, Tuesday, March 29th at 2:00pm in EEB 132

    Tue, Mar 29, 2016 @ 02:00 PM - 03:30 PM

    Ming Hsieh Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering

    Conferences, Lectures, & Seminars


    Speaker: Renjie Zhou, George R. Harrison Spectroscopy Laboratory at MIT

    Talk Title: Quantitative Phase Microscopy: a label-free platform for material metrology and biological imaging

    Abstract: Advances in imaging sensors and computer chips have enabled us to record holograms on cameras and reconstruct objects information with high fidelity and fast speed. The marriage of digital holography and optical microscopy gave birth to quantitative phase imaging (QPI). QPI precisely maps the amplitude and phase information associated with the electromagnetic field scattered by an object. Recent efforts have pushed QPI instruments to achieve sensitivity better than 10-3, corresponding to less than 1 nm surface height changes, or conversely 10-4 refractive index variations in transparent biological structures. Importantly, QPI is a label-free method, without using fluorescence markers, which has opened many noninvasive imaging applications.
    This talk will focus on the instrumentation and image formation of novel QPI systems and highlight their applications in two important domains, namely material metrology and biological imaging. First, I will outline the QPI potential in material characterization and wafer defect inspection. In particular, I will show our wafer metrology instrument development and its capability for densely patterned semiconductor wafer defect inspection, detecting deep sub-wavelength patterning defects in 22nm and 9nm node silicon wafers. After that, I will move my focal point to the development of QPI-based biological imaging techniques. Especially, I will talk about solving the inverse scattering problem for determining the structure of cells in 3D, which led to the invention of white-light diffraction tomography (WDT). WDT is compatible with most exiting phase contrast microscopes, thus, it can potentially complement fluorescence imaging by providing additional biophysical markers. At the end, I will discuss some potential research areas along the QPI direction, including neuron activity imaging, stem cell identification, and cell mechanics characterization.

    Biography: Renjie Zhou is a postdoctoral associate at George R. Harrison Spectroscopy Laboratory at MIT, where his research centers on developing ultra-sensitive interferometric microscopy systems and high throughput 3D imaging methods for biomedical applications. Dr. Zhou received PhD in Electrical and Computer Engineering from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign (UIUC) in 2014. His dissertation focused on developing wafer defect inspection instruments and solving 3D inverse scattering problems for cell imaging. Dr. Zhou has co-authored over 40 peer-reviewed journal and conference papers and filed 4 US patent applications. He has received a number of research awards including the Arnold Beckman Fellowship from the Beckman Foundation, Scholarship in Optics & Photonics and Newport Spectra - Physics Research Excellence Travel Grant from SPIE; Jean Bennett Memorial Student Travel Grant finalist from OSA; P. D. Coleman Outstanding Research Award, Yuen T. Lo Outstanding Graduate Research Award, and Sundaram Seshu International Student Fellowship from UIUC. In addition, Dr. Zhou's research work was featured in Nature, NSF, OSA, and SPIE news.

    Host: EE-Electrophysics

    Location: Hughes Aircraft Electrical Engineering Center (EEB) - 132

    Audiences: Everyone Is Invited

    Contact: Marilyn Poplawski

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  • Eberhardt Rechtin Keynote Lecture

    Eberhardt Rechtin Keynote Lecture

    Tue, Mar 29, 2016 @ 03:30 PM - 06:00 PM

    Daniel J. Epstein Department of Industrial and Systems Engineering

    Receptions & Special Events


    The Daniel J. Epstein Department of Industrial & Systems Engineering presents the annual Eberhard Rechtin Keynote Lecture featuring Dr. Radhika Kulkarni from the SAS Institute.

    More Information: 2016 Announcement-Kulkarni.pdf

    Location: Charlotte S. & Davre R. Davidson Continuing Education Conference Center (DCC) - The Vineyard Room

    Audiences: Everyone Is Invited

    Contact: Michele ISE

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  • CS Colloquium: Nisarg Shah (CMU) - Optimal Social Decision Making

    Tue, Mar 29, 2016 @ 04:00 PM - 05:00 PM

    Thomas Lord Department of Computer Science

    Conferences, Lectures, & Seminars


    Speaker: Nisarg Shah, Carnegie Mellon University

    Talk Title: Optimal Social Decision Making

    Series: CS Colloquium

    Abstract: This lecture satisfies requirements for CSCI 591: Computer Science Research Colloquium

    How can computers help ordinary people make collective decisions about real-life dilemmas, like which restaurant to go to with friends, or even how to divide an inheritance? I will present an optimization-driven approach that draws on ideas from AI, theoretical computer science, and economic theory, and illustrate it through my research in computational social choice and computational fair division. In both areas, I will make a special effort to demonstrate how fundamental theoretical questions underlie the design and implementation of deployed services that are already used by tens of thousands of people (spliddit.org), as well as upcoming services (robovote.org).

    Biography: Nisarg Shah is a Ph.D. candidate in the Computer Science Department at Carnegie Mellon University, advised by Ariel Procaccia. His broad research agenda in algorithmic economics includes topics such as computational social choice, fair division, game theory (both cooperative and noncooperative), and prediction markets. He focuses on designing theoretically grounded methods that have practical implications. Shah is the winner of the 2013-2014 Hima and Jive Graduate Fellowship and the 2014-2015 Facebook Fellowship.

    Host: CS Department

    More Info: https://bluejeans.com/246853239

    Location: Henry Salvatori Computer Science Center (SAL) - 101

    Audiences: Everyone Is Invited

    Contact: Assistant to CS chair

    Event Link: https://bluejeans.com/246853239

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