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Events for March 31, 2015
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CS Colloquium: Rong Ge (Microsoft Research) - Towards Provable and Practical Machine Learning
Tue, Mar 31, 2015 @ 09:45 AM - 10:50 AM
Thomas Lord Department of Computer Science
Conferences, Lectures, & Seminars
Speaker: Rong Ge, Microsoft Research
Talk Title: Towards Provable and Practical Machine Learning
Series: CS Colloquium
Abstract: Many problems --- especially machine learning problems like sparse coding or topic modeling --- are hard in the worst-case, but nevertheless solved in practice by algorithms whose convergence properties are not understood. In this talk I will show how we can identify natural properties of "real-life" instances that allow us to design scalable algorithms for a host of well-known machine learning problems. Most of the talk will be focused on the sparse coding problem: a basic task in many fields including signal processing, neuroscience and machine learning where the goal is to learn a basis that enables a sparse representation of a given set of data, if one exists. Here we give a general framework for understanding alternating minimization which we leverage to analyze existing heuristics and to design new ones also with provable guarantees.
The lecture will be available to stream Here
Biography: Rong Ge obtained his Ph.D. at Princeton University, advised by Sanjeev Arora. Currently he is a post-doctoral researcher at Microsoft Research, New England. He is broadly interested in theoretical computer science and machine learning, especially applying algorithm design and analysis techniques to machine learning problems. The key thread running through his work is to identify natural properties of "real-life" instances that allow him to design scalable algorithms for several interesting machine learning problems including topic modeling and sparse coding.
Host: Computer Science Department
More Info: https://bluejeans.com/651721928
Location: Olin Hall of Engineering (OHE) - 132
Audiences: Everyone Is Invited
Contact: Assistant to CS chair
Event Link: https://bluejeans.com/651721928
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Epstein Institute / ISE 651 Seminar Series
Tue, Mar 31, 2015 @ 03:30 PM - 04:50 PM
Daniel J. Epstein Department of Industrial and Systems Engineering
Conferences, Lectures, & Seminars
Speaker: Dr. Soomin Lee, Postdoctoral Associate, Mechanical Engineering and Materials Science, Duke University
Talk Title: Decentralized Optimization for Network Systems
Series: Epstein Institute Seminar Series
Abstract:
We witness a growing interest in distributed multi-agent systems. The Internet, electric power systems, mobile communication networks, and social networks are just a few examples of the myriad network systems that have become a part of everyday life for many people. Lots of interesting optimization problems arise in such network systems. The agents on these networks are geographically distributed, so there is no data fusion center that can see the problem as a whole, gather the information globally, or synchronize actions. Furthermore, the network agents might have varying restrictions on energy, data storage and computational capabilities. In this talk, I will present efficient static and online decentralized optimization algorithms for such systems that allow the network agents to achieve provable consensus to the global optimum. Applications of the algorithms in various engineering disciplines, future vision and possible extension of this work will be discussed as well.
Biography: Dr. Soomin Lee is currently working as a Postdoctoral Associate in Mechanical Engineering and Materials Science at Duke University. She received her Ph.D. in Electrical and Computer Engineering from the University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign (2013). She received two master's degrees from the Korea Advanced Institute of Science and Technology in Electrical Engineering, and from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign in Computer Science. In 2009, she was an assistant research officer at the Advanced Digital Science Center (ADSC) in Singapore. Her research interests include theoretical optimization, control and optimization of various distributed engineering systems interconnected over complex networks, risk-averse modeling of multiagent robotic systems under dynamically changing and uncertain environments.
More Information: Seminar-Lee_Soomin.docx
Location: Ethel Percy Andrus Gerontology Center (GER) - 206
Audiences: Everyone Is Invited
Contact: Georgia Lum
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Society of Women Engineers 7th General Meeting
Tue, Mar 31, 2015 @ 06:30 PM - 08:00 PM
Viterbi School of Engineering Student Organizations
Student Activity
Please check out the SWE USC facebook page for more event details!
Audiences: Everyone Is Invited
Contact: Society of Women Engineers Society of Women Engineers
