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Events for April 03, 2014
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Six Sigma Black BeltThu, Apr 03, 2014 @ 09:00 AM - 05:00 PM
Executive Education
Conferences, Lectures, & Seminars
Speaker: TBA,
Talk Title: Six Sigma Black Belt
Abstract: Course Overview
This course teaches you the advanced problem-solving skills you'll need in order to measure a process, analyze the results, develop process improvements and quantify the resulting savings. Project assignments between sessions require you to apply what you've learned. This course is presented in the classroom in three five-day sessions over a three-month period.
Learn the advanced problem-solving skills you need to implement the principles, practices and techniques of Six Sigma to maximize performance and cost reductions in your organization. During this three-week practitioner course, you will learn how to measure a process, analyze the results, develop process improvements and quantify the resulting savings. You will be required to complete a project demonstrating mastery of appropriate analytical methods and pass an examination to earn IIE's Six Sigma Black Belt Certificate.This practitioner course for Six Sigma implementation provides extensive coverage of the Six Sigma process as well as intensive exposure to the key analytical tools associated with Six Sigma, including project management, team skills, cost analysis, FMEA, basic statistics, inferential statistics, sampling, goodness of fit testing, regression and correlation analysis, reliability, design of experiments, statistical process control, measurement systems analysis and simulation. Computer applications are emphasized.
NOTE: Participants must bring a laptop computer running Microsoft Office to the seminar.
Course Topics
* Business process management
* Computer applications
* Design of experiments (DOE)
* Design for Six Sigma (DFSS)
* DMAIIC
* Enterprisewide deployment
* Lean enterprise
* Project management
* Regression and correlation modeling
* Statistical methods and sampling
* Statistical process control
* Team processes
Benefits
Upon completion of this course, you will be able to:
* Analyze process data using comprehensive statistical methods
* Control the process to assure that improvements are used and the benefits verified
* Define an opportunity for improving customer satisfaction
* Implement the recommended improvements
* Improve existing processes by reducing variation
* Measure process characteristics that are critical to quality
Who Should Attend
* VPs, COOs, CEOs
* Employees new to a managerial position
* Employees preparing to make the transition to managerial roles
* Current managers wanting to hone leadership skills
* Anyone interested in implementing Lean or Six Sigma in their organization
Program Fees
On-Campus Participants: $7,245
Includes continental breakfasts, lunch and all course materials. The fee does not include hotel accommodations or transportation.
Online Participant with Live Session Interactivity: $7,245
Includes attendee access codes for live call-in or chat capabilities during class sessions. Also includes all course and lecture materials available for live stream or download.
Reduced Pricing:
Institute of Industrial Engineers (IIE): Reduced pricing is available for members of IIE. Please contact professional@gapp.usc.edu for further information.
Trojan Family: USC alumni, current students, faculty, and staff receive 10% reduced pricing on registration.
Boeing: Boeing employees receive 20% off registration fees (please use Boeing email address when registering).
Location
Two course delivery options are available for participants, on-campus and online with interactivity:
On-Campus Course is held in state-of-the-art facilities on the University of Southern California campus, located in downtown Los Angeles. Participants attending on-campus will have the option to commute to the course or stay at one of the many hotels located in the area. For travel information, please visit our Travel section.
Overview of on-campus option:
* The ability to interact with faculty and peers in-person.
* Access to hard copy course materials.
* Ability to logon and view archived course information - up to 7 days after the course has been offered. This includes course documents and streaming video of the lectures.
* If there is a conflict during any on-campus course dates, on-campus participants can elect to be an online/interactive student.
* Parking, refreshments and lunch are provided for on-campus participants unless otherwise specified.
Online (Interactivity) Course delivery is completely online and real-time, enabling interaction with the instructor and fellow participants. Participants have the flexibility of completing the course from a distance utilizing USC's Distance Education Network technology. Students are required to be online for the entirety of each day's session.
Overview of online (interactive):
* Virtually participate in the course live with the ability to either ask questions or chat questions to the entire class.
* WebEx technologies provide the option to call into the class and view the entire lecture/materials on a personal computer, or to participate on a computer without having to utilize a phone line.
* Ability to logon and view archived course information up to 7 days after the course has been offered. This includes course documents and streaming video of the lectures.
Continuing Education Units
CEUs: 10.5 (CEUs provided by request only)
USC Viterbi School of Engineering Certificate of Participation is awarded to all participants upon successful completion of course.
Upon completion, participants will also receive their Institute of Industrial Engineers certification in Six Sigma Black Belt.
Host: Corporate and Professional Programs
More Info: http://gapp.usc.edu/professional-programs/short-courses/industrial%26systems/six-sigma-black-belt
Audiences: Registered Attendees
Contact: Viterbi Professional Programs
Event Link: http://gapp.usc.edu/professional-programs/short-courses/industrial%26systems/six-sigma-black-belt
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Astani CEE Department Seminar
Thu, Apr 03, 2014 @ 10:00 AM - 11:00 PM
Sonny Astani Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering
Conferences, Lectures, & Seminars
Speaker: Tom Hennebel , University of California, Berkeley
Talk Title: Biogenic nanoparticles: the Holy Grail in wastewater treatment?
Abstract: During the last decades there has been a considerable expansion in the use of precious metals in medicine, electronics, and catalysis. Among the precious metals, platinum group metals (PGMs) have demonstrated their ability to serve as highly efficient catalysts and are currently being widely applied in the fields aforementioned. Their limited supply, however, has caused extreme price volatility ($ 26,000 per kg Pd in January 2014). Therefore, recovery of PGMs from waste streams is highly desired and presents an interesting opportunity to convert waste into valuable products. One of the options to reclaim precious metals from wastewaters, e.g. originating from the mining or refining industries, is the application of bio-metallurgical processes. New biological inspired methods were recently developed to recover precious metals from waste streams while concomitantly producing biogenic nanoparticles. The first part of the presentation aims to give an overview of the bacterial mechanisms responsible for these bioreductive depositions. Furthermore, the applicability and efficiency of these biogenically created nanoparticles will be compared as alternatives to currently applied (physico-)chemical techniques.
The subsequent part of the presentation will focus on the application side of these nanoparticles. The effective performance of biogenic nanoparticles as catalysts in dehalogenation reactions, as well as in hydrogenation and reduction reactions, will be discussed. Dehalogenation of environmental water contaminants represents a promising market for application of biogenic Pd nanoparticles (bio-Pd), therefore, several treatment technologies based on bio-Pd are considered for various environmental disciples. Finally, the perspectives for implementation of the bio-Pd technology and innovative applications, such as C-C coupling reactions and direct hydrogen peroxide production, are set forward.
Biography: Dr. Tom Hennebel is a current postdoctoral researcher working for David Sedlak at the University of California, Berkeley. He obtained his Bachelor's degree in bio-engineering at the University of Antwerp, Belgium followed by his Master's degree and Doctorate in bio-engineering at Ghent University, Belgium under the supervision of Willy Verstraete. Subsequently, he began his postdoctoral research on bio-electrochemical systems with Korneel Rabaey before joining David Sedlak's research group at Berkeley.
His research interests include 1) removal and recovery of metals from waste streams using bio-metallurgy 2) wastewater treatment using biogenic nanoparticles as catalysts and 3) microbial electrochemical technology for metal recovery and contaminant removal.
Host: Astani CEE Department
Location: Kaprielian Hall (KAP) - 209
Audiences: Everyone Is Invited
Contact: Cassie Cremeans
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PhD Defense - Rong Yang
Thu, Apr 03, 2014 @ 10:00 AM - 12:00 PM
Thomas Lord Department of Computer Science
University Calendar
PhD Candidate: Rong Yang
Title: Addressing Human Decision Making in Security Games: Models and Algorithms
Committee:
Milind Tambe (chair)
Fernando Ordornez
Rajiv Maheswaran
Johnathan Gratch
Richard John (outside member)
Vincent Conitzer (Duke)
Abstract:
Security is a world-wide concern in a diverse set of settings, such as protecting ports, airport and other critical infrastructures, interdicting the illegal flow of drugs, weapons and money, preventing illegal poaching/hunting of endangered species and fish, suppressing crime in urban areas and securing cyberspace. Unfortunately, with limited security resources, not all the potential targets can be protected at all times. Game-theoretic approaches â in the form of ”security games” â have recently gained significant interest from researchers as a tool for analyzing real-world security resource allocation problems leading to multiple deployed systems in day-to-day use to enhance security of US ports, airports and transportation infrastructure. One of the key challenges that remains open in enhancing current security game applications and enabling new ones originates from the perfect rationality assumption of the adversaries â an assumption may not hold in the real world due to the bounded rationality of human adversaries and hence could potentially reduce the effectiveness of solutions offered.
My thesis focuses on addressing the human decision-making in security games. It seeks to bridge the gap between two important sub-fields in game theory: algorithmic game theory and behavioral game theory. The former focuses on efficient computation of equilibrium solution concepts, and the latter develops models to predict the behaviors of human players in various game settings. More specifically, I provide: (i) the answer to the question of which of the existing models best represents the salient features of the security problems, by empirically exploring different human behavioral models from the literature; (ii) algorithms to efficiently compute the resource allocation strategies for the security agencies considering these new models of the adversaries; (iii) real-world deployed systems that range from security of ports to wildlife security.
Location: Henry Salvatori Computer Science Center (SAL) - 126
Audiences: Everyone Is Invited
Contact: Lizsl De Leon
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EE Seminar: Robust System Design
Thu, Apr 03, 2014 @ 10:30 AM - 12:00 PM
Ming Hsieh Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering
Conferences, Lectures, & Seminars
Speaker: Dr. Yanjing Li, Research Scientist, Intel Labs
Talk Title: Robust System Design
Abstract: Malfunctions in electronic systems can have major consequences ranging from loss of data and services, to financial
and productivity losses, or even loss of human life. Such impacts continue to increase as systems become more
complex, interconnected, and pervasive. Hardware failures are especially a growing concern because:
1. Existing test and validation methods barely cope with today’s complexity. New techniques will be essential to
minimize the effects of defects and design flaws.
2. For coming generations of silicon technologies, several failure mechanisms that were largely benign in the
past are now becoming visible at the system level. A large class of future systems will require tolerance of hardware
errors during their operation.
Robust system design is required to ensure that future electronic systems, from supercomputers all the way to
embedded systems, perform correctly despite rising levels of complexity and disturbances. Traditional fault‐tolerant
computing techniques are generally very expensive, and often inadequate, for this purpose. I will present two
techniques that are essential for robust system design:
1. A new online self‐test and diagnostics technique, called CASP, which enables a system to test itself thoroughly
during normal operation to quickly detect and localize hardware failures. CASP is very thorough with respect to a
wide variety of test coverage metrics (96‐99.5%) while incurring only 1% area and power costs, and 3% performance
cost. In contrast, existing techniques suffer from low coverage (e.g., 70%), high area costs (e.g., 20%), or significant
performance penalties (e.g., 30%) including possible system unresponsiveness.
2. A new self‐repair technique to keep the system functioning correctly even in the presence of hardware failures.
Unlike naïve redundancy with very high (20%) area costs, this technique enables thorough self‐repair with only 7.5%
area impact, 3% power impact, and 0‐5% performance impact.
A key aspect of the approach to these techniques is the orchestration across multiple abstraction layers: physical
design, architecture, and system software. I will demonstrate the effectiveness and practicality of these techniques
using results from the industrial OpenSPARC T2 multi‐core design and the Intel Core i7 hardware platform. I will also
share recent experiences in implementing these techniques in the latest Intel designs.
Biography: Yanjing Li is a research scientist at Intel Labs and a visiting scholar at Stanford University. She received her Ph.D. in
Electrical Engineering from Stanford University. Her research interests include robust system design, energy‐efficient
systems, system validation and test, computer architecture, and system software. Dr. Li received the European Design
and Automation Association Outstanding Dissertation Award, the IEEE International Test Conference Best Student
Paper Award, and the IEEE VLSI Test Symposium Best Paper Award for novel research on robust system design, and
two Intel Divisional Recognition Awards for mobile processor designs that are being adopted by product groups at
Intel.
Host: Professor Murali Annavaram
Location: Hughes Aircraft Electrical Engineering Center (EEB) - 248
Audiences: Everyone Is Invited
Contact: Janice Thompson
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Lyman L. Handy Colloquia: The Design of Nanoscale Therapeutics and Nanostructured Materials
Thu, Apr 03, 2014 @ 12:45 PM - 01:50 PM
Mork Family Department of Chemical Engineering and Materials Science
Conferences, Lectures, & Seminars
Speaker: Ravi Kane,
Talk Title: The Design of Nanoscale Therapeutics and Nanostructured Materials
Series: Lyman L. Handy Colloquia
Host: Prof. Gupta
Location: James H. Zumberge Hall Of Science (ZHS) - 159
Audiences: Everyone Is Invited
Contact: Ryan Choi
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EE-EP Seminar - Sam Emaminejad
Thu, Apr 03, 2014 @ 02:00 PM - 03:30 PM
Ming Hsieh Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering
Conferences, Lectures, & Seminars
Speaker: Sam Emaminejad, Stanford University
Talk Title: Detection and Actuation at Micro- and Nanoscales: Emerging Biomarker Sensors for Personalized Medicine
Abstract: Personalized medicine is transforming the field of clinical diagnosis. Unlike traditional diagnostic methods that have been reactive and dependent on patient’s apparent symptoms, personalized medicine relies on biomarkers to provide predictive and preemptive care with customized and more effective drug and therapy selection. Informative biomarkers include genes, proteins, and cells whose abundance in human samples are indicative of patient health. Detection of such micro- and nanoscale biomarkers requires biosensors that are equipped with actuation and sensing capabilities at length scales comparable to the size of these bioparticles. To this end, we exploit advanced micro- and nanofabrication techniques and combine high throughput microfluidic and electronic technologies to develop low-cost integrated biosensors geared toward point-of-care diagnostic applications.
In this talk, I will discuss parameters such as multiplexing, sensitivity, and specificity that govern the performance of biosensors. In relation to these parameters, I will present three platforms in which we have demonstrated actuation and sensing of bioparticles on both the micro- and nanoscales, using novel electronic solutions that enable point-of-care diagnosis. The first platform is a multiplexed protein detection system that is realized through enhancing dielectrophoresis force by two orders of magnitude to overcome protein-protein interactions. Next, we will demonstrate a novel contactless impedance sensing scheme to perform low-cost cytometry in whole blood. In the third platform, we will present a sample preparation system for delivery of proteins, with controlled orientation, purified from a complex biological sample to the surface of a quantum tunneling-based biosensor. I will conclude my talk with a discussion of future research directions which prelude my long term vision of developing wearable diagnostic devices for real-time biomarker monitoring.
Biography: Sam Emaminejad received his BASc (2009) and MS (2011) degrees in Electrical Engineering from the University of Waterloo and Stanford University, respectively. He is currently pursuing his PhD in Electrical Engineering at Stanford University, where he is working toward his thesis at the Stanford Genome Technology Center and Stanford School of Medicine. His research is focused on exploiting micro- and nanotechnologies to develop low-cost and integrated biosensing and bioeletronics platforms for personalized medicine applications. Sam has previously worked as an ASIC and Analog Designer in semiconductor companies such as STMicroelectronics and Analog Devices. Sam was awarded Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council (NSERC) scholarship and was the recipient of Best Paper Award at the IEEE Sensors conference in 2013.
Host: EE-Electrophysics
Location: Hughes Aircraft Electrical Engineering Center (EEB) - 132
Audiences: Everyone Is Invited
Contact: Marilyn Poplawski
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Altering American Consciousness: Alcohol, Drug Use and American Medicine
Thu, Apr 03, 2014 @ 04:00 PM - 06:00 PM
USC Viterbi School of Engineering
University Calendar
RSVP TO: http://web-app.usc.edu/ws/eo2/calendar/113/event/903808
As part of the Medical Humanities, Arts and Ethics Series, which engages core health issues in society today, we will present an afternoon with Sarah W. Tracy, author of Alcoholism in America from Reconstruction to Prohibition and co-editor of Altering American Consciousness: The History of Alcohol and Drug Use in the United States, 1800-2000. Tracy earned her doctorate in the history and sociology of science from the University of Pennsylvania. Before joining the Honors College at the University of Oklahoma, she taught at the universities of Delaware, Pennsylvania and Wisconsin and at Yale University. Tracy will discuss the evolving history of addiction, treatment and drug-related policy in the United States, including the significance of the 1914 Harrison Narcotic Act, a tax act that regulated the sale of opiates and cocaine. The Harrison Act effectively banned the prescription of opiates for addiction treatment, permitting their use for only ââ¬Åmedicalââ¬Â purposes. One hundred years later, our nation continues to struggle with the growing problem of addiction to both prescription painkillers and stimulants.
Related Event:
Creativity and the Clinical Imagination
A Lecture by Nick Flynn
Thursday, September 26, 4 p.m.
Mayer Auditorium, Health Sciences Campus
For more info, click here.
Organized by Pamela Schaff (Pediatrics and Keck Educational Affairs), Suraiya Rahman (Pediatrics), Erin Quinn (Family Medicine) and Lyn Boyd-Judson (Levan Institute for Humanities and Ethics). Co-sponsored by the Keck School of Medicineââ¬â¢s Program in Medical Humanities, Arts and Ethics; the USC Pacific Center for Health Policy and Ethics; and the USC Levan Institute for Humanities and Ethics.
For further information on this event:
visionsandvoices@usc.edu
Location: Mayer Auditorium, Health Sciences Campus
Audiences: Everyone Is Invited
Contact: Visions and Voices
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CS Student Colloquium: Zhenzhen Gao - City-Scale Aerial LiDAR Point Cloud Visualization
Thu, Apr 03, 2014 @ 04:00 PM - 05:00 PM
Thomas Lord Department of Computer Science
Conferences, Lectures, & Seminars
Speaker: Zhenzhen Gao, USC
Talk Title: City-Scale Aerial LiDAR Point Cloud Visualization
Series: Student Seminar Series
Abstract: Aerial LiDAR (Light Detection and Ranging) is cost-effective in acquiring terrain and urban information by mounting a downward-scanning laser on a low-flying aircraft. It produces huge volumes of unconnected 3D points. This thesis focuses on the interactive visualization of aerial LiDAR point clouds of cities, which is applicable to a number of areas including virtual tourism, security, land management and urban planning.
A framework needs to address several challenges in order to deliver useful visualizations of aerial LiDAR cities. Firstly, the data is 2.5D, in that the sensor is only able to capture dense details of the surfaces facing it, leaving few samples on vertical building walls. Secondly, the data often suffers from noise and under-sampling. Finally, the large size of the data can easily exceed the memory capacity of a computer system.
This thesis first introduces a visually-complete rendering framework for aerial LiDAR cities. By inferring classification information, building walls and occluded ground areas under tree canopies are completed either through pre-processing point cloud augmentation or through online procedural geometry generation. A multi-resolution out-of-core strategy and GPU-accelerated rendering enable interactive visualization of virtually unlimited size data. With adding only a slight overhead to existing point-based approaches, the framework provides comparable quality to visualizations of off-line pre-computation of 3D polygonal models.
The thesis then presents a scalable out-of-core algorithm for mapping colors from aerial oblique imagery to city-scale aerial LiDAR points. Without intensive processing of points, colors are mapped via a modified visibility pass of GPU splatting, and a weighting scheme leveraging image resolution and surface orientation.
To alleviate visual artifacts caused by noise and under-sampling, the thesis shows an off-line point cloud refinement algorithm. By explicitly regularizing building boundary points, the algorithm can effectively remove noise, fill gaps, and preserve and enhance both normal and position discontinuous features for piece-wise smoothing buildings with arbitrary shape and complexity.
Finally, the thesis introduces a new multi-resolution rendering framework that supports real-time refinement of aerial LiDAR cities. Without complex computation and without user interference, simply based on curvature analysis of points of uniform sized spatial partitions, hierarchical hybrid structures are constructed indicating whether to represent a partition as point or polygon. With the help of such structures, both rendering and refinement are dynamically adaptive to views and curvatures. Compared to visually-complete rendering, the new framework is able to deliver comparable visual quality with less than 8\% increase in pre-processing time and 2-5 times higher rendering frame-rates. Experiments on several cities show that the refinement improves rendering quality for large magnification under real-time constraint.
Host: CS PHD Committee
Location: Henry Salvatori Computer Science Center (SAL) - 101
Audiences: Everyone Is Invited
Contact: Assistant to CS chair
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Pre-Engineering Information Session
Thu, Apr 03, 2014 @ 05:00 PM - 06:00 PM
Viterbi School of Engineering Student Affairs
Workshops & Infosessions
Current USC students interested in changing their major to engineering must attend a Pre-Engineering Information Session as part of the application process. At the session, we will review the application process, the change of major requirements, and important Viterbi programs and services.
Students who attended the Viterbi Academic Expectations and Registration sessions during Orientation do not need to attend a Pre-Engineering workshop.
For questions about the change of major process, please contact either Christine D’Arcy (cdarcy@usc.edu) or Jenny Vazquez-Akim (vazqueza@usc.edu).Location: Ronald Tutor Hall of Engineering (RTH) - 211
Audiences: Undergrad
Contact: Christine D'Arcy
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Spotlight Series: Civil and Environmental Engineering
Thu, Apr 03, 2014 @ 07:00 PM - 08:00 PM
Viterbi School of Engineering Student Affairs
Workshops & Infosessions
Want to learn more about your major or one you're considering? Come hear Alumni discuss the many ways they are using their Computer Science and Computer Engineering degrees!
This is your opportunity to connect with alumni and industry professionals, ask questions about their experiences, and learn about the work they do and the many opportunities for students from each major!
RSVP at:
http://bit.ly/CEspot14/Location: Ronald Tutor Hall of Engineering (RTH) - 211
Audiences: Undergrad
Contact: Viterbi Student Affairs
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An Evening with Aimee Bender
Thu, Apr 03, 2014 @ 07:30 PM - 09:30 PM
USC Viterbi School of Engineering
Conferences, Lectures, & Seminars
Speaker: Aimee Bender, Acclaimed Author and Professor of English at USC
Talk Title: An Evening with Aimee Bender
Series: The Provost's Writers Series
Abstract: RSVP TO: http://web-app.usc.edu/ws/eo2/calendar/113/event/903818
The Provostââ¬â¢s Writers Series highlights the extraordinary talents of USC authors. Throughout the year, Provost Elizabeth Garrett will host four evenings featuring USC faculty, who will read from and discuss their recent publications. The series will provide opportunities for students and the community to engage with USC authors, learn about the incredible diversity of their work and celebrate the written word.
Aimee Bender is a professor of English at USC. Her surreal, playful stories read like modern fairy tales. Bender finds the mythic in the mundane, illuminating contemporary life from unexpected angles. Her stories ââ¬Åintroduce the world to honest, inspiring, brutal and beautiful peopleââ¬Â (MSNBC). In a magical evening, Bender will read from her work and engage in a conversation with Brighde Mullins, director of the Master of Professional Writing Program at USC.
Bender is the author of several books, including the best-selling novel The Particular Sadness of Lemon Cake and the New York Times Notable Book The Girl in the Flammable Skirt. Benderââ¬â¢s latest book, The Color Master, is a collection of short stories. Her short fiction has been published in Granta, Harperââ¬â¢s, The Paris Review, McSweeneyââ¬â¢s, Tin House and other publications, as well as heard on NPRââ¬â¢s This American Life.
Host: Provost Elizabeth Garrett
More Info: http://web-app.usc.edu/ws/eo2/calendar/113/event/903818
Location: Edward L. Doheny Jr. Memorial Library (DML) - Friends of the USC Libraries Lecture Hall
Audiences: Everyone Is Invited
Contact: Visions and Voices
Event Link: http://web-app.usc.edu/ws/eo2/calendar/113/event/903818
