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Events for April 05, 2007
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Beauty and the Beast: A Symposium on Stalin and the Arts
Thu, Apr 05, 2007 @ 10:00 AM - 06:00 PM
USC Viterbi School of Engineering
Receptions & Special Events
The symposium will focus on how culture practiced under a political dictatorship suffers and declines as a result of ideological interference. The symposium will also touch upon the counter argument, i.e., that occasionally ideological interference may bring inspiration and aesthetic benefit. In order to support the two suppositions, speakers will follow two avenues of inquiry: one indicating the detrimental result of political dictatorship upon the arts; the other indicating that institutions such as censorship and ideological imposition may not always interfere with aesthetic progress and may even generate original works of art. For a more detailed schedule of the event, please visit:
http://www.usc.edu/webapps/events_calendar/custom/113/index.php?category=Item&item=0.861441&active_category=DayLocation: Leavey Library Auditorium
Audiences: Everyone Is Invited
Contact: Daria Yudacufski
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Organic Pollutant Transformations in the Natural Environment and in Engineered Processes
Thu, Apr 05, 2007 @ 02:15 PM - 03:15 PM
Sonny Astani Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering
Conferences, Lectures, & Seminars
Speaker:Inez Hua, Ph.D.,
Purdue University,
School of Civil Engineering,AbstractThis seminar will focus on two major themes: the abiotic, environmental transformation
of emerging contaminants, and the accelerated destruction of water pollutants via engineered
photochemical reactors. Photolysis and free-radical reaction mechanisms are the scientific basis
for each theme.The first research topic is part of a multi-disciplinary project focused on an emergingcategory of pollutants, the brominated flame retardants (BFRs). Certain BFRs have been widely detected in the environment, in wildlife, and in people. Photochemical reaction of BFRs provides an abiotic transformation mechanism in the environment, and the process occurs under a variety of conditions. Data will be presented which demonstrates the photolytic debromination of BFRs when the compounds are irradiated with either artificial or natural sunlight. The decomposition kinetics and products, and the quantum yield (for selected wavelengths of natural sunlight) will be discussed. The BFRs were either dissolved or adsorbed to mineral surfaces during irradiation. Complementing the research on environmental fate of BFRs is additional work that quantifies the inventory of BFRs in existing products (including electronics). We also investigate the potential pathways of BFRs to the environment from products and materials during their manufacture, use, recycle or disposal. The second research theme is focused on water pollution control. Critical infrastructure in the United States includes the water sector, and it is necessary to develop and optimize technologies that remove or destroy a range of known and potential water contaminants. The aim of this project is to explore the effectiveness of photochemical oxidation in destroying chemical threat agents. The destruction of nicotine and several organophosphate compounds has been investigated. The reaction kinetics and mechanism for each compound will be discussed. Also, the results of a process optimization study will be reported; a central composite Design of Experiments (DOE) was completed to provide quantitative information for optimizing the destruction of nicotine and phosphamidon.
Location: Kaprielian Hall (KAP) - rielian Hall, 203
Audiences: Everyone Is Invited
Contact: Evangeline Reyes
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Thoughts on Mixing for EXIT Charts
Thu, Apr 05, 2007 @ 03:30 PM - 04:30 PM
Ming Hsieh Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering
Conferences, Lectures, & Seminars
SPEAKER: Dr. Jossy Sayir, Telecommunications Research Center (FTW)ABSTRACT: EXIT charts and density evolution are two analysis techniques
to predict the peformance of iterative algorithms. EXIT charts
track the evolution of the average bitwise mutual information,
while density evolution tracks the evolution of the average
message distributions. In this talk, I will investigate the
difference between averaging mutual informations and averaging
distributions. A recent paper by Lechner, Kramer and Pedersen
shows that for messages that satisfy the symmetry condition
(e.g., Log-Likelihood Ratios), averaging distributions or
mutual informations are equivalent. For sub-optimal algorithms
(e.g., min-sum, Gallager A&B, etc.), where messages do not satisfy
the symmetry condition, they suggest a modification of EXIT chart
analysis that averages distributions in order to get the correct
prediction. We show that this does not necessarily yield the
correct prediction in all cases, and propose an alternative method
based on averaging mutual informations that does.This is joint work with Ingmar Land.BIO: Dr. Jossy Sayir received his Dipl. El.-Ing. degree from the ETH Zurich
in 1991. From 1991 to 1993, he worked as a development engineer for
Motorola Communications in Tel Aviv, Israel, contributing to the
design of a digital mobile radio system. He returned to ETH from 1993
to 1999, getting his PhD in 1999 under the supervision of Prof. J.L. Massey.
His thesis "On Coding by Probability Transformation" covered topics in
data compression, joint source-channel coding using arithmetic
codes, and capacity computation algorithms. Since 2000, he
has been employed at the Telecommunications Research Center (FTW) in
Vienna, Austria, as a senior researcher. His research interests
include iterative decoding methods, sub-optimal and quantized decoders,
and wireless ad hoc and sensor networks. Since July 2002, he manages
part of the strategic research activities at FTW and supervises a group
of researchers. He has taught courses on Turbo and related codes at
Vienna University of Technology, at the University of Aalborg,
Denmark, and at the University of Adelaide, Australia. He has served on
the organization committees of several international conferences and
workshops. In his spare time, he loves to cook, and plays the alto saxophone
in various jazz ensembles.HOST: Giuseppe Caire, caire@usc.edu
Location: Hughes Aircraft Electrical Engineering Center (EEB) - -248
Audiences: Everyone Is Invited
Contact: Mayumi Thrasher
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Bekey Keynote Speaker
Thu, Apr 05, 2007 @ 03:30 PM - 05:00 PM
Thomas Lord Department of Computer Science
Conferences, Lectures, & Seminars
Ed LazowskaBill & Melinda Gates Chair
in Computer Science & Engineering University of WashingtonTitle: Computer Science: Past, Present, and FutureAbstract:The National Science Foundation has created the Computing Community Consortium to engage computing researchers in an ongoing process of visioning - of imagining what we might contribute to the world, in terms that we and the world might both appreciate.This process is just beginning, and I'd like to take this opportunity to engage you. The next ten years of advances in computer science should be far more significant, and far more interesting, than the past ten. I will review the progress that our field has made, and I will present a number of "grand challenge" problems that we should be prepared to tackle in the coming decade. I'll invite your contributions.Biography:Ed Lazowska holds the Bill & Melinda Gates Chair in Computer Science & Engineering at the University of Washington, where he has been on the faculty since 1977. Lazowska's research and teaching concern the design, implementation, and analysis of high performance computing and communication systems. He is a Member of the National Academy of Engineering, and a Fellow of the American Academy of Arts & Sciences, ACM, IEEE, and AAAS. He has chaired the NSF CISE Advisory Committee, the DARPA Information Science and Technology (ISAT) Study Group, and the Computing Research Association Board of Directors. He has been an advisor to Microsoft Research since its inception in 1991, and serves as a board member or technical advisor to a number of high-tech companies and venture firms.Location: Ethel Percy Andrus Gerontology Center (GER) - Auditorium
Audiences: Everyone Is Invited
Contact: Nancy Levien
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SHOWCASE Ceremony & Celebration
Thu, Apr 05, 2007 @ 06:00 PM - 08:00 PM
Viterbi School of Engineering Student Affairs
University Calendar
Join us as we honor all of the undergraduate students & faculty who participated in SHOWCASE and announce the winners from the different categories!For more information on SHOWCASE visit the website.
http://viterbi.usc.edu/kiuelLocation: Ronald Tutor Hall of Engineering (RTH) - Patio
Audiences: Undergraduate Students & Faculty
Contact: Viterbi Student Affairs
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Did the Trojan War Really Happen
Thu, Apr 05, 2007 @ 07:00 PM
USC Viterbi School of Engineering
Conferences, Lectures, & Seminars
How much of this fabled conflict is true and how much is myth? Acclaimed ancient-military historian Barry Strauss describes recent archaeological research that shows that the war probably did happen. But it was a different kind of war than we usually imagine: more foreign, but, in some ways, all too familiar. Barry Strauss is well-noted author and professor of history and classics at Cornell University
Location: Annenberg Auditorium
Audiences: Everyone Is Invited
Contact: Daria Yudacufski
