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Events for April 07, 2011
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Petroleum Engineer Seminar
Thu, Apr 07, 2011 @ 12:45 PM - 01:30 PM
Mork Family Department of Chemical Engineering and Materials Science
Conferences, Lectures, & Seminars
Speaker: Dr. Behnam Jafarpour, Texas A & M University
Talk Title: Feature Based Reservoir Descriptions for Improved Dynamic Data Integration
Abstract: Subsurface systems pose some of the most challenging characterization and modeling problems in science and engineering with significant hydrological, environmental, and energy security implications. The main uncertainties in characterizing these systems arise from the lack of convenient access to deep geologic formations, the multiscale heterogeneity in rock physical properties, and the complex interactions between fluids and porous rocks over a wide range of temporal and spatial scales. Consequently, significant uncertainty is introduced into modeling and prediction of the related flow and transport processes, complicating the development of subsurface energy and natural resources. Calibration of prior reservoir models through integration of dynamic flow data is an important mechanism for reducing flow modeling and prediction uncertainties. In this talk, I will discuss the advantages of posing the dynamic flow data integration as a geologic feature estimation problem. The fundamental premise of the proposed methodology is that subsurface property distributions often form connected patterns (features) that exhibit strong spatial correlations. The most salient features in the description of these correlated flow properties are amenable to sparse (or compact) representations in properly designed geologic domains (i.e., geologic dictionaries), which motivates the need for a feature estimation problem formulation. In addition, flow data often have low-resolution content and do not allow for reliable reconstruction of high resolution models. A geologic feature estimation framework is also useful for reconciling model and data resolutions during data integration. By combining advanced computational and mathematical tools with physical insight from the intrinsic properties of geologic formations and fluid flow data, integration of flow data into reservoir models can be more consistently posed as a feature estimation problem. Using several numerical experiments, I will demonstrate how the proposed geologically-inspired feature estimation framework leads to a more robust (against prior uncertainty) and geologically consistent method for solving large-scale subsurface characterization inverse problems.
Host: Mork Family Dept. , Petroleum Eng. Program
Location: Ronald Tutor Hall of Engineering (RTH) - 324
Audiences: Everyone Is Invited
Contact: Takimoto Idania
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CS Colloquium
Thu, Apr 07, 2011 @ 03:30 PM - 01:00 PM
Thomas Lord Department of Computer Science
Conferences, Lectures, & Seminars
Speaker: Satyen Kale, Yahoo! Research
Talk Title: Efficient Online Decision-Making and Applications to Semidefinite Programming
Abstract: Decision-making in the face of uncertainty over future outcomes is a fundamental algorithmic task, with roots in statistics and information theory, and applications in machine learning, signal processing, network routing and finance. The framework of regret minimization captures the notion of competitive online decision-making algorithms. Such algorithms are very effective for optimizing in settings where the environment is changing or just too large-scale for traditional optimization methods.
Semidefinite programming (SDP) is a widely used convex optimization technique today in operations research and computer science. The running time of SDP solvers can be quite high however. In this talk I will describe a new algorithm for online decision-making over the space of positive-semidefinite matrices. This algorithm, dubbed Matrix Multiplicative Weights, yields a general, combinatorial, primal-dual method for designing efficient algorithms for SDP. This method yields algorithms with the best known running time bounds for several graph partitioning and constraint satisfaction problems. The Matrix Multiplicative Weights algorithm also has numerous other applications in machine learning, derandomization and quantum computing which I will mention briefly.
This is joint work with Sanjeev Arora.
Biography: Satyen Kale is a postdoctoral scientist at Yahoo! Research working on algorithms for fundamental problems in Machine Learning and Optimization. His main research interests are decision making under uncertainty, statistical learning theory, combinatorial optimization, convex optimization, and more recently, algorithmic game theory. Previously, he was a postdoc at Microsoft Research New England, Cambridge, MA. In 2007, he completed his Ph.D. in the department of Computer Science at Princeton University, under the supervision of Prof. Sanjeev Arora. He completed his B.Tech in Computer Science at the Indian Institute of Technology, Bombay in 2002.
Host: Prof. Yan Liu
Location: Seaver Science Library (SSL) - 150
Audiences: Everyone Is Invited
Contact: Kanak Agrawal
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Tau Beta Pi Brinner at Jacks n Joe
Thu, Apr 07, 2011 @ 06:30 PM - 08:30 PM
Viterbi School of Engineering Student Organizations
Student Activity
Old and New Tau Bates will have breakfast during dinner at Jacks n Joe to mingle and learn more about each other. Meet at the Finger Fountain. This is a social event and is worth 1 point.
Audiences: Everyone Is Invited
Contact: Tau Beta Pi
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Student Voices: Shaping the Conversation about Genocide and Human Rights
Thu, Apr 07, 2011 @ 07:00 PM - 09:00 PM
USC Viterbi School of Engineering
Receptions & Special Events
Admission is free.
USC students will help shape the conversation about genocide and human rights by creating short films using video testimony from the USC Shoah Foundation Instituteâs Visual History Archive. In the fall semester, students will participate in a competition (see details below) to make films exploring such issues as discrimination and violence, responses to genocide and the role of videotaped eyewitness accounts. This event will showcase the student works and include an announcement of the competition winners. Following the screening, students will participate in a discussion about the use of eyewitness testimony in raising awareness about genocide and human rights with Holocaust survivor and Academy Awardâwinning producer Branko Lustig (Schindlerâs List, Gladiator) and faculty from the USC School of Cinematic Arts.
Organized by the USC Shoah Foundation Institute. Co-sponsored by the Institute for Multimedia Literacy, the School of Cinematic Arts and the Levan Institute for Humanities and Ethics.
For further information on this event:
visionsandvoices@usc.eduLocation: The Ray Stark Family Theatre, School of Cinematic Arts 108
Audiences: Everyone Is Invited
Contact: Daria Yudacufski
