USC - Viterbi School of Engineering

Apr
03

Medical Imaging Informatics
Mon, Apr 03, 2006 @ 12:30 AM - 01:30 AM
Alfred E. Mann Department of Biomedical Engineering
Conferences, Lectures, & Seminars

Brent Liu, PhD, and H.K. Huang, PhD, Departments of Radiology and BME, USC
Location: Olin Hall of Engineering (OHE) - 132
Audiences: Graduate

Contact: Wyatt Adam
Apr
03

Seismic Analysis and Protection of Highway Bridges Including Soil-Structure Interaction I
Mon, Apr 03, 2006 @ 11:00 AM - 11:50 AM
Sonny Astani Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering
Conferences, Lectures, & Seminars

Speaker:
Jian Zhang
Department of Civil Engineering
University of California Los AngelesAbstract: This seminar presents results from my doctoral studies that examine the efficiency of supplemental energy dissipation devices to suppress the seismic response of highway bridges. Recognizing that soil-structure interaction affects appreciably the earthquake response of highway overcrossings, the study concentrates on the development and validation of a simple yet dependable method to estimate the seismic response of freeway overcrossings. Firstly, approximate analytical solutions and finite element results are compared to conclude on a simple procedure that allows for the estimation of the kinematic response functions and dynamic stiffnesses of approach embankments. Secondly, the study proceeds with the validation of a step- by-step analysis procedure through two case studies of instrumented conventional highway bridges. The proposed method adopts the substructure approach where all dynamic stiffnesses of approach embankments and pile groups are approximated with frequency-independent springs and dashpots. Excellent agreement between the simulated and recorded response has been achieved using the proposed procedure. Finally, the proposed procedure is used to analyze the seismic response of a newly constructed freeway overcrossing that is equipped with energy dissipation devices. The nonlinear behavior of columns as well as hysteretic behavior of seismic protection devices (elastomeric bearings and viscous fluid dampers) are included. The emphasis is placed to understand the effect of supplemental damping in association with the ability of the structure to dissipate energy through soil-structure-interaction. It is concluded that the as-built supplemental energy dissipation devices are partially effective in controlling displacement demands for this model bridge when soil-structure-interaction effect is included. In some occasions the bridge with protection devices under performs the bridge with conventional design (i.e. integral abutment). Soil-structure interaction is partially responsible for reducing the efficiency of the protection devices. --------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Location: Kaprielian Hall (KAP) - 203
Audiences: Everyone Is Invited

Contact: Evangeline Reyes
Apr
03

The Non-Technical Side of Managing Technical People
Mon, Apr 03, 2006 @ 01:00 PM - 02:00 PM
Mork Family Department of Chemical Engineering and Materials Science
Conferences, Lectures, & Seminars

Brian Marcotte, a USC Graduate, served as Unocal Vice President of Public Policy- Environmental Health and Safety and as the President of Unocal Indonesia.
Location: Hedco Pertroleum and Chemical Engineering Building (HED) - CO 116
Audiences: Everyone Is Invited

Contact: iraj ershaghi
Apr
04

Viterbi Early Career Chair Lecture Series
Tue, Apr 04, 2006
Integrated Media Systems Center
Conferences, Lectures, & Seminars

Gérard Assayag - Apr4 Demo (OMax+DennisThurmond),
Apr5 Lecture (ComputerAssistedComposition@IRCAM),
Apr6 Workshop (OpenMusic).* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *Gérard AssayagHead, Music Representations Research GroupInstitut de Recherche et Coordination Acoustique/Musique (IRCAM)Directeur de Recherches associé, Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS)More details at: http://www-rcf.usc.edu/~mucoaco/events/200604-assayagPoster: http://www-rcf.usc.edu/~mucoaco/events/200604-assayag/assayag-poster3.pdf* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *TUE, APRIL 4, 12:30PM-1:30PM, MacDonald Recital Hall (formerly MUS106)DEMONSTRATION Improvising with the Computer using OMax, a Statistical Learning EnvironmentFeaturing Dennis Thurmond (+keyboard) & Gérard Assayag (+OMax)OMax, the machine improvization system by Assayag and Chemillier, plays a concert with Dennis Thurmond, director of keyboard pedagogy at the Thornton School. As the digital partner "listens" to, and learns from, the music master, a sort of clone emerges that recombines material extracted from the past, while maintaining stylistic consistency. The performer essentially plays with a distorted self in a "stylistic feed-back" loop.* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *WED, APRIL 5, 2:30PM-4:00PM, GER 309GENERAL LECTUREComputer Assisted Composition at IRCAM: the OpenMusic environmentThis lecture provides a general introduction to computer assisted composition at IRCAM, with a special focus on the OpenMusic (OM) project. OM, a visual programming environment created by Assayag and Agon, was designed at IRCAM to help composers set up programs needed to prepare complex music material structured by rules of their own construction. OM provides the means to describe music processes in a formal, algorithmic, or purely graphical way, allowing composers to model music material both in- and out-of-time, and leading to a renewed concept of a "score" as a dynamic network of interrelated musical components, thus facilitating the generating and testing of new musical ideas. * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *THU, APRIL 6, 2:30PM-4:00PM, GER 309WORKSHOPOpenMusic and OMax under the coverThis workshop will provide a practical introduction to OpenMusic (OM). OM may be used as a general purpose functional/object/visual programming language. At a more specialized level, a set of classes and libraries make it a very convenient environment for music composition. Objects are symbolized by icons, and most operations are performed by drag-and-drop. Numerous examples of classes implementing musical data/behaviour will be provided. These classes are associated with graphical editors, and can be readily extended by the user to meet specific needs. High-level in-time organization of the music material is proposed through the maquette concept. The session concludes with a description of OMax, the machine improvisation system built on OM and Max.* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *GERARD ASSAYAG is currently head of the Music Representation Research
Group at IRCAM (Institut de Recherche et de Coordination
Acoustique/Musique) in Paris, and Directeur de Recherches associC) for
the CNRS (Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique). Born in 1960, he studied computer science, music and linguistics. In 1980, while still a student, he won research awards in "Art and the Computer", a national software contest launched in 1980 by the French Ministry of Research, and another one in the "Concours Micro", a contest in computing in the arts using early micro-computers. In the mid-eighties, he wrote the first IRCAM environment for
score-oriented Computer Assisted Composition. In the mid-nineties he
created, with Carlos Agon, the OpenMusic environment which is
currently used by numerous composers and musicologists around the
world, including at universities and institutions such as
Columbia, Harvard, IRCAM, Conservatoire de Paris, Technischen
Universitat Berlin, University of Wisconsin, University of Cincinnati,
and the Sibelius Academy in Finland. Gérard Assayag is currently in charge of ATIAM, an MS/PhD program in Acoustics, Signal Processing, and Computer Science Applied to Music. ATIAM is co-organized by IRCAM , Universite Pierre et Marie Curie, and Telecom Paris. His research interests center on music representation issues, and include computer language paradigms, machine learning, constraint and visual programming, computational musicology, music modeling, and computer-assisted composition. Gérard Assayag is a founding member of the AFIM (Association
Francaise d'Informatique Musicale), and member of the FWO Society on
Foundations of Music Research. He has organized the "Forum Diderot, Mathématique et Musique" for the European Mathematical Society in 1999 (published as a book by Springer Verlag 2001) as well as several
international computer music conferences, including the Sound and
Music Computing 2004 conference, which included a preceding
international workshop/concert on improvisation with the computer.
Recently, he has participated in the founding of The Journal of
Mathematics and Music project, whose affiliates come from institutions
such as IRCAM, Yale University, and the Eastman School of Music. In recent years, Gerard Assayag has carried out research and
developed software in style modeling and computer improvisation. His
recent papers with his co-authors include "Using Factor Oracles for
Machine Improvisation" in Soft Computing, "Using Machine-Learning
Methods for Musical Style Modeling" in IEEE Computer, and "Computer
Assisted Composition at IRCAM : PatchWork & OpenMusic" in the
Computer Music Journal, and "Mathematics and Music, A Diderot
Mathematical Forum" published by Springer-Verlag, Berlin.* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *Organizer: Elaine Chew, Viterbi Early Career, Assistant Professor of Industrial and Systems EngineeringSupported in part by the Viterbi Early Career Chair Funds, the Integrated Media Systems Center, and the Epstein Department of Industrial and Systems Engineering.For other lectures in the series, please see http://www-rcf.usc.edu/~mucoaco/events/vecc0506.html

Location: See event details
Audiences: Everyone Is Invited

Contact: Elaine Chew
Apr
04

Digital Image Correlation to Evaluate Particle-Scale Deformation in Sand
Tue, Apr 04, 2006 @ 12:00 PM - 12:50 PM
Sonny Astani Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering
Conferences, Lectures, & Seminars

Speaker:Roshanak VarjavandUSC, CE Graduate Student
Location: Kaprielian Hall (KAP) - rielian Hall, Room 203
Audiences: Everyone Is Invited

Contact: Evangeline Reyes
Apr
04

FPGAs: Democratizing System-on-chip Design, Re-defining Digital Systems Design
Tue, Apr 04, 2006 @ 02:00 PM - 03:20 PM
Ming Hsieh Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering
Conferences, Lectures, & Seminars

CENG SEMINAR SERIES"FPGAs: Democratizing system-on-chip design, re-defining digital systems design"Prof. Patrick LysaghtSenior DirectorXilinx Research LabAbstract:FPGAs have established themselves as the third programmable platform after CPUs and DSPs. Originally, they were perceived as low capacity, "glue logic" devices especially well suited for prototyping and low-volume applications. However as FPGA capacities and capabilities have expanded, they are now the preferred platform for most companies who are embarking on system-on-chip (SoC) design. This talk begins with a concise introduction to the capabilities of modern FPGAs and the dynamics of the new industry that they have created. This is followed by an examination of some new directions in research into dynamic reconfiguration, the unique capability of certain FPGA architectures to be partially reconfigured while operational. The representation of FPGA configuration information within the context of a host computer's virtual file system will be introduced and the capabilities and potential of this new metaphor will be discussed.Bio:Patrick Lysaght is a Senior Director in Xilinx Research Labs, whose research interests include reconfigurable computing (especially dynamically reconfigurable systems), embedded systems, system-level modeling and emerging design technologies for FPGAs. Patrick also leads Xilinx's University Program worldwide.Before joining Xilinx, Patrick was a senior lecturer at the University of Strathclyde (Glasgow) and at the Institute for System Level Integration (Livingston, Scotland). He started his career in research and development with Hewlett Packard (Edinburgh) and held a number of technical and marketing positions before joining academia. Patrick holds a BSc (Electronic Systems) from the University of Limerick, Ireland and an MSc degree (Digital Techniques) from Heriot-Watt University in Edinburgh, Scotland. He has co-authored more than forty technical papers and co-edited two books on programmable logic. He is chairman of the steering committee for FPL, the world's largest conference dedicated to field programmable logic.Host: Prof. Viktor Prasanna, Ext. 04483
Location: Olin Hall of Engineering (OHE) - -136
Audiences: Everyone Is Invited

Contact: Rosine Sarafian
Apr
04

Faculty Candidate Lecture
Tue, Apr 04, 2006 @ 02:30 PM - 04:00 PM
Thomas Lord Department of Computer Science
Conferences, Lectures, & Seminars

Modeling and Simulation of Complex Software Processes Ray Madachy
Research Scientist
Computer Science
USCAbstract:Quantitative modeling and simulation can be used to assess and optimize strategies for software development. With today's increasingly dynamic software projects and numerous methodologies to choose from, the ability to understand and reason about complex software processes is even more important. There are many important factors at play requiring a balance of technology, business and people considerations. Through modeling and simulation, the interrelated process factors and feedback effects can be better understood before project implementation. The tradeoffs between cost, schedule, quality and risk can be quantified as well as the conditional effects of combined strategies. In this research, system dynamics is frequently used for modeling software processes in this research. It has complemented existing techniques and opened up new areas of study. System dynamics is a continuous systems modeling approach that provides a rich and integrative framework for capturing myriad process phenomena and their relationships over time. Traditional static modeling cannot capture dynamic feedback loops and complex interacting phenomena such as process methods, resource contention, volatility, schedule pressure, slippages, communication overhead, improvement initiatives, hiring, training, etc. Simulation provides an experimental testbed for project planning, process improvement, corporate strategy and investment analysis, or business case development to improve decision making at all levels. It helps reduce risk and fosters organizational learning by making models explicit in a group setting. It can also be used for training in "flight simulation" mode, since participants can interact with executing models in real-time to see the effects of their decisions. This talk will demonstrate some executable models and summarize example research. One simple illustrative model quantifies the interrelated phenomena in Brooks's Law, demonstrating the conditions under which the law is valid, to what extent, and the essential process tradeoffs. A dynamic model of formal software reviews will also be highlighted, where data from several hundred inspections was used for model formulation and validation. It demonstrates the effects of inspections, management decision policies and can be used to optimize reviews.Business value should be considered when making software process and product decisions, but it is usually difficult to integrate the perspectives quantitatively A fielded simulation model will be described that relates the dynamics between product specifications, investment costs, schedule, software quality practices, market factors and revenue generation. It can be used to determine the appropriate balance of process activities to meet business goals and product criteria. Examples from currently funded research will also be shown. For the U.S. Army, a system dynamics model is being used to assess incremental hybrid processes and support decision-making for a very large system-of-systems. It considers changes due to external volatility and feedback from user-driven change requests, and dynamically re-estimates and allocates resources in response to the volatility. Change deferral policies and team sizes can be experimented with.A simulation tradeoff tool for NASA will be shown that models the dynamic generation and detection of defects. It also estimates effort and efficiency tradeoffs for different defect removal practices per type of defect. It enables different timings and combinations of strategies to be experimented with to optimize V&V processes.Biography:Dr. Ray Madachy is a Research Scientist with the USC Center for Software Engineering and was also an Adjunct Assistant Professor in the Computer Science Dept. Previously he was the Chief Technology Officer at Cost Xpert Group, leading the development of new software cost/schedule models and measurement tools. Before that he was Chief Scientist at C-bridge Institute, where he led consulting and training in software methodologies and economic analysis. Earlier he was Manager of the Software Engineering Process Group at Litton Systems, where he directed efforts to achieve SEI CMM Level 4. He has written over 60 publications in software process modeling, simulation and improvement; cost estimation and software metrics; value-based software engineering; and risk management. He is a co-author of the book Software Cost Estimation with COCOMO II and is completing the book Software Process Dynamics. He has developed several widely-used software engineering tools, including Expert COCOMO (a knowledge-based risk assessment tool in heavy usage on the Internet), several software process dynamics analysis tools, the Litton Process Asset Library used on a daily basis, the web-based C-bridge Cost Calculator and major portions of the Cost Xpert toolset.He has a Ph.D. in Industrial and Systems Engineering from USC, an M.S. in Systems Science from UCSD and a B.S. in Mechanical Engineering from the University of Dayton. He is a senior member of IEEE and in INCOSE, Tau Beta Pi and Pi Tau Sigma. He is a reviewer for several refereed journals, served on conference committees including program chair, and currently serves on the program committees for the International Forum on COCOMO and Software Cost Modeling and the Software Process Workshop.
Location: Hedco Neurosciences Building (HNB) - 107
Audiences: Everyone Is Invited

Contact: Nancy Levien
Apr
04

Faculty Candidate Lecture
Tue, Apr 04, 2006 @ 02:30 PM - 04:00 PM
Thomas Lord Department of Computer Science
Conferences, Lectures, & Seminars

Modeling and Simulation of Complex Software Processes Ray MadachyResearch ScientistComputer ScienceUSCAbstract:Quantitative modeling and simulation can be used to assess and optimize strategies for software development. With today's increasingly dynamic software projects and numerous methodologies to choose from, the ability to understand and reason about complex software processes is even more important. There are many important factors at play requiring a balance of technology, business and people considerations. Through modeling and simulation, the interrelated process factors and feedback effects can be better understood before project implementation. The tradeoffs between cost, schedule, quality and risk can be quantified as well as the conditional effects of combined strategies. In this research, system dynamics is frequently used for modeling software processes in this research. It has complemented existing techniques and opened up new areas of study. System dynamics is a continuous systems modeling approach that provides a rich and integrative framework for capturing myriad process phenomena and their relationships over time. Traditional static modeling cannot capture dynamic feedback loops and complex interacting phenomena such as process methods, resource contention, volatility, schedule pressure, slippages, communication overhead, improvement initiatives, hiring, training, etc. Simulation provides an experimental testbed for project planning, process improvement, corporate strategy and investment analysis, or business case development to improve decision making at all levels. It helps reduce risk and fosters organizational learning by making models explicit in a group setting. It can also be used for training in "flight simulation" mode, since participants can interact with executing models in real-time to see the effects of their decisions. This talk will demonstrate some executable models and summarize example research. One simple illustrative model quantifies the interrelated phenomena in Brooks's Law, demonstrating the conditions under which the law is valid, to what extent, and the essential process tradeoffs. A dynamic model of formal software reviews will also be highlighted, where data from several hundred inspections was used for model formulation and validation. It demonstrates the effects of inspections, management decision policies and can be used to optimize reviews.Business value should be considered when making software process and product decisions, but it is usually difficult to integrate the perspectives quantitatively A fielded simulation model will be described that relates the dynamics between product specifications, investment costs, schedule, software quality practices, market factors and revenue generation. It can be used to determine the appropriate balance of process activities to meet business goals and product criteria. Examples from currently funded research will also be shown. For the U.S. Army, a system dynamics model is being used to assess incremental hybrid processes and support decision-making for a very large system-of-systems. It considers changes due to external volatility and feedback from user-driven change requests, and dynamically re-estimates and allocates resources in response to the volatility. Change deferral policies and team sizes can be experimented with.A simulation tradeoff tool for NASA will be shown that models the dynamic generation and detection of defects. It also estimates effort and efficiency tradeoffs for different defect removal practices per type of defect. It enables different timings and combinations of strategies to be experimented with to optimize V&V processes.Biography:Dr. Ray Madachy is a Research Scientist with the USC Center for Software Engineering and was also an Adjunct Assistant Professor in the Computer Science Dept. Previously he was the Chief Technology Officer at Cost Xpert Group, leading the development of new software cost/schedule models and measurement tools. Before that he was Chief Scientist at C-bridge Institute, where he led consulting and training in software methodologies and economic analysis. Earlier he was Manager of the Software Engineering Process Group at Litton Systems, where he directed efforts to achieve SEI CMM Level 4. He has written over 60 publications in software process modeling, simulation and improvement; cost estimation and software metrics; value-based software engineering; and risk management. He is a co-author of the book Software Cost Estimation with COCOMO II and is completing the book Software Process Dynamics. He has developed several widely-used software engineering tools, including Expert COCOMO (a knowledge-based risk assessment tool in heavy usage on the Internet), several software process dynamics analysis tools, the Litton Process Asset Library used on a daily basis, the web-based C-bridge Cost Calculator and major portions of the Cost Xpert toolset.He has a Ph.D. in Industrial and Systems Engineering from USC, an M.S. in Systems Science from UCSD and a B.S. in Mechanical Engineering from the University of Dayton. He is a senior member of IEEE and in INCOSE, Tau Beta Pi and Pi Tau Sigma. He is a reviewer for several refereed journals, served on conference committees including program chair, and currently serves on the program committees for the International Forum on COCOMO and Software Cost Modeling and the Software Process Workshop.
Location: Hedco Neurosciences Building (HNB) - 107
Audiences: Everyone Is Invited

Contact: Nancy Levien
Apr
05

Viterbi Early Career Chair Lecture Series
Wed, Apr 05, 2006
Integrated Media Systems Center
Conferences, Lectures, & Seminars

Gérard Assayag - Apr4 Demo (OMax+DennisThurmond),
Apr5 Lecture (ComputerAssistedComposition@IRCAM),
Apr6 Workshop (OpenMusic).* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *Gérard AssayagHead, Music Representations Research GroupInstitut de Recherche et Coordination Acoustique/Musique (IRCAM)Directeur de Recherches associé, Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS)More details at: http://www-rcf.usc.edu/~mucoaco/events/200604-assayagPoster: http://www-rcf.usc.edu/~mucoaco/events/200604-assayag/assayag-poster3.pdf* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *TUE, APRIL 4, 12:30PM-1:30PM, MacDonald Recital Hall (formerly MUS106)DEMONSTRATION Improvising with the Computer using OMax, a Statistical Learning EnvironmentFeaturing Dennis Thurmond (+keyboard) & Gérard Assayag (+OMax)OMax, the machine improvization system by Assayag and Chemillier, plays a concert with Dennis Thurmond, director of keyboard pedagogy at the Thornton School. As the digital partner "listens" to, and learns from, the music master, a sort of clone emerges that recombines material extracted from the past, while maintaining stylistic consistency. The performer essentially plays with a distorted self in a "stylistic feed-back" loop.* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *WED, APRIL 5, 2:30PM-4:00PM, GER 309GENERAL LECTUREComputer Assisted Composition at IRCAM: the OpenMusic environmentThis lecture provides a general introduction to computer assisted composition at IRCAM, with a special focus on the OpenMusic (OM) project. OM, a visual programming environment created by Assayag and Agon, was designed at IRCAM to help composers set up programs needed to prepare complex music material structured by rules of their own construction. OM provides the means to describe music processes in a formal, algorithmic, or purely graphical way, allowing composers to model music material both in- and out-of-time, and leading to a renewed concept of a "score" as a dynamic network of interrelated musical components, thus facilitating the generating and testing of new musical ideas. * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *THU, APRIL 6, 2:30PM-4:00PM, GER 309WORKSHOPOpenMusic and OMax under the coverThis workshop will provide a practical introduction to OpenMusic (OM). OM may be used as a general purpose functional/object/visual programming language. At a more specialized level, a set of classes and libraries make it a very convenient environment for music composition. Objects are symbolized by icons, and most operations are performed by drag-and-drop. Numerous examples of classes implementing musical data/behaviour will be provided. These classes are associated with graphical editors, and can be readily extended by the user to meet specific needs. High-level in-time organization of the music material is proposed through the maquette concept. The session concludes with a description of OMax, the machine improvisation system built on OM and Max.* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *GERARD ASSAYAG is currently head of the Music Representation Research
Group at IRCAM (Institut de Recherche et de Coordination
Acoustique/Musique) in Paris, and Directeur de Recherches associC) for
the CNRS (Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique). Born in 1960, he studied computer science, music and linguistics. In 1980, while still a student, he won research awards in "Art and the Computer", a national software contest launched in 1980 by the French Ministry of Research, and another one in the "Concours Micro", a contest in computing in the arts using early micro-computers. In the mid-eighties, he wrote the first IRCAM environment for
score-oriented Computer Assisted Composition. In the mid-nineties he
created, with Carlos Agon, the OpenMusic environment which is
currently used by numerous composers and musicologists around the
world, including at universities and institutions such as
Columbia, Harvard, IRCAM, Conservatoire de Paris, Technischen
Universitat Berlin, University of Wisconsin, University of Cincinnati,
and the Sibelius Academy in Finland. Gérard Assayag is currently in charge of ATIAM, an MS/PhD program in Acoustics, Signal Processing, and Computer Science Applied to Music. ATIAM is co-organized by IRCAM , Universite Pierre et Marie Curie, and Telecom Paris. His research interests center on music representation issues, and include computer language paradigms, machine learning, constraint and visual programming, computational musicology, music modeling, and computer-assisted composition. Gérard Assayag is a founding member of the AFIM (Association
Francaise d'Informatique Musicale), and member of the FWO Society on
Foundations of Music Research. He has organized the "Forum Diderot, Mathématique et Musique" for the European Mathematical Society in 1999 (published as a book by Springer Verlag 2001) as well as several
international computer music conferences, including the Sound and
Music Computing 2004 conference, which included a preceding
international workshop/concert on improvisation with the computer.
Recently, he has participated in the founding of The Journal of
Mathematics and Music project, whose affiliates come from institutions
such as IRCAM, Yale University, and the Eastman School of Music. In recent years, Gerard Assayag has carried out research and
developed software in style modeling and computer improvisation. His
recent papers with his co-authors include "Using Factor Oracles for
Machine Improvisation" in Soft Computing, "Using Machine-Learning
Methods for Musical Style Modeling" in IEEE Computer, and "Computer
Assisted Composition at IRCAM : PatchWork & OpenMusic" in the
Computer Music Journal, and "Mathematics and Music, A Diderot
Mathematical Forum" published by Springer-Verlag, Berlin.* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *Organizer: Elaine Chew, Viterbi Early Career, Assistant Professor of Industrial and Systems EngineeringSupported in part by the Viterbi Early Career Chair Funds, the Integrated Media Systems Center, and the Epstein Department of Industrial and Systems Engineering.For other lectures in the series, please see http://www-rcf.usc.edu/~mucoaco/events/vecc0506.html

Location: See event details
Audiences: Everyone Is Invited

Contact: Elaine Chew
Apr
05

Research in High-Speed Jet Noise
Wed, Apr 05, 2006 @ 03:30 PM
Aerospace and Mechanical Engineering
Conferences, Lectures, & Seminars

Dennis K. McLaughlinProfessor of Aerospace EngineeringPenn State UniversityFor more information, go to:
http://ame-www.usc.edu/seminars/index.shtml#upcoming
Location: John Stauffer Science Lecture Hall (SLH) - Rm 100
Audiences: Everyone Is Invited

Contact: April Mundy
Apr
06

Viterbi Early Career Chair Lecture Series
Thu, Apr 06, 2006
Integrated Media Systems Center
Conferences, Lectures, & Seminars

Gérard Assayag - Apr4 Demo (OMax+DennisThurmond),
Apr5 Lecture (ComputerAssistedComposition@IRCAM),
Apr6 Workshop (OpenMusic).* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *Gérard AssayagHead, Music Representations Research GroupInstitut de Recherche et Coordination Acoustique/Musique (IRCAM)Directeur de Recherches associé, Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS)More details at: http://www-rcf.usc.edu/~mucoaco/events/200604-assayagPoster: http://www-rcf.usc.edu/~mucoaco/events/200604-assayag/assayag-poster3.pdf* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *TUE, APRIL 4, 12:30PM-1:30PM, MacDonald Recital Hall (formerly MUS106)DEMONSTRATION Improvising with the Computer using OMax, a Statistical Learning EnvironmentFeaturing Dennis Thurmond (+keyboard) & Gérard Assayag (+OMax)OMax, the machine improvization system by Assayag and Chemillier, plays a concert with Dennis Thurmond, director of keyboard pedagogy at the Thornton School. As the digital partner "listens" to, and learns from, the music master, a sort of clone emerges that recombines material extracted from the past, while maintaining stylistic consistency. The performer essentially plays with a distorted self in a "stylistic feed-back" loop.* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *WED, APRIL 5, 2:30PM-4:00PM, GER 309GENERAL LECTUREComputer Assisted Composition at IRCAM: the OpenMusic environmentThis lecture provides a general introduction to computer assisted composition at IRCAM, with a special focus on the OpenMusic (OM) project. OM, a visual programming environment created by Assayag and Agon, was designed at IRCAM to help composers set up programs needed to prepare complex music material structured by rules of their own construction. OM provides the means to describe music processes in a formal, algorithmic, or purely graphical way, allowing composers to model music material both in- and out-of-time, and leading to a renewed concept of a "score" as a dynamic network of interrelated musical components, thus facilitating the generating and testing of new musical ideas. * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *THU, APRIL 6, 2:30PM-4:00PM, GER 309WORKSHOPOpenMusic and OMax under the coverThis workshop will provide a practical introduction to OpenMusic (OM). OM may be used as a general purpose functional/object/visual programming language. At a more specialized level, a set of classes and libraries make it a very convenient environment for music composition. Objects are symbolized by icons, and most operations are performed by drag-and-drop. Numerous examples of classes implementing musical data/behaviour will be provided. These classes are associated with graphical editors, and can be readily extended by the user to meet specific needs. High-level in-time organization of the music material is proposed through the maquette concept. The session concludes with a description of OMax, the machine improvisation system built on OM and Max.* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *GERARD ASSAYAG is currently head of the Music Representation Research
Group at IRCAM (Institut de Recherche et de Coordination
Acoustique/Musique) in Paris, and Directeur de Recherches associC) for
the CNRS (Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique). Born in 1960, he studied computer science, music and linguistics. In 1980, while still a student, he won research awards in "Art and the Computer", a national software contest launched in 1980 by the French Ministry of Research, and another one in the "Concours Micro", a contest in computing in the arts using early micro-computers. In the mid-eighties, he wrote the first IRCAM environment for
score-oriented Computer Assisted Composition. In the mid-nineties he
created, with Carlos Agon, the OpenMusic environment which is
currently used by numerous composers and musicologists around the
world, including at universities and institutions such as
Columbia, Harvard, IRCAM, Conservatoire de Paris, Technischen
Universitat Berlin, University of Wisconsin, University of Cincinnati,
and the Sibelius Academy in Finland. Gérard Assayag is currently in charge of ATIAM, an MS/PhD program in Acoustics, Signal Processing, and Computer Science Applied to Music. ATIAM is co-organized by IRCAM , Universite Pierre et Marie Curie, and Telecom Paris. His research interests center on music representation issues, and include computer language paradigms, machine learning, constraint and visual programming, computational musicology, music modeling, and computer-assisted composition. Gérard Assayag is a founding member of the AFIM (Association
Francaise d'Informatique Musicale), and member of the FWO Society on
Foundations of Music Research. He has organized the "Forum Diderot, Mathématique et Musique" for the European Mathematical Society in 1999 (published as a book by Springer Verlag 2001) as well as several
international computer music conferences, including the Sound and
Music Computing 2004 conference, which included a preceding
international workshop/concert on improvisation with the computer.
Recently, he has participated in the founding of The Journal of
Mathematics and Music project, whose affiliates come from institutions
such as IRCAM, Yale University, and the Eastman School of Music. In recent years, Gerard Assayag has carried out research and
developed software in style modeling and computer improvisation. His
recent papers with his co-authors include "Using Factor Oracles for
Machine Improvisation" in Soft Computing, "Using Machine-Learning
Methods for Musical Style Modeling" in IEEE Computer, and "Computer
Assisted Composition at IRCAM : PatchWork & OpenMusic" in the
Computer Music Journal, and "Mathematics and Music, A Diderot
Mathematical Forum" published by Springer-Verlag, Berlin.* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *Organizer: Elaine Chew, Viterbi Early Career, Assistant Professor of Industrial and Systems EngineeringSupported in part by the Viterbi Early Career Chair Funds, the Integrated Media Systems Center, and the Epstein Department of Industrial and Systems Engineering.For other lectures in the series, please see http://www-rcf.usc.edu/~mucoaco/events/vecc0506.html

Location: See event details
Audiences: Everyone Is Invited

Contact: Elaine Chew
Apr
06

ELECTRICAL ENGINEERING-DISTINGUISHED LECTURER SERIES
Thu, Apr 06, 2006 @ 02:00 PM - 03:00 PM
Ming Hsieh Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering
Conferences, Lectures, & Seminars

"Design in the Nano-Meter Regime: From Devices to System Architecture"Prof. Kaushik RoyRoscoe H. George Professor of ECECo-Director, Center for Wireless Systems & ApplicationsPurdue UniversityAbstract:Scaling of technology over the last few decades has produced an exponential growth in computing power of integrated circuits and an unprecedented number of transistors integrated into a single. However, scaling is facing several problems – severe short channel effects, exponential increase in leakage current, increased process parameter variations, and new reliability concerns. Hence, reliable, low-power designs require a shift in design paradigm. We believe that /device aware circuit and architecture design/ along with statistical design techniques can provide large improvement in power dissipation while providing the required reliability and yield. In this talk I will present device aware CMOS design to address power and reliability problems in scaled technologies for different application domains – high-performance with power as constraint and ultra-low power with reasonable performance.Bio:Kaushik Roy received B.Tech. degree in electronics and electrical communications engineering from the Indian Institute of Technology, Kharagpur, India, and Ph.D. degree from the electrical and computer engineering department of the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign in 1990. He was with the Semiconductor Process and Design Center of Texas Instruments, Dallas, where he worked on FPGA architecture development and low-power circuit design. He joined the electrical and computer engineering faculty at Purdue University, West Lafayette, IN, in 1993, where he is currently a Professor and holds the Roscoe H. George Professor of Electrical & Computer Engineering. His research interests include VLSI design/CAD for nano-scale Silicon and non-Silicon technologies, low-power electronics for portable computing and wireless communications, VLSI testing and verification, and reconfigurable computing. Dr. Roy has published more than 350 papers in refereed journals and conferences, holds 8 patents, and is co-author of two books on Low Power CMOS VLSI Design (John Wiley & McGraw Hill). Dr. Roy received the National Science Foundation Career Development Award in 1995, IBM faculty partnership award, ATT/Lucent Foundation award, 2005 SRC Technical Excellence Award, SRC Inventors Award, and best paper awards at 1997 International Test Conference, IEEE 2000 International Symposium on Quality of IC Design, 2003 IEEE Latin American Test Workshop, 2003 IEEE Nano, 2004 IEEE International Conference on Computer Design, and 2005 IEEE Circuits and system society Outstanding Young Author Award (Chris Kim). Host: Prof. Massoud Pedram, ext. 04458 http://viterbi.usc.edu/calendar/
Location: Ethel Percy Andrus Gerontology Center (GER) - ontology Auditorium
Audiences: Everyone Is Invited

Contact: Rosine Sarafian
Apr
06

COMPUTER ENGINEERING SEMINAR SERIES
Thu, Apr 06, 2006 @ 02:00 PM - 03:20 PM
Ming Hsieh Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering
Conferences, Lectures, & Seminars

CENG SEMINAR SERIES"Optimized Compiler Generated Code Accelerators For FPGAs "Prof. Walid NajjarComputer Science & EngineeringUniversity of California, RiversideABSTRACT:Using FPGA devices to accelerate codes might have seemed an esoteric idea a few years ago. It is quickly moving into the mainstream not only for embedded but also supercomputer applications. Speedups ranging from 10x to 1000x have commonly been reported. FPGAs are commonly programmed using hardware description languages (HDL). HDLs are behavioral in nature and not easily amenable to high-level compiler transformations. In this paper we describe ROCCC (Riverside Optimizing Configurable Computing Compiler) a C to VHDL compiler that targets the automatic generation of FPGA-based accelerators. ROCCC optimizes and parallelizes the most frequently executed kernel loops in applications such as multimedia and scientific computing. Its objectives are to (1) bridge the performance gap between compiled and hand-written code and (2) apply extensive compile-time transformations on multi-dimensional arrays and non-trivial loop nests. Such transformations would be too complex for a human programmer to handle in a reasonable time. The objectives of the ROCCC optimizations are: (1) Maximize the parallelism in the circuit as well as the clock rate at which it operates. (2) Minimize the number of off-chip memory accesses as well as the area of the circuit. The main challenge that faces HLL to HDL translation is the paradigm shift from the stored program model to a value-based, data-driven execution – from temporal to a spatial execution. The task of an FPGA compiler is to generate both the data path and the sequence of operations (control flow) on that data path. The lack of architectural structure on the FPGA presents a number of opportunities for the compiler: (1) The parallelism is very high and limited only by the size of the FPGA or the bandwidth in or out of it. (2) On-chip storage can be configured at will. (3) Circuit customization allows the compiler to reduce the circuit size as well as the clock duration. We use dynamic programming applications, for DNA and protein string matching, to demonstrate the potentials of ROCCC. A relatively small C code that is mapped to the FPGA available on the Cray XD1 can achieve 1 to 100 Giga cell update per second. This translates to a two to four orders of magnitude speedup compared to a 2 GHz CPU with an ideal cache and no pipeline stalls.BIO:Walid A. Najjar is a Professor in the Department of Computer Science and Engineering at the University of California Riverside. He received a B.E. in Electrical Engineering from the American University of Beirut in 1979 and the M.S. and Ph.D. in Computer Engineering from the University of Southern California in 1985 and 1988 respectively. He was on the faculty of the Department of Computer Science at Colorado State University (1989 to 2000), before that he was with the USC-Information Sciences Institute. His research is in computer architecture, reconfigurable and embedded systems and compiler optimizations and has been supported by NSF, DARPA and various companies. He has served on the program committees for a number of leading conferences in this area including CASES, ISSS-CODES, DATE, HPCA, and MICRO.Host: Prof. Viktor Prasanna, x04483

Location: Olin Hall of Engineering (OHE) - -136
Audiences: Everyone Is Invited

Contact: Rosine Sarafian
Apr
06

Distinguished Lecture Series
Thu, Apr 06, 2006 @ 03:00 PM - 04:30 PM
Thomas Lord Department of Computer Science
Conferences, Lectures, & Seminars

"On Building Memex: Current Status"Dr. Gordon BellMicrosoft ResearchAbstractMemex is a quest to chronicle a person's life by encoding every aspect of one's communications with people and machines, what is heard and seen, and all the aspects of their physical existence. These digital memories will not only extend human memory; they will infallibly record sensor readings and machine activities not even perceived by humans. Digital memories can provide humans with better recall, improved health, faster learning, new insights, and a telling of their story to posterity that only the great used to receive. They will hopefully enhance personal reflection in the same way that internet search has enabled more research.Biography:Gordon Bell is a senior researcher in Microsoft's Media Presence Research Group - a part of the Bay Area Research Center (BARC) maintaining an interest in startup ventures. Gordon has long evangelized scalable systems starting with his interest in multiprocessors (mP) beginning in 1965 with the design of Digital's PDP-6, PDP-10's antecedent, one of the first mPs and the first timesharing computer. He continues this interest with various talks about trends in future supercomputing (see Papers… presentations, etc.) and especially clustered systems formed from cost-effective "personal computers". As Digital's VP of R&D he was responsible for the VAX Computing Environment. In 1987, he led the cross-agency group as head of NSF's Computing Directorate that made "the plan" for the National Research and Education Network (NREN) aka the Internet. When joining Microsoft in 1995, Gordon had started focusing on the use of computers and the necessity of telepresence: being there without really being there, then. "There" can be a different place, right now, or a compressed and different time (a presentation or recording of an earlier event). In 1999 this project was extended to include multimedia in the home (visit Papers… presentations, etc.). He is putting all of his atom- and electron-based bits in his local Cyberspace. It is called by MyLifeBits the successor to the Cyber All project. This includes everything he has accumulated, written, photographed, presented, and owns (e.g. CDs). In February 2005 an epiphany occurred with the realization that MyLifeBits goes beyond Vannevar Bush's "memex" and is a personal transaction processing database for everything described in June 14, 2005 SIGMOD Keynote.Refreshments will be served.Host: Leana Golubchik
Location: Henry Salvatori Computer Science Center (SAL) - 101
Audiences: Everyone Is Invited

Contact: Nancy Levien
Apr
07

Robotics Research Symposium
Fri, Apr 07, 2006 @ 09:00 AM - 05:00 PM
Thomas Lord Department of Computer Science
Conferences, Lectures, & Seminars

You are cordially invited to a one-day symposium of robotics research featuring talks by leading experts from all over the world. The symposium will be held in HNB 100 on the USC main campus. It is open to all. No registration is required.Symposium of Robotics Research
Venue: HNB 100
Time: 9:00 am - 5:00 pm
Organizers: Gaurav Sukhatme & Stefan Schaal (gaurav|sschaal@usc.edu)[Details and updates at http://robotics.usc.edu/~gaurav/symp.html]
Location: Hedco Neurosciences Building (HNB) - 100
Audiences: Everyone Is Invited

Contact: Nancy Levien
Apr
07

Getting the Big Picture: Cyberinfrastructure and its Role in System-Oriented Science
Fri, Apr 07, 2006 @ 11:00 AM - 11:50 AM
Sonny Astani Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering
Conferences, Lectures, & Seminars

Carl Kesselman
USC - Information Science Institute
April 7th, 2006 Cyberinfrastructure offers the promise of enabling scientific discovery at a scale not otherwise possible. By leveraging these infrastructure advances, it is not only possible to model phenomena with more detail then previously possible, but also to understand the behavior of increasingly more complex systems. For example, in the Southern California Earthquake Center, we combine models for rupture dynamics, fault systems, and wave propagation to determine what surface motion we are likely to see at various points in Southern California. The goal is to not only model the response of the earth, but also to couple it with the bridges and buildings on the surface to create a complete system model of Los Angeles from the perspective of understanding earthquake response. The potential of such systems-oriented science is one of the biggest benefits that cyberinfrastructure can bring. These complex models for system-level science draw on many aspects of our information technology infrastructure, including numerical simulation on high-performance computers, data bases, access to sensor networks, knowledge-based systems, and data mining to name but a few. Hence the issues facing the scientist are more then simply "writing a program" but rather on how components and resources can be flexibly integrated to a computational system that addresses the scientific problem being explored. This flexible integration is one of the primary objectives behind the creation of cyberinfrastructure in general, and the motivation behind Grid infrastructure in particular. In this talk, I will describe the creation of a large-scale cyberinfrastructure and illustrate with the Globus Toolkit, which is a widely deployed Grid infrastructure. I will discuss a range of different applications that are currently leveraging this infrastructure. Finally, I will identify some of the future directions and challenges that remain in order to achieve the potential from systems-level science from the perspective of core computer science research as well as domain-specific advances.
Location: Kaprielian Hall (KAP) - rielian Hall, Room 203
Audiences: Everyone Is Invited

Contact: Evangeline Reyes
Apr
07

Information Theory and Probability Estimation: From Shannon to Shakespeare via...
Fri, Apr 07, 2006 @ 11:00 AM - 12:00 PM
Ming Hsieh Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering
Conferences, Lectures, & Seminars

Title: "Information Theory and Probability Estimation: From Shannon to Shakespeare via Laplace, Good, Turing, Hardy, Ramanujan, and Fisher"Speaker: Prof. Alon Orlitsky, UCSDAbstract: Standard information-theoretic results show that data over small, typically binary, alphabets can be compressed to Shannon's entropy limit. Yet most practical sources, such as text, audio, or video, have essentially infinite support. Compressing such sources requires estimating probabilities of unlikely, even unseen, events, a problem considered by Laplace. Of existing estimators, an ingenious if cryptic one derived by Good and Turing while deciphering the Enigma code works best yet not optimally. Hardy and Ramanujan's celebrated results on the number of integer partitions yield an asymptotically optimal estimator that compresses arbitrary-alphabet data patterns to their entropy. The same approach generalizes Fisher's seminal work estimating the number of butterfly species and its extension authenticating a poem purportedly written by The Bard. The talk covers these topics and is self-contained.Joint work with Prasad Santhanam, Krishna Viswanathan, and Junan ZhangBio: Alon Orlitsky received B.Sc. degrees in Mathematics and Electrical Engineering from Ben Gurion University in 1980 and 1981, and M.Sc. and Ph.D. degrees in Electrical Engineering from Stanford University in 1982 and 1986. From 1986 to 1996 he was with the Communications Analysis Research Department of Bell Laboratories. He spent the following year as a quantitative analyst at D.E. Shaw and Company, an investment firm in New York city. In 1997 he joined the University of California, San Diego, where he is currently a professor of Electrical and Computer Engineering and of Computer Science and Engineering. Alon's research concerns information theory, learning, and speech recognition. He is a recipient of the 1981 ITT International Fellowship and of the 1992 IEEE W.R.G. Baker Paper Award.Host: Professor Urbashi Mitra, ubli@usc.edu
Location: Hughes Aircraft Electrical Engineering Center (EEB) - -248
Audiences: Everyone Is Invited

Contact: Mayumi Thrasher
Apr
07

An overview of current air pollution control strategy on in-use light and medium duty vehicle in Ca
Fri, Apr 07, 2006 @ 01:00 PM - 02:00 PM
Sonny Astani Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering
Conferences, Lectures, & Seminars

Speaker: Dr. Jerry Ho, Staff Air Pollution Specialist and
Air Resources Engineer
El Monte, CAABSTRACT: The State of California use different air pollution control strategies between newer and older vehicles. Since most of the new vehicles for sale in California with On Board Diagnostic (OBD) generate very low emissions from tailpipe, the emission impact from the older vehicles become more significant over time. ARB estimated that evaporative emissions will soon surpass tailpipe emissions from all vehicle source in 2010. New effort will be focused on evaporative emissions control for the older vehicles in California.
Location: Kaprielian Hall (KAP) - rielian Hall 156
Audiences: Everyone Is Invited

Contact: Evangeline Reyes
Apr
07

The Supermassive Black Hole
Fri, Apr 07, 2006 @ 01:00 PM - 02:00 PM
Viterbi School of Engineering Student Affairs
Conferences, Lectures, & Seminars

Engineering Honors Colloquium Lecture given by Jessica Lu of the Division of Astronomy and Astrophysics at UCLA.
Location: Olin Hall of Engineering (OHE) - 122
Audiences: Faculty and Honors Program Students

Contact: Erika Chua
Apr
07

From Micro to Nano Robotics
Fri, Apr 07, 2006 @ 01:30 PM - 02:05 PM
Thomas Lord Department of Computer Science
Conferences, Lectures, & Seminars

Brad Nelson
Professor of Robotics and Intelligent Systems at ETH-AurichDirector of IRISRobots are currently exploring many environments that are difficult if not impossible for humans to reach, such as the edge of the solar system, the planet Mars, volcanoes on Earth, and the undersea world. The goal of these robotic explorers is to obtain knowledge about our universe and to answer fundamental questions about life and human origins. Microrobotics has entered this field by exploring life at a much smaller scale and more fundamental level. Microrobotic systems for physically exploring the structures of biological cells are being developed, and robotic motion planning strategies are being used to investigate protein folding. Microrobotic mechanisms have been used to investigate organism behaviors, such as the flight dynamics of fruit flies as well as the neurophysiology that govern many other biologically interesting behaviors. These recent research efforts and others like them illustrate how several areas of robotics research are rapidly converging to create this new discipline I refer to as BioMicroRobotics. These new directions in robotics represent only a beginning and indicate that robotics research, and biomicrorobotics in particular, has the capability of making significant contributions in the understanding of life. In moving from the micro domain to nanometric scales, completely different issues in developing nanorobotic systems and in their application arise. The second part of the talk will present recent efforts at the Institute of Robotics and Intelligent Systems at ETH-Zurich in fabricating nanometer scale robotic components. Biography:Brad Nelson is the Professor of Robotics and Intelligent Systems at ETH-Zürich and is the director of IRIS.
His primary research direction lies in extending robotics research into emerging areas of science and engineering. His most recent scientific contributions have been in the area of microrobotics, biomicrorobotics, and nanorobotics, including efforts in robotic micromanipulation, microassembly, MEMS (sensors and actuators), mechanical manipulation of biological cells and tissue, and NanoElectroMechanical Systems (NEMS). He has also contributed to the fields of visual servoing, force control, sensor integration, and web-based control and programming of robots.
Prof. Nelson received a B.S. (Mechanical Engineering) from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign in 1984, an M.S. (Mechanical Engineering) from the University of Minnesota in 1987, and the Ph.D. degree in Robotics (School of Computer Science) from Carnegie Mellon University in 1995. During these years he also worked as an engineer at Honeywell and Motorola, and served as a United States Peace Corps Volunteer in Botswana, Africa. In 1995 he became Assistant Professor at the University of Illinois at Chicago, Associate Professor at the University of Minnesota in 1998, and Professor at ETH in 2002.
He has been awarded a McKnight Land-Grant Professorship and is a recipient of the Office of Naval Research Young Investigator Award, the National Science Foundation Faculty Early Career Development (CAREER) Award, the McKnight Presidential Fellows Award, and the Bronze Tablet. He was elected as a Robotics and Automation Society Distinguished Lecturer in 2003 and received the Best Conference Paper Award at the IEEE 2004 International Conference on Robotics and Automation. He was named to the 2005 "Scientific American 50," Scientific American magazine's annual list recognizing outstanding acts of leadership in science and technology from the past year.
Professor Nelson serves on or has been a member of the editorial boards of the IEEE Transaction on Robotics, the Journal of Micromechatronics and the IEEE Robotics and Automation Magazine. He has chaired several international workshops and conferences.
He is currently the head of the Department of Mechanical and Process Engineering (D-MAVT).
Location: Hedco Neurosciences Building (HNB) - 100
Audiences: Everyone Is Invited

Contact: Nancy Levien
Apr
07

Materials Science Seminar - SCALING PROPERTIES OF FRACTURE SURFACES by Elisabeth Bouchaud
Fri, Apr 07, 2006 @ 02:45 PM - 04:00 PM
Mork Family Department of Chemical Engineering and Materials Science
Conferences, Lectures, & Seminars

SCALING PROPERTIES OF FRACTURE SURFACESElisabeth Bouchaud,
Fracture Group, Division of Physics & Chemistry of Surfaces and Interfaces
CEA-Saclay, FranceFor materials as different as metallic alloys and silicate glasses, the morphology of fracture surfaces has revealed anisotropic scale invariance properties which can be described with two sets of parameters: roughness exponents and characteristic length scales, measured either along the direction of crack propagation, or perpendicularly to it. If characteristic length scales depend on the material, its microstructure, and the external loading, roughness exponents, on the contrary, are "universal". The same roughness exponents are indeed observed for metallic alloys and for glasses, for example, albeit at length scales three orders of magnitude smaller in the latter case.Statistical models describing the quasi-static propagation of an elastic line (the crack front) through an array of randomly distributed obstacles (the microstructure) can reproduce qualitatively these observations. We conjecture that the lack of quantitative agreement is due to the fact that these models do not take damage into account.Damage formation at the crack tip is however a general phenomenon, which is well documented for metallic materials. More recently, our Atomic Force Microscopy experiments on silicate glasses show that damage also forms ahead of a stress corrosion crack tip in glass. This mechanism has several implications at the macro-scale, in terms of nonlinear elastic deformation and sample lifetime.The extension of the process zone is estimated, and it is shown that fracture surface roughness is evaluated within this region. It is argued that the observed exponents reflect in fact damage screening occurring at length scales smaller than the process zone size. "Line models", however, lead to good predictions when measurements are performed at length scales larger than the process zone size.Dr. Elisabeth Bouchaud is the Director of the Division of Physics and Chemistry of Surfaces and Interfaces at CEA-Saclay, France and currently a visiting professor at Caltech. Dr. Bouchaud has started a whole new research area involving the study of the scaling properties of fracture surfaces. Her group has performed seminal experiments on crack propagation and damage evolution in glasses. For her pioneering work on fracture, Dr. Bouchaud recently received the prestigious Ancel award for Condensed Matter Physics from the French Physical Society, and in 1997, she was awarded the European Materials Science Society's Lecturer Award.First Year MASC students are required to attend.

Location: Vivian Hall of Engineering (VHE) - 217
Audiences: Everyone Is Invited

Contact: Petra Pearce
Apr
10

Role of BMP4 and noggin in unstable flow-mediated inflammation, hypertension and
Mon, Apr 10, 2006 @ 12:30 AM - 01:30 AM
Alfred E. Mann Department of Biomedical Engineering
Conferences, Lectures, & Seminars

"Role of BMP4 and noggin in unstable flow-mediated inflammation, hypertension and atherosclerosis"Hanjoong Jo, PhD, Associate Professor of Biomedical Engineering, Georgia Institute
Of Technology, Atlanta, GA

Location: Olin Hall of Engineering (OHE) - 132
Audiences: Graduate

Contact: Wyatt Adam
Apr
10

Multifunctional Materials: A New Horizon in Engineering Science
Mon, Apr 10, 2006 @ 11:00 PM - 11:50 AM
Sonny Astani Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering
Conferences, Lectures, & Seminars

Speaker:Prof. Sia Nemat-Nasser
Department of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering
Center of Excellence for Advanced Materials
9500 Gilman Drive, La Jolla, CA 92093-0416
University of California San DiegoAbstract:Multifunctional materials and structures are systems designed and manufactured to possess one or more integrated functionality, in addition to their required mechanical and load-bearing attributes. Essentially all biological systems have integrated multifunctional capabilities. Few traditional structural systems are multifunctional. Development of multifunctional materials and hence structures requires a multidisciplinary approach that has been the hallmark of Engineering Science. Recent years have witnessed an avalanche of governmental initiative for research in multifunctional materials and structures. In this talk, I will review a class of multifunctional lightweight composites which have tuned electromagnetic (EM) signature management and sensing, self-crack-healing, thermal management, as well as being structurally strong and tough. The EM functionality is produced by integrating into the composite's fabric minute amounts of conductors of optimal configuration, which leads to composites with desired electric permittivity and magnetic permeability. For example, a solid composite of this kind can be tuned to have an index of refraction of 1 over a desired frequency range, rendering the solid fully EM-transparent in that frequency range. The wire conductors are integrated into the composite's fiber reinforcing braids that also include Kevlar, glass, or other desired strengthening constituents. For the matrix material, we are considering a newly developed polymer in which micro-cracks can heal, reversibly and at the molecular level, through the application of moderate heat and pressure. The conductive wires embedded in the composites can be used as resistive elements to heat the material, as sensors to detect internal damage, and as electrical conductors to tune the electromagnetic properties of the system. The next step is to add information-based properties into such multifunctional composites, mimicking nature's approach to local and global information acquisition, processing, and communication. Time permitting, the lecture will also explore some of the interwoven challenges that must be successfully met in order to create intelligently-sensing composite materials that are aware of their environmental and internal changes; and can selectively acquire, process, and store or communicate information locally and globally. Multifunctional composites of this kind enhance the role of structural materials from mere load-bearing systems to lightweight structures with many additional attributes. Short Bio:Nemat-Nasser is a Distinguished Professor of Mechanics of Materials, and has held the John Dove Isaacs Chair in Natural Philosophy (1995-2000) at UCSD, where he has been a faculty member, 1966-70, and Professor and Director of CEAM, 1985-present. As a Professor, he taught mechanics and mathematics at Northwestern University (1970-85). He was awarded the International Technology Institute's Willard Rockwell Medal in 2003, the William Prager Medal in Solid Mechanics by the Society of Engineering Science in 2002, and the ASME Nadai Medal in 2002. He was elected a member of the National Academy of Engineering in 2001, an Honorary Member of the prestigious World Innovation Foundation, in 2004, and an Honorary Member of ASME in 2005. Three times (1994-95, 1996-97, and 2000-01) he has been selected by the graduating seniors as the best teacher of the year; has supervised over 40 Ph.D. students, has authored or coauthored over 400 scientific papers, over 20 books and proceedings; has received ASME's Aerospace Division's Best Paper of the Year Award, Adaptive Structures and Materials Systems [Nemat-Nasser, S. "Micromechanics of Actuation of Ionic Polymer-metal Composites," Journal of Applied Physics, Vol. 92, No. 5 (2002) 2899-2915]; has published two major books: (1) Nemat-Nasser, S. and Hori, M., Micromechanics: Overall Properties of Heterogeneous Solids, Elsevier Science Publishers, 1st edition (1993), 730 pages; 2nd Edition (1999) 810 pages, and (2) Nemat-Nasser, S., Plasticity: A Treatise On Finite Deformation of Heterogeneous Inelastic Materials, Cambridge University Press (2004) 730 pages. His research includes: experimentally-based analytical/computational, nano-scale modeling of response and failure modes of materials, particularly multifunctional structural systems, e.g., structural composites with tunable electromagnetic functionality, thermal management, self-healing, and self-sensing; polyelectrolytes and ionic polymer metal composites as soft-actuators and sensors; shape-memory alloys; bio-hybrid interfaces and their short- and long-term functionality; advanced metals and ceramics; elastomers; granular materials; and hybrid composites. He has been consultant to many companies and has served in a number of national scientific panels. For a complete list of publications and other information, please refer to the website: http://www-mae.ucsd.edu/RESEARCH/NEMAT-NASSER/
Location: Kaprielian Hall (KAP) - rielian Hall, Room 203
Audiences: Everyone Is Invited

Contact: Evangeline Reyes
Apr
11

Special Guest Lecturer
Tue, Apr 11, 2006 @ 03:00 PM - 04:30 PM
Thomas Lord Department of Computer Science
Conferences, Lectures, & Seminars

Nonlinear Filtering and Sequential Analysis for Hidden Markov ModelsProf. B.L. Rozovsky
Professor of Mathematics and Aerospace and Mechanical Engineering Center for Applied Mathematical SciencesUSC I will discuss some new statistical algorithms that proved to be efficient in a range of emerging applications. These include: computer vision, target tracking in a video-stream, intrusion detection in high speed computer networks, etc.
The first part of the talk is concerned with recent progress in theory and applications of nonlinear filtering. I will argue that banks of interacting (nonlinear) Bayesian matched filters can be successfully utilized to handle dim and acutely maneuvering targets.
The potential range of applications of the developed spatial-temporal tracking algorithms includes a new generation of tracking systems for missile defense, terrestrial reconnaissance, machine vision systems, and certain medical imaging applications.
In the second part of the talk I will discuss an efficient anomaly detection system that detects denial-of-service attacks at multi-gigabit speeds with minimal detection delay for a given low false alarm rate. The proposed constant false alarm rate detector utilizes ideas of sequential statistical analysis. The algorithm is computationally simple and self-learning, it adapts well to various network loads and usage patterns. Biography:Dr. Boris Rozovsky is Professor of Mathematics and Aerospace and Mechanical Engineering at the University of Southern California. He is also Director of the USC Center for Applied Mathematical Sciences
His research interests are in the areas of stochastic systems, nonlinear filtering,
prediction and smoothing, inverse problems for randomly perturbed systems,
target tracking, intrusion detection and mathematical modeling of the Internet. He is the
author of four books in the general area of stochastic systems and more than 100 research
articles. He is a Fellow of Institute of Mathematical Statistics and a recipient of other awards. Refreshments will be served.
Location: Seaver Science Library (SSL) - 150
Audiences: Everyone Is Invited

Contact: Nancy Levien
Apr
11

Special Guest Lecturer
Tue, Apr 11, 2006 @ 03:00 PM - 04:30 PM
Thomas Lord Department of Computer Science
Conferences, Lectures, & Seminars

Nonlinear Filtering and Sequential Analysis for Hidden Markov ModelsB.L. Rozovsky
Professor of Mathematics and Aerospace and Mechanical Engineering Center for Applied Mathematical SciencesUSC I will discuss some new statistical algorithms that proved to be efficient in a range of emerging applications. These include: computer vision, target tracking in a video-stream, intrusion detection in high speed computer networks, etc.
The first part of the talk is concerned with recent progress in theory and applications of nonlinear filtering. I will argue that banks of interacting (nonlinear) Bayesian matched filters can be successfully utilized to handle dim and acutely maneuvering targets.
The potential range of applications of the developed spatial-temporal tracking algorithms includes a new generation of tracking systems for missile defense, terrestrial reconnaissance, machine vision systems, and certain medical imaging applications.
In the second part of the talk I will discuss an efficient anomaly detection system that detects denial-of-service attacks at multi-gigabit speeds with minimal detection delay for a given low false alarm rate. The proposed constant false alarm rate detector utilizes ideas of sequential statistical analysis. The algorithm is computationally simple and self-learning, it adapts well to various network loads and usage patterns. Biography:Dr. Boris Rozovsky is Professor of Mathematics and Aerospace and Mechanical Engineering at the University of Southern California. He is also Director of the USC Center for Applied Mathematical Sciences
His research interests are in the areas of stochastic systems, nonlinear filtering,
prediction and smoothing, inverse problems for randomly perturbed systems,
target tracking, intrusion detection and mathematical modeling of the Internet. He is the
author of four books in the general area of stochastic systems and more than 100 research
articles. He is a Fellow of Institute of Mathematical Statistics and a recipient of other awards. Refreshments will be served.
Location: Seaver Science Library (SSL) - 150
Audiences: Everyone Is Invited

Contact: Nancy Levien
Apr
11

Special Guest Lecturer
Tue, Apr 11, 2006 @ 03:00 PM - 04:30 PM
Thomas Lord Department of Computer Science
Conferences, Lectures, & Seminars

Nonlinear Filtering and Sequential Analysis for Hidden Markov ModelsB.L. RozovskyProfessor of Mathematics and Aerospace and Mechanical Engineering Center for Applied Mathematical SciencesUSC I will discuss some new statistical algorithms that proved to be efficient in a range of emerging applications. These include: computer vision, target tracking in a video-stream, intrusion detection in high speed computer networks, etc.
The first part of the talk is concerned with recent progress in theory and applications of nonlinear filtering. I will argue that banks of interacting (nonlinear) Bayesian matched filters can be successfully utilized to handle dim and acutely maneuvering targets.
The potential range of applications of the developed spatial-temporal tracking algorithms includes a new generation of tracking systems for missile defense, terrestrial reconnaissance, machine vision systems, and certain medical imaging applications.
In the second part of the talk I will discuss an efficient anomaly detection system that detects denial-of-service attacks at multi-gigabit speeds with minimal detection delay for a given low false alarm rate. The proposed constant false alarm rate detector utilizes ideas of sequential statistical analysis. The algorithm is computationally simple and self-learning, it adapts well to various network loads and usage patterns. Biography:Dr. Boris Rozovsky is Professor of Mathematics and Aerospace and Mechanical Engineering at the University of Southern California. He is also Director of the USC Center for Applied Mathematical Sciences
His research interests are in the areas of stochastic systems, nonlinear filtering,
prediction and smoothing, inverse problems for randomly perturbed systems,
target tracking, intrusion detection and mathematical modeling of the Internet. He is the
author of four books in the general area of stochastic systems and more than 100 research
articles. He is a Fellow of Institute of Mathematical Statistics and a recipient of other awards. Refreshments will be served.
Location: Seaver Science Library (SSL) - 150
Audiences: Everyone Is Invited

Contact: Nancy Levien
Apr
12

Low Pressure Performance of Micro/Meso Scale Knudsen Compressors by Dr. Y.-L. Han
Wed, Apr 12, 2006 @ 03:30 PM
Aerospace and Mechanical Engineering
Conferences, Lectures, & Seminars

Yen-Lin Han Department of Aerospace & Mechanical Engineering University of Southern California Los Angeles, CA Abstract:Continuing advances in MEMS fabrication capabilities and strategies are beginning to facilitate significant progress in miniaturizing the functionality of many conventional and unconventional thermo/mechanical machines. A significant number of these evolving devices require micro/meso-scale gas pumps or compressors in order to create complete, miniaturized systems. One option is the Knudsen Compressor, named in 1994 by Pham-van-Diep et al [1]. Knudsen Compressors are solid-state, micro/meso-scale gas pumps or compressors with no moving parts. Based on the rarefied flow phenomenon of thermal creep, Knudsen Compressors operate by imposing a temperature gradient across a high porosity, low thermal conductivity transpiration membranes [2]. Studies have shown that a Knudsen Compressor with an aerogel membrane, can be operated efficiently by either resistive or radiant heating techniques over a pressure range from about ten atmospheres down to 250 Torr [3][4]. Employing different 'membrane' configurations, Sone and Sugimoto have recently studied several meso/macro-scale thermal creep (thermal transpiration) pumps at pressures of around 2 Torr and lower.[5][6] At low pressures (< 1Torr), relevant issues encountered for providing efficient operation of micro/meso-scale Knudsen Compressors include; large membrane channel sizes, required because of relatively large molecular mean free paths; and "reverse" thermal creep in the connector sections due to finite connector channel to membrane channel size ratios. Mechanically machined aerogel membranes with circular channels have already been studied; results have shown that they are attractive candidates as Knudsen Compressor membranes at low pressures.[7] The performance of these membranes has also been found limited by rarefaction effects in the connector section such as reverse thermal creep flow, and related induced internal flows.[8] The principal goal of this study was to investigate in greater detail than previously reported[8] the fundamental limitations encountered in reducing a micro/meso-scale Knudsen Compressor's operating inlet pressures to as low as 10 mTorr (10-5 atm). Both experiments and simulations were employed in this investigation. For the experimental studies[9] aerogel membranes, incorporating mechanically machined 500 mm high, 0.5 mm long, and 1cm wide rectangular, supplementary flow-channels, were used for the investigation of a Knudsen Compressor stage's performance at low pressures. For connector section Knudsen numbers greater than about 0.1, the pressure ratio gain through an entire stage was seriously impacted by the connector section's reverse thermal creep flow. This finding is consistent with earlier circular channel results [8][9]. Direct Simulation Monte Carlo (DSMC) technique codes were constructed for further investigations of the reverse thermal creep flow in connector sections [9]. A two-dimensional simulated domain was adopted to mimic a simplified, rectangular channel, single stage Knudsen Compressor. The effects of the reverse thermal creep flow in simulated connector sections, for several connector to membrane channel size ratios and several wall temperature distributions, have been obtained in the simulations. The simulation results were in good agreement with appropriate theoretical predictions based on available flow coefficients [10]. This investigation quantifies, using the results of both experiments and simulations, the importance of reverse thermal creep induced flows
in the connector sections of low pressure, single stage micro/meso-scale Knudsen Compressors. As the connector section Knudsen number rises above about 0.1, the performance of Knudsen Compressors, with either rectangular or circular channels, will be progressively decreased by reverse thermal creep induced flows in the connector sections
Location: John Stauffer Science Lecture Hall (SLH) - , Rm 100
Audiences: Everyone Is Invited

Contact: April Mundy
Apr
13

Lyman L. Handy Colloquium - A Personal Perspective Of The Changing Nuclear Threat by Dr. S. Hecker
Thu, Apr 13, 2006 @ 12:30 PM - 01:30 PM
Mork Family Department of Chemical Engineering and Materials Science
Conferences, Lectures, & Seminars

Lyman L. Handy Colloquium A Personal Perspective Of The Changing
Nuclear ThreatDr. Siegfried S. Hecker
CISAC/Stanford University
Los Alamos National LaboratoryABSTRACT Presidents Reagan and Gorbachev ushered in the end of the Cold War with a summit meeting at Reykjavik in October 1986. The political changes unleashed altered the nuclear threat from one that could end civilization as we know it to one of securing "loose nukes" in chaotic Russia and other states of the former Soviet Union. Whereas during the Cold War nuclear deterrence brought an uneasy global peace, the dissolution of the Soviet Union resulted in a resurgence of regional and ethnic conflicts, troubling nuclear proliferation developments, and the emergence of international megaterrorism. The gravity of these developments was demonstrated on 9/11. Now, we face the most difficult challenge of how to avoid a nuclear 9/11, which will not only cause horrific destruction, but will also threaten international order and our way of life. Plutonium is a key component of nuclear deterrence and today's nuclear threat. I will touch on what makes plutonium the most complex and fascinating element in the periodic table.
Location: Olin Hall of Engineering (OHE) - 122
Audiences: Everyone Is Invited

Contact: Petra Pearce
Apr
13

USC SMPTE Society of Motion Pictures and Television Engineers, Student Chapter Meeting
Thu, Apr 13, 2006 @ 05:00 PM - 06:00 PM
Information Technology Program (ITP)
Conferences, Lectures, & Seminars

The first SMPTE Student Chapter meeting will be held on Thursday, April 13th in KAP 267 from 5 - 6 p.m. The purpose of the meeting is to get acquainted with Faculty, Students and Industry professionals. To discuss our goals and activities.Please RSVP to me and also forward this invitation to others who may be interested in getting involved with SMPTE USC.
Refreshments will be provided.
Location: Kaprielian Hall (KAP) - 267
Audiences: Everyone Is Invited

Contact: Nitin Kale
Apr
14

Eigenvalues and Singular Values of Random Matrices: Theory and Applications
Fri, Apr 14, 2006 @ 11:00 AM - 12:00 PM
Ming Hsieh Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering
Conferences, Lectures, & Seminars

Communication Sciences Institute Seminar: Eigenvalues and Singular Values of Random Matrices: Theory and ApplicationsAntonia Tulino (University of Naples)Abstract:
Of late, random matrices have attracted great interest in the engineering community because of their applications to the communications and information theory on the fundamental limits of wireless communication noisy vector channels. The purpose of this talk is to illustrate this synergy between random matrix theory and information theory through several classes of channels that arise in wireless communications. These channels are characterized by random matrices that admit various statistical descriptions depending on the actual application. Motivated by the intuition drawn from various applications in communications, the _ and Shannon transforms turn out to be quite helpful at clarifying the exposition as well as the statement of many results. In this talk we revisit in terms of _- and Shannon-transform some of the main results in random matrix theory from the work of Mar_enko-Pastur in 1967 to the most recent asymptotic results in the contest of free probability theory and we give an extended summary of their main recent applications to wireless communication problems.In addition, recent results on the speed of convergence to the asymptotic limits are visited and used
to evaluate the probability density function of the mutual informationThroughout the talk, we apply the various findings to the fundamental limits of wireless communication with focus on several classes of vector channels that arise in wireless communications: • Code-division multiple-access (CDMA), with and without fading (both frequency-flat and frequency-selective) and with single and multiple receive antennas. • Multi-carrier code-division multiple access (MC-CDMA), which is the time-frequency dual of CDMA • Channels with multiple receive and transmit antennas, incorporating features such as antenna correlation, polarization, and line-of-sight components.For each of these channels, we analyze two performance measures of engineering interest: the average mutual information (highest data rate that can be conveyed reliably per unit bandwidth) and minimum mean-square error (smallest mean-square error that can be incurred estimating the channel input based on its noisy received observations), which are determined by the distribution of the singular values of the channel matrix.Bio:
Antonia Maria Tulino was born in Napoli, Italy, on September 12, 1971. She received the Dr. Engr. degree (summa cum laude) from the Università degli Studi di Napoli Federico II, Napoli, Italy, in 1995 and the Ph.D. degree in electronic engineering from the Seconda Università degli Studi di Napoli, Napoli, Italy, in 1999. In 1999, she was a Research Scientist at the Center for Wireless Communications (CWC), Oulu, Finland. From January 2000 to February 2001, she was a post-doctoral visitor with Princeton University, Princeton, NJ. From February 2001 to November to 2002, she was Assistant Professor with the Dipartmento di Ingegneria delle Telecomunicazioni, Università degli Studi del Sannio, Benevento, Italy. From Novembre to 2002 she has been Associate Professor with the Dipartmento di Ingegneria Elettronica e delle Telecomunicazioni, Università degli Studi di Napoli "Federico II", Napoli, Italy. She is periodically appointed as visiting research staff member at the Department of Electrical Engineering, Princeton University. Her current research interests are in the area of statistical signal processing, information theory, random matrix theory.

Location: Hughes Aircraft Electrical Engineering Center (EEB) - 248
Audiences: Everyone Is Invited

Contact: michael neely
Apr
14

Microbial Fuel Cells: Little Bugs Could Make a Big Difference
Fri, Apr 14, 2006 @ 01:00 PM - 02:00 PM
Sonny Astani Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering
Conferences, Lectures, & Seminars

Orianna Bretschger
Ph.D. candidate in the Mork Family Department of Chemical Engineering and Materials Science in collaboration with the USC Geobiology program
University of Southern CaliforniaAbstract
A microbial fuel cell is a system that utilizes the catalytic activity of microbes to convert the chemical energy of fuel into electrical energy. Microbial fuel cells (MFCs) utilize a broad range of materials for fuel and a microbe (or microbial communities) as the catalyst. Given these components, MFCs are a very flexible technology that can be used in many applications. For example, MFCs have been employed in South Korea to treat waste water and yield a by-product of electricity for over 5 years! Additionally, MFC's are being explored as tools for understanding microbial physiology and are being optimized for portable power applications.
Future MFC applications will be enabled when the current densities produced by MFCs are improved, which will be dependent upon a better understanding of the molecular mechanisms involved in the microbial production of electricity. MFC design is an additional factor that must be considered for future applications. When these biological and engineering issues are fully understood and addressed, it should be possible to move up in scale to industrial applications, and down in scale to micro- and nano-applications: then MFC applications may only be limited by the imagination of the investigator!

Location: Kaprielian Hall (KAP) - rielian Hall, Room 156
Audiences: Everyone Is Invited

Contact: Evangeline Reyes
Apr
14

Caltech Robotics and the Second DARPA Grand Challenge
Fri, Apr 14, 2006 @ 01:00 PM - 02:00 PM
Viterbi School of Engineering Student Affairs
Conferences, Lectures, & Seminars

Engineering Honors Colloquium lecture given by Professor Richard Murray, the Chair of the Division of Engineering and Applied Science at Caltech.
Location: Olin Hall of Engineering (OHE) - 122
Audiences: Faculty and Honors Program Students

Contact: Erika Chua
Apr
14

Materials Science Seminar-- Thermoelectric Materials for Space Power Generation
Fri, Apr 14, 2006 @ 02:30 PM - 04:00 PM
Mork Family Department of Chemical Engineering and Materials Science
Conferences, Lectures, & Seminars

Presented by:Dr. Thierry Caillat
Principal Scientist
Power Systems and Sensors Section
Jet Propulsion Laboratory/California Institute of TechnologyAbstract:Of the various static energy conversion technologies considered for Radioisotope Power Systems for space applications, thermoelectric (TE) energy conversion has received the most interest. Radioisotope Thermoelectric Generators (RTGs) generate electrical power by converting the heat released from the nuclear decay of radioactive isotopes (typically plutonium-238) into electricity using a thermoelectric converter. RTGs have been successfully used to power a number of space missions including the Appolo lunar missions, the Viking Mars landers, Pioneer 10 and 11, and the Voyager, Ulysses, Galileo, and Cassini outer planet spacecrafts. These generators have demonstrated their reliability over extended period of time (tens of years) and are compact, rugged, radiation resistant, scalable, and produce no noise, vibration or torque during operation. These properties have made RTGs suitable for autonomous missions in the extreme environment of the outer space and on planetary surface. Converter units use TE materials, which, when operating over a temperature gradient, produce a voltage called the Seebeck voltage. System conversion efficiency for state-of-practice RTGs is about 6%. The most widely used TE materials, in order of increasing temperature, are: Bismuth Telluride (Bi2Te3); lead Telluride (PbTe); tellurides of Antimony, Germanium and Silver (TAGS); lead Tin Telluride (PbSnTe); and silicon Germanium (SiGe). All of these materials except Bi2Te3 have been used in RTGs, which have been flown on space missions. A wide variety of physical, thermal, and thermoelectric properties requirements must be met for the design of reliable thermoelectric RTG converters. An overview of various thermoelectric phenomena and materials is provided in this talk. Space applications and requirements for thermoelectric materials are discussed. Current trends in thermoelectric material research are briefly introduced.First year MASC students are required to attend.
Location: Vivian Hall of Engineering (VHE) - 217
Audiences: Everyone Is Invited

Contact: Petra Pearce
Apr
17

Determining What You Drank from You Sweat: A Transdermal Alcohol Sensor -
Mon, Apr 17, 2006 @ 12:30 AM - 01:30 AM
Alfred E. Mann Department of Biomedical Engineering
Conferences, Lectures, & Seminars

"Determining What You Drank from You Sweat: A Transdermal Alcohol Sensor -Modeling, Estimation and Deconvolution"Gary Rosen, Professor and Chair of Mathematics, USC:
Audiences: Graduate

Contact: Wyatt Adam
Apr
17

Environmental Biotechnology: Challenges and Opportunities for Chemical Engineers
Mon, Apr 17, 2006 @ 12:30 PM - 01:30 PM
Mork Family Department of Chemical Engineering and Materials Science
Conferences, Lectures, & Seminars

Graduate Seminarby Professor Wilfred Chen
Department of Chemical and Environmental Engineering
University of California, RiversideAbstractEnvironmental biotechnology refers to the utilization of biomolecules to improve environmental quality. Over the past three decades breakthroughs in molecular genetics have revolutionized our ability to analyze and manipulate the structures and properties of nucleic acids and proteins. However, a major limitation in the applications of biomolecules is the existence of a functional gap between naturally occurring biomolecules and those required by specific practical settings. Therefore, the ability to close this functional gap has become a première intellectual and engineering challenge. In this talk, I will attempt to highlight opportunities available for chemical engineers to make significant contributions in the area of environmental biotechnology and their future challenges. Specially, I will discuss our recent work on the development of new biomolecular engineering tools and their applications in the remediation and detection of toxic pollutants. Examples will include: (1) developing biocatalysts for the detoxification of organophosphorus pesticides, (2) engineering plant-microbe symbiosis for rhizoremediation of heavy metal and TCE, (3) engineering elastin biopolymers for heavy metal remediation and antibody array fabrication, and (4) real-time monitoring of infectious viruses. Monday, April 17, 2006Seminar – 12:30 p.m.THH 116The Scientific Community is Cordially Invited

Location: Mark Taper Hall Of Humanities (THH) - 116
Audiences: Everyone Is Invited

Contact: Petra Pearce
Apr
18

**Seminar Cancelled -- Will be rescheduled at a later date**
Tue, Apr 18, 2006
Ming Hsieh Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering
Conferences, Lectures, & Seminars

"Systematic with Serially Concatenated Parity Codes"Speaker: Prof. Keith Chugg

Location: Hughes Aircraft Electrical Engineering Center (EEB) - -248
Audiences: Everyone Is Invited

Contact: Mayumi Thrasher
Apr
18

A Digital Solid Model of the Human Liver
Tue, Apr 18, 2006 @ 12:00 PM - 12:50 PM
Sonny Astani Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering
Conferences, Lectures, & Seminars

Speaker:
Brian Kannard
CE Graduate Student
Location: Kaprielian Hall (KAP) - 203
Audiences: Everyone Is Invited

Contact: Evangeline Reyes
Apr
19

Viterbi Early Career Chair Lecture Series
Wed, Apr 19, 2006
Integrated Media Systems Center
Conferences, Lectures, & Seminars

Mark SandlerProfessor of Signal ProcessingQueen Mary, University of LondonDepartment of Electronic EngineeringHead of Digital Signal Processing and Multimedia GroupDirector of Center for Digital MusicPoster: http://www-rcf.usc.edu/~mucoaco/events/200604-sandler.pdf* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *INTERACTING WITH DIGITAL MUSICWed, April 19, 2006. 14:30-16:00 GER 309Although in a strict sense music went digital over two decades ago with the introduction of the CD, the term Digital Music has come to imply something more than a digital representation, often the inclusion of Internet technologies with music, and always the involvement of computers. By combining the latest Signal Processing techniques with Machine Learning and semantic processing, the latest and future generation Digital Music applications offer some really exciting ways to listen to, search for and interact with music. The talk will begin by looking at some widely available technologies and services for interacting with digital music, and then move on to a view of current research in the area with a look at some recent results from the Centre for Digital Music. Finally, the talk will take a view of the future, and get an idea how today research is informs future generation consumer products, with particular attention to the role of the Semantic Web.* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *CONSTANT Q ANALYSIS AND ITS USE IN MUSIC INFORMATICSThu, April 20, 2006. 14:30-16:00 GER 309This talk will look into some of the signal processing details underpinning current projects in the Centre for Digital Music. We will look at how structural segmentation is performed for the SoundBite demonstrator, and look at mid-level representations and their use in Music Information Retrieval. The analysis of harmony is a topic of some interest at USC, and we will look at how to visualize harmony and tonal change direct from audio, and examine how to segment music based on an analysis of the underlying key. A unifying theme for these topics is the Constant Q Transform, used as our audio front-end.* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *MARK SANDLER is Director of the Centre for Digital Music and Professor of Signal Processing at Queen Mary, University of London, where he moved in 2001 after 19 years at King's College, also in the University of London. Mark received the BSc and PhD degrees from University of Essex, UK, in 1978 and 1984, respectively. Mark has published nearly 300 papers in journals and conferences. He is a Senior Member of IEEE, a Fellow of IEE and a Fellow of the Audio Engineering Society. He is two-times recipient of the IEE A.H.Reeves Premium Prize. In 2003 he was General Chair of DAFx (6th International Workshop on Digital Audio Effects) held at Queen Mary, and in 2005 was General Co-Chair of ISMIR (6th International Conference on Music Information Retrieval) also held at Queen Mary. He is founding Chair of the Audio Engineering Society's Technical Committee on Semantic Audio Analysis, and is on the IEEE Technical Committee of Audio and Electroacoustics. He was founding editor of the EURASIP Journal of Applied Signal Processing, and is consulting editor to Elsevier for books on Audio and Music Signal Processing. He has worked in Digital Signal Processing for Audio and Music for nearly 30 years on a wide variety of topics including: Digital Power amplification; Drum Synthesis; Chaos and Fractals for Analysis and Synthesis; non-linear dynamics; Sigma-Delta Modulation & Direct Stream Digital technologies; Digital EQ; Wavelet Audio compression; high quality audio compression; compression domain processing; Internet Audio Streaming and Scalable coding; Automatic Music Transcription and Musical Feature Extraction; Music Semantics and Knowledge Representation; 3D sound reproduction; time stretching and audio effects.* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *Organizer: Elaine Chew, Viterbi Early Career, Assistant Professor of Industrial and Systems EngineeringSupported in part by the Viterbi Early Career Chair Funds, the Integrated Media Systems Center, and the Epstein Department of Industrial and Systems Engineering.For other lectures in the series, please see http://www-rcf.usc.edu/~mucoaco/events/vecc0506.html
Location: Ethel Percy Andrus Gerontology Center (GER) - 309
Audiences: Everyone Is Invited

Contact: Elaine Chew
Apr
19

Cooperation in Wireless Networks: Node Assignment Strategies
Wed, Apr 19, 2006 @ 10:00 AM - 11:00 AM
Ming Hsieh Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering
Conferences, Lectures, & Seminars

Speaker: Prof. Aria Nosratinia, University of Texas, DallasAbstract: I will discuss cooperative wireless networks, in particular the non-altruistic variety where there are no pure relays and all nodes that are "on" have data of their own to transmit. In this context, a coded cooperation framework will be presented, where cooperation is achieved in the context of channel coding. Then we will proceed to discuss node assignment for cooperation. In general, not all nodes in a wireless network may wish to be involved in every transmission. Therefore, in a multi-node cooperation protocol, one needs strategies of grouping the nodes. Such strategies are examined under two types of constraints: distributed control and centralized control. We shall see that there exist simple distributed strategies that guarantee full diversity (in the number of decoding attempts) over the network. Since the distributed strategies already achieve full diversity, centralized control does not provide any additional diversity gain, however, based on various amounts of channel state information being available to the central controller, significant gains are still possible over and above distributed control. These gains are characterized under a variety of conditions.Bio: Aria Nosratinia is associate professor of electrical engineering at the University of Texas, Dallas (UTD). Currently he is spending a sabbatical leave at UCLA. Aria received his Ph.D. in electrical and computer engineering from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. He has been a visiting scholar with Princeton University, Princeton, New Jersey and a visiting professor and faculty fellow at Rice University, Houston, Texas. His interests lie in the broad area of information theory, coding and signal processing, in particular various problems related to wireless networks and transmission of multimedia data over such networks. He received the National Science Foundation career award in January 2000. He serves as associate editor for the IEEE Transactions on Image Processing and IEEE Wireless Communications.Host: Professor Giuseppe Caire, caire@usc.edu, x.04683
Location: Hughes Aircraft Electrical Engineering Center (EEB) - -248
Audiences: Everyone Is Invited

Contact: Mayumi Thrasher
Apr
20

Viterbi Early Career Chair Lecture Series
Thu, Apr 20, 2006
Integrated Media Systems Center
Conferences, Lectures, & Seminars

Mark SandlerProfessor of Signal ProcessingQueen Mary, University of LondonDepartment of Electronic EngineeringHead of Digital Signal Processing and Multimedia GroupDirector of Center for Digital MusicPoster: http://www-rcf.usc.edu/~mucoaco/events/200604-sandler.pdf* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *INTERACTING WITH DIGITAL MUSICWed, April 19, 2006. 14:30-16:00 GER 309Although in a strict sense music went digital over two decades ago with the introduction of the CD, the term Digital Music has come to imply something more than a digital representation, often the inclusion of Internet technologies with music, and always the involvement of computers. By combining the latest Signal Processing techniques with Machine Learning and semantic processing, the latest and future generation Digital Music applications offer some really exciting ways to listen to, search for and interact with music. The talk will begin by looking at some widely available technologies and services for interacting with digital music, and then move on to a view of current research in the area with a look at some recent results from the Centre for Digital Music. Finally, the talk will take a view of the future, and get an idea how today research is informs future generation consumer products, with particular attention to the role of the Semantic Web.* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *CONSTANT Q ANALYSIS AND ITS USE IN MUSIC INFORMATICSThu, April 20, 2006. 14:30-16:00 GER 309This talk will look into some of the signal processing details underpinning current projects in the Centre for Digital Music. We will look at how structural segmentation is performed for the SoundBite demonstrator, and look at mid-level representations and their use in Music Information Retrieval. The analysis of harmony is a topic of some interest at USC, and we will look at how to visualize harmony and tonal change direct from audio, and examine how to segment music based on an analysis of the underlying key. A unifying theme for these topics is the Constant Q Transform, used as our audio front-end.* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *MARK SANDLER is Director of the Centre for Digital Music and Professor of Signal Processing at Queen Mary, University of London, where he moved in 2001 after 19 years at King's College, also in the University of London. Mark received the BSc and PhD degrees from University of Essex, UK, in 1978 and 1984, respectively. Mark has published nearly 300 papers in journals and conferences. He is a Senior Member of IEEE, a Fellow of IEE and a Fellow of the Audio Engineering Society. He is two-times recipient of the IEE A.H.Reeves Premium Prize. In 2003 he was General Chair of DAFx (6th International Workshop on Digital Audio Effects) held at Queen Mary, and in 2005 was General Co-Chair of ISMIR (6th International Conference on Music Information Retrieval) also held at Queen Mary. He is founding Chair of the Audio Engineering Society's Technical Committee on Semantic Audio Analysis, and is on the IEEE Technical Committee of Audio and Electroacoustics. He was founding editor of the EURASIP Journal of Applied Signal Processing, and is consulting editor to Elsevier for books on Audio and Music Signal Processing. He has worked in Digital Signal Processing for Audio and Music for nearly 30 years on a wide variety of topics including: Digital Power amplification; Drum Synthesis; Chaos and Fractals for Analysis and Synthesis; non-linear dynamics; Sigma-Delta Modulation & Direct Stream Digital technologies; Digital EQ; Wavelet Audio compression; high quality audio compression; compression domain processing; Internet Audio Streaming and Scalable coding; Automatic Music Transcription and Musical Feature Extraction; Music Semantics and Knowledge Representation; 3D sound reproduction; time stretching and audio effects.* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *Organizer: Elaine Chew, Viterbi Early Career, Assistant Professor of Industrial and Systems EngineeringSupported in part by the Viterbi Early Career Chair Funds, the Integrated Media Systems Center, and the Epstein Department of Industrial and Systems Engineering.For other lectures in the series, please see http://www-rcf.usc.edu/~mucoaco/events/vecc0506.html
Location: Ethel Percy Andrus Gerontology Center (GER) - 309
Audiences: Everyone Is Invited

Contact: Elaine Chew
Apr
21

Trilinos Tutorial: Overview and Basic Concepts
Fri, Apr 21, 2006 @ 11:00 AM - 11:50 AM
Sonny Astani Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering
Conferences, Lectures, & Seminars

Mike Heroux
Distinguished Member of Technical Staff
Numerical and Applied Mathematics Department
Sandia National LaboratoriesAbstract:
The Trilinos Project is an effort to facilitate the design, development, integration and ongoing support of mathematical software libraries within an object-oriented framework for the solution of large-scale, complex multi-physics engineering and scientific problems. Trilinos addresses two fundamental issues of developing software for these problems: (i) Providing a streamlined process and set of tools for development of new algorithmic implementations and (ii) promoting interoperability of independently developed software packages to enable solution of large-scale multi-physics problems.
Trilinos uses a two-level software structure designed around collections of packages. A Trilinos package is an integral unit usually developed by a small team of experts in a particular algorithms area such as algebraic preconditioners, nonlinear solvers, etc. Packages exist underneath the Trilinos top level, which provides a common look-and-feel, including configuration, documentation, licensing, and bug-tracking. Here we present the overall Trilinos design, illustrating the value of the package architecture. We discuss the services that Trilinos provides to a prospective package and how these services are used by various packages. We discuss how to get started using Trilinos via a simple example. We also show how packages can be combined to rapidly develop new algorithms. Finally, we discuss how Trilinos facilitates high quality software engineering practices that are increasingly required from simulation software.

Location: Kaprielian Hall (KAP) - rielian Hall, Room 203
Audiences: Everyone Is Invited

Contact: Evangeline Reyes
Apr
21

Scaffolded DNA Origami: Folding DNA to Create Nanoscale Shapes and Patterns
Fri, Apr 21, 2006 @ 01:00 PM - 02:00 PM
Viterbi School of Engineering Student Affairs
Conferences, Lectures, & Seminars

Engineering Honors Colloquium Lecture presented by Dr. Paul Rothemund, a Senior Research Fellow in Computer Science and Computation and Neural Systems at Caltech.
Location: Olin Hall of Engineering (OHE) - 122
Audiences: Faculty and Honors Program Students

Contact: Erika Chua
Apr
21

Processing and Characterization of Nanocrystalline Materials with Interesting Physical Properties
Fri, Apr 21, 2006 @ 02:45 PM - 03:30 PM
Mork Family Department of Chemical Engineering and Materials Science
Conferences, Lectures, & Seminars

THE MORK FAMILY DEPARTMENT OF CHEMICAL ENGINEERING AND MATERIALS SCIENCEPRESENTS A SEMINAR
byAmiya K. MukherjeeDepartment of Chemical Engineering & Materials Science
University of California, DavisNanocrystalline materials have been produced by severe plastic deformation, electro-deposition, magnetron sputtering, crystallization from bulk metallic glass, ball milling and powders produced from inert gas condensation. The consolidation of the powder particles in some of these processing routes was achieved by electrical field assisted sintering with capability of superimposing 2 GPa gas pressure. The nanocrystalline metallic materials demonstrated both high strain-rate superplasticity and low-temperature superplasticity with important differences in the mechanistic details from their microcrystalline counterparts. The nanomaterials derived from crystallization of bulk metallic glass demonstrated extreme strength and at elevated temperatures showed superplasticity-like ductility. A three-phase alumina based nanoceramic composite demonstrated superplasticity at a lower temperature and at a higher strain rate. An alumina-carbon nanotube-niobium nanocomposite has a fracture toughness that is five times higher than that of pure alumina and an electrical conductivity that is thirteen orders of magnitude greater than that of pure nanocrystalline alumina. It also has excellent potential for use as a thermoelectric material. An alumina-spinel nanocomposite demonstrated optical transparency in the mid infrared range. A silicon carbide/silicon nitride nanocomposite produced by pyrolysis of liquid polymer precursor has produced one of the lowest creep rates in ceramics at a referred temperature of 1400° C. These structural and functional properties will be discussed in the context of microstructural investigations and recent results from molecular dynamics simulations. This research is supported by NSF, ARO, and ONR.Friday, April 21, 2006, 2:45-3:30 PM
(Refreshments will be served at 2:30 PM)
Location: VHE 217
**ALL FIRST YEAR MATERIALS SCIENCE MAJORS ARE REQUIRED TO ATTEND**

Location: Vivian Hall of Engineering (VHE) - 217
Audiences: Everyone Is Invited

Contact: Petra Pearce
Apr
24

Mammalian Circadian Rhythms: Mathematical Models of the SCN Network and Cell Synchronization
Mon, Apr 24, 2006 @ 12:30 PM - 01:30 PM
Alfred E. Mann Department of Biomedical Engineering
Conferences, Lectures, & Seminars

"Mammalian Circadian Rhythms: Mathematical Models of the SCN Network and Cell Synchronization"Joseph Miller, PhD, Dept. of Cell and Neurobiology, USC Keck School of Medicine, and Wijesuriya Dayawansa, PhD, Dept. of Mathematics and Statistics, Texas Tech UniversityVirtually all species on earth exhibit near-24 hr (circadian) rhythms in nearly every physiological and behavioral variable, including activity, sleep-wake cycling, body temperature and hormone release. The mammalian circadian clock is localized in the suprachiasmatic nucleus (SCN) of the hypothalamus and is both necessary and sufficient for circadian rhythm generation and maintenance. It comprises about 16,000 neurons, each of which is an autonomous cellular oscillator with a period of approximately 24 hr. The molecular substrates of the clock have recently been elucidated and some eight genes and gene products have been identified as components of a self-sustaining molecular feedback loop which constitutes the clock hardware. Mathematical modeling of the SCN cell oscillators largely originated from the work of Kronauer. Recently there have been several studies in which low dimensional dynamical models have been extracted from complicated biochemical interaction models to represent oscillatory responses in SCN cells. We will review some of the recent work on this topic. It has proven more difficult to determine the means by which these 16,000 clock neurons remain synchronized. Our main interest is in how such a network of SCN neurons can produce a synchronized oscillatory output. We model network connections in a probabilistic manner, and discuss the relevance of the first and second eigenvalues of a random graph to interpret observed synchronization times. We will discuss how to relate quantitative physiological parameters of the clock such as time to synchronize, resistance to lesion, temperature compensation and phase response curves to certain hypotheses regarding the SCN connectivity network. We argue that a small world topology is far more appropriate than the classical nearest neighbor interaction model.
Location: Olin Hall of Engineering (OHE) - 132
Audiences: Graduate

Contact: Wyatt Adam
Apr
24

From Computation....to Animation!
Mon, Apr 24, 2006 @ 07:00 PM - 08:30 PM
Thomas Lord Department of Computer Science
Conferences, Lectures, & Seminars

How does C++ code create Shrek's clothing? How does MEL scripting help Shrek skip?Unbeknownst to many, computer science is a huge part of making a 3-d animated feature film, and computer scientists/programmers are a huge asset to a studio. Saty Raghavachary, senior software engineer at DreamWorks, will discuss exactly how coding and 3-d animation interact, illustrated with clips from DreamWorks films.RSVP to siggraph@usc.edu
*A light reception will be served*Hosted by USC SIGGRAPH - http://imagine-it.org/uscsiggraph/
Location: James H. Zumberge Hall Of Science (ZHS) - 352
Audiences: Everyone Is Invited

Contact: Nancy Levien
Apr
26

THE MECHANISM OF THOUGHT: CONFABULATION
Wed, Apr 26, 2006 @ 02:30 PM - 04:00 PM
Ming Hsieh Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering
Conferences, Lectures, & Seminars

"THE MECHANISM OF THOUGHT: CONFABULATION"Dr. Robert Hecht-Nielsen
University of California at San DiegoWednesday, April 26, 20062:30 – 4:00 pmGerontology AuditoriumRefreshments will be served after the talkAbstract:The talk presents a fast parallel winner-take-all competition process called confabulation [1 – 3] as the fundamental mechanism of cognition—from vision and hearing to movement and reasoning. Confabulation theory models thinking as a process in which multiple confabulations interact and in which vast numbers of items of relevant knowledge (links between neuron clusters) apply in parallel. Such a multiconfabulation begins with billions of distinct but viable conclusions and ends with a single winning conclusion. The talk will discuss the engineering, mathematical, and neuroscientific aspects of (non-Bayesian) confabulation and suggest related next steps in the development of AI and thalamo-cortical neuroscience.1. Hecht-Nielsen, R., "Cogent Confabulation," Neural Networks 18:111–115, 2005.
2. Hecht-Nielsen, R., "Mechanization of Cognition," in Y. Bar-Cohen, ed., Biomimetics (pp. 57–128), Boca Raton, FL: CRC Press.
3. Hecht-Nielsen, R., "Replicator Neural Networks," Science 269:1860–1863, 1995.Bio:Dr. Robert Hecht-Nielsen is the Director of UC San Diego's Confabulation Neuroscience
Institute, an adjunct professor in UCSD's Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering,
an IEEE Fellow, a recipient of the IEEE Neural Networks Pioneer Medal, a founder of UCSD's Graduate Program in Neurobiology, a member of UCSD's Institute for Neural Computation, author of the text NeuroComputing, and co-founder of HNC Software and the publicly traded Fair-Isaac Corporation.Host: Professor Bart Kosko, x06242, kosko@usc.edu

Location: Ethel Percy Andrus Gerontology Center (GER) -
Audiences: Everyone Is Invited

Contact: Rosine Sarafian
Apr
26

Fabrication Of Proton Exchange Membrane Fuel Cell Bipolar Plates By Selective Laser Sintering
Wed, Apr 26, 2006 @ 03:30 PM
Aerospace and Mechanical Engineering
Conferences, Lectures, & Seminars

David Bourell Temple Foundation Professor The University of Texas at Austin Presented is a new manufacturing technique involving Selective Laser Sintering (SLS) for fabrication of proton exchange membrane fuel cell bipolar plates. A material system for bipolar plate fabrication was identified to satisfy both the cell performance requirements and SLS operation restrictions. The structure of the constituent powders and the fabrication process will be described. Carbonization and liquid epoxy infiltration are necessary following the completion of the SLS green part. The finished SLS bipolar plate showed impressive surface finish and mechanical strength, and a single fuel cell was assembled with two SLS end plates and membrane electrode assembly in between. Computational modeling (FLUENT) of various bipolar plate channel designs will be compared to experimentally prepared samples. This research was funded by the State of Texas Technology Development and Transfer Program (Grant number 003658) and the U.S. Office of Naval Research (Grant number N000140010334).
Location: Stauffer Science Lecture Hall, SLH, Room 100
Audiences: Everyone Is Invited

Contact: April Mundy
Apr
28

Materials Science Seminar-- Ultra-High Temperature Ceramics for Hypersonic Flight Vehicles
Fri, Apr 28, 2006 @ 02:45 PM - 03:30 PM
Mork Family Department of Chemical Engineering and Materials Science
Conferences, Lectures, & Seminars

THE MORK FAMILY DEPARTMENT OF CHEMICAL ENGINEERING AND MATERIALS SCIENCEPRESENTS A SEMINAR
BYJochen Marschall
SRI InternationalABSTRACTThe leading edges of hypersonic vehicles experience extreme aerothermal heating in a highly reactive gas environment. The current state-of-the-art thermal protection system for leading edges is SiC-protected carbon/carbon, as used for the nose cap and wing leading edges on the Space Shuttle. This system is rated for reusable operation up to 1500 Â°C. New hypersonic vehicle designs anticipate the need for leading edges that operate above 2000 Â°C. Ultra-high temperature ceramic (UHTC) materials based on zirconium and hafnium diborides, carbides and oxides are promising candidates for such applications.
The first part of this seminar will describe the environments experienced by leading edges during hypersonic flight, and the constraints that these flight environments impose on component design and materials selection. The second part will introduce UHTC materials, and describe their properties, manufacture, and testing. The final portion of the seminar will focus on the high temperature oxidation of UHTC materials, the formation of complex oxide scale microstructures, the acceleration of oxidation rates by dissociated oxygen, and the ramifications of UHTC oxidation on performance in flight.April 28, 2006
2:45-3:30 PM
(Refreshments will be served at 2:30 PM)
VHE 217**ALL FIRST YEAR MATERIALS SCIENCE MAJORS ARE REQUIRED TO ATTEND**

Location: Vivian Hall of Engineering (VHE) - 217
Audiences: Everyone Is Invited

Contact: Petra Pearce

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