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Events for April 25, 2007

  • Walk-In Wednesdays: Career Services Advising

    Wed, Apr 25, 2007

    Viterbi School of Engineering Career Connections

    Student Activity


    Please feel free to come in during these walk-in hours! No appointment is necessary. Come in for resume reviews, internship information, or general engineering career advice.

    Location: Ronald Tutor Hall of Engineering (RTH) - 218

    Audiences: Current Engineering Students!

    Contact: RTH 218 Viterbi Career Services

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  • Assessing the Implementation of the Chronic Care Model

    Wed, Apr 25, 2007 @ 10:00 AM - 11:00 PM

    Daniel J. Epstein Department of Industrial and Systems Engineering

    University Calendar


    Daniel J. Epstein Department of Industrial and Systems Engineering Seminar: "Assessing the Implementation of the Chronic Care Model"Dr. Shinyi WuAssociate Director, Roybal Center for Health Policy Simulation, RAND CorporationABSTRACT: Chronic disease is the primary driver of demand for healthcare in the United States, but efforts to meet this demand that rely on the traditional acute care approach to treatment are costly and, often, ineffective. To address this problem, the MacColl Institute for Healthcare Improvement has developed the Chronic Care Model (CCM) to encourage an organized, proactive approach to care for individuals with chronic illnesses. The model proposes changes in six essential elements of a healthcare system: the community, the health system, self-management support, delivery system design, decision support, and clinical information systems. Because the model recommends changes in multiple components of complex systems, implementation is a significant challenge. Given this challenge, assessments of implementation are needed; only by understanding the details of what was actually done can change agents account for failure to achieve expected results or identify factors that provide the most leverage in achieving successful outcomes. In this talk, Dr. Wu will discuss two studies examining implementation of the CCM. The first, conducted in the context of a national evaluation of chronic care collaboratives, advances the study of implementation by defining a set of change activities within each of the six areas specified in the CCM and a coding system that can be used to specify three aspects of implementation: how many changes were implemented, depth of implementation, and fidelity to the CCM for the PDCA cycles tested. Relying on this system, the research team found that the extent and quality of implementation varied across the participating organizations and identified factors that accounted for the variation. The second study, now in progress, involves development of a toolkit and a practice coaching method to facilitate implementation of the CCM in safety net clinics, as these organizations may not have access to chronic care collaboratives or may find the requirements of participating in a collaborative (e.g., registration fees, travel costs, time away from work) burdensome. Incorporating models such as the CCM into the teaching and practice of industrial engineering would enable IEs to participate effectively in interdisciplinary efforts to improve the operation of healthcare systems. WEDNESDAY, APRIL 25, 2006, GERONTOLOGY BUILDING (GER) ROOM 309, 10:00-11:00 AM

    Location: Ethel Percy Andrus Gerontology Center (GER) - 309

    Audiences: Everyone Is Invited

    Contact: Georgia Lum

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  • Photophysics of Carbon Nanotubes

    Wed, Apr 25, 2007 @ 11:00 AM - 12:00 AM

    Ming Hsieh Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering

    Conferences, Lectures, & Seminars


    Dr. Mildred DresselhausInstitute Professor,
    Massachusetts Institute of TechnologyAbstractThe use of resonance Raman spectroscopy to reveal the remarkable optical properties of carbon nanotubes arising from their one-dimensionality will be briefly reviewed. Particular emphasis will be given to the difference in behavior between semiconducting and metallic nanotubes and the dependence of these behaviors on diameter and chirality. Some of the recent advances in single nanotube photophysics based on both resonance Raman spectroscopy and photoluminescence will be discussed. A brief summary will then be given of current photophysics research directions pursued
    in my research group.BioMildred Dresselhaus is an Institute Professor of Electrical Engineering and Physics at MIT. She is a member of the National Academy of Sciences, the National Academy of Engineering, and has served as President of the American Physical Society, Treasurer of the National Academy of Sciences,
    President of the American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS), and on numerous
    advisory committees and councils. Dr. Dresselhaus has received numerous awards, including
    the National Medal of Science and 22 honorary doctorates worldwide. She is the co-author of four books on carbon science and is particularly well known for her work on carbon nanotubes and other nanostructural systems. Her research over the years has covered a wide range of problems in Condensed Matter and Materials Physics. She is presently co-chair of a National Academy Decadel Study of Condensed Matter and Materials Physics and is coming out this year with two new books, one entitled "Applications of Group Theory to the Physics of Condensed Matter" and the second entitled "Carbon Nanotubes: New Topics in the Synthesis, Structure, Properties and Applications." In February she was named the North American Laureate for the 2007 L'Oreal-UNESCO Award for Women in Science.More Information visit: http://ee.usc.edu/munushian

    Location: Hedco Neurosciences Building (HNB) - 100

    Audiences: Everyone Is Invited

    Contact: Ericka Lieberknecht

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  • Optimization of Maintenance & Replacement Policies for a System of Heterogeneous Infrastructure ...

    Wed, Apr 25, 2007 @ 12:00 PM - 01:30 PM

    Daniel J. Epstein Department of Industrial and Systems Engineering

    University Calendar


    METRANS Seminar: "Optimization of Maintenance and Replacement Policies for a System of Heterogeneous Infrastructure Facilities"Speaker: Dr. Samer Madanat, Institute of Transportation Studies (ITS), University of California, BerkeleyABSTRACT: This research addresses the determination of optimal maintenance and replacement policies for a system of heterogeneous facilities. The problem of optimizing maintenance and replacement policies at the system level is formulated in a reliability-based framework, based on policies that are optimal at the facility level. The facility-level policies are determined using a finite-state, finite horizon Markov decision process in which the state of the Markov chain contains information on the history of maintenance and deterioration.Optimality conditions for the continuous-case system-level problem are derived and explained intuitively. A numerical study shows that the results obtained in the discrete-case implementation of the solution are valid approximations of the continuous-case results. The computational efficiency of the system-level solution makes the formulation suitable for systems of realistic sizes.******Bio: Dr. Samer Madanat is the Xenel Distinguished Professor in the Department of Civil & Environmental Engineering, and the Director of the Institute of Transportation Studies at the University of California at Berkeley. He received a B.Sc. in Civil Engineering from the University of Jordan in 1986, and a M.S and Ph.D. in Transportation Systems from MIT in 1988 and 1991 respectively.His research and teaching interests are in the area of Transportation Infrastructure Management, with an emphasis on modeling facility performance and the development of optimal management policies under uncertainty. He has published extensively in refereed archival journals and conference proceedings.In 2000, he received the Science and Technology grant from the University of California Office of the President, an award given annually to one faculty member in the UC system. Since 2001, he has served as the Editor-in-Chief of the ASCE Journal of Infrastructure Systems. Several of his former students are faculty members at universities in the US and abroad.The seminar will be at RGL 215, 12:00 Noon to 1:30 pm.Contact: Genevieve Giuliano, Sr. Assoc. Dean, Research and Technology, Director, METRANS Transportation Center, School of Policy, Planning and Development, 650 Childs Way, University of Southern California, Los Angeles, CA 90089-0626, p 213-740-3956, f 231-740-0001.

    Location: Ralph And Goldy Lewis Hall (RGL) - 215

    Audiences: Everyone Is Invited

    Contact: Georgia Lum

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  • Optimization of Maintenance & Replacement Policies for a System of Heterogeneous Infrastructure ...

    Wed, Apr 25, 2007 @ 12:00 PM - 01:30 PM

    Daniel J. Epstein Department of Industrial and Systems Engineering

    University Calendar


    METRANS Seminar: "Optimization of Maintenance and Replacement Policies for a System of Heterogeneous Infrastructure Facilities"Speaker: Dr. Samer Madanat, Institute of Transportation Studies (ITS), University of California, BerkeleyABSTRACT: This research addresses the determination of optimal maintenance and replacement policies for a system of heterogeneous facilities. The problem of optimizing maintenance and replacement policies at the system level is formulated in a reliability-based framework, based on policies that are optimal at the facility level. The facility-level policies are determined using a finite-state, finite horizon Markov decision process in which the state of the Markov chain contains information on the history of maintenance and deterioration.Optimality conditions for the continuous-case system-level problem are derived and explained intuitively. A numerical study shows that the results obtained in the discrete-case implementation of the solution are valid approximations of the continuous-case results. The computational efficiency of the system-level solution makes the formulation suitable for systems of realistic sizes.******Bio: Dr. Samer Madanat is the Xenel Distinguished Professor in the Department of Civil & Environmental Engineering, and the Director of the Institute of Transportation Studies at the University of California at Berkeley. He received a B.Sc. in Civil Engineering from the University of Jordan in 1986, and a M.S and Ph.D. in Transportation Systems from MIT in 1988 and 1991 respectively.His research and teaching interests are in the area of Transportation Infrastructure Management, with an emphasis on modeling facility performance and the development of optimal management policies under uncertainty. He has published extensively in refereed archival journals and conference proceedings.In 2000, he received the Science and Technology grant from the University of California Office of the President, an award given annually to one faculty member in the UC system. Since 2001, he has served as the Editor-in-Chief of the ASCE Journal of Infrastructure Systems. Several of his former students are faculty members at universities in the US and abroad.The seminar will be on Wednesday, April 25, 2007, at RGL 215, 12:00 Noon to 1:30 pm.Contact: Genevieve Giuliano, Sr. Assoc. Dean, Research and Technology, Director, METRANS Transportation Center, School of Policy, Planning and Development, 650 Childs Way, University of Southern California, Los Angeles, CA 90089-0626, p 213-740-3956, f 231-740-0001.

    Location: Ralph And Goldy Lewis Hall (RGL) - 215

    Audiences: Everyone Is Invited

    Contact: Georgia Lum

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  • Optimization of Maintenance & Replacement Policies for a System of Heterogeneous Infrastructure ...

    Wed, Apr 25, 2007 @ 12:00 PM - 01:30 PM

    Daniel J. Epstein Department of Industrial and Systems Engineering

    University Calendar


    METRANS Seminar: "Optimization of Maintenance and Replacement Policies for a System of Heterogeneous Infrastructure Facilities"Speaker: Dr. Samer Madanat, Institute of Transportation Studies (ITS), University of California, BerkeleyABSTRACT: This research addresses the determination of optimal maintenance and replacement policies for a system of heterogeneous facilities. The problem of optimizing maintenance and replacement policies at the system level is formulated in a reliability-based framework, based on policies that are optimal at the facility level. The facility-level policies are determined using a finite-state, finite horizon Markov decision process in which the state of the Markov chain contains information on the history of maintenance and deterioration.Optimality conditions for the continuous-case system-level problem are derived and explained intuitively. A numerical study shows that the results obtained in the discrete-case implementation of the solution are valid approximations of the continuous-case results. The computational efficiency of the system-level solution makes the formulation suitable for systems of realistic sizes.******Bio: Dr. Samer Madanat is the Xenel Distinguished Professor in the Department of Civil & Environmental Engineering, and the Director of the Institute of Transportation Studies at the University of California at Berkeley. He received a B.Sc. in Civil Engineering from the University of Jordan in 1986, and a M.S and Ph.D. in Transportation Systems from MIT in 1988 and 1991 respectively.His research and teaching interests are in the area of Transportation Infrastructure Management, with an emphasis on modeling facility performance and the development of optimal management policies under uncertainty. He has published extensively in refereed archival journals and conference proceedings.In 2000, he received the Science and Technology grant from the University of California Office of the President, an award given annually to one faculty member in the UC system. Since 2001, he has served as the Editor-in-Chief of the ASCE Journal of Infrastructure Systems. Several of his former students are faculty members at universities in the US and abroad.The seminar will be on Wednesday, April 25, 2007, at RGL 215, 12:00 Noon to 1:30 pm.Contact: Genevieve Giuliano, Sr. Assoc. Dean, Research and Technology, Director, METRANS Transportation Center, School of Policy, Planning and Development, 650 Childs Way, University of Southern California, Los Angeles, CA 90089-0626, P 213-740-3956, F 231-740-0001.

    Location: Ralph And Goldy Lewis Hall (RGL) - 215

    Audiences: Everyone Is Invited

    Contact: Georgia Lum

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  • Optimization of maintenance and replacement policies for a system of heterogeneous infrastructure fa

    Wed, Apr 25, 2007 @ 12:00 PM - 01:30 PM

    Sonny Astani Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering

    Conferences, Lectures, & Seminars


    (( SPEAKER ))Dr. SAMER MADANAT, Institute of Transportation Studies (ITS), University of California, Berkeley(( ABSTRACT ))This research addresses the determination of optimal maintenance and replacement policies for a system of heterogeneous facilities. The problem of optimizing maintenance and replacement policies at the system level is formulated in a reliability-based framework, based on policies that are optimal at the facility level. The facility-level policies are determined using a finite-state, finite horizon Markov decision process in which the state of the Markov chain contains information on the history of maintenance and deterioration.Optimality conditions for the continuous-case system-level problem are derived and explained intuitively. A numerical study shows that the results obtained in the discrete-case implementation of the solution are valid approximations of the continuous-case results. The computational efficiency of the system-level solution makes the formulation suitable for systems of realistic sizes.Bio: Samer Madanat is the Xenel Distinguished Professor in the Department of Civil & Environmental Engineering, and the Director of the Institute of Transportation Studies at the University of California at Berkeley.He received a B.Sc. in Civil Engineering from the University of Jordan in 1986, and a M.S and Ph.D. in Transportation Systems from MIT in 1988 and 1991 respectively.His research and teaching interests are in the area of Transportation Infrastructure Management, with an emphasis on modeling facility performance and the development of optimal management policies under uncertainty. He has published extensively in refereed archival journals and conference proceedings.In 2000, he received the Science and Technology grant from the University of California Office of the President, an award given annually to one faculty member in the UC system. Since 2001, he has served as the Editor-in-Chief of the ASCE Journal of Infrastructure Systems. Several of his former students are faculty members at universities in the US and abroad.

    Location: Ralph And Goldy Lewis Hall (RGL) - -215

    Audiences: Everyone Is Invited

    Contact: Masako Okamoto

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  • Particulate Matter Emitted By Vehicles in Freeway and Roadway Tunnel Environments:

    Wed, Apr 25, 2007 @ 02:00 PM - 03:00 PM

    Sonny Astani Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering

    Conferences, Lectures, & Seminars


    (( SPEAKER ))DR. MICHAEL D. GELLER, Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, USC(( ABSTRACT ))Individual organic compounds such as hopanes and steranes (originating in lube oil), selected polycyclic aromatic compounds (PAHs) (generated via combustion), and trace metals found in particulate emissions from vehicles have proven useful in source apportionment of ambient particulate matter.Currently, little ambient data exists for a majority of these species. Three sampling campaigns have been carried out in four different environments with similar ambient conditions: a gasoline only freeway, a heavy-duty diesel influenced freeway (~20% diesel), a gasoline only tunnel, and a mixed-vehicle (~4% diesel) tunnel.Trace organic species in the ultrafine (Very good agreement is observed between CA-110 (gasoline freeway) and light duty vehicle tunnel emission factors as well as I-710 (~20% diesel freeway) measurements and corresponding reconstructed emission factors from the tunnel for selected species. This study demonstrates the effective use of CO2-estimated dilution to associate assorted vehicle-emitted PM bound compounds in distinct vehicle-dominated environments.

    Location: Kaprielian Hall (KAP) - -203

    Audiences: Everyone Is Invited

    Contact: Masako Okamoto

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  • Constrained Variation in Multiscale Simulations of Micro- and Nano-Fluidics and Subgrid-Scale Stress

    Wed, Apr 25, 2007 @ 03:30 PM - 04:30 PM

    Aerospace and Mechanical Engineering

    Conferences, Lectures, & Seminars


    Shiyi Chen Alonzo G. Decker Jr. Chair in Engineering and Science Department of Mechanical Engineering The Johns Hopkins University Baltimore, MD Finding physically consistent solutions in multiscale methods is crucial for various multiscale modeling and simulations. A framework for continuum and molecular dynamics hybrid multiscale method has been recently developed to simulate micro- and nano-fluid flows. In this approach, the continuum Navier-Stokes equation is used in one flow region and atomistic molecular dynamics in another. The spatial coupling between two methods is achieved through the constrained dynamics in an overlap region. The proposed multiscale method has been validated in simple fluid flows, including sudden-start Couette flow and channel flow with nano-scale wall roughness, showing quantitative agreement with results from analytical solutions and full molecular dynamics simulations. The hybrid method is then used to study the singularity problems in the driven cavity and moving contact lines. Following the stress over more than six decades in length in systems with characteristic scales of millimeters and milliseconds allows us to resolve the singularity and determine the force for the first time. The speedup over pure atomistic calculation is more than fourteen orders of magnitudes. The similar idea of constrained variation has also been used for developing constrained dynamic subgrid-scale (C-SGS) stress model of fluid turbulence. In the C-SGS, we impose physical constraints in the dynamic procedure of calculating the SGS coefficients. In particular, we study dynamic mixed models with energy flux and helicity flux constraints. The comparison between the large eddy simulation results in steady and decaying isotropic turbulence using constrained and non-constrained SGS models and those from direct numerical simulation (DNS) will be presented. It is found that the C-SGS not only predicts the turbulent dissipation more accurately, but also shows a strong correlation between the model stress and the real stress from a priori test, which is a desirable feature combining the advantages of dynamic Smagorinsky and traditional mixed models.

    Location: Seaver Science Llibrary (SSL) Room 150

    Audiences: Everyone Is Invited

    Contact: April Mundy

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  • End of Year Member Recognition

    Wed, Apr 25, 2007 @ 07:00 PM - 09:00 PM

    Viterbi School of Engineering Student Organizations

    Student Activity


    Join NSBE as we recognize and celebrate our most important component: our members!

    Location: Grace Ford Salvatori Hall Of Letters, Arts & Sciences (GFS) - 109

    Audiences: Everyone Is Invited

    Contact: National Society of Black Engineers (NSBE)

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