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Conferences, Lectures, & Seminars
Events for May
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Lyman Handy Colloquium Series
Tue, May 01, 2007 @ 11:30 AM - 01:50 PM
Mork Family Department of Chemical Engineering and Materials Science
Conferences, Lectures, & Seminars
Tadeusz Patzek
UC BerkeleyCan the Earth Produce the Biomass We Demand?Location: Olin Hall of Engineering (OHE) - 122
Audiences: Everyone Is Invited
Contact: Petra Pearce Sapir
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The Cardinal Role of Scheduling in Multiuser MIMO Downlink Systems
Tue, May 01, 2007 @ 02:00 PM - 03:00 PM
Ming Hsieh Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering
Conferences, Lectures, & Seminars
SPEAKER: Mr. Marios Kountouris, Ph.D. Student, Eurecom Institute, France Telecom R&DABSTRACT: The advantages of multiuser MIMO communication unfortunately come at a price. The most substantial cost is perhaps due to the often impractical requirement of perfect channel state information at the transmitter (CSIT). In the first part of the talk, we consider a MISO broadcast channel with partial CSIT and show how smart user scheduling can buy us a lot, allowing the base station to live well even with limited channel knowledge. We present several approaches that exploit power allocation, temporal and spatial correlation, as well as multiuser interference estimation, in order to achieve a significant fraction of the capacity of the full CSIT case by means of multiuser diversity. The second part is concerned with the problem of resource allocation in multicell wireless networks. Network capacity scaling laws are derived in the asymptotic regime where the number of users per cell grows to infinity. Our results suggest that simple distributed resource allocation algorithms can be used, and that multiuser diversity scheduling makes the capacity loss with respect to the optimal resource allocation solution almost negligible.BIO: Marios Kountouris received the Dipl.Ing. in Electrical and Computer Engineering from the National Technical University of Athens, Greece, in 2002, and the M.Sc in Electrical Engineering from Ecole Nationale Supérieure des Télécommunications (E.N.S.T Paris), France, in 2004. From July to October 2004, he interned as research engineer at Samsung Advanced Institute of Technology (S.A.I.T), Korea, working on adaptive MIMO-OFDM transmission, MU-MIMO precoding and scheduling, as well as being actively involved in the standardization activities for 3GPP (PU2RC) and IEEE 802.16e. From November 2004, he is pursuing his Ph.D at the Mobile Communications Dept. of Eurecom Institute, under Prof. David Gesbert and funded by France Telecom R&D. His current interests are in the field of communication and information theory with particular focus on multiuser MIMO systems and resource allocation for wireless networks.Host: Giuseppe Caire, caire@usc.edu
Location: Hughes Aircraft Electrical Engineering Center (EEB) - 248
Audiences: Everyone Is Invited
Contact: Mayumi Thrasher
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Polymer Films by Interfacial Polycondensation: A theory of kinetics and film structure
Thu, May 10, 2007 @ 01:00 PM
Mork Family Department of Chemical Engineering and Materials Science
Conferences, Lectures, & Seminars
Graduate SeminarPolymer Films by Interfacial Polycondensation:
A theory of kinetics and film structureProfessor A.K. SureshDepartment of Chemical Engineering
Indian Institute of Technology, Bombay
Powai, MumbaiAbstractInterfacial polycondensation has been used in niche polymerization applications such as the formation
of thin-film composite membranes and microencapsulation of active intermediates. The technique
offers the advantage of high rate, is less fussy about monomer purity than the melt methods, and
directly offers a polymer film as the product. On the other hand, the monomers used are highly
reactive and difficult. to handle, and the mechanisms of film formation are not well understood, so that
a prediction of film properties from preparation conditions is difficult. In the applications mentioned,
the strength of the polymer film and the permeability of solutes through it are the functional properties
of importance. In this talk, we shall present a modellng framework for interfacial polycondensation,
which accounts for the interplay between diffusion, multi-step reaction kinetics, solution
thermodynamics, and phase separation. Experiments to form polyurea microcapsules have been
carried out under various conditions, and show that the crystallinity of the polymer film formed varies
considerably depending on the synthesis conditions employed, with a loose inverse correlation being
apparent between the rate of polymerization reaction and the crystallinity of the polymer film. These
results point to opportunities for engineering film permeabilities through an understanding of the
mechanisms involved in the development of crystallinity, since the latter has a strong influence on
permeability. The modelling framework takes these experimental observations as a basis, and
accounts for polymer phase separation by nucleation and spinodal decomposition mechanisms. In
order to test the basic soundness of the postulates, we use simple models such as Flory-Huggins to
describe the solution thermodynamics. Qualitative and quantitative comparison will be presented
between certain aspects of the model predictions and experiments, and lines of further development
will be indicated.Thursday, May 10, 2007
Seminar at 1:00 p.m.
HED 116Refreshments at 12:45 p.m.The Scientific Community is Cordially Invited.Location: Hedco Pertroleum and Chemical Engineering Building (HED) - 116
Audiences: Everyone Is Invited
Contact: Petra Pearce
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Design and Analysis of Non-Binary LDPC Codes for Bandwidth-Efficient Communications
Mon, May 21, 2007 @ 02:00 PM - 03:00 PM
Ming Hsieh Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering
Conferences, Lectures, & Seminars
SPEAKER: Dr. Amir Bennatan, Post-doctoral Researcher, Program for Applied and Computation Mathematics, Princeton UniversityABSTRACT: The revolutionary performance of classic binary LDPC codes is well known to be restricted to channels that are binary-input and symmetric-output, ruling-out bandwidth-efficient (high SNR) channels. Traditionally, this problem was solved by using binary codes as components of a multilevel or BICM scheme. An interesting alternative, however, starts off with non-binary LDPC codes.Non-binary LDPC codes have long been known to the engineering community, but unlike their binary counterparts, they were generally neglected, perhaps because the theory involving them was not as mature. Our analysis has produced simple expressions that can be used to design the parameters that govern these codes. It includes generalizations of concepts like symmetry, stability, Gaussian approximation (using a single scalar parameter) and EXIT charts. We also provide an analysis of the codes under maximum-likelihood decoding, proving that they are able to achieve the capacity of any discrete-memoryless channel.Using this analysis, we designed non-binary LDPC codes that outperform multilevel codes at short block lengths. We also designed codes at a spectral efficiency of 6 bits/s/Hz that are capable of transmission within 0.56 dB of the Shannon limit (well within the shaping gap).Joint work with David Burshtein (Tel Aviv University)Bio: Amir Bennatan received the B.Sc. degree (summa cum laude) in mathematics and computer science, from Tel Aviv University in 1994. He received the M.Sc. degree (magna cum laude) and the Ph.D. degree, both in electrical engineering, from Tel Aviv University, in 2002 and 2006 respectively. During 1995-2000 he worked at the Israel Air Force Information Systems unit, including three years as a software team leader and systems analyst. He is currently a post-doctoral researcher at the Program for Applied and Computation Mathematics (PACM) at Princeton University. Dr. Bennatan was a recipient of a scholarship from the Wolf Foundation in 2002, of the Weinstein award in 2002, 2003 and 2004 and of an Intel study award in 2004. His fields of interest include wireless communications, coding theory, and software engineering methodologies.Host: Prof. Giuseppe Caire, caire@usc.edu
Location: Hughes Aircraft Electrical Engineering Center (EEB) - 248
Audiences: Everyone Is Invited
Contact: Mayumi Thrasher
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Alternative Futures for the Automobile
Wed, May 23, 2007
Daniel J. Epstein Department of Industrial and Systems Engineering
Conferences, Lectures, & Seminars
Sponsored by: USC Future Fuels and Energy InitiativeMETRANS Transportation Center For More Information:Contact: Victoria Valentine, METRANS Administrator, (213) 821-1025, VictoriV@usc.eduConference Chairs:Genevieve Giuliano, METRANS Director, (213) 740-3956, Giuliano@usc.eduAdam Rose, Visiting Professor,(213) 740-1716, Adam.Rose@usc.eduSave the Date: "Alternative Futures for the Automobile"May 23-24, 2007, USC Davidson Conference Center
Location: Charlotte S. & Davre R. Davidson Continuing Education Conference Center (DCC) -
Audiences: Everyone Is Invited
Contact: Georgia Lum
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Optimizing Frequency Reuse in Ad-Hoc Networks
Thu, May 24, 2007 @ 02:00 PM - 03:00 PM
Ming Hsieh Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering
Conferences, Lectures, & Seminars
SPEAKER: Prof. Nihar Jindal, University of MinnesotaAbstract: The issue of frequency reuse is investigated for ad-hoc networks in which many uncoordinated transmissions occur over shared spectrum. The following question is considered: given a fixed total bandwidth and a fixed rate requirement for each single-hop transmitter-receiver link in the network, what fraction of the total available bandwidth should be utilized by each transmission (or alternatively, at what point along the bandwidth-SINR tradeoff-curve should the system operate at) in order to maximize the spatial density of transmissions? Using stochastic geometry based results on ad hoc networks, it is shown that the optimal spectral efficiency lies between the low-SNR (power-limited) and high-SNR (bandwidth-limited) regimes and is a (increasing) function only of the path loss exponent. The network operates at this optimal point by dividing the system bandwidth into appropriately sized sub-bands and having each transmission occur over one of the sub-bands at the optimal spectral efficiency. Using this result, it is possible to derive simple relationships between information density and various system parameters such as communication range, outage probability, and rate. This work was jointly conducted with Jeff Andrews of UT Austin and Steven Weber of Drexel University.Joint work with Jeff Andrews and Steven WeberBio: Nihar Jindal received the B.S. degree in Electrical Engineering and Computer Science from U.C. Berkeley in 1999, and the M.S. and Ph.D. degrees in Electrical Engineering from Stanford University in 2001 and 2004. He is an assistant professor in the Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering at the University of Minnesota, where he holds a McKnight Land-Grant Professorship from 2007-2009. His research spans the fields of information theory and wireless communication, with specific interests in multiple-antenna/multi-user channels, dynamic resource allocation, and sensor and ad-hoc networks. Dr. Jindal was the recipient of the 2005 IEEE Communications Society and Information Theory Society Joint Paper Award.Host: Giuseppe Caire, caire@usc.edu
Location: Hughes Aircraft Electrical Engineering Center (EEB) - 248
Audiences: Everyone Is Invited
Contact: Mayumi Thrasher
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On Three Water Waves Problems
Thu, May 24, 2007 @ 02:00 PM - 03:00 PM
Sonny Astani Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering
Conferences, Lectures, & Seminars
Speaker:Professor Frederic Dias,
Head of the Fluid Mechanics Group,
Centre de Mathematiques et de Leurs Application,
Ecole Normale Superiuere de CachanOn Three Water Waves Problems1) Fault dynamics and tsunami generation
2) Boussinesq System of internal waves
3) Effects of viscosity on water wavesLocation: Kaprielian Hall (KAP) - rielian Hall, 203
Audiences: Everyone Is Invited
Contact: Evangeline Reyes
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Reconfigurable Acceleration of Multivariate Gaussian Generators
Fri, May 25, 2007 @ 11:00 AM - 12:00 PM
Ming Hsieh Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering
Conferences, Lectures, & Seminars
Speaker: Wayne Luk from Imperial College London Abstract:
This talk describes a hardware architecture for generating multivariate Gaussian distribution, which has been applied to financial risk modelling. The architecture contains two main elements: an efficient random number generator based on piecewise linear approximations, and a systolic matrix vector multiplier for introducing the required correlations. This approach has a raw generation rate of over 200 times that of a single 2.2GHz Opteron using an optimised BLAS package for linear álgebra computation. Practical performance is explored in a case study involving Delta-Gamma Value-at-Risk, where a single Virtex-4 xc4vsx55 at 400 MHz is 33 times faster than a quad Optaron 2.2GHz SMP. The FPGA solution also scales well, allowing larger portfolios to be simulated. Bio:
Wayne Luk is Professor of Computer Engineering at Imperial College London, and is currently Visiting Professor at Stanford University. His research interests include theory and practice of custom computing, reconfigurable architectures, and design automation.
Location: Hughes Aircraft Electrical Engineering Center (EEB) - -248
Audiences: Everyone Is Invited
Contact: Aimee Barnard
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Enhancement Mechanisms for Optical Force in integrated Optics
Wed, May 30, 2007 @ 11:00 AM - 12:00 PM
Ming Hsieh Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering
Conferences, Lectures, & Seminars
Dr. Michelle L. PovinelliStanford UniversityAbstract: We investigate the extension of optical micromanipulation to integrated optics. In particular, we consider whether propagating light signals can cause mechanical reconfiguration of a device. While such forces are intrinsically weak, we predict theoretically that significant displacements can be achieved using various enhancement mechanisms. These include the use of high-index materials, high-Q enhancement, and slow light in photonic crystals. Silicon optical waveguides have a considerable refractive index contrast with the surrounding air. We show that the strong confinement of light to silicon magnifies optical forces arising from overlap in the guided modes of neighboring waveguides. Silica microsphere resonators are known to have extremely high cavity quality factors. We show that the quality factor of the resonator magnifies the optical force due to modal overlap between two neighboring spheres. Thirdly, we investigate slow-light enhancement of optical forces using photonic-crystal devices. We show that slow-light velocities give rise to larger forces for the same amount of signal power, enhancing optomechanical coupling effects. In addition to being of fundamental interest, our work suggests that optical manipulation may ultimately provide a route to all-optical conformational control and switching.Biography:Dr. Michelle L. Povinelli is a postdoctoral researcher at Stanford University in the Ginzton Laboratory and the Department of Electrical Engineering. She received a PhD in Physics from MIT in 2004, an M. Phil. in Physics from the University of Cambridge in 1998, and a BA with Honors in Physics from the University of Chicago in 1997. She was awarded several graduate fellowships for her doctoral work, including the Lucent Technologies GRPW Fellowship, the NSF Graduate Fellowship, the MIT Karl Taylor Compton Fellowship, and the Churchill Fellowship. In 2006, she was selected as one of five national recipients of a $20,000 L'Oréal For Women in Science Postdoctoral Fellowship grant. She has co-authored twenty refereed journal articles and holds two US Patents.Date: Wednesday, May 30, 2007
Place: SSL 150
Time: 11:00 AM â€" 12:00 PM
Location: Seaver Science Library (SSL) - 150
Audiences: Everyone Is Invited
Contact: Ericka Lieberknecht
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Materials and Manufacturing Directorate, Wright-Patterson Air Force Base
Wed, May 30, 2007 @ 02:00 PM - 03:00 PM
Ming Hsieh Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering
Conferences, Lectures, & Seminars
Dr. James G. GroteUS Air Force Research LaboratoryAbstract: A new class of polymer, based on DNA derived from biowaste materials, has been demonstrated to possess unique optical and electromagnetic properties that no other known polymer has, including tunable conductivity, tunable dielectric constant and ultra low optical and microwave loss. Electronic and electro-optic devices fabricated from this new biopolymer have demonstrated performance that exceeds the performance of the state-of-the-art devices fabricated from current organic-based materials. This new biopolymer may be tomorrow's "silicon" of polymers, with its potential impact on a wide spectrum of both electronic and optoelectronic devices, while at the same time being inexpensive and easy to process. This is significant because it demonstrates that biotechnology is not only applicable for genomic sequencing and clinical diagnosis and treatment, but can also have a major impact on non biotech applications as well, such as electronics and photonics, opening up a whole new field for bioengineering.Biography:Dr. James G. Grote is a Senior Electronics Research Engineer with the Air Force Research Laboratory, Materials and Manufacturing Directorate at Wright-Patterson Air Force Base, Ohio, where he conducts research in polymer based opto-electronics. He is also an adjunct professor at the University of Dayton and University of Cincinnati. Dr. Grote received his BS degree in Electrical Engineering for Ohio University and both his MS and Ph.D. degrees in Electrical Engineering from the University of Dayton, with partial study at the University of California, San Diego. He was a visiting scholar at the Institut d'Optique, Universite de Paris, Sud in the summer of 1995 and a visiting scholar at the University of Southern California, the University of California in Los Angeles and the University of Washington in 2001. Dr. Grote is a Fellow of the International Society for Optical Engineering (SPIE), a Senior Member of the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE), and a member of the Optical Society of America (OSA) and the European Optical Society (EOS).Date: Wednesday, May 30, 2007
Place: SSL 150
Time: 2:00 AM – 3:00 PM
Location: Seaver Science Library (SSL) - 150
Audiences: Everyone Is Invited
Contact: Ericka Lieberknecht
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Faulty Tolerant Quantum Error Correction
Thu, May 31, 2007 @ 11:30 AM - 12:30 PM
Ming Hsieh Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering
Conferences, Lectures, & Seminars
Ben W. Reichardt,
California Institute of TechnologyAbstract: The fragile nature of quantum superpositions makes it particularly important to design robust schemes for fault-tolerant quantum computation. Over the last couple of years, new schemes for achieving fault tolerance based on error detection, rather than error correction, appear to tolerate as much as 3-6% noise per gate -- an order of magnitude better than previous schemes. But proof techniques could not show that these promising fault-tolerance schemes tolerated any noise at all.With an analysis based on decomposing probability distributions, we prove the existence of constant tolerable noise rates ("noise thresholds") for error-detection-based schemes. The talk will survey these recent developments
and present the probabilistic mixing technique. (The talk will not assume any background in quantum computation.)Bio: Ben Reichardt is a postdoctoral fellow at the Institute for Quantum Information, at Caltech. He has a B.S. degree in mathematics from Stanford University, and a Ph.D. in computer science from the University of California, Berkeley. http://www.its.caltech.edu/~breic/
Location: Hughes Aircraft Electrical Engineering Center (EEB) - 248
Audiences: Everyone Is Invited
Contact: Alma Hernandez
