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Conferences, Lectures, & Seminars
Events for September
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Medical Imaging Seminar Series
Tue, Sep 04, 2012 @ 01:45 PM - 03:00 PM
Ming Hsieh Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering
Conferences, Lectures, & Seminars
Speaker: Prof. Justin Haldar, Ming Hsieh Department of Electrical Engineering at the University of Southern California
Talk Title: "Constrained Magnetic Resonance Imaging: Signal Processing Methods for Denoising and Sparse Sampling"
Abstract: Magnetic resonance (MR) imaging technologies have enabled new opportunities to reveal the mysteries of the central nervous system -- its function and organization, and what goes wrong when it is injured or diseased. MR experiments are quite flexible, and the MR signal can be manipulated to noninvasively probe anatomy, physiology, and metabolism. However, while MR imaging is decades old and has already revolutionized modern radiology, current methods are still far from utilizing the full potential of the MR signal. In particular, traditional MR methods are based on the Fourier transform, and suffer from fundamental trade-offs between signal-to-noise ratio, spatial resolution, and data acquisition speed. These issues are exacerbated in high-dimensional applications, due to the curse of dimensionality.
In this talk, I will present an brief overview of some of our recent work in applying novel signal processing techniques to enhance the efficiency of MR neuroimaging experiments. This efficiency is gained by modifying the way that MR data is acquired, modeled, and processed, leveraging physics-based constraints and guidance from new signal processing theory. Example applications of these new methods are presented in a range of different contexts, including diffusion imaging and metabolic imaging of the brain and spinal cord.
Biography: Justin Haldar received the B.S. and M.S. degrees in electrical engineering in 2004 and 2005, respectively, and the Ph.D. in electrical and computer engineering in 2011, all from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. He has been with the Ming Hsieh Department of Electrical Engineering at the University of Southern California since summer 2011, and was appointed as Assistant Professor in Fall 2012. His research interests include image reconstruction, signal modeling, parameter estimation, and experiment design for biomedical imaging applications, with a particular focus on magnetic resonance imaging and spectroscopy. He is currently seeking excellent students with a strong background in signal processing, and an interest in developing methods to improve existing advanced MRI methods and enable the next generation of imaging-based biomedical and neuroscientific inquiry.
Host: Prof. Krishna Nayak
Location: Hughes Aircraft Electrical Engineering Center (EEB) - 248
Audiences: Everyone Is Invited
Contact: Talyia Veal
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USC's Homeland Security Center (CREATE) Monthly Seminar Series
Wed, Sep 05, 2012 @ 11:30 AM - 01:00 PM
USC Viterbi School of Engineering
Conferences, Lectures, & Seminars
Speaker: Dr. Stephen Hora, CREATE Director
Talk Title: âMedian Aggregation of Distribution Functionsâ
Series: CREATE Monthly Seminar Series
Abstract: We are pleased to invite you to attend CREATEâs monthly seminar!
Abstract: When multiple redundant probabilistic judgments are obtained from subject matter experts, it is common practice to aggregate their differing views into a single probability or distribution. Although many methods have been proposed for mathematical aggregation, no single procedure has gained universal acceptance. The most widely used procedure is simple arithmetic averaging which has both desirable and undesirable properties. Here we propose an alternative for aggregating distribution functions that is based on the median cumulative probabilities at fixed values of the variable. It is shown that aggregating cumulative probabilities by medians is equivalent, under certain conditions, to aggregating fractiles. Moreover, the median aggregate has better calibration and sharpness properties than mean aggregation when the experts are independent and well calibrated.
To ensure that I order your lunch, please RSVP to calicchi@usc.edu. Please advise if you require a vegetarian option.
Hope to see you there!
Biography: Presenter: Stephen Hora serves as Director of CREATE (the National Center of Excellence for Risk and Economic Analysis of Terrorism Events) at the USC. He is a Research Professor of Industrial and Systems Engineering at the Viterbi School of Engineering and of Public Policy and Management at the Price School of Public Policy. He is an expert in decision and risk analyses with particular interest in the use of subject matter experts, statistical modeling, and the analysis of technological, natural, and environmental hazards.
During the past twenty-five years, Professor Hora's research has focused on the analysis of risks from technological hazards. Most prominent has been his research into the use of experts to quantify risk and decision models. The work spans a range from practical applications to the creation of theoretical foundations and entails being an active participate in designing and staging elicitation processes.
Host: Homeland Security Center @ USC (CREATE)
Location: Ronald Tutor Hall of Engineering (RTH) - 306
Audiences: Everyone Is Invited
Contact: Erin Calicchio
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Aerospace & Mechanical Engineering Department
Wed, Sep 05, 2012 @ 03:30 PM - 04:30 PM
Aerospace and Mechanical Engineering
Conferences, Lectures, & Seminars
Speaker: Konstantin Matveev , Associate Professor, School of Mechanical and Materials Engineering, Washington State University Pul,lman, Washington
Talk Title: Aero-Hydrodynamics and Dynamics of Air-Assisted Marine Vehicles
Abstract: Drag reduction of large cargo vessels can be achieved by lubricating submerged hull surfaces with air layers. Higher speeds of small fast boats can be attained by utilizing aerodynamic lift. Air-cavity ships, ultra-fast planing multi-hulls (racing boats), wing-in-ground-effect vehicles, and power-augmented-ram platforms are examples of marine craft with air assistance. The main technical problem in the development and application of these concepts for marine transportation is to ensure high performance and motion stability in a broad range of operational conditions, including motions in water waves. We will discuss an experimental study on air-cavity flows under a simplified hull model, associated modeling efforts based on hydrodynamic singularities and viscous solvers, and an example of industrial development of a large air-cavity cargo vessel. We will also illustrate applications of the extreme-ground-effect theory for aerodynamics of fast air-supported boats. Simulation results will be presented for hydroplane dynamics, including responses to initial perturbations, reactions to wind gusts, and motions in head and following waves. Video clips of our self-propelled radio-controlled models of power-augmented-ram vehicles will be demonstrated.
Biography: Konstantin Matveev obtained a Master degree in Applied Physics from Moscow Institute of Physics and Technology in 1996 and a Ph.D. degree in Mechanical Engineering from California Institute of Technology in 2003. His Ph.D. thesis was on thermoacoustic and combustion instabilities. As a postdoc at Los Alamos National Laboratory, Dr. Matveev investigated nonlinear thermoacoustic phenomena in advanced energy systems. As a senior hydrodynamicist at Art Anderson Associates and a consultant to several European R&D organizations, he was involved in the development of high-performance marine concepts, including air-lubricated hulls, hydrofoils, multi-hull ships, and wing-in-ground craft. He recently co-authored a technical book on Small-Waterplane-Area Ships. At the present time, Dr. Matveev is an Associate Professor in the School of Mechanical and Materials Engineering at Washington State University. His current research is focused on advanced marine vehicles and thermoacoustics.
Host: Prof. Eva Kanso
More Info: http://ae-www.usc.edu/seminars/9-5-12-matveev.shtml
Location: Seaver Science Library (SSL) - Room 150
Audiences: Everyone Is Invited
Contact: April Mundy
Event Link: http://ae-www.usc.edu/seminars/9-5-12-matveev.shtml
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W.V.T. Rusch Engineering Honors Colloquium; The Origin of the Universe and the Arrow of Time
Fri, Sep 07, 2012 @ 01:00 PM - 01:50 PM
USC Viterbi School of Engineering, Viterbi School of Engineering Student Affairs
Conferences, Lectures, & Seminars
Speaker: Dr. Sean Carroll, Senior Research Associate in Physics, California Institute of Technology
Talk Title: W.V.T. Rusch Engineering Honors Colloquium; The Origin of the Universe and the Arrow of Time
Abstract: Dr. Sean Carroll, Senior Research Associate in Physics at California Institute of Technology, will present "The Origin of the Universe and the Arrow of Time" as part of the W.V.T. Rusch Engineering Honors Colloquium.
Host: W.V.T. Rusch Engineering Honors Colloquium
More Info: http://viterbi.usc.edu/students/undergrad/honors/schedules/Location: Seeley G. Mudd Building (SGM) - 101
Audiences: Everyone Is Invited
Contact: Amanda Atkinson
Event Link: http://viterbi.usc.edu/students/undergrad/honors/schedules/
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Seminar in Biomedical EngineeringMon, Sep 10, 2012 @ 12:30 PM - 01:50 PM
Alfred E. Mann Department of Biomedical Engineering
Conferences, Lectures, & Seminars
Speaker: Ellis Meng, Natasha Lepore, Brent Liu,
Talk Title: Research areas in the BME department
Host: BME
Location: Olin Hall of Engineering (OHE) - 122
Audiences: Everyone Is Invited
Contact: Mischalgrace Diasanta
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Medical Imaging Seminar Series
Tue, Sep 11, 2012 @ 01:45 PM - 03:00 PM
Ming Hsieh Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering
Conferences, Lectures, & Seminars
Speaker: Dr. Vidya Rajagopalan, Childrenâs Hospital Los Angeles
Abstract: Historically, human in vivo fetal brain growth studies have been limited to manual measurements, such as diameters and volume, of the entire brain or fetal head from ultrasound and 2D MR images. However, the formation of complex folded cortical structure of the adult brain requires that tissue volume is added at different rates within different brain regions. Recent advances in fetal MRI motion correction and preprocessing methods present an unprecedented opportunity to characterize fetal brain
development as a function of both age and location within the brain. In this talk, we will discuss computational shape analysis techniques to model spatio-temporal patterns in
age-related development of normal fetal brains. We discuss how these models can be used to understand the emergence of cortical foldings and structural asymmetries of the fetal brain. We also present a comparative analysis of growth rates of various brain
structures allowing us to understand the similarities and differences between regional growth trajectories. These growth models allow us to develop a baseline of developmental biomarkers with which to correlate abnormal development.
Host: Prof. Krishna Nayak
Location: Hughes Aircraft Electrical Engineering Center (EEB) - 248
Audiences: Everyone Is Invited
Contact: Talyia Veal
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Epstein Institute Seminar Series / ISE 651 Seminar
Tue, Sep 11, 2012 @ 03:30 PM - 05:00 PM
Daniel J. Epstein Department of Industrial and Systems Engineering
Conferences, Lectures, & Seminars
Speaker: Ketan Savla, Assistant Professor, Sonny Astani Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering
Talk Title: "Resilient Control for Dynamic Network Flows"
Series: Epstein Institute Seminar Series
Abstract: I begin the talk by giving a brief overview of some of my results on vehicle routing problems and dynamical queues. Specifically, I highlight the result that the scaling of the length of the shortest closed curve under a minimum radius of curvature constraint and passing through n points sampled from a uniform distribution in a plane is n^{2/3} almost surely. I also discuss a formulation of dynamical queues that is inspired by human operators, and present maximally stabilizing task release control policies for such queues.
In the main part of the talk, I present provably-resilient distributed control policies for dynamic flows over networks, and illustrate the results in the context of urban transportation networks. Specifically, I present a novel class of locally cooperative routing policies. These policies, when used as local adjustments to standard global route choice models, lead to stability of classical transportation equilibria in the dynamical setting. The same policies also render maximum resilience to the network against malicious disruptions. These results rely on a combination of tools from network flows, evolutionary game theory and monotone dynamical systems, and particularly highlight the effect of cascade phenomena on resilience.
Biography: Ketan Savla is an assistant professor in the Sonny Astani Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering at the University of Southern California. Prior to that, he was a research scientist in the Laboratory for Information and Decision Systems at MIT. He obtained his Ph.D. in Electrical Engineering and M.A. in Applied Mathematics, both in 2007, from University of California at Santa Barbara, as well as M.S. in Mechanical and Industrial Engineering from University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign in 2004. His current research interest is in control and optimization techniques for complex dynamical networks, human-in-the-loop systems, and mobile robotic networks. His awards include a best thesis award from UCSB.
Host: Daniel J. Epstein Department of Industrial and Systems Engineering
More Information: Seminar-Savla.doc
Location: Ethel Percy Andrus Gerontology Center (GER) - Room 309
Audiences: Everyone Is Invited
Contact: Georgia Lum
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Paul Rosenbloom: On Computing: The Fourth Great Scientific Domain
Tue, Sep 11, 2012 @ 03:30 PM - 05:00 PM
Thomas Lord Department of Computer Science
Conferences, Lectures, & Seminars
Speaker: Dr. Paul Rosenbloom,
Talk Title: On Computing: The Fourth Great Scientific Domain
Abstract: This talk introduces two broad themes about computing: (1) that it amounts to what can be termed a great scientific domain, on a par with the physical, life and social sciences; and (2) that much about its structure, content, richness and potential can be understood in terms of its multidisciplinary relationships with these other great domains (and itself). The intent is to advance a new way of thinking about computing and its nature as a scientific discipline, while broadening our perspectives on what computing is and what it can become.
Host: Dr. Gaurav Sukhatme
More Info: http://www.cs.usc.edu/calendar/csevents.asp?date=9%2F11%2F2012
Location: Seaver Science Library (SSL) - 150
Audiences: Everyone Is Invited
Contact: Jacob Beal
Event Link: http://www.cs.usc.edu/calendar/csevents.asp?date=9%2F11%2F2012
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CE Oral Dissertation Defense
Tue, Sep 11, 2012 @ 03:30 PM - 05:30 PM
Sonny Astani Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering
Conferences, Lectures, & Seminars
Speaker: Reza Jafarkhani, CE Ph.D. Candidatte
Talk Title: Studies Into Vibration-Signature-Based Methods for System Identification, Damage Detection and Health Monitoring of Civil Infrastructures
Abstract:
Civil infrastructures play a vital role in human societies. Recent catastrophic events due to the deficiency, failure or malfunction of these systems, claiming many lives and resulting in substantial economic loss, have attracted extensive attention focused on reviewing and amending the design and maintenance procedures of civil infrastructures. In addition to the possible failure of structural components, long-term forms of damage due to deterioration or fatigue may also necessitate regular monitoring of civil structures. Therefore, depending on the importance, use and risk, the structure of interest needs to be equipped with inspection, monitoring and maintenance systems. Structural Health Monitoring (SHM) is generally associated with any engineering methodology whose aim is to detect, locate and quantify the damage in the target system. Vibration-based techniques, as the most conventional SHM approaches, acquire and analyze the structural response using a variety of sensors mounted at different locations on the structure. The main goal of the study reported herein is to investigate and compare different vibration-signature-based methods for system identification, damage detection and health monitoring of civil structures. Various well-known techniques such as finite element model updating approach and damage detection methods based on artificial neural networks are studied and evaluated. Experimental data from two case studies, a quarter-scale two-span bridge system, tested at the University of Nevada, Reno, and a 1/20 scale 4-story building equipped with smart devices of magneto-rheological (MR) damper, are used for investigation and validation purposes. Guidelines are established for the optimum selection of the dominant control parameters involved in the application of some of the robust SHM approaches for achieving reliable SHM results under realistic conditions.
Advisor: Prof. Sami Masri
Location: Kaprielian Hall (KAP) - 209
Audiences: Everyone Is Invited
Contact: Evangeline Reyes
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"Wind and Solar Power for the Electric Grid: Opportunities and Challenges"
Tue, Sep 11, 2012 @ 04:00 PM - 05:00 PM
Ming Hsieh Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering
Conferences, Lectures, & Seminars
Speaker: Dr. Mohammed Beshir, Los Angeles Department of Water and Power
Talk Title: "Wind and Solar Power for the Electric Grid: Opportunities and Challenges"
Abstract: Motivated by environmental policies and national security considerations there has been a tremendous increase in the development of renewable resources, specifically wind and solar power around the world in the last several years. As the opportunities for development of wind and solar power increase so are the challenges with the integration of the resources into the electric power grid. The seminar will outline some of the key opportunities and challenges associated with the high penetration of wind and solar in the electric power grid as well as some of the innovative ideas and concepts that are been developed to address these issues. Background information on the electric power grid, the key drivers of the development of renewable power, and some practical examples of the wind and solar development activities in the western U.S. will be also presented in the seminar.
Biography: Dr. Mohammed Beshir is an Assistant Director of Power System Planning and Development Division at the Los Angeles Department of Water and Power (LADWP). He has worked for LADWP for 31 years in various responsibilities including integrated resource planning, transmission planning, renewable project development, HVDC design, power contracts, distribution planning, and power reliability. Presently, he is heading LADWPâs research activities in renewable integration, electric power modeling, and storage systems.
Dr. Beshir has a Ph.D. in Electrical Engineering and an MBA. He is a registered Professional Engineer in the state of California and is a Senior Member of IEEE. He is also an Adjunct Professor of Electrical Engineering and Electrophysics at USC and teaches graduate level power system classes.
Host: Dr. Alexander A. Sawchuk
More Information: Beshir Announcement 091112.pdf
Location: Hughes Aircraft Electrical Engineering Center (EEB) - 248
Audiences: Everyone Is Invited
Contact: Mayumi Thrasher
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Aerospace & Mechanical Engineering Dept. Seminars
Wed, Sep 12, 2012 @ 03:30 PM - 04:30 PM
Aerospace and Mechanical Engineering
Conferences, Lectures, & Seminars
Speaker: Tonghun Lee , Associate Professor Department of Mechanical Engineering Michigan State University East Lansing, Michigan
Talk Title: Application of Laser and Optical Diagnostics for Study of Next Generation Propulsion Systems and Integration of Alternative Bio-derived Fuels
Abstract: Development of advanced propulsion systems of the future, such as hypersonic ramjets and pulsed detonation engines will require a deeper understanding of the reactive flow dynamics and chemistry in the relevant turbulent regime as well as development of new energetically enhanced combustion technologies. Additionally, these new engines will require seamless operation across a wide range of new and alternative bio-derived fuels as well as conventional hydrocarbon counterparts. This presentation will discuss recent progress in applying laser and optical diagnostics to study high Reynolds number reactive flows, plasma enhanced flames, as well as ignition and oxidation of alternative bio-derived jet fuels for potential integration in next generation propulsion systems. The following three topics will be discussed.
First is an effort to develop a continuous high-speed (>10 kHz) laser imaging system which integrates PLIF, PIV, and Rayleigh Scattering Thermometry (RST) for detection of temperature fields as well as velocity and chemical species. The proposed work will increased the number of detectable species in reactive flows by extending the wavelength range further into the UV with enhanced beam stability through non-linear optical engineering. Second is a novel concept of energetically enhancing the combustion by using a non-equilibrium plasma discharge. Highly efficient flame stabilization is achieved using a non-equilibrium plasma discharge by coupling the plasma energy directly into the reaction zone of the flame. The electrons and ions generated by the plasma introduce new chemical pathways which enhance and accelerate the combustion chemistry. The third topic of discussion is investigating the ignition and oxidation characteristics of bio-derived jet fuels. A rapid compression machine is modified for ignition testing of heavy fuel blends using a 'direct test chamber' fuel preparation method as well as optical access for laser and optical diagnostics.
Biography: Tonghun Lee is an associate professor in the Department of Mechanical Engineering at Michigan State University. Prior to working at Michigan State University, he was a graduate student at Stanford University where he obtained his M.S. (2002) and Ph.D. (2006) degrees in the 'High Temperature Gas Dynamics Laboratory.' His research is focused on utilizing laser and optical diagnostics to investigate new combustion concepts in advanced propulsion and energy conversion systems, with particular emphasis on supersonic air-breathing engines and high-pressure combustion research. He has been recognized with numerous awards including the AFOSR Young Investigator Award, the ONR Young Investigator Award, and the Presidential Early Career Award for Scientists and Engineers (PECASE).
Host: Professor Fokion Egolfopoulos
More Info: http://ae-www.usc.edu/seminars/9-12-12-lee.shtml
Location: Seaver Science Library (SSL) - Room 150
Audiences: Everyone Is Invited
Contact: April Mundy
Event Link: http://ae-www.usc.edu/seminars/9-12-12-lee.shtml
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USC CS Theory Seminar Series
Thu, Sep 13, 2012 @ 03:30 PM - 05:00 PM
Thomas Lord Department of Computer Science
Conferences, Lectures, & Seminars
Speaker: Arash Saber Tehrani,
Talk Title: Arash Saber Tehrani, Message-Passing Algorithms and Improved LP Decoding
Series: USC CS Theory
Abstract: Message-Passing Algorithms and Improved LP Decoding By Sanjeev Arora, Constantinos Daskalakis, and David Steurer
(http://www.cs.princeton.edu/~dsteurer/lpdecode.pdf)
By Arash Saber Tehrani: I will discuss the results of the paper above, where the authors prove the best known performance guarantee for the LP decoding. Further, if I have time, Arash will connect the LP decoding problem to compressed sensing through the bridge introduced
in:
http://www-bcf.usc.edu/~dimakis/DV_Allerton2009_final_arxiv.pdf
and show that the same guarantee is valid for compressed sensing as shown in
http://www-bcf.usc.edu/~dimakis/KSDH11_isit.pdf
and a current project that me and Alex are working on. Note that the above result leads to an explicit construction for measurement matrices which can be checked to be ``good'' efficiently.
****
Host: Dr. Shanghua Teng
Location: Seaver Science Library (SSL) - 150
Audiences: Everyone Is Invited
Contact: Jacob Beal
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W.V.T. Rusch Engineering Honors Colloquium; Shale Gas: Changing the Energy Balance in the US
Fri, Sep 14, 2012 @ 01:00 PM - 01:50 PM
USC Viterbi School of Engineering, Viterbi School of Engineering Student Affairs
Conferences, Lectures, & Seminars
Speaker: Iraj Ershaghi, Omar B. Milligan Professor and Director, Petroleum Engineering Program, Mork Family Department of Chemical Engineering and Material Science, University of Southern California
Talk Title: W.V.T. Rusch Engineering Honors Colloquium; Shale Gas: Changing the Energy Balance in the US
Abstract: Prof. Iraj Ershaghi; Omar B. Milligan Professor and Director, Petroleum Engineering Program, Mork Family Department of Chemical Engineering and Material Science at the University of Southern California; will present "Shale Gas: Changing the Energy Balance in the US" as part of the W.V.T. Rusch Engineering Honors Colloquium.
Host: W.V.T. Rusch Engineering Honors Colloquium
More Info: http://viterbi.usc.edu/students/undergrad/honors/schedules/
Location: Seeley G. Mudd Building (SGM) - 101
Audiences: Everyone Is Invited
Contact: Amanda Atkinson
Event Link: http://viterbi.usc.edu/students/undergrad/honors/schedules/
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Integrated Systems Seminar Series
Fri, Sep 14, 2012 @ 03:00 PM - 04:30 PM
Ming Hsieh Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering
Conferences, Lectures, & Seminars
Speaker: Dr. Jafar Savoj, Xilinx
Talk Title: Design of High-Speed Wireline Transceivers for Backplane Communications in 28nm CMOS
Abstract: This presentation describes the design of the architecture and circuit blocks for backplane communication transceivers. A channel study investigates the major challenges in the design of high-speed reconfigurable transceivers. Architectural solutions resolving channel-induced signal distortions are proposed and their effectiveness on various channels is investigated.
Subsequently, the presentation describes the design of two fully-adaptive backplane transceivers embedded in state-of-the-art low-leakage 28nm CMOS FPGAs operating up to 12.5Gb/s and 13.1Gb/s. The receive AFE utilizes a three-stage CTLE to provide selective frequency boost for long-tail ISI cancellation. A speculative DFE removes the immediate post-cursor ISI. The second transceiver also uses a 4-tap sliding DFE to remove the post-cursor ISI up to 64 taps. Both CTLE and DFE are fully adaptive using sign-sign LMS algorithm. A novel clocking technique uses wideband LC and ring oscillators for reliable clocking for 0.6-12.5Gb/s and 0.6-13.1Gb/s operation. The transmitter utilizes a 3-tap FIR and provides flexibility for supply and ground referenced operation. The two transceivers achieve BER < 10-15 over a 33dB-loss backplane at 12.5Gb/s, and over a 31dB-loss backplane at 13.1Gb/s. Both transceivers achieve BER < 10-15 over channels with 10G-KR characteristics at 10.3125Gb/s.
Biography: Jafar Savoj received the B.Sc. degree in electrical engineering from Sharif University of Technology, Tehran, Iran, in 1996, and the M.Sc. and Ph.D. degrees in electrical engineering from the University of California, Los Angeles, in 1998 and 2001, respectively.
Dr. Savojâs areas of expertise include technology and product development for wireless, wireline, and analog systems. He is currently an Engineering Director with the Serdes Technology Group at Xilinx, San Jose, CA, and leads high-speed, low-power wireline transceiver development for FPGA applications. From 2008 to 2010, he was with Qualcomm, Santa Clara, CA, and led the advanced technology development group for wireless connectivity. He was responsible for development of WLAN and Near Field Communication (NFC) transceivers, and low power chip-to-chip interfaces for mobile platforms. From 2005 to 2008, he was a principal engineer at Rambus, where he developed ultra-high-speed data converters for software programmable wireline transceivers. Prior to that, he held design engineering positions at Marvell Semiconductor, Santa Clara, CA, focusing on fiber channel and Gigabit Ethernet transceivers; and at Transpectrum, Los Angeles, CA, architecting 10-Gb/s and 40-Gb/s optical transceivers in CMOS technology. He held a lecturing position at Stanford University in 2004. He is the author of High-Speed CMOS Circuits for Optical Receivers (Kluwer, 2001).
Dr. Savoj was a recipient of the IEEE Solid-State Circuits Society Predoctoral Fellowship for 2000â2001, and the Beatrice Winner Award for Editorial Excellence at the 2001 ISSCC, and the Design Contest Award of the 2001 Design Automation Conference. He serves as a technical program committee member of ISSCC (Analog Subcommittee). He served as a technical program committee member of the IEEE Custom Integrated Circuits Conference (CICC) from 2001 to 2007 and the IEEE Symposium on VLSI Circuits from 2007 to 2011. He was an Associate Editor for the IEEE JOURNAL OF SOLID-STATE CIRCUITS from 2008 to 2011 and a Guest Editor for the Journal in 2005, 2006 and 2011.
Host: Prof. Hossein Hashemi, Prof. Mahta Moghaddam, Prof. Mike Chen
More Info: http://mhi.usc.edu/activities/integrated-systems
More Information: Savoj_sep14_flyer2.pdf
Location: Hughes Aircraft Electrical Engineering Center (EEB) - 248
Audiences: Everyone Is Invited
Contact: Hossein Hashemi
Event Link: http://mhi.usc.edu/activities/integrated-systems
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Prof. Hal Daume III: Complex Predictions need not be Slow
Mon, Sep 17, 2012 @ 11:00 AM - 12:30 PM
Thomas Lord Department of Computer Science
Conferences, Lectures, & Seminars
Speaker: Prof. Hal Daume III,
Talk Title: Complex Predictions need not be Slow
Series: CS Colloquium
Abstract: Abstract: Classic algorithms for predicting structured data (eg., graphs, trees, etc.) or rankings rely on expensive (sometimes intractable) inference at test time. In this talk, I'll discuss several recent approaches that enable computationally efficient (eg., linear-time) prediction at test time. These approaches fall in the category of learning algorithms that explicitly optimize a speed/accuracy trade-off, or optimize accuracy under a fixed computational budget. This is joint work with: Jason Eisner, Lise Getoor, Jiarong Jiang, He He, Adam Teichert, Tim Vieira, Jay Pujara and Lidan Wang.
Host: Fei Sha
Location: Hughes Aircraft Electrical Engineering Center (EEB) - 248
Audiences: Everyone Is Invited
Contact: Jacob Beal
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Seminar in Biomedical Engineering
Mon, Sep 17, 2012 @ 12:30 PM - 01:50 PM
Alfred E. Mann Department of Biomedical Engineering
Conferences, Lectures, & Seminars
Speaker: Gerald Loeb, Pin Wang, Kirk Shung,
Talk Title: Research areas in the BME department
Host: BME
Location: Olin Hall of Engineering (OHE) - 122
Audiences: Everyone Is Invited
Contact: Mischalgrace Diasanta
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Medical Imaging Seminar Series
Tue, Sep 18, 2012 @ 01:45 PM - 03:00 PM
Ming Hsieh Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering
Conferences, Lectures, & Seminars
Speaker: Prof. Zhongping Chen, Department of Biomedical Engineering, University of California, Irvine
Talk Title: "Advances In Optical Coherence Tomography: Translation Of Oct Technology From Bench To Bedside"
Abstract: Optical coherence tomography (OCT) is one of the fastest growing areas of biomedical optics with many potential clinical applications. The recent development of Fourier domain OCT has significantly increased the imaging speed and sensitivity, and has enabled real-time 3-D imaging. The innovations in light source, detector, miniature probe, and image processing have greatly extended the clinical applications of OCT technology. Many of the functional extensions of OCT technology that were developed in the last decade, such as Doppler OCT, Polarization sensitivity OCT, and Phase resolved OCT, started to generate clinically important information in clinical studies. I will report several on-going research projects in my laboratory that focus on translating OCT technology to solve specific clinical problems. The challenges and opportunities in translational research will be discussed.
Biography: Dr. Zhongping Chen is a Professor of Biomedical Engineering and Director of OCT Laboratory at University of California, Irvine. He is a Co-Founder of OCT Medical Imaging Inc.. Dr. Chen received his B.S. degree in Applied Physics from Shanghai Jiao Tong University in 1982, his M. S. degree in Electrical Engineering from Cornell University in 1987, and his Ph.D. degree in Applied Physics from Cornell University in 1993.
Dr. Chenâs research interests encompass the areas of biomedical photonics, microfabrication, biomaterials and biosensors. His research group has pioneered the development of functional optical coherence tomography, which simultaneously provides high resolution 3-D images of tissue structure, blood flow, and birefringence. He has published more than 180 peer-reviewed papers and review articles and holds a number of patents in the fields of biomaterials, biosensors, and biomedical imaging.
Dr. Chen is a Fellow of the American Institute of Medical and Biological Engineering (AIMBE), a Fellow of SPIE, and a Fellow of the Optical Society of America.
Host: Prof. Krishna Nayak
Location: Hughes Aircraft Electrical Engineering Center (EEB) - 248
Audiences: Everyone Is Invited
Contact: Talyia Veal
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Epstein Institute Seminar Series / ISE 651 Seminar
Tue, Sep 18, 2012 @ 03:30 PM - 05:00 PM
Daniel J. Epstein Department of Industrial and Systems Engineering
Conferences, Lectures, & Seminars
Speaker: Suvrajeet Sen, Professor, Daniel J. Epstein Department of Industrial and Systems Engineering
Talk Title: "Fallacies of Certainty in Operational Decision Models"
Series: Epstein Institute Seminar Series
Abstract: For most practitioners in government and industry, uncertainty is a fact of life. Yet, decision aids for many operational questions set aside uncertainty because they are supposedly difficult to either model, or solve, or both. Drawing upon several industrial applications (network planning, inventory control etc.) we will demonstrate that the state-of-the-art for including uncertainty in decision models has come a long way. We will present the case that the boom in business analytics, coupled with algorithmic advances in stochastic programming provide a unique opportunity for models that provide better support for operational decisions under uncertainty.
Biography: Suvrajeet Sen is a Professor at the Daniel J. Epstein Department of Industrial and Systems Engineering at the University of Southern California. Until recently, he was Professor of Integrated Systems Engineering at the Ohio State University where he also served as the Director of the Center for Energy, Sustainability, and the Environment, and led the Data Driven Decisions Lab. Over the years, Professor Sen has held several positions, including stops at University of Arizona, and National Science Foundation.
Professor Sen is a Fellow of INFORMS. He has served on the editorial board of several journals, including Operations Research as Area Editor for Optimization, and as Associate Editor for INFORMS Journal on Computing, and Journal of Telecommunications Systems, and an Advisory Editor for several newer journals. Professor Sen founded the INFORMS Optimization Section.
Host: Daniel J. Epstein Department of Industrial and Systems Engineering
More Information: Seminar-Sen 2012.doc
Location: Ethel Percy Andrus Gerontology Center (GER) - Room 309
Audiences: Everyone Is Invited
Contact: Georgia Lum
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Aerospace & Mechanical Engineering Dept. Seminar
Wed, Sep 19, 2012 @ 03:30 PM - 04:30 PM
Aerospace and Mechanical Engineering
Conferences, Lectures, & Seminars
Speaker: Lorenzo Valdevit , Assistant Professor, Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering Department, University of California, Irvine
Talk Title: Hierarchical Architected Materials as a Platform for Novel Multifunctional Systems
Abstract:
Periodic cellular materials are desirable for applications requiring high specific stiffness and strength. If the architecture is open-celled, a number of multifunctional attributes can be added, with potential for multi-objective optimization. Although conventional industrial technologies limit the achievable unit cell complexity, recent progress in advanced manufacturing is enabling fabrication of hierarchical cellular materials of nearly any topology with wide dimensional bandwidth (i.e., the ratio of the dimension of the largest to the smallest feature in the architecture).
Hierarchical unit cell designs with wide dimensional bandwidth are showing particular promise, often revealing unique mechanical behavior. Furthermore, if the smallest feature in the architecture is at the sub-micron scale, unique size effects in plasticity can further improve the mechanical response.
In this presentation, I will discuss novel ultra-light micro-architected nickel hollow-truss lattices with unprecedented combinations of density, stiffness, strength and damping characteristics. Results of extensive experimental investigations (both at the nano and macro-scale) will be presented, alongside numerical models and optimal design tools. Some preliminary work on ceramic and hybrid architected materials manufactured by 3D printing will also be discussed. Collectively, all these investigations indicate that a strong synergism among advanced manufacturing, materials science, multi-scale experimental and computational mechanics and sophisticated optimization tools is required to reach the full potential of hierarchical architected materials.
Biography: Lorenzo Valdevit received his MS degree (Laurea) in Materials Engineering from the University of Trieste, Italy (in 2000) and his PhD degree in Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering from Princeton University (in 2005). He worked as an intern at the IBM T.J. Watson Research Center and as a post-doctoral scholar at the University of California, Santa Barbara. He is presently an Assistant Professor in the Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering Department at the University of California, Irvine (with a joint appointment in Chemical Engineering and Materials Science). He is a member of Pi Tau Sigma and Tau Beta Pi and is the recipient of the 2007 Faculty Award from IBM Corporation. His primary research goal is the optimal design, fabrication and experimental characterization of micro-architected materials with superior combination of properties. His group has recently developed novel micro-mechanical test frames and numerical algorithms to help achieve this overarching goal.
Host: Prof. Andrea Hodge
More Info: http://ame-www.usc.edu/seminars/9-19-12-valdevit.shtml
Location: Seaver Science Library (SSL) - Room 150
Audiences: Everyone Is Invited
Contact: April Mundy
Event Link: http://ame-www.usc.edu/seminars/9-19-12-valdevit.shtml
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Improving RNA secondary structure prediction
Fri, Sep 21, 2012 @ 10:30 AM - 11:30 PM
Ming Hsieh Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering
Conferences, Lectures, & Seminars
Speaker: Michelle (Shel) Swensen, Postdoctoral Research Associate
Talk Title: Improving RNA secondary structure prediction
Abstract: RNA folding is one of the fundamental open problems in computational molecular biology. Thermodynamic optimization approaches, which find structures with minimum free energy (MFE), remain the most widely used RNA secondary structure prediction methods. Though these predictions do not always match known structures, the expectation is that structures with a lower free energy are more likely to contain native base pairings, even when the predicted MFE structure itself is not correct.
In this talk I will discuss two avenues for improving structural prediction in a thermodynamic framework: considering large sets of probable structures and augmenting thermodynamic models with additional experimental data.
The Boltzmann distribution specifies that the probability of RNA secondary structure is proportional to an exponential of the negative of its free energy. We present a novel combinatorial method for identifying patterns in structural elements across a Boltzmann sample. Our approach is based on classifying structures according to features chosen from well-defined structural units called helix classes. We show that this combinatorial profiling is straightforward, stable and surprisingly comprehensive.
Data from recently emerging high-throughput structure probing technologies, such as the SHAPE method, have been used in the framework of thermodynamic optimization to predict RNA secondary structure. Via stochastic simulations, we investigate the factors influencing the accuracy of SHAPE data-directed predictions as well as the potential of auxiliary data to further improve prediction accuracy.
Biography: Shel Swenson's training and research interest position her at the intersection of mathematics, computer science, and biology, where she utilizes discrete mathematics to answer questions in molecular and evolutionary biology. Her dissertation, completed under the advisement of Tandy Warnow at The University of Texas at Austin, developed methods for estimating large-scale evolutionary histories. Dr. Swenson is currently a postdoctoral fellow in the School of Mathematics at the Georgia Institute of Technology where she collaborates with Christine Heitsch and her students on problems in mathematical and computational biology.
Host: Professor Viktor K. Prasanna
Location: Hughes Aircraft Electrical Engineering Center (EEB) - 248
Audiences: Everyone Is Invited
Contact: Janice Thompson
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W.V.T. Rusch Engineering Honors Colloquium; Making the best of your USC degree in tough economic times
Fri, Sep 21, 2012 @ 01:00 PM - 01:50 PM
USC Viterbi School of Engineering, Viterbi School of Engineering Student Affairs
Conferences, Lectures, & Seminars
Speaker: Dr. Panduka Wijetunga, Analog Design Engineer at Inphi Corporation
Talk Title: W.V.T. Rusch Engineering Honors Colloquium
Abstract: Dr. Panduka Wijetunga, Analog Design Engineer at Inphi Corporation, will present "Making the best of your USC degree in tough economic times" as part of the W.V.T. Rusch Engineering Honors Program.
Host: W.V.T. Rusch Engineering Honors Colloquium
More Info: http://viterbi.usc.edu/students/undergrad/honors/schedules/
Location: Seeley G. Mudd Building (SGM) - 101
Audiences: Everyone Is Invited
Contact: Amanda Atkinson
Event Link: http://viterbi.usc.edu/students/undergrad/honors/schedules/
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Integrated Systems Seminar Series (Cancelled)
Fri, Sep 21, 2012 @ 03:00 PM - 04:30 PM
Ming Hsieh Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering
Conferences, Lectures, & Seminars
Speaker: Prof. Amir Mortazawi, University of Michigan
Talk Title: Frequency Agile Circuits Based on Thin Film Ferroelectrics
Abstract: This talk concentrates on the development of frequency agile circuits based on thin film ferroelectrics. Central to this effort is the use of barium strontium titanate (BST) which is a low loss, high dielectric constant and non-linear dielectric material. The electric field dependence of BST permittivity allows fabrication of tunable RF and microwave devices and components. Applications of BST based varactors for the design of adaptive matching circuits and linearized power amplifiers will be discussed. Another important characteristic of such materials is their dc electric field induced piezoelectric and electrostrictive effects. These properties can be utilized to design intrinsically switchable film bulk acoustic wave resonators (FBARs) and FBAR filters. By eliminating the switching devices used in conventional filter banks, ferroelectric based filters provide reduced size and power consumption necessary for the design of low power multi-standard radios. Recent results on the development of intrinsically switchable resonators and filters will be presented.
Biography: Prof. Amir Mortazawi received the Ph.D. degree in electrical engineering from The University of Texas at Austin, in 1990.
He is a currently a Professor of electrical engineering with The University of Michigan at Ann Arbor. His research interests include millimeter-wave circuits, phased arrays, power amplifiers, ferroelectric thin film based devices and frequency-agile microwave circuits.
Prof. Mortazawi was the Editor-in-Chief of the IEEE TRANSACTIONS ON MICROWAVE THEORY AND TECHNIQUES from 2006-2010. He is a member of the IEEE Microwave Theory and Techniques Society (IEEE MTT-S) Administrative Committee (AdCom). He also served as Associate Editor for the IEEE TRANSACTIONS ON ANTENNAS AND PROPAGATION (1998â2001), IEEE TRANSACTIONS ON MICROWAVE THEORY AND TECHNIQUES (2005). Mortazawi is a Fellow of IEEE.
Host: Prof. Hossein Hashemi, Prof. Mahta Moghaddam, Prof. Mike Chen
More Info: http://mhi.usc.edu/activities/integrated-systems/
Location: Hughes Aircraft Electrical Engineering Center (EEB) - 248
Audiences: Everyone Is Invited
Contact: Hossein Hashemi
Event Link: http://mhi.usc.edu/activities/integrated-systems/
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Multimodal Analysis for Audio-Driven Human Body Animation
Mon, Sep 24, 2012 @ 11:00 AM - 12:00 PM
Ming Hsieh Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering
Conferences, Lectures, & Seminars
Speaker: Dr. Engin Erzin, College of Engineering, Koç University, Istanbul, Turkey
Talk Title: Multimodal Analysis for Audio-Driven Human Body Animation
Abstract: This talk will present an overview of the recent multimedia signal processing research portfolio on audio-driven human body animation at the Multimedia, Vision and Graphics Laboratory (MVGL) of Koc University. The talk will focus on two key applications. The first one will be music-driven choreography synthesis, where a novel framework will be presented for learning many-to-many statistical mappings from musical measures to dance figures towards generating plausible music-driven dance choreographies. The second application will be on automatic synthesis of gesticulation in synchrony with speech, where the correlation between prosody, head and upper-body gestures will be in the focus.
Biography: Engin Erzin (Sâ88âMâ96âSMâ06) received the B.Sc., M.Sc., and Ph.D. degrees from the Bilkent University, Ankara, Turkey, in 1990, 1992, and 1995, respectively, all in electrical engineering. During 1995â1996, he was a postdoctoral fellow in the Signal Compression Laboratory, University of California, Santa Barbara. He joined Lucent Technologies in September 1996, and he was with the Consumer Products for one year as a Member of Technical Staff of the Global Wireless Products Group. From 1997 to 2001, he was with the Speech and Audio Technology Group of the Network Wireless Systems. He has been with the College of Engineering, Koç University, Sariyer-Istanbul, Turkey, as an assistant professor between January 2001 and July 2009 and as an associate professor since July 2009. Dr. Erzin is serving as an Associate Editor of the IEEE Transactions on Audio, Speech & Language Processing (2010-2013). His research interests include speech signal processing, audio-visual signal processing, human-computer interaction, and pattern recognition.
Host: Prof. Shrikanth Narayanan
Location: Ronald Tutor Hall of Engineering (RTH) - 320
Audiences: Everyone Is Invited
Contact: Mary Francis
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Seminar in Biomedical Engineering
Mon, Sep 24, 2012 @ 12:30 PM - 01:50 PM
Alfred E. Mann Department of Biomedical Engineering
Conferences, Lectures, & Seminars
Speaker: Noah Malmstadt, Leonid Litvak, J. Andrew Mackay,
Talk Title: Research areas in the BME department
Host: BME
Location: Olin Hall of Engineering (OHE) - 122
Audiences: Everyone Is Invited
Contact: Mischalgrace Diasanta
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The Spoken Web
Tue, Sep 25, 2012 @ 01:30 PM - 02:30 PM
Ming Hsieh Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering
Conferences, Lectures, & Seminars
Speaker: Amit Nanavati, IBM Research India
Talk Title: The Spoken Web
Abstract: The Spoken Web is a system that leverages the pervasiveness of mobile phones in developing countries and allows the creation, deployment, and hosting of voice-driven applications called VoiceSites by any phone subscriber. It attempts to empower users by giving them the opportunity to become content creators and provides a mechanism for users to access information and content with affordable devices (just a regular telephone). Being a voice-driven system, it extends the access to ICTs (Information and Communication Technologies) to illiterate users. Many users in the developing world are now creating and accessing information through the Spoken Web platform. The content ranges from information about people and events in a village to information about the crop prices in the market, to business information for the unorganized workforce in developing regions. This session will start with the need for such a technology, then focus on the technology platform that drives the Spoken Web and will finally end with some interesting field insights that were derived as a result of it being used by low-literate users for a period of more than three years.
Biography: Amit is a Senior Researcher and barely manages Telecom Solutions Research at IBM Research, India. He has been working on Telecom social network analysis (SNAzzy) since its inception in 2006. He is also a âSpoken Webâ evangelist â trying to promote the vision of a world-wide Spoken Web hosted in the Telecom network, which does not require an Internet connection or the ability to read and write. He is always interested in applying graph theory to various domains. He also dabbles with speech in mobile and pervasive environments. Along with Nitendra, he has been co-hosting the SiMPE workshop for the last 7 years at the ACM MobileHCI conference. Together they wrote a book on âSpeech in Mobile and Pervasive Environmentsâ published by Wiley in 2012. Much to his surprise and that of his friends, he was named a Master Inventor at IBM Research in 2011.
Host: Prof. Shrikanth Narayanan
Location: Ronald Tutor Hall of Engineering (RTH) - 320
Audiences: Everyone Is Invited
Contact: Mary Francis
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Medical Imaging Seminar Series
Tue, Sep 25, 2012 @ 01:45 PM - 03:00 PM
Ming Hsieh Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering
Conferences, Lectures, & Seminars
Speaker: Dr. Shuliang Jiao, Department of Ophthalmology and Department of Biomedical Engineering, University of Southern California
Talk Title: "Multi-modal Retinal Imaging: Technology Development"
Abstract: Photoacoustic ophthalmoscopy (PAOM) is a new retinal imaging technology based on the photoacoustic effect. PAOM detects the ultrasonic waves induced by pulsed laser light shined onto the retina. PAOM offers the unique capability to measure optical absorption contrast in the retina, which is suitable for imaging retinal vessel oxygenation and the pigmentation of the RPE cells. Since PAOM is compatible with optical coherence tomography, scanning laser ophthalmoscopy, and autofluorescence imaging, registered multimodal images can be acquired from a single device at comparable resolution for comprehensive anatomic and functional retinal characterizations. Therefore, photoacoustic ophthalmoscopy is anticipated to have applications in both research and clinical diagnosis of many blinding diseases. This talk will cover the principles of PAOM, the integration of PAOM with OCT and auto-fluorescence for multimodal imaging, and the integration of adaptive optics in PAOM.
Biography: Shuliang Jiao, PhD, is an associate professor in the Department of Ophthalmology and the Department of Biomedical Engineering at University of Southern California. He received his PhD in Biomedical Engineering from Texas A&M University in 2003. His research interest is bio-optical imaging. His current research focus is optical coherence tomography (OCT) and photoacoustic microscopy with the emphasis of their applications in eye imaging. He is one of the pioneers in Mueller-matrix polarization-sensitive OCT, OCT small animal ocular imaging, and photoacoustic retinal imaging. He also holds four US patents and several US patent applications.
Host: Prof. Krishna Nayak
Location: Hughes Aircraft Electrical Engineering Center (EEB) - 248
Audiences: Everyone Is Invited
Contact: Talyia Veal
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Epstein Institute Seminar Series / ISE 651 Seminar
Tue, Sep 25, 2012 @ 03:30 PM - 05:00 PM
Daniel J. Epstein Department of Industrial and Systems Engineering
Conferences, Lectures, & Seminars
Speaker: Richard A. Wysk, Dopaco Distinguished Professor in the Edward P. Fitts Department of Industrial and Systems Engineering, North Carolina State University
Talk Title: "Engineering Regenerative Products â An Industrial Engineering Perspective"
Series: Epstein Institute Seminar Series
Abstract: This presentation presents an exciting new topic for industrial/manufacturing â the engineering of regenerative medical products. Regenerative medical products are manufactured cells, tissue and organs and their production brings some unique challenges and opportunities to industrial engineering. The presentation focuses on engineering in a highly regulated medical environment where products are highly customized (manufactured using the customerâs DNA; processes are poorly defined; and the product is defined unlike any other consumer item. A brief overview and some very preliminary concepts that have been developed by domain experts at Wake Forestâs Institute of Regenerative Medicine (WFIRM) and North Carolina State Universityâs (NCSUâs) College of Engineering is provided. The primary focus of the presentation is to show how the knowledge base developed at WFIRM to define process requirements for the creation of tissue and organs can be modeled as a non-traditional engineering system. The production system requirements will include: flow patterns, product requirements, process requirements (including FDA) and inventory and materials requirements.
The manufacturing system design for regenerative medical products must be scalable to produce lots of size one efficiently and with appropriate quality and traceability in a cost effective manner. This seminar will address some technological developments and concepts being used employed in this new area.
Biography: Richard A. Wysk is the Dopaco Distinguished Professor in the Edward P. Fitts Department of Industrial and Systems Engineering at North Carolina State University. Prior to joining NC State University, Dr. Wysk held Chaired positions at Texas A&M University (Royce Wisenbaker Chair in Innovation) and The Pennsylvania State University (William Leonhard Chair in Engineering). He has written or contributed to more than a dozen books focused on product and process engineering. He is the author or co-author of more than 175 journal papers. He is the recipient of the IIE David Baker Outstanding Research Award and the IIE Albert Holzman Distinguished Educator Award. He is a Fellow of IIE and SME.
Host: Daniel J. Epstein Department of Industrial and Systems Engineering
More Information: Seminar-Wysk.doc
Location: Ethel Percy Andrus Gerontology Center (GER) - Room 309
Audiences: Everyone Is Invited
Contact: Georgia Lum
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Enter the Dragon: The SpaceX COTS Missions
Tue, Sep 25, 2012 @ 03:30 PM - 05:00 PM
Thomas Lord Department of Computer Science
Conferences, Lectures, & Seminars
Speaker: Andrew Howard, SpaceX
Talk Title: Enter the Dragon: The SpaceX COTS Missions
Series: CS Colloquium
Abstract: In May 2012, a SpaceX Dragon spacecraft berthed with the International Space Station, thus completing the second of two demonstrations missions for NASA and opening the door to regular commercial resupply services to the ISS. In this talk, I will describe the COTS demonstration missions and the technologies that made them possible, including the Falcon 9 launcher, Dragon spacecraft and DragonEye proximity navigation system.
Equally important, I will discuss some of the organizational, cultural and contractual changes that are allowing companies like SpaceX to deliver -- at a radically reduced cost -- services that have previously been the exclusive preserve of national governments.
Biography: Dr. Howard is Senior Guidance, Navigation and Control Engineer at Space Exploration Technologies and designer of the DragonEye proximity navigation system. Previously, he was a Senior Member of Technical Staff at the Jet Propulsion Laboratory, where he worked on vision-based navigation for a wide variety of projects, including Boston Dynamics' BigDog and the DARPA Crusher UGCV. Prior to joining JPL, Dr. Howard was a Research Assistant Professor at the University of Southern California Robotics Research Laboratory. Dr. Howard is a graduate of the University of Melbourne, with a degree in theoretical physics and PhD in computer science.
Host: Gaurav Sukhatme
Location: Seaver Science Library (SSL) - 150
Audiences: Everyone Is Invited
Contact: Assistant to CS chair
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Aerospace and Mechanical Engineering Department Seminar
Wed, Sep 26, 2012 @ 03:30 PM - 04:30 PM
Aerospace and Mechanical Engineering
Conferences, Lectures, & Seminars
Speaker: Katharine M. Flores , Professor and Associate Chair,Department of Mechanical Engineering and Materials Science
Talk Title: From the Atoms Up: Design and Deformation of Metallic Glasses and their Composites
Abstract:
Metallic glasses, metallic alloys with disordered atomic structures, have matured from laboratory curiosities to engineering alloys of interest for their remarkable mechanical properties and processability. The unique atomic structure of these alloys presents a number of challenges for describing and controlling their behavior, as well as intriguing manufacturing opportunities. Lacking long-range structural order and the attendant microstructure, metallic glasses do not require multiscale modeling to capture many essential characteristics of their behavior and thus are an ideal model system for the development of a computationally driven "atoms-up" approach to alloy design. We use molecular dynamics to determine the liquid fragility for a series of Cu-Zr alloys and discuss this measure of the dynamics of the system in light of observations of the short-range atomic ordering of the alloy. Based solely on these parameters calculated from molecular dynamics, we suggest an a priori predictor for glass forming ability.
While monolithic metallic glasses exhibit near theoretical strengths and large elastic deflections, their lack of extensive tensile ductility limits their structural applications. Microstructural control has long been the materials scientist's chief tool for improving material properties. By creating metallic glass-crystalline composites, we introduce microstructural features and gain control over the initiation and distribution of plastic deformation. Building upon our computationally-driven approach to the design of the glassy phase, we next seek to design metallic glass composites with desirable properties. This requires adequate understanding of the role of microstructure on the plastic deformation mechanisms in order to calibrate and validate the model. One family of composites utilizes ductile crystalline dendrites which precipitate from the melt prior to vitrification of the matrix. Our work to quantitatively characterize this microstructure and its role in the resulting mechanical behavior will be discussed. Full field strain mapping measured from in situ digital image correlation reveals that at relatively low strains, the glassy matrix acts as an isotropic "buffer layer" between crystals of different orientations, permitting the crystals to deform unimpeded along their preferred slip system.
Biography: Katharine Flores is Professor and Associate Chair of Mechanical Engineering and Materials Science at Washington University, as well as the Associate Director for the new interdisciplinary Institute of Materials Science and Engineering. After receiving her B.S. in Mechanical Engineering from Washington University in 1995, she attended Stanford University where she received her Ph.D. in Materials Science and Engineering in 2000. She joined the Materials Science and Engineering Department at the Ohio State University as an assistant professor in 2002, and moved to her current position at Washington University in July, 2012. Her primary research interest is the mechanical behavior of structural materials, with particular emphasis on understanding structure-processing-property relationships in bulk metallic glasses and their composites, an area in which she has worked for almost 15 years. She leads research projects on topics ranging from investigations of the structural origins of plastic deformation in metallic glasses to the design of new glasses with desirable properties and the development of new manufacturing techniques suited to the unique processing capabilities of these alloys, in an effort to accelerate their incorporation in mainstream and high performance applications. In 2005, she received two prestigious early-career awards for her work in this area, a National Science Foundation CAREER Award and an Office of Naval Research Young Investigator Award. In addition to her research, Dr. Flores is actively involved in outreach and was the Director of Education and Outreach for the Center for Emergent Materials, the NSF Materials Research Science and Engineering Center at OSU, from 2008-2012. In 2011, she was a co-recipient of an Ohio Faculty Innovator Award for her efforts to improve undergraduate instruction in materials science and engineering.
Host: Profs. Hodge/Eliasson
More Info: http://ame-www.usc.edu/seminars/9-26-12-flores.shtml
Location: Seaver Science Library (SSL) - Room 150
Audiences: Everyone Is Invited
Contact: April Mundy
Event Link: http://ame-www.usc.edu/seminars/9-26-12-flores.shtml
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USC Physical Sciences in Oncology 2nd Annual Symposium
Thu, Sep 27, 2012 @ 08:00 AM - 06:00 PM
Alfred E. Mann Department of Biomedical Engineering
Conferences, Lectures, & Seminars
Speaker: Paul M. Kulesa, Eun Sok Kim, Cagri Savran, Paul Newton, Dwayne Stupack, Lin Chen, Yannis G. Kevrekidis, David Agus, Debra Auguste, USC, Purdue, Stowers Institute, University of California San Diego, Princeton, Harvard
Talk Title: USC Physical Sciences in Oncology 2nd Annual Symposium
Abstract: The symposium is hosted by the USC Physical Sciences in Oncology Center, which was selected by NCI/NIH as one of twelve PSOC research centers in the nation. The overall goals of the center are to take new, non-traditional approaches to cancer research by studying the physical laws and principles of cancer; evolution and evolutionary theory of cancer; information coding, decoding, transfer and translation in cancer; and ways to de-convolute cancerâs complexity. Additionally, we have been charged with the task of encouraging widespread collaboration and building a new generation of scientists to lead these transdisciplinary efforts.
Biography: This is a full day event beginning at 8:00 a.m. and ending at approximately 6:00 p.m. Continental breakfast and lunch with be provided for registered attendees. Additionally, we will host a network reception and poster session. For additional information regarding this event, please contact Kristina Gerber at 323-442-3849 or kgerber@usc.edu. Register at: http://bit.ly/USCPSOC. Registration Deadline: Thursday, September 13, 2012.
Host: USC Physical Sciences in Oncology Center
More Info: http://bit.ly/USCPSOC
More Information: USC PSOC 2nd Annual Symposium.pdf
Audiences: Everyone Is Invited
Contact: kristina gerber
Event Link: http://bit.ly/USCPSOC
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Organic Electronic Materials and Skin-Inspired Electronic Sensing Sheets
Thu, Sep 27, 2012 @ 12:45 PM - 02:00 PM
Mork Family Department of Chemical Engineering and Materials Science
Conferences, Lectures, & Seminars
Speaker: Zhenan Bao, Department of Chemical Engineering, Stanford University
Talk Title: Organic Electronic Materials and Skin-Inspired Electronic Sensing Sheets
Series: Lyman L. Handy Colloquium Series
Location: James H. Zumberge Hall Of Science (ZHS) - 159
Audiences: Everyone Is Invited
Contact: Petra Pearce
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W.V.T. Rusch Engineering Honors Colloquium; Making Science Sustainable: How Caltech is Going Green
Fri, Sep 28, 2012 @ 01:00 PM - 01:50 PM
USC Viterbi School of Engineering, Viterbi School of Engineering Student Affairs
Conferences, Lectures, & Seminars
Speaker: John Onderdonk, Director of Sustainability Programs at the California Institute of Technology
Talk Title: W.V.T. Rusch Engineering Honors Colloquium; Making Science Sustainable: How Caltech is Going Green
Abstract: John Onderdonk, Director of Sustainability Programs at the California Institute of Technology, will present "Making Science Sustainable: How Caltech is Going Green" as part of the W.V.T. Rusch Engineering Honors Colloquium.
Host: W.V.T. Rusch Engineering Honors Colloquium
More Info: http://viterbi.usc.edu/students/undergrad/honors/schedules/
Location: Seeley G. Mudd Building (SGM) - 101
Audiences: Everyone Is Invited
Contact: Amanda Atkinson
Event Link: http://viterbi.usc.edu/students/undergrad/honors/schedules/
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Integrated Systems Seminar Series
Fri, Sep 28, 2012 @ 03:00 PM - 04:30 PM
Ming Hsieh Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering
Conferences, Lectures, & Seminars
Speaker: Prof. Un-Ku Moon, Oregon State University
Talk Title: Itâs About Time! (Making Best Use of Information in Time)
Abstract: Everybody loves ADCs... And recently there has been a lot of chatter about Time-to-Digital Converters (TDCs). I haven't made up my mind yet about TDCs, but there certainly is an interesting aspect of TDCs in that the focus is on time rather than voltage. As we look more deeply into this, we are finding there are benefits to reap from making best use of time--information in time or time domain signal processing and analysis. Like anything else, these ideas are sure to be showered with doubts and criticisms. However, we can not ignore the possibility that such use of time may be leading us into a new era of ADCs that could yield exceptional power efficiency and performance. This talk will summarize a few well known techniques on this topic, as well as some recent developments in my own research team at the Oregon State University.
Biography: Prof. Un-Ku Moon has been with the Oregon State University since 1998. Prior to that, he was with Bell Labs (Reading & Allentown) 1988-1989 and 1994-1998. He received a bachelor's degree from the University of Washington, a master's degree from Cornell University, and a PhD from the University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign. His current research activities are found at http://eecs.oregonstate.edu/~moon/research.
Host: Prof. Hossein Hashemi, Prof. Mahta Moghaddam, Prof. Mike Chen
More Info: http://mhi.usc.edu/activities/integrated-systems/
Location: Hughes Aircraft Electrical Engineering Center (EEB) - 248
Audiences: Everyone Is Invited
Contact: Hossein Hashemi
Event Link: http://mhi.usc.edu/activities/integrated-systems/
