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Conferences, Lectures, & Seminars
Events for October
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Seminar in Biomedical Engineering
Mon, Oct 01, 2012 @ 12:30 PM - 01:50 PM
Alfred E. Mann Department of Biomedical Engineering
Conferences, Lectures, & Seminars
Speaker: Krishna Nayak, Vasilis Marmarelis, Tishya Wren,
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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EE-EP Seminar
Mon, Oct 01, 2012 @ 02:30 PM - 03:30 PM
Ming Hsieh Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering
Conferences, Lectures, & Seminars
Speaker: W. C. CHEW, University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign, IL, USA
Talk Title: MULTI-SCALE, MULTI-PHYSICS COMPUTATIONAL ELECTROMAGNETICS
Abstract: Computational electromagnetics (CEM) research is important for producing simulation software that have been used for virtual prototyping and the design of major electrical and electronic components. Solving electromagnetics problem is a challenging task, especially when the structure is electrically large and involves multi-scale structures. This kind of structures is often encountered in circuits in electronic packaging, small antenna designs, RFID sensor designs, and antennas on complex platforms. However, more CEM is used in nano-technologies as in nano-electronics, nano-optics, and Casimir force for N/MEMS.
In this presentation, we will give a brief introduction to the three physics of electromagnetic fields: circuit physics, wave physics, and ray physic. Then we will give an overview of past and recent progress in large scale computing in electromagnetics by our research group, and discuss various methods to overcome multi-scale problems. We will give a brief overview of the wave physics and its relationship to computation. We first discuss large scale computing result from our group as well as other groups in the world using the multi-level fast multipole algorithm (MLFMA). We will discuss the use of self-box inclusion preconditioner, and parallel computing.
The development of the mixed-form fast multipole algorithm (MF-FMA) is essential to capture both circuit physics and wave physics problems. This is key for solving multi-scale problems. We will discuss the equivalence principle algorithm (EPA) to capture the multi-scale physics of complex structures. In this method, complex structures are partitioned into parts by the use of equivalence surfaces. The interaction of electromagnetic field with structures within the equivalence surface is done through scattering operators working via the equivalence currents on the equivalence surfaces. The solution within the equivalence surface can be obtained by various numerical methods. Then the interaction between equivalence surfaces is obtained via the use of translation operators. When accelerated with the mixed-form fast multipole method, large multi-scale problems can be solved in this manner.
We will also discuss the augmented electric field integral equation (A-EFIE) approach in solving the low-frequency breakdown problem as encountered in circuits in electronic packaging. The EFIE is augmented with an additional charge unknown, and an additional continuity equation relating the charge to the current. The resultant equation, after proper frequency normalization, is frequency stable down to very low frequency. This method does not suffer from the low-frequency breakdown, but it does have the low-frequency inaccuracy problem, which can be solved by perturbation method. We will also discuss the augmentation of EPA (A-EPA) to avoid low frequency breakdown, and the hybridization of EPA, A-EPA, and A-EFIE to tackle some multi-scale problems.
Next, we will discuss the use of CEM is used in nano-technologies, as in nano-electronics, nano-optics for solar cell design, and in N/MEMS for Casimir force calculation. In nano-optics, we will discuss the use of surface plasmonics, and plasmonics in nano-particles in enhancing the performace of the solar cell, as well as in spontaneous emission and Purcell effect.
To end, we will discuss some high-frequency techniques when ray-physics becomes important.
Biography: Prof. Chew is the originator of several fast algorithms for solving electromagnetics scattering and inverse problems. He has authored a widely cited book, Waves and Fields in Inhomogeneous Media, and coauthored Fast and Efficient Algorithms in Computational Electromagnetics, in addition to more than 300 scientific journal articles and 400 conference papers, several patents, and book chapters. Prof. Chew is a Fellow of IEEE and OSA. Previously, he was the director of the Center for Computational Electromagnetics and the Electromagnetics Laboratory at UIUC. Prof. Chew was the winner of the IEEE Year 2000 Graduate Teaching Award, the UIUC Campus Award for Excellence in Graduate and Professional Teaching for 2001, a Founder Professor of the College of Engineering at the University of Illinois, and the co-winner of the Schelkunoff Best Paper Award for 2001.
In 2002, ISI Citation elected him to the category of Most-Highly Cited Authors (top 0.01%). His work is cited by electromagneticists, geophysicists, mathematicians, and electro-chemists. He was the YT Lo Endowed Chair Professor of Electrical and Computer Engineering from 2005 to 2010. Before coming to University of Illinois, he was a department manager and program leader at Schlumberger-Doll Research. He was on special leave to serve as the Dean of Engineering at The University of Hong Kong from 2007 to 2011.
For more information, visit http://wcchew.ece.illinois.edu/chew/
Host: Mahta Moghaddam, EE-EP
Location: Hughes Aircraft Electrical Engineering Center (EEB) - 248
Audiences: Everyone Is Invited
Contact: Marilyn Poplawski
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Medical Imaging Seminar Series
Tue, Oct 02, 2012 @ 01:45 PM - 03:00 PM
Ming Hsieh Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering
Conferences, Lectures, & Seminars
Speaker: Dr. Juan Santos, CEO, Heart Vista Inc.
Talk Title: Real-Time Interactive MRI and HeartVista Inc.
Abstract: Real-time MRI is an invaluable technique to capture the dynamic characteristics of physiologic and temporal anatomical changes. Challenges to achieve the necessary temporal and spatial resolution required for a particular study involve the design of fast pulse sequences, minimum latency reconstruction and interactive display and control. We have taken the experience developed for many years in this field to create a comprehensive cardiac evaluation system that can provide rich information in significant less time than a traditional MRI examination. Additionally, the tools and software infrastructure developed for this project have found great value in other areas like interventional MRI, where dynamic procedure feedback is an important advantage.
Biography: Juan Santos is the co-founder and CEO at HeartVista, inc, a medical device company that provides Magnetic Resonance Imaging applications for diagnostic cardiac imaging and interventional MRI. Before HeartVista, Juan was a Consulting Assistant Professor in the Department of Electrical Engineering at Stanford University where he developed novel applications for real-time MRI. He is the author of more than 20 journal articles, 100 conference proceedings and 5 patents. He has been the principal investigator on five NIH grants and co investigator in several others. Juan obtained his Ph.D. in Electrical Engineering from Stanford University and a Masters degree in Electrical Engineering from Universidad Catolica de Chile.
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, Oct 02, 2012 @ 11:30 PM - 05:00 PM
Daniel J. Epstein Department of Industrial and Systems Engineering
Conferences, Lectures, & Seminars
Speaker: Dr. Naihua Duan, Professor of Biostatistics (in Psychiatry), Columbia University
Talk Title: "Design of Local Investigations in Community Practice Settings: An Effectiveness / Cost-Effectiveness Framework with Finite Patient Horizon"
Series: Epstein Institute Seminar Series
Abstract: Objectives. The ultimate goal of translational research is to move new discoveries in laboratories to treatments received by patients in communities. Despite the enormous efforts and resources devoted to basic science and clinical research, this translation is limited by the uptake of new treatments in community practice settings. This is the impetus for the recent interests in implementation studies that aim to adopt and integrate evidence-based healthcare interventions into community practice settings, akin to engineering work to improve an existing industrial system.
Methods. The adoption of a novel procedure in a community practice setting is usually a local decision guided by local knowledge unique to the specific setting. The conventional statistical framework that aims to produce generalizable knowledge is inappropriate for local investigations that aim to produce local knowledge to inform local implementation decisions. As an alternative, we propose an analytic framework based on effectiveness and cost-effectiveness for the design of these local investigations, taking into account the finite patient horizon in a community practice setting, and the prior knowledge available from local experts.
Results. When prior knowledge does not indicate a clear preference between the new and the standard procedures, a local investigation should be conducted in order to guide the choice. The proposed approach often leads to substantially smaller sample sizes than the conventional approach. General guidance and specific formulae on sample size determination are provided.
Conclusions. The statistical framework proposed herein is useful for the design of local investigations that aim to produce local knowledge.
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Joint work with Ken Cheung (Columbia University) and Jeff Cully (Houston VA HSR&D Center of Excellence
Biography: Naihua Duan, Ph.D.
Professor of Biostatistics (in Psychiatry)
Columbia University
Director and Research Scientist, Division of Biostatistics and Data Coordination,
New York State Psychiatric Institute
Dr. Naihua Duan is the Director of the Division of Biostatistics in the Department of Psychiatry at Columbia University Medical Center and the New York State Psychiatric Institute (NYSPI), Professor of Biostatistics (in Psychiatry) in the Department of Psychiatry and the Department of Biostatistics in the Mailman School of Public Health at Columbia University, and a senior research scientist at NYSPI.
Dr. Duan received a B.S. in mathematics from National Taiwan University, an M.A. in mathematical statistics from Columbia University, and a Ph.D. in statistics from Stanford University. He is an accomplished practicing biostatistician with research interests in health services research, prevention research, sample design and experimental design, model robustness, transformation models, multilevel modeling, nonparametric and semi-parametric regression methods, and environmental exposure assessment.
Dr. Duan is an elected fellow of the American Statistical Association and the Institute of Mathematical Statistics; he is a member of the editorial board for Statistica Sinica and Health Services & Outcomes Research Methodology, and a former associate editor for the Journal of the American Statistical Association. He served on a number of national and international panels, such as the Institute of Medicineâs Committee on Organ Procurement and Transplantation Policy and Committee on Assessing the Medical Risks of Human Oocyte Donation for Stem Cell Research, the National Research Councilâs Committee on Carbon Monoxide Episodes in Meteorological and Topological Problems Areas, and the National Institute of Mental Healthâs Behavioral Sciences Workgroup.
Dr. Naihua Duan's primary research interest is in the application of biostatistics to various areas of psychiatric research, such as mental health services research, HIV prevention, clinical trials, etc.
Host: Daniel J. Epstein Department of Industrial and Systems Engineering
More Information: Seminar-Duan.doc
Location: Ethel Percy Andrus Gerontology Center (GER) - Room 309
Audiences: Everyone Is Invited
Contact: Georgia Lum
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Ph.D. Oral Defense Dissertation
Wed, Oct 03, 2012 @ 02:00 AM - 04:00 PM
Sonny Astani Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering
Conferences, Lectures, & Seminars
Speaker: Roshanak Varjavand, CE Ph.D. Candidate
Talk Title: TBA
Location: Kaprielian Hall (KAP) - 209
Audiences: Everyone Is Invited
Contact: Evangeline Reyes
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AME - Department Seminar
Wed, Oct 03, 2012 @ 03:30 PM - 04:30 PM
Aerospace and Mechanical Engineering
Conferences, Lectures, & Seminars
Speaker: Paul Ronney, University of Southern California
Talk Title: Serendipity and Contrarianism in Research: Hit 'Em Where They Ain't
Abstract:
Almost every great scientific discovery involves serendipity, i.e. a chance encounter with unexpected results. This is no accident, for if one already expects a particular result and research confirms the expectation, nothing fundamentally new was learned. Examples include Teflonâ¢, radioactivity, nitrocellulosic explosives, LSD, the Big Bang and the microwave oven. In each of these cases when unexpected results presented themselves, the investigators able to identify their significance instead of merely dismissing them as failures. Frequently another key aspect of discovery is contrarianism, that is, the ability and commitment to challenge accepted wisdom in order to resolve its weaknesses or contradictions. Examples include quantum mechanics, relativity and anthropomorphically-induced climate change. Contrarianism may also take the form of a simpler solution to solving a demanding problem, e.g. tetraethyl lead anti-knock additive for gasolines.
This seminar presents my experiences (which pale in significance compared to the aforementioned cases) with serendipity and contrarianism in the context of research on chemically reacting flows, including examples from microgravity combustion, turbulent flames, catalysis, photobleaching velocimetry and biophysics. Most importantly, I will provide suggestions to fledgling researchers (i.e., graduate students) on how to identify serendipitous yet consequential results and when/how to stand firm in the face of adversity resulting from contrarianistic views.
Biography: Prof. Paul D. Ronney is a Professor in the Department of Aerospace and Mechanical Engineering at the University of Southern California in Los Angeles, CA. Prof. Ronney received a Bachelor of Science degree in Mechanical Engineering from the University of California, Berkeley, a Master of Science degree in Aeronautics from the California Institute of Technology, and a Doctor of Science degree in Aeronautics and Astronautics from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. He held postdoctoral appointments at the NASA-Glenn Research Center and the Laboratory for Computational Physics at the U. S. Naval Research Laboratory and a position as Assistant Professor in the Department of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering at Princeton University before assuming his current position at USC. Prof. Ronney was the Payload Specialist Astronaut (Alternate) for Space Shuttle mission MSL-1 (STS-83, April 4 - 8, 1997) and the reflight of this mission (STS-94, July 1 - 16, 1997).
Professor Ronney has extensive research experience in micro-scale combustion, premixed flame ignition by pulsed corona discharges, propagating fronts in motile bacteria, turbulent combustion, edge flames, flame propagation in confined geometries (Hele-Shaw cells), internal combustion engines, premixed-gas combustion at microgravity, flame spread over solid fuel beds, and radiatively-driven flows and heat transfer. His research is conducted in the Combustion Physics Laboratory at USC. One of his experiments, a study of premixed-gas flames at low gravity, called Structure Of Flame Balls At Low Lewis-number (SOFBALL) flew on the STS-83 and STS-94 Space Shuttle missions in 1997 and the STS-107 mission in 2003.
Prof. Ronney has published over 70 technical papers in peer-reviewed journals, made over 150 technical presentations (including over 30 invited presentations at international conferences), holds four U.S. patents with several others pending, and has received over $10 million in funding for his research projects. He is an Associate Editor or Editorial Board Member of Combustion Theory and Modelling, Combustion and Flame, Microgravity Science and Technology, Micromachines and Progress in Energy and Combustion Science. In recognition of his achievements, he is a fellow of the Institute of Physics, a recipient of the National Science Foundation Presidential Young Investigator Award, the Princeton Engineer's Council Excellence in Teaching Award and the Institution of Mechanical Engineers (U.K.) Starley Premium Award for a paper on a new control concept for internal combustion engines that promises to provide higher thermal efficiency and lower pollutant emissions.
Host: Professor Geoff Spedding
More Info: http://ame-www.usc.edu/seminars/10-3-12-ronney.shtml
Location: Seaver Science Library (SSL) - Room 150
Audiences: Everyone Is Invited
Contact: April Mundy
Event Link: http://ame-www.usc.edu/seminars/10-3-12-ronney.shtml
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W.V.T. Rusch Honors Colloquium
Fri, Oct 05, 2012 @ 01:00 PM - 02:00 PM
Viterbi School of Engineering Student Affairs
Conferences, Lectures, & Seminars
Speaker: Safar Hatami, Broadcom, Inc.
Talk Title: Performance Variations in Digital Circuits
Abstract: Safar Hatami, from Broadcom, Inc., is giving a talk for the W.V.T. Rusch Honors Colloquium.
Host: W.V.T. Rusch Honors Program
More Info: http://viterbi.usc.edu/students/undergrad/honors/schedules/
Location: Seeley G. Mudd Building (SGM) - 101
Audiences: Everyone Is Invited
Contact: Jeffrey Teng
Event Link: http://viterbi.usc.edu/students/undergrad/honors/schedules/
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Munushian Seminar
Fri, Oct 05, 2012 @ 02:00 PM - 03:00 PM
Ming Hsieh Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering
Conferences, Lectures, & Seminars
Speaker: R. Stanley Williams, Hewlett-Packard Labs
Talk Title: Mott Memristors, Spiking Neuristors and Touring Complete Computing with an Electronic Action Potential
Abstract: Dr. Matthew Pickett and I have been collaborating on a project at HP Labs to explore the possibility of using âlocally-active memristorsâ as the basis
for extremely low-power transistorless computation. We first analyzed the thermally-induced first order phase transition from a Mott insulator to
a highly conducting state in a family of correlated-electron transition-metal oxides, such as Ti4O7 and NbO2. The current-voltage characteristic
of a simple cross-point device that has a thin film of such an oxide sandwiched between two metal electrodes displays a current-controlled
or âSâ-type negative differential resistance (NDR) caused by Joule self-heating if the ambient temperature is below the metal-insulator transition
(MIT). We derived simple analytical equations for the behavior these devices [1,2] that quantitatively reproduce their experimentally measured
electrical characteristics with only one or two fitting parameters, and found that the resulting dynamical model was mathematically equivalent to
the âmemristive systemâ formulation of Leon Chua and Steve Kang [3]; we thus call these devices âMott Memristorsâ. Moreover, these devices
display the property of âlocal activityâ; because of the NDR, they are capable of injecting energy into a circuit (converting DC to AC electrical power)
over a limited biasing range. We built and demonstrated Pearson-Anson oscillators based on a parallel circuit of one Mott memristor and one
capacitor, and were able to quantitatively model the dynamical behavior of the circuit, including the subnanosecond and subpicoJoule memristor
switching time and energy, using SPICE. We then built a neuristor, an active subcircuit originally proposed by Hewitt Crane [4] in 1960 without
an experimental implementation, using two Mott memristors and two capacitors. The neuristor electronically emulates the Hodgkin-Huxley model
of the axon action potential of a neuron, which has been recently shown by Chua et al. [5] to be a circuit with two parallel memristors, and we
show experimental results that are quantitatively matched by SPICE simulations of the output bifurcation, signal gain and spiking behavior that
are believed to be the basis for computation in biological systems. Finally, through SPICE, we demonstrate that spiking neuristors are capable of
Boolean logic and Touring complete computation by designing and simulating the one dimensional cellular nonlinear network based on âRule 137â.
1. Pickett, M. D., Borghetti, J., Yang, J. J., Medeiros-Ribeiro, G. & Williams, R. S. Coexistence of memristance and negative differential resistance in a nanoscale metal-oxide-metal system. Advanced Materials (2011).
2. Pickett, M. D. & Williams, R. S. Sub-100 femtoJoule and sub-nanosecond thermally-driven threshold switching in niobium oxide crosspoint nanodevices. Nanotechnology In Press (2012).
3. Chua, L. & Kang, S. Memristive devices and systems. Proceedings of the IEEE 64, 209-223 (1976).
4. Crane, H. D. The Neuristor. IRE Transactions on Electronic Computers EC-9, 370-371 (1960).
5. Chua, L., Sbitnev, V. & Kim, H. Hodgkin-Huxley axon is made of memristors. International Journal of Bifurcation and Chaos 22, 1-48 (2012).
Biography: R. Stanley Williams is an HP Senior Fellow at Hewlett-Packard Laboratories, one of only five active technologists in HP with this title, and the Director of the Cognitive
Systems Laboratory. He received a B.A. degree in Chemical Physics in 1974 from Rice University and his Ph.D. in Physical Chemistry from U. C. Berkeley in 1978. He was
a Member of Technical Staff at AT&T Bell Labs from 1978-80 and a faculty member (Assistant, Associate and Full Professor) of the Chemistry Department at UCLA from
1980 â 1995. He joined HP Labs in 1995 to found the Quantum Science Research group, which originally focused on fundamental research at the nanometer scale. His
primary scientific research during the past thirty years has been in the areas of solid-state chemistry and physics, and their applications to technology . In 2008, a team
of researchers he led announced that they had built and demonstrated the first intentional memristor, the fourth fundamental electronic circuit element predicted by
Prof. Leon Chua in 1971, complementing the capacitor, resistor and inductor. In 2010, he was named one of the first recipients of the HP CEOâs Award for Innovation
for his work in sensing systems (CeNSE, the Central Nervous System for the Earth). He has received other awards for business, scientific and academic achievement,
including the 2009 EETimes Innovator of the Year ACE Award, the 2007 Glenn T. Seaborg Medal for contributions to Chemistry, the 2004 Herman Bloch Medal for
Industrial Research, and the 2000 Julius Springer Award for Applied Physics. He has over 130 US patents with ~100 pending, more than 200 patents outside the US,
and over 380 papers published in reviewed scientific journals.
Host: EE-Electrophysics
Location: Olin Hall of Engineering (OHE) - 132
Audiences: Everyone Is Invited
Contact: Marilyn Poplawski
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Astani CEE Ph.D. Seminar
Fri, Oct 05, 2012 @ 03:00 PM - 05:00 PM
Sonny Astani Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering
Conferences, Lectures, & Seminars
Speaker: Falk Feddersen Associate Research Oceanographer , Integrative Oceanography Division Scripps Institution of Oceanography, UCSD
Talk Title: Surfzone eddies in strong alongshore currents: Forced or Instabilities?
Abstract:
Beaches throughout the United States are chronically impacted by poor water quality, making swimmers sick and affecting coastal economies. Run-off pollution often drains directly into the surfzone and the mechanisms dispersing and diluting pollution or other tracers (e.g. larvae) are not clear. Surfzone 2D turbulent eddies are the dominant mechanisms for surfzone dispersion and dilution, and these eddies are generated either from a shear-instability of the alongshore current (âshear-waves''), from finite-crest length breaking of individual waves, or from alongshore gradients in wave-group forcing, which have distinct length-scales. SandyDuck based observations of surfzone eddies are compared to funwaveC model simulations. Finite-crest length breaking induces energy at much larger frequencies and wave-lengths than a NSWE model. The relative contributions of shear instabilities and finite-crest length breaking on the momentum and vorticity dynamics are examined. The results will have implications for modeling the dispersion and dilution of surfzone tracers (whether fecal indicator bacteria, sediment, or larvae).
Host: Dr. Patrick Lynett
Location: John Stauffer Science Lecture Hall (SLH) - 102
Audiences: Everyone Is Invited
Contact: Evangeline Reyes
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Seminar in Biomedical Engineering
Mon, Oct 08, 2012 @ 12:30 PM - 01:50 PM
Alfred E. Mann Department of Biomedical Engineering
Conferences, Lectures, & Seminars
Speaker: Terry Sanger, Jean-Michel Maarek, James Weiland,
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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Noisy Text -- Techniques and Tools for Prosodic Analysis
Mon, Oct 08, 2012 @ 01:30 PM - 03:00 PM
Ming Hsieh Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering
Conferences, Lectures, & Seminars
Speaker: Andrew Rosenberg, Queens College (CUNY)
Talk Title: Noisy Text -- Techniques and Tools for Prosodic Analysis
Abstract: Prosody is a crucial component to human spoken communication. A number of phonological models of prosody have been proposed to facilitate empirical testing of linguistic hypotheses. The incorporation of categorical/ symbolic prosodic information into spoken language processing systems remains limited. A more common approach to incorporating prosodic information into spoken language processing applications has been the direct incorporation of acoustic/prosodic features into a feature vector.
This talk will discuss issues around symbolic modeling of prosody including some reasons for why direct modeling has been more prolific than symbolic modeling. Particular focus will be given to recent improvements to AuToBI, a toolkit for automatic ToBI labeling, in terms of feature representation, classification approaches, and software engineering. I'll also cover some recent applications of prosodic analysis to spoken language processing tasks including pronunciation modeling, keyword search, and classification of speaking style and nativeness.
Biography: Andrew Rosenberg is an Assistant Professor of Computer Science at Queens College (CUNY). His research concerns spoken language processing and machine learning. He received his Ph.D. from Columbia University in 2009. His dissertation, and much of his research has focused on techniques and applications of automatic prosodic analysis on which he has written over 30 papers. Andrew Rosenberg also contributed to the IBM Jeopardy! Challenge, working with the speech synthesis team to improve Watsonâs voice.
Host: Prof. Shrikanth Narayanan
Location: Ronald Tutor Hall of Engineering (RTH) - 320
Audiences: Everyone Is Invited
Contact: Mary Francis
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System-level performance analysis for programmable MPSOC architectures
Mon, Oct 08, 2012 @ 03:45 PM - 04:45 PM
Ming Hsieh Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering
Conferences, Lectures, & Seminars
Speaker: Patrick Lysaght, Senior Director, Xilinx Research Labs
Talk Title: System-level performance analysis for programmable MPSOC architectures
Abstract: As we transition into the âpost-PC eraâ, embedded systems increasingly deploy heterogeneous, multi-processor system-on-chip (MPSOC) architectures. This talk is about system-level, design optimization in programmable, heterogeneous, MPSOC architectures for embedded applications. The focus is on programmable SOC platforms which integrate both embedded processors and field programmable gate arrays (FPGAs). The Xilinx Zynq family of All Programmable Systems on Chips is used as the reference. Zynq is the first programmable MPSOC family to integrate Xilinx FPGA fabric with ARM Cortex A9 processors in a high-performance, low-power 28nm process technology co-designed by Xilinx and TSMC.
System-level design optimization is important for the silicon architects who create the All Programmable Zynq device architectures and for the application architects who are responsible for mapping their applications to Zynq devices. The silicon and application architects share many of the same concerns, but they have very different perspectives. For example, static power consumption is a shared concern but an application-specific goal such as âfaces recognized per secondâ is a metric only relevant to a particular application. For business and cost reasons, the design environments and tools available to both groups are also markedly different.
We focus in this talk on performance analysis and estimation. We address the experiences of the silicon architect and the application architect emphasizing what is common to both and also the significant differences. The goal is to work towards more efficient methodologies and tools capable of working at high levels of design abstraction while maximizing silicon efficiency.
Biography: Patrick Lysaght is a Senior Director in Xilinx Research Labs, in Xilinx San Jose, Ca. He leads a group whose research interests include system-level performance analysis and estimation, dynamically reconfigurable systems, and emerging design technologies for FPGAs. He also directs the worldwide operation of the Xilinx University Program (XUP). Before joining Xilinx, he held positions as a senior lecturer at the University of Strathclyde (Glasgow) and at the Institute for System Level Integration (Livingston, Scotland). He started his career in research and development with Hewlett Packard (Edinburgh) before going on to hold a number of technical and marketing positions. Patrick has co-authored more than fifty technical papers, co-edited two books on programmable logic and holds eight US patents. He is actively involved in the organization of a number of international conferences and is chairman of the steering committee for FPL, the worldâs largest conference dedicated to field programmable logic. Patrick holds a BSc (Electronic Systems) from the University of Limerick, Ireland and a MSc degree (Digital Techniques) from Heriot-Watt University in Edinburgh, Scotland.
Host: Professor Viktor K. Prasanna
Location: Hughes Aircraft Electrical Engineering Center (EEB) - 248
Audiences: Everyone Is Invited
Contact: Janice Thompson
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Medical Imaging Seminar Series
Tue, Oct 09, 2012 @ 01:45 PM - 03:00 PM
Ming Hsieh Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering
Conferences, Lectures, & Seminars
Speaker: Prof. Steve Conolly, Uiversity California, Berkeley
Talk Title: Magnetic Particle Imaging: A New Angiograph
Abstract: Magnetic Particle Imaging (MPI) is a new imaging modality that makes use of USPIO (Ultra Small Superparamagnetic Iron Oxide) tracers and has the benefit of incredible Signal to Noise and near-perfect contrast. Moreover, the contrast agent is much safer than our current contrast agents (gadolinium and iodine) for patients with poor kidney function (called Chronic Kidney
Disease or CKD). About 40\% of Americans over the age of 60 now have CKD, and this condition makes any subsequent angiogram a very risky prospect. Indeed, CKD patients have almost 30% risk of losing all kidney function---and becoming permanently reliant on dialysis following an iodine injection.
Magnetic Particle Imaging draws from much of the system theory of MRI, but acquisition is in x-space rather than in k-space. The magnetization we image is only the contrast agent,
SPIOs, and human tissue is both transparent and emits zero signal.This is ideal for angiogram studies. Moreover, the magnetization inthe particles is 100 million times stronger than the nuclear paramagnetismwe image in a typical 55 Molar MRI study. There is almost 1 million gain in SNR/mole for MPI over MRI, meaning one day we can hope to image 55 micromolar SPIOs with extraordinary contrast to noise.
My research group at UC Berkeley has built all 7 of the MPI scannersin North America. I will present physics, systems theory (called x-space MPI), image reconstruction, hardware and some initial phantom and mouse
experiments.
Biography: My research group at UC Berkeley has built all 7 of the MPI scannersin North America. I will present physics, systems theory (called x-space MPI), image reconstruction, hardware and some initial phantom and mouse experiments.
Host: Prof. Krishna Nayak
Location: Hughes Aircraft Electrical Engineering Center (EEB) - 248
Audiences: Everyone Is Invited
Contact: Talyia Veal
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CS Colloquium - Jitendra Padhye: AppInsight: Mobile App Performance Monitoring in the Wild
Wed, Oct 10, 2012 @ 12:30 PM - 02:00 PM
Thomas Lord Department of Computer Science
Conferences, Lectures, & Seminars
Speaker: Jitendra Padhye, Microsoft Research
Talk Title: AppInsight: Mobile App Performance Monitoring in the Wild
Series: CS Colloquium
Abstract: The mobile-app marketplace is highly competitive. To maintain and improve the quality of their apps, developers need data about how their app is performing in the wild. The asynchronous, multi-threaded nature of mobile apps makes tracing difficult. The difficulties are compounded by the resource limitations inherent in the mobile platform. To address this challenge, we develop AppInsight, a system that instruments mobile-app binaries to automatically identify the critical path in user transactions, across asynchronous-call boundaries. AppInsight is lightweight, it does not require any input from the developer, and it does not require any changes to the OS. We used AppInsight to instrument 30 marketplace apps, and carried out a field trial with 30 users for over 4 months. We report on the characteristics of the critical paths that AppInsight found in this data. We also give real-world examples of how AppInsight helped developers improve the quality of their app.
Biography: Jiendra Padhye is a principal researcher at Microsoft Research. His primary research area is computer networking, with recent focus on data centers and mobile systems.
Host: Minlan Yu & Ethan Katz-Bassett
Location: Hughes Aircraft Electrical Engineering Center (EEB) - 248
Audiences: Everyone Is Invited
Contact: Assistant to CS chair
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CS Colloquium: Anees Shaikh (IBM): Software-based Services for Cloud Networks
Wed, Oct 10, 2012 @ 03:00 PM - 04:00 PM
Thomas Lord Department of Computer Science
Conferences, Lectures, & Seminars
Speaker: Anees Shaikh , IBM
Talk Title: Software-based Services for Cloud Networks
Series: CS Colloquium
Abstract: Software-defined networking (SDN) aims to provide a well-defined programming and automation interface to network devices. In moving network control and functionality to software running on standard server platforms, SDNs depart from the traditional, vertically integrated model of network hardware and software. We view SDNs as a new opportunity for supporting more seamless integration of networks with IT processes, and for providing higher-value network services.
In this talk, after describing the SDN model and our approach for building SDNs, we will focus on the problem of providing networking services for cloud computing platforms. As more enterprises look to leverage the cost and flexibility advantages of cloud computing, the lack of rich networking support remains a challenge. We will discuss the requirements of enterprise line-of-business applications for additional network functions in the cloud, and describe our research efforts to develop networking services for multi-tenant enterprise clouds using software-defined networking techniques.
Biography: Anees Shaikh is a Research Staff Member and Manager with the IBM TJ Watson Research Center in New York. He currently leads the Systems Networking Research group at Watson, focusing on problems related to data center and cloud networks, and works closely with the IBM Systems Networking development division on SDN and OpenFlow. Anees completed a Ph.D. in Computer Science and Engineering from the University of Michigan.
http://researcher.ibm.com/researcher/view.php?person=us-aashaikh
Host: Minlan Yu & Ethan Katz-Bassett
Location: Waite Phillips Hall Of Education (WPH) - B28
Audiences: Everyone Is Invited
Contact: Assistant to CS chair
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AME - Department Seminar
Wed, Oct 10, 2012 @ 03:30 PM - 04:30 PM
Aerospace and Mechanical Engineering
Conferences, Lectures, & Seminars
Speaker: Jim Pfaendtner, Assistant Professor in the Chemical Engineering Department at the University of Washington
Talk Title: Applications of "Bottom Up" Multiscale Modeling for Polymer Self Assembly and Protein-Surface Binding
Abstract: Computational models such as molecular dynamics (MD) hold great potential for connecting the atomic scale to the mesoscale for a wide range of problems of engineering interest. Unfortunately, severe computational restrictions often limit wide-ranging use of these tools. New multiscale modeling algorithms that are based on MD have been developed that can overcome these challenges, dramatically increasing the computer's viability as a tool for computation-driven discovery. The first part of this talk will highlight how we are using the computer to study the self-assembly of conjugated polymers in solution. The model polymer poly(3-hexylthiophene) has been studied in a variety of solvents. Solvent and temperature-dependent trends are extracted to study the impact of solvation and polymer architecture on intra-chain and inter-chain interactions. The second part of the seminar will investigate how simulations can be used to study thermodynamic driving forces that lead to self-assembly of peptide monolayers on surfaces.
Biography: Jim Pfaendtner holds a B.S. in ChE (GA Tech, 2001) and a PhD in Chemical Engineering (Northwestern University, 2007). He joined the faculty of University of Washington in 2009 as an assistant professor. Prior to joining the UW he received an NSF IRFP postdoctoral fellowship to work under the supervision of Prof's Greg Voth and Michele Parrinello. Jim is the recipient of a 2012 NSF CAREER award and is a 2012 Kavli Fellow of the US National Academy of Science. Jim's research group focuses on development and application of computational tools for multiscale modeling and simulation of soft matter systems.
Host: Professor Hai Wang
More Info: http://ame-www.usc.edu/seminars/10-10-12-pfaendtner.shtml
Location: Seaver Science Library (SSL) - Room 150
Audiences: Everyone Is Invited
Contact: April Mundy
Event Link: http://ame-www.usc.edu/seminars/10-10-12-pfaendtner.shtml
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Nanoscale Surface Engineering by Atomic and Molecular Layer Deposition
Thu, Oct 11, 2012 @ 12:45 PM - 02:00 PM
Mork Family Department of Chemical Engineering and Materials Science
Conferences, Lectures, & Seminars
Speaker: Gregory Parsons, Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering Department, North Carolina State University
Series: Distinguished Lectures Series
Location: James H. Zumberge Hall Of Science (ZHS) - 159
Audiences: Everyone Is Invited
Contact: Ryan Choi
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CS Colloquium: Jun Zhu: Bayesian Inference with Max-margin Posterior Regularization
Thu, Oct 11, 2012 @ 03:30 PM - 05:00 PM
Thomas Lord Department of Computer Science
Conferences, Lectures, & Seminars
Speaker: Jun Zhu, Tsinghua University
Talk Title: Bayesian Inference with Max-margin Posterior Regularization
Series: CS Colloquium
Abstract: Existing Bayesian models, especially nonparametric Bayesian methods, rely heavily on specially conceived priors to incorporate domain knowledge for discovering improved latent representations. While priors can affect posterior distributions through Bayes' theorem, imposing posterior regularization is arguably more direct and in some cases can be more natural and easier. In this talk, I will present regularized Bayesian inference (RegBayes), a computational framework to perform posterior inference with a convex regularization on the desired post-data posterior distributions. When the convex regularization is induced from a linear operator on the posterior distributions, RegBayes can be solved with convex analysis theory. Furthermore, I will present some concrete examples, including MedLDA for learning discriminative topic representations and infinite latent support vector machines for learning discriminative latent features for classification. All these models explore the large-margin idea in combination with a (nonparametric) Bayesian model for discovering predictive latent representations. I will discuss both variational and Monte Carlo methods for approximate inference.
Biography: Dr. Jun Zhu is an associate professor in the Department of Computer Science and Technology at Tsinghua University. His principal research interests lie in the development of statistical machine learning methods for solving scientific and engineering problems arising from artificial and biological learning, reasoning, and decision-making in the high-dimensional and dynamic worlds. Prof. Zhu received his Ph.D. in Computer Science from Tsinghua University, and his advisor was Prof. Bo Zhang. He did post-doctoral research with Prof. Eric P. Xing in the Machine Learning Department at Carnegie Mellon University. His current work involves both the foundations of statistical learning, including theory and algorithms for probabilistic latent variable models, sparse learning in high dimensions, Bayesian nonparametrics, and large-margin learning; and the application of statistical learning in social network analysis, data mining, and multi-media data analysis.
http://www.ml-thu.net/~jun/
Host: Fei Sha
More Info: http://www.cs.usc.edu/calendar/csevents.asp?date=10%2F11%2F2012
Location: Seaver Science Library (SSL) - 150
Audiences: Everyone Is Invited
Contact: Assistant to CS chair
Event Link: http://www.cs.usc.edu/calendar/csevents.asp?date=10%2F11%2F2012
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W.V.T. Rusch Engineering Honors Colloquium
Fri, Oct 12, 2012 @ 01:00 PM - 01:50 PM
USC Viterbi School of Engineering, Viterbi School of Engineering Student Affairs
Conferences, Lectures, & Seminars
Speaker: Bhaskar Krishnamachari, Associate Professor, Ming Hsieh Department of Electrical Engineering, University of Southern California
Talk Title: W.V.T. Rusch Engineering Honors Colloquium
Abstract: Dr. Bhaskar Krishnamachari, Associate Professor in the Ming Hsieh Department of Electrical Engineering at the University of Southern California, will present 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, Oct 12, 2012 @ 03:00 PM - 04:30 PM
Ming Hsieh Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering
Conferences, Lectures, & Seminars
Speaker: Prof. Sorin P. Voinigescu, University of Toronto
Talk Title: In the clouds: Towards 1Tb/s per carrier
Abstract: We all know that power consumption in digital circuits increases linearly with frequency and with the square of the supply voltage. Yet, instead of reducing the supply voltage of circuits to save power we are limiting speed and increasing parallelism. Why is that?
Although computation is more efficient than communication we are choosing parallel architectures to increase the amount of communication on a microprocessor chip.
We are all addicted to wireless mobile devices but wireless communication is 1-2 orders of magnitude more inefficient than wired communication.
We are migrating our data storage to the cloud, worst still, to the mobile cloud, requiring longer and less efficient communication links to store and retrieve our data.
At the current energy consumption rate, neither the datacenters nor the cloud are scalable beyond 1-2 generations.
These problems and potential solutions, at the transistor, circuit and system level, will be touched upon in this talk.
Biography: Prof. Sorin P. Voinigescu received the M.Sc. degree in electronics from the Polytechnic Institute of Bucharest, Romania, in 1984, and the Ph.D. degree in electrical and computer engineering from the University of Toronto, Canada, in 1994.
Between 1994 and 2002 he was first with Nortel Networks and later with Quake Technologies in Ottawa, Canada, where he was responsible for projects in high-frequency characterization and statistical scalable compact model development for Si, SiGe, and III-V devices. He later conducted research on wireless and optical fiber building blocks and transceivers in these technologies. In 2002 he joined the University of Toronto, where he is a full Professor. His research and teaching interests focus on nano-scale semiconductor devices and their application in integrated circuits at frequencies beyond 300 GHz. In 2008-2009 he spent a sabbatical year at Fujitsu Laboratories of America, Sunnyvale, CA, USA.
Dr. Voinigescu is a member of the ITRS RF/AMS Committee and of the TPCs of the IEEE CSICS and BCTM. He received NORTELâs President Award for Innovation in 1996 and is a co-recipient of the Best Paper Award at the 2001 IEEE CICC, the 2005 IEEE CSICS, and of the Beatrice Winner Award at the 2008 IEEE ISSCC. His students have won Student Paper Awards at the 2004 VLSI Circuits Symposium, the 2006 SiRF Meeting, RFIC Symposium and BCTM, and at the 2008 and 2012 International Microwave Symposium.
Dr. Voinigescu was the co-founder and CTO of two start-ups: Quake Technologies, which developed and commercialized the world's first 10-Gb/s SONNET and 10-Gb/s Ethernet transceivers in 2001, and of Peraso Technologies Inc, which has just announced the first antenna-in-package 60-GHz transceiver selling at 5 dollars in quantities of over 100,000. None of those products were in CMOS!
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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Astani CEE Ph.D. Seminar
Fri, Oct 12, 2012 @ 03:00 PM - 05:00 PM
Sonny Astani Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering
Conferences, Lectures, & Seminars
Speaker: Charles DeVore, CE Graduate Student
Talk Title: Experimental Verification of Substructure Identification for Damage Detection
Abstract:
Damage detection for civil structures is limited by several factors including, among others, poor signal to noise ratios, a large number of unknown parameters and a limited set of measured responses. Global structural health monitoring (SHM) techniques that track modal parameters often fail to detect damage because they remain insensitive to common forms of structural damage. Moreover, a high-dimensional search space of identified parameters makes global inverse problems ill-conditioned. To overcome some of these limitations, many researchers have advanced substructure identification as a methodology to directly detect local stiffness changes using the local neighborhood of measured responses, thereby improving damage detection and SHM scalability in civil structures.
Building on substructure identification methods previously developed by Zhang and Johnson (2011), this paper develops a substructure identification estimator that identifies the story stiffness and damping parameters of a four-story shear building. Concurrent with the estimator derivation, identified parameter confidence intervals are developed; identification performance is predicted through a first-order error analysis. Using the proposed estimator, experimental testing is performed on a 12 ft four-story steel structure subject to base excitation. The floors of the structure are steel masses and the columns are bolted threaded rods. While additional threaded rods can be added/removed to change the story stiffness, these tests examined several configurations in which small stiffness changes are induced by loosening floor-level connections. These changes simulate damage and are successfully detected by substructure identification within computed confidence intervals. The substructure identified parameters are compared against global modal measures and found to be more sensitive to damage. Furthermore, the estimator's performance follows predictions from the error analysis and motivates future work with identification assisted by structural control.
Location: John Stauffer Science Lecture Hall (SLH) - 102
Audiences: Everyone Is Invited
Contact: Evangeline Reyes
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Seminar in Biomedical Engineering
Mon, Oct 15, 2012 @ 12:30 PM - 01:50 PM
Alfred E. Mann Department of Biomedical Engineering
Conferences, Lectures, & Seminars
Speaker: Paul Macklin, Ph.D., Assistant Professor of Research Medicine and Co-Director of Consortium for Integrative Computational Oncology (CICO), USC Keck School of Medicine, Center for Applied Molecular Medicince
Talk Title: The Emerging Role of Patient-Calibrated Computational Modeling in Cancer Research: Progress, Challenges, and Opportunities
Abstract: Clinical oncology practice can generate a wide variety of data for patients, spanning molecular profiling, pathology, and radiology, which tend to be used in isolation when planning patient care. There is currently no technique to quantitatively combine these diverse data sources, along with novel in vitro measurements, to improve surgical and therapeutic planning. Similarly, while cancer research generates a staggering wealth of data spanning many scales, these data are generally not integrated into comprehensive models. We are likely missing emergent system-level cancer phenomena and the novel therapeutic targets they represent. In this talk, we will discuss efforts by my lab, the USC Physical Sciences Oncology Center, and the Consortium for Integrative Computational Oncology to solve these issues. With a focus on patient pathology-calibrated breast cancer modeling and multidisciplinary lymphoma modeling, we will discuss the role for computational modeling in cancer research, encouraging results in quantitatively predicting clinical progression, the implications for making and quantitatively testing biological hypotheses, and the role of computational modeling in facilitating a deeper understanding of biology, pathology, and radiology. More information can be found at MathCancer.org.
Biography: web: http://www.MathCancer.org
open source: http://OpenSource.MathCancer.org
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, Oct 16, 2012 @ 01:45 PM - 03:00 PM
Ming Hsieh Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering
Conferences, Lectures, & Seminars
Speaker: Dr. Josh Trzasko, Mayo Clinic
Talk Title: "Sparsity and Beyond: Modern Strategies for MRI Reconstructionâ
Abstract: Following the Compressive Sensing (CS) revolution, sparse regression methods are an increasingly popular tool for magnetic resonance image (MRI reconstruction. In the first half of this talk, I will review the basics of MRI signal modeling and reconstruction, CS theory and the notion of âsparsityâ, discuss clinical challenges of using these methods, and highlight some applications of sparse methods to different problems in MRI. In the second half of this talk, I will focus on our own recent work at Mayo Clinic on generalizations of sparse regression for higher-dimensional MRI problems based on matrix and tensor factorizations, and demonstrate how these techniques can potentially be used for training-free dynamic and calibration-free parallel MRI.
Biography: Joshua Trzasko received a B.S. in Electrical and Computer Engineering at Cornell University in 2003 and a Ph.D. in Biomedical Engineering from Mayo Graduate School in 2009. In 2002, he was an intern in the MRI division at General Electricâs Global Research Center. Dr. Trzasko is currently a Senior Research Fellow in the Center for Advanced Imaging Research at Mayo Clinic, where his research focuses on correction, estimation, and reconstruction problems in MRI, low-dose CT methods, and other biomedical signal processing applications. He is a reviewer for 11 journals, has given several tutorials on sparsity in medical imaging, and is a Junior Fellow of the International Society for Magnetic Resonance in Medicine.
Host: Prof. Krishna Nayak
Location: Hughes Aircraft Electrical Engineering Center (EEB) - 248
Audiences: Everyone Is Invited
Contact: Talyia Veal
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CS Distinguished Lecture Series: Sanjeev Arora: Is Machine Learning Tractable? --- Three Vignettes
Tue, Oct 16, 2012 @ 03:30 PM - 05:00 PM
Thomas Lord Department of Computer Science
Conferences, Lectures, & Seminars
Speaker: Sanjeev Arora, Princeton University
Talk Title: Is Machine Learning Tractable? --- Three Vignettes
Series: CS Distinguished Lectures
Abstract: Many tasks in machine learning (especially unsupervised learning) are provably intractable: NP-hard or worse. Nevertheless, researchers have developed heuristic algorithms to try to solve these tasks in practice. In most cases, these algorithms are heuristics with no provable guarantees on their running time or on the quality of solutions they return. Can we change this state of affairs?
This talk will suggest that the answer is yes, and describe three of our recent works as illustration. (a) A new algorithm for learning topic models. (It applies to Linear Dirichlet Allocations of Blei et al. and also to more general topic models. It provably works under some reasonable assumptions and in practice is up to 50 times faster than existing software like Mallet. It relies upon a new procedure for nonnegative matrix factorization.) (b) What classifiers are worth learning? (Can theory illuminate the contentious question of what binary classifier to learn: SVM, Decision tree, etc.?) (c) Provable ICA with unknown gaussian noise. (An algorithm to provably learn a "manifold" with small number of parameters but exponentially many "interesting regions.")
Biography: Sanjeev Arora is Charles C. Fitzmorris Professor of Computer Science at Princeton University. His research area spans several areas of theoretical Computer Science. He has received the ACM-EATCS Godel Prize (in 2001 and 2010), Packard Fellowship (1997), the ACM Infosys Prize for midcareer scientists (in 2012), the Fulkerson Prize (2012), the Simons Investigator Award (2012).
He served as the founding director for the Center for Computational Intractability at Princeton.
Host: Shaddin Dughmi
Location: Seaver Science Library (SSL) - 150
Audiences: Everyone Is Invited
Contact: Assistant to CS chair
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Viterbi Student Innovation Institute Speaker Series
Wed, Oct 17, 2012 @ 06:00 AM - 08:00 PM
Viterbi School of Engineering Student Affairs
Conferences, Lectures, & Seminars
Speaker: Ashish Soni, Executive Director of Digital Innovation @ USC Viterbi
Talk Title: Found Agreements and Equity Splits
Host: Viterbi Student Innovation Institute (VSI2)
Location: Seeley G. Mudd Building (SGM) - 101
Audiences: Everyone Is Invited
Contact: Jeffrey Teng
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AME - Department Seminar
Wed, Oct 17, 2012 @ 03:30 PM - 04:30 PM
Aerospace and Mechanical Engineering
Conferences, Lectures, & Seminars
Speaker: John K. Eaton, Charles Lee Powell Foundation Professor of Engineering in the Mechanical Engineering Department at Stanford University
Talk Title: Magnetic Resonance Imaging for Measurement of Velocity and Concentration in Complex Turbulent Flows
Abstract: Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI) based flow measurement techniques are enabling a paradigm shift in how we study, evaluate, and design turbulent flows in complex geometries. MR Velocimetry (MRV) measures a complete 3-D mean velocity field and does not require flow tracers or optical access. Resolutions as fine as 0.25 mm have been achieved in measurement volumes as large as 100 X 100 X 250 mm. An entire velocity field comprising millions of individual data points can be measured in a few hours. When combined with computer-aided design and rapid-prototyping of the flow model, a complete mapping of a flowfield from conception to data analysis can be completed in a week. This versatile technique has been used to map the external flow around a coral colony, internal flows in serpentine passages, separated flows in three dimensional diffusers, and the combination of flows found in a full combustor geometry. The detailed 3D measurements allow understanding of vortex structures which dominate many flows, the interplay between separation zones, and analysis of flow splits among parallel paths. A second technique called Magnetic Resonance Concentration (MRC) provides quantitative measurements of the time-averaged 3D concentration field for passive scalar mixing. The combination of measured 3D concentration and velocity fields provides enough detail to yield exceptional understanding of the effects of mean flow transport and turbulent mixing. This has proved particularly effective in the iterative design of film-cooling and other systems where we wish to suppress turbulent mixing. In addition, the combined velocity and concentration data are being used to characterize and improve numerical models for turbulent mixing.
Biography: John K. Eaton is the Charles Lee Powell Foundation Professor of Engineering at Stanford University where he has been on the faculty since 1980. He earned all his degrees at in Mechanical Engineering at Stanford. He conducts research in turbulence, convective heat transfer, advanced measurement techniques, multiphase flow, and flow through random media. Recent emphasis has been on high-fidelity, rapid turnaround experiments in complex flows, measurement and modeling of turbulent mixing, and extreme sensitivity of certain high Reynolds number flows to small perturbations. Much of Professor Eaton's work is motivated and funded by problems in the gas turbine industry. He has supervised 49 completed Ph.D. dissertations including those of 15 professors. He has won both the Tau Beta Pi and Perin Awards for teaching excellence, was an NSF Presidential Young Investigator Awardee, and is a Fellow of the American Society of Mechanical Engineers and the American Physical Society.
Host: Professor Maxworthy
More Info: http://ae-www.usc.edu/seminars/10-17-12-eaton.shtml
Location: Seaver Science Library (SSL) - Room 150
Audiences: Everyone Is Invited
Contact: April Mundy
Event Link: http://ae-www.usc.edu/seminars/10-17-12-eaton.shtml
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CS Colloquium: Frank Dellaert: Subgraph Sparsifiers for Fast and Scalable Mapping and 3D Reconstruction
Thu, Oct 18, 2012 @ 03:30 PM - 05:00 PM
Thomas Lord Department of Computer Science
Conferences, Lectures, & Seminars
Speaker: Frank Dellaert, Georgia Tech
Talk Title: Subgraph Sparsifiers for Fast and Scalable Mapping and 3D Reconstruction
Series: CS Colloquium
Abstract: Simultaneous Localization and Mapping (SLAM) and Structure from Motion (SFM) are important and closely related problems in robotics and vision. I will review how SLAM andSFM can be posed in terms of factor graphs, and that inference in these domains can be understood as variable elimination. After linearization, this corresponds to using direct linear solvers such as Cholesky and QR factorization. However, these methods face considerable challenges when confronted with graphs graphs that contain dense cliques, e.g., when seeing a tall tower from many different viewpoints. I will then show how identifying an efficient sub-problem (subgraph) can yield pre-conditioners for iterative methods to attack truly large-scale problems, and make the connection with support graph theory pioneered, among others, by Dan Spielman and Shang-Hua Teng.
Biography: Frank Dellaert is an Associate Professor in the School of Interactive Computing, College of Computing at Georgia Tech. His research is in the areas of Robotics and Computer vision. He is particularly interested in graphical model techniques to solve large-scale problems in mapping and 3D reconstruction. You can find out about his research and publications at http://www.cc.gatech.edu/~dellaert
Host: Gaurav Sukhatme
Location: Seaver Science Library (SSL) - 150
Audiences: Everyone Is Invited
Contact: Assistant to CS chair
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Integrated Systems Seminar Series
Fri, Oct 19, 2012 @ 12:00 PM - 01:30 PM
Ming Hsieh Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering
Conferences, Lectures, & Seminars
Speaker: Khurram Sheikh, Powerwave Technologies
Talk Title: The Future of Mobile Broadband
Abstract: Internet coverage and capacity demand is off the charts. The mobile industry is growing by leaps and bounds and carriers need to adapt to the influx of users with an insatiable appetite for consuming data. The growth can mainly be attributed to smartphones, and even more so by the rapid adoption of tablets, which have transformed how consumers and businesses leverage their content.
Global mobile data traffic is just about doubling every year, and will continue to do so through at least 2016, according to Cisco's Mobile Visual Networking Index, one of the industry's most comprehensive annual studies. The iPhone, for instance, uses 24 times as much spectrum as feature cell phones, and the iPad uses 122 times as much, according to the FCC. AT&T has seen the wireless data traffic on its network grow 20,000 percent since the iPhone debuted in 2007. This is a big problem that if not addressed, will leave mobile carriers crippled and mobile customers extremely unhappy.
As carriers upgrade to 4G, many donât realize the networks will easily be outstripped by growing demand and that LTE causes signal attenuation, which shrinks the RF signal radius of high-speed LTE base stations by up to 50 percent compared to 2G service. This means more towers are needed to fix the dead zones, driving up the cost of network deployment. There are also cases where overlaying high performance LTE macrocells on 2G networks create dead spots due to a smaller signal radius.
Operators are also faced with the challenge of providing coverage in places they werenât previously required, both indoors and outdoors, including stadiums and buildings. As more mobile users leverage video conferencing, voice calls, email access and video streaming on their smartphones and tablets, this places heavier burden on networks and operators must provide seamless, uninterrupted, highly reliable coverage no matter where consumers are.
Implementing small cell solutions enable carriers to alleviate coverage and capacity issues and provide a cost-effective solution to build out existing network infrastructure to provide targeted 4G coverage in areas of poor reception and high data usage. Most importantly, small cells will meet the needs of current and future data consumption growth based on the rapid adoption of smartphones and tablets.
Khurram will discuss how to solve these current problems carriers are facing with the implementation of small cells, addressing:
⢠Coverage and capacity issues in areas of high data consumption, areas where signals are weak or non-existent. In this case, small cells can facilitate the expansion of LTE coverage and capacity without requiring new macro sites, which are much more costly and complicated to install
⢠Small cells technology allow coverage to be easily deployed in a variety of indoor and outdoor areas harder to reach by previous technology, such as stadiums, shopping centers and metro stations
⢠Small cells provide compatibility for all operatorsâ existing technology, which is currently at different stages of development within each company. Small cells easily incorporate into networks, no matter the stage of development, providing continuous service to all existing customers while in the process of upgrading, allowing for a seamless transition
Biography: Khurram P. Sheikh is presently Chief Technology Officer of Powerwave Technologies. Mr. Sheikh joined the company in August 2007 in his current capacity and is also the Chairman of the Powerwave Technical Advisory Board. In this role he leads the global product/business units for the company as well the global teams for research and development.
Mr. Sheikh was employed by Time Warner Cable from August 2005 through 2007, as Vice President, Wireless Strategy and Development where he was responsible for the cable and media companyâs entry into the wireless space. Between 2000 and 2005, Mr. Sheikh was Chief Technology Advisor for various divisions within Sprint where he led the next generation advanced technology efforts for the company. Mr. Sheikh is widely recognized in the industry for his pioneering efforts in the development of mobile wireless broadband or â4Gâ wireless technology including WiMAX and LTE. Mr. Sheikh received advanced graduate degrees in Electrical Engineering with specialization in Wireless Communications from Stanford University. He also completed an executive development course in Product Development from the Harvard Business School.
Host: Prof. Hossein Hashemi, Prof. Mahta Moghaddam, Prof. Mike Chen
More Info: http://mhi.usc.edu/activities/integrated-systems/
Location: Hedco Pertroleum and Chemical Engineering Building (HED) - 116
Audiences: Everyone Is Invited
Contact: Hossein Hashemi
Event Link: http://mhi.usc.edu/activities/integrated-systems/
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W.V.T. Rusch Engineering Honors Colloquium; The 8 Billion Barrel Wilmington Oil Field, What Have We Produced, What is Left and When Will We Shut Down?
Fri, Oct 19, 2012 @ 01:00 PM - 01:50 PM
Viterbi School of Engineering Student Affairs
Conferences, Lectures, & Seminars
Speaker: Baldev Gill, Technical Reservoir Engineer, Department of Gas & Oil in the City of Long Beach
Talk Title: The 8 Billion Barrel Wilmington Oil Field, What Have We Produced, What is Left and When Will We Shut Down?
Abstract: Baldev Gill, Technical Reservoir Engineer at the Department of Gas & Oil in the city of Long Beach, will present "The 8 Billion Barrel Wilmington Oil Field, What Have We Produced, What is Left and When Will We Shut Down?" as part of the W.V.T. Rusch Engineering Honors Colloquium.
Host: W.V.T. Rusch Honors Colloquium
More Info: http://viterbi.usc.edu/students/undergrad/honors/schedules/
Location: Seeley G. Mudd Building (SGM) - 101
Audiences: Everyone Is Invited
Contact: Jeffrey Teng
Event Link: http://viterbi.usc.edu/students/undergrad/honors/schedules/
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Astani CEE Department Ph.D. Seminar
Fri, Oct 19, 2012 @ 03:00 PM - 05:00 PM
Sonny Astani Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering
Conferences, Lectures, & Seminars
Speaker: Dr. David Dzombak, Walter J. Blenko, Sr. University Professor, Civil and Environmental Engineering , Carnegie Mellon University
Talk Title: The Need and Challenge of Alternative Water Sources for Use in Electric Power Production
Abstract: Thermoelectric power generation accounts for as much freshwater withdrawal as agricultural irrigation in the U.S., with both at about 40% of total. Meeting the future cooling water demands for electric power production will be difficult in locations with limited freshwater resources, and is already prompting interest in the use of waters of impaired quality, such as treated wastewater, mine drainage and industrial process wastewater, as alternative sources. This talk will provide an overview of the water-energy challenge facing the U.S. and will examine the need for and challenges of using alternatives to freshwater for power plant cooling.
Host: Prof. Lucio Soibelman
Location: John Stauffer Science Lecture Hall (SLH) - 102
Audiences: Everyone Is Invited
Contact: Evangeline Reyes
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USC Consortium for Integrative Computational Oncology Seminar
Mon, Oct 22, 2012 @ 11:00 AM - 12:00 PM
Aerospace and Mechanical Engineering
Conferences, Lectures, & Seminars
Speaker: Prof. James A. Glazer, Biocomplexity Institute and Physics, Indiana University
Talk Title: Applying multi-scale, multi-cell modeling of pathological neovascularization in the retina and solid tumors to suggest novel treatment strategies
Abstract: The construction, maintenance and disruption of tissues emerge from the interactions of cells with each other, the extracellular microenvironment that the cells create and their external boundary conditions. Our ability to make biomedically meaningful predictions at the organ or organism level is limited because of the difficulty of predicting the emergent properties of large ensembles of cells. A middle-out approach to model building starting from cell behaviors and combining subcellular molecular reaction kinetics models, the physical and mechanical behaviors of cells and the longer range effects of the extracellular environment, allows us to address such emergence. I will discuss CompuCell3D as a multi-scale, multi-cell modeling platform to study such emergent phenomena and to connect them to their physiological outcomes. I will illustrate two projects using CompuCell3D, the development and of blood vessels and its effect on the growth of a generic model solid tumor and Choroidal Neovascularization (CNV) in Age-Related Macular Degeneration (the most common cause of blindness among the elderly). The AMD simulations suggest novel drug targets for improved therapeutic outcomes. Time permitting, I will also briefly discuss our proof-of-concept simulations of somatic evolution in solid tumor.
Biography: Dr. Glazier received his B.A. in Physics and Mathematics from Harvard University and his M.S. and Ph.D. in Physics from the University of Chicago. His research focuses on experimental and computational approaches to pattern formation in embryology. He has held faculty appointments at the University of Notre Dame and Indiana University, Bloomington, where he is founding director of the Biocomplexity Institute, Professor of Physics and Adjunct Professor of Informatics and Biology.
Host: Profs. Paul Newton and Paul Macklin
More Information: Glazier - Oct 22, 2012.pdf
Location: Hedco Neurosciences Building (HNB) - 100
Audiences: Everyone Is Invited
Contact: Paul Newton
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Seminar in Biomedical Engineering
Mon, Oct 22, 2012 @ 12:30 PM - 01:50 PM
Alfred E. Mann Department of Biomedical Engineering
Conferences, Lectures, & Seminars
Speaker: Radha Kalluri, House Ear Institute
Talk Title: TBA
Host: BME
Location: Olin Hall of Engineering (OHE) - 122
Audiences: Everyone Is Invited
Contact: Mischalgrace Diasanta
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Six Sigma Green Belt for Process Improvement
Tue, Oct 23, 2012 @ 09:00 AM - 05:00 PM
Executive Education
Conferences, Lectures, & Seminars
Speaker: Larry Aft, USC Viterbi School of Engineering,
Talk Title: Six Sigma Green Belt for Process Improvement
Abstract: Learn how to integrate principles of business, statistics and engineering to achieve tangible results. Master the use of Six Sigma to quantify the critical quality issues in your company. Once the issues have been quantified, statistics can be applied to provide probabilities of success and failure. Six Sigma methods increase productivity and enhance quality. As a Six Sigma green belt, you will be equipped to support and champion a Six Sigma implementation in your organization. To earn the Six Sigma Green Belt Certificate, you will be required to pass the Institute of Industrial Engineer's green belt exam (administered on the final day of the course).
During this course you will have the opportunity to apply what you have learned to an actual issue you face in your organization. Prior seminar participants have reported significant savings from implementing their projects.
*A financial services organization saw $128,000 in cost savings per quarter when they reduced transaction processing rework
*A state agency reduced project cost over-runs by 28 percent
*A transportation company saved more than $875,000 per year in turnover costs by improving the employee communications process
*Reduced errors in a painting operation led to increased first pass acceptance and more than $197,000 in annual savings
*A Web developer increased annual profits by 10 percent by cutting cycle time
*A wave solder operation saw defects reduced by half and costs reduced by $60,000 per year
Host: Corporate and Professional Programs
More Info: http://gapp.usc.edu/professional-programs/short-courses/industrial%26systems/six-sigma-green-belt-process-improvement
Audiences: Registered Attendees
Contact: Viterbi Professional Programs
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Astani CEE Oral Dissertation Defense
Tue, Oct 23, 2012 @ 02:00 PM - 04:00 PM
Sonny Astani Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering
Conferences, Lectures, & Seminars
Speaker: Roshanak Varjavand, CE Ph.D. Candidate
Talk Title: Numerical Simulation of Seismic Site Amplification Effects
Abstract:
The concept of substructure deletion proposed for the analysis of a rigid foundation was adapted for the analysis of site amplification effects in alluvial valleys. A major modification was made for the present application such that the boundary integration equation method was used for both the finite size interior problem and semi-infinite exterior wave radiation problem. The modification was made to reduce the possible incompatibility between the finite element method, a volume formulation, and the boundary integral equation method, a surface formulation. The substructure deletion concept allows simple, century-old, basic Green's Functions to be used to produce excellent wave scattering results for topographical irregularities as well arbitrarily shaped alluvial valleys overlying stiffer bedrock. The concept is applicable to three-dimensional geometries as well as two-dimensional problems. Results are given for incident SH, P, SV and Rayleigh waves.
Advisor: Professor Hung Leung Wong
Location: Kaprielian Hall (KAP) - 209
Audiences: Everyone Is Invited
Contact: Evangeline Reyes
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Epstein Institute Seminar Series / ISE 651 Seminar
Tue, Oct 23, 2012 @ 03:30 PM - 05:00 PM
Daniel J. Epstein Department of Industrial and Systems Engineering
Conferences, Lectures, & Seminars
Speaker: David W. Rosen, Professor and Associate Chair for Administration, The George W. Woodruff School of Mechanical Engineering, Georgia Institute of Technology
Talk Title: "Controlling Localized Photopolymerization: Research in Stereolithography Manufacturing Processes"
Series: Epstein Institute Seminar Series
Abstract: Stereolithography (SL) is a type of additive manufacturing process that fabricates parts layer-by-layer in an additive manner. In conventional SL, a laser scans across the top of a vat of liquid photopolymer to form part cross-sections; the photopolymer polymerizes and solidifies when the laser energy received exceeds a threshold value. In this talk, I will introduce my research program in SL and SL-like processes. Research issues will be highlighted and results presented that demonstrate some unique capabilities enabled by novel UV energy delivery methods. New SL process models of these energy delivery methods form the basis for the âinverse designâ based process planning methods that my group has developed. Smooth surfaces that avoid the âstair steppingâ typical of layer-based additive manufacturing has been achieved. SL can be reconfigured to a mask-projection process; some unique aspects of mask-projection configurations will be highlighted. Again, new simulation models, of mask-projection SL, enable novel process planning methods. A new real-time sensing and control technology has been demonstrated to significantly improve accuracy and repeatability. Examples of micro-optics devices (e.g., microlens arrays) illustrate research results.
Biography: David Rosen is a Professor and Associate Chair for Administration in the School of Mechanical Engineering at the Georgia Institute of Technology. He is Director of the Rapid Prototyping & Manufacturing Institute at Georgia Tech. He received his Ph.D. at the University of Massachusetts in 1992 and his Masters and Bachelors degrees from the University of Minnesota in 1987 and 1985, respectively, all in mechanical engineering. His research interests include computer-aided design, additive manufacturing, and design methodology. During his graduate school years, he was a software engineer at Computervision Corp. and a Visiting Research Scientist at Ford Research Laboratories. He is a Fellow of ASME, recently served on the ASME Computers and Information in Engineering Division Executive Committee, and received the 2012 ASME CIE Division Excellence in Research award.
Host: Daniel J. Epstein Department of Industrial and Systems Engineering
More Information: Seminar-Rosen.doc
Location: Ethel Percy Andrus Gerontology Center (GER) - Room 309
Audiences: Everyone Is Invited
Contact: Georgia Lum
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Modeling HIV adaptation: Insights into HIV virology, immunology and vaccine design from machine learning and computational biology
Tue, Oct 23, 2012 @ 03:30 PM - 05:00 PM
Thomas Lord Department of Computer Science
Conferences, Lectures, & Seminars
Speaker: Jonathan Carlson, Microsoft Research
Talk Title: Modeling HIV adaptation: Insights into HIV virology, immunology and vaccine design from machine learning and computational biology
Series: CS Colloquium
Abstract: The human immunodeficiency virus (HIV-1) mutates at a startling rate, with millions of viral variants generated in each patient each day. This high rate of mutation, coupled with high mutational tolerance, provides the virus with the ability to rapidly adapt to changing environments and typically proves an insurmountable challenge to the human immune system. Viral mutation is not, however, without constraints: given large enough datasets, patterns begin to emerge. By studying these patterns, we have gained significant new insights into what is attacking the virus (immunology), what is being attacked (virology), how that attack is evaded (evolution), and how adaptation influences disease progression (pathology). In addition, we have begun to identify features of individuals who naturally control the virus, offering tantalizing hints at how an effective vaccine might work. In this talk, I will describe the statistical models we have developed for studying HIV adaptation, the insights these models have provided and the open questions we continue to pursue.
Biography: Jonathan Carlson, Ph.D., joined the Escience Group at Microsoft Research in 2008, where he studies viral evolution, immunology and vaccine design through statistical modeling. His models of viral escape have achieved broad recognition in the HIV community, where they have led to the discovery of novel viral-host interactions, insights into mechanisms of natural immune control, and the identification of vaccine candidates that are slated for clinical trials. He has authored over 50 papers in the field and has served on advisory panels and committees for the Institutes of Medicine, the Gates Foundation and the Center for HIV/AIDS Vaccine Immunology (CHAVI). In 2009, he received his Ph.D. in computer science and computational molecular biology from the University of Washington, where he studied under David Heckerman (Microsoft Research) and Larry Ruzzo (UW) and was given the universityâs Distinguished Dissertation Award. He received his B.A. in Biology and Computer Science from Dartmouth in 2003, where he studied bioinformatics and transcriptional regulation under Bob Gross.
Host: Ethan Katz-Bassett
Location: Seaver Science Library (SSL) - 150
Audiences: Everyone Is Invited
Contact: Assistant to CS chair
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Engineering at the Nanoscale: Opportunities and Challenges
Tue, Oct 23, 2012 @ 04:00 PM - 06:00 PM
Mork Family Department of Chemical Engineering and Materials Science
Conferences, Lectures, & Seminars
Speaker: Pulickel M. Ajayan , Rice University
Talk Title: Engineering at the Nanoscale: Opportunities and Challenges
Series: William Spitzer Lecture
Abstract: This talk will focus on opportunities and challenges in building nanostructured materials from nanoscale building blocks. Several nanostructures, with specific emphasis on carbon based nanostructures, will be used to demonstrate the perspective in nanoscale engineering and nanomaterials development. The last couple of decades have seen advances in nanotechnology with promises in many areas of science and technology. Several exciting developments in recent years allow us to formulate strategies to develop the next generation of nanostructured mateirals in controllable and scalable ways. The talk will focus on various aspects of this approach such as synthesis, assembly, nanoscale junctions and interfaces, and nanomanufacturing.
Biography: Professor Ajayan earned his B.Tech in metallurgical engineering from Banaras Hindu University in 1985 and Ph.D in materials science and engineering from Northwestern University in 1989. After three years of post-doctoral experience at NEC Corporation in Japan he spent two years as a research scientist at the Laboratoire de Physique des Solides, Orsay in France and nearly a year and a half as an Alexander von Humboldt fellow at the Max-Planck-Institut fur Metallforschung, Stuttgart in Germany. In 1997, he joined the materials science and engineering faculty at Rensselaer as an Assistant Professor and was the Henri Burlage chair Professor in Engineering until 2007. He joined the mechanical engineering and materials science department of Rice University, as the Benjamin M. and Mary Greenwood Anderson Professor in Engineering from July 2007. Professor Ajayan's research interests include synthesis and structure-property relations of nanostructures and materials science and applications of nanomaterials. He is one of the pioneers in nanotechnology and specifically in the field of carbon nanutubes he was involved in the early work on the topic with the NEC group. He has published one book and more than 400 journal papers, many in high impact journals, with more than 30,000 citations and an h-index of 88. He has several patents and inventions to his credit. He has given more than 300 invited talks including several keynote and plenary lectures in more than 20 countries. He is a world leader in the field of nanomaterials and their applications. Ajayan has received several awards including the Senior Humboldt Prize, 2006 MRS Medal, AAAS Fellow, Scientific American 50 recognition in 2006, RPI senior research award (2003), the Burton award from the microscopic society of America (1997) and the Hadfield medal for the outstanding metallurgist in India (1985). He also holds two Guinness world records, one for creating the smallest brush and the other for creating the darkest material. He is on the advisory editorial board of several materials science and nanotechnology journals and on the boards of several nanotech companies.
More Info: http://chems.usc.edu/academics/12-13/wspitzer2012.htm
Location: Henry Salvatori Computer Science Center (SAL) - 101
Audiences: Everyone Is Invited
Contact: Ryan Choi
Event Link: http://chems.usc.edu/academics/12-13/wspitzer2012.htm
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Six Sigma Green Belt for Process Improvement
Wed, Oct 24, 2012 @ 09:00 AM - 05:00 PM
Executive Education
Conferences, Lectures, & Seminars
Speaker: Larry Aft, USC Viterbi School of Engineering,
Talk Title: Six Sigma Green Belt for Process Improvement
Abstract: Learn how to integrate principles of business, statistics and engineering to achieve tangible results. Master the use of Six Sigma to quantify the critical quality issues in your company. Once the issues have been quantified, statistics can be applied to provide probabilities of success and failure. Six Sigma methods increase productivity and enhance quality. As a Six Sigma green belt, you will be equipped to support and champion a Six Sigma implementation in your organization. To earn the Six Sigma Green Belt Certificate, you will be required to pass the Institute of Industrial Engineer's green belt exam (administered on the final day of the course).
During this course you will have the opportunity to apply what you have learned to an actual issue you face in your organization. Prior seminar participants have reported significant savings from implementing their projects.
*A financial services organization saw $128,000 in cost savings per quarter when they reduced transaction processing rework
*A state agency reduced project cost over-runs by 28 percent
*A transportation company saved more than $875,000 per year in turnover costs by improving the employee communications process
*Reduced errors in a painting operation led to increased first pass acceptance and more than $197,000 in annual savings
*A Web developer increased annual profits by 10 percent by cutting cycle time
*A wave solder operation saw defects reduced by half and costs reduced by $60,000 per year
Host: Corporate and Professional Programs
More Info: http://gapp.usc.edu/professional-programs/short-courses/industrial%26systems/six-sigma-green-belt-process-improvement
Audiences: Registered Attendees
Contact: Viterbi Professional Programs
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Astani CEE Oral Dissertation Defense
Wed, Oct 24, 2012 @ 11:00 AM - 01:00 PM
Sonny Astani Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering
Conferences, Lectures, & Seminars
Speaker: Hyoung-Jin Kim, Ph.D. Civil Engineering Candidate
Talk Title: Numerical and Experimental Study on Dynamics of Unsteady Pipe Flow Involving Backflow Prevention Assembly
Abstract:
When control valves at the end of pipeline close simultaneously, two pressure waves are generated at each end and propagating toward to the other end. Those waves continue to go back and forth along pipelines until they are damped out to next steady states. This study provides information on the computer simulation of a rapid transient event called water hammer. The energy loss term due to friction in the unsteady model consists of quasi-steady contribution and unsteady contribution. For the present model, an equivalent friction coefficient is used to replace the quasi-steady friction coefficient, inclusive minor energy loss factors. The unsteady component has been related to the combination of the instant acceleration and instant convective acceleration. The numerical results of the present model are compared with the experimental records. The computer results based on the unsteady friction 1D model was successful to follow general trends of water hammer phenomena, corresponding with sudden changes in flow. This study later extends to the dynamic characteristics of backflow prevention assemblies under rapid transient condition. A numerical program for rapid transient pipe flow interconnected with a backflow prevention assembly has been developed using a coupling model and numerically solved by the method of characteristics.
Advisor: Professor Jiin Jen Lee
Location: Kaprielian Hall (KAP) - 335
Audiences: Everyone Is Invited
Contact: Evangeline Reyes
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Softly Defined Networking
Wed, Oct 24, 2012 @ 03:30 PM - 04:30 PM
Ming Hsieh Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering
Conferences, Lectures, & Seminars
Speaker: Dr. Gordon Brebner, Distinguished Engineer, Xilinx Labs
Talk Title: Softly Defined Networking
Abstract: Software Defined Networking (SDN) has been described as the hope and hype for the future of networking. Definitions vary, but one research direction is to separate the control plane from the data plane, introducing abstractions that can provide a global network view, a description of required behavior, and a model of packet forwarding. While the worthy goal is to address ossification of the Internet, the âSâ for âsoftwareâ in SDN perhaps unintentionally ossifies views of the respective roles of hardware and software. Specifically, it introduces an inbuilt assumption that there is relatively dumb switching hardware for high-Â‐speed packet forwarding, and relatively intelligent software running on processors for lesser-Â‐speed networking control. Programmable logic technology offers scope for âsoft hardwareâ, with the potential to blur the distinctions between traditional roles. However, such technology must prove both its ability to deliver the necessary high performance and its ability to be programmed in a high-Â‐level manner. In this talk, I will overview research that has been addressing these issues successfully, and will discuss its potential impact on the evolving view of SDN.
Biography: Dr. Gordon Brebner is a Distinguished Engineer at Xilinx, Inc., the worldwide leader in programmable logic platforms. He works in Xilinx Labs in San José, California, USA, leading an international group researching issues surrounding networked processing systems of the future. His main personal research interests concern dynamically reconfigurable architectures, domain-Â‐specific languages with highly concurrent implementations, and high performance networking and telecommunications, with also a historical interest in computational complexity. He has authored numerous papers and the book Computers in Communication, and holds many patents. Prior to joining Xilinx in 2002, Gordon was the Professor of Computer Systems at the University of Edinburgh in the United Kingdom.
Host: Professor Viktor K. Prasanna
Location: Hughes Aircraft Electrical Engineering Center (EEB) - 248
Audiences: Everyone Is Invited
Contact: Janice Thompson
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AME - Department Seminar
Wed, Oct 24, 2012 @ 03:30 PM - 04:30 PM
Aerospace and Mechanical Engineering
Conferences, Lectures, & Seminars
Speaker: Arun Shukla , Simon Ostrach, Professor in the Department of Mechanical, Industrial and Systems Engineering at the University of Rhode Island
Talk Title: Dynamic Response of Sandwich Composites Subjected to Shock Loading
Abstract: This lecture will present studies on the response of novel engineering layered materials to extreme dynamic loadings. In particular, the talk will focus on the behavior of sandwich composite materials to shock loading. A shock tube facility was utilized to apply blast loadings to simply supported plates of sandwich composite materials. Pressure sensors were mounted at the end of the muzzle section of the shock tube to measure the incident and the reflected pressure profiles during the experiment. This data was used to evaluate the energy transferred and the impulse imparted to the sandwich structure. Three high speed digital cameras along with 3D digital image correlation technique were utilized to capture real time deformation of sandwich composites, as well as the development and progression of damage in them. Based on physical observations better sandwich panels were designed for blast mitigation.
Biography: Arun Shukla obtained a Bachelor of Technology degree from the Indian Institute of Technology (IIT), Kanpur and his Master of Science and Doctorate degrees from the University of Maryland, all in Mechanical Engineering. He joined the University of Rhode Island in 1981 as a faculty member and currently serves as the Simon Ostrach Professor in the Department of Mechanical, Industrial and Systems Engineering. He has also served as the Clark. B Millikan Visiting Professor at the California Institute of Technology, Visiting Professors at the Indian Institute of Technology and Texas A&M Universities and as Design Engineer at Voltas Limited.
He is a Fellow of the Society for Experimental Mechanics, American Academy of Mechanics and American Society for Mechanical Engineers. He was elected to the European Academy of Sciences and Arts in 2011. He has received the Frocht, Lazan, Taylor and Tatnall Awards and Murray Medal from the Society for Experimental Mechanics. At the University of Rhode Island, he is a recipient of the Simon Ostrach First Endowed Professorship Award, the Vincent and Estelle Murphy Faculty Excellence Award, Distinguished Engineering Professor Award, the University's Scholarly Excellence Award, the Albert E Carlotti Faculty Excellence Award and the University's Outstanding Research Achievement Award. He received the Distinguished Alumnus Award from IIT, Kanpur in 2009.
In 2003, he served as the President of the Society for Experimental Mechanics. He has served as the Technical Editor of the journal Experimental Mechanics. He has also served the National Research Council, on the United States National Committee on Theoretical and Applied Mechanics. Along with his many graduate students and post docs, Professor Shukla has published more than 300 papers in refereed journals and proceedings. He has also co-authored and edited 5 books, and has delivered numerous plenary and keynote lectures.
Host: Professor Eliasson
More Info: http://ae-www.usc.edu/seminars/10-24-12-shukla.shtml
Location: Seaver Science Library (SSL) - Room 150
Audiences: Everyone Is Invited
Contact: April Mundy
Event Link: http://ae-www.usc.edu/seminars/10-24-12-shukla.shtml
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Six Sigma Green Belt for Process Improvement
Thu, Oct 25, 2012 @ 09:00 AM - 05:00 PM
Executive Education
Conferences, Lectures, & Seminars
Speaker: Larry Aft, USC Viterbi School of Engineering,
Talk Title: Six Sigma Green Belt for Process Improvement
Abstract: Learn how to integrate principles of business, statistics and engineering to achieve tangible results. Master the use of Six Sigma to quantify the critical quality issues in your company. Once the issues have been quantified, statistics can be applied to provide probabilities of success and failure. Six Sigma methods increase productivity and enhance quality. As a Six Sigma green belt, you will be equipped to support and champion a Six Sigma implementation in your organization. To earn the Six Sigma Green Belt Certificate, you will be required to pass the Institute of Industrial Engineer's green belt exam (administered on the final day of the course).
During this course you will have the opportunity to apply what you have learned to an actual issue you face in your organization. Prior seminar participants have reported significant savings from implementing their projects.
*A financial services organization saw $128,000 in cost savings per quarter when they reduced transaction processing rework
*A state agency reduced project cost over-runs by 28 percent
*A transportation company saved more than $875,000 per year in turnover costs by improving the employee communications process
*Reduced errors in a painting operation led to increased first pass acceptance and more than $197,000 in annual savings
*A Web developer increased annual profits by 10 percent by cutting cycle time
*A wave solder operation saw defects reduced by half and costs reduced by $60,000 per year
Host: Corporate and Professional Programs
More Info: http://gapp.usc.edu/professional-programs/short-courses/industrial%26systems/six-sigma-green-belt-process-improvement
Audiences: Registered Attendees
Contact: Viterbi Professional Programs
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Shale gas, carbon storage, and earthquake triggering
Thu, Oct 25, 2012 @ 12:45 PM - 02:00 PM
Mork Family Department of Chemical Engineering and Materials Science
Conferences, Lectures, & Seminars
Speaker: Mark Zoback, Department of Geophysics, Stanford University
Series: Lyman L. Handy Colloquium Series
Location: James H. Zumberge Hall Of Science (ZHS) - 159
Audiences: Everyone Is Invited
Contact: Angeline Fugelso
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Online Optimization under Uncertainty: Intelligence in the smart grid and a connection to Model Predictive Control
Thu, Oct 25, 2012 @ 02:00 PM - 03:00 PM
Ming Hsieh Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering
Conferences, Lectures, & Seminars
Speaker: Murali Narayanaswamy, IBM Research, India
Talk Title: Online Optimization under Uncertainty: Intelligence in the smart grid and a connection to Model Predictive Control
Abstract: Incorporating large quantities of intermittent renewable power into the grid highlights the need for intelligent scheduling of generation, loads and storage. Recent advances in solar and wind power prediction offer hope that a reduction in the uncertainty of renewable availability will lead to an increase in its value. However, incorporating these predictions effectively turns out to be a non-trivial problem.
In this talk we show how to model these (and many other) problems as a Markov Decision Process with short term predictions of (or lookahead into) future rewards. In each time step more information is revealed to the algorithm as predictions are updated, leading to what we call dynamic uncertainty. We first show that the natural Model Predictive Control (MPC) based algorithm for this class of problems can perform arbitrarily badly because of _temporal_ uncertainty. We then describe online algorithms, both randomized and deterministic, to handle time varying uncertainty in future reward structures and values. We establish that, in the deterministic case, discounting future rewards is a method to effectively de-randomize against possible futures, thus providing a theoretical justification for discounting in MPC. Time permitting we will also talk about recent work on multi-agent models for power systems and highlight important problems that require increased intelligence in the smart grid.
This talk will be accessible to a wide audience since we will give examples and intuition in lieu of detailed proofs. It may be of particular interest to those interested in AI, control theory, machine learning and smarter energy systems.
Biography: Balakrishnan Narayanaswamy received his PhD from the department of Electrical and Computer Engineering (ECE) at Carnegie Mellon University in 2011, after which he joined the IBM Research Lab in Bangalore, India. His research interests lie at the intersection of AI, optimization, learning and inference particularly using them to understand, model and combat noise and uncertainty in real world applications.
His current research centers on the application of novel, theoretically well motivated optimization algorithms to resource allocation problems that arise in next generation smarter energy management systems. His thesis research at Carnegie Mellon was in the application of information and coding theory, detection, probability theory and inference algorithms to a variety of sensing systems such as sensor networks, mobile robots, biological screening and drug discovery. During his graduate studies he also worked on problems ranging from target tracking, iris recognition, speaker recognition, multi-source separation to codes for next generation memory systems.
A system partly based on some of his work scored near the top of the DARPA iris grand challenge. He is a proud recipient of the National Talent Search (NTSE) and the Jawaharlal Nehru (JNCASR) scholarships from the government of India during my undergraduate studies. He is currently on the TPC of the Energy in Communication, Information and Cyber-Physical Systems (E6) workshop at COMSNETS 2013.
Host: Professor Raghu Raghavendra
Location: Hughes Aircraft Electrical Engineering Center (EEB) - 248
Audiences: Everyone Is Invited
Contact: Janice Thompson
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CS Theory Lecture Series: Computing Divisor Class Groups of Function Fields Using Stark Units with Applications to Cryptography
Thu, Oct 25, 2012 @ 03:30 PM - 05:00 PM
Thomas Lord Department of Computer Science
Conferences, Lectures, & Seminars
Speaker: Anand Narayanan, USC
Talk Title: Computing Divisor Class Groups of Function Fields Using Stark Units with Applications to Cryptography
Series: USC CS Theory
Abstract: Divisor class groups are structures central to the study of the arithmetic of global fields. We present a brief introduction to these groups and motivate their study in a computational setting by describing their extensive use in cryptography (elliptic and hyperelliptic curve based crypto-systems), error correction (algebraic geometric codes) and in solving certain Diophantine equations (Pell's Equation).
We then describe a new characterization of the structure of divisor class groups through the machinery of Kolyvagin systems from Stark units. This characterization leads to many interesting computational results; two of which we will discuss. The first is an efficient (nearly optimal) algorithm to compute the divisor class number of ray class fields. The second is a reduction relating the discrete logarithm problem in certain families of real elliptic/hyperelliptic curves to the principal ideal problem.
Host: Shang-Hua Teng
Location: SSL 150
Audiences: Everyone Is Invited
Contact: Assistant to CS chair
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Adaptive Sensing and Estimation of Sparse Signals
Fri, Oct 26, 2012 @ 10:00 AM - 11:00 PM
Ming Hsieh Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering
Conferences, Lectures, & Seminars
Speaker: Dr. Dennis Wei, University of Michigan
Talk Title: Adaptive Sensing and Estimation of Sparse Signals
Abstract: Adaptive sensing and inference have been gaining interest in recent years in signal processing and related fields. In this talk, I discuss the sequential adaptive estimation of sparse signals under a constraint on total sensing resources. The advantage of adaptivity in this context is the ability to focus more resources on regions of space where signal components exist, thereby improving the signal-to-noise ratio. A dynamic programming formulation is derived for the allocation of sensing effort to minimize the expected estimation loss. Based on the method of open-loop feedback control, allocation policies are then developed for a variety of loss functions. The policies are optimal in the two-stage case and improve monotonically thereafter with the number of stages. Numerical simulations show gains up to several dB as compared to recently proposed adaptive methods, and dramatic gains approaching the oracle limit compared to non-adaptive estimation. An application to radar imaging is also presented.
Biography: Dennis Wei received S.B. degrees in electrical engineering and in physics in 2006, the M.Eng. degree in electrical engineering in 2007, and the Ph.D. degree in electrical engineering in 2011, all from MIT. He is currently a post-doctoral researcher in the Department of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science at the University of Michigan. His research interests lie broadly in signal processing, optimization, and statistical inference and learning. Areas of focus include adaptive sensing and processing, applications of optimization, and the design of sparse discrete-time filters. Dr. Wei was a recipient of the William Asbjornsen Albert Memorial Fellowship at MIT and a Siebel Scholar.
Host: Urbashi Mitra, x0-4667, ubli@usc.edu
Location: Hughes Aircraft Electrical Engineering Center (EEB) - 248
Audiences: Everyone Is Invited
Contact: Gerrielyn Ramos
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W.V.T. Rusch Engineering Honors Colloquium; Quantum Computers and Decoherence: Exorcising the Demon from the Machine
Fri, Oct 26, 2012 @ 01:00 PM - 01:50 PM
Viterbi School of Engineering Student Affairs
Conferences, Lectures, & Seminars
Speaker: Professor Daniel Lidar, Ming Hsieh Department of Electrical Engineering
Talk Title: Quantum Computers and Decoherence: Exorcising the Demon from the Machine
Abstract: Professor Daniel Lidar of the Ming Hsieh Department of Electrical Engineering will be presenting "Quantum Computers and Decoherence: Exorcising the Demon from the Machine" as part of the W.V.T. Rusch Engineering Honors Colloquium.
Host: W.V.T. Rusch Honors Colloquium
More Info: http://viterbi.usc.edu/students/undergrad/honors/schedules/
Location: Seeley G. Mudd Building (SGM) - 101
Audiences: Everyone Is Invited
Contact: Jeffrey Teng
Event Link: http://viterbi.usc.edu/students/undergrad/honors/schedules/
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Astani CEE Ph.D. Seminar
Fri, Oct 26, 2012 @ 03:00 PM - 05:00 PM
Sonny Astani Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering
Conferences, Lectures, & Seminars
Speaker: Ryan Thatcher, ENE Ph.d. Candidate
Talk Title: Integrated Electrokinetic and Microbial Fuel Cell Technologies for Enhanced Transport and Bioremediation of Hexavalent Chromium in Groundwater
Abstract:
Groundwater contamination threatens potable water supplies around the world, and this fact has encouraged the progression of novel research for groundwater treatment. Hexavalent chromium (CrVI) is an EPA priority contaminant due to its high toxicity, and its prevalence in groundwater around the world as a result of improper disposal practices from a variety of industries. CrVI is highly mobile in water systems due to its solubility, making treatment by conventional methods difficult and costly.
Electrokinetic remediation is a technique that can be used for transporting ionic contaminants, including CrVI (as HCrO4-) by the application of an electric potential across a contaminated aquifer. Electrokinetic remediation is often limited by a pH change due to electrolysis reactions. These reactions create OH- at the cathode and H+ at the anode, which migrate towards the opposite electrodes by electrokinetic phenomena. At the point of intersection of these fronts a significant drop in electrical conductivity occurs, causing transport to slow or stop completely. Additionally, the dynamic pH change affects precipitation and dissolution reactions, which govern the solution chemistry and availability of the contaminant for transport. Many enhancement techniques have been investigated to mitigate this problem, however they can add significant economic and environmental cost.
This study investigates the potential to enhance electrokinetic transport of CrVI in groundwater while also promoting its reduction to CrIII by integrating an electrokinetic system with microbial fuel cell (MFC) technology. Recent studies have shown MFCs to be effective in CrVI reduction, as CrVI can act as an electron acceptor when introduced to the MFC cathode compartment. This reaction is catalyzed by the presence of biofilm on the cathode, which facilitates a complex electron transport system from the cathode to CrVI in solution. In this context, Shewanella putrefaciens MR-1 bacteria have been documented to be effective biocatalysts for this application, and different carbon sources including lactate, acetate, formate, and pyruvate have demonstrated to be effective electron donors in the anode compartment.
In this study, the integration of these technologies is evaluated using a soil column under an applied electric potential, and an MFC with anode and cathode reservoirs with a 300 mL capacity. The electric potential applied across the soil column is varied in different experiments from 0.5 â 2.0 V/cm in an effort to optimize transport by counteracting the advective pull of CrVI towards the cathode by water flow. The soil column is operated with a continuous flow of simulated groundwater spiked with CrVI at a rate comparable to that of groundwater in sandy soils. The flow direction is from the anode towards the cathode, while CrVI is transported by electrokinetic phenomena in the opposite direction. During operation, the soil column effluent adjacent to the anode reservoir is pumped out into the cathode of the MFC. Recirculating solution to and from this location in the column will mitigate the dramatic drop in pH, which occurs in the absence of enhancement strategies from H+ generation at the anode. Effluent from the cathode reservoir of the soil column is sampled and analyzed for CrVI by ion-exchange chromatography to determine the extent of treatment.
The optimization of the electrokinetic and MFC integration will be discussed in this presentation. Key points of discussion will be CrVI reduction rates and mechanisms at the biocathode, cathode effluent CrVI concentrations, effects of solution circulation to enhance CrVI transport, and energy production by the MFC.
Location: John Stauffer Science Lecture Hall (SLH) - 102
Audiences: Everyone Is Invited
Contact: Evangeline Reyes
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Integrated Systems Seminar Series
Fri, Oct 26, 2012 @ 03:00 PM - 04:30 PM
Ming Hsieh Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering
Conferences, Lectures, & Seminars
Speaker: Russ Reisner, Skyworks
Talk Title: RF Front End Architectures for Mobile Phone Platforms, Trends Today and in the Next Decade
Abstract: An overview will be given of the RF transmit components in between
the antenna and transceiver of Smart phones including discussions of where the market is driving technology, implementations and architecture trade-offs, the problem of power,
and RF device technology trends. Some of the newer technologies such as envelope tracking will be discussed as well.
Biography: Russ Reisner is an Engineering Manager and Technical Director at Skyworks who is responsible for developing high volume power amplifier modules and subsystems for Smart phone applications. The last PA family sold over 200 million units while supporting CDMA, WCDMA and LTE modulations. Russâ engineering team performs large signal PA analysis and 3D EM simulations in to support the various product development activities. Russ has over 25 years of experience in RF/Microwave circuit design and management in various RF industries including defense, Satcom, fiber optics, and wireless. Circuit expertise includes amplifiers, pre-distortion linearizers, filters, passives, and subsystems. He received his BSEE from Cal Poly Pomona and his MSEE from Cal State Northridge.
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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Situated Spoken Language Interaction: Challenges and Opportunities
Mon, Oct 29, 2012 @ 10:29 AM - 11:30 AM
Ming Hsieh Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering
Conferences, Lectures, & Seminars
Speaker: Dan Bohus, Microsoft Research
Talk Title: Situated Spoken Language Interaction: Challenges and Opportunities
Abstract: Previous research on spoken language interaction has mostly focused on dialog with single users in limited, predefined contexts. Efforts in this space have led to the development and wide-scale deployment of telephony-based and, more recently, multimodal mobile applications. At the same time, numerous and important challenges in the realm of physically situated, open-world interaction are still largely unaddressed.
In this talk, I will present an overview of the Situated Interaction project at Microsoft Research, which aims to address such challenges: the long term goal is to enable a new generation of interactive systems that reason more deeply about their surroundings and embed spoken interaction into the natural flow of everyday tasks, activities and collaborations.
I will outline a set of core competencies - engagement, turn taking, understanding and interaction planning - that are essential for supporting physically situated spoken language interactions. Developing computational models for supporting these processes in open, relatively unconstrained environments brings to the fore many challenges in representation, multimodal inference and decision making. I will illustrate and discuss some of these challenges by reviewing samples of research work we have conducted in these areas, addressing a diverse set of questions such as: how to represent and model engagement in multiparty open-world settings, how to learn to make inferences about speakers and addressees from raw streams of evidence, how to make fast-paced turn-taking decisions by taking into account uncertainty over the world and over the systemâs own computational delays. Throughout the talk, I will discuss and showcase several prototype systems that we have developed to date, and highlight several other on-going research efforts in physically situated spoken language interaction.
Biography: : Dan Bohus is a Researcher in the Adaptive Systems and Interaction Group at Microsoft Research. The central question that drives his long term research agenda is: how do we develop systems that naturally embed interaction and computation deeply into the flow of everyday tasks, activities, and collaborations? Specifically, in the last few years Danâs work has focused on developing computational models for multiparty engagement, turn taking, interaction planning, and on addressing the challenges in inference and decision making that such models bring to the fore. Prior to joining Microsoft, Dan obtained his Ph.D. degree from Carnegie Mellon University, where he investigated problems of dialog management and error handling in speech interfaces.
Host: Professor Shrikanth Narayanan
Location: Ronald Tutor Hall of Engineering (RTH) - 320
Audiences: Everyone Is Invited
Contact: Talyia Veal
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Seminar in Biomedical Engineering
Mon, Oct 29, 2012 @ 12:30 PM - 01:50 PM
Alfred E. Mann Department of Biomedical Engineering
Conferences, Lectures, & Seminars
Speaker: Richard W. Roberts, Ph.D., The End of Antibodies? SUPR Peptides Engineered to Target Protein Surfaces
Talk Title: TBA
Abstract: Peptides have poor biostability and natural sequences cannot readily be converted into drug-like, stable molecules. This talk will describe our efforts to adapt mRNA display to evolve highly stabilized unnatural versions of natural peptide sequences. The results of these efforts are a new class of molecules we term SUPR peptides (Scanning Unnatural Protease Resistant) that have antibody like affinity for biomolecular targets and are highly stable to proteolysis. The potential utility of these new peptides will be demonstrated in both therapeutic and diagnostic applications relating to nanomedicine and cancer biology.
Biography: Richard W. Roberts, Ph.D
Professor of Chemistry, the Mork Family Department of Chemical Engineering/Materials Science, and Biology
University of Southern California
507 RTH Mail Code 2905
Los Angeles, CA 90089-2905
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, Oct 30, 2012 @ 01:45 PM - 03:00 PM
Ming Hsieh Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering
Conferences, Lectures, & Seminars
Speaker: Prof. Simon Cherry, University of California, Davis
Abstract: Highly sophisticated hybrid imaging systems that integrate positron emission tomography (PET) and magnetic resonance imaging systems (MRI) have recently emerged with astonishing speed, building on many years of technical development and catalyzed by advances in photodetector technology as well as the success of hybrid imaging with PET/CT. This presentation will trace some of the early developments in PET/MRI instrumentation, as well show results from a selection of state-of-the-art systems and their initial preclinical applications. Approaches to PET/MRI based on photomultiplier tubes, avalanche photodiodes and silicon photomultipliers will be contrasted, and trade-offs in using each technology discussed. The recent emergence of clinical PET/MRI scanners, challenges with respect to quantification, and their potential applications will be reviewed. The remaining limitations of current generation clinical and preclinical PET/MRI systems will be identified and a view on the future needs and possible trends for instrumentation in PET/MRI presented.
Biography: Simon R. Cherry, Ph.D. received his B.Sc.(Hons) in Physics with Astronomy from University College London in 1986 and a Ph.D. in Medical Physics from the Institute of Cancer Research, University of London in 1989. After a postdoctoral fellowship with Dr. Edward Hoffman at UCLA, he joined the faculty in the Department of Molecular and Medical Pharmacology at UCLA in 1993. From 1998-2001 he was Associate Director of the UCLA Crump Institute for Molecular Imaging. In 2001, Dr. Cherry joined UC Davis as a Professor in the Department of Biomedical Engineering and Director of the Center for Molecular and Genomic Imaging. Dr. Cherry was Chair of the Department of Biomedical Engineering at UC Davis from 2007-2009.
Dr. Cherryâs research interests center around in vivo molecular imaging systems. A focus of his research is the development of very high-resolution positron emission tomography (PET) systems for preclinical imaging, in particular the development of the microPET scanner that was subsequently widely adopted in academia and industry. Additional interests include Cerenkov luminescence imaging and multi-modality imaging, especially the integration of PET MRI. Dr. Cherry is a founding member of the Society of Molecular Imaging and a fellow of the IEEE, BMES and AIMBE. He is Editor-in-Chief of the journal Physics in Medicine and Biology and serves on the Editorial Board of Molecular Imaging and Biology. In 2006, Dr. Cherry was invited to give the Henry Wagner Distinguished Lectureship at the Society of Nuclear Medicine annual meeting and in 2007, Dr. Cherry received the Academy of Molecular Imaging Distinguished Basic Scientist Award. In 2011 Dr. Cherry received the Imaging Achievement Award from the Society for Molecular Imaging. Dr. Cherry is the author of more than 170 peer-reviewed journal articles or book chapters in the field of biomedical imaging. He is also co-author of the textbook âPhysics in Nuclear Medicineâ.
Host: Prof. Krishna Nayak
Location: Hughes Aircraft Electrical Engineering Center (EEB) - 248
Audiences: Everyone Is Invited
Contact: Talyia Veal
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Building Lexical Cognitive Networks for Web Corpora with Application to Semantic Similarity Computation and Affective Text Analysis
Tue, Oct 30, 2012 @ 02:00 PM - 03:30 PM
Ming Hsieh Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering
Conferences, Lectures, & Seminars
Speaker: Prof. Alexandros Potamianos, Technical University of Crete, Greece
Talk Title: Building Lexical Cognitive Networks for Web Corpora with Application to Semantic Similarity Computation and Affective Text Analysis
Abstract: We investigate language-agnostic algorithms for the construction of unsupervised distributional semantic models using web-harvested corpora. A corpus is created from web document snippets and the relevant semantic similarity statistics are encoded in a semantic network. We propose the notion of semantic neighborhoods that are defined using co-occurrence or context similarity features. Three neighborhood-based similarity metrics are proposed, motivated by the hypotheses of attributional and maximum sense similarity. The lexical networks and semantic distances are motivated by cognitive considerations (associative networks and lexical priming). The proposed metrics are evaluated against human similarity ratings achieving state-of-the-art results. The proposed semantic similarity metrics are applied to affective modeling of text. Continuous valence ratings are estimated for unseen words using the underlying assumption that semantic similarity implies affective similarity. Starting from a set of manually annotated words, a linear affective model is trained using the least mean squares algorithm followed by feature selection. We then propose linear and non-linear fusion schemes for investigating how lexical valence scores can be combined to produce sentence-level scores, as well as, extend the lexical similarity model to groups of words (compounds). Evaluation on affective text tasks (e.g., polarity recognition) show significant performance improvement compared to the state of the art.
Biography: Alexandros Potamianos received the Diploma in Electrical and Computer Engineering from the National Technical University of Athens, Greece in 1990. He received the M.S and Ph.D. degrees in Engineering Sciences from Harvard University, Cambridge, MA, USA in 1991 and 1995, respectively. He received the M.B.A. degree from Stern School of Business, NYU in 2002.From 1991 to June 1993 he was a research assistant at the Robotics Lab, Harvard University. From 1993 to 1995 he was a research assistant at the Digital Signal Processing Lab at Georgia Tech. From 1995 to 1999 he was a Senior Technical Staff Member at the Speech and Image Processing Lab, AT&T Shannon Labs, Florham Park, NJ. From 1999 to 2002 he was a Technical Staff Member and Technical Supervisor at the Multimedia Communications Lab at Bell Labs, Lucent Technologies, Murray Hill, NJ. From 1999 to 2001 he was an adjunct Assistant Professor at the Department of Electrical Engineering of Columbia University, New York, NY. In the spring of 2003, he joined the Department of Electronics and Computer Engineering at the Technical University of Crete, Chania, Greece as an associate professor. His current research interests include speech processing, analysis, synthesis and recognition, dialog and multi-modal systems, nonlinear signal processing, natural language understanding, artificial intelligence and multimodal child-computer interaction. Prof. Potamianos has authored or co-authored over ninety papers in professional journals and conferences. He is the co-author of the paper "Creating conversational interfaces for children" that received a 2005 IEEE Signal Processing Society Best Paper Award. He is the co-editor of the book "Multimodal Processing and Interaction: Audio, Video, Text", Springer, 2008.
Host: Prof. Shrikanth Narayanan
Location: Ronald Tutor Hall of Engineering (RTH) - 320
Audiences: Everyone Is Invited
Contact: Mary Francis
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Epstein Institute Seminar Series / ISE 651 Seminar
Tue, Oct 30, 2012 @ 03:30 PM - 05:00 PM
Daniel J. Epstein Department of Industrial and Systems Engineering
Conferences, Lectures, & Seminars
Speaker: David L. Bourell, Ph.D., P.E., FASM, FTMS , Temple Foundation Professor, The University of Texas at Austin
Talk Title: "Additive Manufacturing: Past, Present and Future"
Series: Epstein Institute Seminar Series
Abstract: The collection of manufacturing technologies now known as additive manufacturing (AM) exploded on the scene in the last half of the 1980s. From a near-term perspective, this phenomenon was driven by the synergism of the advent and maturization of laser technology and desktop computing. From a long-term perspective, the field is built on layerwise manufacturing technologies that date back over 150 years. These historical technologies fall into two groups: topography and photosculpture. This presentation begins with an overview of the history of AM including precedents in topography and photosculpture. An analysis of the present landscape of AM on an international level will be given, including recent activities such as the 2009 AM Roadmap and the 2012 AM Pilot Institute of the National Network for Manufacturing Innovation. Some prospects for the future of AM will also be explored.
Biography: Dr. David L. Bourell is the Temple Foundation Professor of Mechanical Engineering at The University of Texas at Austin. He is currently Director of the Laboratory for Freeform Fabrication. Dr. Bourell's areas of research include particulate processing with emphasis on sintering kinetics and densification, and materials issues associated with Laser Sintering (LS). He holds 9 primary patents dealing with materials innovations in LS dating back to 1990 and has published over 200 papers in journals, conference proceedings and book chapters. Dr. Bourell is a Fellow of ASM International and TMS, and he is also a lifetime member of TMS. In 2009, he received the TMS Materials Processing and Manufacturing Division Distinguished Scientist/Engineer Award. He has received two major conference career awards in additive manufacturing: the SFF Symposium FAME Award and the Portuguese VRAP Career Educator Award. Professor Bourell is a leading expert in advanced materials for Laser Sintering, having worked in this area since 1988. Dave was the lead author on the original materials patent for LS technology. Issuing in 1990, this patent has been cited by 150 other patents, and it represents the original intellectual property for mixed and coated powders for LS, including binders.
Host: Daniel J. Epstein Department of Industrial and Systems Engineering
More Information: Seminar-Bourell.doc
Location: Ethel Percy Andrus Gerontology Center (GER) - Room 309
Audiences: Everyone Is Invited
Contact: Georgia Lum
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Greedy Pursuits Algorithms for Audio Processing and Applications
Wed, Oct 31, 2012 @ 10:30 AM - 12:00 PM
Ming Hsieh Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering
Conferences, Lectures, & Seminars
Speaker: Gaël Richard, Telecom ParisTech
Talk Title: Greedy Pursuits Algorithms for Audio Processing and Applications
Abstract: After a brief presentation of current research directions in the Audio, Acoustics and Waves research group of Telecom ParisTech, I will discuss in general terms the interest of greedy pursuits algorithms (such as Matching Pursuit) for representing audio signals. Such algorithms rely on an iterative atom selection step in a dictionary of atoms. They usually require the calculation of numerous projections, which can be computationally costly for large dictionaries. Furthermore, the obtained decomposition may be uninformative on the nature or content of the audio signal. To tackle the first issue, I will describe an extension of the classical Matching pursuit which uses a non adaptive random sequence of subdictionaries in the decomposition process, thus parsing a large dictionary in a probabilistic fashion with no additional projection cost and no parameter estimation [1]. It will be shown in particular that this additional randomness is particularly attractive for audio compression. I will then describe another extension of the classical Matching Pursuit algorithm which directly exploits the signal redundancy. Preliminary results for audio source separation will then be given [2]. Finally, a third variation of the classical Matching Pursuit algorithm will be described and its potential for Audio Fingerprint will be demonstrated on synthetic and real broadcast audio databases [3].
[1] M. Moussallam, L. Daudet, G. Richard, "Matching pursuits with random sequential subdictionaries", Signal Processing, 2012, http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.sigpro.2012.03.019
[2] S. Fenet, M. Moussallam, Y. Grenier, G. Richard and L. Daudet, A Framework for Fingerprint-Based Detection of Repeating Objects in Multimedia Streams,
[3] M. Moussallam, G. Richard and L. Daudet, Audio Source Separation Informed by Redundancy with Greedy Multiscale Decompositions, in Proc. of Eusipco 2012.
Biography: I received the State Engineering degree from Télécom ParisTech (formerly ENST), Paris, France, in 1990; the Ph.D degree from LIMSI-CNRS, University of Paris-XI, in 1994 in speech synthesis; and the Habilitation à Diriger des Recherches degree from the University of Paris XI in September 2001. After my Ph.D, I spent two years at the CAIP Center, Rutgers University, Piscataway, NJ, in the speech processing group of Prof. J. Flanagan, where I explored innovative approaches for speech production. Between 1997 and 2001, I successively worked for Matra Nortel Communications, Bois d'Arcy, France, and for Philips Consumer Comunications, Montrouge, France. In particular, I was the project manager of several large-scale European projects in the field of audio and multimodal signal processing. In September 2001, I joined the Signal and Image Processing Department at Télécom ParisTech, where I am now full Professor in audio signal processing and Head of the Audio, Acoustics and Waves research group. Co-author of over 100 papers and inventor in a number of patents, I am also one of the experts of the European commission in the field of audio signal processing and man/machine interfaces. I have been Associate Editor of the IEEE Transactions on Audio, Speech and Language Processing between 1997 and 2011 and one of the guest editors of the special issue on âMusic Signal Processingâ of IEEE Journal on Selected Topics in Signal Processing (2011). I am now member of the IEEE Audio and Acoustic Signal Processing Technical Committee, member of the EURASIP and AES and senior member of the IEEE.
Host: Professor Shrikanth Narayanan
Location: Ronald Tutor Hall of Engineering (RTH) - 320
Audiences: Everyone Is Invited
Contact: Mary Francis
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AME - Department Seminar
Wed, Oct 31, 2012 @ 03:30 PM - 04:30 PM
Aerospace and Mechanical Engineering
Conferences, Lectures, & Seminars
Speaker: Geoff Spedding , Professor and Chairman of the Aerospace & Mechanical Engineering Department at the University of Southern California
Talk Title: Bird Design and Aircraft Evolution
Abstract: Alternative flying machines (in the sense that they differ from our usual designs) can be invented, or studied. In all cases, it is reasonable to wonder whether a particular design is optimal, or perhaps what it is optimal for. Definitions of optimality quickly become complex: "minimum drag:lift ratio for n passengers that allows our company to outcompete our rival(s)" or "something that can be grown fast, still works when 50% of the aft surfaces are missing, and that fits in a nest." We will consider two examples of flying devices, one evolved and one invented, and we will look for parallels that exist between them, or perhaps ought to.
More Info: http://ae-www.usc.edu/seminars/10-31-12-spedding.shtml
Location: Seaver Science Library (SSL) - Room 150
Audiences: Everyone Is Invited
Contact: April Mundy
Event Link: http://ae-www.usc.edu/seminars/10-31-12-spedding.shtml
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Viterbi Student Innovation Institute Speaker Series
Wed, Oct 31, 2012 @ 06:00 PM - 08:00 PM
Viterbi School of Engineering Student Affairs
Conferences, Lectures, & Seminars
Speaker: Sam Teller, Managing Director, Laundpad LA
Talk Title: Lessons Learnt from Incubating 30 Technology Startups!
Host: Viterbi Student Innovation Institute (VSI2)
Location: Seeley G. Mudd Building (SGM) - 101
Audiences: Everyone Is Invited
Contact: Jeffrey Teng
