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Events for October 06, 2023
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Communications Hub: Writing and Speaking for PhD Students - Drop In HoursFri, Oct 06, 2023 @ 10:00 AM - 01:00 PM
Viterbi School of Engineering Student Affairs
Workshops & Infosessions
Viterbi Ph.D. Students!
Need help with academic and professional writing and speaking tasks? Viterbi faculty at the Hub provide one-on-one help with journal and conference articles, dissertations, fellowship applications, and career communications!
Drop by RTH 222A on MWF 10am-1pm or make an online appointment via email at eishub@usc.edu.
Location: Ronald Tutor Hall of Engineering (RTH) - 222A
Audiences: Graduate
Contact: Helen Choi
Event Link: https://sites.google.com/usc.edu/eishub/home
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Alfred E. Mann Department of Biomedical Engineering
Fri, Oct 06, 2023 @ 11:00 AM - 12:00 PM
Alfred E. Mann Department of Biomedical Engineering
Conferences, Lectures, & Seminars
Speaker: Dr. Chen Yang, Ph.D., Associate Professor, Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering, department of Chemistry, Boston University
Talk Title: High Precision Photocoustic Neural Stimulation
Abstract: Neuromodulation at high precision poses great signiï¬cance in advancing fundamental knowledge in the ï¬eld of neuroscience and offering novel clinical treatments. Here we reported our research on developing the photoacoustic neural stimulation as a high precision, genetic free and highly efficient technology in vitro and in vivo. Specifically, various platform technologies, including fiber emitters, films, nanotransducers and optic-generated focus ultrasound will be discussed. Sub-100 micron precision, miniaturized and multi-functional device design, and non-invasive potential will be highlighted for brain and retina applications. New insights on the cellar mechanism was obtained using the sonogenetic method. Our work demonstrated that photoacoustic stimulation is a high precision and non-genetic neural stimulation offering various neural interfaces for understanding fundamental how brain responds to mechanical stimuli and offering new clinical treatments with improved efficacies.
Biography: Prof. Yang obtained her doctoral degree in Chemistry from Harvard University in 2006. She worked as an associate in McKinsey & Co, a business consulting firm, before she joined Purdue University Department of Chemistry and Department of Physics as an Assistant Professor. Dr. Yang is currently an Associate Professor in Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering and Department of Chemistry at Boston University. She is also Associate Chair for Master program in Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering at BU. Prof. Yangs current research is focusing on nanomaterial-based photonics and bioelectronics for neuromodulation. Her research has been published in high profile journals, including Science, Nature, Nature communication, Matter, ACS Nano and Nano Letters. She was a NSF Career Awardee and a AIMBE fellow.
Host: Qifa Zhou
More Info: Zoom link upon request
Location: Olin Hall of Engineering (OHE) - 136
Audiences: Everyone Is Invited
Contact: Carla Stanard
Event Link: Zoom link upon request
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PhD Dissertation Defense - Peifeng Wang
Fri, Oct 06, 2023 @ 02:00 PM - 04:00 PM
Thomas Lord Department of Computer Science
University Calendar
PhD Dissertation Defense - Peifeng Wang
Committee Members:Xiang Ren (chair), Muhao Chen, Emilio Ferrara, Dan O Leary
Title: Externalized Reasoning in Language Models for Scalable, Trustworthy AI
Abstract: Language models LMs have traditionally intertwined language skills and reasoning abilities within a single architecture, relying on reckless scaling for effectiveness, but sacrificing interpretability due to their opaque nature. This presentation advocates for externalizing reasoning from the core language proficiency, which enables the development of compact, accessible LMs with enhanced capabilities. The process of externalized reasoning also offers a pathway to explaining model behavior.
I would present three techniques to build LMs with externalized reasoning. First, I introduce an Imagine and Verbalize framework for generative commonsense reasoning, which decomposes a complex generation task into easier subtasks and learns from a diverse set of indirect supervision from multiple domains. Second, I present a knowledge distillation pipeline which prompts a large LM to rationalize for an open domain question and then trains a small LM to reason consistently. Third, I discuss augmenting an LM with working memory for coherent language reasoning by tracking the states of the described world.
Location: Ronald Tutor Hall of Engineering (RTH) - 306
Audiences: Everyone Is Invited
Contact: Melissa Ochoa
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MHI ISSS Seminar - Dr. Payam Heydari, Friday, 10/6 at 2pm in EEB 248 & Zoom
Fri, Oct 06, 2023 @ 02:00 PM - 03:30 PM
Ming Hsieh Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering
Conferences, Lectures, & Seminars
Speaker: Payam Heydari, University of California, Irvine
Talk Title: Novel mm-Wave/Terahertz Integrated Circuits and Architectures for High-Speed Communications
Series: Integrated Systems
Abstract: This seminar will provide an overview of our research in (sub-)terahertz transceiver architectures and design techniques enabling ultra-high data rate communications. The talk commences with a glimpse into the ongoing research projects at the Nanoscale Communication Integrated Circuits (NCIC) Labs. The presentation will unveil the limitations inherent in conventional transceiver designs when targeting data rates beyond 100 Gbps. We will introduce novel "end-to-end" transceiver architectures poised to transcend these constraints. Through three compelling case studies, we will illustrate the transformative potential of this new approach. Additionally, the seminar will provide an in-depth exploration of circuit design techniques, including wideband amplifiers, sub-terahertz signal generation and radiation mechanisms, and high-performance antennas tailored for these cutting-edge applications.
Biography: Payam Heydari is currently the University Chancellor's Professor at the University of California, Irvine. A fellow of IEEE and a fellow of the National Academy of Inventors, Heydari was the Distinguished Lecturer of both IEEE Solid-State Circuits and Microwave Theory and Technology Societies and is the recipient of five Best Paper Awards, the 2023 IEEE Microwave Theory and Technology Society Distinguished Educator Award, and the 2021 IEEE Solid-State Circuits Society Innovative Education Award. He has authored 190 journal and conference papers and graduated more than 40 Ph.D. and M.S. students.
Host: MHI - ISSS, Hashemi, Chen and Sideris
Webcast: Meeting ID: 91998427261 PC: 520437Location: Hughes Aircraft Electrical Engineering Center (EEB) - 248
WebCast Link: Meeting ID: 91998427261 PC: 520437
Audiences: Everyone Is Invited
Contact: Marilyn Poplawski
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ECE-Controls Seminar - Anuradha Annaswamy
Fri, Oct 06, 2023 @ 04:15 PM - 05:15 PM
Ming Hsieh Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering
Conferences, Lectures, & Seminars
Speaker: Anuradha Annaswamy, Department of Mechanical Engineering, MIT
Talk Title: Resilience and Distributed Decision-making in a Renewable-rich Power Grid
Abstract: The power grid has evolved from a physical system to a cyber-physical system that consists of digital devices that perform measurement, control, communication, computation, and actuation. With increased penetration in distributed energy resources (DER) that include renewable generation, flexible loads, and storage, these devices can be as large as 8 billion in number just in the US grid, many of whom are capable of monitoring and making crucial decisions. While these devices provide extraordinary opportunities for improvements in efficiency and sustainability, they also can introduce new vulnerabilities in the form of cyberattacks. This in turn can cause significant challenges in ensuring grid resilience, i.e. satisfactory restoration of grid services in the face of severe anomalous behavior. The additional difficulty is to ensure this property even while integrating DERs which are intermittent, uncertain, and distributed. In order to overcome these challenges, a framework that enables distributed decision-making and control is essential, and forms the focus of this talk. With growing presence of DER, owners and stakeholders also increase in number.
In order to leverage disparate ownerships, it is critical to design market structures that enable smooth integration of DERs. Local electricity markets with a hierarchical structure have been proposed that accommodate the distributed ownership of DERs, both in location and time, improve market performance, and at the same time ensure that physical constraints due to power physics are not violated. Such a market structure also enables visibility to grid operators, which can be utilized not only for market performance but also for grid resilience.
This talk will explore the relation between market mechanisms, distributed optimization, and resilience for the grid. A variety of attack surfaces including those that compromise large IoT (internet-of-things) networks will be considered. The use of distributed visibility and the related situational awareness to the operators will be examined through simulation studies of a distribution grid with 100,000 nodes. The role of distributed decision-making principles of optimization and control in prevention, resilience, and detection & isolation will be examined.
Biography: Dr. Anuradha Annaswamy is Founder and Director of the Active-Adaptive Control Laboratory in the Department of Mech. Eng. at MIT. Her research interests span adaptive control theory and its applications to several engineering systems including to aerospace, automotive, propulsion, and energy systems, cyber-enabled energy grids, and urban mobility. She has received best paper awards (Axelby; CSM), Distinguished Member and Distinguished Lecturer awards from the IEEE Control Systems Society (CSS), Best Paper award from IFAC for Annual Reviews in Control (2021-23), and a Presidential Young Investigator award from NSF. She is a Fellow of IEEE and IFAC. She is the recipient of the Distinguished Alumni award from Indian Institute of Science for 2021.
Anu Annaswamy is the author of a graduate textbook on adaptive control and several journal and conference publications, and co-editor of two vision documents on smart grids, two editions of the Impact of Control Technology report, and the 2023 CSS report "Control for Societal-scale Challenges: Road Map 2030". She is also a coauthor of a 2021 National Academy of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine (NASEM) Committee report on the Future of Electric Power in the United States, and a 2023 NASEM report on the Role of Net-metering in the Evolving Electricity System. She served as the President of CSS in 2020. She is a Faculty Lead in the Electric Power Systems workstream in the MIT Future Energy Systems Center.
Host: Dr. Petros Ioannou, ioannou@usc.edu
More Info: https://usc.zoom.us/j/97468174515?pwd=djJheUlTc0sxNnN5N0Y5ViszOGFtUT09
More Information: ECE-Controls_Seminar_Announcement.pdf
Location: EEB 132
Audiences: Everyone Is Invited
Contact: John Diaz
Event Link: https://usc.zoom.us/j/97468174515?pwd=djJheUlTc0sxNnN5N0Y5ViszOGFtUT09
