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Events for October 16, 2008
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Photography for Aircraft Accident Investigation - Oct. 16-17, 2008
Thu, Oct 16, 2008
Aviation Safety and Security Program
Conferences, Lectures, & Seminars
PHOTO 09-1
For more information and to register for Aviation Safety and Security Program courses, please visit http://viterbi.usc.edu/aviation.Audiences: Registered Attendees Only
Contact: Viterbi Professional Programs
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DATA AND DISCOVERY ON LIQUEFACTION-INDUCED LATERAL GROUND DEFORMATIONS
Thu, Oct 16, 2008 @ 10:30 AM - 12:30 PM
Sonny Astani Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering
Conferences, Lectures, & Seminars
by Fang Liu, PhD candidateSonny Astani
Dept. of Civil and Environmental EngineeringABSTRACT:Liquefaction-induced lateral ground deformations posed considerable threatens to lifeline systems in urban areas in the past. In the practice of liquefaction evaluation in geotechnical earthquake engineering, empirical relations and procedures received special appreciation. They benefited from vast amount of case histories collected and documented after major earthquakes. Advances of technologies transformed the way collecting, documenting, distributing, and utilizing this perishable information. The research effort was concentrated on exploring the feasibility of new information technologies for managing and distributing data pertinent to liquefaction damages, and on deriving and assessing data-driven models pertinent to liquefaction-induced lateral ground deformation.
New information technologies were demonstrated for generating and distributing post-earthquake reconnaissance reports. The newly emerging technique, known as embedded metadata in pictures, allowed portable pictures that possessed embedded information. The metadata-based approach enhanced the automation level in generating PER reports, and enabled a complex of possible applications. A lightweight Information system was developed for distributing collected case histories of liquefaction together with relevant geotechnical information over the Word Wide Web. Supported by a customized database and external data from remote servers, the proposed system enabled dynamic and rapidly responsive Web applications to share information through the Internet.
The performance of gently sloping grounds was investigated using sliding block theory under statically unstable conditions due to temporary loss in shear strength. The major efforts were concentrated on quantifying in probabilistic terms the contribution of earthquake motions to the amplitude of lateral deformations once the instability had triggered. The Monte Carlo simulation was performed for a set of actual strong motion records and an idealized infinite gentling sloping ground in order to derive the empirical relations.
Finally, a case study was presented as an example to demonstrate the value of case histories collected over years, and to evaluate the performance of three existing empirical models for liquefaction-induced lateral ground deformations. Empirical relations were integrated in a GIS system, leading to maps of liquefaction severity and liquefaction-induced lateral deformations.
Location: Kaprielian Hall (KAP) - 209
Audiences: Everyone Is Invited
Contact: Evangeline Reyes
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Human Factors
Thu, Oct 16, 2008 @ 12:00 PM - 01:20 PM
Daniel J. Epstein Department of Industrial and Systems Engineering
University Calendar
ISE 650 SEMINAR IN INDUSTRIAL ENGINEERINGGuest Speaker: Dr. Najmedin MeshkatiProfessor, USC Daniel J. Epstein Department of Industrial and Systems EngineeringTopic Area: Human Factors
Location: Ethel Percy Andrus Gerontology Center (GER) - 309
Audiences: Everyone Is Invited
Contact: Georgia Lum
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The Natural Mathematics that Arises in Investment and Information Theory
Thu, Oct 16, 2008 @ 02:15 PM - 03:20 PM
Ming Hsieh Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering
Conferences, Lectures, & Seminars
Distinguished Lecturer SeriesDistinguished Lecture by: Dr. Thomas Cover - Stanford UniversityABSTRACT:
Optimizing the growth rate of investment is considered a controversial investment goal, perhaps because it is an asymptotic criterion or perhaps because its implementation requires maximizing the expected logarithm of wealth and its implicit suggestion of log utility. Whatever the reason, we shall reverse the argument by focusing on the natural mathematics of the solution rather than the appropriateness of the question. Maybe graceful mathematics is an indication of the right approach.We find that growth optimality is characterized by expected ratio optimality, by competitive one-shot optimality, by Martingale processes and an associated asymptotic equipartition theorem. It also yields Black Scholes option pricing as a special case and leads naturally to so called universal portfolios that perform as well to first order in the exponent as the best constant rebalanced portfolio in hindsight. Finally we will relate the quantities arising in investment to their counterpart quantities in information theory.BIO:
Thomas Cover, the K.T. Li Professor of Engineering at Stanford, does research in information theory, communication theory and statistics, and is the coauthor of the textbook, Elements of Information Theory. He was Lab Director of the Information Systems Laboratory in Electrical Engineering from 1989 to 1996. He has been the contract statistician for the California State Lottery and a consultant to AT&T Laboratories and IBM. He received the 1990 Claude E. Shannon Award in information theory and has also received the IEEE Neural Network Council's Pioneer Award in 1993 for his work on the capacity of neural nets. He received the 1997 IEEE Richard M. Hamming medal for contributions to information, communication theory and statistics and is a member of the National Academy of Engineering and the American Academy of Arts and Sciences. He is currently working on network information theory and the interplay between information theory and investment.Lecture:
SAL 101, 2:15PMReception:
SAL Lobby, 3:30PMLocation: Henry Salvatori Computer Science Center (SAL) - 101
Audiences: Everyone Is Invited
Contact: Estela Lopez
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Turner Construction Company Information Session
Thu, Oct 16, 2008 @ 06:30 PM - 07:30 PM
Viterbi School of Engineering Career Connections
Workshops & Infosessions
Join representatives of this company as they share general company information and available opportunities.
Location: Grace Ford Salvatori (GFS) 106
Audiences: Everyone Is Invited
Contact: RTH 218 Viterbi Career Services
