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Conferences, Lectures, & Seminars
Events for October
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BME 533 Seminar: BME Faculty Research Overview Presentations
Mon, Oct 01, 2007 @ 12:30 PM - 01:50 PM
Alfred E. Mann Department of Biomedical Engineering
Conferences, Lectures, & Seminars
BME Faculty Research Overview Presentations – M. Khoo, T. Hsiai, J. Weiland, D. D'Argenio
Location: Olin Hall of Engineering (OHE) - 132
Audiences: students registered in BME 533
Contact: Mischalgrace Diasanta
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EBay Architecture †Balancing site stability, feature velocity, cost, and performance
Tue, Oct 02, 2007 @ 10:30 AM - 11:30 AM
Ming Hsieh Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering
Conferences, Lectures, & Seminars
eBay Inc. has interesting challenges around scaling, choice of technologies, and implementation specifics. eBay's search engine is one of the largest and most complex information retrieval machines in the world. eBay operates tens of thousands of servers in locations all over the globe and coordinates their activities from a single location by employing a grid-style architecture. eBay has a variety of research initiatives in Web 2.0, statistical modeling, machine learning, etc., in addition to traditional software development tracts which are Java/C++ based. This talk will give an overview of some of the inner workings of the eBay stack, and of the eBay work environment.Speaker: Mahesh Tyagarajan is a Sr. Manager, Application Architecture, at eBay Inc. Mahesh is an Enterprise Architect with significant industry experience in various technology companies including eBay, Bell Labs (Lucent), and Netscape.Hosted by Prof. Viktor Prasanna
Location: Hughes Aircraft Electrical Engineering Center (EEB) - 248
Audiences: Everyone Is Invited
Contact: Annie Yu
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Performance Improvements and Hardness Results for LDPC
Tue, Oct 02, 2007 @ 02:00 PM - 03:00 PM
Ming Hsieh Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering
Conferences, Lectures, & Seminars
SPEAKER: Professor Priti Shankar, Indian Institute of ScienceAbstract: A random combinatorial construction for near-regular LDPC codes is proposed. Near-regularity implies that the left or right degree of a node varies by at most one from the average left or right degree respectively. Bounds on achievable girth are derived. Experimental results indicate that these codes perform somewhat better than the well known regular Progressive Edge Growth (PEG) codes. The notion of node credibility is defined and used to modify the sum-product decoding algorithm. Performance improvements in the waterfall region are observed using this modification. Finally it is shown that computing the stopping distance of LDPC codes is computationally intractable.Bio: Priti Shankar is in the Department of Computer Science and Automation at the Indian Institute of Science, where she is currently Professor. Her interests are in algorithmic coding theory, automata and computability, and compiler theory.Host: Professor P. Vijay Kumar, vijayk@usc.edu
Location: Hughes Aircraft Electrical Engineering Center (EEB) - 248
Audiences: Everyone Is Invited
Contact: Mayumi Thrasher
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Student Assessment and Engineering Education
Wed, Oct 03, 2007 @ 02:00 PM - 03:00 PM
Sonny Astani Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering
Conferences, Lectures, & Seminars
Speaker:
Gisele Ragusa, Ph.D.
Associate Professor,
University of Southern California,
Rossier School of EducationAbstract:Research in engineering education has received increased attention from the National Science Foundation and other governmental agencies in the past three years. Academic rigor, powerful pedagogy and attention to outcome-based student assessment have been on the forefront of agencies and scientific research funding sources connected to engineering education. Both the National Science Foundation (NSF) and the Accreditation Board of Engineering and Technology (ABET) agree that student assessment must be tied to outcome-based curriculum that includes career-based application. Accordingly, the NSF has established numerous engineering education competitions for universities including Engineering Education Programs (EEP), Nanotechnology Undergraduate in Engineering programs (NUE), Research Experience for Undergraduates (REU), Research Experience For Teachers, (RET) Course, Curriculum, and Laboratory Improvement programs (CCLI), and Engineering Education Centers (EEC). These funding initiatives provided opportunities for schools of engineering and schools of education to collaborate on building powerful educational programs with quantifiable outcomes in engineering education. This presentation provides a overview of relevant ways of planning and quantitatively assessing student learning in engineering education. Efforts will be made to connect educational psychology principles with engineering education in the presentation and to tie these principles to ABET accreditation. Assessment tools and planning mechanisms will be discussed. Opportunities for open dialogue about engineering education and associated NSF fundable research will be provided.
Location: Kaprielian Hall (KAP) - reilian Hall 209
Audiences: Everyone Is Invited
Contact: Evangeline Reyes
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Microscopic Mechanisms of Deformation in Amorphous Solids
Wed, Oct 03, 2007 @ 03:30 PM - 04:30 PM
Aerospace and Mechanical Engineering
Conferences, Lectures, & Seminars
Mo Li Associate Professor School of Materials Science and EngineeringGeorgia Institute of Technology While the fundamental deformation mechanisms in crystalline materials, namely, the dislocation-based process, have long been understood and put into use, our understanding of the microscopic deformation mechanisms in amorphous solids still remains in its infancy despite tremendous efforts made in the past forty years. Amorphous solids contribute to a large fraction of materials used today, including metallic glasses and amorphous semiconductors, granular matters, and many geological materials. They are characterized by metastability and the lack of long-range order, which poses great challenges for experimentalists as well as theorists to have a detailed understanding of how deformation occurs at the atomic or molecular level. In this talk, I will give a brief introduction to the mechanical properties of amorphous solids and in particular, metallic glasses with special emphasis on shear localization or shear banding. I will present the results from extensive atomistic modeling of the changes in the local atomic structure, volume, and mechanical properties in several model systems subjected to various external loadings. The results led us to the establishment of a new model, an extended Ginzburg-Landau theory. We conclude, from these studies, that the microscopic deformation mechanism in amorphous metals is through the process starting from local volume change and then local shear softening to the final breakdown. The implications derived from this study and its applications to other disordered systems such as granular matters and nanocrystalline materials will be briefly mentioned. --------------------------------------------------------------------------------Mo Li received his Ph.D. in applied physics in 1994 from California Institute of Technology. He joined Morgan Stanley & Co. in New York after a brief stays as a postdoctoral fellow at Caltech and the Argonne National Laboratory. From 1998 to 2001 he was an assistant professor at the Johns Hopkins University. Currently he is an associate professor at Georgia Institute of Technology. His research focuses on mechanical properties of amorphous solids and nano-scaled materials, phase transitions in metastable systems, interfaces, and statistical physics and its applications. The approaches used in his research are a blend of those from statistical physics, solid state physics, materials science, metallurgy, mechanics and computational methods. His research focuses on algorithm development, simulation, and theoretical analysis.
Location: Stauffer Science Lecture Hall, Rm 102
Audiences: Everyone Is Invited
Contact: April Mundy
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Toyon Research Corporation: Advanced Target Tracking Solutions and Homeland Security Applications
Thu, Oct 04, 2007 @ 11:00 AM - 12:00 PM
Ming Hsieh Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering
Conferences, Lectures, & Seminars
Abstract:
Toyon Research Corporation (Santa Barbara, CA) provides engineering & systems analyses, utility studies, and technology development for a variety of government research programs. In our presentation, we will present projects focusing on two technology areas related to homeland security: (1) embedded image processing on wireless sensors and (2) facility protection.One common sensor modality for homeland security applications is video. While imaging sensors are the de facto standard for security and monitoring applications, their ability to be used for persistent surveillance is severely limited. This is largely due to the fact thatan operator must continuously monitor the output of a sensor to determine if a target of interest (TOI) is present. This is time consuming, tedious work that is unacceptable for operating personnel, who are already overburdened. Continuous monitoring by an operator will cause attention to fade and operators will miss potential threats. Additionally, high data bandwidth requirements can make imaging sensors difficult to deploy in large numbers for certain applications; but, a high sensor count is essential for large tactical persistent surveillance. In this talk we provide an overview of Toyon's work in automated image processing as well as work on wireless data transport. Toyon's focus in wireless communications is the translation of novel physical layer waveforms to FPGA-based processors in order to meet size, weight, and power requirements of many embedded applications.For the past ten years, Toyon Research's Homeland Security group has also worked on several applications related to protecting high-value facilities from chemical, biological, radiological and explosive threats. Toyon's work has focused on designing protective systems composed of employing advanced technologies as well as advanced techniques, tactics and procedures (TTP's) for first responders and security personnel. In this talk, we will also describe the overall design approach, discuss some specific experiences and suggest some general problems encountered in designing and implementing these protective systems. Host: Prof. Sanjit Mitra
Location: Hughes Aircraft Electrical Engineering Center (EEB) - 248
Audiences: Everyone Is Invited
Contact: Talyia Veal
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An Overview of the Ohio Supercomputer Center, and a Discussion of Ongoing Research in Video Annotati
Fri, Oct 05, 2007 @ 10:30 AM - 11:30 AM
Ming Hsieh Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering
Conferences, Lectures, & Seminars
Stanley C. Ahalt, Ph.D.
Ohio State UniversityAbstract:In this talk I will provide an overview of the Ohio Supercomputer Center (OSC), including a description of some of the ongoing development and research projects that have been initiated while I have been the Executive Director at OSC. OSC provides shared high performance computing and networking for Ohio's scientific and engineering communities. The Center effectively leverages these resources on a collaborative basis to procure significant extramural funding for the Center and a wide range of university and business collaborators in Ohio. In the past four years OSC has built a strong national reputation for providing training, scientific computing, and research services to both Ohio and national collaborators. Additionally, OSC has played a major role in bringing new research communities, such as signal and image processing, to HPC and has provided national leadership in HPC as applied to industrial applications through its Blue Collar Computing (BCC) initiative. OSC and the Third Frontier Network (OSCnet) were recently cited in a 2006 Battelle report as a key collaborative center that marks Ohio's strength in information technology. I will also provide an overview of some of my personal research that has been conducted while I have been at OSC, concentrating on work in video annotation.Biography:Stanley C. Ahalt, Ph.D., oversees high performance computing, networking, and research operations as executive director of the Ohio Supercomputer Center (OSC). Since taking the leadership of OSC in 2003, Ahalt has launched several nationally recognized programs, including Blue Collar Computing, a national program to bring high performance computing to a wide spectrum of industries and applications, and OSCnet, the nation's leading high-speed research network for K-12, higher education and economic development.Ahalt's research expertise involves signal/image/video processing and object identification high performance computing, and neural networks. He has authored or co-authored more than 120 technical papers. Ahalt also serves as the academic lead in the area of signal and image processing for the Department of Defense (DoD) High Performance Computing Modernization Program. This initiative provides essential support for the wide variety of research and development demands that arise from the science and technology programs supporting DoD's development and support systems. Ahalt collaborates with a variety of organizations in his active research programs, including the Army Research Laboratory, Wright Patterson Air Force Base, and the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency.
Ahalt has been a professor in the Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering at The Ohio State University since 1987, and co-founded the Information Processing Systems Laboratory at OSU. He received the OSU Lumley Research Award in 1997 and the OSU College of Engineering Research Award in 1999. Prior to joining OSU, Ahalt worked at Bell Telephone Laboratories where he developed industrial data products.
Location: Hughes Aircraft Electrical Engineering Center (EEB) - 248
Audiences: Everyone Is Invited
Contact: Talyia Veal
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Honors Colloquium: Electronic Music and Objecthood
Fri, Oct 05, 2007 @ 01:00 PM - 01:50 PM
Viterbi School of Engineering Student Affairs
Conferences, Lectures, & Seminars
Lecture offered by Dr Joanna Demers, Assistant Professor of Musicology at the Thornton School of Music.
Location: Olin Hall of Engineering (OHE) - 122
Audiences: Honors Program Students and all Faculty and Staff are invited to attend
Contact: Erika Chua
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Implications of Incidental and Manufactured Nanoscale Materials during Wastewater Treatment
Fri, Oct 05, 2007 @ 01:00 PM - 02:00 PM
Sonny Astani Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering
Conferences, Lectures, & Seminars
Speaker:
Ganesh Rajagopalan, Ph.D.,
Project Manager,
Kennedy/Jenks Consultants,
Irvine, CAAbstractThe efficiency of various wastewater treatment processes is significantly influenced by particle size distribution. Most studies performed in the past decades focused on the role of micron-scale particles size distribution in treatment process optimization. A huge-knowledge gap exists in the role of nanoscale suspended particles in wastewater treatment. Due to rapid growth of nanotechnology, commercial and industrial products containing nanoscale materials are exponentially increasing in the market place. The projected market for nanomaterials containing products by year 2015 is expected to exceed $1 trillion. It is reasonable to assume that, due to the growth of nanotechnology, more and more nanoscale materials may be released into the wastewater streams in the future. Hence, it is essential to understand the role of nanoscale particles to optimize wastewater treatment processes. This presentation will summarize available data on the impacts of biogenic and manufactured nanoscale particles on various unit processes, and highlight the research needs to address the data gaps.
Location: Kaprielian Hall (KAP) - rielian Hall 209
Audiences: Everyone Is Invited
Contact: Evangeline Reyes
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BME 533 Seminar Series (NO CLASS, COLUMBUS DAY)
Mon, Oct 08, 2007 @ 12:30 PM - 01:50 PM
Alfred E. Mann Department of Biomedical Engineering
Conferences, Lectures, & Seminars
Location: Olin Hall of Engineering (OHE) - 132
Audiences: students registered in BME 533
Contact: Mischalgrace Diasanta
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On Instability Waves and the Noise Generated by Turbulent Jets
Wed, Oct 10, 2007 @ 03:30 PM - 04:30 PM
Aerospace and Mechanical Engineering
Conferences, Lectures, & Seminars
Tim Colonius Mechanical Engineering Department California Institute of TechnologyPasadena, CA Reduction of jet noise remains an important goal for commercial and military aircraft, as well as a challenging problem for experimental and computational fluid dynamics. We present analysis and results from recent experiments that suggest that the pressure fluctuations associated with large-scale structures in turbulent jets are well modeled by linear instability waves of the mean velocity profile. An 80 microphone phased-array was used to measure pressure fluctuations just outside the jet shear layers of turbulent jets over a range of subsonic Mach numbers and temperature ratios. Measured pressures are decomposed into azimuthal modes and compared to predictions of linear instability theory based using measured and/or predicted mean flow profiles. Agreement in terms of streamwise evolution, phase speed, and radial decay are demonstrated. The near-field pressure measurements are also projected to the far-field using a Kirchhoff surface approach and compared with the directly measured far-field. We also analyze serrated (chevron) nozzles in an attempt to understand how they reduce low frequency noise. Work supported by the Aeroacoustics Research Consortium and the Naval Air Systems Comma
Location: Stauffer Science Lecture Hall, Rm 102
Audiences: Everyone Is Invited
Contact: April Mundy
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Lyman Handy Colloquium Series
Thu, Oct 11, 2007 @ 12:30 PM - 01:50 PM
Mork Family Department of Chemical Engineering and Materials Science
Conferences, Lectures, & Seminars
Elucidating the Control Mechanism for DNA damage repair with the p53-Mdm2 system:
Single Cell Data Analysis and Ensemble Modeling The p53-Mdm2 system, which plays a crucial role in DNA damage repair, is one of the best-studied of the "negative feedback motifs" known to be present in human cells (see for example, Piette, et al, 1997; Vogelstein et al, 2000; and Michael and Oren, 2003). Such studies typically involve perturbing cell populations with appropriate stimuli and monitoring total population response with immunoblots. Often such measurements of ensemble behavior are sufficient for understanding the molecular mechanism underlying the phenomenon in question. In the case of DNA damage repair using the p53-Mdm2 system however, Lahav et al, (2004), recently published experimental evidence that the dynamic behavior of the ensemble is fundamentally different from that of individual cells, creating a dilemma about the underlying control system mechanism.
Location: Olin Hall of Engineering (OHE) - 122
Audiences: Everyone Is Invited
Contact: Petra Pearce Sapir
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Declarative Data Services: This Is Your Data on SOA Dr. Michael Carey - BEA Systems, Inc.
Thu, Oct 11, 2007 @ 04:00 PM - 05:30 PM
Thomas Lord Department of Computer Science
Conferences, Lectures, & Seminars
AbstractWith the current push towards service-oriented architectures (SOA) and process orientation, data seems to be getting lost in the SOA shuffle. At the end of the day, however, most real applications are still about data, and service-oriented applications are no different in this regard. In this talk, we will argue that data services are a critical piece of the SOA application puzzle. The talk will present an approach to SOA data modeling that involves defining a network of related data services. It will also make the case for taking a declarative approach to defining such services, an approach inspired by the success of declarative query languages in the database world. The talk will demonstrate how the proposed approach enables a level of highly performant service composition (and reuse) that is simply
not attainable through other, more traditional approaches. Along the way, the talk will identify industry standards from W3C and other consortia that can be combined to provide a standards-based foundation for data services. It will end with a brief discussion of open problems that contain opportunities for academic research contributions.Biography
Michael J. Carey is a Senior Engineering Director on the AquaLogic side of BEA Sytems, Inc. Dr. Carey is currently the chief architect for BEA's AquaLogic Data Services Platform product. Prior to joining BEA in 2001, Dr. Carey spent a dozen years on the University of Wisconsin-Madison computer science faculty, five years as an IBM Almaden database researcher and research manager, and a year and a half working under various inflated titles at an e-commerce software startup, Propel Software. Dr. Carey is an ACM Fellow, a member of the National Academy of Engineering, and a past recipient of the ACM SIGMOD Edgar F. Codd Innovations Award and the ACM SIGMOD Contributions Award. He has co-authored over one hundred conference and journal articles on topics related to database management systems and
middleware.Location: Seaver Science Library (SSL) - 150
Audiences: Everyone Is Invited
Contact: Jason Dziegielewski
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EE Students Practical Guide Seminar Series - The Start-up Company Experience
Fri, Oct 12, 2007 @ 11:30 AM - 01:30 PM
Ming Hsieh Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering
Conferences, Lectures, & Seminars
Seminar Speakers: Profs. Keith Chugg and Chris KyriakakisOrganizer: Prof. Alan Willner * Pizza will be graciously provided by the EE Department.*This seminar will give an insider's look at the start-up experience. We will describe the process as we experienced it and look at the pros and cons both for starting a new company and also for joining one in the early stages. The presentation will cover early steps that include not only having a good idea, but coming up with a plan on how to develop it and pitch it. The pitch must be tailored differently for individual investors and venture capital firms as they are looking for different things. Selling a technology takes even more work. We will also cover the funding process, building a management and an engineering team, finding customers, and putting together a roadmap of technologies that follow the one that started the company. For those that are considering joining a start-up in the early stages, we will discuss what these companies are looking for in new employees. We intend to have an interactive discussion rather than a lecture, so please come prepared with questions.
Location: Seaver Science Library (SSL) - 150
Audiences: All EE Students
Contact: Gerrielyn Ramos
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Honors Colloquium: Engineering Challenges in a Variety of Interesting Industries
Fri, Oct 12, 2007 @ 01:00 PM - 01:50 PM
Viterbi School of Engineering Student Affairs
Conferences, Lectures, & Seminars
Lecture offered by Mr. Kenneth Thompson, retired Vice President of ARCO.
Location: Olin Hall of Engineering (OHE) - 122
Audiences: Honors Program Students and all Faculty and Staff are invited to attend
Contact: Erika Chua
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An Integrated Approach to Site Characterization of a Fractured ....
Fri, Oct 12, 2007 @ 01:00 PM - 02:00 PM
Sonny Astani Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering
Conferences, Lectures, & Seminars
Granitic Bedrock Aquifer in Southern CaliforniaSpeaker:
Mr. Theodore R Johnson III,
Hazardous Substances Engineering Geologist,
CalEPA, Cypress, CA.Abstract:Fractured granitic aquifers are one of the most challenging geologic environments to characterize and remediate. At great expense and countless hours of site investigation, fractured granitic sites remain geologically complex with a great deal of uncertainty regarding contaminant fate and transport. As the science and technologies develop we are gaining a better understanding as to the physical, hydrological, and chemical nature of fractured granitic bedrock aquifer systems. Successful characterization of fractured bedrock sites rely on effective integration of a number of effective basic investigative tools: Lineament analysis (macro view); structural mapping of fractures (micro view); surface (resistivity and seismic) and downhole geophysical tools; evaluation of corehole data; groundwater sampling; fracture inter-connectivity tests; and evolution of the Site Conceptual Model. These data are being used to generate site-specific interpretation models relating several independent rock properties (fracture orientation, aperture, density, etc.) to hydrologic properties of the fractured granitic aquifer system (permeability, storage, and water quality). This presentation provides a case history of an ongoing site characterization at a fractured-bedrock aquifer site where investigative techniques are effectively integrated using a combination of techniques to iteratively mold the Site Conceptual Model and ultimately lead to effective and efficient remedial alternative implementation.Location: Kaprielian Hall (KAP) - reilian Hall, Room 209
Audiences: Everyone Is Invited
Contact: Evangeline Reyes
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BME 533 Seminar Series: Julia Ljubimova,, Ph.D. (guest speaker)
Mon, Oct 15, 2007 @ 12:30 PM - 01:50 PM
Alfred E. Mann Department of Biomedical Engineering
Conferences, Lectures, & Seminars
Guest speaker: Julia Ljubimova, Ph.D., Director of Molecular Oncology, Department of Neurosurgery,
Cedars-Sinai Medical Center, Los Angeles:
“Novel Drug Delivery: Nanoconjugate Polycefin for Inhibition of Tumor Growth in Vivoâ€Â
Location: Olin Hall of Engineering (OHE) - 132
Audiences: students registered in BME 533
Contact: Mischalgrace Diasanta
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Toward the characterization of snowpack from space-borne satellite measurements: ...
Tue, Oct 16, 2007 @ 02:00 PM - 03:00 PM
Sonny Astani Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering
Conferences, Lectures, & Seminars
A multi-frequency multi-scale data assimilation approachSpeaker:
Prof. Steve Margulis,
Dept. of Civil & Environmental Engineering
UCLAAbstract:
The cryosphere represents an important component of the Earth system, with 30% of the overall global land surface covered seasonally by snow (which greatly impacts surface albedo and hence surface energy partitioning) and one-sixth of the global population living in areas where streamflow is dominated by snowmelt runoff (which in some cases makes up more than 75% of the annual water supply). Hence the ability to accurately characterize the snowpack state over large regions has significant implications for weather, climate, and water resources planning. Traditionally, snow water equivalent (SWE) estimation by water agencies has been done using data from snow surveys (performed at select locations in space and periodically during the winter months) in conjunction with regressions based on the historical record. These methods can be inaccurate due to sampling problems and the fact that regression-based schemes are suspect in the context of a changing climate. In the last couple of decades researchers have begun exploring the ability to map snowpack states using space-borne remote sensing measurements. These efforts generally include techniques to either map the presence/absence of snow or retrieve the snow water equivalent. These techniques generally do not provide the desired quantity (SWE) at the necessary resolution and accuracy over large scales. Here we discuss recent work aimed at attempting to assess the feasibility of estimating snowpack characteristics in mountainous terrain by merging remote sensing data spanning the electromagnetic spectrum from the visible to the microwave with process models describing the evolution of the distributed snowpack and its associated radiative transfer. Some future implications of the work include improved lead-time water supply forecasts as well as initial conditions in seasonal climate forecasts.
Location: Kaprielian Hall (KAP) - rielian Hall, 355
Audiences: Everyone Is Invited
Contact: Evangeline Reyes
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CS Colloquia: The Price of Stability for Network Design
Tue, Oct 16, 2007 @ 04:00 PM - 05:30 PM
Thomas Lord Department of Computer Science
Conferences, Lectures, & Seminars
Title: The Price of Stability for Network Design
Speaker: Prof. Elliot Anshelevich(RPI)ABSTRACT:
Network design is a fundamental problem for which it is important to
understand the effects of strategic behavior. Given a collection of
self-interested agents who want to form a network connecting certain
endpoints, the set of stable solutions (the Nash equilibria) may look quite
different from the centrally enforced optimum. We study the price of
stability, i.e. the quality of the best Nash equilibrium compared to the
optimum network cost. The best Nash equilibrium solution has a natural meaning
of stability in this context: it is the optimal solution that can be proposed
from which no user will "deviate".We consider two versions of this game: one where agents may divide the cost of
the edges they use in any manner they desire, and one where the cost of each
such edge is divided equally between the agents whose connections make use of
it. In the first version, determining whether or not a Nash equilibrium exists
is NP-complete. However, when the goal of each player is to connect a terminal
to a common source, we prove that there is a Nash equilibrium as cheap as the
optimal network, and give a polynomial time algorithm to find a
(1+epsilon)-approximate Nash equilibrium that does not cost much more. In the
second version, however, a Nash equilibrium always exists and can be achieved
via best-response dynamics. In this version we can show a tight bound of O(log
k) on the price of stability (where k is the number of agents). I will discuss
these results and possibly mention some extensions as well.This is joint work with: Bugra Caskurlu, Anirban Dasgupta, Jon Kleinberg, Eva
Tardos, Tom Wexler, and Tim RoughgardenBIO:
Elliot Anshelevich is an Assistant Professor in Computer Science at
Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute. He received his Ph.D. from Cornell
University in 2005, working under the direction of Jon Kleinberg and Eva
Tardos. After receiving the NSF Postdoctoral Fellowship in Mathematics, he
spent a year at Princeton University working with Moses Charikar. His research
interests focus on algorithms for large decentralized networks, including
networks with strategic agents. Particular interests include: network design
problems, algorithmic game theory, local and decentralized routing algorithms,
approximation algorithms, graph algorithms, and information propagation in
both social and computer networks.
Location: Seaver Science Library (SSL) - 150
Audiences: Everyone Is Invited
Contact: CS Colloquia
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Highly Nonlinear Dynamics in Solids: a new Horizon in Wave Propagation
Wed, Oct 17, 2007 @ 03:30 PM - 04:30 PM
Aerospace and Mechanical Engineering
Conferences, Lectures, & Seminars
Chiara Daraio Assistant Professor of Aeronautics and Applied PhysicsCalifornia Institute of TechnologyPasadena, CA The discovery of novel highly nonlinear dynamic phenomena in multiscale artificial composite systems (metamaterials) will be presented. Emphasis will be given to the new tunable properties provided by the high nonlinearity in the specific cases of granular materials and carbon nanotubes. This research was conducted for designing and constructing optimized macro-, micro- and nano-scale structural configurations of materials and for studying their nonlinear acoustic behavior. Variation of composite arrangements of the fundamental elements with different elastic properties in a linear 1-D chain-of-spheres, Y-junction or 3-D configurations led to a variety of novel physical phenomena and interesting wave properties. Potential applications can be found in the area of mechanical, structural and biomedical engineering as well as security and communications systems. The characterization of mechanical and electronic properties of carbon nanostructures with different atomic arrangements and microstructures, exhibiting an exciting highly nonlinear behavior, will also be discussed. --------------------------------------------------------------------------------Chiara Daraio's interests reside at the interface of materials science, condensed matter physics and solid mechanics, particularly in the design, development and testing of multi-scale metamaterials; phononic crystals; responsive soft matter; highly nonlinear solitary waves; mechanical and electronic properties of nano and biomaterials. http://www.daraio.caltech.edu She received her Laurea degree (Equivalent to a master degree) in Mechanical Engineering from the Universita' di Ancona, Universita' Politecnica delle Marche, Ancona, Italy (2001). She received her M.S. (2003) and Ph.D. degrees (2006) in Materials Science and Engineering from the University of California, San Diego. She has been a guest researcher at the Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratories, NCEM, since 2003 and won several awards. Among these, she is a Gold Medal winner of the MRS Graduate Student Award (2005) and winner of the AIM young investigator award (2006). She published over 30 peer reviewed papers, one book chapter and one patent.
Location: Stauffer Science Lecture Hall, Rm 102
Audiences: Everyone Is Invited
Contact: April Mundy
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Interference Alignment and Degrees of Freedom of Wireless Networks
Fri, Oct 19, 2007 @ 11:00 AM - 12:00 PM
Ming Hsieh Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering
Conferences, Lectures, & Seminars
SPEAKER: Professor Syed Jafar, University of California, IrvineABSTRACT: The talk will present new insights into the capacity of fully connected wireless networks with finite number of nodes through capacity approximations that are accurate to within a bounded constant for all SNR. While the best known outerbound for the K user interference channel states that there cannot be more than K/2 degrees of freedom, it has been conjectured that in general the constant interference channel with any number of users has only one degree of freedom. In this talk, we show that K/2 degrees of freedom can be achieved by channel design, i.e. if the nodes are allowed to choose the best constant, finite and non-zero channel coefficient values. Even if channel coefficients cannot be controlled by the nodes but are selected by nature, i.e., randomly drawn from a continuous distribution, the total number of spatial degrees of freedom for the K user interference channel is almost surely K/2 per orthogonal time and frequency dimension. In other words we will show how to achieve K/2 interference free channels per time and frequency dimension in a K user interference network of single antenna nodes. Thus, only half the spatial degrees of freedom are lost due to distributed processing of transmitted and received signals on the interference channel. We will also characterize the benefits of cognitive message sharing among nodes from a degrees of freedom perspective.BIO: Syed Ali Jafar received the B. Tech. degree in Electrical Engineering from the Indian Institute of Technology (IIT), Delhi, India in 1997, the M.S. degree in Electrical Engineering from California Institute of Technology (Caltech) , Pasadena USA in 1999, and the Ph.D. degree in Electrical Engineering from Stanford University, Stanford, CA USA in 2003. His industry experience includes positions at Lucent Bell Labs , Qualcomm Inc. and Hughes Software Systems . He is currently an Assistant Professor in the Department of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science at the University of California Irvine, Irvine, CA USA. His research interests include multiuser information theory and wireless communications. Dr. Jafar received the NSF CAREER award and the UC Irvine Engineering Faculty of the Year award in 2006. Dr. Jafar serves as the Editor for Wireless Communication Theory and CDMA for the IEEE Transactions on Communications.Host: Giuseppe Caire, caire@usc.edu
Location: Hughes Aircraft Electrical Engineering Center (EEB) - 248
Audiences: Everyone Is Invited
Contact: Mayumi Thrasher
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Geological Perspectives of Global Climate Change – An Update
Fri, Oct 19, 2007 @ 01:00 PM - 02:00 PM
Sonny Astani Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering
Conferences, Lectures, & Seminars
Speaker:Dr. Lee C. Gerhard,
Principal Geologist,
Kansas Geological SurveyAbstract:Objective evaluation of recent data suggests that review of the popular anthropogenic climate change control hypothesis is required. One response to new conflicting data has been to argue that the human component is operative only over the last thirty years, thus obviating the need to explain discrepancies between carbon dioxide buildup and temperature variations over the last century and beyond.Review will focus upon the answers to several questions. Is there any unequivocal data that support anthropogenic control of climate change? Is there any significant difference in the behavior of current climate compared to past climate? Is the range of current climate change greater than past climate change? Are sea levels and weather patterns significantly different from the recent past? Can the large-scale climate models be tested against recorded history? Are the data used accurate and are data series length adequate to form conclusions? What natural forces can explain temperature variations?Previously the anthropogenic hypothesis has not been testable. Two very recent statements have argued that future annual temperatures will exceed the 1999 (1934) maximum 50% of the time, and that sea levels will rise about one meter in the next approximately one hundred years owing to climate warming, no matter the cause. In contrast, there have been predictions of imminent cooling by 2020 owing to solar intensity decline (solar cycle 25), and one prediction of a cooling cycle that will last for decades. While neither statement tests the anthropogenic hypothesis, they are global warming statements that can be tested against global cooling or stabilityClimate continues to change as it always has. Much alarm has been raised about the impacts of climate change, without consideration of current climate in its historical context. Do we live in the ideal climate?
Location: Kaprielian Hall (KAP) - rielian Hall, Room 156
Audiences: Everyone Is Invited
Contact: Evangeline Reyes
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BME 533 Seminar Series: Clara Lajonchere, Ph.D. (guest speaker)
Mon, Oct 22, 2007 @ 12:30 PM - 01:50 PM
Alfred E. Mann Department of Biomedical Engineering
Conferences, Lectures, & Seminars
Guest speaker: Clara Lajonchere, Ph.D., Director of Clinical Research, Cure Autism Now, and Research Asst
Professor of Biomedical Engineering, USC:
"Engineering applications in Autism Research"
Location: Olin Hall of Engineering (OHE) - 132
Audiences: Everyone Is Invited
Contact: Mischalgrace Diasanta
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Locating and Quantifying Sources of Air Pollution by Nonparametric Trajectory Analysis
Tue, Oct 23, 2007 @ 02:00 PM - 04:00 PM
Sonny Astani Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering
Conferences, Lectures, & Seminars
Oral Defense by:Babak Pazokifard
Ph.D. Candidate
Environmental Engineering, USC Abstract:
In order to improve air quality, it is necessary to identify the sources of airborne pollution. Local emissions are more controllable compared to regional emissions which may not even be in the same city or state as the impacted area. By knowing and reducing local emissions, even without completely eliminating them, air quality may be greatly improved.
There are generally two types of air quality models used to evaluate the impact of emissions on air quality on a local, regional, and global scale: traditional source-oriented models and receptor models. Source-oriented models require detailed information on emission composition and rates and also meteorological data. On the other hand, receptor models use chemical fingerprints to quantify sources affecting the monitoring site. This type of model does not consider the meteorological conditions such as wind speed and direction, which reduces the accuracy of locating the sources of air pollution. Receptor models cannot be used for some simple pollutants such as SO2 due to the lack of chemical fingerprints. Therefore, these models have some shortcomings in quantifying the emission sources on smaller scales. This is especially true when there are changes in emission rate and composition of sources and also for some hard to identify sources such as windblown dust and construction activities due to lack of chemical analysis.
This study proposes a new hybrid receptor model. Unlike source-oriented models, this model uses short time average observations of pollutant concentrations. And unlike conventional receptor models, this model uses meteorological data such as wind speed and wind direction. The goal is identification and quantification of local sources of emissions.
In order to identify the location of emission sources, back trajectories are calculated by using wind speed and wind direction from one or more monitoring sites. The points on each back trajectory are associated with the pollutant concentration when the trajectory arrives at the monitor. The average value of the pollutant at the monitor, given that air has passed near a geographical point on a grid, is calculated by nonparametric regression of the pollutant concentrations over all the back trajectories passing near the point for the period of interest. Using multiple monitors increases the reliability of back trajectories by combining metrological data. This will help expanding the range of back trajectories and reduced the error if one set of data is not available or unreliable.
The method is illustrated by application to 1-minute SO2 data from Long Beach, CA and 1-minute PM10 data from Rubidoux, CA along with meteorological data from 29 sites. The results identify the location of a refinery around the Port of Long Beach and the Port of Los Angeles with high emission of SO2. Using the Rubidoux data, emission sources are located at aggregate, ready mix, and asphalt factory and also at excavation and construction sites.Location: Kaprielian Hall (KAP) - reilian Hall 444
Audiences: Everyone Is Invited
Contact: Evangeline Reyes
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CS Colloquia: Filtering Spam with Behavioral Blacklisting
Tue, Oct 23, 2007 @ 04:00 PM - 05:30 PM
Thomas Lord Department of Computer Science
Conferences, Lectures, & Seminars
Title: Filtering Spam with Behavioral BlacklistingSpeaker: Prof. Nick Feamster(GATECH)ABSTRACT:
Spam filters often use the reputation of an IP address (or IP address
range) to classify email senders. This approach worked well when most
spam originated from senders with fixed IP addresses, but
spam today is also sent from IP addresses for which blacklist
maintainers have outdated or inaccurate information (or no information
at all). Spam campaigns also involve many senders, reducing the amount
of spam any particular IP address sends to a single domain; this method
allows spammers to stay ''under the radar''. The dynamism of any
particular IP address begs for blacklisting techniques that
automatically adapt as the senders of spam change.We present SpamTracker, a spam filtering system that uses a new technique
called behavioral blacklisting to classify email senders based on their
sending behavior rather than their identity. Spammers cannot evade
SpamTracker merely by using ''fresh'' IP addresses because blacklisting
decisions are based on sending patterns, which tend to remain more invariant.
SpamTracker uses fast clustering algorithms that react quickly to changes in
sending patterns. We evaluate SpamTracker's ability to classify spammers using
email logs for over 115 email domains; we find that SpamTracker can correctly
classify many spammers missed by current filtering techniques.BIO:
Nick Feamster is an assistant professor in the College of Computing at Georgia
Tech. He received his Ph.D. in Computer science from MIT in 2005, and his S.B.
and M.Eng. degrees in Electrical Engineering and Computer Science from MIT in
2000 and 2001, respectively. His research focuses on many aspects of computer
networking and networked systems, including the design, measurement, and
analysis of network routing protocols, network security, anonymous
communication systems, and adaptive streaming media protocols. His honors
include award papers at SIGCOMM 2006 (network-level behavior of spammers), the
NSDI 2005 conference (fault detection in router configuration), Usenix
Security 2002 (circumventing web censorship using Infranet), and Usenix
Security 2001 (web cookie analysis). He is also the recipient of an IBM
Faculty Award.Location: Seaver Science Library (SSL) - 150
Audiences: Everyone Is Invited
Contact: CS Colloquia
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The Ubiquitous Dipole: A New Paradigm for Solar Energy Conversion
Thu, Oct 25, 2007 @ 12:45 PM
Mork Family Department of Chemical Engineering and Materials Science
Conferences, Lectures, & Seminars
Professor Anupam MadhukarMork Family Department of Chemical Engineering and Materials Science,
University of Southern CaliforniaAbstract
The quantum mechanics and economics of the conversion of solar light to energy in naturally occurring entities (plants and organisms) or
man-made solar cells do not as yet provide efficient and affordable power. In this talk I shall provide an exposition of the fundamental light-induced processes in biotic and abiotic matter, approaches to current photovoltaic solar cells, and discuss a new physical mechanism which may provide a viable means.
Location: Olin Hall of Engineering (OHE) - 122
Audiences: Everyone Is Invited
Contact: Petra Pearce Sapir
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CS Colloquia: Autonomous Planetary Exploration using Irregular Triangular Mesh
Thu, Oct 25, 2007 @ 04:00 PM - 05:30 PM
Thomas Lord Department of Computer Science
Conferences, Lectures, & Seminars
Title: Autonomous Planetary Exploration using Irregular Triangular MeshSpeaker: Dr. Ioannis Rekleitis (CSA)ABSTRACT:
In this talk, I am going to present work done
at the Canadian Space Agency. In particular, our approach to planetary
exploration together with the challenges we face is going to be discussed.
Our objective is autonomous over-the-horizon navigation using a laser
based vision sensor. With the term over-the-horizon, we mean locations
beyond the sensor's reach. Central to our efforts is the task of
developing the autonomous capabilities of space robotic systems and in
particular of planetary rovers. In order for a rover to be fully
autonomous it has to be able to sense its environment, reason about the
terrain it faces, plan a path, and navigate safely along the planned
trajectory. In order to avoid the problems of harsh lighting conditions
and to produce scientific valuable topographical maps in medium scale, we
have selected the use of a laser based vision sensor. In this part of the
talk I am going to present our successful autonomous
experiments in over-the-horizon navigation in CSA's Mars-like terrain.BIO:
Ioannis Rekleitis is currently a Visiting Fellow at the Canadian Space Agency
and Adjunct Professor at the School of Computer Science, McGill University.
Between 2002
and 2003, he was a Postdoctoral Fellow at the Carnegie Mellon University
in the Sensor Based Planning Lab with Professor Howie Choset. He was
granted his Ph.D. from the School of Computer Science, McGill University,
Montreal, Quebec, Canada in 2002 under the supervision of Professors
Gregory Dudek and Evangelos Milios. Thesis title: "Cooperative
Localization and Multi-Robot Exploration". He finished his M.Sc. in McGill
University in the field of Computer Vision in 1995. He was granted his
B.Sc. in 1991 from the Department of Informatics, University of Athens,
Greece. His Research has focused on mobile robotics and in particular in
the area of cooperating intelligent agents with application to multi-robot
cooperative localization, mapping, exploration and coverage. His interests
extend to computer vision and sensor networks.Location: Seaver Science Library (SSL) - 150
Audiences: Everyone Is Invited
Contact: CS Colloquia
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Third Annual Student Research Symposium
Fri, Oct 26, 2007 @ 10:00 AM - 03:00 PM
Mork Family Department of Chemical Engineering and Materials Science
Conferences, Lectures, & Seminars
Mork FamilyDepartment of Chemical Engineering and Materials ScienceThird Annual Student Research SymposiumFriday, October 26, 2007
Doheny Library, Room 240
(Friends Lecture Hall)Event Schedule10:00 am - 12:00 pm Oral Presentations12:00 pm - 2:30 pm Lunch and Poster Session2:30 pm - 3:00 pm Awards CeremonyUniversity of Southern California
Mork Family Department of Chemical
Engineering and Materials Science
925 Bloom Walk, HED-216
Los Angeles, CA 90089-1211
http://chems.usc.eduLocation: Estelle Doheny Eye Foundation (DOH) - eny Library, Room 240
Audiences: Everyone Is Invited
Contact: Petra Pearce Sapir
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Breathing Rocks: The Role of Microbes in Iron Geochemistry
Fri, Oct 26, 2007 @ 01:00 PM - 02:00 PM
Sonny Astani Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering
Conferences, Lectures, & Seminars
Speaker:Everett Salas,
Advanced Ph.D. Candidate,
Geobiology, USCIron is one of the most geochemically important elements on the Earth's surface, making up almost 5 weight percent of most sedimentary environments. Iron can exist in redox states that allow it to transform easily under conditions found in natural sedmimentary and aquatic environments. Iron (hydr)oxides are improtant sorbents of trace metals usch as Al, Cd, Co, Pb, Zn, As and U. As such, any changes in the state of iron oxides in soils can have a major impact on the mobility of these trace metals, many of which are considered to be pollutants. Microbes are known to play an important role in the redox cycling of iron. Undertanding the extent to which microbial iron reduction dissolves or produces minerals that are able to immobilize these metals can provide further insight into the impact that iron reducers may have in contaiminated subsurface environments.Location: Kaprielian Hall (KAP) - rielian Hall, Room 209
Audiences: Everyone Is Invited
Contact: Evangeline Reyes
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Overview of SIGINT Operations and Research Opportunities
Fri, Oct 26, 2007 @ 02:00 PM - 03:00 PM
Ming Hsieh Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering
Conferences, Lectures, & Seminars
Speaker: Bill NeadAbstract:
The main purpose of this talk is to optimize university research and assist with establishing an academic outreach program to best support the warfighters' needs on preparing the Battlespace, Multi-INT collection management, processing techniques, and reporting. Visit introduction will include a detailed overview of the Intelligence Community as it relates to Multi-INT operations and how SIGINT Operations play a critical role.Speaker Bio:
Mr. Bill Nead is Chief Scientist for the Signals Intelligence Systems Acquisition and Operations (SIGINT) Directorate at the National Reconnaissance Office (NRO) located at Chantilly, Virginia where the NRO develops and operates unique and innovative space reconnaissance systems and conducts related activities essential for U.S. national security. The SIGINT Directorate provides full life-cycle acquisition and operations support for all overhead SIGINT systems. As Chief Scientist, he is responsible for identifying and implementing new and future technologies, architectures, and algorithms and their application to a national intelligence system that improves Global Situational Awareness and providing intelligence on timelines responsive to user needs.
Hosted by Prof. Jay Kuo
Location: Hughes Aircraft Electrical Engineering Center (EEB) - 248
Audiences: Everyone Is Invited
Contact: Talyia Veal
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BME 533 Seminar Series: Morton Freedman, Ph.D. (guest speaker)
Mon, Oct 29, 2007 @ 12:30 PM - 01:50 PM
Alfred E. Mann Department of Biomedical Engineering
Conferences, Lectures, & Seminars
Guest speaker: Morton Freedman, Ph.D., Professor of Biomedical Engineering, Duke University, Durham, NC:
"Fluid Dynamics and Atherogenesis: Toward a Definition of Disturbed Flow"
Location: Olin Hall of Engineering (OHE) - 132
Audiences: students registered in BME 533
Contact: Mischalgrace Diasanta
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Perceptual Image Segmentation
Tue, Oct 30, 2007 @ 11:00 AM - 12:00 PM
Ming Hsieh Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering
Conferences, Lectures, & Seminars
Wanqing Li, Ph.D.
University of WollongongAbstract:
This talk explores the natural mechanisms by which human beings describe and organize images as a means to
develop a computational model for visual tasks. More specifically, the talk focuses on a model for intermediate
image segmentation. The model combines features derived from psychological considerations with neurophysiological
processes. Psychological characteristics are based on Gestalt psychology, in particular we employ
the gestalt properties of similarity in grey-level, continuity, closure and co-circularity, while physiological
processing is achieved through the use of Hierarchical Cluster Model (HCM). The motivation for such a study
stems from the fact that these initiatives will result in an image processing system closely resembling the human
visual system. An implementation of the model with three level HCM and quantified Gestalt properties will be
described. Experimental results have shown that the proposed model can produce more consistent results to
manual segmentation than the well known JSEG and NCuts methods.Bio:
Wanqing Li received his B.Sc. in physics and electronics and M.Sc. in computer science from Zhejiang
University, China in 1983 and 1987 respectively. He received his PhD in electronic engineering from The
University of Western Australia in 1998. He was a Lecturer from 1987 to 1990 and Associate Professor from
1991 to 1992, both with the Department of Computer Science, Zhejiang University. He joined Motorola
AustralianResearch Centre in 1998 as a Senior Research Engineer and later became a Principal Research
Engineer. Since 2004, he has been a Senior Lecturer with the School of Computer Science and Software
Engineering, University of Wollongong. Dr. Li received Motorola CTO's Award in 2003 and is a co-founder of
the Centre for Multimedia Signal Processing and Content Management at University of Wollongong. His
current research interests include human motion analysis, multimodal biometric cryptosystems and automatic
annotation and retrieval of multimedia content and image/video watermarking.Hosted by Prof. C.C.-Jay KuoLocation: Hughes Aircraft Electrical Engineering Center (EEB) - 248
Audiences: Everyone Is Invited
Contact: Talyia Veal
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Applying Realistic Chemistry in Direct Numerical Simulations
Wed, Oct 31, 2007 @ 03:30 PM - 04:30 PM
Aerospace and Mechanical Engineering
Conferences, Lectures, & Seminars
Tianfeng LuResearch AssociateMechanical and Aerospace Engineering DepartmentPrinceton UniversityDirect numerical simulations (DNS) of reacting flows invoking realistic chemistry
constitute the ultimate approach to produce results of high fidelity. This would allow for the solution of a broad range of problems from first principle such as fuel utilization, pollutant emissions, climate change, as well as biochemical cycles and human health. However, DNS with detailed chemistry has been computationally unaffordable due to the high dimension of variables and the mandatory fine resolutions that are required both spatially and temporally. Recently, DNS of turbulence reactive flows with realistic hydrocarbon fuels have been successfully carried out on supercomputers in collaboration with the Sandia National Laboratories, following a significant reduction in both the dimension and the stiffness of the involved detailed kinetics. Most of the major difficulties being faced in the reduction process, such as variable elimination from largescale
nonlinear systems and analytic solution of quasi steady state equations, have been plaguing the scientific community for decades. To solve each of these problems satisfactorily, we have developed a suite of new techniques involving graph theory, binary integer programming, singular perturbation, and spectral analysis. In this talk, representative components of these methods will be discussed and their potential impacts on other fields will be outlined.
Location: Stauffer Science Lecture Hall, Rm 102
Audiences: Everyone Is Invited
Contact: April Mundy
