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SUNMONTUEWEDTHUFRISAT
Conferences, Lectures, & Seminars
Events for November
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Systems Engineering Research Center Webinar
Wed, Nov 01, 2017 @ 12:00 PM - 01:00 PM
Systems Architecting and Engineering, USC Viterbi School of Engineering
Conferences, Lectures, & Seminars
Speaker: Dr. William L. Scherlis, Institute for Software Research, School of Computer Science, Carnegie Mellon University
Talk Title: The Dilemmas of Cybersecurity---Why is Everything Broken?
Series: SERC Talks
Abstract: There are diverse barriers to advancement of strong cybersecurity, and many of these derive from unresolved conflicts among equities relating to technical means for high assurance, allocation of risk and liability, identity and attribution, deterrence and active defense, product and process evaluation, and diffusion of technology. What are the prospects, from a technical and policy perspective, to address these conflicts in ways that will enable higher levels of security?
Biography: William L. Scherlis is a Professor of Computer Science and Director of the Institute for Software Research (ISR) in the School of Computer Science at Carnegie Mellon University (CMU). He founded and led the CMU PhD Program in Software Engineering for its first decade of operation. He was Acting CTO for the Software Engineering Institute for 2012 and early 2013. Dr. Scherlis completed a Ph.D. in Computer Science at Stanford University, a year at the University of Edinburgh (Scotland) as a John Knox Fellow, and an A.B. at Harvard University in Applied Mathematics. His research relates to software assurance, cybersecurity, software analysis, and assured safe concurrency. Scherlis has testified before Congress on software sustainment, on information technology and innovation, and on roles for a Federal CIO. He interrupted his career at CMU to serve at Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) for six years, departing in 1993 as a senior executive. Scherlis chaired the National Research Council (NRC) study committee that produced the report Critical Code: Software Producibility for Defense in 2010. He served multiple terms as a member of the DARPA Information Science and Technology Study Group (ISAT). He has been an advisor to major IT companies and a founder of CMU spin-off companies. Scherlis is a Fellow of the IEEE and a lifetime National Associate of the National Academy of Sciences. He is a emeritus member of the SERC Research Council in the area of Trusted Systems.
Host: Prof. Barry Boehm
More Info: http://www.sercuarc.org/events/serc-talks-the-dilemmas-of-cybersecurity-why-is-everything-broken/
Webcast: https://stevensinstitute-events.webex.com/mw3100/mywebex/default.do?nomenu=true&siteurl=stevensinstitute-events&service=6&rnd=0.9897765675296801&main_url=https%3A%2F%2Fstevensinstitute-events.webex.com%2Fec3100%2Feventcenter%2Fevent%2FeventAction.do%3FtheLocation: Event Password: SERC
Audiences: Everyone Is Invited
Contact: James Moore II
Event Link: http://www.sercuarc.org/events/serc-talks-the-dilemmas-of-cybersecurity-why-is-everything-broken/
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Aerospace & Mechanical Engineering Seminar
Wed, Nov 01, 2017 @ 03:30 PM - 04:30 PM
Aerospace and Mechanical Engineering
Conferences, Lectures, & Seminars
Speaker: Antonino Ferrante, Associate Professor, University of Washington
Talk Title: On the Physical Mechanisms of Droplet/Turbulence Interaction
Abstract: The interactions of liquid droplets with turbulence are relevant to both environmental flows and engineering applications, e.g., rain formation and spray combustion. The physical mechanisms of droplet-turbulence interaction are largely unknown. The main goal of this research is to investigate the physical mechanisms of droplet-turbulence interaction for both non-evaporating and evaporating droplets.
Droplets in turbulent flows behave differently from solid particles, e.g., droplets deform, break up, coalesce and have internal fluid circulation. We have developed a new pressure-correction method for simulating incompressible two-fluid flows with large density and viscosity ratios. The method's main advantage is that, for example, on a 10243 mesh, our new pressure--correction method using the FFT-based parallel Poisson solver is forty times faster than the standard method using multigrid. In general, the new pressure-correction method could be coupled with other interface advection methods such as level-set, phase-field, or front-tracking. We have coupled the pressure-correction method with a volume-of-fluid method for its properties of being mass conserving and sharp-capturing of the interface.
We performed direct numerical simulation (DNS) of finite-size, non-evaporating droplets of diameter approximately equal to the Taylor lengthscale in decaying isotropic turbulence. We studied the effects of Weber number, viscosity ratio and density ratio. We derived the turbulence kinetic energy (TKE) equations for the two-fluid, carrier-fluid and droplet-fluid flow. This allows us to explain the pathways for TKE exchange between the carrier turbulent flow and the flow inside the droplet. The role of the interfacial surface energy is explained through the power of surface tension term of the two-fluid TKE equation. Also, we derive the relationship between the power of surface tension and the rate of change of total droplet surface area. This allows us to explain how droplet deformation, breakup and coalescence plays a role on the temporal evolution of TKE. Our DNS results show that increasing Weber number, the droplet to fluid density or viscosity ratios increases the decay rate of the two-fluid TKE relative to that of single-phase flow. Via analysis of the DNS results, the revealed physical mechanisms will be presented.
Recently, we have also extended the volume-of-fluid method to simulate evaporating droplets. The verification and validation of the method and the DNS results will be presented in comparison to theory and experiments.
Biography: Antonino Ferrante is an Associate Professor of the William E. Boeing Department of Aeronautics & Astronautics at the University of Washington (UW). In 2004, he received the Ph.D. in Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering from the University of California, Irvine, where he continued his research as Postdoctoral Scholar until 2007. From 2007 to 2009, he was Postdoctoral Scholar in Aeronautics at the California Institute of Technology at GALCIT. In 2009, he joined the UW as Assistant Professor where was tenured in 2015. Ferrante is recipient of the NSF CAREER Award (2011). His research is focused to the understanding of the physical mechanisms of complex flows, e.g. multiphase and wall-bounded turbulent flows, and enable that through the development of parallel computational methodologies for simulating such flows on supercomputers.
Host: Department of Aerospace and Mechanical Engineering
Location: Seaver Science Library (SSL) - 150
Audiences: Everyone Is Invited
Contact: Ashleen Knutsen
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CAIS Seminar: Dr. Lucas Joppa (Microsoft Research) - AI for Earth
Thu, Nov 02, 2017 @ 04:00 PM - 05:00 PM
Thomas Lord Department of Computer Science
Conferences, Lectures, & Seminars
Speaker: Dr. Lucas Joppa, Microsoft Research
Talk Title: AI for Earth
Series: Center for AI in Society (CAIS) Seminar Series
Abstract: This lecture satisfies requirements for CSCI 591: Research Colloquium.
Time is too short, and resources too thin, to find solutions to our environmental sustainability challenges without the exponential power and assistance of AI. This talk will cover AI's transformative potential for both closing critical information gaps on Earth's natural environments and optimizing our management of them.
Biography: Dr. Lucas Joppa is the Chief Environmental Scientist at Microsoft Research and leads the company's AI for Earth program, an initiative dedicated to leveraging the latest advances in AI research and engineering for solutions in the four key areas of agriculture, climate, water, and biodiversity conservation.
Host: Milind Tambe
Location: Seeley Wintersmith Mudd Memorial Hall (of Philosophy) (MHP) - 101
Audiences: Everyone Is Invited
Contact: Computer Science Department
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Transforming Healthcare with Data
Fri, Nov 03, 2017 @ 08:00 AM - 05:00 PM
Alfred E. Mann Department of Biomedical Engineering
Conferences, Lectures, & Seminars
Speaker: Various , HTE@USC
Talk Title: Transforming Healthcare with Data
Abstract: LOCATION:
Radisson Hotel Los Angeles Midtown at USC
3540 South Figueroa Street
Grand Ballroom
Los Angeles, CA 90007
This conference explores the challenges/opportunities in digital health and will bring together healthcare professionals, data experts, civic leaders, and entrepreneurs to discuss how we can use data-driven solutions and digital technology to improve quality of care.
Tickets and RSVP here https://www.healthdata17.com
Biography: Dr. Sanger, MD, PhD is the opening speaker at 9:00am!
Dr. Sanger is the David L. Lee and Simon Ramo Chair in Health Science and Technology at USC, a provost associate professor of biomedical engineering, neurology and biokinesiology at USC's Viterbi School of Engineering and USC's Keck School of Medicine. Sanger also is an electrical engineer, computational neuroscientist and child neurologist at CHLA.
and
Dr. George Tolomiczenko, Ph.D., M.P.H., M.B.A. an expert in interdisciplinary academic programs, digital health, healthcare innovation and healthcare entrepreneurship is speaking from 4:50pm - 5:30pm.
Host: HTE@USC
More Info: https://www.healthdata17.com
Audiences: Everyone Is Invited
Contact: Nadine Afari
Event Link: https://www.healthdata17.com
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Ming Hsieh Institute Seminar Series on Integrated Systems
Fri, Nov 03, 2017 @ 10:30 AM - 12:00 PM
Ming Hsieh Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering
Conferences, Lectures, & Seminars
Speaker: Dr. Jane Gu, Associate Professor, University of California, Davis
Talk Title: Phase Noise Filter for LO Phase Noise Suppression
Host: Profs. Hossein Hashemi, Mike Chen, Mahta Moghaddam, and Dina El-Damak
More Information: MHI Seminar Series IS - Jane Gu.pdf
Location: Hughes Aircraft Electrical Engineering Center (EEB) - 248
Audiences: Everyone Is Invited
Contact: Jenny Lin
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W.V.T. RUSCH ENGINEERING HONORS COLLOQUIUM
Fri, Nov 03, 2017 @ 01:00 PM - 02:00 PM
USC Viterbi School of Engineering
Conferences, Lectures, & Seminars
Speaker: Dr. Timotei Centea, Postdoctoral Fellow, Dept. of Aerospace and Mechanical Engineering, USC
Talk Title: Advanced Manufacturing of Aerospace Composite
Host: Engineering Honors Program & Dr. Prata
Location: Henry Salvatori Computer Science Center (SAL) - 101
Audiences: Everyone Is Invited
Contact: Su Stevens
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Seminars in Biomedical Engineering
Fri, Nov 03, 2017 @ 02:00 PM - 03:00 PM
Alfred E. Mann Department of Biomedical Engineering
Conferences, Lectures, & Seminars
Speaker: Shannon M. Mumenthaler, Assistant Professor of Medicine, Medicine - USC Westside Prostate Cancer Center
Talk Title: TBA
Abstract: TBA
Biography: Dr. Mumenthaler is an Assistant Professor of Research Medicine at the CAMM. She received a B.S. in Genetics from UC Davis and a Ph.D. in Cellular and Molecular Pathology from UCLA. Although her primary scientific training is in cell biology, Dr. Mumenthaler applies a unique multidisciplinary approach toward her research program, partnering with mathematicians, clinicians, and engineers to explore critical areas in cancer. Her current research interests focus on the development of tools to better understand the evolutionary dynamics of tumor progression and drug resistance with specific investigations into the influence of microenvironmental selective pressures on tumor cell behavior. Toward this goal, Dr. Mumenthaler is closely collaborating with mathematical modelers to combine novel computational platforms with diverse experimental measurements to test and refine biological hypotheses and make clinically relevant predictions.
Host: Brent Liu, PhD
Location: Corwin D. Denney Research Center (DRB) - 145A
Audiences: Everyone Is Invited
Contact: Mischalgrace Diasanta
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Munushian Speaker - Ana Claudia Arias, Friday, November 3rd at 2:00pm in EEB 132
Fri, Nov 03, 2017 @ 02:00 PM - 03:30 PM
Ming Hsieh Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering
Conferences, Lectures, & Seminars
Speaker: Dr. Ana Claudia Arias, University of California, Berkeley
Talk Title: Printed Flexible Wearable Medical Devices
Abstract: Wearable noninvasive medical sensing is extremely promising for monitoring human performance during physically demanding tasks. Printed sensors provide a distinct advantage over rigid sensors at establishing high-fidelity sensor-skin interfaces due to their inherently flexible material systems and form factors. Hence, these sensors are suitable for monitoring vital signs as well as analytes in bodily fluids. We have demonstrated an integrated wearable and flexible multi-sensor platform capable of simultaneous bioelectronic and biophotonic sensing of physiological state of the human body. The sensor platform is
composed of printed photoplethysmography (PPG) and sweat sensors. The PPG sensor uses blade coated red and near-infrared (NIR) organic light-emitting diodes (OLEDs) and an organic photodiode (OPD) to optically measure heart rate and blood oxygenation. The sweat sensor is comprised of printed sodium, ammonium and lactate sensors. The lactate sensor exhibits high sensitivity of 26 uA/mM cm2 with the linear detection range of 1-20 mM of lactate. The sodium and ammonium sensors exhibit near-Nernstian response with sensitivities of 60.0 +/- 4.0 mV (detection range: 1-100 mM) and 56.1 +/- 2.2mV (detection range: 0.1-100 mM) per decade of concentrations, respectively. The sensors are interfaced with a Bluetooth System on Chip for wirelessly reading out sensor data. The complete system is powered by two flexible printed batteries at 8 V and are of 40 mAh capacity. This integrated platform can provide meaningful data to the end-users or healthcare professionals stretching the application domain of wearable sensing beyond the fitness domain to medical diagnostics.
Biography: Dr. Ana Claudia Arias is a Professor at the Electrical Engineering and Computer Sciences Department at the University of California in Berkeley and a faculty director at the Berkeley Wireless Research Center (BWRC) and SWARM lab. Prior to joining the University of California she was the head of the Printed Electronic Devices Area and a Member of Research Staff at PARC, a Xerox Company, Palo Alto, CA. She went to PARC from Plastic Logic in Cambridge, UK where she led the semiconductor group. She received her PhD on semiconducting polymer blends for photovoltaic devices from the Physics Department at the University of Cambridge, UK. Prior to that, she received her master and bachelor degrees in Physics from the Federal University of Paraná in Curitiba, Brazil. Her research focuses on devices based on solution processed materials and applications development for flexible sensors and electronic systems. Ana Claudia is the chair of ThinFilm Electronics Technical Advisory Council and she is an author of over 100 peer reviewed publications and issued patents.
Host: EE-Electrophysics
More Info: minghsiehee.usc.edu/about/lectures/munushian
Location: Hughes Aircraft Electrical Engineering Center (EEB) - 132
Audiences: Everyone Is Invited
Contact: Marilyn Poplawski
Event Link: minghsiehee.usc.edu/about/lectures/munushian
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Astani Civil and Environmental Engineering Seminar
Fri, Nov 03, 2017 @ 03:00 PM - 04:00 PM
Sonny Astani Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering
Conferences, Lectures, & Seminars
Speaker: Dr. Dan Biller,
Talk Title: TBA
Abstract: TBA
Location: Kaprielian Hall (KAP) - 146
Audiences: Everyone Is Invited
Contact: Evangeline Reyes
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Electrical Engineering Seminar
Fri, Nov 03, 2017 @ 03:00 PM - 04:00 PM
Ming Hsieh Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering
Conferences, Lectures, & Seminars
Speaker: Dr Vincent Gripon, IMT Atlantique
Talk Title: Generalizing Convolutional Neural Networks to Graph Domains
Abstract: For the past few years, various works have aimed at tackling the problem of extending Convolutional Neural Networks (CNNs)to irregular domains. In this presentation, we propose to use graphs as an intermediate solution, thus deriving two subproblems: a) identifying a graph given a set of signals and b) defining CNN-like structures given
a graph domain. For both problems we introduce original approaches and discuss their performance.
Biography: Vincent Gripon is a permanent researcher with IMT-Atlantique (Institut Mines-Télécom), Brest, France. He obtained his M.S. from Ãcole Normale Supérieure of Cachan and his Ph.D. from Télécom Bretagne. His research interests lie at the intersection of information
theory, computer science and neural networks. He co-authored about 60 papers in the above-mentioned domains.
Host: Dr. Antonio Ortega
More Information: Vincent Gripon Seminar.pdf
Location: Hughes Aircraft Electrical Engineering Center (EEB) - 248
Audiences: Everyone Is Invited
Contact: Gloria Halfacre
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NL Seminar-Structured Predictions: Practical Advancements and Applications in Natural Language Processing
Fri, Nov 03, 2017 @ 03:00 PM - 04:00 PM
Information Sciences Institute
Conferences, Lectures, & Seminars
Speaker: Kai-Wei Chang , UCLA
Talk Title: Structured Predictions: Practical Advancements and Applications in Natural Language Processing
Series: Natural Language Seminar
Abstract: Many machine learning problems involve making joint predictions over a set of mutually dependent output variables. The dependencies between output variables can be represented by a structure, such as a sequence, a tree, a clustering of nodes, or a graph. Structured prediction models have been proposed for problems of this type. In this talk, I will describe a collection of results that improve several aspects of these approaches. Our results lead to efficient and effective algorithms for learning structured prediction models, which, in turn, support weak supervision signals and improve training and evaluation speed. I will also discuss potential risks and challenges when using structured prediction models
Biography: Kai-Wei Chang is an assistant professor in the Department of Computer Science at the University of California, Los Angeles. He has published broadly in machine learning and natural language processing. His research has mainly focused on designing machine learning methods for handling large and complex data. He has been involved in developing several machine learning libraries, including LIBLINEAR, Vowpal Wabbit, and Illinois-SL. He was an assistant professor at the University of Virginia in 2016-2017. He obtained his Ph.D. from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign in 2015 and was a post-doctoral researcher at Microsoft Research in 2016. Kai-Wei was awarded the EMNLP Best Long Paper Award 2017, KDD Best Paper Award 2010, and the Yahoo! Key Scientific Challenges Award 2011.
Host: Marjan Ghazvininejad and Kevin Knight
More Info: http://kwchang.net
Location: Information Science Institute (ISI) - 11th Flr Conf Rm # 1135, Marina Del Rey
Audiences: Everyone Is Invited
Contact: Peter Zamar
Event Link: http://kwchang.net
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Seminars in Biomedical Engineering
Mon, Nov 06, 2017 @ 12:30 PM - 01:50 PM
Alfred E. Mann Department of Biomedical Engineering
Conferences, Lectures, & Seminars
Speaker: Amir Ahmadi (alumnus, USC BME MS program), Manufacturing Process Engineer, Abbott Laboratories
Talk Title: From the Classroom to the Cleanroom -“ Life as an engineer in the medical device industry
Host: Stacey Finley, PhD
Location: Olin Hall of Engineering (OHE) - 122
Audiences: Everyone Is Invited
Contact: Mischalgrace Diasanta
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Center for Systems and Control (CSC@USC) and Ming Hsieh Institute for Electrical Engineering
Mon, Nov 06, 2017 @ 02:00 PM - 03:00 PM
Ming Hsieh Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering
Conferences, Lectures, & Seminars
Speaker: Jordan Berg, National Science Foundation
Talk Title: Dynamics, Controls, and Robotics Programs at NSF: a Biased Perspective
Series: Fall 2017 Joint CSC@USC/CommNetS-MHI Seminar Series
Abstract: This talk will present several programs in the area of dynamics, control, and robotics at NSF. Dr. Berg is a Program Officer in the Division of Civil, Mechanical, and Manufacturing Innovation in the NSF Engineering Directorate, where he co-directs the Dynamics, Control, and System Diagnostics program. He was the original director of the CMMI Mind, Machine, and Motor Nexus (M3X) program, and he is a Program Director for the National Robotics Initiative (NRI-2.0). Dr. Berg will discuss funding opportunities in these programs, as well as in the new CMMI LEAP-HI program. The talk will provide some general guidelines for choosing between NSF programs in the dynamics, controls, and robotics areas, and will include ample time for Q&A.
Biography: Jordan M. Berg received the BSE and MSE in Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering from Princeton University in 1981 and 1984. He worked in the Attitude Control Analysis group at RCA Astro-Electronics in East Windsor, NJ, from 1983 to 1986. He received the PhD in Mechanical Engineering and Mechanics, and the MS in Mathematics and Computer Science from Drexel University in 1992. He has held postdoctoral appointments at the USAF Wright Laboratory in Dayton, OH, and the Institute for Mathematics and Its Applications in Minneapolis, MN. Since 1996 he has been at Texas Tech University, where he is currently Professor of Mechanical Engineering and Co-Director of the Nano Tech Center. As a Fulbright Scholar in 2008 he held visiting faculty appointments at the University of Ruhuna and University of Peradeniya in Sri Lanka. He is a Professional Engineer in the State of Texas and a Fellow of the ASME. In 2014 he was appointed a Program Director for the Sensors, Dynamics, and Controls (SDC) program in the Civil, Mechanical, and Manufacturing Innovation (CMMI) Division of the Engineering (ENG) Directorate at the National Science Foundation, where he is currently serving as an IPA rotator. His current research interests include nonlinear and geometric control, soft robotics, human-machine systems, and the modeling, simulation, design, and control of nano- and micro-systems.
Host: Mihailo Jovanovic
Location: Hughes Aircraft Electrical Engineering Center (EEB) - 132
Audiences: Everyone Is Invited
Contact: Gerrielyn Ramos
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Center for Systems and Control (CSC@USC) and Ming Hsieh Institute for Electrical Engineering
Tue, Nov 07, 2017 @ 02:00 PM - 03:00 PM
Ming Hsieh Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering
Conferences, Lectures, & Seminars
Speaker: Francesco Bullo, University of California, Santa Barbara
Talk Title: Network Systems and Kuramoto Oscillators
Series: Fall 2017 Joint CSC@USC/CommNetS-MHI Seminar Series
Abstract: Network systems are mathematical models for the study of cooperation,
propagation, synchronization and other dynamical phenomena that arise
among interconnected agents. Network systems are widespread in science
as fundamental modeling tools. They also play a key growing role in
technology, e.g., in the design of power grids, cooperative robotic
behaviors and distributed computing algorithms. Their study pervades
applied mathematics.
This talk will review established and emerging frameworks for
modeling, analysis and design of network systems. I will survey the
available comprehensive theory for linear network systems and then
highlight selected nonlinear concepts. Next, I will focus on recent
developments on the analysis of security and transmission capacity in
power grids. I will review the Kuramoto model of coupled oscillators
and present recent results on its synchronization behavior.
Biography: Francesco Bullo is a Professor with the Mechanical
Engineering Department and the Center for Control, Dynamical Systems
and Computation at the University of California, Santa Barbara. He was
previously associated with the University of Padova, the California
Institute of Technology, and the University of Illinois. His research
interests focus on network systems and distributed control with
application to robotic coordination, power grids and social
networks. He is the coauthor of "Geometric Control of Mechanical
Systems" (Springer, 2004) and "Distributed Control of Robotic
Networks" (Princeton, 2009); his forthcoming "Lectures on Network
Systems" is available on his website. He received best paper awards
for his work in IEEE Control Systems, Automatica, SIAM Journal on
Control and Optimization, IEEE Transactions on Circuits and Systems,
and IEEE Transactions on Control of Network Systems. He is a Fellow of
IEEE and IFAC. He has served on the editorial boards of IEEE, SIAM,
and ESAIM journals, and will serve as IEEE CSS President in 2018.
Host: Ketan Savla, ksavla@usc.edu
Location: Hughes Aircraft Electrical Engineering Center (EEB) - 132
Audiences: Everyone Is Invited
Contact: Gerrielyn Ramos
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Epstein Institute Seminar, ISE 651
Tue, Nov 07, 2017 @ 03:30 PM - 04:50 PM
Daniel J. Epstein Department of Industrial and Systems Engineering
Conferences, Lectures, & Seminars
Speaker: Dr. Daniel Bienstock, Professor, Columbia University
Talk Title: Using Robust Optimization to Incorporate Renewables in Electric Power Generation
Host: Prof. Jong-Shi Pang
More Information: November 7, 2017.pdf
Location: Ethel Percy Andrus Gerontology Center (GER) - GER 206
Audiences: Everyone Is Invited
Contact: Grace Owh
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CS Colloquium: Danqi Chen (Stanford) - From Reading Comprehension to Open-Domain Question Answering
Tue, Nov 07, 2017 @ 03:30 PM - 04:50 PM
Thomas Lord Department of Computer Science
Conferences, Lectures, & Seminars
Speaker: Danqi Chen, Stanford
Talk Title: From Reading Comprehension to Open-Domain Question Answering
Series: CS Colloquium
Abstract: This lecture satisfies requirements for CSCI 591: Research Colloquium.
Enabling a computer to understand a document so that it can answer comprehension questions is a central, yet unsolved, goal of NLP. This task of reading comprehension (i.e., question answering over a passage of text) has received a resurgence of interest, due to the creation of large-scale datasets and well-designed neural network models.
I will talk about how we build simple and effective models for advancing a machine's ability at reading comprehension. I'll focus on explaining the logical structure behind these neural architectures and discussing the capacities of these models as well as their limits.
Next I'll talk about how we combine state-of-the-art reading comprehension systems with traditional IR components to build a new generation of open-domain question answering systems. Our system is much simpler than traditional QA systems and able to answer questions efficiently over the full English Wikipedia and shows great promise on multiple QA benchmarks.
Biography: Danqi Chen is a Ph.D. candidate in Computer Science at Stanford University, advised by Christopher Manning. She works on deep learning for natural language processing, and is particularly interested in the intersection between text understanding and knowledge representation/reasoning. Her research spans from machine comprehension/question answering to knowledge base construction and syntactic parsing, with an emphasis on building principled yet highly effective models. She is a recipient of a Facebook Fellowship, a Microsoft Research Women's Fellowship and outstanding paper awards at ACL'16 and EMNLP'17. Previously, she received her B.S. with honors from Tsinghua University in 2012.
Host: Fei Sha
Location: Henry Salvatori Computer Science Center (SAL) - 101
Audiences: Everyone Is Invited
Contact: Computer Science Department
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Astani Civil and Environmental Engineering Seminar
Wed, Nov 08, 2017 @ 11:00 AM - 12:00 PM
Sonny Astani Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering
Conferences, Lectures, & Seminars
Speaker: Dr. Urs von Gunten,
Talk Title: TBA
Abstract: TBA
Location: TBA
Audiences: Everyone Is Invited
Contact: Evangeline Reyes
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Center for Cyber-Physical Systems and Internet of Things and Ming Hsieh Institute for Electrical Engineering Joint Seminar Series on Cyber-Physical Systems
Wed, Nov 08, 2017 @ 02:00 PM - 03:00 PM
Ming Hsieh Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering
Conferences, Lectures, & Seminars
Speaker: Pavithra Prabhakar, Associate Professor, Kansas State University
Talk Title: Formal Verification of Robustness Properties of Cyber-Physical Systems
Abstract: Cyber-physical systems (CPSs) consist of complex systems that combine control, computation and communication to achieve sophisticated functionalities as in autonomous driving in driverless cars and automated load balancing in smart grids. The safety criticality of these systems demands strong guarantees about their correct functioning. Formal verification is an area of computer science that deals with rigorous and automated methods for correctness analysis based on mathematical models of systems and correctness specifications. In this talk, we present an overview of our work on formal verification techniques for cyber-physical systems analysis using the framework of hybrid systems. Hybrid systems capture an important feature of CPSs, namely, mixed discrete-continuous behaviors that arise due to the interaction of complex digital control software (discrete elements) with physical systems (continuous elements).
We will focus on the formal verification of a fundamental property in control design, namely, stability. Stability is a robustness property that capture notions such as small perturbations to the initial state or input to a system result in only small variations in the behavior of the system. We will present a novel algorithmic approach to stability analysis based on model-checking and abstraction-refinement techniques. We highlight the technical challenges in the development of an algorithmic framework for stability analysis owing to the robustness aspect. We will present experimental results using our tool AVERIST (Algorithmic VERifier for STability), that illustrate the practical benefits of the algorithmic approach as compared to well-known deductive methods for automated verification of stability based on Lyapunov functions. Finally, we will present some future research directions including automated design of hybrid control systems and formal analysis of hybrid systems in the presence of uncertainties.
Biography: Pavithra Prabhakar is an associate professor in the Department of Computer Science and Peggy and Gary Edwards Chair in Engineering at the Kansas State University. She obtained her doctorate in Computer Science and a masters in Applied Mathematics from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, followed by a CMI postdoctoral fellowship at the California Institute of Technology. Her main research interest is in formal analysis of cyber-physical systems with emphasis on both foundational and practical aspects related to automated and scalable techniques for verification and synthesis of hybrid systems. She is the recipient of a Marie Curie Career Integration Grant from the EU, a National Science Foundation CAREER Award and an Office of Naval Research Young Investigator Award.
Host: Paul Bogdan
Location: Hughes Aircraft Electrical Engineering Center (EEB) - 132
Audiences: Everyone Is Invited
Contact: Estela Lopez
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Aerospace & Mechanical Engineering Seminar
Wed, Nov 08, 2017 @ 03:30 PM - 04:30 PM
Aerospace and Mechanical Engineering
Conferences, Lectures, & Seminars
Speaker: James J. Riley, PACCAR Professor of Engineering, University of Washington
Talk Title: The Effects of Stable Density Stratification Initially Homogeneous, Isotropic Turbulence
Abstract: Stable density stratification occurs in various situations in the atmosphere and in the oceans. For example, in the atmosphere stable density stratification is found near the tropopause and above, and often in nocturnal boundary layers, while in the oceans it usually is observed below the mixed layer. And, through its effects on turbulent mixing, stable stratification has relevance to a number of important issues such as the overall ocean thermal energy balance and the transfer rates of heat and chemicals to/from the atmosphere.
In this seminar the results are presented of a study of the effects of stable density stratification on the simplest of turbulent flows, initially homogeneous, isotropic turbulence, using direct numerical simulations. Simulations were carried out at an initially moderate Froude number, but for a range of initial Reynolds numbers such that, for the high Reynolds number cases, the flows had buoyancy Reynolds numbers in the hundreds, similar to typical oceanic values. A number of aspects of the flows have been addressed, including their energetics, the behavior of various velocity and length scales describing the flows, their mixing characteristics, and their spectral behavior. In particular, how the behavior of the flows depend on the local Froude and buoyancy Reynolds numbers is emphasized. It is found, for example, that as the flows decay, stratification modifies them such that, compared to non-stratified cases, the energy decay rates decreased, the growth rate of the horizontal scales increased, while the growth rates of the vertical scales became negative. These results are consistent with the analysis of Davidson (J. Fluid Mech., 2010), based upon the behavior of the effects of density stratification on the large-scale motions. On the other hand if the buoyancy Reynolds number becomes too low, then the flows, especially the vertical velocity, begin to decay much more rapidly. It is also found, for example, that the behavior of the spectra of the velocity gradient tensor is consistent with the heuristic arguments of Lilly (J. Atmos. Sci., 1983) and the scaling arguments of Billant & Chomaz (Phys. Fluids, 2001). Finally, previous results of the USC group (e.g., Spedding J. Fluid Mech., 1997) are interpreted in terms of the Froude and buoyancy Reynolds numbers.
Biography: James J. Riley is the PACCAR Professor of Engineering at the University of Washington. He received his PhD from the Johns Hopkins University in 1972, having worked under the guidance of Stanley Corrsin. After a year as a post-doctoral fellow at the National Center for Atmospheric Research, he spent ten years in industry at Flow Research Company in Kent, Washington, ultimately as the Director of the Fluid Mechanics Division. He joined the University of Washington in 1983, where he is now a Professor in the Department of Mechanical Engineering, and an Adjunct Professor in both the Departments of Applied Mathematics and of Aeronautics and Astronautics. While on sabbatical at the Joseph Fourier University in Grenoble, France, Riley occupied the Visiting Chair in Industrial Mathematics. More recently he was a Senior Fellow at the Isaac Newton Institute for the Mathematical Sciences at Cambridge University. Riley's research interests have included particle dispersion in turbulent flows, waves and turbulence in stably-stratified and in rotating fluids, boundary layer and shear layer transition and turbulence, fluid/compliant surface interactions, and chemically reacting turbulent flows. He is an associate editor of the Journal of Fluid Mechanics and of the Journal of Turbulence, and until recently was a member of the editorial boards of the Annual Review of Fluid Mechanics and of the Applied Mechanics Reviews. Riley is a member of the National Academy of Engineering, and of the Washington State Academy of Sciences.
Host: Department of Aerospace and Mechanical Engineering
Location: Seaver Science Library (SSL) - 150
Audiences: Everyone Is Invited
Contact: Ashleen Knutsen
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CS Colloquium: Li Xiong (Emory University) - Privacy-Preserving Data Sharing and Analytics with Differential Privacy
Thu, Nov 09, 2017 @ 01:30 PM - 02:50 PM
Thomas Lord Department of Computer Science
Conferences, Lectures, & Seminars
Speaker: Li Xiong, Emory University
Talk Title: Privacy-Preserving Data Sharing and Analytics with Differential Privacy
Abstract: While Big Data promises significant value, it also raises increasing privacy concerns. In this talk, I will describe our efforts towards a comprehensive privacy-preserving data sharing and analytics framework. Following an overview of the framework, we discuss two settings based on state-of-the-art differential privacy techniques: 1) aggregated data sharing for data mining and analytics, and 2) individual location sharing for location based services. For aggregated sharing, I will present several technical solutions for handing different types of data including sequential and time series data, using medical and spatiotemporal data mining applications. For individual data sharing, I will present our approach towards a rigorous and customizable privacy notion extending the differential privacy framework for location protection, with location based applications such as nearest POI search and geospatial crowdsourcing.
This lecture satisfies requirements for CSCI 591: Research Colloquium. Please note, due to limited capacity in SOS B2, seats will be first come first serve.
Biography: Li Xiong is Professor of Computer Science and Biomedical Informatics at Emory University and holds a Winship Distinguished Research Professorship. She has a PhD from Georgia Institute of Technology, an MS from Johns Hopkins University, and a BS from University of Science and Technology of China, all in Computer Science. She and her research group, Assured Information Management and Sharing (AIMS), conduct research that addresses both fundamental and applied questions at the interface of data privacy and security, spatiotemporal data management, and health informatics. She has published over 100 papers in premier journals and conferences including TKDE, JAMIA, VLDB, ICDE, CCS, and WWW, and has received four best paper awards. She currently serves as associate editor for IEEE Transactions on Knowledge and Data Engineering (TKDE) and on numerous program committees for data management and data security conferences. She is a recipient of a Google Research Award, IBM Smarter Healthcare Faculty Innovation Award, Cisco Research Award, and Woodrow Wilson Fellowship. Her research is supported by NSF (National Science Foundation), NIH (National Institute of Health), AFOSR (Air Force Office of Scientific Research), and PCORI (Patient-Centered Outcomes Research Institute).
Host: Muhammad Naveed
Location: Social Sciences Building (SOS) - B2
Audiences: Everyone Is Invited
Contact: Computer Science Department
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Refraction Networking: Censorship Circumvention in the Core of the Internet
Thu, Nov 09, 2017 @ 02:00 PM - 03:15 PM
Ming Hsieh Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering
Conferences, Lectures, & Seminars
Speaker: Nikita Borisov , University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign
Talk Title: Refraction Networking: Censorship Circumvention in the Core of the Internet
Abstract: Internet users around the world are facing censorship. To access blocked websites, they use circumvention services that most commonly consist VPN-like proxies. The censors, in turn, try to block such proxies, creating a sort of cat-and-mouse game. Refraction networking takes a different approach by placing refracting routers inside ISP networks. By spending a special signal, a user can ask a router to refract *any* connection that transits the ISP to another, blocked destination, in a process that is undetectable by the censor. To prevent such connections, the censor would need to block all traffic from reaching that ISP, which considerably raises the cost of censorship.
I will discuss the design of refraction networking and how it achieves the properties above. I will also discuss the results of our a pilot deployment of refraction networking two ISPs handling an aggregate of nearly 100 Mbps traffic, which provided censorship circumvention to 50,000 users in a country with heavy Internet censorship. I will close by discussing some future research issues in the space.
Biography: Nikita Borisov is an associate professor at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. His research is interests are online privacy and network security, with recent work on anonymous communication, censorship resistance, analysis of encrypted traffic, and protocols for secure communication. He is the co-designer of the Off-the-Record (OTR) instant messaging protocol and was responsible for the first public analysis of 802.11 security. He has been the chair of the Privacy Enhancing Technologies Symposium and the ACM Workshop on Privacy in Electronic Society. He is also the recipient of the NSF CAREER award. Prof. Borisov received his Ph.D. from the University of California, Berkeley in 2005 and a B.Math from the University of Waterloo in 1998.
Host: Xuehai Qian, x04459, xuehai.qian@usc.edu
Location: Hughes Aircraft Electrical Engineering Center (EEB) - 132
Audiences: Everyone Is Invited
Contact: Gerrielyn Ramos
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CS Colloquium: Jimmy Ba (University of Toronto) - Progress and Challenges in Training Neural Networks
Thu, Nov 09, 2017 @ 03:30 PM - 04:50 PM
Thomas Lord Department of Computer Science
Conferences, Lectures, & Seminars
Speaker: Jimmy Ba, University of Toronto
Talk Title: Progress and Challenges in Training Neural Networks
Series: Visa Research Machine Learning Seminar Series hosted by USC Machine Learning Center
Abstract: This lecture satisfies requirements for CSCI 591: Research Colloquium.
Optimization lies at the core of any deep learning systems. In this talk, I will first discuss the recent advances in optimization algorithms to train deep learning models. Then I will present a novel family of 2nd-order optimization algorithms that leverage distributed computing to significantly shortening the training time of neural networks with tens of millions of parameters. The talk will conclude by showing how our algorithms can be successfully applied to domains such as reinforcement learning and generative adversarial networks.
Biography: Jimmy is finishing his PhD with Geoff Hinton in the Machine Learning group at the University of Toronto. Jimmy will be a Computational Fellow at MIT before returning as full-time faculty to the CS department at UofT, as well as joining the Vector Institute. Jimmy completed his BAc, MSc at UofT working with Brendan Frey and Ruslan Salakhutdinov. He has previously spent time at Google Deepmind and Microsoft Research, and is a recipient of Facebook Graduate Fellowship for 2016 in machine learning. His primary research interests are in the areas of artificial intelligence, neural networks, and numerical optimization.
Host: Yan Liu
Location: Henry Salvatori Computer Science Center (SAL) - 101
Audiences: Everyone Is Invited
Contact: Computer Science Department
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Civil and Environmental Engineering Seminar
Thu, Nov 09, 2017 @ 03:30 PM - 04:30 PM
Sonny Astani Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering
Conferences, Lectures, & Seminars
Speaker: Dr. Urs von Gunten, The Swiss Federal Institute of Aquatic Science and Technology
Talk Title: Enhanced Municipal Wastewater Treatment for Micropollutant Abatement by Ozone
Host: Sonny Astani Department
More Information: Seminar Announcement 11_9_17.pdf
Audiences: Everyone Is Invited
Contact: Kaela Berry
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CAIS Seminar: Dr. John Clapp (University of Southern California) - A Systems Dynamic Approach to Understanding Heavy Drinking Events: Measures, Methods and Models
Thu, Nov 09, 2017 @ 04:00 PM - 05:00 PM
Thomas Lord Department of Computer Science
Conferences, Lectures, & Seminars
Speaker: Dr. John Clapp, University of Southern California
Talk Title: A Systems Dynamic Approach to Understanding Heavy Drinking Events: Measures, Methods and Models
Series: Center for AI in Society (CAIS) Seminar Series
Abstract: Dr. Clapp will discuss a collaborative modeling effort among a team of engineers and social scientists to better understand the complex dynamics underlying heavy drinking at the event level. The goal of this ongoing effort is to develop invivo smart interventions aimed at changing problematic drinking trajectories to prevent event level problems including alcohol poisoning, drunk driving, and sexual assault. His presentation will cover the collaborative modeling effort, computation models, and validation measures and methods. The current state of the models and next steps will be discussed.
Biography: Dr. Clapp is Executive Vice Dean and Professor in the Suzanne Dworak-Peck School of Social Work. His work has focused largely on the etiology and prevention of acute alcohol-related problems.
Host: Milind Tambe
Location: Seeley Wintersmith Mudd Memorial Hall (of Philosophy) (MHP) - 101
Audiences: Everyone Is Invited
Contact: Computer Science Department
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W.V.T. RUSCH ENGINEERING HONORS COLLOQUIUM
Fri, Nov 10, 2017 @ 01:00 PM - 02:00 PM
USC Viterbi School of Engineering
Conferences, Lectures, & Seminars
Speaker: Dr. Rosanna Smart, Associate Economist at RAND Corporation
Talk Title: The Many Impacts of Marijuana
Location: Henry Salvatori Computer Science Center (SAL) - 101
Audiences: Everyone Is Invited
Contact: Su Stevens
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Seminars in Biomedical Engineering
Fri, Nov 10, 2017 @ 02:00 PM - 03:00 PM
Alfred E. Mann Department of Biomedical Engineering
Conferences, Lectures, & Seminars
Speaker: Ho Sung Kim, PhD, Assistant Professor of Neurology, Neurology
Talk Title: TBA
Abstract: TBA
Biography: My research spans an interdisciplinary cross-section of Medical Image Processing, Machine learning and Neuroscience covering clinical neurology and neuropsychiatry. In the fields of medical image processing and analysis, I have studied on multicontrast image registration and segmentation, surface modeling of cortical/subcortical structures which are the prerequisite techniques to proceed the analysis of structural and functional brain imaging studies.
My projects that has been recently launched at USC-INI and USC-LONI include mainly two domains of the research field: 1) Prediction of neurodevelopmental outcome in neonates with various clinical conditions such as preterm birth, hypoxia-ischemia and congenital heart disease: This project rapidly expands in line with my team's expertise of neurodevelopment, neuroimaging, computational imaging feature modeling and machine learning (particularly DEEP learning); 2) Neuroimaging data quality controls (image QC): My team dedicates its efforts to implementation of online-based LONI-QC system that allows the public to evaluate their own data as well as to automated QC feature that will ultimately predict the accuracy of brain image post-processing and the sensitivity in the subsequently biological / clinical analysis to given target pathophysiology.
In clinical / neuroscientific applications, my team has applied various advanced analytic frameworks, including cortical morphometry, voxel-based morphometry, deformation-based morphometry and structural network analysis, to assessment of brain structure in healthy conditions as well as pathological conditions, which often present anatomical variations beyond the range of normal structures.
My team continues to expand aforementioned techniques to the analysis of BIG DATA of brain imaging data of patients with various diseases and disorders such as stroke, epilepsy, dementia and sleep disorders.
Host: Brent Liu, PhD
More Information: hosungkim.jpg
Location: Corwin D. Denney Research Center (DRB) - 145A
Audiences: Everyone Is Invited
Contact: Mischalgrace Diasanta
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NL Seminar-On Real-Time Graph Transducers
Fri, Nov 10, 2017 @ 03:00 PM - 04:00 PM
Information Sciences Institute
Conferences, Lectures, & Seminars
Speaker: Anssi Yli-Jyrä , Univ of Helsinki
Talk Title: On Real-Time Graph Transducers
Series: Natural Language Seminar
Abstract: Finite computers and universal computers. Often a practical solution combines both of these two extremes because formally powerful models are simulated by physical machines that approximate them. This is especially true for recurrent neural networks whose activation vector is the key to deeper understanding of their emergent finite state behavior. However, we currently have only a very loose characterization for the finite-state property in neural networks. In order to construct a hypothesis for a possible bottom up organization of the state space of activation vectors of RNNs, I compare neural networks with bounded Turing machines and finite state machines, and quote recent results on finite state models for semantic graphs. These models enjoy the nice closure properties of weighted finite state machines. In the end of the talk, I sketch my vision for neural networks that perform finite state graph transductions in real time. Such transductions would have a vast variety of applications in machine translation and semantic information retrieval involving big data.
Biography: Anssi Yli Jyrä has the titles of Adjunct Professor Docent in Language Technology at the University of Helsinki and Life Member of Clare Hall College at the University of Cambridge. He is currently a PI and a Research Fellow of the Academy of Finland in a project concerning universality of finite state syntax. He has published a handbook on Hebrew and Greek morpheme alignments in the Finnish Bible translation together with a group of Digital Humanists, and then served the Finnish Electronic Library at CSC IT Centre of Science where he built an internet harvester and a search engine for the Finnish WWW. In 2005, he earned his PhD from the University of Helsinki and then worked as a coordinator for the Language Bank of Finland at CSC. There he contributed to pushing his employer to what is now known as the CLARIN European Research Infrastructure Consortium. He became the first President of SIGFSM in 2009, after fostering and organizing FSMNLP conferences for several years. In 2012-2013, he served as a Subject Head of Language Technology in his home university before visiting the Speech Group at the Department of Engineering, Cambridge University. He has supervised theses and contributed to the theoretical basis of Helsinki Finite State Transducer HFST library. In his own research, Yli Jyrä constantly pursues unexplored areas, applying finite-state transducers to graphical language processing tasks such as autosegmental phonology, constraint interaction, and dependency syntax and neural semantics. He is a qualified teacher and interested in the occurrence of flow in agile programming and simultaneous translation.
Host: Marjan Ghazvininejad and Kevin Knight
More Info: http://nlg.isi.edu/nl-seminar/
Location: Information Science Institute (ISI) - 11th Flr Conf Rm # 1135, Marina Del Rey
Audiences: Everyone Is Invited
Contact: Peter Zamar
Event Link: http://nlg.isi.edu/nl-seminar/
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Seminars in Biomedical Engineering
Mon, Nov 13, 2017 @ 12:30 PM - 01:50 PM
Alfred E. Mann Department of Biomedical Engineering
Conferences, Lectures, & Seminars
Speaker: Daniel Kirouac, Ph.D., P.Eng., Scientist, Quantitative Systems Pharmacology, Genentech
Talk Title: Engineering new medicines at Genentech
Host: Stacey Finley, PhD
Location: Olin Hall of Engineering (OHE) - 122
Audiences: Everyone Is Invited
Contact: Mischalgrace Diasanta
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Enabling Effective Performance Optimization Techniques for Heterogeneous System
Tue, Nov 14, 2017 @ 10:30 AM - 12:00 PM
Ming Hsieh Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering
Conferences, Lectures, & Seminars
Speaker: Yun (Eric) Liang, Peking University, China
Talk Title: Enabling Effective Performance Optimization Techniques for Heterogeneous System
Abstract: Heterogeneous systems that couple CPUs with accelerators such as Graphics Processing Units (GPUs) and Field Programmable Gate Arrays (FPGAs) have become ubiquitous in the computing world due to their tremendous computing power. However, performance tuning for GPUs and FPGAs is not trivial. In this talk, I will first present the performance modeling and optimization for FPGAs. I will introduce an accurate performance model for OpenCL workloads on FPGAs and how we accelerate deep learning applications on FPGAs. For the second half of the talk, I will present on-chip storage and machine learning optimization techniques for GPUs. The proposed techniques leverage on compile-time and run-time techniques to improve the cache performance, register utilization, pipeline utilization and overall performance.
Biography: Yun (Eric) Liang is an assistant professor in School of EECS, Peking University, China. His research focuses on energy-efficient heterogeneous computing, computer architecture, compilation techniques, electronic design automation and embedded system design. He has authored over 60 scientific publications in premier international journals and conferences in this domain. His research has been recognized by best paper award at FCCM 2011 and ICCAD 2017 and best paper nominations at DAC 2017, ASPDAC 2016, DAC 2012, FPT 2011, CODES+ISSS 2008. Prof Liang serves as Associate Editor for ACM Transactions in Embedded Computing Systems (TECS) and serves in the program committees in the premier conferences in the related domain including (HPCA, PACT, CGO, ICCAD, ICS, CC, DATE, CASES, ASPDAC, ICCD).
Host: Xuehai Qian, x04459, xuehai.qian@usc.edu
Location: Hughes Aircraft Electrical Engineering Center (EEB) - 132
Audiences: Everyone Is Invited
Contact: Gerrielyn Ramos
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Academic Career Mentoring Panel Series
Tue, Nov 14, 2017 @ 12:00 PM - 02:00 PM
Viterbi School of Engineering Doctoral Programs
Conferences, Lectures, & Seminars
Speaker: Faculty Panel, Viterbi School of Engineering
Talk Title: Academic and Industry Paths: How to be Ready and in Demand for Both
Abstract: Engineering is the most employable career choice, both in industry and academia. This panel will discuss the similarities and differences between academic and industry careers, and how to prepare for your career choice.
Please visit the website to register.
Host: Viterbi School of Engineering
More Info: https://viterbigrad.usc.edu/instructional-support/events-workshops/phd-academic-career-mentoring-panel-series/
Location: Social Sciences Building (SOS) - B46
Audiences: Ph.D. and Postdoctoral
Contact: Tracy Charles
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Epstein Institute Seminar, ISE 651
Tue, Nov 14, 2017 @ 03:30 PM - 04:50 PM
Daniel J. Epstein Department of Industrial and Systems Engineering
Conferences, Lectures, & Seminars
Speaker: Dr. Zhaoran Wang, Assistant Professor, Northwestern University (starting 2018)
Talk Title: Taming Nonconvexity with Data
Host: Prof. Meisam Razaviyayn
More Information: November 14 , 2017.pdf
Location: Ethel Percy Andrus Gerontology Center (GER) - GER 206
Audiences: Everyone Is Invited
Contact: Grace Owh
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MASCLE Machine Learning Seminar: Robert Schapire (Microsoft Research NYC) - The Contextual Bandits Problem: Techniques for Learning to Make High-Reward Decisions
Tue, Nov 14, 2017 @ 03:30 PM - 04:50 PM
Thomas Lord Department of Computer Science
Conferences, Lectures, & Seminars
Speaker: Robert Schapire, Microsoft Research NYC
Talk Title: The Contextual Bandits Problem: Techniques for Learning to Make High-Reward Decisions
Series: NVIDIA Distinguished Lecture Series in Machine Learning
Abstract: This lecture satisfies requirements for CSCI 591: Research Colloquium.
We consider how to learn through experience to make intelligent decisions. In the generic setting, called the contextual bandits problem, the learner must repeatedly decide which action to take in response to an observed context, and is then permitted to observe the received reward, but only for the chosen action. The goal is to learn to behave nearly as well as the best policy (or decision rule) in some possibly very large and rich space of candidate policies. This talk will describe progress on developing general methods for this problem and some of its variants.
Biography: Robert Schapire is a Principal Researcher at Microsoft Research in New York City. He received his PhD from MIT in 1991. After a short post-doc at Harvard, he joined the technical staff at AT&T Labs (formerly AT&T Bell Laboratories) in 1991. In 2002, he became a Professor of Computer Science at Princeton University. He joined Microsoft Research in 2014. His awards include the 1991 ACM Doctoral Dissertation Award, the 2003 Gödel Prize, and the 2004 Kanelakkis Theory and Practice Award (both of the last two with Yoav Freund). He is a fellow of the AAAI, and a member of both the National Academy of Engineering and the National Academy of Sciences. His main research interest is in theoretical and applied machine learning, with particular focus on boosting, online learning, game theory, and maximum entropy.
Host: Haipeng Luo
Location: Henry Salvatori Computer Science Center (SAL) - 101
Audiences: Everyone Is Invited
Contact: Computer Science Department
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CS Colloquium: Dr. Brian Milch (Google) - Combining Probabilistic and Neural Approaches for Text Classification
Tue, Nov 14, 2017 @ 05:00 PM - 06:20 PM
Thomas Lord Department of Computer Science
Conferences, Lectures, & Seminars
Speaker: Dr. Brian Milch, Google
Talk Title: Combining Probabilistic and Neural Approaches for Text Classification
Series: CS Colloquium
Abstract: This lecture satisfies requirements for CSCI 591: Research Colloquium.
In the Semantic Signals group at Google Los Angeles, we build classifiers that label text with hundreds of human-defined categories across dozens of languages. Labeled training data is sparse, so we've found it essential to incorporate unsupervised learning methods that take advantage of unlabeled text. One of our tools is a probabilistic topic model that learns discrete "clusters" to explain word co-occurrence patterns in a large corpus, and then identifies the clusters that best explain a new document. Another tool is a neural net that learns embeddings of individual words in a continuous space. I'll discuss how these approaches play complementary roles in our text classification pipeline.
Biography: Brian Milch is a software engineer at Google's Los Angeles office. He received a B.S. in Symbolic Systems from Stanford University in 2000, and a Ph.D. in Computer Science from U.C. Berkeley in 2006. He then spent two years as a post-doctoral researcher at MIT before joining Google in 2008. He has contributed to Google production systems for spelling correction, transliteration, and semantic modeling of text.
Host: Fei Sha
Location: Seeley G. Mudd Building (SGM) - 124
Audiences: Everyone Is Invited
Contact: Computer Science Department
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INCOSE-LA Chapter Speaker Meeting
Tue, Nov 14, 2017 @ 05:15 PM - 07:30 PM
Systems Architecting and Engineering, USC Viterbi School of Engineering
Conferences, Lectures, & Seminars
Speaker: Ryan Noguchi , Director of the Space Architecture Department in the Systems Engineering Division at The Aerospace Corporation
Talk Title: Best Practices and Lessons Learned from Model-Based System Engineering Pilot Programs
Series: INCOSE-LA Speaker Series
Abstract: Model Based Systems Engineering (MBSE) can offer significant benefits to organizations responsible for managing their increasingly complex enterprises. However, implementing MBSE is not a straightforward task, and there are many pitfalls along the way. An incremental approach built on solid system architecting principles, focusing on supporting major stakeholder decisions, and informed by best practices and lessons learned from previous efforts offers the best chances of success. Five years of experience in working MBSE efforts at multiple levels have produced many lessons learned and recommended best practices. This report authored by Ryan Noguchi will be briefly summarized in his presentation.
Cost: INCOSE Members: FREE. Non-members: $10 (refreshments provided). See the registration link below.
Biography: Ryan Noguchi is the Director of the Space Architecture Department in the Systems Engineering Division at The Aerospace Corporation. Ryan received a B.S. in Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering from Princeton University and an M.S. in Mechanical Engineering from the University of California, Berkeley. He has been with The Aerospace Corporation for 20 years, and led numerous system acquisition, development, integration, and mission assurance efforts. His current responsibilities focus on the refinement and application of methodologies for model-based systems engineering, and system-of-systems engineering.
DIRECTIONS TO THE AEROSPACE CORPORATION
From the 105 Freeway traveling WEST:
1. Take the exit towards 405 South
2. Before getting onto the 405 Freeway, take the El Segundo Blvd exit
3. At the bottom of the ramp, turn left (west)
4. Turn right on Aviation Blvd.
5. Bldg. D8 will be on the third building on the Right, just past the discount bakery.
The facility is the third building from the corner of Aviation and El Segundo, just north of the discount bakery outlet. The facility has 4 gates, but only the southern-most gate is open. Identify yourself to the security guard as attending the INCOSE meeting. You can park where Security directs and enter through the lobby at the center of the building where the flag poles are. Knock on the first of the double doors, and someone will open the door for you. The handicap ramp is on the north side and can be reached by driving all the way around the back of the building. Inform the security guard if you plan to use that ramp.
Host: The Aerospace Corporation (Venue); INCOSE-Los Angeles (Event)
More Info: http://events.constantcontact.com/register/event?llr=l4ihvgeab&oeidk=a07ee9oa8ta76968e83
Location: The Aerospace Corporation, Building D8/1010, 200 N. Aviation, El Segundo, CA
Audiences: Everyone Is Invited
Contact: James Moore II
Event Link: http://events.constantcontact.com/register/event?llr=l4ihvgeab&oeidk=a07ee9oa8ta76968e83
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INCOSE Webinar 106
Wed, Nov 15, 2017 @ 08:00 AM - 09:00 AM
Systems Architecting and Engineering, USC Viterbi School of Engineering
Conferences, Lectures, & Seminars
Speaker: Troy A. Peterson, System Strategy, Inc.
Talk Title: Systems Engineering Transformation
Abstract: While complex systems transform the landscape, the Systems Engineering discipline is also experiencing a transformation to model based discipline. In alignment with this, one of the International Council on Systems Engineering (INCOSE) strategic objectives is to accelerate this transformation. INCOSE is building a broad community that promotes and advances model based methods. This model based transformation is necessary to advance the discipline and handle the seamless integration of computational algorithms and physical components across domains and traditional system boundaries. This presentation will cover current and planned INCOSE activities directed at accelerating this transformation.
Event number: 591 605 371
Event password: INCOSE106
Primary Access Telephone Number:
USA/Canada: 1-719-325-2630 (toll) 1-855-747-8824 (toll free)
Guest Pass Code: 434 812 4177
Biography: Troy Peterson is Vice President and Fellow at System Strategy, Inc. a systems consulting business. Previous to this role Troy was a Booz Allen Fellow and the Chief Systems Engineer responsible for instituting capabilities to manage complexity, engineer resiliency and speed innovation. Prior to joining Booz Allen, Troy worked at Ford Motor Company as a Lead Manufacturing Engineering and as an entrepreneur operating a design and management consulting business. Troy has led several international projects and large teams in the delivery of complex systems. His experience spans commercial, government and academic environments across all product life cycle phases. Recent engagements include system projects related to autonomy, contingency basing, combat and tactical vehicles and developing engineering capability within organizations responsible for research, development, acquisition and system of systems engineering and integration. His impact has led to his appointment to six different boards to improve engineering education and method application. He frequently speaks at leading engineering conferences and was recently appointed by INCOSE as the lead for transforming Systems Engineering to model based discipline. Troy also he leads the Transformational Working Groups, is Co-Chair of the MBSE Patterns Working Group and is the INCOSE Michigan Chapter Past President. Troy received his B.S. in Mechanical Engineering from Michigan State University, his M.S. in Technology Management from Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, and an advanced graduate certificate in Systems Design and Management from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT). He holds INCOSE Systems Engineering, PMI Project Management, and ASQ Six Sigma Black Belt certifications.
Host: International Council on Systems Engineering (INCOSE)
More Info: https://incoseevents.webex.com/incoseevents/onstage/g.php?MTID=e5155ee64aae238f67bfda9bed2bc2b95
Webcast: See abstract for additional informationLocation: https://connect.incose.org/Library/Webinars/Pages/INCOSE-Webinars.aspx
WebCast Link: See abstract for additional information
Audiences: Everyone Is Invited
Contact: James Moore II
Event Link: https://incoseevents.webex.com/incoseevents/onstage/g.php?MTID=e5155ee64aae238f67bfda9bed2bc2b95
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Center for Cyber-Physical Systems and Internet of Things and Ming Hsieh Institute for Electrical Engineering Joint Seminar Series on Cyber-Physical Systems Joint with CSC@USC/CommNetS-MHI Seminar Series
Wed, Nov 15, 2017 @ 02:00 PM - 03:00 PM
Ming Hsieh Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering
Conferences, Lectures, & Seminars
Speaker: Victor Preciado, University of Pennsylvania
Talk Title: From Local Network Structure to Global Graph Spectrum
Series: Fall 2017 Joint CSC@USC/CommNetS-MHI Seminar Series
Abstract: Using methods from algebraic graph theory and convex optimization we study the relationship between local structural features of a network and global spectral properties. In particular, we derive expressions for the so-called spectral moments of a graph in terms of local structural measurements, such as subgraph densities. Furthermore, we propose a series of semidefinite programs to compute bounds on the spectral radius, and other spectral properties, from a truncated sequence of spectral moments. Using our tools, we illustrate how important spectral properties of real-world networks are strongly constrained by local structural features.
Biography: Victor M. Preciado received his Ph.D. degree in Electrical Engineering and Computer Science from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology in 2008. He is currently the Raj and Neera Singh Assistant Professor of Electrical and Systems Engineering at the University of Pennsylvania. He is a member of the Networked & Social Systems Engineering (NETS) program, the Warren Center for Network & Data Sciences, and the Applied Math and Computational Science (AMCS) program. He is a recipient of the 2017 National Science Foundation Faculty Early Career Development (CAREER) Award. His main research interests lie at the intersection of Big Data and Network Science; in particular, in using innovative mathematical and computational approaches to capture the essence of complex, high-dimensional dynamical systems. Relevant applications of this line of research can be found in the context of socio-technical networks, brain dynamical networks, healthcare operations, biological systems, and critical technological infrastructure.
Host: Mihailo Jovanovic
Location: Hughes Aircraft Electrical Engineering Center (EEB) - 132
Audiences: Everyone Is Invited
Contact: Gerrielyn Ramos
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Aerospace & Mechanical Engineering Seminar
Wed, Nov 15, 2017 @ 03:30 PM - 04:30 PM
Aerospace and Mechanical Engineering
Conferences, Lectures, & Seminars
Speaker: Tim Lieuwen, Professor, Georgia Institute of Technology
Talk Title: Unsteady Combustion Problems in Modern Energy and Propulsion Systems
Abstract: The operational limits of modern power generation and propulsion devices are strongly influenced by the combustor. For example, combustion instabilities have emerged as one of the leading challenges associated with low emissions combustion technologies. More fundamentally, the combustion instability problem involves the nonlinear interactions of harmonic flow disturbances with flames in a highly turbulent flow. This talk will describe the key processes controlling the flame response - flame anchoring, excitation of wrinkles by flow oscillations, tangential convection of wrinkles upon the flame, and kinematic restoration.
Biography: Tim Lieuwen is a professor and the David S. Lewis, Jr. Chair at Georgia Institute of Technology, and the Executive Director of the Strategic Energy Institute. He has a Ph.D. in mechanical engineering and is a licensed professional engineer in the state of Georgia. He leads a diverse research group investigating a range of problems associated with clean power, energy, and combustion, including such issues as emissions, efficiency, and alternative fuels. Prof. Lieuwen has edited/written four books, written 7 book chapters and over 300 papers, and received 5 patents.
Host: Department of Aerospace and Mechanical Engineering
Location: Seaver Science Library (SSL) - 150
Audiences: Everyone Is Invited
Contact: Ashleen Knutsen
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CAIS Seminar: Dr. David Morton (Northwestern University) - Using Optimization to Thwart Viruses
Thu, Nov 16, 2017 @ 04:00 PM - 05:00 PM
Thomas Lord Department of Computer Science
Conferences, Lectures, & Seminars
Speaker: Dr. David Morton, Northwestern University
Talk Title: Using Optimization to Thwart Viruses
Series: Center for AI in Society (CAIS) Seminar Series
Abstract: This lecture satisfies requirements for CSCI 591: Research Colloquium
We describe the use of data-driven optimization models to inform resource allocation to help detect or mitigate the spread of a virus. One set of models guide preparation for, and response to, an influenza pandemic. In particular, we optimize: the mix of central and regional stockpiles of ventilators, accounting for stochastic peak-week demand; the spatial allocation of antivirals, considering under-insured populations and hard-to-reach locations; and, the spatial allocation of multiple types of vaccines with differing suitability for each prioritized target population. In addition, we discuss rapidly detecting the spread of a cell-phone virus on a contact network of handsets.
Biography: David Morton is the David A. and Karen Richards Sachs Professor and Chair of Industrial Engineering and Management Sciences at Northwestern University. His research interests include stochastic and large-scale optimization with applications in security, public health, and energy systems. Prior to joining Northwestern, he was on the faculty at the University of Texas at Austin, worked as a Fulbright Research Scholar at Charles University in Prague, and was a National Research Council Postdoctoral Fellow in the Operations Research Department at the Naval Postgraduate School.
Host: Milind Tambe
Location: Seeley Wintersmith Mudd Memorial Hall (of Philosophy) (MHP) - 101
Audiences: Everyone Is Invited
Contact: Computer Science Department
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W.V.T. RUSCH ENGINEERING HONORS COLLOQUIUM
Fri, Nov 17, 2017 @ 01:00 PM - 02:00 PM
USC Viterbi School of Engineering
Conferences, Lectures, & Seminars
Speaker: Dr. Daniel Swain, Fellow, UCLA Institute of the Environment and Sustainability
Talk Title: California Increasingly Extreme Climate Future
Location: Henry Salvatori Computer Science Center (SAL) - 101
Audiences: Everyone Is Invited
Contact: Su Stevens
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Ming Hsieh Institute Seminar Series on Integrated Systems
Fri, Nov 17, 2017 @ 02:00 PM - 03:30 PM
Ming Hsieh Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering
Conferences, Lectures, & Seminars
Speaker: Dr. Samuel Palermo, Associate Professor, Texas A&M University
Talk Title: 40+Gb/s PAM4 Photonic Microring Resonator-Based Transceiver Circuits
Host: Profs. Hossein Hashemi, Mike Chen, Mahta Moghaddam, and Dina El-Damak
More Information: MHI Seminar Series IS - Samuel Palermo.pdf
Location: Hughes Aircraft Electrical Engineering Center (EEB) - 132
Audiences: Everyone Is Invited
Contact: Jenny Lin
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Astani Civil and Environmental Engineering Ph.D. Seminar
Fri, Nov 17, 2017 @ 03:00 PM - 04:00 PM
Sonny Astani Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering
Conferences, Lectures, & Seminars
Speaker: Lauren Crawford and Ghena Alhanaee, Astani CEE Graduate Students
Talk Title: TBA
Abstract: TBA
Location: Von Kleinsmid Center For International & Public Affairs (VKC) - 150
Audiences: Everyone Is Invited
Contact: Evangeline Reyes
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NL Seminar-Learning and Reading
Fri, Nov 17, 2017 @ 03:00 PM - 04:00 PM
Information Sciences Institute
Conferences, Lectures, & Seminars
Speaker: Jonathan Gordon, USC/ISI
Talk Title: Learning and Reading
Series: Natural Language Seminar
Abstract: In recent years, a dramatic increase in the availability of digital text has created challenges and opportunities for learning for both humans and machines. My talk will describe research on learning commonsense knowledge from text despite our Gricean imperative to write down only what other people wouldn't know and using this for reasoning about language and the world. It will also address helping people to learn scientific knowledge by using implicit structure in a proliferation of articles, books, online courses, and other educational resources.
Biography: Jonathan Gordon is a postdoctoral researcher at the USC Information Sciences Institute, where he works with Jerry Hobbs and colleagues on the problems of learning and organizing knowledge from text. He completed a bachelor's degree in computer science at Vassar College and a Ph.D. in artificial intelligence at the University of Rochester, supervised by Lenhart Schubert.
Host: Marjan Ghazvininejad and Kevin Knight
More Info: http://nlg.isi.edu/nl-seminar/
Location: Information Science Institute (ISI) - 11th Flr Conf Rm # 1135, Marina Del Rey
Audiences: Everyone Is Invited
Contact: Peter Zamar
Event Link: http://nlg.isi.edu/nl-seminar/
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INCOSE-LA Tutorial Series
Sat, Nov 18, 2017 @ 09:00 AM - 03:00 PM
Systems Architecting and Engineering, USC Viterbi School of Engineering
Conferences, Lectures, & Seminars
Speaker: Dr. Mark L. McKelvin, Jr., Engineering Specialist in systems and software engineering, The Aerospace Corporation; and Adjunct Lecturer, USC System Architecting and Engineering Program
Talk Title: Model Based Systems Engineering
Series: INCOSE-LA Tutorial Series
Abstract: Model based systems engineering (MBSE) formalizes the practice of systems engineering through the use of models. This tutorial introduces the fundamental principles of modeling and its application to system engineering. This tutorial is intended to give students a basic understanding of MBSE and its applications by describing what a system model is, how it is used to enable systems engineering in realworld applications, and the role of tools in MBSE. The tutorial format is a slide presentation with some class exercises.
Cost: $25 for INCOSE members and $45 for others.
Limited to 40 attendees. See the registration link below.
Directions: The building is located on the east side of Aviation just north of El Segundo Blvd. The entry gate is just past Bimbos Bakery. There is plenty of parking assigned to the building. An Aerospace host will meet attendees at the front door to sign them into the building. For questions prior to the tutorial please contact Fatima Syed at 310-336-2401.
Biography: Dr. Mark L. McKelvin, Jr. is an Engineering Specialist in systems and software engineering at The Aerospace Corporation. Dr. McKelvin specializes in the use of model based engineering techniques to develop solutions to architecture design challenges for cyberphysical and software intensive systems. He is also a Lecturer in the System Architecting and Engineering graduate program at the University of Southern California, Viterbi School of Engineering where he teaches courses in Model Based Systems Engineering and Systems Engineering Theory and Practice. Prior to joining the Aerospace Corporation, Dr. McKelvin worked at NASA/JPL as a software systems engineer, electrical systems engineer, and a lead fault protection engineer on a major flight system. His interests are in the application of modeling, analysis, and design of engineered systems, including cyber-physical, embedded, and software systems. He holds a Ph.D. in Electrical Engineering and Computer Sciences from the University of California, Berkeley with an emphasis in Electronic Design Automation.
Host: The Aerospace Corporation (Venue); INCOSE-Los Angeles (Event)
More Info: http://events.constantcontact.com/register/event?llr=l4ihvgeab&oeidk=a07eeqa9b05f91369d3
Location: The Aerospace Corporation, Building D8/1010, 200 N. Aviation, El Segundo, CA
Audiences: Everyone Is Invited
Contact: James Moore II
Event Link: http://events.constantcontact.com/register/event?llr=l4ihvgeab&oeidk=a07eeqa9b05f91369d3
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End of Moore's Law Challenges and Opportunities: Computer Architecture Perspectives
Mon, Nov 20, 2017 @ 10:30 AM - 12:00 PM
Ming Hsieh Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering
Conferences, Lectures, & Seminars
Speaker: Margaret Martonosi, Princeton University
Talk Title: End of Moore's Law Challenges and Opportunities: Computer Architecture Perspectives
Abstract: For decades, Moore's Law and its partner Dennard Scaling have driven technology trends that have enabled exponential performance improvements in computer systems at manageable power dissipation. With the slowing of Moore/Dennard improvements, designers have turned to a range of approaches for extending scaling of computer systems performance and power efficiency. Unfortunately, these scaling gains come at the expense of degraded hardware-software abstraction layers, increased complexity at the hardware-software interface, and increased challenges for software reliability, interoperability, and performance portability This talk will explore the way forward for computer systems designers in this "Post-ISA" era of shifting abstractions. The talk will cover hardware and software design opportunities, methods for formal verification, and a look into the role of future technologies including Quantum Computing.
Biography: Margaret Martonosi is the Hugh Trumbull Adams '35 Professor of Computer Science at Princeton University, where she has been on the faculty since 1994. She is also currently serving a four-year term as Director of the Keller Center for Innovation in Engineering Education. Martonosi's research interests are in computer architecture and mobile computing, with particular focus on power-efficient systems. Her work has included the development of the Wattch power modeling tool and the Princeton ZebraNet mobile sensor network project for the design and real-world deployment of zebra tracking collars in Kenya. Her current research focuses on hardware-software interface approaches to manage heterogeneous parallelism and power-performance tradeoffs in systems ranging from smartphones to chip multiprocessors to large-scale data centers. Martonosi is a Fellow of both IEEE and ACM. Notable awards include the 2010 Princeton University Graduate Mentoring Award, the 2013 Anita Borg Institute Technical Leadership Award, the 2015 ISCA Long-Term Influential Paper Award, and the 2017 ACM SIGMOBILE Test-of-Time Award.
Host: Xuehai Qian, x04459, xuehai.qian@usc.edu
Location: Hughes Aircraft Electrical Engineering Center (EEB) - 132
Audiences: Everyone Is Invited
Contact: Gerrielyn Ramos
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Seminars in Biomedical Engineering
Mon, Nov 20, 2017 @ 12:30 PM - 01:50 PM
Alfred E. Mann Department of Biomedical Engineering
Conferences, Lectures, & Seminars
Speaker: Mandy Lai Peterson (alumna, USC BME MS program), Senior R&D Engineer, Second Sight Medical Products
Talk Title: Research Presentation & Career Path
Host: Stacey Finley, PhD
Location: Olin Hall of Engineering (OHE) - 122
Audiences: Everyone Is Invited
Contact: Mischalgrace Diasanta
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Center for Systems and Control (CSC@USC) and Ming Hsieh Institute for Electrical Engineering
Mon, Nov 20, 2017 @ 02:00 PM - 03:00 PM
Ming Hsieh Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering
Conferences, Lectures, & Seminars
Speaker: Srinivas Shakkottai, Texas A&M University
Talk Title: Towards a Market-mediated Software Defined Communications Ecosystem at the Wireless Edge
Series: Fall 2017 Joint CSC@USC/CommNetS-MHI Seminar Series
Abstract: Current wireless edge networks with tightly coupled PHY/MAC that cater to worst or average case performance lack the agility to best serve legions of heterogeneous applications. Simultaneously, software reconfigurable infrastructure has become increasingly mainstream to the point that per-packet and per-flow decisions can be dynamically controlled at multiple layers of the communications stack.
In this talk, I will describe our efforts at the design of software defined platforms that allow for the implementation of heterogeneous per-packet mechanisms. Key components include antennas with reconfigurable radiation patterns, reconfigurable modulation and coding schemes, and reconfigurable queues for medium access control (MAC). We have two parallel thrusts in this direction. The first is on using legacy hardware and tapping into existing reconfigurability mechanisms available on off-the-shelf wireless access points. The second is on developing a clean-slate programmable PHY/MAC platform on which desired mechanisms that can provide services such as ultra-low latencies (< 5 ms) can be configured as needed.
Tying together these layers, I will describe a market-based platform, FlowBazaar that allows us to measure Quality of Service (QoS) statistics on the wireless edge, to determine the mapping between these statistics and the resultant impact on perceived application performance measured by Quality of Experience (QoE), and to complete the chain by eliciting the end-user to declare the value of obtaining such QoEs using small-scale auctions. We thus enable an ecosystem wherein disparate applications are able to obtain the necessary resources for optimal performance.
Biography: Srinivas Shakkottai received a PhD (2007) in Electrical Engineering, from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. He was a post-doctoral scholar in Management Science and Engineering at Stanford University in 2007, and is currently an associate professor at the Dept. of ECE at Texas A&M University. His research interests include content distribution systems, economics of network resource allocation, game theory, wireless networks, and Internet data analytics. Srinivas is the recipient of the Defense Threat Reduction Agency Young Investigator Award (2009) and the NSF Career Award (2012), as well as faculty research awards from Cisco (2008) and Google (2010). He also received The Dept. of ECE Outstanding Professor Award (2013) and was selected as a TEES (College of Engineering) Select Young Faculty Fellow (2014) at Texas A&M University.
Host: Ashutosh Nayyar, ashutosh.nayyar@usc.edu
Location: Hughes Aircraft Electrical Engineering Center (EEB) - 132
Audiences: Everyone Is Invited
Contact: Gerrielyn Ramos
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NL Seminar-Algorithmic Bias in Artificial Intelligence: The Seen and Unseen Factors Influencing Machine Perception of Images and Language
Mon, Nov 20, 2017 @ 03:00 PM - 04:00 PM
Information Sciences Institute
Conferences, Lectures, & Seminars
Speaker: Margaret Mitchell, Google
Talk Title: Algorithmic Bias in Artificial Intelligence: The Seen and Unseen Factors Influencing Machine Perception of Images and Language
Series: Natural Language Seminar
Abstract: The success of machine learning has surged, with similar algorithmic approaches effectively solving a variety of human defined tasks. Tasks testing how well machines can perceive images and communicate about them have exposed strong effects of different types of bias, such as selection bias and dataset bias. In this talk, I will unpack some of these biases, and how they affect machine perception today.
Biography: Margaret Mitchell is a Senior Research Scientist in Google's Research & Machine Intelligence group, working on artificial intelligence. Her research generally involves vision-language and grounded language generation, focusing on how to evolve artificial intelligence towards positive goals. This includes research on helping computers to communicate based on what they can process, as well as projects to create assistive and clinical technology from the state of the art in AI.
Host: Marjan Ghazvininejad and Kevin Knight
More Info: http://nlg.isi.edu/nl-seminar/
Location: Information Science Institute (ISI) - 11th Flr Conf Rms # 1135 and #1137, Marina Del Rey
Audiences: Everyone Is Invited
Contact: Peter Zamar
Event Link: http://nlg.isi.edu/nl-seminar/
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A Cross-Layered Approach to Design Reliable Hardware for Computing Systems
Tue, Nov 21, 2017 @ 10:00 AM - 11:00 AM
Ming Hsieh Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering
Conferences, Lectures, & Seminars
Speaker: William H. Robinson, Vanderbilt University
Talk Title: A Cross-Layered Approach to Design Reliable Hardware for Computing Systems
Abstract: Reliability analysis of integrated circuits (ICs) has become a greater concern in the development of computing systems. Technology scaling offers more transistors to enable system-on-a-chip (SoC) integration, but it also means more transistors that can be affected by radiation-induced faults. Designers must consider how those faults impact the entire computing system by including levels of abstraction in both hardware and software. Cross-layered modeling and simulation enables a better understanding of the complex interactions among particle physics, fabrication technology, processor architecture, and the software stack in order to develop reliable computing systems.
This talk describes a novel method of modeling radiation strikes of varying intensities in intra-pipeline combinational logic, while incorporating important characteristics including: (1) logical, electrical, and timing masking factors in circuit operation, (2) automated placement for logic cell adjacency, and (3) well geometry for a charge-sharing-based model of ion strikes. This talk will also highlight: (1) methods for characterizing microprocessors for radiation-induced failures, (2) methods for mitigating faults in microprocessors, and (3) open questions regarding microprocessor resilience.
Biography: William H. Robinson received his B.S. in electrical engineering from the Florida Agricultural and Mechanical University (FAMU) in 1996 and his M.S. in electrical engineering from the Georgia Institute of Technology (Georgia Tech) in 1998. He received his Ph.D. in electrical and computer engineering from Georgia Tech in 2003. In August 2003, Dr. Robinson joined the Department of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science (EECS) at Vanderbilt University as an Assistant Professor, and he was promoted to Associate Professor with tenure in 2010. Currently, he serves as an Associate Dean in the School of Engineering.
Dr. Robinson leads the Security And Fault Tolerance (SAF-T) Research Group at Vanderbilt University, whose mission is to conduct transformational research that addresses the reliability and security of computing systems. He also co-leads the Explorations in Diversifying Engineering Faculty Initiative (EDEFI) (pronounced "edify"), which investigates the institutional, technical, social, and cultural factors that impact the current underrepresentation of African Americans in engineering faculty positions. His major honors include selection for a National Science Foundation (NSF) Faculty Early Career Development (CAREER) Program Award and the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) Computer Science Study Panel, both in 2008. Dr. Robinson is a Senior Member of both the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE) and the Association for Computing Machinery (ACM). He is a member of the American Society for Engineering Education (ASEE), and a lifetime member of the National Society of Black Engineers (NSBE).
Host: Murali Annavaram, annavara@usc.edu
Location: Hughes Aircraft Electrical Engineering Center (EEB) - 248
Audiences: Everyone Is Invited
Contact: Gerrielyn Ramos
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Center for Systems and Control (CSC@USC) and Ming Hsieh Institute for Electrical Engineering
Mon, Nov 27, 2017 @ 02:00 PM - 03:00 PM
Ming Hsieh Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering
Conferences, Lectures, & Seminars
Speaker: Maxim Raginsky, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign
Talk Title: Decentralized Online Optimization with Global Objectives and Local Communication
Series: Fall 2017 Joint CSC@USC/CommNetS-MHI Seminar Series
Abstract: This talk, based on joint work with Soomin Lee and Angelia Nedich, focuses on a decentralized online convex optimization problem, where each agent controls only one coordinate of the global decision vector. The agents communicate with their neighbors over a static undirected graph or over a time-varying sequence of directed graphs under a uniform connectivity condition. We propose a decentralized variant of Nesterov's primal-dual algorithm with dual averaging. To mitigate the disagreements on the primal-vector updates that arise due to locality of communication, the agents implement a generalization of the local information-exchange dynamics recently proposed by Li and Marden in the undirected case, and a broadcast-based gradient push-sum dynamics in the directed case. We show that, when the step size is chosen appropriately and the objective functions are Lipschitz with Lipschitz gradients, the resulting regret is sublinear in the time horizon.
Biography: Maxim Raginsky received the B.S. and M.S. degrees in 2000 and the Ph.D. degree in 2002 from Northwestern University, all in electrical engineering. He has held research positions with Northwestern, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign (where he was a Beckman Foundation Fellow from 2004 to 2007), and Duke University. In 2012, he returned to UIUC, where he is currently an Associate Professor and William L. Everitt Fellow with the Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering. Dr. Raginsky received a Faculty Early Career Development (CAREER) Award from the National Science Foundation in 2013. His research interests lie at the intersection of information theory, machine learning, and control. He is a member of the editorial boards of Foundations and Trends in Communications and Information Theory and IEEE Transactions on Network Science and Engineering.
Host: Ashutosh Nayyar, ashutosh.nayyar@usc.edu
Location: Hughes Aircraft Electrical Engineering Center (EEB) - 132
Audiences: Everyone Is Invited
Contact: Gerrielyn Ramos
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Seminars in Biomedical Engineering
Mon, Nov 27, 2017 @ 11:30 PM - 01:50 PM
Alfred E. Mann Department of Biomedical Engineering
Conferences, Lectures, & Seminars
Speaker: Aris Economides, Ph.D., Vice President of Research, Regeneron Pharmaceuticals
Talk Title: Human Genetics, Rare Diseases, and Drug Development
Host: Stacey Finley, PhD
Location: Olin Hall of Engineering (OHE) - 122
Audiences: Everyone Is Invited
Contact: Mischalgrace Diasanta
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MASCLE Machine Learning Seminar: Carl Vondrick (Google) - Predictive Vision
Tue, Nov 28, 2017 @ 03:30 PM - 04:50 PM
Thomas Lord Department of Computer Science
Conferences, Lectures, & Seminars
Speaker: Carl Vondrick, Google
Talk Title: Predictive Vision
Series: Visa Research Machine Learning Seminar Series hosted by USC Machine Learning Center
Abstract: This lecture satisfies requirements for CSCI 591: Research Colloquium.
Machine learning is revolutionizing our world: computers can recognize images, translate language, and even play games competitively with humans. However, there is a missing piece that is necessary for computers to take actions in the real world. My research studies Predictive Vision with the goal of anticipating the future events that may happen. To tackle this challenge, I present predictive vision algorithms that learn directly from large amounts of raw, unlabeled data. Capitalizing on millions of natural videos, my work develops methods for machines to learn to anticipate the visual future, forecast human actions, and recognize ambient sounds.
Biography: Carl Vondrick is a research scientist at Google and he will be an assistant professor at Columbia University in fall 2018. He received his PhD from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology in 2017. His research was awarded the Google PhD Fellowship, the NSF Graduate Fellowship, and is featured in popular press, such as NPR, CNN, the Associated Press, and the Late Show with Stephen Colbert.
Host: Yan Liu
Location: Henry Salvatori Computer Science Center (SAL) - 101
Audiences: Everyone Is Invited
Contact: Computer Science Department
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Epstein Institute Seminar, ISE 651
Tue, Nov 28, 2017 @ 03:30 PM - 04:50 PM
Daniel J. Epstein Department of Industrial and Systems Engineering
Conferences, Lectures, & Seminars
Speaker: Dr. Jing Li, Associate Professor, Arizona State University
Talk Title: Data Fusion and Transfer Learning in Patient Care Life Cycle -“ From Diagnosis to Care to System-Level Decision Making
Host: Profs. Sze-Chuan Suen and Qiang Huang
More Information: November 28, 2017.pdf
Location: Ethel Percy Andrus Gerontology Center (GER) - GER 206
Audiences: Everyone Is Invited
Contact: Grace Owh
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Center for Cyber-Physical Systems and Internet of Things and Ming Hsieh Institute for Electrical Engineering Joint Seminar Series on Cyber-Physical Systems
Wed, Nov 29, 2017 @ 02:00 PM - 03:00 PM
Ming Hsieh Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering
Conferences, Lectures, & Seminars
Speaker: Soummya Kar, Associate Professor, Carnegie Mellon University
Talk Title: Resilient Distributed Inference in Cyber-Physical Systems
Abstract: In applications such as large-scale cyber-physical systems (CPS) and Internet-of-Things (IoT), as the number of devices or agents continues to grow, the integrity and trustworthiness of data generated by these devices becomes a pressing issue of paramount importance. An adversary may hijack individual devices or the communication channel between devices to maliciously alter data streams. In numerous IoT applications, we deploy physical devices throughout an environment, and we are interested in using the stream of sensor measurements to make inferences about the environmental state. Due to the large-scale and distributed nature of devices and data it might be infeasible to carry out computation and decision-making in a classical centralized fashion as well as to prevent attacks and intrusions on all data sources. As a result, reactive countermeasures, such as intrusion detection schemes and resilient inference algorithms become a vital component of security in distributed IoT-type setups.
As an alternative to traditional fusion-center based cloud setups, in this talk we focus on fog-type architectures in which devices themselves perform the necessary computations using local data and peer-to-peer information exchange with neighboring devices to make inferences about an environment. In the first part of the talk, we review distributed inference approaches and algorithms based on the consensus+innovations paradigm. We discuss performance metrics such as rates of convergence, communication complexity, and optimality. The second part of the talk focuses on recent work on secure and resilient variants of these algorithms in adversarial environments. Specifically, focusing on the case of data integrity attacks on the device network, we characterize fundamental trade-offs between resilience, quantified in terms of achievable inference performance and ability to detect intrusions and threats, and model properties such as observability and connectivity of the inter-device communication network.
Biography: Soummya Kar received a B.Tech. in electronics and electrical communication engineering from the Indian Institute of Technology, Kharagpur, India, in May 2005 and a Ph.D. in electrical and computer engineering from Carnegie Mellon University, Pittsburgh, PA, in 2010. From June 2010 to May 2011, he was with the Electrical Engineering Department, Princeton University, Princeton, NJ, USA, as a Postdoctoral Research Associate. He is currently an Associate Professor of Electrical and Computer Engineering at Carnegie Mellon University, Pittsburgh, PA, USA. His research interests include decision-making in large-scale networked systems, stochastic systems, multi-agent systems and data science, with applications to cyber-physical systems and smart energy systems. Recent recognition of his work includes the 2016 O. Hugo Schuck Best Paper Award from the American Automatic Control Council and a 2016 Dean's Early Career Fellowship from CIT, Carnegie Mellon.
Host: Paul Bogdan
Location: Hughes Aircraft Electrical Engineering Center (EEB) - 132
Audiences: Everyone Is Invited
Contact: Estela Lopez
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CS Colloquium: Andrew Miller (Harvard) - Advances in Monte Carlo Variational Inference
Thu, Nov 30, 2017 @ 02:00 PM - 03:20 PM
Thomas Lord Department of Computer Science
Conferences, Lectures, & Seminars
Speaker: Andrew Miller, Harvard
Talk Title: Advances in Monte Carlo Variational Inference
Abstract: This lecture satisfies requirements for CSCI 591: Research Colloquium.
Probabilistic modeling is a natural framework for reasoning about noisy data. Well-constructed probabilistic models that combine prior knowledge with data can uncover latent structure, make predictions, and support scientific discovery. However, specifying a model and actually applying a model to data are two distinct challenges. In this talk, I will illustrate and address these challenges by presenting new models and inference methods. Monte Carlo variational inference (MCVI) is an optimization-based class of approximate inference algorithms applicable to a wide range of probabilistic models. I will present work that improves MCVI by increasing the expressiveness of approximations and the robustness of optimization. I will also present new probabilistic models developed for a variety of applied problems.
Biography: Andy Miller is a PhD candidate in computer science at Harvard University, studying statistical machine learning. He develops probabilistic models and inference methods for complex, high-dimensional data in applications ranging from astronomy to health care to sports analytics. He is currently in the final year of his program, advised by Ryan Adams (Princeton and Google Brain), Finale Doshi-Velez (Harvard), and Luke Bornn (Simon Fraser).
Host: Fei Sha
Location: Seeley G. Mudd Building (SGM) - 123
Audiences: Everyone Is Invited
Contact: Computer Science Department
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Memristive Accelerators for Data Intensive Computing: From Machine Learning to High- Performance Linear Algebra
Thu, Nov 30, 2017 @ 02:00 PM - 03:15 PM
Ming Hsieh Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering
Conferences, Lectures, & Seminars
Speaker: Engin Ipek, University of Rochester
Talk Title: Memristive Accelerators for Data Intensive Computing: From Machine Learning to High- Performance Linear Algebra
Abstract: DRAM is facing severe scalability challenges due to precise charge placement and sensing hurdles in deep-submicron geometries. Resistive memories, such as phase-change memory (PCM), resistive RAM (RRAM), and spin-torque transfer magnetoresistive RAM (STT-MRAM), hold the potential to scale well beyond DRAM and are promising DRAM replacements. Although the near term application of these technologies will likely be in main memory and storage, their electrical properties also make it possible to design qualitatively new methods of accelerating important classes of workloads.
In this talk, I will examine high-performance memristive compute engines that combine two powerful capabilities: in-situ data processing and analog computing. Implementations of these engines using PCM, RRAM, and STT-MRAM will be introduced, and their application to machine learning, combinatorial optimization, and scientific computing workloads will be presented. The talk will conclude with a discussion of the novel error correction techniques that are necessary to make the reliability and precision of memristive accelerators competitive with digital systems.
Biography: Engin Ipek is an Associate Professor of Electrical & Computer Engineering and of Computer Science at the University of Rochester. His research interests are in energy-efficient architectures, high-performance memory systems, and the application of emerging technologies to computer systems. Prof. Ipek received his BS (2003), MS (2007), and Ph.D. (2008) degrees from Cornell University, all in Electrical and Computer Engineering. Prior to joining the University of Rochester, he was a researcher in the computer architecture group at Microsoft Research (2007-2009). His work has been recognized by the 2014 IEEE Computer Society TCCA Young Computer Architect Award, an HPCA 2016 distinguished paper award, three IEEE Micro Top Picks awards, an ASPLOS 2010 best paper award, an NSF CAREER award, and an invited Communications of the ACM research highlights article.
Host: Xuehai Qian, x04459, xuehai.qian@usc.edu
Location: Hughes Aircraft Electrical Engineering Center (EEB) - 132
Audiences: Everyone Is Invited
Contact: Gerrielyn Ramos
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Epstein Institute Seminar, ISE 651
Thu, Nov 30, 2017 @ 03:30 PM - 04:50 PM
Daniel J. Epstein Department of Industrial and Systems Engineering
Conferences, Lectures, & Seminars
Speaker: Dr. Allen Yi, Professor, The Ohio State University
Talk Title: Thermoforming of Precision Optics
Host: Prof. Yong Chen
More Information: November 30, 2017.pdf
Location: Ethel Percy Andrus Gerontology Center (GER) - GER 206
Audiences: Everyone Is Invited
Contact: Grace Owh
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CS Colloquium: Zi Wang (MIT) - Bayesian Optimization and How to Scale it Up
Thu, Nov 30, 2017 @ 03:30 PM - 04:50 PM
Thomas Lord Department of Computer Science
Conferences, Lectures, & Seminars
Speaker: Zi Wang, MIT
Talk Title: Bayesian Optimization and How to Scale it Up
Abstract: This lecture satisfies requirements for CSCI 591: Research Colloquium.
In recent years, Bayesian optimization (BO) has become a popular and effective approach to optimize an expensive black-box function with assumptions usually expressed by a Gaussian process prior. Successful applications include tuning hyper-parameters for neural networks, optimizing control parameters for robots, and designing biological experiments. Despite these successes, BO has been limited to small-scale and low-dimensional problems due to computational challenges with Gaussian processes and statistical challenges in high-dimensional settings. In this talk, I will present our recent work on scaling up BO from several aspects. First, I will introduce Max-value Entropy Search, a new BO strategy that improves sample-efficiency and obtains the first regret bound for a variant of the entropy search methods. Building on the new acquisition function, we extend our approach to high dimensions by learning the additive structures of the kernel. And finally, we propose a scalable high-dimensional BO approach that gives previously impossible results of scaling up BO to tens of thousands of observations within minutes of computation. We also show some interesting new findings on how evolutionary algorithms and BO are related, and establish novel connections among several well-known BO methods including entropy search, GP-UCB, and probability of improvement.
Biography: Zi Wang is a Ph.D. student at the MIT Computer Science and Artificial Intelligence Laboratory, advised by Stefanie Jegelka, Leslie Kaelbling and Tomás Lozano-Pérez. She received her S.M. in Electrical Engineering and Computer Science from MIT in Feb. 2016, and B.Eng. in Computer Science and Technology from Tsinghua University in Jul. 2014. Her research interests lie broadly in machine learning and artificial intelligence, currently with applications to robotics problems.
Host: Fei Sha
Location: Henry Salvatori Computer Science Center (SAL) - 101
Audiences: Everyone Is Invited
Contact: Computer Science Department
