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Events for November 04, 2016

  • Women in Science & Engineering Preview Day for Prospective PhD students

    Fri, Nov 04, 2016 @ 09:30 AM - 03:30 PM

    Mork Family Department of Chemical Engineering and Materials Science

    Receptions & Special Events


    Women in Science and Engineering (WISE) Preview Day is the Viterbi School's open house event for students interested in pursuing their doctoral degree at one of the top ranked graduate engineering institutions in the nation.

    For registration and additional info: WISE-Preview Day

    Location: Ronald Tutor Campus Center (TCC) -

    Audiences: Everyone Is Invited

    Contact: Aleessa Atienza

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  • AI Seminar-The Crisis in Statistics and the Reliability of Published Results

    Fri, Nov 04, 2016 @ 11:00 AM - 12:00 PM

    Information Sciences Institute

    Conferences, Lectures, & Seminars


    Speaker: Alan Garfinkel, UCLA

    Talk Title: The Crisis in Statistics and the Reliability of Published Results

    Series: Artificial Intelligence Seminar

    Abstract: Medicine and biology are currently in a crisis. Many if not most published studies contain false or irreproducible information, and articles have appeared in major journals with titles like, Why Most Published Research Findings Are False.

    A major contributor to this crisis is Bad Statistics. A large fraction of published papers use statistical methods that are simply wrong. The most frequent error is the use of formula-based statistical tests, like t-tests, regression, ANOVA etc. to give p values on data for which they cannot be used, because the data is either markedly non-Gaussian or too small to tell. These p-value calculation errors are currently being addressed by major journals, which have recently greatly tightened their statistical reviewing, and are insisting upon appropriate statistical methods, such as resampling-based test for non-Gaussian data.

    But a much deeper criticism focuses on the very idea of p-values, however calculated. Many respected sources are calling for an end to p-values as the test for publishability. Phenomena like p-hacking are common, and advanced thinking now holds that the very idea of p-values is the problem. Several journals are now refusing to accept p-values as evidence of the existence of a phenomenon, and even the American Statistical Association has issued warnings about p-values.

    We will review the situation, assess the extent of the damage, and discuss proposed fixes for this serious problem.


    Biography: Dr. Garfinkel graduated from Cornell and received his PhD from Harvard in philosophy and mathematics. He is particularly interested in nonlinear dynamics and its applications to medicine.

    Host: Gully Burns

    Webcast: http://webcastermshd.isi.edu/Mediasite/Play/00f1e452277f416186bf9b6743e650131d

    Location: Information Science Institute (ISI) - 11th Flr Conf Rm # 1135, Marina Del Rey

    WebCast Link: http://webcastermshd.isi.edu/Mediasite/Play/00f1e452277f416186bf9b6743e650131d

    Audiences: Everyone Is Invited

    Contact: Peter Zamar

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  • W.V.T. Rusch Engineering Honors Program Colloquium

    Fri, Nov 04, 2016 @ 01:00 PM - 01:50 PM

    USC Viterbi School of Engineering

    University Calendar


    Join us for a presentation by Alexander Schaerli, Associate Director - Marketing Sciences at Mindshare, titled "Data Science in Media."

    Location: Henry Salvatori Computer Science Center (SAL) - 101

    Audiences: Everyone Is Invited

    Contact: Julie Phaneuf

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  • Biomedical Engineering Speakers

    Biomedical Engineering Speakers

    Fri, Nov 04, 2016 @ 02:00 PM - 04:00 PM

    Alfred E. Mann Department of Biomedical Engineering

    Conferences, Lectures, & Seminars


    Speaker: Neda Jahanshad, Assistant Professor of Neurology, Laboratory of Neuro Imaging, USC Keck School of Medicine

    Talk Title: The Genetics of Human Structural Brain Connectivity

    Abstract: Approximately half the variability in the gross structure of the human brain is influenced by genetics. Yet, the brain operates as a network, with adjacent and distal regions of the brain being physically connected to varying degrees. These connections, or perhaps misconnections in the brain, not only have the potential to cause miscommunication of information in the brain and put the brain at risk for diseases, they are too partially driven by common genetic differences. Discovery of genes that help influence brain structure may help target treatments and therapies. Using structural MRI as well as diffusion weighted imaging scans and analyses methods, we are able to model these connections and make inferences on the connectivity profile itself and topological aspects of the network. However, in order to identify and discover specific loci within our genomes that may explain less than one percent of the population variance in the degree of the brain's richly informative connectivity patterns, an extremely high degree of statistical power is needed. This power is readily achieved with large sample sizes, however such power is not seen in any single imaging study to date. We therefore need to reliably pool together inferences from brain scans from around the world, harmonizing much of the analysis procedure and ensuring the precision and reliability of the connectomic measures we evaluate. Here, we will further discuss the challenges that face the imaging genetics community, and potential advances that may be brought forth with biomedical engineering approaches.

    Host: Brent Liu, PhD

    Location: Corwin D. Denney Research Center (DRB) - 146

    Audiences: Everyone Is Invited

    Contact: Mischalgrace Diasanta

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  • Munushian Seminar - Philip Wong, Friday, November 4th in EEB 132 at 2:00pm

    Fri, Nov 04, 2016 @ 02:00 PM - 03:30 PM

    Ming Hsieh Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering

    Conferences, Lectures, & Seminars


    Speaker: Philip Wong, Stanford University

    Talk Title: Computing Performance: N3XT 1,000x

    Abstract: 21st century information technology (IT) must process, understand, classify, and organize vast amount of data in realtime.
    21st century applications will be dominated by memory-centric computing operating on Tbytes of active data with little
    data locality. At the same time, massively redundant sensor arrays sampling the world around us will give humans the perception
    of additional "senses" blurring the boundary between biological, physical, and cyber worlds. Abundant-data processing, which
    comprises real-time big-data analytics and the processing of perceptual data in wearable devices, clearly demands computation
    efficiencies well beyond what can be achieved through business as usual.
    The key elements of a scalable, fast, and energy-efficient computation platform that may provide another 1,000x in computing
    performance (energy-execution time product) for future computing workloads are: massive on-chip memory co-located with highly
    energy-efficient computation, enabled by monolithic 3D integration using ultra-dense and fine-grained massive connectivity. There
    will be multiple layers of analog and digital memories interleaved with computing logic, sensors, and application-specific devices.
    We call this technology platform N3XT - Nanoengineered Computing Systems Technology. N3XT will support computing
    architectures that embrace sparsity, stochasticity, and device variability.
    In this talk, I will give an overview of nanoscale memory and logic technologies for implementing N3XT. I will give examples of
    nanosystems that have been built using these technologies, and provide projections on their eventual performance.

    Biography: H.-S. Philip Wong is the Willard R. and Inez Kerr Bell Professor in the School of
    Engineering. He joined Stanford University as Professor of Electrical Engineering in September,
    2004. From 1988 to 2004, he was with the IBM T.J. Watson Research Center.
    At IBM, he held various positions from Research Staff Member to Manager and Senior Manager.
    While he was Senior Manager, he had the responsibility of shaping and executing IBM's strategy
    on nanoscale science and technology as well as exploratory silicon devices and semiconductor
    technology.
    Professor Wong's research aims at translating discoveries in science into practical technologies.
    His works have contributed to advancements in nanoscale science and technology, semiconductor
    technology, solid-state devices, and electronic imaging.

    Host: EE-Electrophysics

    Location: Hughes Aircraft Electrical Engineering Center (EEB) - 132

    Audiences: Everyone Is Invited

    Contact: Marilyn Poplawski

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  • Astani Civil and Environmental Engineering Seminar

    Fri, Nov 04, 2016 @ 03:00 PM - 04:00 PM

    Sonny Astani Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering

    Conferences, Lectures, & Seminars


    Speaker: Clemens Heitzinger, Ph.D., Institute for Analysis and Scientific Computing, Technical University Vienna

    Talk Title: Stochastic PDEs, Multiscale Problems, and Optimal Numerical Methods

    Abstract: See attachment

    More Information: CEE Seminar_ Clemens Heitzinger.docx

    Location: John Stauffer Science Lecture Hall (SLH) - 102

    Audiences: Everyone Is Invited

    Contact: Evangeline Reyes

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