Select a calendar:
Filter November Events by Event Type:
SUNMONTUEWEDTHUFRISAT
Events for November 29, 2011
-
Epstein Institute Seminar Series / ISE 651 Seminar
Tue, Nov 29, 2011 @ 04:00 PM - 05:20 PM
Daniel J. Epstein Department of Industrial and Systems Engineering
Conferences, Lectures, & Seminars
Speaker: Dr. Daniel D. Frey, Associate Professor of Mechanical Engineering and Engineering Systems, Massachusetts Institute of Technology
Talk Title: "Detecting Mistakes in Engineering Models: The Effects of Experimental Design"
Series: Epstein Institute Seminar Series
Abstract: This seminar will focus on the results of an experiment with human subjects to explore their ability to discover a mistake in a model used for engineering design. For the purpose of this study, a known mistake was intentionally placed into a model that was to be used by engineers in a design process. The treatment condition was the experimental design that the subjects were asked to use to explore the design alternatives available to them. The engineers in the study were asked to improve the performance of the engineering system and were not informed that there was a mistake intentionally placed in the model. Fourteen of the twenty seven engineers who pursued the design by varying one factor at a time independently identified the mistake during debriefing after the design process. Only one of the twenty seven engineers who used a factional factorial experimental design independently identified the mistake during debriefing. Regression analysis shows that relevant domain knowledge improved the ability of subjects to discover mistakes in models, but experimental design had a larger effect than domain knowledge in this study. Analysis of video tapes provided additional information about the likelihood of subjects to appear surprised by data from a model. This experiment suggests that the complexity of factor changes during the design process is a major consideration influencing the ability of engineers to critically assess models.
Biography: Daniel D. Frey is an Associate Professor of Mechanical Engineering and Engineering Systems, He currently serves as a Co-director of the Singapore-MIT International Design Center, a large-scale ($100M) effort to undertake significant design projects and simultaneously to learn from them how to improve the design process. Freyâs main research thrust concerns robust design of engineering systems. Robust design is a set of engineering practices whose aim is to ensure that engineering systems function despite variations due to manufacture, wear, deterioration, and environmental conditions. Frey is also actively involved in design of engineering devices for the developing world.
Professor Frey has received an NSF CAREER award, best paper awards from ASME, INCOSE, and IEEE, two R&D 100 Awards, and several teaching awards. He holds a Ph.D. in Mechanical Engineering from MIT, an MS in Mechanical Engineering from the University of Colorado, and a BS in Aeronautical Engineering from Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute.
Host: Daniel J. Epstein Department of Industrial and Systems Engineering
More Information: Seminar-Frey.doc
Location: Hughes Aircraft Electrical Engineering Center (EEB) - Room 248
Audiences: Everyone Is Invited
Contact: Georgia Lum
-
American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics Seminar with AME Chair Geoffrey Spedding
Tue, Nov 29, 2011 @ 05:00 PM - 07:00 PM
Viterbi School of Engineering Student Organizations
Conferences, Lectures, & Seminars
Speaker: Geoffrey Spedding , AME department chair
Talk Title: Bird Design and Aircraft Evolution
Abstract: Alternative flying machines (in the sense that they differ from our usual designs) can be invented, or studied. In all cases, it is reasonable to wonder whether a particular design is optimal, or perhaps what it is optimal for. Definitions of optimality quickly become complex: âminimum drag:lift ratio for n passengers that allows our company to outcompete our rival(s)â or âsomething that can be grown fast, still works when 50% of
the aft surfaces are missing, and that fits in a nestâ. We will consider two examples of flying devices, one evolved and one invented, and we will look for parallels that exist
between them, or perhaps ought to. The talk will also attempt to make specific connections with basic classes we teach/learn from at USC.
Biography: Education:
1981 Ph.D. in Zoology (with Civil Engineering Department) from the Department of Zoology, University of Bristol, Bristol, England.
1978 B.Sc.(Hons, 1st class) in Zoology from the Department of Zoology, University of Bristol, Bristol, England.
USC Academic Positions:
2010-: Professor and Chairman, Department of Aerospace and Mechanical Engineering
2005-2008: Professor, Department of Aerospace and Mechanical Engineering
1998-2005: Associate Professor, Department of Aerospace and Mechanical Engineering
1994-1998: Research Associate Professor, Departments of Aerospace and Mechanical Engineering
1988-1994: Research Assistant Professor, Departments of Aerospace and Mechanical Engineering; Member of Center for Neural Engineering
1981-1988: Research Associate, Departments of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering
Other Professional Positions:
2008-2009: Professor, Department of Mechanical and Aeronautical Engineering, University of Pretoria, South Africa.
1998-: Visiting Research Fellow, Department of Animal Ecology, Lund University, Sweden.
1997: Stagiaire, Coriolis Research Laboratories, Institute de Mécanique Grenoble, France.
Host: American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics with co-host Sigma Gamma Tau
More Information: USC_AIAA_GRS_Abstract_Nov29.pdf
Location: SAL 101
Audiences: Everyone Is Invited
Contact: -- American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics
