USC - Viterbi School of Engineering

Dec
03

Lipid-Polymer Hybrid Nanoparticles for Targeted Therapeutics
Mon, Dec 03, 2007 @ 02:00 PM
Mork Family Department of Chemical Engineering and Materials Science
Conferences, Lectures, & Seminars

Graduate SeminarDr. Liangfang Zhang Chemical Engineering Department, MITNanotechnology is the understanding and the control of matter generally in 1-100 nm dimension range. The application of nanotechnology to medicine, known as nanomedicine, concerns the use of precisely engineered materials at this length scale to develop novel therapeutic and diagnostic modalities. In the past two decades, there has been a progressive increase in the number of commercially available nanoparticle-based therapeutics products. Among these products, liposomal drugs and polymer-based drugs are two dominant classes, accounting for more than 80% of the total amounts. However, both liposomes and polymeric nanoparticles (NPs) have their own drawbacks as drug carriers that limit their application potential in many medical areas. Here I report a platform bionanotechnology that enables the formulation of targeted NPs which have merits of both lipid- and polymer-based NPs, while excluding some of their limitations. The NPs are comprised of: i) a biodegradable polymeric core which can carry bioactive drugs and release them at a sustained rate; ii) a lipid monolayer shell which can prevent the carried agents from freely diffusing out of the nanoparticle and reduce water penetration rate into the nanoparticle, thereby enhancing drug encapsulation efficiency and slowing drug release; iii) a stealth material that can allow the particles to evade recognition by immune system components and increase particle circulation half life; and iv) a targeting molecule that can bind to a unique molecular signature on cells, tissues, or organs of the body. The targeting therapeutic potential of these lipid-polymer hybrid NPs is demonstrated in treating prostate cancer and cardiovascular disease.Monday, December 3, 2007Seminar at 2:00 p.m.SAL 101The Scientific Community is Cordially Invited.

Location: Henry Salvatori Computer Science Center (SAL) - 101
Audiences: Everyone Is Invited

Contact: Petra Pearce Sapir
Dec
03

Creating a mobile network with mobile towers and limited bandwidths
Mon, Dec 03, 2007 @ 02:00 PM - 03:30 PM
Ming Hsieh Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering
Conferences, Lectures, & Seminars

SPEAKER: General Paul J. Kern
The Cohen GroupABSTRACT: How the Army is solving the problem and what it might mean to commercial communications.BIOGRAPHY: General Paul Kern joined The Cohen Group as a Senior Counselor in January, 2005. In addition, he holds the Class of 1950 Chair for Advanced Technologies at West Point, is an Advisor to Battelle Memorial Institute and serves on the Board of Directors of iRobot Corporation, CoVant Technologies LLC and EDO Corporation.He concluded his more than 40-year career in the United States Army when he retired as Commanding General, Army Material Command (AMC). In that capacity, and earlier as Commander of the 4th Infantry Division (Mechanized), General Kern left his impact on the Army's future as he led a drive to digitize and transform its warfighting capabilities. He won wide respect for his efforts to direct supply chain improvements, maintain field readiness, and modernize weapons systems throughout the Army while still controlling costs.In June 2004, General Kern undertook a vastly different responsibility when Secretary Rumsfeld tapped him to lead the military's internal investigation into the abuses at the Abu Ghraib prison in Iraq, a tough assignment that he handled with skill.General Kern's career has also had stops in the Secretary of Defense office in Washington and several field units. As the Senior Military Assistant to Secretary of Defense William Perry, General Kern was instrumental in ensuring that the Secretary's guidance was implemented throughout the Department and in handling the most sensitive decisions for the Secretary. During that tenure he traveled with Secretary Perry to more than 70 countries, meeting numerous heads of state, foreign ministers and international defense leaders. He participated in U.S. operations in Haiti, Rwanda, Zaire and the Balkans, and helped to promote military relations in Central and Eastern Europe, South America, China, and the Middle East.General Kern had three combat tours with two tours in Vietnam as a platoon leader and troop commander, and he commanded the Second Brigade of the 24th Infantry in Desert Shield/Desert Storm.HOST: Solomon Golomb, sgolomb@usc.edu, EEB 504A, x07333
Location: Hughes Aircraft Electrical Engineering Center (EEB) - 248
Audiences: Everyone Is Invited

Contact: Gerrielyn Ramos
Dec
03

Dr. Amnon Yariv (Munushian Visiting Seminar Series)
Mon, Dec 03, 2007 @ 03:00 PM - 04:00 PM
Ming Hsieh Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering
Conferences, Lectures, & Seminars

Dr. Amnon YarivCalifornia Institute of Technology"Slow Light and Dark Modes"AbstractThe talk will consider the theoretical and experimental basis for the recent interest in major slowing down of the group velocity of light (Slow Light). It will review the phenomenon in the atomic domain where it is linked intimately to that of Electromagnetically Induced Transparency (EIT). The emphasis will be on Slow Light in artificial dielectric structures such as Coupled Resonators Waveguides (CROWS) and on recent theoretical results from our group on Slow Light and Dark Modes phenomena in bi-periodic optical waveguides.BioAmnon Yariv received the B.S., M.S., and Ph.D. degrees in electrical engineering from the University of California, Berkeley, in 1954, 1956, and 1958, respectively. In 1959, he joined Bell Telephone Laboratories, Murray Hill, NJ. In 1964, he joined the California Institute of Technology (Caltech), Pasadena, as an Associate Professor of electrical engineering, becoming
a Professor in 1966. In 1980, he became the Thomas G. Myers Professor of electrical engineering and applied physics. In 1996, he became the Martin and Eileen Summerfield Professor of applied physics and Professor of electrical engineering. On the technical and scientific
sides, he took part (with various co-workers) in the discovery of a number of early solid-state laser systems, in the original formulation of the theory of nonlinear quantum optics; in proposing and explaining mode-locked ultrashort-pulse lasers, GaAs optoelectronics; in proposing and demonstrating semiconductor-based integrated optics technology; in pioneering
the field of phase conjugate optics; and in proposing and demonstrating the semiconductor
distributed feedback laser. He has published widely in the laser and optics fields and has written a number of basic texts in quantum electronics, optics, and quantum mechanics.
Dr. Yariv is a member of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences, the National Academy of Engineering, and the National Academy of Sciences.
Location: Hedco Neurosciences Building (HNB) - 100
Audiences: Everyone Is Invited

Contact: Ericka Lieberknecht
Dec
04

CS Colloquia: Aspects of Information Fusion and Computational Discovery for Bioinformatics
Tue, Dec 04, 2007 @ 04:00 PM - 05:30 PM
Thomas Lord Department of Computer Science
Conferences, Lectures, & Seminars

Title: Aspects of Information Fusion and Computational Discovery for BioinformaticsSpeaker: Dr. Raj Acharya (Penn State University)ABSTRACT:
Information fusion involves combining information from several different
sources to make informed decisions. It exploits the notion that 'the fused
whole is more than the sum of its parts'. The field of bioinformatics is
replete with multiple information sources such as microarray data, sequence
data, conservation information, textual literature, and multiple data banks.
This provides an excellent opportunity to exploit the techniques of
information fusion in the field of bioinformatics.In this talk, we will present information fusion algorithms for computational
discovery in bioinformatics.BIO:
Raj Acharya obtained his Ph.D. from the Mayo Graduate School of
Medicine/University of Minnesota in 1984. Since then, he has worked as a
research scientist at the Mayo Clinic and at GE (Thomson)-CGR in Paris,
France. He has also been a Faculty Fellow at the Night Vision Laboratory in
Fort Belvoir in Washington, D.C. and has been a NASA-ASEE Faculty Fellow at
the Johnson Space Center in Houston, TX. He is currently the Head of Computer
Science and Engineering Department at Penn State. During his tenure, the CSE
department has been ranked amongst the top 10 CS departments in the country.His main research thrusts are in the general area of bioinformatics and
biocomputing. He is the architect of the PCABC Cancer Bioinformatics
Datawarehouse project. He works on using information fusion techniques for
genomics and proteomics. He is also developing fractal models for the DNA
replication and transcription sites. He is associate editor of IEEE/ACM
Transactions on Computational Biology and Bioinformatics. He is also the
cochair of the IAPR Technical Committee on Pattern Recognition for
Bioinformatics. His research work has been featured among others in
Businessweek, Mathematics Calendar, The Scientist, Diagnostic Imaging,
Biomedical Engineering Newsletter, and Drug Design.
Location: Seaver Science Library (SSL) - 150
Audiences: Everyone Is Invited

Contact: CS Colloquia
Dec
05

List-Decoding of Error-Correcting Codes with Applications to Compressed Sensing
Wed, Dec 05, 2007 @ 11:00 AM - 12:00 PM
Ming Hsieh Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering
Conferences, Lectures, & Seminars

SPEAKER: Dr. Farzad Parvaresh, Postdoctoral Fellow, California Institute of TechnologyABSTRACT: We consider the problem of designing codes and decoding algorithms for the adversarial channel. We show that the ultimate error-correction radius of 1 - R, where R is the rate of the code, can be achieved constructively with polynomial-time decoding, in the list-decoding sense.Our codes and list-decoders are based on two key ideas. The first is the transition from bivariate polynomial interpolation, pioneered by Sudan and Guruswami-Sudan, to multivariate interpolation decoding. The second idea is to part ways with Reed-Solomon codes, for which numerous prior attempts at breaking the rate barrier in the worst-case were unsuccessful. Rather than devising a better list-decoder for Reed-Solomon codes, we devise better codes. In our codes, instead of evaluating certain functions at rational points of a curve, we evaluate the rational points themselves, viewed as pairs of polynomials over a subfield, at certain elements of the subfield. This construction leads to polynomial-time error-correction up to the radius of 1 - O(R log(1/R)). Utilizing the folding technique of Guruswami and Rudra one can improve the decoding bound up to 1 - R - \epsilon, for any positive \epsilon.Finally, we borrow ideas from the list-decoding of Reed-Solomon codes to improve the state of the art in the area of compressed sensing. We show that a deterministic Fourier measurement of the signal with a decoding algorithm due to Coppersmith and Sudan can reach the ultimate threshold of sparsity to number-of-measurements for block sparse signals in polynomial time. We will also point out connections of this to DNA microarrays.BIO: Farzad Parvaresh was born in Isfahan, Iran, in 1978.He received the B.S. degree in electrical engineering from the Sharif University of Technology, Tehran, Iran, in 2001, and the M.S. and Ph.D. degrees in electrical and computer engineering form the University of California, San Diego, in 2003 and 2007, respectively. He is currently a post doctoral scholar at the Center for Mathematics of Information, California Institute of Technology, Pasadena, CA. His research interests include error-correcting codes, algebraic decoding algorithms, information theory, networks, and fun math problems. Dr. Parvaresh was a recipient of the best paper award from the 46th Annual IEEE symposium on foundations of computer science (FOCS'05).Host: Prof. Giuseppe Caire, caire@usc.edu
Location: Hughes Aircraft Electrical Engineering Center (EEB) - 248
Audiences: Everyone Is Invited

Contact: Mayumi Thrasher
Dec
05

Overall Electromagnetic Properties of Multifunctional Composites
Wed, Dec 05, 2007 @ 03:30 PM - 04:30 PM
Aerospace and Mechanical Engineering
Conferences, Lectures, & Seminars

Alireza V. Amirkhizi Postdoctoral FellowCenter of Excellence for Advanced Materials Department of Mechanical and Aerospace EngineeringUniversity of California at San Diego La Jolla, CA 92093 Abstract:Composite materials are used for their excellent structural performance. Load-bearing properties are traditionally the only aspects for which a composite structure is designed. Recent technological advances have made it possible to reach beyond this limited view. Inspired by biological systems, we seek to develop engineering materials that exhibit multiple functionalities in addition to providing structural integrity. I will present my research on embedding periodic arrays of scattering elements within composites to modify and tune their overall electromagnetic properties. A number of techniques for numerical and analytical modeling of the periodic media are discussed. Based on these methods we have designed and fabricated composites with tuned electromagnetic properties. Examples include fiber-reinforced polymer composites with embedded arrays of straight wires or coils. In both cases, the overall dielectric constant of the medium is reduced and can even be rendered negative within microwave frequencies. The coil medium can exhibit chiral response. Solutions for eliminating this behavior as well as a method for calculation of the bianisotropic material parameters are presented. One can achieve similar modification of the overall properties at higher frequencies by reducing the length scale. For example, we demonstrated that a polymer film with embedded nano-strips of gold can demonstrate negative dielectric constant in infrared regime. An example of a structural composite is fabricated and tested for which the magnetic permeability is altered and even turned negative. Finally, a general method for homogenization of the electromagnetic properties of periodic media based on the microstructure is presented.

Location: Stauffer Science Lecture Hall, Rm 102
Audiences: Everyone Is Invited

Contact: April Mundy
Dec
06

CS Colloquia: Next Generation Dynamic Spectrum Systems
Thu, Dec 06, 2007 @ 11:00 AM - 12:30 AM
Thomas Lord Department of Computer Science
Conferences, Lectures, & Seminars

Title: Next Generation Dynamic Spectrum SystemsSpeaker: Prof. Heather Zheng(UCSB)ABSTRACT:
Today's static spectrum assignment policy has led to a critical spectrum
shortage. While innovative wireless networks such as WiMAX are denied
from spectrum access, the majority of existing networks use only 10-15%
of their assigned spectrum. To reuse "wasted" spectrum, the recent
proposal on dynamic spectrum access allows unlicensed (secondary) users
to opportunistically utilize unused licensed spectrum on a
non-interfering basis. This "creates" new capacity and commercial value
from existing under-utilized spectrum.While it shows great promise, the technology underlying dynamic spectrum
systems is still in its infancy. Issues in wireless communications and
networking, once addressed in the context of fixed spectrum assignment,
offer new research challenges in the realm of dynamic spectrum systems.
In this talk, we describe some existing and on-going efforts on
dynamic spectrum systems. We begin by describing distributed algorithms
for secondary users to access spectrum fairly and efficiently. We
introduce (1) a distributed coordination approach where devices
coordinate to adapt spectrum assignment over topology variations, and
(2) a light-weight rule-based solution that requires minimum
communication overhead. We then present a dynamic spectrum auction
framework that addresses the impact of economic issues. We conclude by
summarizing this work in context, and discussing current and future
directions in combining these results with higher layer mechanisms, and
applying cross-layer design to produce an end-to-end programmable and
adaptive network.Additional information about this research can be found at
http://link.cs.ucsb.edu.BIO:
Since August 2005, Heather Zheng has been an assistant professor at
Department of Computer Science, University of California, Santa Barbara.
Her research area includes wireless networking and communications, and
multimedia computing. She currently focuses on Cognitive Radios and
dynamic spectrum networks. Her research on Cognitive Radios was selected
as one of the 10 Emerging Technologies of 2006 by MIT Technology Review
Magazine, and the Best Student Paper in IEEE DySPAN 2007. Dr. Zheng was
named as the MIT Technology Review's Top 35 Innovators under the age of
35 in 2005. She also received 2006 World Technology Award (top 5 in
communication), 2002 Bell-Labs President's Gold Award, 1998-99 George
Harhalakis Outstanding Graduate Student Award from University of
Maryland, College Park. Dr. Zheng received her Ph.D. from University of
Maryland, College Park in 1999 and then joined wireless research lab,
Bell-Labs, Lucent Technologies. She then moved to Microsoft Research
Asia as a project lead in March 2004 and later joined UCSB.
Location: Seaver Science Library (SSL) - 150
Audiences: Everyone Is Invited

Contact: CS Colloquia
Dec
06

Lyman Handy Colloquium Series
Thu, Dec 06, 2007 @ 12:45 PM - 01:50 PM
Mork Family Department of Chemical Engineering and Materials Science
Conferences, Lectures, & Seminars

Speaker: Rakesh Agrawal
School Of Chemical Engineering
Purdue University
West Lafayette, IN, USAhttps://engineering.purdue.edu/ChE/Directory/Faculty/Agrawal.htmlEnvironmentally Friendly Energy SolutionsThe recent rise in oil prices again reminds us that the world's supply of fossil fuels is finite. Roughly 85% of current energy use is being met by fossil fuels. Alternate primary energy sources are being identified and developed to permit the continued functioning of the world economy. The first part of this presentation will survey some of these alternative sustainable primary energy sources: solar, wind, nuclear, and bio-based sources. It will also review the particular challenges associated with various end uses of energy.Common energy carriers, such as electricity, are used to move energy from several primary sources to many different end uses. Recently, the possibility of an alternate energy system using H2 as a common energy carrier has been proposed and widely debated. In such a system, H2 would first have to be produced from a primary source. It would then need to be transported, delivered and stored at the point of end use. The second part of this presentation will briefly highlight the challenges associated with H2 supply chain that is currently being considered for fuel cell vehicles. Finally, some new and novel solutions to sustain the current transportation sector will be presented. These solutions provide a feasible framework for a fossil fuel-free world. Also they provide exciting possibilities for chemical engineers to apply their expertise and contribute to the grand challenge of energy.

Location: Olin Hall of Engineering (OHE) - 122
Audiences: Everyone Is Invited

Contact: Petra Pearce Sapir
Dec
06

Vibration Mitigation of Nonlinear Structures using Nonlinear Energy Sinks
Thu, Dec 06, 2007 @ 02:00 PM - 03:00 PM
Sonny Astani Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering
Conferences, Lectures, & Seminars

Speaker:
Mr. Régis Viguié,
Ph.D. Candidate,
Aerospace and Mechanical Engineering Department,
University of Liège,
Liège, BelgiumAbstract:The tuned mass damper (TMD) is a simple and efficient device but it is only effective when it is precisely tuned to the frequency of a particular vibration mode. Because nonlinear vibrating structures have resonant frequencies that vary with the total energy in the system, the efficiency of a TMD is questionable in this case. In order to overcome this limitation, the nonlinear energy pumping phenomenon from the main mechanical structure to a coupled, local, passive nonlinear energy sink (NES) is investigated. It is shown that, unlike the TMD, an NES has no preferential resonant frequency, which makes it a good candidate for vibration mitigation of MDOF linear or nonlinear vibrating structures. In this presentation, the essential features of an NES will be described. Some potential applications of nonlinear energy pumping, including vibration absorption in drill-string systems and aeroelastic instability suppression, will be presented. Finally, the determination of a suitable design for the NES will also be discussed as well as some possible realizations of this nonlinear absorber.

Location: Kaprielian Hall (KAP) - 209
Audiences: Everyone Is Invited

Contact: Evangeline Reyes
Dec
07

An Air Quality Engineer in Industry
Fri, Dec 07, 2007 @ 01:00 PM - 02:00 PM
Sonny Astani Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering
Conferences, Lectures, & Seminars

Speaker:
Patricia G Menjivar,
Senior Environmental, Health and Safety Engineer,
Environmental, Health and Safety,
Space and Airborne Systems,
Raytheon Company,
El Segundo, CaliforniaAbstract:California's air pollution control program is one of the most effective in the world. California legislature is continuously in the forefront of newly created air quality regulations that affect not just California but the Nation. Industry in California must keep abreast of newly created regulations, such as AB32. Despite these improvements, California continues to face the nation's greatest air quality challenge. An Air Quality Engineer must work these challenges with Industry for efficient and feasible outcomes while keeping the mission to find and support alternatives or reduce hazards in order to protect the environment and its citizens. Ms. Patricia Menjivar will present her experiences as a Senior Air Quality Engineer.

Location: Kaprielian Hall (KAP) - 209
Audiences: Everyone Is Invited

Contact: Evangeline Reyes
Dec
07

Regional Earth System Modeling and Forecasting
Fri, Dec 07, 2007 @ 02:00 PM - 03:00 PM
Sonny Astani Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering
Conferences, Lectures, & Seminars

Speaker: Dr. Yi Chao,
Jet Propulsion Laboratory, California Institute of Technology, Pasadena, CAAbstract: It was March 5, 1950, the first computerized weather forecast was issued using the world's first-ever electronic computer known as ENIAC (Electronic Numerical Integrator And Computer). It took just about 24 hours to make a 24-hour forecast. Today, a 7-day weather forecast takes only a few hours on today's supercomputers, and it becomes routine to check weather conditions before taking a vacation.In this talk, I will summarize the essential elements of a weather forecasting system. I will then review the current research and progress to apply the weather forecast technology in forecasting other Earth system components such as hurricane, ocean and climate. Our recent experiences in developing a forecasting system for the southern California coastal ocean will be described. The needs to refine these forecast systems ( e.g., increase the spatial resolutions from kilometers to meters down to the street level for air quality forecasting) and the associated information technology and computational challenge will be discussed.About the speaker (http://science.jpl.nasa.gov/people/Chao/)
Dr. Yi Chao received his Ph.D. in 1990 from Princeton University in a joint graduate program with NOAA Geophysical Fluid Dynamics Laboratory. After two years' postdoc research at UCLA, he joined Jet Propulsion Laboratory, California Institute of Technology as a Research Scientist in 1993. He is now a Principal Scientist and the manager for the Climate, Oceans and Solid Earth Section within the science division. His research interests include satellite oceanography with a particular focus on coastal oceans, numerical modeling and data assimilation, interdisciplinary science of Earth system science, and climate variability and change.

Location: Kaprielian Hall (KAP) - 209
Audiences: Everyone Is Invited

Contact: Evangeline Reyes
Dec
07

Lessons on Structure from the Structure of Viruses
Fri, Dec 07, 2007 @ 03:30 PM - 04:30 PM
Aerospace and Mechanical Engineering
Conferences, Lectures, & Seminars

RICHARD D. JAMES Russell J. Penrose ProfessorandDistinguished McKnight University ProfessorUniversity of MinnesotaMinneapolis, MN 55455 Abstract:
As the most primitive organisms, occupying the gray area between the living and nonliving, viruses are the least complex biological system. One can begin to think about them in a quantitative way, while still being at some level faithful to biochemical processes. We make some observations about their structure, formalizing in mathematical terms some rules-of-construction discovered by Watson and Crick and Caspar and Klug. We call the resulting structures objective structures. It is then seen that objective structures include many of the most important structures studied in science today: carbon nanotubes, the capsids, necks, tails and other parts of many viruses, the cilia of some bacteria, DNA octahedra, buckyballs, actin and collagen and many other common proteins, and numerous atomic-scale rods, springs and wires now being synthesized. Objective structures also have an intriguing relation to the crystalline and noncrystalline structures adopted by elements in the Periodic Table. The rules defining them relate to the basic invariance group of quantum mechanics. We develop a methodology for computing such structures. Some of the nonperiodic structures revealed by the formulas exhibit beautifully subtle relations of symmetry. This common mathematical structure paves the way toward many interesting calculations for such structures: the likelihood of unusual electromagnetic and other collective properties, simplified schemes for exact molecular dynamics of such structures, phase transformations between them, defects and failure, new x-ray methods of determination of structure not relying on crystallization, and their growth by self-assembly.

Location: Stauffer Science Lecture Hall, Rm 102
Audiences: Everyone Is Invited

Contact: April Mundy
Dec
10

VLSI Architecture Design for Algebraic Soft-decision
Mon, Dec 10, 2007 @ 11:00 AM - 12:00 PM
Ming Hsieh Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering
Conferences, Lectures, & Seminars

SPEAKER: Professor Xinmiao Zhang, Case Western Reserve UniversityAbstract: Reed-Solomon (RS) codes are among the most extensively used error-correcting codes in digital communication and storage systems. Recently, significant advancements have been made on algebraic soft-decision decoding (ASD) of RS codes. By incorporating the reliability information from the channel into an algebraic interpolation process, substantial coding gain can be achieved by these algorithms with a complexity that is polynomial with respect to the codeword length.ASD algorithms have two major steps: the interpolation and the factorization. In this talk, we focus on the factorization step and present complexity-reducing schemes and efficient VLSI implementation architectures for this step. The factorization can be implemented by an iterative algorithm, which mainly consists of root computations over finite fields and polynomial updating. Traditionally, root computations over finite fields are implemented by exhaustive search, which leads to very long latency. Based on the observation that the root-order in the first iteration is usually close to the degree of the polynomial and it only changes with very small probability in later iterations, we proposed prediction-based root computation schemes. Employing the proposed schemes, the roots can be found by simple direct computations if the prediction is correct. Since the prediction failure rates are very low, our schemes can bring significant speedup to the root computation. The involved polynomial updating is straightforward. However, a large number of polynomial coefficients need to be updated. In order to increase the speed, we employed a root-order-dependent parallel processing approach. Furthermore, a novel coefficient storage and transfer scheme is proposed to resolve the data dependency caused by the parallel processing and minimize the memory requirement. Applying our proposed schemes to the factorization of a (255, 239) RS decoding, a speedup of 228% can be achieved, while the area requirement has been reduced to less than 1/3.Bio: Xinmiao Zhang received the B.S. and M.S. degrees in Electrical Engineering from Tianjin University, Tianjin, China, in 1997 and 2000, respectively. She received her Ph.D. degree in Electrical Engineering from the University of Minnesota-Twin Cities, in 2005. Since then, she has been with Case Western Reserve University, where she is currently a Timothy E. and Allison L. Schroeder Assistant Professor in the Department of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science. Her research interests include VLSI architecture design for communications, cryptography, and digital signal processing.Ms. Zhang is the recipient of the Best Paper Award at ACM Great Lake Symposium on VLSI (GLSVLSI) 2004. She also won the First Prize in Student Paper Contest at the Asilomar Conference on Signals, Systems and Computers 2004. She is the co-editor of the book "Wireless Security and Cryptography: Specifications and Implementations" (CRC Press, 2007) and the guest editor for Springer MONET Journal Special Issue on "Next Generation Hardware Architectures for Secure Mobile Computing". She has served on technical program committees of GLSVLSI and the reviewer committees of IEEE International Symposium on Circuits and Systems (ISCAS).Host: Prof. Keith Chugg, chugg@usc.edu
Location: Hughes Aircraft Electrical Engineering Center (EEB) - 248
Audiences: Everyone Is Invited

Contact: Mayumi Thrasher
Dec
11

Multi-scale Adaptive Image Representations
Tue, Dec 11, 2007 @ 10:30 AM - 11:30 AM
Ming Hsieh Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering
Conferences, Lectures, & Seminars

Doru C. Balcan,
Carnegie Mellon UniversityAbstract:
Multi-scale representations, such as those based on wavelets, have been successful in efficiently
describing intrinsic structure in images, and consequently have lead to the emergence of excellent
image coders. Nevertheless, using any fixed representation limits the best achievable performance
when encoding images of a given class, because all statistical information about that class is simply
ignored. An adaptive representation would then be more appropriate in this setting. One such
example is independent component analysis (ICA), a statistical method that computes a linear
representation whose coefficients have minimum entropy.
In this talk, I will introduce a hybrid image representation method called Multi-scale ICA, which
derives an adaptive basis for each of the wavelet decomposition sub-bands. A direct comparison of
the rate-distortion curves obtained by coefficient scalar quantization to various levels of precision
shows the improvement in terms of efficiency over the wavelet representation. One other merit of this
approach is its potential use to derive adaptive representations for large-size images, where existing
methods fail because of computational and sample complexity limitations. We can therefore interpret
the proposed method both as a nonparametric adaptive extension of wavelet representations, and as
a multi-scale generalization of ICA. This is joint work with Michael Lewicki.Speaker Bio:
Doru C. Balcan received the B.S. degree in computer science, in 2000, and the M.S. degree in
applied computer science, in 2002, from the Faculty of Mathematics, University of Bucharest,
Romania. He is currently pursuing Ph.D. studies in computer science at Carnegie Mellon University,
Pittsburgh, PA. His research is focused on developing algorithms for efficient and robust signal
processing and coding. More exactly, he is interested in techniques that exploit the mathematical
structure of problems commonly occurring in image and audio encoding, to produce representations
that are compact, resilient to noise, and fast to compute.Hosted by: Prof: C-C Jay Kuo
Location: Hughes Aircraft Electrical Engineering Center (EEB) - 248
Audiences: Everyone Is Invited

Contact: Talyia Veal
Dec
11

CS Colloquia: Interactive and Intuitive Appearance Design
Tue, Dec 11, 2007 @ 11:00 AM - 12:00 PM
Thomas Lord Department of Computer Science
Conferences, Lectures, & Seminars

Title: Interactive and Intuitive Appearance Design Speaker : Professor Fabio Pellacini - Dartmouth CollegeABSTRACT:
The appearance of objects comes from the interaction of scene lighting and
surface materials, whose careful definition is necessary to achieve the
remarkable sophistication of today's synthetic imagery.
Currently, appearance design is one of the remaining roadblocks for a
ubiquitous use of computer-generated imagery, since slow user feedback and
cumbersome user interfaces make the process significantly time consuming for
expert designers, and beyond the reach of novices.In this talk, I will present our recent results in rendering accurate
lighting for complex environments where we achieve interactivity by
developing new approximation algorithms that can take advantage of inherent
properties of lighting and of today's commodity hardware architectures.
These algorithms completely change the workflow of artists from an offline
to a fully interactive process.
I will also show results from algorithms that build on this interactivity to
support intuitive user interfaces for appearance design that drastically
simplify the time require for designing appearance.BIO:
Fabio Pellacini is an assistant professor in computer science at Dartmouth
College. His research focuses on algorithms for interactive, high-quality
rendering of complex environments and for artist-friendly material and
lighting design to support more effective content creation.Prior to joining academia, Pellacini worked at Pixar Animation Studios on
lighting algorithms, where he received credits on various movie productions.Pellacini received his Laurea degree in physics from the University of Parma
(Italy), and his M.S. and Ph.D. in computer science from Cornell University.
Location: Seaver Science Library (SSL) - 150
Audiences: Everyone Is Invited

Contact: CS Colloquia
Dec
11

CS Colloquia: Mechanism Design, Machine Learning, and Pricing Problems
Tue, Dec 11, 2007 @ 04:00 PM - 05:30 PM
Thomas Lord Department of Computer Science
Conferences, Lectures, & Seminars

Title: Mechanism Design, Machine Learning, and Pricing ProblemsSpeaker: Maria-Florina Balcan(CMU)ABSTRACT:
In this work, we make an explicit connection between machine learning and
mechanism design. In doing so, we obtain a unified approach for considering a
variety of profit maximizing mechanism design problems, including many that
have been previously considered in the literature. In particular, we use
techniques from sample complexity in machine learning theory to reduce
problems of incentive compatible mechanism design to standard algorithmic
questions. We apply these results to a wide variety of revenue-maximizing
pricing problems, including the problem of auctioning a digital good, the
attribute auction problem, and the problem of item pricing in unlimited supply
combinatorial auctions. From a learning perspective, these settings present
several unique challenges: the loss function is discontinuous and asymmetric,
and the range of bidders' valuations may be large. This talk is based on joint work with Avrim Blum, Jason Hartline, and Yishay
Mansour.BIO:
Maria-Florina Balcan is a Ph.D. candidate at Carnegie Mellon University under
the supervision of Avrim Blum. She received B.S. and M.S. degrees from the
Faculty of Mathematics, University of Bucharest, Romania. Her main research
interests are Computational and Statistical Machine Learning, Computational
Aspects in Economics and Game Theory, and Algorithms. She is a recipient of
the IBM PhD Fellowship.
Location: Seaver Science Library (SSL) - 150
Audiences: Everyone Is Invited

Contact: CS Colloquia
Dec
12

Uncertain Elasto-Plasticity
Wed, Dec 12, 2007 @ 02:00 PM - 03:00 PM
Sonny Astani Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering
Conferences, Lectures, & Seminars

Speaker: Dr. Boris Jeremic, Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, University of California, Davis, jeremic@ucdavis.eduAbstract:
Behavior of realistic materials is inherently uncertain. Two main sources of
such behavior are (a) the constitutive level uncertainties and (b) the uncertain
spatial variability of material.Presented in this talk is the method for simulating uncertain elastic-plastic
behavior. On the constitutive level, an Euler-Lagrange form of
Fokker-Planck-Kolmogorov (FPK) equation is applied to the description of the
evolution of probability density function of stress response for (any) elastic
and/or elastic-plastic material model with random material properties. The FPK
approach does not suffer from the "closure problem" associated with perturbation
methods nor does it require repetitive use of deterministic elastic-plastic
simulations as associated with Monte Carlo technique. Furthermore, the FPK
approach transforms the nonlinear stochastic constitutive ordinary differential
equation into linear deterministic partial differential equation, which, even if
not amenable to analytical solution, greatly simplifies the numerical solution
process. On the finite element level, spatial variability of material properties
is modeled and simulated using Karhunen-Loeve expansions of input random fields
in eigen-modes of their covariance function and polynomial chaos expansion with
Galerkin method to represent the solution random field.Number of examples will be presented, illustrating methodology and main results,
some of which are quite surprising and can be seen, at first glance as
counter-intuitive.
Location: Kaprielian Hall (KAP) - 209
Audiences: Everyone Is Invited

Contact: Evangeline Reyes
Dec
13

An Adaptive Cut-Cell Method for Environmental Fluid Mechanics
Thu, Dec 13, 2007 @ 02:00 PM - 03:00 PM
Sonny Astani Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering
Conferences, Lectures, & Seminars

Speaker:
Dr. Michael F. Barad, P.E.,
Environmental Fluid Mechanics Laboratory Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, Stanford University, barad@stanford.edu Abstract:
I will present our block-structured adaptive mesh reﬁnement (AMR) computational ﬂuid dynamics model and its application to the study of highly nonlinear multiscale environmen¬tal ﬂows. AMR allows researchers to "zoom in" on important ﬂow features by dynamically tracking them with recursively nested ﬁner grids. For example, this permits the accurate multiscale simulation of oceanic internal gravity waves, including generation at the meter scale, propagation and interaction over tens of kilometers, and sub-meter scale shear insta¬bility induced decay, all in the same calculation. The method is capable of simulating a wide range of ﬂows in environmental ﬂuid mechanics, including ﬂows in lakes, rivers, wetlands, and the coastal ocean. The method is also capable of studying ﬂows in bioreactors and other complex ﬂuid systems, potential avenues for fruitful interdisciplinary collaborations.
The model is based on the solution of the variable density, incompressible, Navier-Stokes equations in two or three dimensions, including air/water and ﬂuid/solid interfaces and the transport of scalars. It is composed of a second-order accurate, ﬁnite-volume projection method, which includes a slope limited Godunov discretization of the advective terms. We discretize irregular domains as a collection of (cut-cell) control volumes formed by the intersection of the domain with Cartesian grid cells. The control volumes naturally ﬁt within parallelizable block data structures, and permit dynamic AMR coarsening and reﬁnement of arbitrarily complex domains as a simulation progresses. This methodology is combined with ﬁnite-volume AMR discretizations based on two-way ﬂux matching at reﬁnement boundaries to obtain a conservative method that is second-order accurate in solution error.

Location: Kaprielian Hall (KAP) - 209
Audiences: Everyone Is Invited

Contact: Evangeline Reyes
Dec
14

Internationalizing the Engineering Curriculum
Fri, Dec 14, 2007 @ 11:00 AM - 12:00 PM
Sonny Astani Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering
Conferences, Lectures, & Seminars

Speaker:
Larry Shuman,
Senior Associate Dean and Professor of Industrial Engineering,
School of Engineering,
University of PittsburghAbstract:
Three years ago, Tom Friedman proclaimed that the "World is Flat." In doing this, Friedman delineated ten "flatteners" that converged around 2000 to both level the playing field for the design of products and services, and bring three billion new players onto the scene. Friedman, among others, emphatically proposes that it is now essential for U.S. engineering students to not only become more innovative, but equally important, learn to work collaboratively with colleagues across the globe. We have taken this message to heart and are creating innovative courses and programs to internationalize engineering education.We have done this in two ways. First by creating a series of innovative, short-term courses, and second, through a focus on sustainability, we have been able to leverage a growing relationship with a Brazilian partner to not only integrate more extensive international experiences into research and education, but to also do this at both the graduate and undergraduate levels. Further, we have been able to obtain funding to do much of this. Both ways will be addressed; current achievements and future plans will be presented, and challenges will be identified and discussed.Relative to the former, we have built upon a very successful study abroad experience for rising engineering and business students that combines coursework with a two week study visit focusing on manufacturing in an international setting. Using variations of this model we have developed upper level international courses that combine study at Pitt with international field visits. Three will be described: INNOVATE (ENGR 1600) that focuses on globalization and is taught simultaneously at Pitt, Rice and Tulsa using closed circuit TV to share lectures and bring students together. During the spring break, everyone plus other students and faculty from the US and India, Japan, Singapore and China participate in the INNOVATE symposium. This year's symposium will focus on Singapore and Vietnam. EMPOWER (ENGR 1620) focuses on the development of sustainable energy in Brazil. After a preparatory series of lectures students from Pitt and other US universities visit various sites in Brazil including the University of Campinas (UNICAMP). Product Realization for Global Economies (ENGR 1610) also brings together engineering and business students to develop a product (through prototype) for Brazilians living in public housing. Students travel to Brazil during the spring break; this year they will be joined by UNICAMP students as part of a course within a course. The latter effort has been headed by our Mascaro Sustainability Initiative (MSI) whose initial focus was on sustainable water usage and green building, but has recently expanded to include other sustainability problems. MSI has enabled us to build integrated educational and research programs in sustainability with a solid international component. Funding has been received from the National Science Foundation's Integrative Graduate Education and Research Traineeship (IGERT), International Research Experiences for Students (IRES), and REU programs; the US Department of Education's Graduate Assistance in Areas of National Need (GAANN) and FIPSE-CAPES programs; and the National Collegiate Inventors and Innovators Alliances (NCIIA) as well as private foundations. The interdisciplinary initiative involves faculty and students from across the University as well as international partners.

Location: Kaprielian Hall (KAP) - 209
Audiences: Everyone Is Invited

Contact: Evangeline Reyes
Dec
17

QEC07: The First International Conference on Quantum Error Correction
Mon, Dec 17, 2007
USC Viterbi School of Engineering
Conferences, Lectures, & Seminars

Quantum error correction of decoherence and faulty control operations forms the backbone of all of quantum information processing. In spite of remarkable progress on this front ever since the discovery of quantum error correcting codes a decade ago, there remain important open problems in both theory and applications to real physical systems. In short, a theory of quantum error correction that is at the same time comprehensive and realistically applicable has not yet been discovered. Therefore the subject remains a very active area of research with a continuing stream of progress and breakthroughs.The First International Conference on Quantum Error Correction, hosted by the USC Center for Quantum Information Science & Technology (CQIST), will bring together a wide group of experts to discuss all aspects of decoherence control and fault tolerance. The subject is at this point in time of a mostly theoretical nature, but the conference will include talks surveying the latest experimental progress, and will seek to promote an interaction between theoreticians and experimentalists.Topics of interest include, in random order: fault tolerance and thresholds, pulse control methods (dynamical decoupling), hybrid methods, applications to cryptography, decoherence-free subspaces and noiseless subsystems, operator quantum error correction, advanced codes (convolutional codes, catalytic, entanglement assisted, ...), topological codes, fault tolerance in the cluster model, fault tolerance in linear optics QC, fault tolerance in condensed matter systems, unification of error correction paradigms, self-correcting systems, error correction/avoidance via energy gaps, error correction in adiabatic QC, composite pulses, continuous-time QEC, error correction for specific errors (e.g., spontaneous emission), etc.Complete information at
http://qserver.usc.edu/qec07/
Audiences: Everyone Is Invited

Contact: eric mankin
Dec
17

Theoretical Limits and Practical Methods in Classical and Quantum Communications
Mon, Dec 17, 2007 @ 03:00 PM - 04:00 PM
Ming Hsieh Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering
Conferences, Lectures, & Seminars

Alexei Ashikhmin
Communications and Statistical Sciences Department
Bell Labs, Alcatel-LucentAbstract: The talk is in three parts covering some areas of my recent research. Information-theoretic and Coding Bounds
I will present a general method, called the polynomial method, for deriving information-theoretic and coding bounds. The method is based on results from harmonic analysis and the theory of orthogonal polynomials. Following this, I will show that an application of this method leads to an improvement of the Shannon, Gallager, and Berlekamp (1967) bound on the reliability function of the Gaussian channel. This was the first improvement of the bound to be made after a period of 30 years. Further applications of this method lead to derivations of the best currently known bounds on the minimum distance of quantum codes, probability of undetected error, and other parameters. The method of EXIT functions
EXIT functions are a powerful tool for the design and analysis of iteratively decodable codes, such as TURBO and Low Density Parity Check (LDPC) codes. In this part of the talk, I will give a formal definition of EXIT functions, consider applications of EXIT functions to the design of capacity achieving LDPC codes and capacity achieving communication schemes for multiple input-multiple output (MIMO) ergodic channel. Quantum Error Correction
It is well known that quantum computers have the potential to make radical improvements in performance over classical computational devices. Unfortunately, quantum computers are inherently vulnerable to environmental and control errors, which thus makes quantum error correction a very important subject. This part of the talk begins with a brief introduction into the theory of quantum computation and quantum error correction (no knowledge of quantum mechanics is required). Following this, I will present my recent results on the fidelity of a quantum automatic repeat request (ARQ) protocol. The talk concludes with a brief summary of other results I have obtained in the area of quantum error correction. Biography: Alexei Ashikhmin is a member of technical staff in the Communications and Statistical Sciences Department, Bell Labs, Alcatel-Lucent. He received his Ph.D. degree in Electrical Engineering from the Institute of Information Transmission Problems, Russian Academy of Science, Moscow, in 1994. In 1996 he was a visiting researcher of the Mathematics and Computer Science Department, Delft University of Technology, The Netherlands. From 1997 to 1999, he was a Postdoctoral Fellow at Modeling, Algorithms, and Informatics Group of Los Alamos National Laboratory. Since 1999 he has been with Bell Laboratories.His research interests include classical and quantum information theory and communication theory. From 2003 to 2006 Dr. Ashikhmin served as an Associate Editor of IEEE Transactions on Information Theory. In 2002, Dr. Ashikhmin received Bell Laboratories President's Gold Award for breakthrough research in wireless communications. In 2005 Dr. Ashikhmin was honored by the IEEE Communications S.O. Rice Prize Paper Award for work on LDPC codes for information transmission with multiple antennas. Host: Michael Neely, mjneely@usc.edu, EEB 520, x03505
Location: Hughes Aircraft Electrical Engineering Center (EEB) - 248
Audiences: Everyone Is Invited

Contact: Gerrielyn Ramos
Dec
18

QEC07: The First International Conference on Quantum Error Correction
Tue, Dec 18, 2007
USC Viterbi School of Engineering
Conferences, Lectures, & Seminars

Quantum error correction of decoherence and faulty control operations forms the backbone of all of quantum information processing. In spite of remarkable progress on this front ever since the discovery of quantum error correcting codes a decade ago, there remain important open problems in both theory and applications to real physical systems. In short, a theory of quantum error correction that is at the same time comprehensive and realistically applicable has not yet been discovered. Therefore the subject remains a very active area of research with a continuing stream of progress and breakthroughs.The First International Conference on Quantum Error Correction, hosted by the USC Center for Quantum Information Science & Technology (CQIST), will bring together a wide group of experts to discuss all aspects of decoherence control and fault tolerance. The subject is at this point in time of a mostly theoretical nature, but the conference will include talks surveying the latest experimental progress, and will seek to promote an interaction between theoreticians and experimentalists.Topics of interest include, in random order: fault tolerance and thresholds, pulse control methods (dynamical decoupling), hybrid methods, applications to cryptography, decoherence-free subspaces and noiseless subsystems, operator quantum error correction, advanced codes (convolutional codes, catalytic, entanglement assisted, ...), topological codes, fault tolerance in the cluster model, fault tolerance in linear optics QC, fault tolerance in condensed matter systems, unification of error correction paradigms, self-correcting systems, error correction/avoidance via energy gaps, error correction in adiabatic QC, composite pulses, continuous-time QEC, error correction for specific errors (e.g., spontaneous emission), etc.Complete information at
http://qserver.usc.edu/qec07/
Audiences: Everyone Is Invited

Contact: eric mankin
Dec
18

Encoding Circuits For Block and Convolutional Quantum Codes
Tue, Dec 18, 2007 @ 02:00 PM - 03:30 PM
Ming Hsieh Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering
Conferences, Lectures, & Seminars

SPEAKER: Markus Grassl
Institute for Quantum Optics and Quantum Information
Austrian Academy of Sciences
Innsbruck, AustriaAbstract: Quantum error correction is a key ingredient for the realization of a quantum computer. In my talk I will give an overview of the relations between classical and quantum error-correcting codes (QECCs), illustrated by several constructions for QECCs. I will also address the problem of computing encoding circuits for the quantum codes. In the case of quantum block codes we obtain efficient encoding circuits. For convolutional quantum codes, the algorithm first allows to decide whether the code is catastrophic or not, corresponding to encoding circuits of infinite or finite depth, respectively. Then every catastrophic code can be converted into a non-catastrophic one with the same rate.This talk is for a general audience and does not assume prior knowledge of quantum mechanics.Biography: Markus Grassl received his diploma degree in Computer Science in 1994 and his doctoral degree in 2001, both from the Fakultaet fuer Informatik, Universitaet Karlsruhe (TH), Germany. His dissertation was on constructive and algorithmic aspects of quantum error-correcting codes.From 1994 to 2007 he has been a member of the Institut fuer Algorithmen und Kognitive Systeme, Fakultaet fuer Informatik, Universitaet Karlsruhe (TH), Germany. Currently he is a senior scientist at the Institute for Quantum Optics and Quantum Information Austrian Academy of Sciences, Innsbruck, Austria.His research interests include quantum computation, focusing on quantum error-correcting codes, and methods of computer algebra in algebraic coding theory. He maintains www.codetables.de which provides information on good quantum and classical block codes.Host: Todd Brun, tbrun@usc.edu, EEB 502, x03503
Location: Hughes Aircraft Electrical Engineering Center (EEB) - 248
Audiences: Everyone Is Invited

Contact: Gerrielyn Ramos
Dec
18

ENE Oral Defense
Tue, Dec 18, 2007 @ 02:00 PM - 04:00 PM
Sonny Astani Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering
Conferences, Lectures, & Seminars

Ultra Clean Fuels via UAOD Process with
Room Temperature Ionic Liquid and Solid Catalyst PolishingShun Sheng Cheng
KAP 209, 2007/12/20, 2-4 pmAbstractLimitation of 15 ppm has been considered for the content of sulfur in the diesel fuel due to the sulfur regulation by the EPA. However, ultra low sulfur diesel (ULSD) fuel has not been produced sufficiently by the current desulfurization technology.
In this study, a new desulfurization technology has been development, this include modified ultrasound assisted oxidative desulfurization (UAOD) process and fluidized bed reactor (FBR), which has been considered as one of the innovative schemes related to the desulfurization. In this respect, ionic liquid, oxidant, phase transfer catalysis, stirring, sonication, and acid catalyst have been combined in the modified UAOD process specifically. Thus, mild conditions have also provided high desulfurization efficiency.
During the study, proper oxidant, catalyst, as well as, ionic liquid was utilized during the demonstration under the modified UAOD process, specifically for model sulfur compounds. It has been observed that duration of three hours has been enough for desulfurize 99.9% of various type of model sulfur compound.
Various levels of sulfur content are contained, and can be observed in diesel fuels. Valley Oil, JP-5, and Treated Valley Oil are some of the levels. In this regard, 99.9% removal efficiency in the sulfur reduction can be demonstrated by the solvent extraction, as well as, solid adsorption, which has been followed by the modified UAOD process. Moreover, recycling can be done to the ionic liquid and acid catalyst, which is usually contained in the spent aqueous phase. Interestingly, high efficiency, as well as, high selectivity can be exhibited by the same.
In the pilot study, treatment tank, a pipeline system, as well as, high shear mixer has been created for the development of practical application of a batch-type continuous flow system. During these developments, appropriate time and mild conditions were given during the operations. The results show 99.9% of desulfurization efficiency can be achieve by the process. Moreover, utilization of ionic liquid and acid catalyst had been done at a less extent by the pilot study, as compared to the batch study.
FBR has been used to pass the oxidized organic compounds that have came out from the batch-type continuous flow system. Moreover, acidic alumina can adsorb almost 99.9% of oxidized sulfur, as indicated by the results. Additionally, recycling has also not affect the adsorption capacity of adsorbent.
It has been shown by the results of this dissertation that sulfur removal from the diesel fuels can be done effectively by the employment of modified UAOD process and FBR. In addition, new environmental standards can be met easily by the production of ULSD fuel by the utilization of appropriate design, as well as, chemicals during the process.

Location: Kaprielian Hall (KAP) - 209
Audiences: Everyone Is Invited

Contact: Evangeline Reyes
Dec
19

QEC07: The First International Conference on Quantum Error Correction
Wed, Dec 19, 2007
USC Viterbi School of Engineering
Conferences, Lectures, & Seminars

Quantum error correction of decoherence and faulty control operations forms the backbone of all of quantum information processing. In spite of remarkable progress on this front ever since the discovery of quantum error correcting codes a decade ago, there remain important open problems in both theory and applications to real physical systems. In short, a theory of quantum error correction that is at the same time comprehensive and realistically applicable has not yet been discovered. Therefore the subject remains a very active area of research with a continuing stream of progress and breakthroughs.The First International Conference on Quantum Error Correction, hosted by the USC Center for Quantum Information Science & Technology (CQIST), will bring together a wide group of experts to discuss all aspects of decoherence control and fault tolerance. The subject is at this point in time of a mostly theoretical nature, but the conference will include talks surveying the latest experimental progress, and will seek to promote an interaction between theoreticians and experimentalists.Topics of interest include, in random order: fault tolerance and thresholds, pulse control methods (dynamical decoupling), hybrid methods, applications to cryptography, decoherence-free subspaces and noiseless subsystems, operator quantum error correction, advanced codes (convolutional codes, catalytic, entanglement assisted, ...), topological codes, fault tolerance in the cluster model, fault tolerance in linear optics QC, fault tolerance in condensed matter systems, unification of error correction paradigms, self-correcting systems, error correction/avoidance via energy gaps, error correction in adiabatic QC, composite pulses, continuous-time QEC, error correction for specific errors (e.g., spontaneous emission), etc.Complete information at
http://qserver.usc.edu/qec07/
Audiences: Everyone Is Invited

Contact: eric mankin
Dec
20

QEC07: The First International Conference on Quantum Error Correction
Thu, Dec 20, 2007
USC Viterbi School of Engineering
Conferences, Lectures, & Seminars

Quantum error correction of decoherence and faulty control operations forms the backbone of all of quantum information processing. In spite of remarkable progress on this front ever since the discovery of quantum error correcting codes a decade ago, there remain important open problems in both theory and applications to real physical systems. In short, a theory of quantum error correction that is at the same time comprehensive and realistically applicable has not yet been discovered. Therefore the subject remains a very active area of research with a continuing stream of progress and breakthroughs.The First International Conference on Quantum Error Correction, hosted by the USC Center for Quantum Information Science & Technology (CQIST), will bring together a wide group of experts to discuss all aspects of decoherence control and fault tolerance. The subject is at this point in time of a mostly theoretical nature, but the conference will include talks surveying the latest experimental progress, and will seek to promote an interaction between theoreticians and experimentalists.Topics of interest include, in random order: fault tolerance and thresholds, pulse control methods (dynamical decoupling), hybrid methods, applications to cryptography, decoherence-free subspaces and noiseless subsystems, operator quantum error correction, advanced codes (convolutional codes, catalytic, entanglement assisted, ...), topological codes, fault tolerance in the cluster model, fault tolerance in linear optics QC, fault tolerance in condensed matter systems, unification of error correction paradigms, self-correcting systems, error correction/avoidance via energy gaps, error correction in adiabatic QC, composite pulses, continuous-time QEC, error correction for specific errors (e.g., spontaneous emission), etc.Complete information at
http://qserver.usc.edu/qec07/
Audiences: Everyone Is Invited

Contact: eric mankin
Dec
21

QEC07: The First International Conference on Quantum Error Correction
Fri, Dec 21, 2007
USC Viterbi School of Engineering
Conferences, Lectures, & Seminars

Quantum error correction of decoherence and faulty control operations forms the backbone of all of quantum information processing. In spite of remarkable progress on this front ever since the discovery of quantum error correcting codes a decade ago, there remain important open problems in both theory and applications to real physical systems. In short, a theory of quantum error correction that is at the same time comprehensive and realistically applicable has not yet been discovered. Therefore the subject remains a very active area of research with a continuing stream of progress and breakthroughs.The First International Conference on Quantum Error Correction, hosted by the USC Center for Quantum Information Science & Technology (CQIST), will bring together a wide group of experts to discuss all aspects of decoherence control and fault tolerance. The subject is at this point in time of a mostly theoretical nature, but the conference will include talks surveying the latest experimental progress, and will seek to promote an interaction between theoreticians and experimentalists.Topics of interest include, in random order: fault tolerance and thresholds, pulse control methods (dynamical decoupling), hybrid methods, applications to cryptography, decoherence-free subspaces and noiseless subsystems, operator quantum error correction, advanced codes (convolutional codes, catalytic, entanglement assisted, ...), topological codes, fault tolerance in the cluster model, fault tolerance in linear optics QC, fault tolerance in condensed matter systems, unification of error correction paradigms, self-correcting systems, error correction/avoidance via energy gaps, error correction in adiabatic QC, composite pulses, continuous-time QEC, error correction for specific errors (e.g., spontaneous emission), etc.Complete information at
http://qserver.usc.edu/qec07/
Audiences: Everyone Is Invited

Contact: eric mankin

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