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Events for May

  • USC AI Futures Symposium on Artificial Intelligence and Data Science

    Mon, May 03, 2021 @ 08:45 AM - 12:15 PM

    Information Sciences Institute, USC Viterbi School of Engineering

    University Calendar


    Profound innovations at the intersection of artificial intelligence and data science are changing our lives. These innovations are transforming how we improve our health, connect with others, sustain our environment, understand complex systems, and enrich our lives. This symposium will present an overview of interdisciplinary research at USC in these critical areas.

    This event is part of the USC AI Futures Symposium Series. A prior event was held in January 2021 with the theme: Will AIs Ever Be One of Us?.

    The sessions will run from 8:45am PST to 12:15 PST on May 3-5, 2021.

    Find out more: https://isi-usc-edu.github.io/USC-AI-DS-Symposium/

    Registration: https://usc.zoom.us/webinar/register/WN_V-mMUlHGQMWnkecKyPUQWA

    Audiences: Everyone Is Invited

    Contact: Yolanda Gil

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  • Info Session: ENGR 345 Principle and Practices of Global Innovation

    Mon, May 03, 2021 @ 01:00 PM - 01:30 PM

    USC Viterbi School of Engineering

    Workshops & Infosessions


    Build your global competence and network without leaving campus!

    A global class using the classroom-without-border platform and learning-from-diversity pedagogy. Students will study the dynamic lifecycle of technology innovation in competitive global market with classmates from multiple universities around the world.

    The ENGR 345 course is 3 units and is open to all USC majors, levels, and USC schools. It can be taken as a free elective course or as an approved elective course if approved by your advisor.

    Join our info session in Microsoft Teams to learn more about the course and get your questions answered at tinyurl.com/ipodiainfo.

    Location: tinyurl.com/ipodiainfo

    Audiences: Everyone Is Invited

    Contact: Jenny iPodia Program

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  • Ph.D. Dissertation

    Mon, May 03, 2021 @ 03:30 PM - 05:30 PM

    Sonny Astani Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering

    Conferences, Lectures, & Seminars


    Speaker: Qian Fang, Ph.D. Candidate, Astani Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering

    Talk Title: Optimal Clipped Linear Strategies for Controllable Damping

    Abstract: Please see attached abstract

    More Information: Q. Fang Dissertation-Abstract.pdf

    Location: https://usc.zoom.us/j/97831642691 Meeting ID: 978 3164 2691

    Audiences: Everyone Is Invited

    Contact: Evangeline Reyes

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  • MS Awards 2021

    Mon, May 03, 2021 @ 06:00 PM - 08:00 PM

    Viterbi School of Engineering Masters Programs

    Student Activity


    Audiences: Everyone Is Invited

    Contact: Juli Legat

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  • Omolola (Lola) Eniola-Adefeso, University of Michigan-Ann Arbor

    Wed, May 05, 2021 @ 09:00 AM - 10:00 AM

    Alfred E. Mann Department of Biomedical Engineering

    Conferences, Lectures, & Seminars


    Speaker: Omolola (Lola) Eniola-Adefeso, University of Michigan-Ann Arbor

    Talk Title: Leveraging the natural cellular & biomolecular interactions in blood to design targeted particle therapeutics for acute and chronic inflammatory diseases

    Host: Kirk Shung

    Audiences: Everyone Is Invited

    Contact: Michele Medina

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  • NL Seminar-INTERACTIVELY TEACHING MACHINES WITH NATURAL LANGUAGES

    Thu, May 06, 2021 @ 11:00 AM - 12:00 PM

    Information Sciences Institute

    Conferences, Lectures, & Seminars


    Speaker: Zhou Yu , Columbia University

    Talk Title: INTERACTIVELY TEACHING MACHINES WITH NATURAL LANGUAGES

    Abstract: Reminder Meeting hosts only admit guests that they know to the Zoom meeting. Hence, you're highly encouraged to use your USC account to sign into Zoom. If you're an outside visitor, please inform nlg-seminar-admin2@isi.edu beforehand so we'll be aware of your attendance and let you in.

    Abstract:
    Humans routinely learn new concepts using natural language communications, even in scenarios with limited or no labeled examples. Interactions are another key aspect of human learning as well. Learning to ask good questions is a key step towards effective learning. Can machines do the same? In this talk, we will talk about how can a machine learn to ask good natural language questions and plan dynamically what questions to ask next to learn tasks effectively in low-resource settings.


    Biography: Zhou Yu joined the CS department at Columbia University in Jan 2021 as an Assistant Professor. Before that, she was an Assistant Professor at UC Davis. She obtained her Ph.D. from Carnegie Mellon University in 2017. Zhou has built various dialog systems that have a real impact, such as a job interview training system, a depression screening system, and a second language learning system. Her research interest includes dialog systems, language understanding and generation, vision and language, human computer interaction, and social robots. Zhou received an ACL 2019 best paper nomination, featured in Forbes 2018 30 under 30 in Science, and won the 2018 Amazon Alexa Prize.

    Host: Jon May and Mozhdeh Gheini

    More Info: https://nlg.isi.edu/nl-seminar/

    Webcast: https://youtu.be/rNyOspG27Xs

    Location: Information Science Institute (ISI) - Virtual Only

    WebCast Link: https://youtu.be/rNyOspG27Xs

    Audiences: Everyone Is Invited

    Contact: Petet Zamar

    Event Link: https://nlg.isi.edu/nl-seminar/

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  • Repeating EventVirtual First-Year Admission Information Session

    Thu, May 06, 2021 @ 04:00 PM - 05:00 PM

    Viterbi School of Engineering Undergraduate Admission

    Workshops & Infosessions


    Our virtual information session is a live presentation from a USC Viterbi admission counselor designed for high school students and their family members to learn more about the USC Viterbi undergraduate experience. Our session will cover an overview of our undergraduate engineering programs, the application process, and more on student life. Guests will be able to ask questions and engage in further discussion toward the end of the session.

    Please Register Here!

    Audiences: Everyone Is Invited

    View All Dates

    Contact: Viterbi Undergraduate Admission

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  • PhD Defense - Chung Ming Cheung

    Fri, May 07, 2021 @ 09:00 AM - 11:00 PM

    Thomas Lord Department of Computer Science

    University Calendar


    PhD Candidate: Chung Ming Cheung

    Time: May 7th 2021, 9 - 11 am

    Zoom link:
    prasannaseminars.github.io

    Committee: Professor Viktor K Prasanna (Chair)
    Professor C S Raghavendra
    Professor Aiichiro Nakano

    Title: Data-Driven Methods for Increasing Real-Time Observability in Smart Distribution Grids

    Abstract:
    Traditional power distribution grids have evolved into smart grids with the development of advanced metering infrastructures and renewable energy based distributed energy resources (DER). This has introduced the following challenges: (1) The stochasity of renewable energy based DERs has increased the volatility of grid frequency; (2) the decentralization of generation into small scaled DERs has reduced grid inertia. To address these challenges, real-time knowledge and understanding of signal measurements of grid assets, called observability, are crucial to make grid operation decisions swiftly. High observability can be obtained through extensive metering of assets in smart grids for data collection, and time series analytics that extract information from the collected time series data. However, the proliferation of DERs has introduced new challenges in these analytics. DERs located behind-the-meters (BTM) are not recorded individually and hidden from real-time observations. This combined with the volatile nature of DER assets greatly reduces observability. As a result, these data-driven models do not have full observability of data and suffer from accuracy losses.

    In this thesis, we develop data-driven approaches to improve observability. We develop unsupervised disaggregation models for separation of signals of BTM DERs hidden from net meter measurements. We focus on the separation of signals from the activity of BTM solar photovoltaics and battery storages. We also propose capturing spatial features using machine learning models such as spatial-temporal graph convolution networks for improving time series analytics in smart grids, e.g. load forecasting and missing data imputation. Moreover, we show that the increase in observability provided by these data-driven models can enhance other time series analytics in smart grids.

    WebCast Link: prasannaseminars.github.io

    Audiences: Everyone Is Invited

    Contact: Lizsl De Leon

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  • PhD Defense - Nazanin Alipourfard

    Fri, May 07, 2021 @ 09:00 AM - 11:00 AM

    Thomas Lord Department of Computer Science

    University Calendar


    PhD Candidate: Nazanin Alipourfard

    Date: May 7, 2021

    Time: 9-11am

    Dissertation defense committee:
    Kristina Lerman (chair), Ellis Horowitz, Jose-Luis Ambite, Greg Ver Steeg, Phebe Vayanos

    Title:
    Emergence and Mitigation of Bias in Data and Networks

    Abstract:
    The presence of bias often complicates the quantitative analysis of large-scale heterogeneous or network data. Discovering and mitigating these biases enables a more robust and generalizable analysis of data. This thesis focuses on the 1) discovery, 2) measurement and 3) mitigation of biases in heterogeneous and network data.

    The first part of the thesis focuses on removing biases created by the existence of diverse classes of individuals in the population. I describe a data-driven discovery method that leverages Simpson's paradox to identify subgroups within a population whose behavior deviates significantly from the rest of the population. Next, to address the challenges of multi-dimensional heterogeneous data analysis, I propose a method that discovers latent confounders by simultaneously partitioning the data into fuzzy clusters (disaggregation) and modeling the behavior within them (regression).

    The second part of this thesis is about biases in bi-populated networked data. First, I study the perception bias of individuals about the prevalence of a topic among their friends in the Twitter social network. Second, I show the existence of power-inequality in author citation networks in six different fields of study, due to which authors from one group (e.g., women) receive systematically less recognition for their work than another group (e.g., men). As the last step, I connect these two concepts (perception bias and power-inequality) in bi-populated networks and show that while these two measures are highly correlated, there are some scenarios where there is a disparity between them.

    Zoom Link:
    https://usc.zoom.us/j/93756467657?pwd=dWxEMHVMYnppZnAyZHRYVEVaTkZSQT09

    WebCast Link: https://usc.zoom.us/j/93756467657?pwd=dWxEMHVMYnppZnAyZHRYVEVaTkZSQT09

    Audiences: Everyone Is Invited

    Contact: Lizsl De Leon

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  • Department of Biomedical Engineering Seminar - Dr. Kristin Swanson

    Mon, May 10, 2021 @ 09:00 AM - 10:00 AM

    Alfred E. Mann Department of Biomedical Engineering

    Conferences, Lectures, & Seminars


    Speaker: Dr. Kristin Swanson , Professor & Vice Chair of Research, Neurological Surgery in Arizona, Mayo Clinic Professor, Mathematics, Arizona State University

    Talk Title: Every Patient Deserves Their Own Equation

    Host: Kirk Shung

    More Information: Dr. Kristin Swanson Flier as of 4 26.pdf

    Audiences: Everyone Is Invited

    Contact: Michele Medina

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  • PhD Defense - Nitin Kamra

    Mon, May 10, 2021 @ 10:30 AM - 12:00 PM

    Thomas Lord Department of Computer Science

    University Calendar


    PhD Candidate: Nitin Kamra

    Committee: Prof. Yan Liu (chair), Prof. Bistra Dilkina, Prof. Ashutosh Nayyar

    Date: 10th May, 2021
    Time: 10:30am-12:00pm

    Zoom: https://usc.zoom.us/j/96990524233?pwd=M3BzcTdOenZtRjlkN1J5dmxDQmVpUT09

    Meeting ID: 969 9052 4233
    Passcode: 015551


    Title: Machine Learning in Interacting Multi-agent Systems

    Abstract:

    Making predictions and learning optimal behavioral strategies are important problems in many domains such as traffic prediction, pedestrian tracking, financial investments and security systems. These systems often consist of multiple agents interacting with each other in complex ways, which makes both the above tasks very challenging. In this thesis, I propose methods to advance the state-of-the-art for such multi-agent learning problems. The first part of my talk focuses on trajectory prediction and I will present a relational model involving a fuzzy decision making attention mechanism for multi-agent trajectory prediction. Our approach shows significant performance gains over many existing state-of-the-art predictive models in diverse domains such as human crowds, US freeway traffic and various physics datasets. The second part of my talk focuses on placing multiple resources to protect and cover geographical spaces. We propose the Coverage Gradient Theorem and a spatial discretization based framework to improve existing benchmarks for spatial coverage domains. The third part of the talk focuses on computing nash equilibrium strategies in spatial security games with continuous action spaces. We present our model-free learning algorithm, OptGradFP, and our model-based learning algorithm, DeepFP, which search for the optimal defender strategy in a parameterized continuous search space. These algorithms scale to large domains and compute strategies robust to adversarial exploitation. Finally, we combine the Coverage Gradient framework with DeepFP to show improved performance on spatial coverage security domains.

    WebCast Link: https://usc.zoom.us/j/96990524233?pwd=M3BzcTdOenZtRjlkN1J5dmxDQmVpUT09

    Audiences: Everyone Is Invited

    Contact: Lizsl De Leon

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  • Thesis Proposal - Shen Yan

    Mon, May 10, 2021 @ 11:00 AM - 01:00 PM

    Thomas Lord Department of Computer Science

    University Calendar


    Title: Fair Machine Learning for Human Behavior Understanding

    Time: 11:00 AM-1:00 PM PST, May 10 (Monday)

    Committee: Emilio Ferrara, Cyrus Shahabi, Shri Narayanan, Kristina Lerman, and Fred Morstatter.

    Zoom link: https://usc.zoom.us/j/96050343860

    Abstract:
    Artificial intelligence (AI) and machine learning models have been recently applied extensively to understand and predict human behavior, often in applications with major societal implications, such as making recruitment decisions, estimating daily well-beings, or assessing clinical treatments. Despite the increasing body of research on modeling human behavior and fair machine learning, most studies focus on homogeneous and objective measurements, and little has been discussed on how to mitigate the impact of heterogeneity on utility and fairness simultaneously. The increasing amount of collected data also raises concerns on data privacy. Recent regulations such as European General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) and California Consumer Privacy Act (CCPA) regulate the usage of personal data. However, most previous fairness work requires the access of sensitive attributes (e.g., race, gender) to debias the system.
    This dissertation proposal will articulate the challenges posed by complex, multimodal human behavior data in both model utility and fairness. The proposed work is decomposed into three tasks, namely tackling machine learning fairness issues originating from the heterogeneous human behaviors (Task 1), and biased behavior annotations (Task 2), and designing fair machine learning methods without sensitive attributes (Task 3) for both centralized and federated learning. This work will provide possible solutions to mitigate bias of human behavior understanding systems, reducing barriers to access, alleviating systemic racism, discrimination, and unfair process.

    WebCast Link: https://usc.zoom.us/j/96050343860

    Audiences: Everyone Is Invited

    Contact: Lizsl De Leon

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  • Thesis Proposal - Jiaoyang Li

    Mon, May 10, 2021 @ 02:00 PM - 03:30 PM

    Thomas Lord Department of Computer Science

    University Calendar


    Title:

    Efficient and Effective Multi-Agent Path Finding via Heuristic Search, Symmetry Breaking, and Large Neighborhood Search


    Time:

    2:00-3:30pm PST, May 10 (Monday)

    Committee: Sven Koenig, Nora Ayanian, Bistra Dilkina, T. K. Satish Kumar, Satyandra K. Gupta, and Brian Williams (MIT)

    Zoom link:

    https://usc.zoom.us/j/96942890548?pwd=SkFzQm80cHNOMHBPQXZBa1N3eVZvZz09


    Abstract:

    Recent advances in robotics have laid the foundation for building large-scale multi-agent systems. One fundamental task in many multi-agent systems is to navigate teams of agents in a shared environment to their target locations without colliding with obstacles or other agents. Applications include evacuation, formation control, object transportation, traffic management, search and rescue, autonomous driving, drone swarm coordination, video game character control, and large-scale warehouse automation, to list a few. One well-studied abstract model for this problem is known as Multi-Agent Path Finding (MAPF). MAPF is NP-hard to solve optimally (or, in some cases, even bounded-suboptimally) in general. Existing algorithms for solving MAPF either have limited scalability, generate costly solutions, or fail to find any solutions for hard MAPF problems. I propose to develop fundamental techniques for solving MAPF more efficiently and effectively that exploit the combinatorial structure of the MAPF problem and combine ideas from both AI and OR. In particular, I design admissible heuristics by cost partitioning (ideas from the AI planning community) to speed up optimal MAPF algorithms. I also develop symmetry-breaking constraints (ideas from the constraint programming community) to eliminate symmetries in optimal MAPF solving. For future work, I plan to learn inadmissible heuristics (ideas from the heuristic search community) to speed up bounded-suboptimal MAPF algorithms and build an anytime MAPF framework via large neighborhood search (ideas from the constraint programming and operations research communities) to improve the success rate and the solution quality of non-optimal MAPF algorithms.

    WebCast Link: https://usc.zoom.us/j/96942890548?pwd=SkFzQm80cHNOMHBPQXZBa1N3eVZvZz09

    Audiences: Everyone Is Invited

    Contact: Lizsl De Leon

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  • PhD Defense - Ryan Julian

    Tue, May 11, 2021 @ 04:00 PM - 05:30 PM

    Thomas Lord Department of Computer Science

    University Calendar



    PhD Candidate: Ryan Julian

    Committee: Prof. Gaurav Sukhatme (chair), Prof. Satyandra Gupta, Prof. Heather Culbertson, Prof. Joseph Lim, Prof. Stefanos Nikolaidis, Dr. Karol Hausman

    Title: Algorithms and Systems for Continual Robot Learning

    Abstract:
    The last decade has seen the rapid evolution of machine learning (ML) from an academic curiosity to an essential capability of modern computing systems, and with it has come an explosion of ML applications which help humans in the real world every day. Whether machine learning can affect such an evolution in the nearby field of robotics--concerned with automating tasks in the physical, rather than the digital world--remains to be seen. Though the last decade has seen an explosion of new methods, remarkably few of these exhibit properties which make them good candidates for building an efficient, continual, multi-task robot skill learning system. This of course begs the question: given a novel method, how should we assess its suitability for building a continually-learning multi-task robot? In other words, how can we systematically assure progress towards new real world capabilities, and avoid getting trapped, running in circles studying novel trivialities? I will argue that three elements--benchmarks, baselines, and novel methods--together form the three-legged stool of research in artificial intelligence. Robotics can only make progress towards the goal of real-world, general-purpose, continually-learning robots by periodically advancing each of these legs, creating a virtuous cycle of new challenges, new systems, new solutions, and ultimately new knowledge. We will follow one such cycle for a small slice of the field, namely continual learning for robotic manipulation, visiting each step to illustrate its effectiveness by example.

    Zoom Info:
    Topic: PhD Defense - Ryan Julian
    Time: May 11, 2021 04:00 PM Pacific Time (US and Canada)

    Join Zoom Meeting
    https://usc.zoom.us/j/94821577914?pwd=NW14YW5WWjdPcXVna3grcjZqQnFuQT09

    WebCast Link: https://usc.zoom.us/j/94821577914?pwd=NW14YW5WWjdPcXVna3grcjZqQnFuQT09

    Audiences: Everyone Is Invited

    Contact: Lizsl De Leon

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  • Repeating EventVirtual First-Year Admission Information Session

    Tue, May 11, 2021 @ 04:00 PM - 05:00 PM

    Viterbi School of Engineering Undergraduate Admission

    Workshops & Infosessions


    Our virtual information session is a live presentation from a USC Viterbi admission counselor designed for high school students and their family members to learn more about the USC Viterbi undergraduate experience. Our session will cover an overview of our undergraduate engineering programs, the application process, and more on student life. Guests will be able to ask questions and engage in further discussion toward the end of the session.

    Please Register Here!

    Audiences: Everyone Is Invited

    View All Dates

    Contact: Viterbi Undergraduate Admission

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  • Info Session: ENGR 345 Principle and Practices of Global Innovation

    Wed, May 12, 2021 @ 12:00 PM - 12:30 PM

    USC Viterbi School of Engineering

    Workshops & Infosessions


    Build your global competence and network without leaving campus!

    A global class using the classroom-without-border platform and learning-from-diversity pedagogy. Students will study the dynamic lifecycle of technology innovation in competitive global market with classmates from multiple universities around the world.

    The ENGR 345 course is 3 units and is open to all USC majors, levels, and USC schools. It can be taken as a free elective course or as an approved elective course if approved by your advisor.

    Join our info session in Microsoft Teams to learn more about the course and get your questions answered at tinyurl.com/ipodiainfo.

    Location: tinyurl.com/ipodiainfo

    Audiences: Everyone Is Invited

    Contact: Jenny iPodia Program

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  • PhD Defense - Sivaram Ramanathan

    Thu, May 13, 2021 @ 11:00 AM - 01:00 PM

    Thomas Lord Department of Computer Science

    University Calendar


    Ph.D. Candidate: Sivaram Ramanathan

    Committee: Dr. Jelena Mirkovic, Dr. Minlan Yu, Dr. Emilio Ferrara and Dr. Ramesh Govindan

    Time: May 13, 2021, 11am

    Title: Improving Network Security and Performance Through Programmability and Machine Learning

    Abstract:
    The rise in different types of applications has attracted many users to the Internet. Companies generate revenue from users and a key component for user retention is reliable network performance. Network operators are constantly scaling their infrastructure to provide tight network and security guarantees to their users. However, issues in networks such as packet drops, low utilization of links, and targeted attacks can violate these guarantees.

    Network operators use different tools to understand and diagnose problems in the network. As the network scales to support more users, tools that are traditionally used to understand and diagnose problems, also need to change. For instance, there exist transient events occurring at microsecond granularity in datacenter networks that could affect the network's performance. Traditional tools may miss such events as they work at coarser time granularities.

    As networks grow to accommodate more users, securing the network has also become hard. In the past year, there has been a 776% increase in large volumetric denial of service (DDoS) attacks and networks have spent up to $50,000 to protect themselves. Moreover, most deployed defenses are reactive, where a mitigation strategy is only developed when symptoms of attacks are seen. Proactively detecting attackers would not only block all attack traffic but also reduce cost for victim networks.

    In this talk, we use recent advancements in programmable switches and machine learning to develop frameworks for better network management. We present SPred, which uses machine learning models in switches to detect transient events faster. We designed SDProber to balance the cost of monitoring with event detection time. We also built frameworks that help network operators to meet security guarantees. We present SENSS, which allows networks to coordinate with upstream networks to develop better detection and mitigation strategies against DDoS attacks. Finally, we present BLAG that makes blocklists more suitable for emergency response by combining blocklists of different attack types and reducing the collateral damage by using a recommendation system and reused address detection.

    Our work has had several real-world impacts. SENSS has been deployed in three academic networks to provide better detection of DDoS attacks. Our technique to identify reused addresses is being adopted by IPInfo, which maintains a large repository of IP address-related information. Finally, AT&T has partially deployed SDProber in their network to detect persistent congestion and we hold two patents for SDProber and SPred.

    Zoom info:
    https://usc.zoom.us/j/98493286938?pwd=UXRFVzNlQUl5aVJtUXNQZnpEekNaZz09


    Topic: Sivaram's Defense

    Join Zoom Meeting
    https://usc.zoom.us/j/98493286938?pwd=UXRFVzNlQUl5aVJtUXNQZnpEekNaZz09

    WebCast Link: https://usc.zoom.us/j/98493286938?pwd=UXRFVzNlQUl5aVJtUXNQZnpEekNaZz09

    Audiences: Everyone Is Invited

    Contact: Lizsl De Leon

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  • ASTE Virtual Department Commencement Celebration

    Thu, May 13, 2021 @ 01:00 PM - 01:30 PM

    Astronautical Engineering

    Receptions & Special Events




    To honor and celebrate the Class 2020-21 astronautics graduates via zoom.


    https://usc.zoom.us/j/99766721808?pwd=SFNyZWEwcHhmeTEvQzVmWTFienJEQT09


    Audiences: participants only

    Contact: Dell Cuason

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  • Aerospace and Mechanical Engineering Commencement Reception 2021

    Thu, May 13, 2021 @ 01:30 PM - 02:00 PM

    Aerospace and Mechanical Engineering

    Conferences, Lectures, & Seminars


    Speaker: AME faculty and students, USC

    Talk Title: Aerospace and Mechanical Engineering Commencement Reception 2021

    Host: AME Department

    More Info: https://viterbischool.usc.edu/commencement-portal/

    Audiences: Everyone Is Invited

    Contact: Tessa Yao

    Event Link: https://viterbischool.usc.edu/commencement-portal/

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  • CEE 2021 Virtual Commencement Celebration

    Thu, May 13, 2021 @ 02:30 PM - 03:00 PM

    Sonny Astani Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering

    University Calendar


    To honor and celebrate the Class 2020-21 Civil and Environmental Engineering graduates via zoom, please click on the following link:

    https://usc.zoom.us/j/97944495184?pwd=ZXN5d0FPdk1XcEdBdnl6dHZYaHhjQT09
    Passcode: 332144

    Location: ONLINE

    WebCast Link: https://usc.zoom.us/j/97944495184?pwd=ZXN5d0FPdk1XcEdBdnl6dHZYaHhjQT09

    Audiences: Everyone Is Invited

    Contact: Salina Palacios

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  • Repeating EventVirtual First-Year Admission Information Session

    Thu, May 13, 2021 @ 04:00 PM - 05:00 PM

    Viterbi School of Engineering Undergraduate Admission

    Workshops & Infosessions


    Our virtual information session is a live presentation from a USC Viterbi admission counselor designed for high school students and their family members to learn more about the USC Viterbi undergraduate experience. Our session will cover an overview of our undergraduate engineering programs, the application process, and more on student life. Guests will be able to ask questions and engage in further discussion toward the end of the session.

    Please Register Here!

    Audiences: Everyone Is Invited

    View All Dates

    Contact: Viterbi Undergraduate Admission

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  • MFD Distinguished Alumni and Graduates Award Event ​

    Thu, May 13, 2021 @ 05:00 PM - 06:00 PM

    Mork Family Department of Chemical Engineering and Materials Science, USC Viterbi School of Engineering

    Receptions & Special Events


    Honoring Distinguished Alumni & Outstanding 2021 MFD Graduates

    Zoom: https://usc.zoom.us/j/92621973057

    Meeting ID: 926 2197 3057



    WebCast Link: https://usc.zoom.us/j/92621973057​

    Audiences: Everyone Is Invited

    Contact: Greta Harrison

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  • PhD Defense - Mian Wan

    Fri, May 14, 2021 @ 01:30 PM - 04:00 PM

    Thomas Lord Department of Computer Science

    University Calendar


    PhD Candidate: Mian Wan



    Date: May 14th, 2021

    Time: 1:30-4pm

    title: Automatic Detection and Optimization of Energy Optimizable UIs in Android Applications Using Program Analysis


    Committee: Prof. William Halfond (chair), Prof. Nenad Medvidovic, Prof. Chao Wang, Prof. Jyotirmoy Deshmukh, Prof. Sandeep Gupta

    Zoom link:
    https://usc.zoom.us/j/94745439598

    Abstract:
    Mobile apps and smartphones play an essential role in our daily life, and the energy consumption of an app has become an important concern for its developers. Given the fact that an app's display energy consumption can be optimized at the software level, many techniques have been proposed to help optimize the apps' display energy on OLED screens. However, there are no automated techniques for detecting and repairing energy optimizable user interfaces (UIs) in Android apps. Instead, for detection, the developers can only manually examine each UI's colors and determine which UIs are optimizable based on their intuition. As for repairing, the developers need to manually analyze the app to modify the color settings to recolor the UIs.

    My dissertation overcomes the above challenges and limitations by automating the process of detecting and repairing energy optimizable UIs in mobile apps. I have two main insights underlying my research. The first insight is that display energy optimization potential can be quantified. Based on this insight, I designed and developed an approach that combines dynamic analysis, power modeling, and color transformation to detect energy optimizable UIs. The second insight is that both types of program analyses can be used to gather UI information. Based on this insight, I designed and developed an approach that employs dynamic analysis, static analysis, and a search based technique to model and recolor Android UIs. In the empirical evaluation, my techniques were highly effective and efficient in detecting and repairing the energy optimizable UIs in mobile apps. These results indicate that my detection technique can help developers in locating energy optimizable UIs and that my repair technique can help developers in repairing energy optimizable UIs while maintaining their aesthetic quality.

    WebCast Link: https://usc.zoom.us/j/94745439598

    Audiences: Everyone Is Invited

    Contact: Lizsl De Leon

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  • Devices Webinar Series: Culture, People and Values

    Mon, May 17, 2021 @ 12:00 PM - 01:00 PM

    Information Technology Program (ITP)

    Workshops & Infosessions


    Culture, People and Values - Building a community that supports a strong value system

    The Devices team will share about how their culture is rooted in respect, trust, and care. When it comes to defining the type of place you would like to work in, it's critical to understand how that environment is created and nurtured. Learn from leaders across the organization about how their personal values align with the work they do every day and why that is important.

    Register for this event at the Microsoft website, link provided below.
    https://microsoft.recsolu.com/external/events/f72uq9NNAhg03CmN6Cu0fg

    WebCast Link: https://microsoft.recsolu.com/external/events/f72uq9NNAhg03CmN6Cu0fg

    Audiences: Everyone Is Invited

    Contact: Microsoft

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  • Repeating EventVirtual First-Year Admission Information Session

    Tue, May 18, 2021 @ 04:00 PM - 05:00 PM

    Viterbi School of Engineering Undergraduate Admission

    Workshops & Infosessions


    Our virtual information session is a live presentation from a USC Viterbi admission counselor designed for high school students and their family members to learn more about the USC Viterbi undergraduate experience. Our session will cover an overview of our undergraduate engineering programs, the application process, and more on student life. Guests will be able to ask questions and engage in further discussion toward the end of the session.

    Please Register Here!

    Audiences: Everyone Is Invited

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    Contact: Viterbi Undergraduate Admission

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  • Back to School Social

    Tue, May 18, 2021 @ 06:00 PM - 07:00 PM

    Viterbi School of Engineering Masters Programs

    Student Activity


    It's time to socialize before school starts!

    Audiences: Everyone Is Invited

    Contact: Juli Legat

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  • Devices Webinar Series: Accessibility

    Wed, May 19, 2021 @ 12:00 PM - 01:00 PM

    Information Technology Program (ITP)

    Workshops & Infosessions


    Accessibility - Creating technology that enables inclusivity

    We invite you to learn about accessibility and inclusive design by following the journey of the Xbox Adaptive Controller development. We'll explain how the Xbox Adaptive Controller was created using inclusive design principles, research, and collaborative input from people with disabilities. We'll also dive deep into how to replicate an inclusive design process in product making.

    Register for this event on Microsoft's website, link provided below.
    https://microsoft.recsolu.com/external/events/DFtq27VxQ_Bb4ad8T1mrxw

    WebCast Link: https://microsoft.recsolu.com/external/events/DFtq27VxQ_Bb4ad8T1mrxw

    Audiences: Everyone Is Invited

    Contact: Microsoft

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  • Global Accessibility Awareness Day (GAAD)

    Thu, May 20, 2021

    Information Technology Program (ITP)

    University Calendar


    Thursday, May 20th is the tenth annual Global Accessibility Awareness Day (GAAD). The purpose of GAAD is to get everyone talking, thinking and learning about digital access and inclusion, and the more than One Billion people with disabilities/impairments. ITP advisory Board Member Joe Devon, one of the co-founders of GAAD, created this video for the Trojan community: https://drive.google.com/file/d/1mVBY4iBB0qA4pAhlCOSeO1ZCS1t0MJtj/view?usp=sharing sharing the story of how GAAD began.

    ITP Faculty Member Kendra Walther is actively involved in Viterbi's accessibility efforts and serves as co-lead of the Teach Access (https://teachaccess.org/) student task force and co-organizer of the 2021 Teach Access Virtual Study Away Program. During the program, over 80 students from nine universities participated in sessions with accessibility experts from a variety of technology companies, and 13 of those student participants were Trojans. Students learned about accessibility and assistive technologies, heard from disability advocates, learned about career paths in accessibility, engaged in AI and VR research in accessibility, discussed racial justice, intersectionality, and disability rights, thought about accessible design and hosting accessible events, and had the opportunity to apply their knowledge in an optional team project. Participating students were placed in small cross-disciplinary, multi-institutional teams and competed to build their own accessibility focused awareness or technology project during the Accessathon. Winners will be announced on the Teach Access website on GAAD, and each team has at least one Trojan student member.

    On this GAAD, we encourage everyone in the Trojan family to talk, think, and learn about accessibility and inclusion! Fight on!

    Audiences: Everyone Is Invited

    Contact: Eric Perez

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  • Repeating EventVirtual First-Year Admission Information Session

    Thu, May 20, 2021 @ 04:00 PM - 05:00 PM

    Viterbi School of Engineering Undergraduate Admission

    Workshops & Infosessions


    Our virtual information session is a live presentation from a USC Viterbi admission counselor designed for high school students and their family members to learn more about the USC Viterbi undergraduate experience. Our session will cover an overview of our undergraduate engineering programs, the application process, and more on student life. Guests will be able to ask questions and engage in further discussion toward the end of the session.

    Please Register Here!

    Audiences: Everyone Is Invited

    View All Dates

    Contact: Viterbi Undergraduate Admission

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  • New Students Advantage - Viterbi Career Connections

    Thu, May 20, 2021 @ 05:00 PM - 05:50 PM

    Viterbi School of Engineering Masters Programs

    Workshops & Infosessions


    Meet with Kaitlin Harada, Director of Viterbi Connection Center.
    Viterbi Career Connections (VCC) offers career-focused support to prepare engineering students for internships, co-ops and full-time employment. We host a variety of technical companies throughout the year with job openings to fill.

    Audiences: Everyone Is Invited

    Contact: Juli Legat

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  • DEN@Viterbi - Online Graduate Engineering Virtual Information Session

    Thu, May 20, 2021 @ 06:00 PM - 07:00 PM

    DEN@Viterbi, Viterbi School of Engineering Graduate Admission

    Workshops & Infosessions


    Join USC Viterbi School of Engineering for a virtual information session via WebEx, providing an introduction to DEN@Viterbi, our top ranked online delivery system. Discover the 40+ graduate engineering and computer science programs available entirely online.

    Attendees will have the opportunity to connect directly with USC Viterbi representatives during the session to discuss the admission process, program details and the benefits of online delivery for the working professional.

    Register Today!

    WebCast Link: https://uscviterbi.webex.com/uscviterbi/onstage/g.php?MTID=e1c7dbc75b2d3cbd3b5caf2c86da26380

    Audiences: Everyone Is Invited

    Contact: Corporate & Professional Programs

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  • New Students Advantage - Wellness Center

    Thu, May 20, 2021 @ 06:00 PM - 07:00 PM

    Viterbi School of Engineering Masters Programs

    Workshops & Infosessions


    Meet with Dr. Yong Park, learn about Counseling and Mental Health at USC Student Health Center.

    Audiences: Everyone Is Invited

    Contact: Juli Legat

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  • DEN@Viterbi - Online Graduate Engineering Virtual Information Session

    Fri, May 21, 2021 @ 11:00 AM - 12:00 PM

    DEN@Viterbi, Viterbi School of Engineering Graduate Admission

    Workshops & Infosessions


    Join USC Viterbi School of Engineering for a virtual information session via WebEx, providing an introduction to DEN@Viterbi, our top ranked online delivery system. Discover the 40+ graduate engineering and computer science programs available entirely online.

    Attendees will have the opportunity to connect directly with USC Viterbi representatives during the session to discuss the admission process, program details and the benefits of online delivery for the working professional.

    Register Today!

    WebCast Link: https://uscviterbi.webex.com/uscviterbi/onstage/g.php?MTID=e8a3be30748c79b494ff55beabae6f7f2

    Audiences: Everyone Is Invited

    Contact: Corporate & Professional Programs

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  • Devices Webinar Series: Sustainability

    Fri, May 21, 2021 @ 12:00 PM - 01:00 PM

    Information Technology Program (ITP)

    Workshops & Infosessions


    Sustainability - Embedding environmental consciousness in technology

    In 2020, Microsoft announced a bold commitment to become Carbon Negative, Zero Waste, and Water Positive by 2030 as well as to build a Planetary Computer. Hardware development is one of the key contributing areas to Microsoft's sustainability journey. The complexity of this strategy ranges everywhere from our product design, manufacturing, logistics, and software to repurposing product end-of-life waste so that it no longer becomes waste. Come learn about the approach we are developing to tackle this challenge and the strides we are making to get there.

    WebCast Link: https://microsoft.recsolu.com/external/events/8hxS8vGzAnKpLTknVgfN3g

    Audiences: Everyone Is Invited

    Contact: Microsoft

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  • Repeating EventYes In My Backyard (YIMBY): Human Subjects Research

    Mon, May 24, 2021 @ 04:00 PM - 05:00 PM

    USC Viterbi School of Engineering

    Workshops & Infosessions


    An online discussion and Q&A about Human Subjects Research at USC by the leaders from the Office for the Protection of Research Subjects (OPRS) at USC.

    When: 4-5 PM, 02/24 (last Wednesday of each month)
    Format: 20-minute talk, followed by a 40-minute Q&A session.
    Where: Online (https://usc.zoom.us/j/92235084129?pwd=ZmRTdHJHemw5ZEs3VWFuYW5SV0o5Zz09)

    Audiences: Everyone Is Invited

    View All Dates

    Contact: Kristen Grace

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  • Repeating EventVirtual First-Year Admission Information Session

    Tue, May 25, 2021 @ 04:00 PM - 05:00 PM

    Viterbi School of Engineering Undergraduate Admission

    Workshops & Infosessions


    Our virtual information session is a live presentation from a USC Viterbi admission counselor designed for high school students and their family members to learn more about the USC Viterbi undergraduate experience. Our session will cover an overview of our undergraduate engineering programs, the application process, and more on student life. Guests will be able to ask questions and engage in further discussion toward the end of the session.

    Please Register Here!

    Audiences: Everyone Is Invited

    View All Dates

    Contact: Viterbi Undergraduate Admission

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  • Webinar for U.S. Active Duty Military & Veteran Prospective Graduate Students

    Wed, May 26, 2021 @ 12:00 PM - 01:00 PM

    DEN@Viterbi, Viterbi School of Engineering Graduate Admission

    Workshops & Infosessions


    Join USC Viterbi to learn about the funding and support provided to U.S. active duty military and veterans who are interested in pursuing a graduate degree in engineering or computer science. This virtual information session via WebEx will discuss how USC Viterbi's flexible online DEN@Viterbi delivery enables active duty military and veterans to pursue their degree from anywhere in the world.

    The session will discuss military funding and scholarships available, student support, enrollment options, FAQs, and more! Attendees will have the opportunity to connect directly with a representative from Viterbi Admission & Student Engagement.

    Register Now!

    WebCast Link: https://uscviterbi.webex.com/uscviterbi/onstage/g.php?MTID=e594c626e469e68c899af04cfa4f50078

    Audiences: Everyone Is Invited

    Contact: Corporate & Professional Programs

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  • Ph.D. Dissertation

    Wed, May 26, 2021 @ 02:00 PM - 04:00 PM

    Sonny Astani Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering

    Conferences, Lectures, & Seminars


    Speaker: An Xin, Ph.D. Candidate, Astani Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering

    Talk Title: Harness Microorganisms to Design Resilient Engineering Materials

    Abstract: Conventional engineering materials include ceramics, metal, polymers, and composites, which construct various artificial structures and applications. However, these engineering materials achieved the pinnacle of performance once they are made out and gradually become weaker with the cyclic loading, corrosion, and degradation caused by the ambient environment. Different from traditional engineering materials, natural organic inorganic composites are always perfectly designed with exceptional mechanical properties. Therefore, it is a fertile area of exploration to realize the biomimetic reproduction of biological materials. Emerging 3D printed ceramics, though showing unprecedented application potential, are typically vulnerable to fractures and unable to heal at room temperature. Inspired by the bone's healing mechanism, particular bacteria are employed to heal 3D printed porous ceramics at room temperature. The healing paradigm relies on bacteria-initiated precipitation of calcium carbonate to bridge fracture interfaces of ceramics. Taking this bacterial precipitation enabled healing as an example, we further construct a modeling framework to explain the bacteria assisted extrinsic healing mechanics. A model for the growth of crystal pillars is developed to explain the bacteria assisted growth of the CaCO3 crystal forest within the fracture interface. Except for autonomous remediation, self growing is another desired capability for traditional engineering materials. Although natural systems can form materials with sophisticated microstructures, harnessing living cells to grow materials with predesigned microstructures in engineering systems remains largely elusive. Therefore, we presented a method to grow bionic mineralized composites with ordered microstructures. The bionic composites exhibit outstanding specific strength and fracture toughness comparable to natural composites and exceptional energy absorption capability superior to both natural and artificial counterparts. In addition to self healing and self growing capabilities, the self enhancement of some biotic material allows them to allocate resources more effectively in different growth stages and environments. A modeling framework is proposed to understand and explain the mechanical behavior over time in the particle reinforced self strengthening composite systems. The studies open promising avenues for harnessing microorganisms to understand, fabricate, and design resilient engineering materials in the future.

    Biography:

    Location: Zoom:https://usc.zoom.us /j/8450644190 Meeting ID: 845 064 4190 Passcode: USC

    Audiences: Everyone Is Invited

    Contact: Evangeline Reyes

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  • Trivia Game!

    Wed, May 26, 2021 @ 05:00 PM - 06:00 PM

    Viterbi School of Engineering Masters Programs

    Student Activity


    Who will be the King of Trivia? Come and show off your knowledge!

    Audiences: Everyone Is Invited

    Contact: Juli Legat

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  • Repeating EventVirtual First-Year Admission Information Session

    Thu, May 27, 2021 @ 04:00 PM - 05:00 PM

    Viterbi School of Engineering Undergraduate Admission

    Workshops & Infosessions


    Our virtual information session is a live presentation from a USC Viterbi admission counselor designed for high school students and their family members to learn more about the USC Viterbi undergraduate experience. Our session will cover an overview of our undergraduate engineering programs, the application process, and more on student life. Guests will be able to ask questions and engage in further discussion toward the end of the session.

    Please Register Here!

    Audiences: Everyone Is Invited

    View All Dates

    Contact: Viterbi Undergraduate Admission

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  • Jukebox Cafe

    Fri, May 28, 2021 @ 07:00 PM - 08:00 PM

    Viterbi School of Engineering Masters Programs

    Student Activity


    Share your favorite songs with the Viterbi community, invite your friends to enjoy the music! Songs in different languages are welcome!

    Audiences: Everyone Is Invited

    Contact: Juli Legat

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