Logo: University of Southern California

Events Calendar



Select a calendar:



Filter February Events by Event Type:



Events for the 1st week of February

  • CS Colloquium: Nadia Polikarpova (MIT CSAIL) - Type-Driven Program Synthesis

    Mon, Jan 30, 2017 @ 11:00 AM - 12:20 PM

    Thomas Lord Department of Computer Science

    Conferences, Lectures, & Seminars


    Speaker: Nadia Polikarpova, MIT CSAIL

    Talk Title: Type-Driven Program Synthesis

    Series: CS Colloquium

    Abstract: This lecture satisfies requirements for CSCI 591: Computer Science Research Colloquium.

    Modern programming languages safeguard developers from many classes of common errors, yet more subtle errors-”such as violations of security policies-”still plague software. Program synthesis has the potential to eliminate such errors, by generating executable code from concise and intuitive high-level specifications. The major obstacle to practical program synthesis is in navigating large search spaces to find programs that satisfy a given specification. My work addresses this problem through the design of synthesis-friendly type systems that are able to decompose a synthesis problem into smaller problems and efficiently navigate the search space.

    Based on this principle I developed Synquid, a synthesizer that generates programs from type-based specifications. Synquid is the first synthesizer to automatically discover provably correct implementations of sorting algorithms, as well as balancing and insertion operations on Red-Black Trees and AVL Trees. For these programs, the required specifications are up to seven times more concise than the implementations, and the synthesis times range from fractions of a second (for insertion sort) to under a minute (for Red-Black Tree rotations). Going beyond textbook algorithms, I creates a language called Lifty, which uses type-driven synthesis to automatically rewrite programs that violate information flow policies.

    In our case study, Lifty was able to enforce all required policies in a prototype conference management system.


    Biography: Nadia Polikarpova is a postdoctoral researcher at the MIT Computer Science and Artificial Intelligence Lab, interested in helping programmers build secure and reliable software. She completed her PhD at ETH Zurich. For her dissertation she developed tools and techniques for automated formal verification of object-oriented libraries, and created the first fully verified general-purpose container library, receiving the Best Paper Award at the International Symposium on Formal Methods. During her doctoral studies, Nadia was an intern at MSR Redmond, where she worked on verifying real-world implementations of security protocols. At MIT, Nadia has been applying formal verification to automate various critical and error-prone programming tasks.

    Host: Chao Wang

    Location: Ronald Tutor Hall of Engineering (RTH) - 217

    Audiences: Everyone Is Invited

    Contact: Assistant to CS chair

    OutlookiCal
  • Seminars in Biomedical Engineering

    Mon, Jan 30, 2017 @ 12:30 PM - 01:50 PM

    Alfred E. Mann Department of Biomedical Engineering

    Conferences, Lectures, & Seminars


    Speaker: Adam Weitz, PhD, Assistant Professor of Research Ophthalmology

    Talk Title: Improving the Spatial Resolution of Retinal Prostheses

    Abstract: http://keck.usc.edu/faculty/andrew-weitz/

    Host: Qifa Zhou

    Location: Olin Hall of Engineering (OHE) - 122

    Audiences: Everyone Is Invited

    Contact: Mischalgrace Diasanta

    OutlookiCal
  • Medtronic Information Session

    Mon, Jan 30, 2017 @ 05:30 PM - 06:30 PM

    Viterbi School of Engineering Career Connections

    Workshops & Infosessions


    Information session for the medical technology company, Medtronic. Representatives from the company will be attending to share internship opportunities with students majoring in biomedical, chemical, mechanical, and electrical engineering. Snacks and drinks will be provided.

    Location: Seeley G. Mudd Building (SGM) - 101

    Audiences: Everyone Is Invited

    Contact: RTH 218 Viterbi Career Connections

    OutlookiCal
  • USC Stem Cell Seminar: Arthur Lander, University of California, Irvine

    Tue, Jan 31, 2017 @ 11:00 AM - 12:00 PM

    Alfred E. Mann Department of Biomedical Engineering

    Conferences, Lectures, & Seminars


    Speaker: Arthur Lander, University of California, Irvine

    Talk Title: Stem cells, lineages and the logic of proliferative control

    Series: Eli and Edythe Broad Center for Regenerative Medicine and Stem Cell Research at USC Distinguished Speakers Series

    Abstract: Producing organs and tissues of precisely specified sizes is one of the greatest engineering challenges that developing organisms face. Whether achieving homeostasis of continuously-renewing epithelia, or building non-renewing organs such as brain and bone, the key to achieving speed, stability and set-point control is feedback regulation of how cells progress through lineage stages. I will discuss the evidence, both experimental and theoretical, in support of this claim, as well as its implications for how we understand stem cells and the lineages to which they give rise.



    Host: USC Stem Cell

    More Info: http://stemcell.usc.edu/events

    Webcast: http://keckmedia.usc.edu/stem-cell-seminar

    Location: Eli & Edythe Broad CIRM Center for Regenerative Medicine & Stem Cell Resch. (BCC) - First Floor Conference Room

    WebCast Link: http://keckmedia.usc.edu/stem-cell-seminar

    Audiences: Everyone Is Invited

    Contact: Cristy Lytal/USC Stem Cell

    Event Link: http://stemcell.usc.edu/events

    OutlookiCal
  • CS Colloquium: Barath Raghavan (UC Berkeley) -Frontier Networks: Context, Challenges, and Connectivity

    Tue, Jan 31, 2017 @ 11:00 AM - 12:20 PM

    Thomas Lord Department of Computer Science

    Conferences, Lectures, & Seminars


    Speaker: Barath Raghavan, UC Berkeley

    Talk Title: Frontier Networks: Context, Challenges, and Connectivity

    Series: CS Colloquium

    Abstract: This lecture satisfies requirements for CSCI 591: Computer Science Research Colloquium.

    In this talk, I discuss Frontier Networks -- networks that expand Internet access to disconnected regions -- and their role in scaling Internet access to the half of the global population that remains offline. I describe how a deep understanding of the context and challenges reveals new approaches to building more reliable, cost-effective, and manageable Frontier Networks. I describe a project I led to build such a network in a previously-disconnected region of Mendocino County, CA, the lessons it taught us about network design and operation, and the systems we built to address the needs that were unmet. I then describe three subsequent challenges -- bootstrapping, planning, and routing -- and describe ongoing projects to address them.

    Biography: Barath Raghavan is a senior researcher at the International Computer Science Institute in Berkeley, CA. His research interests include networked systems, security and applied cryptography, ICTD, and sustainable computing. His work spans a wide range of topics including congestion control, routing security, Internet architecture, software-defined networking, rural Internet access, network function virtualization, network troubleshooting and testing, anonymity systems, and computing for sustainable agriculture. He received his PhD from UC San Diego in 2009 and his BS from UC Berkeley in 2002. He has received a number of paper awards including from ACM SIGCOMM and ACM DEV.

    Host: CS Department

    Location: Ronald Tutor Hall of Engineering (RTH) - 217

    Audiences: Everyone Is Invited

    Contact: Assistant to CS chair

    OutlookiCal
  • International Employment Experts Information Session

    Tue, Jan 31, 2017 @ 11:30 AM - 12:30 PM

    Viterbi School of Engineering Career Connections

    Workshops & Infosessions


    Learn more about opportunities available in partnership with International Employment Experts and find out more details about the upcoming Virtual Career Fair for Viterbi master's and PhD students!

    More Information: Preregistersignage (3).pdf

    Location: Olin Hall of Engineering (OHE) - 132

    Audiences: All Viterbi Graduate

    Contact: RTH 218 Viterbi Career Connections

    OutlookiCal
  • Epstein Institute Seminar - ISE 651

    Tue, Jan 31, 2017 @ 03:30 PM - 04:50 PM

    Daniel J. Epstein Department of Industrial and Systems Engineering

    Conferences, Lectures, & Seminars


    Speaker: Dr. Alexandre Bayen, Professor of Engineering, UC Berkeley

    Talk Title: Distributed Learning Dynamics Convergence in Routing Games

    Host: Dr. Maged Dessouky and Dr. Jong-Shi Pang

    More Information: January 31, 2017_Bayen.pdf

    Location: Ethel Percy Andrus Gerontology Center (GER) - 206

    Audiences: Everyone Is Invited

    Contact: Grace Owh

    OutlookiCal
  • Graduate Student Viterbi Industry Networking Event (VINE)

    Tue, Jan 31, 2017 @ 05:00 PM - 07:00 PM

    Viterbi School of Engineering Career Connections

    Receptions & Special Events


    The Graduate Viterbi Industry Networking Event (VINE) allows graduate Viterbi students to meet employers the evening before the Career Fair and allows students to practice their networking skills by engaging with a wide variety of engineering companies in a professional networking environment.

    VINE follows the format of a typical business networking event, complete with beverages and light appetizers. The event allows employers to interact with students in a more intimate setting compared to the Career Fair which typically has over 3,000 students in attendance.

    Audiences: All Viterbi Graduate

    Contact: RTH 218 Viterbi Career Connections

    OutlookiCal
  • Spring PDP Info Session

    Tue, Jan 31, 2017 @ 05:00 PM - 06:00 PM

    Viterbi School of Engineering Graduate Admission, Viterbi School of Engineering Student Affairs, Viterbi School of Engineering Student Organizations

    Workshops & Infosessions


    Interested in earning your MS from Viterbi? How about starting a MS degree during your senior year? The Viterbi Graduate Admission team is hosting a Progressive Degree information session!

    What are the details?
    When: Tuesday, January 31
    Where: RTH 211

    Who should attend?
    All undergraduate students thinking about pursuing a MS degree through USC.

    What is the Progressive Degree Program?
    The Progressive Degree Program (PDP) gives continuing USC undergraduates another path to earning a Master's degree from USC. The main advantages to a Progressive Degree are:
    1) Start graduate-level classes during your senior year
    2) Reduce the units required for a Master's Degree

    Where can you learn more?
    More Progressive Degree information may be found by attending our information session and visiting USC Viterbi School of Engineering

    Questions? Email the Viterbi Graduate Admission team at: viterbi.pdp@usc.edu

    Location: Ronald Tutor Hall of Engineering (RTH) - 211

    Audiences: Everyone Is Invited

    Contact: Monica Graduate Admission

    OutlookiCal
  • Viterbi Career Fair

    Wed, Feb 01, 2017 @ 10:00 AM - 03:00 PM

    Viterbi School of Engineering Career Connections

    Receptions & Special Events


    The Viterbi Career Fair is free and open to all students in the USC Viterbi School of Engineering. Students do not need to register for this event, just show up! This casual, yet professional, environment allows students the opportunity to have brief conversations with recruiters about full-time employment, internships, and co-ops. Don't forget your resume!

    Location: Trousdale Parkway

    Audiences: All Viterbi

    Contact: RTH 218 Viterbi Career Connections

    OutlookiCal
  • CS Colloquium: Vasilis Verroios (Stanford) - Combining Algorithms and Humans for Large-Scale Data Integration

    Wed, Feb 01, 2017 @ 11:00 AM - 12:20 PM

    Thomas Lord Department of Computer Science

    Conferences, Lectures, & Seminars


    Speaker: Vasilis Verroios , Stanford University

    Talk Title: Combining Algorithms and Humans for Large-Scale Data Integration

    Series: CS Colloquium

    Abstract: This lecture satisfies requirements for CSCI 591: Computer Science Research Colloquium.

    Modern enterprises collect data from their operations and the web, and strongly depend on the collected data to make important decisions. To analyze the collected data, enterprises need to first perform data integration, i.e., combine the data from the multiple sources to create a unified set.

    Data integration involves some tasks that are still very hard for computer algorithms, like tasks involving images, video, natural language, or data semantics understanding. Since humans may be more accurate with such tasks, the approach of crowdsourcing has been proposed and applied by large companies and research organizations, over the last years. In crowdsourcing, humans are also involved, in order to enhance computer algorithms by completing small tasks, like classifying a forum comment as offensive or ironic. Crowdsourcing drastically improves the accuracy of the outcome compared to using only computer algorithms, however, it does not scale due to the large amount of time (and monetary compensation) required by humans. In this talk, I will discuss how to make crowdsourcing scalable for data integration.

    Biography: Vasilis Verroios is a PhD candidate in the Computer Science Department, at Stanford University. His advisor is Hector Garcia-Molina. He received a B.S. and M.S. in Computer Science from the University of Athens, in 2006 and 2008, respectively. In the past, he has been a member of the "Management of Data, Information, & Knowledge Group" at the University of Athens, and he has worked for oDesk and Microsoft Research. His primary interests include data integration, data analytics, and data mining.


    Host: Cyrus Shahabi

    Location: Ronald Tutor Hall of Engineering (RTH) - 217

    Audiences: Everyone Is Invited

    Contact: Assistant to CS chair

    OutlookiCal
  • Astani Civil and Environmental Engineering Seminar

    Wed, Feb 01, 2017 @ 02:00 PM - 03:00 PM

    Sonny Astani Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering

    Conferences, Lectures, & Seminars


    Speaker: Prof. Lawrence A. Bergman, Professor Emeritus, Department of Aerospace Engineering, University of Illinois at Urbana Champaign

    Talk Title: Targeted Energy Transfer: Intentional Use of Strong Nonlinearity for Vibration and Shock Control

    Abstract: For more than fifteen years, our research group has been developing and applying the concept of Targeted Energy Transfer (TET) as an effective strategy for passively managing energy flows in dynamical systems subject to broadband transient loading. The technology has been studied analytically, computationally, and experimentally in applications covering a range of scales from nano to macro. I will briefly explain the principles behind TET, followed by a discussion of several of these applications demonstrating the efficacy of the technology.




    Biography: Professor Lawrence A. Bergman received the B.S. in Mechanical Engineering from the Stevens Institute of Technology, and the M.S. in Civil Engineering and Ph.D. in Applied Mechanics from Case Western Reserve University. Prior to graduate school, he was on the technical staff of TRW, Inc. and the Lord Corporation. His research has been primarily in the areas of structural dynamics and control, nonlinear dynamics, applied stochastic processes, system identification, and computational methods. He was editor-in-chief of the ASME Journal of Vibration and Acoustics from 2000 through 2004, and served on the Executive Committee of the Applied Mechanics Division of ASME from 2009 -“ 2014, the last year as Chair. Professor Bergman has been a faculty member at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign since 1979, where he is a professor in the Department of Aerospace Engineering, an affiliate professor of the Departments of Civil and Environmental Engineering and of Mechanical Science and Engineering, and where he served as assistant dean of the College of Engineering during the 1996-97 academic year. He is a Fellow of the American Society of Mechanical Engineers and an Associate Fellow of the American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics.


    Location: Ronald Tutor Hall of Engineering (RTH) - 217

    Audiences: Everyone Is Invited

    Contact: Evangeline Reyes

    OutlookiCal
  • Center for Cyber-Physical Systems and Internet of Things and Ming Hsieh Institute for Electrical Engineering Joint Seminar Series on Cyber-Physical Systems

    Wed, Feb 01, 2017 @ 02:00 PM - 03:30 PM

    Ming Hsieh Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering

    Conferences, Lectures, & Seminars


    Speaker: Georgios Fainekos, Associate Professor, Arizona State University (ASU)

    Talk Title: Beyond Requirements Falsification: Semi-formal methods and tools for the analysis of Cyber-Physical Systems

    Abstract: Correct-by-design synthesis methods for Cyber-Physical Systems (CPS) are still in their infancy for CPS with complex physical dynamics. For that reason, a combination of design theories for simpler systems and/or ad-hoc design approaches are utilized. Hence, numerous design and implementation errors are discovered while CPS are operational in the field. Such errors can have catastrophic effects to human life and to the economy. Over the last few years, requirements guided falsification methods have proven to be a practical approach to the verification problem of industrial size CPS. However, requirements falsification is just one component of the necessary tools for the development of safe and reliable CPS. In this talk, we provide an overview of our research in providing support for all the stages of the development for CPS, from formal requirements elicitation and mining to system conformance to on-line monitoring. Most of our methods have been implemented in a Matlab (TM) toolbox called S-TaLiRo (System's TemporAl LogIc Robustness). Finally, in this talk, we demonstrate that S-TaLiRo can provide answers to challenge problems from the automotive industry.

    Biography: Georgios Fainekos is an Associate Professor at the School of Computing, Informatics and Decision Systems Engineering (SCIDSE) at Arizona State University (ASU). He is director of the Cyber-Physical Systems (CPS) Lab and he is currently affiliated with the NSF I/UCR Center for Embedded Systems (CES) at ASU. He received his Ph.D. in Computer and Information Science from the University of Pennsylvania in 2008 where he was affiliated with the GRASP laboratory. He holds a Diploma degree (B.Sc. & M.Sc.) in Mechanical Engineering from the National Technical University of Athens and an M.Sc. degree in Computer and Information Science from the University of Pennsylvania. Before joining ASU, he held a Postdoctoral Researcher position at NEC Laboratories America in the System Analysis & Verification Group. He is currently working on Cyber-Physical Systems (CPS) and robotics. In particular, his expertise is on formal methods, logic, artificial intelligence, optimization and control theory. His research has applications on automotive systems, medical devices, autonomous (ground and aerial) robots and human-robot interaction (HRI). In 2013, Dr. Fainekos received the NSF CAREER award. He was also recipient of the SCIDSE Best Researcher Junior Faculty award for 2013 and of the 2008 Frank Anger Memorial ACM SIGBED/SIGSOFT Student Award. Two of his conference papers have been nominated for student best paper awards.

    Host: Paul Bogdan

    Location: Ronald Tutor Hall of Engineering (RTH) - 105

    Audiences: Everyone Is Invited

    Contact: Estela Lopez

    OutlookiCal
  • MHI CommNetS Seminar

    Wed, Feb 01, 2017 @ 02:00 PM - 03:00 PM

    Ming Hsieh Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering

    Conferences, Lectures, & Seminars


    Speaker: Dr. Nikolai Matni, Caltech

    Talk Title: A system level approach to controller synthesis

    Series: CommNetS

    Abstract: Biological and advanced cyberphysical control systems often have limited, sparse, uncertain, and distributed communication and computing in addition to sensing and actuation. Fortunately, the corresponding plants and performance requirements are also sparse and structured, and this must be exploited to make constrained controller design feasible and tractable. We introduce a new "system level" (SL) approach involving three complementary SL elements. System Level Parameterizations (SLPs) generalize state space and Youla parameterizations of all stabilizing controllers and the responses they achieve, and combine with System Level Constraints (SLCs) to parameterize the largest known class of constrained stabilizing controllers that admit a convex characterization, generalizing quadratic invariance. SLPs also lead to a generalization of detectability and stabilizability, suggesting the existence of a rich separation structure, that when combined with SLCs, is naturally applicable to structurally constrained controllers and systems. We further provide a catalog of useful SLCs, most importantly including sparsity, delay, and locality constraints on both communication and computing internal to the controller, and external system performance. The resulting System Level Synthesis (SLS) problems that arise define the broadest known class of constrained optimal control problems that can be solved using convex programming. We end with an example that illustrates how this system level approach can systematically explore tradeoffs in controller performance, robustness, and synthesis/implementation complexity. This is joint work with Yuh-Shyang Wang and John C. Doyle at Caltech.

    Biography: Nikolai is a postdoctoral scholar in Computing and Mathematical Sciences at the California Institute of Technology. He received the B.A.Sc. and M.A.Sc. in Electrical Engineering from the University of British Columbia, and the Ph.D. in Control and Dynamical Systems from the California Institute of Technology in June 2016. His research interests broadly encompass the use of layering, dynamics, control and optimization in the design and analysis of complex cyber-physical systems; current application areas include software defined networking and sensorimotor control.

    Host: Prof. Insoon Yang

    Location: Hughes Aircraft Electrical Engineering Center (EEB) - 248

    Audiences: Everyone Is Invited

    Contact: Annie Yu

    OutlookiCal
  • Microsoft Information Session

    Wed, Feb 01, 2017 @ 06:00 PM - 07:30 PM

    Viterbi School of Engineering Career Connections

    Workshops & Infosessions


    Join representatives from Microsoft as they share general company information and available opportunities.

    Location: Seeley G. Mudd Building (SGM) - 101

    Audiences: All Viterbi Students

    Contact: RTH 218 Viterbi Career Connections

    OutlookiCal
  • IEEE SPAC: Student Professional Awareness Conference

    Wed, Feb 01, 2017 @ 06:00 PM - 09:00 PM

    Viterbi School of Engineering Student Organizations

    Student Activity


    The Student Professional Awareness Conference (S-PAC) is IEEE@USC's signature event in which undergraduate and graduate students with a primarily electrical engineering background have an opportunity to network with their dream companies over a free 3-course dinner at the Radisson Hotel Ballroom!
    Our guest speaker is Professor Bhaskar Krishnamachari, who is the Co-Director of the Ming Hsieh Institute and the Popular Science's Brilliant 10. He specializes in wireless communication and embedded system.

    Companies Featured Will Include: Accenture, Boeing, CIA, JPL, Northrop Grumman, Sandisk and more!

    ***RSVP Instruction***

    1. Fill out this form: https://goo.gl/forms/rC7bMZtS2OPWMT3u2

    2. Send a $20 deposit to our venmo page with your name and email address (It will be returned to you)

    3. Please confirm the event ticket sent from Eventbrite, and choose the company you want to sit with.

    4. Attend S-PAC to RECIEVE DEPOSIT REFUND

    Venmo Page: https://venmo.com/IEEE-USC?via=searchbox

    Date: Wednesday February 1
    Time: 6:00 - 9:00 PM

    If you have any questions please contact us at ieee@usc.edu

    More Information: IEEE USC (4).png

    Location: Radisson Hotel

    Audiences: Everyone Is Invited

    Contact: Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers

    OutlookiCal
  • CS Colloquium: Finale Doshi-Velez (Harvard) - Characterizing and Conquering Non-Identifiability in Non-negative Matrix Factorization

    Thu, Feb 02, 2017 @ 04:00 PM - 05:00 PM

    Thomas Lord Department of Computer Science

    Conferences, Lectures, & Seminars


    Speaker: Finale Doshi-Velez, Harvard

    Talk Title: Characterizing and Conquering Non-Identifiability in Non-negative Matrix Factorization

    Series: Yahoo! Labs Machine Learning Seminar Series

    Abstract: This lecture satisfies requirements for CSCI 591: Computer Science Research Colloquium. Part of Yahoo! Labs Machine Learning Seminar Series.

    Nonnegative matrix factorization (NMF) is a popular dimension reduction technique that produces interpretable decomposition of the data into parts. However, this decomposition is often not identifiable, even beyond simple cases of permutation and scaling. Non-identifiability is an important concern in practical data exploration settings, in which the basis of the NMF factorization may be interpreted as having some kind of meaning: it may be important to know that other non-negative characterizations of the data were also possible. While other studies have provide criteria under which NMF is unique, in this talk I'll discuss when and how an NMF might *not* be unique. Then I'll discuss some novel algorithms for characterizing the posterior in Bayesian NMF.

    Biography: Finale Doshi-Velez is an Assistant Professor in Computer Science at Harvard University. Prior to that, she was a NSF CiTraCS postdoctoral fellow at Harvard Medical School and a Marshall Scholar at the University of Cambridge. She completed her PhD at MIT. Her interests lie in the intersection of healthcare and machine learning.

    Host: Yan Liu

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

    Audiences: Everyone Is Invited

    Contact: Assistant to CS chair

    OutlookiCal
  • Navigating U.S. Recruitment Process

    Thu, Feb 02, 2017 @ 04:30 PM - 05:30 PM

    Viterbi School of Engineering Career Connections

    Workshops & Infosessions


    This workshop will provide students tips on how to navigate the process of U.S. corporate recruiting and will touch on American culture norms.

    Location: Ronald Tutor Hall of Engineering (RTH) - 211

    Audiences: All Viterbi

    Contact: RTH 218 Viterbi Career Connections

    OutlookiCal
  • AI Seminar

    Fri, Feb 03, 2017 @ 11:00 AM - 12:00 PM

    Information Sciences Institute

    Conferences, Lectures, & Seminars


    Speaker: Elias Bareinboim, Assistant Professor, Purdue University

    Talk Title: The Data-Fusion Problem: Causal Inference and Reinforcement Learning

    Abstract: Machine Learning is usually dichotomized into two categories, passive and active which, by and large, are studied separately. Reality is more demanding. Passive and active modes of operation are but two extremes of a rich spectrum of data collection modes that generate the bulk of the data available in practical, large scale situations. In typical medical explorations, for example, data from multiple observations and experiments are collected, coming from distinct experimental setups, different sampling conditions, and heterogeneous populations. Similarly, in a more basic setting, a baby learns from its environment by both passively observing others and interacting with its environment by actively performing interventions. In this task, I will review the theory of structural causality and use it to explain the relationship between causal inference and reinforcement learning . Further, I will formulate and discuss a collection of inference tasks that lie in the intersection of RL and causal inference, including personalized decision making.

    Biography: Elias Bareinboim is an assistant professor in the Department of Computer Science at Purdue University. His research focuses on causal and counterfactual inference and their applications to data driven fields. Bareinboim received a Ph.D. in Computer Science from UCLA advised by Judea Pearl. His doctoral thesis was the first to propose a general solution to the problem of data fusion and to provide practical methods for combining datasets generated under different experimental conditions. Bareinboims recognitions include IEEE AIs 10 to Watch, the Dan David Prize Scholarship, the Yahoo! Key Scientific Challenges Award, and the 2014 AAAI Outstanding Paper Award.

    Host: Mayank Kejriwal

    Audiences: Everyone Is Invited

    Contact: Kary Lau

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

    Fri, Feb 03, 2017 @ 01:00 PM - 01:50 PM

    USC Viterbi School of Engineering, Viterbi School of Engineering Student Affairs

    University Calendar


    Join us for a presentation by Alexander Schaerli, Dr. Luke A. Sweatlock, Principal Scientist and Group Lead atNG NEXT Nanophotonics & Plasmonics Laboratory, titled "Nanophotonic Engineered Materials for Aerospace."

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

    Audiences: Everyone Is Invited

    Contact: Ramon Borunda/Academic Services

    OutlookiCal
  • USC Physics Seminar, Eli Kapon, Friday, February 3, 2017 in SSL 150 @ 2:00pm

    Fri, Feb 03, 2017 @ 02:00 PM - 03:30 PM

    Ming Hsieh Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering

    Conferences, Lectures, & Seminars


    Speaker: Eli Kapon, Laboratory of Physics of Nanostructures, Ecole Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne (EPFL), Switzerland

    Talk Title: Quantum Photonics with Ordered Quantum Dot and Quantum Wire Systems

    Abstract: Quantum wire (QWR) and quantum dot (QD) systems offer means for tailoring the electronic structure of semiconductors thanks to multi-dimensional quantum confinement. By placing them in confined photonic structures (waveguides, cavities) it is possible to tailor light-matter interaction via the introduced modifications in the density of states of excitons and photons. We review the technology of ordered QWR and QD structures grown by metallolrganic vapor phase epitaxy on patterned substrates and their integration with photonic components. Tailoring exciton wavefunctions, controlling their recombination dynamics, and observing cavity quantum electrodynamic effects in the integrated structures are described. Applications in quantum information technology and ultralow threshold lasers are discussed.

    Biography: Eli Kapon received his Ph.D. in physics from Tel Aviv University, Israel in 1982. He then spent two years at the California Institute of Technology, Pasadena, as a Chaim Weizmann Research Fellow, and then nine years at Bellcore, New Jersey, as member of technical staff and District Manager. Since 1993 he has been Professor of Physics of Nanostructures at the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology in Lausanne (EPFL), where he heads the Laboratory of Physics of Nanostructures. In 1999-2000 he was a Sackler Scholar at the Mortimer and Raymond Sackler Institute of Advanced Studies in Tel Aviv University, Israel. During that period he helped establishing the Tel Aviv University Center for Nanoscience and Nanotechnology and served as its first Director from 2000 to 2002. In 2001 he founded the start up BeamExpress, serving as its Chief Scientist. His research interests include quantum- and nano-photonics, low-dimensional semiconductors, and vertical cavity semiconductor lasers. Prof. Kapon is Fellow of the Optical Society of America, the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers, and the American Physical Society of America, a recipient of a 2007 Humboldt Research Award, and a Photonics Society Distinguished Lecturer for 2105-2017.

    Host: Physics Seminar, Quantum Information - Condensed Matter - Biophysics

    Location: Seaver Science Library (SSL) - 150

    Audiences: Everyone Is Invited

    Contact: Marilyn Poplawski

    OutlookiCal
  • Ming Hsieh Institute Seminar Series on Integrated Systems

    Fri, Feb 03, 2017 @ 02:00 PM - 04:00 PM

    Ming Hsieh Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering

    Conferences, Lectures, & Seminars


    Speaker: Dr. Vivienne Sze, Professor at MIT

    Talk Title: Energy-Efficient Hardware for Embedded Vision and Deep Convolutional Neural Network

    Host: Prof. Dina Reda El-Damak

    More Information: MHI Seminar Series IS - Vivienne Sze.pdf

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

    Audiences: Everyone Is Invited

    Contact: Jenny Lin

    OutlookiCal
  • Repeating EventBME Special Seminar

    Fri, Feb 03, 2017 @ 02:30 PM - 04:30 PM

    Alfred E. Mann Department of Biomedical Engineering

    Conferences, Lectures, & Seminars


    Speaker: Rich Roberts, PhD, Department Chair, USC Viterbi Mork Department of Materials Science & Chemical Engineering

    Talk Title: TBA

    Series: Seminars in BME (Lab Rotations)

    Host: Brent Liu, PhD

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

    Audiences: Everyone Is Invited

    View All Dates

    Contact: Mischalgrace Diasanta

    OutlookiCal
  • NL Seminar Recurrent Neural Networks for Narrative Prediction

    Fri, Feb 03, 2017 @ 03:00 PM - 04:00 PM

    Information Sciences Institute

    Conferences, Lectures, & Seminars


    Speaker: Melissa Roemmele, USC ICT

    Talk Title: Recurrent Neural Networks for Narrative Prediction

    Series: Natural Language Seminar

    Abstract: Narrative prediction involves predicting what happens next in a story. This task has a long history in AI research but is now getting more recognition in the NLP community. In this talk I will describe three different evaluation schemes for narrative prediction, one of which the Story Cloze Test is the shared task for this years LSDSem workshop at EACL. I will present my ongoing efforts to develop Recurrent Neural Network based models that succeed on these evaluation frameworks, and discuss the particular challenges posed by each of them.

    Biography: I am a PhD candidate at the USC Institute for Creative Technologies advised by Andrew Gordon in the Narrative Group. My thesis research explores machine learning approaches to automatically generating text based stories. I am interested in using this research to stimulate creativity in writing. More broadly, I am excited by any opportunity to use automated analysis of text data to give people new insights and ideas.

    Host: Marjan Ghazvininejad and Kevin Knight

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

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

    Audiences: Everyone Is Invited

    Contact: Peter Zamar

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

    OutlookiCal