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Events for the 1st week of March

  • MoBI Seminar: Individual Differences in Face Recognition Abilities

    Mon, Feb 27, 2023 @ 11:00 AM - 12:00 PM

    Ming Hsieh Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering

    Conferences, Lectures, & Seminars


    Speaker: Dr. Frédéric Gosselin, Full Professor, Département de Psychologie, Université de Montréal

    Talk Title: Individual Differences in Face Recognition Abilities

    Abstract: Abilities for face recognition vary greatly even among neurologically typical individuals. At one end of the spectrum, developmental prosopagnosics show great difficulty recognizing faces, despite not having sustained any brain injuries. At the other end of the spectrum, super-recognizers easily recognize faces they have not seen in years, even if these faces have physically changed in a substantial manner. Understanding how perceptual mechanisms are linked with individual abilities can offer important and straightforward insights for improving face processing in both individuals with poor face recognition abilities and people whose jobs require strong face processing ability. We recently characterised the brain computations of participants of various face recognition abilities using high-density electroencephalographic signals and a combination of behavioural tests, artificial neural network models, and machine learning analyses. We found that individual face recognition ability can be decoded from brain activity in an extended temporal interval for face and non-face objects. We show that both visual and semantic brain computations contribute to these individual differences.

    Biography: Frédéric Gosselin is a Full Professor in the Département de psychologie at Université de Montréal, and, with Dr. Anne Gallagher, the co-founder and co-director of cerebrum. He is a world-leading expert in high-level vision. He is the co-inventor of the Bubbles technique. He has also developed the popular SHINE toolbox for controlling low-level image properties. In his research, he uses a combination of psychophysical, neuropsychological, brain imaging and computational methods. Recently, his work has focused on individual differences in face recognition abilities. Dr. Gosselin is the founder and CEO of Elephant Scientific Consulting Inc.. His company has been advising multinational corporations such as Unilever, Cirque du Soleil and Netflix for 20 years.

    Host: Dr. Karim Jerbi, karim.jerbi.udem@gmail.com and Dr. Richard M. Leahy, leahy@sipi.usc.edu

    Webcast: https://usc.zoom.us/j/99092780975?pwd=aWcydXI1YmFxaXZaQ3VKRHhzOGJqUT09

    Location: Hughes Aircraft Electrical Engineering Center (EEB) - 539

    WebCast Link: https://usc.zoom.us/j/99092780975?pwd=aWcydXI1YmFxaXZaQ3VKRHhzOGJqUT09

    Audiences: Everyone Is Invited

    Contact: Mayumi Thrasher

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  • CEE Seminar Series

    Mon, Feb 27, 2023 @ 02:00 PM - 03:00 PM

    Sonny Astani Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering

    Conferences, Lectures, & Seminars


    Speaker: Saverio Perri, Princeton University

    Talk Title: Salt-affected ecosystems: from plant-water relations to ecohydrological engineering

    Abstract: see attached

    Host: CEE

    Webcast: https://usc.zoom.us/j/95242807214

    More Information: Perri_Announcement.docx

    Location: Kaprielian Hall (KAP) - 209

    WebCast Link: https://usc.zoom.us/j/95242807214

    Audiences: Everyone Is Invited

    Contact: Salina Palacios

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  • PHD Thesis Proposal (Meryem M'Hamdi)

    Mon, Feb 27, 2023 @ 03:30 PM - 05:00 PM

    Thomas Lord Department of Computer Science

    University Calendar


    Presentation Title: Towards More Human-Like Cross-lingual Transfer Learning

    Abstract: Since their release, multilingual off-the-shelf representations such as M-BERT and other Transformer-based variants has gained tremendous popularity. Despite exhibiting surprisingly good zero-shot performance, they are often pre-trained and fine-tuned in a data-intensive manner and are less robust against data distribution shifts which is orthogonal to how humans learn. In this thesis proposal, we analyze and propose techniques to advance the capabilities of multilingual language models beyond this data-intensive identically distributed paradigm and more towards human-like cross-lingual transfer learning. We achieve that through human-inspired input requirements by adapting few-shot meta-learning approaches, human-inspired outcomes by understanding what it means to learn continually over a stream of languages, and cognitive human-learning strategies like spaced repetition to consolidate retention of knowledge learned across languages. We apply our techniques to information extraction, natural language understanding, question answering, and semantic search downstream tasks and analyze on typologically diverse benchmarks.


    Committee Members: Jonathan May (Chair), Kallirroi Georgila, Xuezhe Ma, Shrikanth Narayanan, Aiichiro Nakano

    Location: https://usc.zoom.us/j/94778821094?pwd=cFZISUdZZ0trUlpMNFdGSEE0TDExdz09

    Audiences: Everyone Is Invited

    Contact: Asiroh Cham

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  • AME Seminar

    Mon, Feb 27, 2023 @ 03:30 PM - 04:30 PM

    Aerospace and Mechanical Engineering

    Conferences, Lectures, & Seminars


    Speaker: Janet Ellzey, University of Texas at Austin

    Talk Title: Humanitarian Engineering: Educating Bold, Responsible, and Innovative Leaders

    Abstract: Humanitarian engineering, the application of engineering solutions to low-income or marginalized communities, is a growing field in the US and worldwide. Sometimes called development engineering, researchers and practitioners focus on culturally appropriate solutions for resource-constrained environments such as refugee camps or low-income communities. Engineering schools are increasingly recognizing the importance of training students in humanitarian engineering and are developing programs using different approaches, from student organizations to full degree programs. At the University of Texas at Austin, Dr. Janet Ellzey has built an academic certificate that provides students with several pathways to use their engineering skills to positively impact the world, including a design and build program in which student teams partner with local communities and an innovation program to develop new technologies for the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies. In this talk, Dr. Ellzey will discuss this exciting engineering field, describe the programs at UT-Austin with data on the diversity of students enrolled in the program, and present challenges and opportunities for universities wanting to enter this field.

    Biography: Janet Ellzey is a professor of mechanical engineering and the Engineering Foundation Centennial Teaching Fellow in the Cockrell School of Engineering at the University of Texas at Austin. She received her BS and MS degrees in Mechanical Engineering from The University of Texas at Austin and her PhD from the University of California-Berkeley. After more than 30 years of conducting experimental and computational research in the field of combustion, she pivoted her career to focus on expanding unique educational opportunities for undergraduate students. Recognizing the enthusiasm that the current generation of students has for social justice, she launched a program in humanitarian engineering which she now directs. Through creative partnerships with local communities abroad as well as with major international organizations, she has developed a network to educate the next generation of leaders while positively impacting the world.

    Host: AME Department

    More Info: https://ame.usc.edu/seminars/

    Webcast: https://usc.zoom.us/j/98775609685?pwd=a2lSd01oY0o2KzA4VWphbGxjWk5Qdz09

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

    WebCast Link: https://usc.zoom.us/j/98775609685?pwd=a2lSd01oY0o2KzA4VWphbGxjWk5Qdz09

    Audiences: Everyone Is Invited

    Contact: Tessa Yao

    Event Link: https://ame.usc.edu/seminars/

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  • CS Colloquium: Yang Liu (UC Santa Cruz) - Reliable Machine Learning: From Data to Deployment

    Tue, Feb 28, 2023 @ 11:00 AM - 12:00 PM

    Thomas Lord Department of Computer Science

    Conferences, Lectures, & Seminars


    Speaker: Yang Liu, UC Santa Cruz

    Talk Title: Reliable Machine Learning: From Data to Deployment

    Series: CS Colloquium

    Abstract: Developing reliable machine learning systems presents challenges in handling biased input data and the consequences of deployment. For instance, a machine learning model for question answering (e.g., ChatGPT) can encode mistakes and biases that persist in the database; an unaware machine learning-powered decision-maker (e.g., for loan approval) can automatically deny people the chance of recourse, resulting in a decline of trust between human and machines; deploying a sequence of myopically optimized models may create an unfair "echo chamber" for users. The list goes on. This talk presents three challenges to building a reliable machine learning system: (1) developing fair and robust algorithms with biased training data, (2) auditing the dynamic interactions between users and machine learning models, and (3) maximizing the long-term welfare of machine learning ecosystems with efficient interventions. We will discuss our group's efforts in addressing these challenges.


    This lecture satisfies requirements for CSCI 591: Research Colloquium

    Biography: Yang Liu is an Assistant Professor of Computer Science and Engineering at UC Santa Cruz (2019 - present). He also leads the machine learning fairness team at ByteDance AI Lab. He was previously a postdoctoral fellow at Harvard University (2016 - 2018). In 2015, he received his Ph.D. degree from the Department of EECS at the University of Michigan, Ann Arbor. His research focuses on developing fair and robust machine learning algorithms to tackle the challenges of biased and shifting data. He is a recipient of the NSF CAREER Award. He has been selected to participate in several high-profile projects, including NSF-Amazon Fairness in AI, DARPA SCORE, and IARPA HFC. His research has observed deployments with FICO and Amazon. His recent work has been recognized with four best paper awards at relevant workshops.

    Host: Vatsal Sharan

    Location: Olin Hall of Engineering (OHE) - 132

    Audiences: Everyone Is Invited

    Contact: Assistant to CS chair

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  • CEE Seminar Series

    Tue, Feb 28, 2023 @ 11:30 AM - 12:30 PM

    Sonny Astani Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering

    Conferences, Lectures, & Seminars


    Speaker: Matei Gerogescu, Arizona State University

    Talk Title: Utility of Regional Climate Modeling for urban climate, energy, and agricultural applications

    Abstract: see attached

    Host: CEE

    Webcast: https://usc.zoom.us/j/95242807214

    More Information: Georgescu Announcement.docx

    Location: Kaprielian Hall (KAP) - 209

    WebCast Link: https://usc.zoom.us/j/95242807214

    Audiences: Everyone Is Invited

    Contact: Salina Palacios

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  • PhD Candidate: Shichen Liu

    Tue, Feb 28, 2023 @ 03:00 PM - 04:00 PM

    Thomas Lord Department of Computer Science

    University Calendar


    Title: Learning to Optimize the Geometry and Appearance from Images.


    Abstract:
    The ability to infer geometry and appearance from images impacts various applications such as AR/VR, autonomous driving, and more. Compared to traditional methods, deep convolutional neural networks have proven to be more robust and accurate. However, the practical use of deep learning in these applications still faces three major challenges: (1) the acquisition of 3D training data; (2) the development of a fast, robust, and accurate 3D vision framework; (3) the integration of complex 3D representations into the neural network.

    To address these challenges, my research focuses on optimization techniques in the context of deep learning. Specifically, when paired 2D and 3D data is not available, we propose a differentiable rendering framework that allows neural networks to learn 3D shapes directly from 2D images. On the other hand, when full supervision is available, we develop a framework that trains a neural network to optimize the target representation and demonstrate the performance on the vanishing point detection task. Finally, we explore the face avatar creation task and propose dense visual-semantic correlation on top of a semantically-aligned UV space to effectively integrate complex 3D representations into the neural optimization framework. Our neural optimization techniques help to develop practical 3D computer vision systems.

    Committee members are Randall Hill, Andrew Nealen, Aiichiro Nakano, Stefanos Nikolaidis, and Yajie Zhao.

    Location: https://usc.zoom.us/j/3154287574.

    Audiences: Everyone Is Invited

    Contact: Asiroh Cham

    Event Link: https://usc.zoom.us/j/3154287574

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  • Epstein Institute - ISE 651 Seminar

    Epstein Institute - ISE 651 Seminar

    Tue, Feb 28, 2023 @ 03:30 PM - 04:50 PM

    Daniel J. Epstein Department of Industrial and Systems Engineering

    Conferences, Lectures, & Seminars


    Speaker: Dr. Abigail Horn, Research Assistant Professor of Epstein ISE; Research Lead, USC Viterbi ISI

    Talk Title: Tracing the Source of Large-Scale Outbreaks of Foodborne Contamination Across Complex Food Supply Networks

    Host: Prof. Suvrajeet Sen

    More Information: February 28, 2023.pdf

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

    Audiences: Everyone Is Invited

    Contact: Grace Owh

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  • Boeing Freshman Design Challenge Information Session

    Tue, Feb 28, 2023 @ 06:00 PM - 07:00 PM

    Viterbi School of Engineering Career Connections

    Workshops & Infosessions


    Boeing Freshman Design Challenge Information Session

    Date: Tuesday, February 28th 2023
    Time: 6:00 p.m. - 7:00 p.m.
    Location: Zoom RSVP HERE


    This is a virtual information session for the Boeing Freshman Design Challenge, which will be hosted on-campus on 03/07/2023.

    As the worlds leading aerospace company, Boeing is the worlds largest manufacturer of commercial airplanes and military aircraft. To continue this dominance, Boeing needs the young minds of tomorrow to provide innovative, new perspectives.

    Boeing is hosting a design challenge to engage with the Freshmen class at USC. In this competition, teams of three or four freshmen will have two hours to work together and design a solution to a typical, real-world engineering problem.

    During this unique, resume-building experience, students will have the opportunity to showcase their talents and network. Boeing engineers and executives will be available to act as mentors and judges.

    The Freshman Design Challenge will be in-person and food will be provided. Prizes are provided to top participants.

    If interested, drop in to this required virtual information session. Feel free to invite any freshman engineers to this event who may be interested, regardless of major!

    The design challenge will be held 6-9pm Tuesday, March 7th, 2023.

    If you have any questions about the event feel free to email: alan.c.simonini@boeing.com

    Location: Zoom, please see below for details on how to RSVP

    Audiences: Everyone Is Invited

    Contact: RTH 218 Viterbi Career Connections

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  • Semiconductors & Microelectronics Technology Seminar - Andrew Mannix, Wednesday, 3/1 at 11am in EEB 248

    Wed, Mar 01, 2023 @ 11:00 AM - 12:00 PM

    Ming Hsieh Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering

    Conferences, Lectures, & Seminars


    Speaker: Andrew Mannix, Stanford University

    Talk Title: Automated assembly of synthetic van der Waals solids

    Series: Semiconductors & Microelectronics Technology

    Abstract: Synthetic van der Waals (vdW) solids assembled from two-dimensional (2D) materials yield unprecedented, atomic-scale control over their structure and properties, with profound implications for future quantum, electronic, and photonic devices. Within these vdW solids, moiré superlattices arising from lattice mismatch and interlayer twist angle can host novel quantum states (e.g., superconductivity), emergent ferroelectricity, and tunable quantum confinement. However,
    the production of vdW solids remains a largely artisanal process,
    limited in the size of the source material and the fabrication
    throughput. In this talk, I will discuss our recent efforts to enhance the quality and speed of vdW solid fabrication. Our core approach, Robotic 4D Pixel Assembly, enables rapid manufacturing of designer vdW solids with unprecedented speed, area, patternability, and angle control. We utilize a high-vacuum robot to assemble prepatterned pixels made from 2D materials grown at the wafer scale. We fabricated vdW solids of up to 80 individual layers, consisting of (10 to 1000 μm)^2 areas with pre-designed patterned shapes, laterally/vertically programmed composition, and controlled interlayer angle. This enabled efficient optical spectroscopy assays of vdW solids and fabrication of twisted n-layer assemblies, where we observe atomic lattice relaxation
    of twisted 4-layer WS_2 at unexpectedly high interlayer twist angles of greater than or equal to 4 degree. To conclude, I will outline ongoing efforts in my lab to understand and engineer high quality electronic interfaces, moiré superlattices, and point defects within vdW solids.


    Biography: Andrew Mannix is an assistant professor of Materials Science and Engineering at Stanford University. He completed his B.S. in Materials Science and Engineering at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, and his Ph.D. in Materials Science and Engineering at Northwestern University as an NSF GRFP Fellow, where he worked on the growth and atomic-scale characterization of new 2D materials. Before moving to Stanford, Andy was a Kadanoff-Rice Postdoctoral Fellow in the James Franck Institute at the University of Chicago, where he developed new methods of atomically-thin nanomaterials growth, processing, and automated heterostructure assembly. His lab at Stanford focuses on the growth, assembly and atomic-scale characterization of 2D materials for new electronic and quantum information science applications.

    Host: J Yang, H Wang, C Zhou, S Cronin, W Wu

    More Information: Andrew_0301_new.pdf

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

    Audiences: Everyone Is Invited

    Contact: Marilyn Poplawski

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  • CS Colloquium: Alexis E. Block (UCLA) - Towards Enhanced Social-Physical Human-Robot Interaction

    Wed, Mar 01, 2023 @ 11:00 AM - 12:00 PM

    Thomas Lord Department of Computer Science

    Conferences, Lectures, & Seminars


    Speaker: Alexis E. Block, UCLA

    Talk Title: Towards Enhanced Social-Physical Human-Robot Interaction

    Series: CS Colloquium

    Abstract: Hugs are one of the first forms of contact and affection humans experience. Receiving a hug is one of the best ways to feel socially supported, and the lack of social touch can have severe adverse effects on an individual's well-being. Due to the prevalence and health benefits of hugging, we were interested in creating robots that can hug humans as seamlessly as humans hug other humans. However, hugs are complex affective interactions that need to adapt to the height, body shape, and preferences of the hugging partner, and they often include intra-hug gestures like squeezes. In this talk, I'll present the eleven design guidelines of natural and enjoyable robotic hugging that informed the creation of a series of hugging robots that use visual and haptic perception to provide enjoyable interactive hugs. Then, I'll share how each of the four presented HuggieBot versions is evaluated by measuring how users emotionally and behaviorally respond to hugging it. Next, I'll briefly touch on how HuggieBot 4.0 is explicitly compared to a human hugging partner using physiological measures. Finally, I'll share some other forms of physical human-robot interaction I've been working on during my post doc as well as future directions of my research in the area of social-physical human-robot interaction.


    This lecture satisfies requirements for CSCI 591: Research Colloquium

    Biography: Alexis E. Block is currently a postdoctoral research fellow at the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA), where she is funded by a competitive postdoctoral Computing Innovation Fellowship (CI Fellows) from the US National Science Foundation. She received her Bachelor's in Mechanical Engineering and Applied Science from the University of Pennsylvania in 2016, and her Master's in Robotics in 2017, also from Penn. Block received her Dr. Sc. in Computer Science from ETH Zürich in August 2021, as part of the Max Planck ETH Center for Learning Systems, supervised by Katherine Kuchenbecker, Otmar Hilliges, and Roger Gassert. She was awarded an Otto Hahn Medal from the Max Planck Society for her doctoral work and the Best Hands-On Demonstration at EuroHaptics 2022. Block is currently the General Chair for the Robotics Gordon Research Seminar 2024 and organized the 2022 Southern California Robotics Symposium that took place in September. Alexis's research has been featured in the New York Times, The Times, IEEE Spectrum (twice), NPR, and Nature Outlook to name a few.

    Host: Heather Culbertson

    Location: Ronald Tutor Hall of Engineering (RTH) - 109

    Audiences: Everyone Is Invited

    Contact: Assistant to CS chair

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  • CEE Seminar Series

    Wed, Mar 01, 2023 @ 02:00 PM - 03:00 PM

    Sonny Astani Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering

    Conferences, Lectures, & Seminars


    Speaker: Dajiang Suo, Massachusetts Institute of Technology

    Talk Title: Designing and Deploying Connected Infrastructure to Enable Secure and Safe Automated Transportation

    Abstract: see attached

    Host: CEE

    Webcast: https://usc.zoom.us/j/95242807214

    More Information: Suo_Announcement.docx

    Location: Kaprielian Hall (KAP) - 209

    WebCast Link: https://usc.zoom.us/j/95242807214

    Audiences: Everyone Is Invited

    Contact: Salina Palacios

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  • AME Seminar

    Wed, Mar 01, 2023 @ 03:30 PM - 04:30 PM

    Aerospace and Mechanical Engineering

    Conferences, Lectures, & Seminars


    Speaker: Junsoo Kim, Harvard University

    Talk Title: Fracture of Highly Entangled Polymer Networks

    Abstract: Polymers pollute our planet. Part of this pollution comes from tires. Every year, 0.8 kg of rubber particles are shed by tires per capita in the world.1 A recent study showed that rainstorms wash the rubber particles into rivers, where toxic chemical compounds leach out and kill fish.2 Despite its significant impact on the environment, the development of rubbers resistant to fracture has been stagnant for decades. In this talk, I will discuss how to improve the fracture properties of polymer networks, such as rubbers and gels. The key idea is that entanglements stiffen polymers but do not embrittle them, whereas crosslinks stiffen polymers and embrittle them (i.e., stiffness-toughness conflict). Therefore, highly entangled polymer networks in which entanglements greatly outnumber crosslinks can be both stiff and tough. Furthermore, whereas traditional toughening mechanisms are based on sacrificial bonds causing hysteresis and fatigue, highly entangled polymer networks achieve high toughness by stress deconcentration, leading to high strength, elasticity, and fatigue resistance. This toughening mechanism is based on the polymer topology, not chemistry, so it is generally applicable to many other polymer systems, such as various monomers, preexisting polymers,4 and filled rubbers.5 It is hoped that this work will reactivate the development of wear-resistant tires. Such materials can also be explored in other high-volume applications such as dampers and belts, as well as emerging applications such as soft robots, wearable devices, tissue replacements, bioprinting, and humanoids.

    1 P. J. Kole, A. J. Löhr, F. G. A. J. V. Belleghem, A. M. J. Ragas, Int. J. Environ. Res. Public Health, 14(10), 1265 (2017)
    2 Z. Tian et. al., Science, 371(6525), 185-189 (2020)
    3 J. Kim*, G. Zhang*, M. Shi, Z. Suo, Science, 374(6564), 212-216 (2021)
    4 G. Nian*, J. Kim*, X. Bao, Z. Suo, Adv. Mat., 34(50), 2206577 (2022)
    5 J. Steck*, J. Kim*, Y. Kutsovsky, Z. Suo, under review

    Biography: Junsoo Kim is a postdoctoral researcher at the John A. Paulson School of Engineering and Applied Sciences, Harvard University. He earned his Ph.D. in the Material Science and Mechanical Engineering department at Harvard University in 2022, where he studied fracture of soft materials. Before joining Harvard in 2017, he was a researcher at Electronics Telecommunications Research Institute since 2014. He earned his M.S. in 2013 and B.S. in 2011 at Seoul National University in South Korea. He co-authored 31 papers in peer-reviewed journals, registered six patents, and received fellowships, including the Ilun Science and Technology Foundation (2013) and Kwanjeong Educational Foundation (2017).

    Host: AME Department

    More Info: https://ame.usc.edu/seminars/

    Webcast: https://usc.zoom.us/j/98775609685?pwd=a2lSd01oY0o2KzA4VWphbGxjWk5Qdz09

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

    WebCast Link: https://usc.zoom.us/j/98775609685?pwd=a2lSd01oY0o2KzA4VWphbGxjWk5Qdz09

    Audiences: Everyone Is Invited

    Contact: Tessa Yao

    Event Link: https://ame.usc.edu/seminars/

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  • CS Colloquium: Dakshita Khurana (University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign) - Cryptographic Advances in Reasoning about Adversaries

    Thu, Mar 02, 2023 @ 11:00 AM - 12:00 PM

    Thomas Lord Department of Computer Science

    Conferences, Lectures, & Seminars


    Speaker: Dakshita Khurana , University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign

    Talk Title: Cryptographic Advances in Reasoning about Adversaries

    Series: CS Colloquium

    Abstract: A key challenge in cryptography is to ensure that a protocol resists all computationally feasible attacks, even when an adversary decides to follow a completely arbitrary and unpredictable strategy.
    This often turns out to be notoriously difficult -- for example, proofs of security must typically extract an adversary's implicit input, but this is at odds with other goals like privacy, which require that inputs be hidden and difficult to extract.

    In this talk, I will describe my work that reimagines how we reason about adversaries, thereby settling foundational questions in classical and quantum protocol design. On the classical front, these insights enable efficient verification of computations while preserving privacy, and immunize protocols against coordinated attacks on the internet. On the quantum front, these methods help exploit the "destructive" nature of measurements and open up fundamentally new possibilities for cryptography. I will discuss examples that leverage quantum information to (1) weaken the assumptions needed for core tasks like secure computation on distributed private data, and (2) allow outsourcing computations on sensitive data while also verifying that data was deleted after processing.


    This lecture satisfies requirements for CSCI 591: Research Colloquium

    Biography: Dakshita Khurana is an Assistant Professor of Computer Science at the University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign. Her research focuses on cryptography and its interactions with quantum information. She has made several contributions to secure protocol design, including to succinct and zero-knowledge proof systems, non-malleable protocols and secure computation. Her work has also impacted fields beyond cryptography, e.g., by establishing the hardness of finding Nash equilibria under standard lattice assumptions. Her recent research enabling secure computation from weak cryptographic structure in the quantum regime was invited as one of the (long) plenary talks at QIP.
    Her research has also been recognized via invitations to the SIAM Journal on Computing, awarded to a select few papers at STOC and FOCS.

    Dakshita is a recipient of the NSF CAREER award, Visa Research faculty award, and a Graduate of Last Decade (GOLD) Alumni award from IIT-Delhi. In addition, her work has been funded through grants and gifts from the NSF, DARPA, C3AI and Jump Arches. She was named to Forbes List of 30 under 30 in Science and awarded a Google Research Fellowship at the Simons Institute, Berkeley. Her thesis work was previously recognized with a UCLA Dissertation Year Fellowship, a UCLA CS Outstanding PhD Student Award and Outstanding Graduate Awards from Symantec and CISCO.



    Host: Jiapeng Zhang

    Location: Olin Hall of Engineering (OHE) - 132

    Audiences: Everyone Is Invited

    Contact: Assistant to CS chair

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  • Viterbi Keynote Lecture: Learning to Communicate

    Viterbi Keynote Lecture: Learning to Communicate

    Thu, Mar 02, 2023 @ 04:00 PM - 05:00 PM

    Ming Hsieh Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering

    Conferences, Lectures, & Seminars


    Speaker: Dr. Robert Calderbank, Charles S. Sydnor Distinguished Professor of Computer Science, Duke University

    Talk Title: Learning to Communicate

    Series: Viterbi Lecture

    Abstract: It is common knowledge that a time-domain pulse is well adapted to pure delay channels, and that a frequency domain pulse is well adapted to pure Doppler channels. In this talk we will explain why the Zak-OTFS waveform, a pulse in the delay-Doppler domain, is well adapted to the doubly spread channels that arise in wireless communication.
    We will describe how to design the Zak-OTFS waveform so that the input-output (IO) relation is predictable and non-fading, and we will explain how it is possible to learn the IO relation without needing to estimate the underlying channel. We will explore the possibility of a model-free mode of operation, which is especially useful when a traditional model-dependent mode of operation (reliant on channel estimation) is out of reach. We will also describe how the Zak-OTFS waveform supports combined communication and sensing by enabling unambiguous delay-Doppler estimation.

    This is joint work with Saif Mohammed, Ananthanarayanan Chockalingam, and Ronny Hadani.


    Biography: Dr. Calderbank directs the Rhodes Information Initiative at Duke University, where he is a Distinguished Professor. He is known for contributions to voiceband modem technology, to quantum information theory, and for co-invention of space-time codes for wireless communication. His research papers have been cited more than 50,000 times, and his inventions are found in billions of consumer devices. Dr. Calderbank was elected to the National Academy of Engineering in 2005, to the National Academy of Inventors in 2015, and to the American Academy of Arts and Sciences in 2022. He has received a number of awards, including the 2013 IEEE Hamming Medal for contributions to information transmission, and the 2015 Claude E. Shannon Award.

    Host: Dr. Richard M. Leahy, leahy@sipi.usc.edu

    Webcast: https://usc.zoom.us/j/99839989058?pwd=MDFvNWxZNUg1VURjL3EyTDlJekViZz09

    More Information: 20230302 Calderbank Print.pdf

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

    WebCast Link: https://usc.zoom.us/j/99839989058?pwd=MDFvNWxZNUg1VURjL3EyTDlJekViZz09

    Audiences: Everyone Is Invited

    Contact: Mayumi Thrasher

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  • Semiconductors & Microelectronics Technology Seminar - Khaled Ahmed - Friday, 3/3 at 10am in EEB 248

    Fri, Mar 03, 2023 @ 10:00 AM - 11:00 PM

    Ming Hsieh Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering

    Conferences, Lectures, & Seminars


    Speaker: Khaled Ahmed, Intel

    Talk Title: Quo Vadis, MicroLEDs?

    Series: Semiconductors & Microelectronics Technology

    Abstract: It is estimated that the industry has spent ca. $7B on developing MicroLEDs for displays. At least one startup in the Silicon Valley is trying to leverage the MicroLEDs developed for display applications in chip-to-chip data communication. Recently, reports appeared on Apple's imminent implementation of MicroLED displays in smartwatches as evidenced by public announcements from Apple's MicroLED suppliers. Samsung has promised high volume production of MicroLED TV displays for about 5 years now. Google was reported to acquire a MicroLED startup in 2022 for estimated $1B. Hundreds of startups are trying to address one aspect or the other in the supply chain. For those who have been in the semiconductor industry for 10s of years relate to this pattern: we are on the verge of having innovative microscopic light emitters participate in making the lives of humans better. In this talk, the promise and challenge of MicroLED emitters are discussed based on the speaker's hands-on experience with the technology. A number of innovative technologies necessary for high volume manufacturing of MicroLED-based devices are highlighted, with specific problems to be solved. It is an opportunity for researchers to participate in the science and technology development for this important technology.

    Biography: Dr. Ahmed received a B.S. degree and an M.S. degree in electrical engineering from Ain Shams University, Egypt in 1991 and 1994, respectively, and a PhD degree in electrical engineering in 1998 from North Carolina State University. Dr. Ahmed joined Intel Corporation in 2015 where he is currently a senior principal engineer and the CTO of Systems Supply Chain organization. Before joining Intel, Dr. Ahmed was with Advanced Micro Devices, Inc., Conexant Systems Inc., Applied Materials, Inc., and Intermolecular, Inc., all in California from 1997 to 2015. Dr. Ahmed serves as a technical program committee member on Display Week Conference since 2016 and won the Semiconductor Research Corporation Best Industry Liaison in 2008. Dr. Ahmed has authored 175+ patents (granted & pending) covering technologies such as semiconductor devices, semiconductors manufacturing equipment, MicroLED device architecture, MicroLED display architecture, metasurface optical elements for display and photonics applications, and optical interconnects technology. Dr. Ahmed was awarded Intel Top Inventor Awards in 2021 and 2022. Dr. Ahmed is known for his strategic thinking and entrepreneurial spirit. He co-founded a company along with others working at JPL/NASA and University of Southern California targeting the manufacturing of III-V photodetectors on 300mm silicon wafers for LIDAR applications.

    Host: J Yang, H Wang, C Zhou, S Cronin, W Wu

    More Information: Khaled Ahmed Flyer.pdf

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

    Audiences: Everyone Is Invited

    Contact: Marilyn Poplawski

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  • Center of Autonomy and AI, Center for Cyber-Physical Systems and the Internet of Things, and Ming Hsieh Institute Seminar Series

    Center of Autonomy and AI, Center for Cyber-Physical Systems and the Internet of Things, and Ming Hsieh Institute Seminar Series

    Fri, Mar 03, 2023 @ 04:00 PM - 05:00 PM

    Ming Hsieh Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering

    Conferences, Lectures, & Seminars


    Speaker: Enrico Bini,

    Talk Title: Zero-Jitter Task Chains via Algebraic Rings

    Series: Center for Cyber-Physical Systems and Internet of Things

    Abstract: In many embedded computing domains, such as the automotive one, complex functionalities are implemented by splitting their computation across multiple tasks, forming so-called task chains. The tasks in a chain are functionally dependent and communicate partial computations via shared memory slots. In the addressed automotive context, tasks are triggered according to their period, and communicate data at specific time instants, following the Logical Execution Time (LET) paradigm. This paper first presents a model that captures the fundamental behavior of an arbitrary pair of tasks in a chain, connected in a producer-consumer relationship. Exploiting basics of ring algebra, we analytically and fully characterize the timing of reading and writing events of such pair. The proposed characterization allows modeling the combined behavior of the pair as a single periodic task with clear properties. Finally, we apply these fundamental results to build a lightweight mechanism that eliminates the jitter of an entire chain of arbitrary size. This enables us to model the resulting chain as a single periodic LET task with zero jitter.

    Biography: Enrico Bini is an Associate Professor at the Department of Computer Science, University of Turin and he has been holding positions at the Scuola Superiore Sant'Anna (Pisa, Italy) and Lund University, Dept. of Automatic Control (Sweden). In 2004, he completed the PhD on Real-Time Systems at the Scuola Superiore Sant'Anna (recipient of the "Spitali Award" for best PhD thesis of the whole university). In January 2010 he also completed a Master's degree in Mathematics with a thesis on optimal sampling for linear control systems.

    He has published more than 100 papers (1 Test-of-Time award by the IEEE TCRTS, 4 best-paper awards) on real-time scheduling, operating systems, optimization methods for real-time and control systems, optimal management of distributed and parallel resources. He is Associate Editor of IEEE Transactions on Computers and Springer's Real-Time Systems journal.

    Host: Pierluigi Nuzzo, nuzzo@usc.edu

    More Info:

    Webcast: : https://usc.zoom.us/j/92742577270?pwd=bEpXaWJudjZWRksyNk5lL1owUUdBQT09

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

    WebCast Link: : https://usc.zoom.us/j/92742577270?pwd=bEpXaWJudjZWRksyNk5lL1owUUdBQT09

    Audiences: Everyone Is Invited

    Contact: Talyia White

    Event Link:

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