Select a calendar:
Filter March Events by Event Type:
SUNMONTUEWEDTHUFRISAT
Events for the 1st week of March
-
IISE Regional ConferenceSun, Mar 01, 2020
Viterbi School of Engineering Student Affairs
Conferences, Lectures, & Seminars
Speaker: ,
Talk Title:
Host:
Audiences: Everyone Is Invited
Contact: Viterbi Undergraduate Programs
-
CS Colloquium: Melisa Orta Martinez (Stanford University) - Design and Analysis of Open-Source Educational Haptic Devices
Mon, Mar 02, 2020 @ 11:00 AM - 12:00 PM
Thomas Lord Department of Computer Science
Conferences, Lectures, & Seminars
Speaker: Melisa Orta Martinez, Stanford University
Talk Title: Design and Analysis of Open-Source Educational Haptic Devices
Series: CS Colloquium
Abstract: The sense of touch (haptics) is an active perceptual system used from our earliest days to discover the world around us. However, formal education is not designed to take advantage of this sensory modality. As a result, very little is known about the effects of using haptics in K-12 and higher education or the requirements for haptic devices for educational applications. This talk will present three novel, open-source, low-cost haptic devices for educational applications and discuss some general principles for designing such devices. The first device, Hapkit is a one-degree-of-freedom kinesthetic device that has been used in several education environments, where we have discovered the potential of haptics to display abstract mathematical concepts and observed the importance of device customization for the students. The second, Haplink, introduces a novel mechanism that enables the device to transform between a one- and two-degree-of-freedom haptic device in order to enable additive learning. The third device, HapCaps is a tactile haptic device that was developed to study the connection between finger perception and math learning in young children. The aim is to design haptic devices that can be used in several educational environments in order to understand the role of haptics in learning.
This lecture satisfies requirements for CSCI 591: Research Colloquium.
Biography: Melisa Orta Martinez received the BS degree in electronic systems engineering from the Instituto Tecnologico y de Estudios Superiores de Monterrey in Mexico City, during which she spent a year working as a research intern at the Heinz Nixdorf Institute, Paderborn, Germany. She then obtained a MS degree in electrical engineering from Stanford University, Stanford, CA. After her masters degree she worked at Apple Inc. for three years in the Human Interface Devices group. She is currently working toward the doctoral degree in mechanical engineering at Stanford University. Her research interests include haptics, robotics and education.
Host: Heather Culbertson
Location: Ronald Tutor Hall of Engineering (RTH) - 109
Audiences: Everyone Is Invited
Contact: Assistant to CS chair
-
Warming Up the Engineering Classroom: Sharing Stories of International Students
Mon, Mar 02, 2020 @ 11:30 AM - 12:30 PM
Viterbi School of Engineering Student Affairs
Conferences, Lectures, & Seminars
Speaker: Viterbi Students, Prof. Harly Ramsey, Prof. Helen Choi,
Series: DEI Week
Abstract: At USC, one in four students is an international student. However, their diverse voices can sometimes be excluded from critical classroom discussions. To improve learning experiences for international students, Professors Harly Ramsey and Helen Choi of the Viterbi Engineering Writing Program and Viterbi students will share ideas for building more inclusive and productive classrooms.
Host: Prof. Harly Ramsey and Prof. Helen Choi
More Info: https://calendar.usc.edu/event/building_inclusive_productive_learning_communities_for_international_students
Location: Mark Taper Hall Of Humanities (THH) - 420
Audiences: Everyone Is Invited
Contact: Helen Choi
Event Link: https://calendar.usc.edu/event/building_inclusive_productive_learning_communities_for_international_students
-
Center for Cyber-Physical Systems and Internet of Things and Ming Hsieh Institute Seminar
Mon, Mar 02, 2020 @ 12:00 PM - 01:00 PM
Ming Hsieh Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering
Conferences, Lectures, & Seminars
Speaker: Dr. Tuba Yavuz, Electrical and Computer Engineering Department at the University of Florida
Talk Title: Improving IoT Reliability and Security using Automated Model Extraction and Guided Analysis
Series: Center for Cyber-Physical Systems and Internet of Things
Abstract: The number of Internet of Things (IoT) devices has reached 26 billion in 2019. A typical IoT ecosystem consists of a variety of components including the cloud, mobile devices, edge devices, and constrained devices. Although each component in IoT comes with unique capabilities and challenges, the system software that runs on each type of IoT component forms an important part of the IoT attack surface. Therefore, the ability to perform precise and scalable analysis of system software and to detect deep system vulnerabilities throughout the IoT ecosystem are critical for IoT reliability and security. System software includes the firmware, operating system, device drivers, and libraries. Despite recent advances in program analysis techniques and decision procedures, the complexity of system software creates challenges in terms of scalability and precision.
In this talk, I will introduce Model Extraction and Model Guided Analysis as an approach for effective and scalable analysis of system software. The idea is to use extracted models as oracles in a client analysis, where the client analysis can become a model extraction step for another client analysis, and so on. I will present our experience with Model Extraction and Model Guided analysis in the context of USB and Bluetooth firmware and protocol stacks, Linux device drivers, cryptographic libraries, and SGX enclaves. I will specifically discuss the motivations, challenges, and our achievements using the tools and methodologies we have developed including FirmUSB, ProXray, MOXCAFE, and PROMPT. I will conclude with a vision and a roadmap for Model Extraction and Model Guided Analysis to support the reliable and secure development and evolution of IoT frameworks.
Biography: Dr. Tuba Yavuz is currently an Assistant Professor at the Electrical and Computer Engineering Department of University of Florida (UF). She is also affiliated with the Florida Institute of Cyber Security Research (FICS) andthe Nelms Institute for the Connected World at UF. She received her Ph.D. in computer science from the Computer Science Department of University of California, Santa Barbara in 2004.Her research areas include formal methods, software engineering, and system security. She has recently developed tools and techniques for detecting vulnerabilities and malicious behavior in system software.
Host: Chao Wang, wang626@usc.edu
Location: Hughes Aircraft Electrical Engineering Center (EEB) - 248
Audiences: Everyone Is Invited
Contact: Talyia White
-
MFD Student Symposium
Tue, Mar 03, 2020 @ 08:45 AM - 03:00 PM
Mork Family Department of Chemical Engineering and Materials Science
Receptions & Special Events
Location: Edward L. Doheny Jr. Memorial Library (DML) - 240
Audiences: Everyone Is Invited
Contact: Karen Woo/Mork Family
-
PhD Thesis Proposal - Emily Sheng
Tue, Mar 03, 2020 @ 10:00 AM - 11:30 AM
Thomas Lord Department of Computer Science
University Calendar
Title: Towards Fairness in Natural Language Processing
Date/Time: Tuesday, March 3rd, 10-11:30am
Location: SAL 213
Candidate: Emily Sheng
Committee: Prof. Prem Natarajan (advisor), Prof. Nanyun Peng, Prof. Aram Galstyan, Prof. Shri Narayanan, Prof. Yan Liu
Abstract: With the advent of more effective, large-scale natural language processing (NLP) techniques, issues of fairness and bias in NLP techniques have become increasingly important. Biased models have the potential to perpetuate and amplify societal biases, which has implications for ethics, model robustness, and model interpretability. First, we describe our work to define biases in a language generation setting. We subsequently describe how different definitions of bias can be used to analyze biases in existing NLP systems, e.g., language generation and named entity recognition. Finally, we propose techniques that allow us to move towards the mitigation and control of biases. This talk will examine the importance of defining tasks and metrics for biases in NLP, how our bias analyses can inform our approach to bias mitigation, and related directions in how we can move towards fairness in NLP.
Location: Henry Salvatori Computer Science Center (SAL) - 213
Audiences: Everyone Is Invited
Contact: Lizsl De Leon
-
ECE Seminar: A Cross-Stack, Network-Centric Architectural Design for Next Generation Datacenter
Tue, Mar 03, 2020 @ 10:30 AM - 11:30 AM
Ming Hsieh Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering
Conferences, Lectures, & Seminars
Speaker: Mohammad Alian, PhD Candidate, ECE Dept, UIUC
Talk Title: A Cross-Stack, Network-Centric Architectural Design for Next Generation Datacenter
Abstract: In the light of technology scaling and data explosion trends, the long latency and limited bandwidth of transferring data within a computer and across computers have become a key bottleneck to the improvement of performance and energy efficiency. Tacking this critical challenge, researchers have proposed various near-data processing architectures in the form of in-network and near-memory computing to move computation closer to data. In this talk, first, I introduce a technique that leverages the potentials of in-network processing for efficient power-management of network-connected computers. Then I present Memory Channel Network (MCN), a memory module based, near-memory processing architecture that seamlessly unifies near-memory processing with distributed computing for the acceleration of data-intensive applications.
Biography: Mohammad Alian is a Ph.D. candidate at the Electrical and Computer Engineering Department of the University of Illinois Urbana Champaign. His research is at the intersection of computer architecture and networking where he proposed several cross-stack, near-memory, and in-network computing architectures. His work has been published in top computer architecture and systems venues and recognized by several best paper candidacies and one honorable mention in IEEE MICRO Top Picks 2017. Mohammad holds an M.Sc. degree in computer engineering from the University of Wisconsin-Madison.
Host: Professor Murali Annavaram
Location: Hughes Aircraft Electrical Engineering Center (EEB) - 248
Audiences: Everyone Is Invited
Contact: Mayumi Thrasher
-
CS Colloquium: Kaiyu Hang (Yale University) - Robotic Manipulation – From Representations to Actions
Tue, Mar 03, 2020 @ 11:00 AM - 12:00 PM
Thomas Lord Department of Computer Science
Conferences, Lectures, & Seminars
Speaker: Kaiyu Hang, Yale University
Talk Title: Robotic Manipulation -“ From Representations to Actions
Series: CS Colloquium
Abstract: Dexterous manipulation is a challenging and integral task involving a number of subproblems to be addressed, such as perception, planning, and control. Problem representation, which is an essential element in a system that defines what is actually the problem to be considered, determines both the capability of a system and the feasibility of applying such a system in real tasks.
In this talk, I will introduce how good representations can convert difficult problems into easier ones. In particular, I first discuss the development of representations for grasp optimization, as well as how a good representation can simplify and unify the whole grasping system, including globally optimal grasp planning, sensing, adaptation, and control. By expanding or varying this representation in terms of problem scenarios, I further show how it can greatly facilitate solving other problems, such as grasp-aware motion planning, optimal placement planning, and even dual-arm manipulation. Second, I will introduce our work on underactuated manipulation using soft robotic hands. For underactuated hands without any joint encoders or tactile sensors, I present our representations that can enable a robot to interact with tabletop objects using nonprehensile manipulation to finally grasp it, and show how to register the object into its own hand-object system once grasped, so as to eventually provide precise and dexterous in-hand manipulation. Finally, I discuss how to develop representations for optimizing robot fingertip designs, especially for simple grippers with limited grasping skills. By installing those optimized fingertip designs onto drones, I further show that those optimized designs can enable the drones to perch or rest at various structures, achieving significant improvement in energy consumption.
This lecture satisfies requirements for CSCI 591: Research Colloquium
Biography: Kaiyu Hang is a postdoctoral associate working with Prof. Aaron M. Dollar at the GRAB lab, Yale University. He received his Ph.D. in Computer Science, specialized in Robotics and Computer Vision, under the supervision of Prof. Danica Kragic from KTH Royal Institute of Technology, Stockholm, Sweden. Before joining the GRAB lab, he was a research assistant professor at the Department of Computer Science and Engineering, and a Junior Fellow of the Institute for Advanced Study, Hong Kong University of Science and Technology. His research interests include representations and optimization for robotic manipulation, motion planning, adaptive grasping and in-hand manipulation, underactuated robotic hands, dual arm manipulation, and mobile manipulation.
Host: Joseph Lim
Location: Olin Hall of Engineering (OHE) - 132
Audiences: Everyone Is Invited
Contact: Assistant to CS chair
-
***CANCELLED*** ISE 651 - Epstein Seminar
Tue, Mar 03, 2020 @ 03:30 PM - 04:50 PM
Daniel J. Epstein Department of Industrial and Systems Engineering
Conferences, Lectures, & Seminars
Speaker: Dr. Siqian Shen, Associate Professor, Dept. of Industrial and Operations Engineering - University of Michigan
Talk Title: Stochastic and Distributionally Robust Optimization Approaches for Improving Shared-Mobility System Design and Operations
Host: Prof. Suvrajeet Sen
More Information: March 3, 2020.pdf
Location: Ethel Percy Andrus Gerontology Center (GER) - 206
Audiences: Everyone Is Invited
Contact: Grace Owh
-
Medical Imaging Seminar
Tue, Mar 03, 2020 @ 03:30 PM - 04:30 PM
Ming Hsieh Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering
Conferences, Lectures, & Seminars
Speaker: Christian Pichot, Université Côte d'Azur, CNRS, LEAT, SophiaTech Campus
Talk Title: Microwave Tomographic Imaging of Brain Strokes
Series: Medical Imaging Seminar Series
Abstract: Brain strokes are one of the leading causes of disability and mortality in adults in developed countries. Ischemic stroke (85% of total cases) and hemorrhagic stroke (15%) must be treated with opposing therapies, and thus, the nature of the stroke must be determined quickly in order to apply the appropriate treatment. Recent studies in biomedical imaging have shown that strokes produce variations in the complex electric permittivity of brain tissues, which can be detected by means of microwave tomography. Here, we present some synthetic results obtained with an experimental microwave tomography-based portable system for demonstrating the feasibility of such a new imaging modality for the early detection and monitoring of brain strokes. The determination of electric permittivity requires the solution of a coupled forward-inverse problem. Iterative microwave tomographic imaging requires the solution of an inverse problem based on a minimization algorithm (e.g. gradient based) with successive solutions of a direct problem such as the accurate modeling of a whole-microwave measurement system. Synthetic data are obtained with electromagnetic simulations, which have been derived from measurements of an experimental microwave imaging system developed by EMTensor GmbH (Vienna, Austria). Results demonstrate the possibility to detect brain strokes, as well as for monitoring during the treatment, with a microwave system with reasonable running times for image reconstructions when applying the proposed reconstruction algorithm using state-of-the-art numerical modeling and massively parallel computing.
Biography: Christian Pichot is currently a Researcher Emeritus at the French National Center for Scientific Research (CNRS), at the Electronics, Antennas & Telecommunications Laboratory (LEAT), a joint Université Côte d'Azur and CNRS laboratory, 06900 Sophia Antipolis, France.He received the Ph.D. and the Doctor of Science (D.Sc.) degrees from the University of Paris-Sud 11 in 1977 and 1982, respectively.
From 2000 to 2011, he was the Director of the LEAT. From 2008 to 2013, he was the co-founder and co-director of CREMANT, a joint Antenna Research Center, supported by the University of Nice-Sophia Antipolis, CNRS and France Telecom Orange Labs. He received in 1983 the European Microwave Prize. He is an IEEE Fellow for "Contributions to Microwave Imaging and Antenna Design". He received the Medal of Honor of CNRS in 2018, and the Academy of Sciences URSI-France Medal in 2019.
His research activities are concerned with scattering and propagation of Electromagnetic Waves,radiation of antennas, inverse scattering (Microwave Imaging and Tomography, AntennaSynthesis, Complex Permittivity Reconstruction, Object Detection and Recognition) for applications in Radar, Civil engineering, non-destructive evaluation (NDE), non-destructive testing (NDT), geophysics engineering, security and military applications, antennas, telecommunications, and medical domain (biomedical engineering), VLF/LF frequencies, microwaves and millimetre waves.
Host: Krishna Nayak, knayak@usc.edu
Location: Hughes Aircraft Electrical Engineering Center (EEB) - 132
Audiences: Everyone Is Invited
Contact: Talyia White
-
CS Distinguished Lecture: Oren Etzioni (Allen Institute for AI) - Artificial Intelligence and the Future of Humanity
Tue, Mar 03, 2020 @ 04:00 PM - 05:20 PM
Thomas Lord Department of Computer Science
Conferences, Lectures, & Seminars
Speaker: Oren Etzioni, Allen Institute for AI
Talk Title: Artificial Intelligence and the Future of Humanity
Series: Computer Science Distinguished Lecture Series
Abstract: Could we wake up one morning to find that AI is poised to take over the world? Is AI the technology of unfairness and bias?
My talk will assess these concerns, and sketch a more optimistic view.
We will have ample warning before the emergence of superintelligence, and in the meantime we have the opportunity to create
Beneficial AI:
• AI that mitigates bias rather than amplifying it
• AI that saves lives rather than taking them
• AI that helps us to solve humanity's thorniest problems
My talk builds on work at the Allen Institute for AI, a non-profit research institute based in Seattle.
This lecture satisfies requirements for CSCI 591: Research Colloquium.
Biography: Oren Etzioni launched the Allen Institute for AI, and has served as its CEO since 2014.
He has been a Professor at the University of Washington's Computer Science department since 1991, publishing papers that have garnered over 2,300 highly influential citations on Semantic Scholar.
He is also the founder of several startups including Farecast (acquired by Microsoft in 2008).
Host: Craig Knoblock and Xiang Ren
Location: Henry Salvatori Computer Science Center (SAL) - 101
Audiences: Everyone Is Invited
Contact: Computer Science Department
-
Spotlight Panel- Civil & Environmental Engineering
Tue, Mar 03, 2020 @ 07:00 PM - 08:00 PM
Viterbi School of Engineering Career Connections
Workshops & Infosessions
The Viterbi Alumni & Industry Spotlight Series is your opportunity to hear directly from USC alumni and industry professionals from all engineering disciplines. Learn more about a potential career, meet alumni in your field, and come have free dinner on us!
Civil & Environmental Engineering Alumni & Industry PanelLocation: Ronald Tutor Hall of Engineering (RTH) - 211
Audiences: All Viterbi Undergraduate Students
Contact: RTH 218 Viterbi Career Connections
-
CS Colloquium: Peng Qi (Stanford University) - Explainable and Efficient Knowledge Acquisition from Text
Wed, Mar 04, 2020 @ 11:00 AM - 12:00 PM
Thomas Lord Department of Computer Science
Conferences, Lectures, & Seminars
Speaker: Peng Qi, Stanford University
Talk Title: Explainable and Efficient Knowledge Acquisition from Text
Series: CS Colloquium
Abstract: Human languages have served as the media for our knowledge over generations. With the rise of the digital world, making use of the knowledge that is encoded in text has become unprecedentedly important yet challenging. In recent years, the NLP community has made great progress towards operationalizing textual knowledge by building accurate systems that answer factoid questions. However, largely relying on matching local text patterns, these systems fall short at their ability to perform complex reasoning, which limits our effective use of textual knowledge. To address this problem, I will first talk about two distinct approaches to enable NLP systems to perform multi-step reasoning that is explainable to humans, through extracting facts from natural language and answering multi-step questions directly from text. I will then demonstrate that beyond static question answering with factoids, true informativeness of answers stems from communication. To this end, I will show how we lay the foundation for reasoning about latent information needs in conversations to effectively exchange information beyond providing factoid answers.
This lecture satisfies requirements for CSCI 591: Research Colloquium
Biography: Peng Qi is a Computer Science PhD student at Stanford University. His research interests revolve around building natural language processing systems that better bridge between humans and the large amount of textual information we are engulfed in. He is excited about building scalable and explainable AI systems, and has worked on extracting knowledge representations from text, question answering involving complex reasoning, and multi-lingual NLP.
Host: Xiang Ren
Location: Ronald Tutor Hall of Engineering (RTH) - 109
Audiences: Everyone Is Invited
Contact: Assistant to CS chair
-
Center for Cyber-Physical Systems and Internet of Things and Ming Hsieh Institute Seminar
Wed, Mar 04, 2020 @ 02:00 PM - 03:00 PM
Ming Hsieh Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering
Conferences, Lectures, & Seminars
Speaker: Jonathan Sprinkle, University of Arizona
Talk Title: Cyber-Physical Systems for Vehicle-in-the-Flow Traffic Flow Control
Series: Center for Cyber-Physical Systems and Internet of Things
Abstract: This talk describes previous and ongoing research in traffic flow control that involve the University of Arizona CAT Vehicle Testbed. The focus of the research is real-time control of vehicle velocity in order to effect the velocity of other vehicles in the flow. Research and results are told through the lens of several physical validation experiments. The first experiment explores how to dampen emerging waves in traffic that are due to congestive effects. This experiment grew out of theory of how traffic flow could be improved through sparse velocity control (e.g., ~5% of the vehicles) in the flow. The second experiment examines an analogous case, where 100% of the vehicles are controlled, though this time using off-the-shelf (rather than customized) cruise control algorithms. The talk will examine the hypotheses, methods, and results of these experiments, and explore the theory and motivation for the research as a means to provide insights into the obtained results. The research was sponsored by the National Science Foundation under award CNS-1446435, the Department of Energy through contract DE-EE0008872, and is collaborative work with Benedetto Piccoli, Benjamin Seibold, Dan Work, and Alexandre Bayen.
Biography: Dr. Jonathan Sprinkle is the Litton Industries John M. Leonis Distinguished Associate Professor of Electrical and Computer Engineering at the University of Arizona. In 2013 he received the NSF CAREER award, and in 2009, he received the UA's Ed and Joan Biggers Faculty Support Grant for work in autonomous systems. His work has an emphasis for industry impact, and he was recognized with the UA "Catapult Award" by Tech Launch Arizona in 2014, and in 2012 his team won the NSF I-Corps Best Team award. From 2017-2019 he served as a Program Director at the National Science Foundation in the division of Computer and Networked Systems. His research interests and experience are in cyber-physical systems control and engineering, and he teaches courses ranging from systems modeling and control to mobile application development and software engineering.
Host: Paul Bogdan, pbogdan@usc.edu
Location: Hughes Aircraft Electrical Engineering Center (EEB) - 132
Audiences: Everyone Is Invited
Contact: Talyia White
-
AME Seminar
Wed, Mar 04, 2020 @ 03:30 PM - 04:30 PM
Aerospace and Mechanical Engineering
Conferences, Lectures, & Seminars
Speaker: Greg Ver Steeg, USC
Talk Title: Challenges and Opportunities for Accelerating Scientific Discovery with Deep Learning
Abstract: The successes of neural networks in computer vision and natural language processing have not easily translated into breakthroughs in other scientific domains. I will discuss some of the principles behind learning representations of data with deep learning and how we have adapted these ideas to study problems like gene expression, neuroimaging, and clinical health records. I will conclude with a speculative discussion about whether these methods can benefit domains that traditionally rely on large-scale numerical simulations like computational fluid dynamics.
Biography: Dr. Greg Ver Steeg is a Research Lead at ISI and Research Associate Professor in USCs CS department. He has slowly transitioned from PhD research at Caltech on detecting quantum entanglement to his current work on detecting hidden variables in more diverse domains using information theory and machine learning. His work has been recognized with an AFOSR Young Investigator Award and an Amazon Research Award.
Host: AME Department
More Info: https://ame.usc.edu/seminars/
Location: James H. Zumberge Hall Of Science (ZHS) - 159
Audiences: Everyone Is Invited
Contact: Tessa Yao
Event Link: https://ame.usc.edu/seminars/
-
CS Colloquium: Emma Pierson (Stanford) - Data Science Methods to Reduce Inequality and Improve Healthcare
Thu, Mar 05, 2020 @ 11:00 AM - 12:00 PM
Thomas Lord Department of Computer Science
Conferences, Lectures, & Seminars
Speaker: Emma Pierson, Stanford University
Talk Title: Data Science Methods to Reduce Inequality and Improve Healthcare
Series: CS Colloquium
Abstract: I will describe how to use data science methods to understand and reduce inequality in two domains: criminal justice and healthcare. First, I will discuss how to use Bayesian modeling to detect racial discrimination in policing. Second, I will describe how to use machine learning to explain racial and socioeconomic inequality in pain.
This lecture satisfies requirements for CSCI 591: Research Colloquium
Biography: Emma Pierson is a PhD student in Computer Science at Stanford, supported by Hertz and NDSEG Fellowships. Previously, she completed a master's degree in statistics at Oxford on a Rhodes Scholarship. She develops statistical and machine learning methods to study two deeply entwined problems: reducing inequality and improving healthcare. She also writes about these topics for broader audiences in publications including The New York Times, The Washington Post, FiveThirtyEight, and Wired. Her work has been recognized by best paper (AISTATS 2018), best poster (ICML Workshop on Computational Biology), and best talk (ISMB High Throughput Sequencing Workshop) awards, and she has been named a Rising Star in EECS and Forbes 30 Under 30 in Science.
Host: Bistra Dilkina
Location: Olin Hall of Engineering (OHE) - 132
Audiences: Everyone Is Invited
Contact: Assistant to CS chair
-
Xiaonan Hui - ECE-EP Seminar, Thursday, March 5th at 11am in EEB 248
Thu, Mar 05, 2020 @ 11:00 AM - 12:30 PM
Ming Hsieh Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering
Conferences, Lectures, & Seminars
Speaker: Xiaonan Hui, Cornell University
Talk Title: Harmonic RF sensing from indoor localization to vital signs monitoring
Abstract: When wireless is perfectly applied, the whole earth will be converted into a huge brain, which in fact it is all things being particles of a real and rhythmic whole." For almost a century, electrical engineers are endeavoring to approach what Nikola Tesla predicted in 1926 for a "World Wireless System". However, as of today, many hurdles remain when we think of all things connected rhythmically with interaction and links between the cyber and the physical worlds, because sensing of the "things", especially "living things", is still heavily constrained. The location and shape of objects, as well as the vital signs of people and animals are critical information to the overall systems. In this talk, I will first highlight our solutions of highly reliable and accurate indoor RF ranging, localization and imaging. The demonstrated radio frequency (RF) localization method bypasses the Uncertainty-Principle mathematical model commonly seen in the radar-like system, so that the high temporal (kHz) and spatial (microns) resolutions can be achieved simultaneously with ~915 MHz signals which have deep penetration to many dielectrics of interests such as building materials and living tissues. Vital-sign monitoring is the second part of the talk, including the heartbeat dynamics, respiration, and blood pressures of both central and pulmonary circulations, with the new near-field coherent sensing (NCS) approach, which not only provides unparalleled RF vital-sign signal quality and sensing capability, but also does not require skin touch or motion restraint to greatly improve the applicability to people and animals. The systems in this talk can be implemented in the applications of high precision indoor locating, assisted living, RF bio-tomography, biometrics for security, wearable sensors, and clinical researches. The talk will include the supporting RF theory, the design methods and the hardware/software experimental system, but its content will be aimed for the general audience in engineering.
Biography: Xiaonan Hui is a Ph.D. candidate in the School of Electrical and Computer Engineering at Cornell University. He works with Prof. Edwin Kan and focuses on radio-frequency systems for Cyber Physical System (CPS) and Internet of Things (IoT) applications. His recent works on vital-sign acquisition for people as well as animals were published on high-impact journals and conferences, attracting not only more than 30 news agencies, but also generating broad industrial interests for automotive, medical, pharmaceutical, and digital agricultural applications. Moreover, his high-precision indoor localization works provide an innovative method for IoT tracking, robotic localization, and civil structure integrity monitoring. He is the principal investigator of Cornell Scale-up and Prototype Grants, the winner of Cornell ECE Outstanding Ph.D. Thesis Research Award, and other 3 fellowships. He also serves as the reviewer for Springer Nature, IEEE journals and conferences in the areas of electromagnetic systems, vital-sign sensing and wireless communications. More of his academic information can be found in his website: www.xiaonanhui.com
Host: ECE-Electrophysics
Location: Hughes Aircraft Electrical Engineering Center (EEB) - 248
Audiences: Everyone Is Invited
Contact: Marilyn Poplawski
-
Center for Cyber-Physical Systems and Internet of Things and Ming Hsieh Institute Seminar
Thu, Mar 05, 2020 @ 02:00 PM - 03:00 PM
Ming Hsieh Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering
Conferences, Lectures, & Seminars
Speaker: Frederic Sala, Stanford Computer Science Department
Talk Title: Structure to the Rescue: Breaking Data Barriers in Machine Lear
Series: Center for Cyber-Physical Systems and Internet of Things
Abstract: The current machine learning zeitgeist is that models are only as good as the data they are fed, so that limitations in the data---and especially mismatches with the ML algorithm---present fundamental barriers to model performance. However, for ML to continue its growth and be safely and widely deployed across domains with significant societal impact, such limitations must be minimized. In this talk, I will describe two ways to exploit structure in data to overcome apparent obstacles, with theoretical guarantees.
First, I will argue that geometry is a barrier to producing quality representations used by models. The root cause is a mismatch between the geometric structure of the data and the geometry of the model---but the issue can be resolved by adopting matching non-Euclidean geometries, relying on, for example, hyperbolic geometry for hierarchical data. Next, motivated by the fact that labeling large datasets is a major bottleneck in supervised learning, I will discuss a weak supervision framework for automating the process of labeling, overcoming the lack of hand-labeled data. This is done by encapsulating different aspects of manual labeling into heuristics whose structure is characterized by learnable accuracies and correlations. I will describe extensions of this framework to handle multitask, time-series, and other forms of structured data. This framework is widely used in industry, helping drive applications used by millions daily.
Biography: Frederic Sala is a postdoctoral scholar in the Stanford Computer Science Department, advised by Chris Ré. His research interests include machine learning, data-driven systems, and information and coding theory, and in particular problems related to the analysis and design of algorithms that operate on diverse and challenging forms of data. He received the Ph.D. and M.S. degrees in Electrical Engineering from UCLA, where he received the Distinguished Ph.D. Dissertation in Signals & Systems Award from the UCLA Electrical Engineering Department, the NSF graduate fellowship, and the Edward K. Rice Outstanding Master's Student Award.
Host: Paul Bogdan, pbogdan@usc.edu
Location: Hughes Aircraft Electrical Engineering Center (EEB) - 248
Audiences: Everyone Is Invited
Contact: Talyia White
-
ECE Seminar: Collaborative Perception and Learning Between Robots and the Cloud
Thu, Mar 05, 2020 @ 02:15 PM - 03:15 PM
Ming Hsieh Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering
Conferences, Lectures, & Seminars
Speaker: Sandeep Chinchali, PhD Candidate, Dept of CS, Stanford University
Talk Title: Collaborative Perception and Learning Between Robots and the Cloud
Abstract: Augmenting robotic intelligence with cloud connectivity is considered one of the most promising solutions to cope with growing volumes of rich robotic sensory data and increasingly complex perception and decision-making tasks. While the benefits of cloud robotics have been envisioned long before, there is still a lack of flexible methods to trade-off the benefits of cloud computing with end-to-end systems costs of network delay, cloud storage, human annotation time, and cloud-computing time. To address this need, I will introduce decision-theoretic algorithms that allow robots to significantly transcend their on-board perception capabilities by using cloud computing, but in a low-cost, fault-tolerant manner.
Specifically, for compute-and-power-limited robots, I will present a lightweight model selection algorithm that learns when a robot should exploit low-latency on-board computation, or, when highly uncertain, query a more accurate cloud model. Then, I will present a collaborative learning algorithm that allows a diversity of robots to mine their real-time sensory streams for valuable training examples to send to the cloud for model improvement. The utility of these algorithms will be demonstrated on months of field data and experiments on state-of-the-art embedded deep learning hardware. I will conclude this talk by outlining a number of future research directions on the systems and theoretical aspects of networked system control, some of which extend beyond cloud robotics.
Biography: Sandeep Chinchali is a computer science PhD candidate at Stanford, advised by Sachin Katti and Marco Pavone. Previously, he was the first principal data scientist at Uhana, a Stanford startup working on data-driven optimization of cellular networks, now acquired by VMWare. His research on networked control has led to proof-of-concept trials with major cellular network operators and was a finalist for best student paper at Robotics: Science and Systems 2019. Prior to Stanford, he graduated from Caltech, where he worked on robotics at NASA's Jet Propulsion Lab (JPL). He is a recipient of the Stanford Graduate Fellowship and National Science Foundation (NSF) fellowships.
Host: Host: Professor Konstantinos Psounis
Location: Michelson Center for Convergent Bioscience (MCB) - 102
Audiences: Everyone Is Invited
Contact: Mayumi Thrasher
-
Sonny Astani Civil and Environmental Engineering Seminar
Thu, Mar 05, 2020 @ 04:00 PM - 05:00 PM
Sonny Astani Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering
Conferences, Lectures, & Seminars
Speaker: Dr. Francesca Boso, Stanford University
Talk Title: Data and probabilistic forecasting in environmental applications
Abstract: Mathematical models expressing conservation of certain quantities (e.g. mass) are ubiquitous in the environmental sciences. A common challenge is often the lack of enough observations to inform these models, either because data collection is costly or impractical/impossible at the required level of spatial and temporal refinement. We propose a computational tool to treat the parametric uncertainty of these models, leveraging the inherent physical constraints, and combining them with data. Specifically, we quantify the impact of parametric uncertainty by deriving model-dependent deterministic equations for the probability distribution (Probability Density Function, PDF, or Cumulative Distribution Function, CDF) of the model solution. These equations can be derived in exact form for a class of nonlinear hyperbolic governing laws (e.g. advection-dominated transport in heterogeneous flows), whereas in general they require the development of ad-hoc closures. I will be presenting an overview of strategies to obtain workable PDF-CDF equations for specific conservation problems, and some recent work on how to combine them with available data to eventually reduce uncertainty.
Biography: Francesca is a senior research scientist in the Energy Resources Engineering Department at Stanford University, following her postdoc at the University of California, San Diego. She received her PhD in Environmental Engineering from the University of Trento, Italy, specializing in hydrology. She has been investigating uncertainty quantification for environmental applications.
Host: Dr. Felipe de Barros
Location: Michelson Center for Convergent Bioscience (MCB) - 102
Audiences: Everyone Is Invited
Contact: Evangeline Reyes
-
Careers in Patent Law - Information Session
Thu, Mar 05, 2020 @ 04:00 PM - 05:00 PM
Viterbi School of Engineering Career Connections
Workshops & Infosessions
If you have (or will soon have) a degree in engineering, computer sciences, or the hard sciences (chemistry, biology, physics and related disciplines), you can take the Patent Office's Registration Exam to become a Patent Agent. Patent Agents can make up to $20,000 a year more than similarly situated engineers and scientists. The Exam is available virtually on-demand via computer. Becoming a patent agent can also be a step toward the even more lucrative career of becoming a Patent Attorney.
If this sounds intriguing, come join Practising Law Institute (PLI) for a presentation by Mark Dighton, PLI's Director of Law School Relations and a Director of their Patent Office Exam Course. Topics for discussion include:
- Careers for patent agents (what the work is like and where you find it),
- The qualities and skills that will make you happy and successful in this field (e.g., communication skills), and
- The latest info on the Patent Office's Registration Exam (who can take it, how it works, and recommendations on how to study for this very difficult Exam).
Date: Thursday, March 5th
Time: 4pm
Location: EEB 132
Please visit us on the Web for a wealth of information on the resources we offer:
www.PatentOfficeExamCourse.com www.pli.eduLocation: Hughes Aircraft Electrical Engineering Center (EEB) - 132
Audiences: Everyone Is Invited
Contact: RTH 218 Viterbi Career Connections
-
Boeing Freshman Design Challenge
Thu, Mar 05, 2020 @ 05:00 PM - 09:00 PM
Viterbi School of Engineering Career Connections
Workshops & Infosessions
Hands-on design challenge for Freshman only. Contest will be judged by Boeing representatives and offer prizes to top participants.
Familiarize USC freshman with The Boeing Company, its products and values, and its recruitment schedule. Get questions answered by Boeing representatives during an extensive Q&A and foster excitement about a degree/career in engineering through a technical challenge.
Target audience: freshman engineers only
Majors: all engineering majorsLocation: Seeley G. Mudd Building (SGM) - 101
Audiences: Viterbi Freshmen and Sophomores
Contact: RTH 218 Viterbi Career Connections
-
Medical Imaging Seminar
Fri, Mar 06, 2020 @ 10:00 AM - 11:00 AM
Ming Hsieh Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering
Conferences, Lectures, & Seminars
Speaker: Rudolf Stollberger, Graz University of Technology, Institute of Medical Engineering
Talk Title: Variational Reconstruction of Highly Undersampled 3D Multiple Frame Acquisitions
Series: Medical Imaging Seminar Series
Abstract: Time dependent or quantitative multiple frame acquisitions are particular well suited for the combination of accelerated acquisition and sophisticated iterative reconstruction techniques with spatial-temporal regularization or model based approaches. In this presentation the potential of variational reconstruction for dynamic MRI, for ASL and for model based quantification is explored. Although the applications are quite different, some basic principles are common to all.
For dynamic data iterative reconstruction with infimal convolution of total generalized variation (ICTGV) functionals has shown to allow temporal resolution below 1s for 3D measurements with 40 slices (3202) with excellent suppression of sub-sampling artifacts. This approach will be compared with a variational network for dynamic multi-coil cardiac data. Another example exists for accelerated time encoded CAIPIRINHA ASL data. For this application, the whole brain can be acquired within a single shot which increases the robustness against motion compared to standard segmented acquisition. A third application area consists in quantitative MRI. Model based reconstruction allow the determination of 3D isotropic T1 maps (1mm3) with an acquisition time of 1.8-“1.1 s/slice for the variable flip angle method (VFA). The variational techniques can process 4D array coil data, which is still a challenge for DL-based approaches. Reconstruction times start at about 4 minutes for 4D-ASL data and are somewhat longer for dynamic MRI, but can be many times longer for model-based reconstruction of 4D qMRI data with a nonlinear signal model like VFA.
Host: Krishna Nayak, knayak@usc.edu
Location: Hughes Aircraft Electrical Engineering Center (EEB) - 132
Audiences: Everyone Is Invited
Contact: Talyia White
-
Grammar Tutoring
Fri, Mar 06, 2020 @ 10:00 AM - 12:00 PM
Viterbi School of Engineering Student Affairs
Workshops & Infosessions
INDIVIDUAL GRAMMAR TUTORIALS
Need help refining your grammar skills in your academic and professional writing? Meet one-on-one with professors from the Engineering Writing Program, work together on your grammar skills, and take your writing to the next level!
ALL VITERBI UNDERGRADUATE AND GRADUATE STUDENTS WELCOME!
Sign up here: http://bit.ly/grammaratUSC
All sessions will be via Zoom.
Questions? Contact helenhch@usc.eduLocation: ZOOM
Audiences: Graduate and Undergraduate Students
Contact: Helen Choi
-
MESA College and Career Day
Sat, Mar 07, 2020 @ 09:00 AM - 01:00 PM
Viterbi School of Engineering K-12 STEM Center
Receptions & Special Events
Enrolled students in the USC MESA program at partner middle and high schools will work on exciting team-based projects. These projects culminate in the annual MESA Day competitions hosted at the local, regional, and state levels.
MESA students will:
-Apply mathematics, science, and engineering principles to academic contests, and over time, develop their mastery of these academic skills.
-Build self-esteem and confidence through preparation, participation, and access to relevant real-world STEM challenges.
-Be part of the maker and creator movement that encourages problem-solving in a framework fostering creativity, critical thinking, collaboration, and communication skills.
Audiences: Middle and high school students
Contact: Darin Gray/Viterbi K-12 STEM Center
-
Viterbi's Day of Service
Sat, Mar 07, 2020 @ 09:00 AM - 02:00 PM
Viterbi School of Engineering Alumni
Student Activity
We would like to invite all of our Viterbi family to join us at Viterbi Day of Service on Saturday, March 7, 2020. Last Fall, we had 63 volunteers which consisted of students, faculty, and staff. By joining Viterbi Day of Service, you will be able to volunteer for a service project arranged by USCs Friends and Neighbors Day. We hope you will join to help make a difference in our local communities.
For more information on project descriptions, please visit: https://campusactivities.usc.edu/volunteer/register/.
To sign-up for a project, register here: https://usccampusactivities.wufoo.com/forms/qb8f9s6141lovj/.
After registering, volunteers receive a confirmation email 2-5 days before, with details about their placement, check-in time, and location. Times vary for different projects, so please read your confirmation email.
Viterbi Day of Service is sponsored by the Undergraduate Programs and Women in Engineering Office and the Viterbi Impact Program (VIP). VIP participants play a vital role in the community as they work as partners with local schools and organizations. VIP volunteers are undergraduate engineering students committed to a semester or more of volunteering.
We hope you will join us in making this Day of Service a long-standing tradition at Viterbi.
If you have any questions please contact Myra Fernandez, Associate Director of Undergraduate Programs and Women in Engineering, Viterbi Admission and Student Engagement at, myrafern@usc.edu.
Location: Ronald Tutor Campus Center (TCC) -
Audiences: Everyone Is Invited
Contact: Kristy Ly
-
SHINE DAY
Sat, Mar 07, 2020 @ 12:00 PM - 02:00 PM
Viterbi School of Engineering K-12 STEM Center
Workshops & Infosessions
SHINE DAY is open to program alumni and people interested in learning more about the USC Viterbi Summer High School Intensive in Next-Generation Engineering (SHINE) program, hosted by the Viterbi K-12 STEM Center. SHINE is designed for high-achieving, college-bound high school students. Selected students participate in research labs alongside world-renowned USC faculty and Ph.D. students.
Schedule:
2019 SHINE Poster Session, 12:00-1:00 pm: 2019 SHINE alumni present research from their time in the 2019 SHINE program. Open to the public.
2020 Intro Session, 1:00-2:00 pm: SHINE applicants and prospective families gather for some refreshments and an introduction to SHINE.
Before the event, USC Viterbi K-12 STEM Center is hosting a private SHINE alumni reunion brunch from 10:30-11:45 am (for SHINE alumni and families only). Alumni, please RSVP if you can attend.
To learn more about SHINE, visit: https://viterbik12.usc.edu/shine/
To RSVP, please fill out the SHINE DAY RSVP form.
For questions about SHINE or SHINE DAY, email k12stem1@usc.eduLocation: Ronald Tutor Hall of Engineering (RTH) - 526
Audiences: Everyone Is Invited
Contact: Dr. Katie Mills
