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Events for the 5th week of March

  • Hack IoT

    Hack IoT

    Sun, Mar 24, 2019 @ 12:00 AM - 02:00 PM

    Viterbi School of Engineering Student Organizations

    Workshops & Infosessions


    Hack IoT is back for a second year! We will continue to provide hackers with the tools and hardware free of charge to create innovative projects of your own, as well as great workshops to build your knowledge. For 24 hours you will come together with your team to build a great project based around the Internet of Things and the first three places will receive great prizes. Apply now through our google form and check our website for more information: hack-iot.org.

    Location: Frank L. King Olympic Hall Of Champions (KOH) - King Hall

    Audiences: Everyone Is Invited

    Contact: Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers

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  • Repeating EventMeet USC: Admission Presentation, Campus Tour, and Engineering Talk

    Mon, Mar 25, 2019

    Viterbi School of Engineering Undergraduate Admission

    Workshops & Infosessions


    This half day program is designed for prospective freshmen (HS juniors and younger) and family members. Meet USC includes an information session on the University and the Admission process, a student led walking tour of campus, and a meeting with us in the Viterbi School. During the engineering session we will discuss the curriculum, research opportunities, hands-on projects, entrepreneurial support programs, and other aspects of the engineering school. Meet USC is designed to answer all of your questions about USC, the application process, and financial aid.

    Reservations are required for Meet USC. This program occurs twice, once at 8:30 a.m. and again at 12:30 p.m.

    Please make sure to check availability and register online for the session you wish to attend. Also, remember to list an Engineering major as your "intended major" on the webform!

    RSVP

    Location: Ronald Tutor Campus Center (TCC) - USC Admission Office

    Audiences: Everyone Is Invited

    View All Dates

    Contact: Viterbi Admission

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  • Embracing Inclusion in Faculty Hiring and Retention

    Mon, Mar 25, 2019 @ 11:00 AM - 01:30 PM

    Viterbi School of Engineering Student Affairs

    University Calendar


    The Campus Climate Committee of the Academic Senate invites you to a presentation and lunch with Lori Nishiura Mackenzie, Executive Director of The Clayman Institute for Gender Research at Stanford University.

    Ms. Mackenzie will be presenting a talk on Embracing Inclusion in Faculty Hiring and Retention and sharing case studies and practical tips for hiring committees.

    As space is limited, please RSVP by Wednesday, March 20: https://events.usc.edu/esvp/ (enter code: cccspring19).

    Lunch will be served.

    Location: The Vineyard Room

    Audiences: Faculty and Staff

    Contact: Helen Choi

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  • CS Colloquium: Anand Iyer (University of California, Berkeley) - Scalable Systems for Large-Scale Dynamic Connected Data Processing

    Mon, Mar 25, 2019 @ 11:00 AM - 12:00 PM

    Thomas Lord Department of Computer Science

    Conferences, Lectures, & Seminars


    Speaker: Anand Iyer, University of California, Berkeley

    Talk Title: Scalable Systems for Large-Scale Dynamic Connected Data Processing

    Series: CS Colloquium

    Abstract: As the proliferation of sensors rapidly make the Internet-of-Things (IoT) a reality, the devices and sensors in this ecosystem-”such as smartphones, video cameras, home automation systems and autonomous vehicles-”constantly map out the real-world producing unprecedented amounts of connected data that captures complex and diverse relations. Unfortunately, existing big data processing and machine learning frameworks are ill-suited for analyzing such dynamic connected data, and face several challenges when employed for this purpose.

    In this talk, I will present my research that focuses on building scalable systems for dynamic connected data processing. I will discuss simple abstractions that make it easy to operate on such data, efficient data structures for state management, and computation models that reduce redundant work. I will also describe how bridging theory and practice with algorithms and techniques that leverage approximation and streaming theory can significantly speed up computations. The systems I have built achieve more than an order of magnitude improvement over the state-of-the-art and are currently under evaluation in the industry for real-world deployments.

    This lecture satisfies requirements for CSCI 591: Research Colloquium.

    Biography: Anand Iyer is a PhD candidate at the University of California, Berkeley advised by Prof. Ion Stoica. His research interest is in systems with a current focus on enabling efficient analysis and machine learning on large-scale dynamic, connected data. He is a recipient of the Best Paper Award at SIGMOD GRADES-NDA 2018 for his work on approximate graph analytics. Before coming to Berkeley, he was a member of the Mobility, Networking and Systems group at Microsoft Research India. He completed his M.S at the University of Texas at Austin.

    Host: Barath Raghavan

    Location: Ronald Tutor Hall of Engineering (RTH) - 115

    Audiences: Everyone Is Invited

    Contact: Assistant to CS chair

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  • ECE Seminar: Specification-Driven Design for Modular and Safe Robotics

    ECE Seminar: Specification-Driven Design for Modular and Safe Robotics

    Mon, Mar 25, 2019 @ 11:00 AM - 12:00 PM

    Ming Hsieh Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering

    Conferences, Lectures, & Seminars


    Speaker: Petter Nilsson, Post-Doctoral Researcher, California Institute of Technology

    Talk Title: Specification-Driven Design for Modular and Safe Robotics

    Abstract: Robotic systems of tomorrow will be increasingly interconnected and operate among us, which implies a two-fold engineering challenge of great complexity and no tolerance for mistakes. This talk will explore specification-driven design methods that enforce or utilize formally written specifications for principled design, modularity, and decision-making.

    The first part will be centered on safety-critical control via invariance: I will show how invariance specifications in the form of assume-guarantee contracts can be leveraged to decompose problems and thus enable modular design, and how certificates for invariance can be used to formally relate low-level dynamics to a high-level abstract roadmap for planning. The second part of the talk will cover specification-guided methods for multi-robot systems, and how problem structure can be leveraged to overcome scalability challenges. The talk will be concluded with a few words about current research topics and directions for the future.

    Biography: Petter Nilsson received his B.S. in Engineering Physics in 2011, and his M.S. in Optimization and Systems Theory in 2013, both from KTH Royal Institute of Technology in Stockholm, Sweden, and his Ph.D. in Electrical Engineering in 2017 from the University of Michigan. In addition to his technical degrees, he holds a B.S. in Business and Economics from the Stockholm School of Economics.

    He is currently a postdoctoral scholar at the California Institute of Technology where he conducts research on specification-driven control and autonomy for safety-critical cyber-physical systems, with applications in autonomous driving, space exploration, and multi-agent coordination.

    Host: Professor Justin Haldar, jhaldar@usc.edu

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

    Audiences: Everyone Is Invited

    Contact: Mayumi Thrasher

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  • Fall 2018 Joint CSC@USC/CommNetS-MHI Seminar Series

    Mon, Mar 25, 2019 @ 02:00 PM - 03:00 PM

    Ming Hsieh Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering

    Conferences, Lectures, & Seminars


    Speaker: Michael Demetriou, Worcester Polytechnic Institute

    Talk Title: Dynamic-data driven real-time estimation of plumes using adaptive sampling

    Abstract: The goals in disaster management, characterized by hazardous plumes in indoor or outdoor environments, are the quickest detection of the disaster presence, its prompt reconstruction and the adaptive evacuation policy. In this talk, a very particular type of disaster is considered, namely the one resulting in hazardous plumes that are harmful to humans, and possibly to equipment. Such plumes are modeled by advection-diffusion partial differential equations with static or mobile sources that release harmful substances to the environment. The goal is to reconstruct the plume in real time, capturing all features of the plume. A model-based state estimator of the plume concentration is proposed and which combines estimation techniques with computational fluid dynamics and smart computing to arrive at real-time implementable plume concentration estimators. Some of the challenges in implementing a real-time state reconstruction scheme are presented. Solutions to these challenges are presented and include the use of mobile sensors to improve spatial resolution, spatial grid switching and refinement/coarsening for computational load reduction, and domain decomposition methods for code parallelization.

    Biography: Michael Demetriou is a Professor of Aerospace Engineering at the Worcester Polytechnic Institute. He received his PhD degree from USC in Electrical Engineering-Systems in 1993. He served as an Associate Editor for the IEEE Transactions on Automatic Control, the ASME Journal of Dynamic Systems, Measurement, and Control, and the SIAM Journal on Control and Optimization. In 2003 he established the IEEE-CSS Technical Committee on Distributed Parameter Systems and he served as his first chair (2003-2012). He currently serves as the Secretary of the SIAM Control and Systems Theory activity group, as a member of the SIAM/SIAG Advisory Committee, and as a member of the SIAG/CST Conference Steering Committee. He is the IEEE/CSS-SIAM/SIAG Liaison and is serving as the SIAM Director in the the American Automatic Control Council (AACC) Board. His current research interests include optimization and control of mobile sensor and actuator networks in spatially distributed systems with applications to intrusion detection and containment.

    Host: Petros A Ioannou, ioannou@usc.edu

    More Info: http://csc.usc.edu/seminars/2019Spring/demetriou.html

    More Information: 190325_Michael Demetriou.pdf

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

    Audiences: Everyone Is Invited

    Contact: Brienne Moore

    Event Link: http://csc.usc.edu/seminars/2019Spring/demetriou.html

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  • CS Colloquium: TBA

    Tue, Mar 26, 2019 @ 11:00 AM - 12:00 PM

    Thomas Lord Department of Computer Science

    Conferences, Lectures, & Seminars


    Speaker: TBA, TBA

    Talk Title: TBA

    Series: CS Colloquium

    Host: Ramesh Govindan

    Location: Olin Hall of Engineering (OHE) - 132

    Audiences: Everyone Is Invited

    Contact: Assistant to CS chair

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  • Epstein Institute Seminar - ISE 651

    Epstein Institute Seminar - ISE 651

    Tue, Mar 26, 2019 @ 03:30 PM - 04:50 PM

    Daniel J. Epstein Department of Industrial and Systems Engineering

    Conferences, Lectures, & Seminars


    Speaker: Dr. Maryam Fazel, Associate Professor, University of Washington

    Talk Title: The Many Faces of Regularization: from Signal Recovery to Online Algorithms

    Host: Dr. Meisam Razaviyayn

    More Information: March 26, 2019_room change.pdf

    Location: Ronald Tutor Hall of Engineering (RTH) - 115

    Audiences: Everyone Is Invited

    Contact: Grace Owh

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  • Special Q&A Session with Albert Dorman

    Tue, Mar 26, 2019 @ 08:00 PM - 09:00 PM

    Sonny Astani Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering

    Conferences, Lectures, & Seminars


    Speaker: Albert Dorman, Founder and Past Chairman of the Board, AECOM Technology Corporation

    Talk Title: Special Q&A Session with Albert Dorman

    Host: Professor Henry Koffman

    Location: Grace Ford Salvatori Hall Of Letters, Arts & Sciences (GFS) - 116

    Audiences: Everyone Is Invited

    Contact: Salina Palacios

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  • Repeating EventMeet USC: Admission Presentation, Campus Tour, and Engineering Talk

    Wed, Mar 27, 2019

    Viterbi School of Engineering Undergraduate Admission

    Workshops & Infosessions


    This half day program is designed for prospective freshmen (HS juniors and younger) and family members. Meet USC includes an information session on the University and the Admission process, a student led walking tour of campus, and a meeting with us in the Viterbi School. During the engineering session we will discuss the curriculum, research opportunities, hands-on projects, entrepreneurial support programs, and other aspects of the engineering school. Meet USC is designed to answer all of your questions about USC, the application process, and financial aid.

    Reservations are required for Meet USC. This program occurs twice, once at 8:30 a.m. and again at 12:30 p.m.

    Please make sure to check availability and register online for the session you wish to attend. Also, remember to list an Engineering major as your "intended major" on the webform!

    RSVP

    Location: Ronald Tutor Campus Center (TCC) - USC Admission Office

    Audiences: Everyone Is Invited

    View All Dates

    Contact: Viterbi Admission

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  • Computer Science General Faculty Meeting

    Wed, Mar 27, 2019 @ 12:00 AM - 12:00 PM

    Thomas Lord Department of Computer Science

    Receptions & Special Events


    Bi-Weekly regular faculty meeting for invited full-time Computer Science faculty only. Event details emailed directly to attendees.

    Location: Ronald Tutor Hall of Engineering (RTH) - 526

    Audiences: Invited Faculty Only

    Contact: Assistant to CS chair

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  • ECE Seminar: Exploiting Terrain Responses for Effective Locomotion in Complex Environments

    ECE Seminar: Exploiting Terrain Responses for Effective Locomotion in Complex Environments

    Wed, Mar 27, 2019 @ 10:30 AM - 11:30 AM

    Ming Hsieh Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering

    Conferences, Lectures, & Seminars


    Speaker: Feifei Qian, Postdoctoral Researcher, GRASP Lab, University of Pennsylvania

    Talk Title: Exploiting Terrain Responses for Effective Locomotion in Complex Environments

    Abstract: Today, robots are expected to take on increasingly important roles in human society. However, state-of-the-art robots still struggle to move on natural terrain, due to the lack of understanding of the interactions between robots and non-flat, non-rigid surfaces. My research aims to generate simplified models and representations of locomotor-terrain interactions, and improve robot mobility in complex environments.

    In this talk, I will demonstrate how I integrate granular physics, bio-inspired robotics, and locomotion biomechanics to create interaction models that can guide design and control of bio-inspired robots to produce effective movement on challenging terrains. First, I will briefly review my previous work of animal and robot locomotion on granular terrain such as sand, debris, and gravel, and discuss how locomotors can manipulate granular responses and achieve effective locomotion on sand through adjustments in morphological parameters or contact strategy. Then I will present my recent work on creating simplified representations of robot interaction with perturbation-rich environments such as cluttered rubble or fallen tree trunks, and discuss how a multi-legged robot can adjust its gait patterns to exploit obstacle disturbances and generate different dynamics from the same physical environment. I will conclude with a vision of how these models and representations can lead to innovative strategies for obstacle-aided locomotion, better understanding of animal gait transition behaviors, and embodied sensing of environment properties.

    Biography: Feifei Qian is currently a postdoctoral researcher in the GRASP lab at University of Pennsylvania. She received her PhD degree in Electrical Engineering from Georgia Tech in 2015. She is interested in understanding interactions between legged robots and complex terrains, and creating solutions for robots to exploit obstacles and disturbances to improve mobility. Her work was awarded the best student paper at Robotics: Science and Systems, and has been covered by media press including BBC, R&D Magazine, Phys.org, and PennCurrent.

    Host: Professor Paul Bogdan, pbogdan@usc.edu

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

    Audiences: Everyone Is Invited

    Contact: Mayumi Thrasher

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  • Mathematical Foundations of Learning from Signals and Data (Math-FLDS)

    Wed, Mar 27, 2019 @ 03:00 PM - 04:00 PM

    Ming Hsieh Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering

    Conferences, Lectures, & Seminars


    Speaker: Alex Cloninger, University of California, San Diego

    Talk Title: Crafting Laplacian Eigenfunctions to the Data Science Task

    Series: MHI

    Abstract: We will discuss two topics related to the importance of selecting particular eigenfunctions of the graph Laplacian. First, we discuss the geometry of Laplacian eigenfunctions on compact manifolds and combinatorial graphs. We will use a notion of similarity between eigenfunctions that allows to reconstruct a dual geometry, which recovers classical duals in particular cases. We will focus on the applications of discovering such a dual geometry, namely in constructing anisotropic graph wavelet packets and anisotropic graph cuts. A second topic will be the relevance of selecting import eigenfunctions for two sample testing, namely kernel Maximum Mean Discrepancy. This creates a more powerful test than the classical MMD while still maintaining sensitivity to common departures. We examine this two-sample testing in several medical examples.

    Biography: Alex Cloninger is an Assistant Professor of Mathematics at UCSD. He received his PhD in Applied Mathematics and Scientific Computation from the University of Maryland in 2014 and was then an NSF Postdoc and Gibbs Assistant Professor of Mathematics at Yale University until 2017, when he joined UCSD. Alex researches problems around the analysis of high dimensional data. He focuses on approaches that model the data as being locally lower dimensional, including data concentrated near manifolds or subspaces. These types of problems arise in a number of scientific disciplines, including imaging, medicine, and artificial intelligence, and the techniques developed relate to a number of machine learning and statistical algorithms, including deep learning, network analysis, and measuring distances between probability distributions

    Host: Mahdi Soltanolkotabi and Paul Bogdan

    More Information: Cloninger, Alex Seminar.pdf

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

    Audiences: Everyone Is Invited

    Contact: Gloria Halfacre

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  • AME Seminar

    Wed, Mar 27, 2019 @ 03:30 PM - 04:30 PM

    Aerospace and Mechanical Engineering

    Conferences, Lectures, & Seminars


    Speaker: Hangbo Zhao, Northwestern University

    Talk Title: Advanced Manufacturing of Unconventional 3D Micro- and Meso-Structures: From Strain-Engineered Growth to Mechanically Guided Assembly

    Abstract: The growing availability of methods for three-dimensional (3D) manufacturing methods has implications across diverse areas ranging from energy systems to microelectronics, yet few techniques offer the necessary capabilities in geometric complexity, materials compatibility and design versatility. In this talk, I will discuss two novel manufacturing approaches to creating 3D functional material systems that are not feasible by conventional manufacturing methods: 1) strain-engineered growth of complex 3D carbon nanotube microarchitectures, and 2) mechanically guided 3D assembly of a broad range of functional materials and electronics. I will show how strain-engineered growth of carbon nanotubes, in combination with conformal coatings, enables direct formation of hierarchically structured surfaces with tailorable mechanical and interfacial properties for controlling liquid wetting and adhesion. Next, I will describe novel manufacturing technologies that exploit structural buckling and local twisting to create morphable 3D mesoscale structures in diverse advanced materials, and show how these can be used to make tunable optical metamaterials. I will also outline a microphysiological platform fabricated by mechanically guide assembly for tissue engineering and biomedical research. I will conclude by discussing new opportunities in designing and manufacturing multifunctional, adaptive material systems.



    Hangbo Zhao is currently a postdoctoral researcher in the Center for Bio-Integrated Electronics in Prof. John Rogers group at Northwestern University, where he works on multifunctional 3D materials systems and bio-integrated electronics for applications in tissue engineering and healthcare. He received his Ph.D. degree in the Department of Mechanical Engineering at MIT in 2017, supervised by Prof. A. John Hart. His Ph.D. thesis focused on developing engineered, hierarchical surfaces for controlling liquid wetting and adhesion. He received his masters degree also in mechanical engineering at MIT in 2014, supervised by Prof. Carl V. Thompson. He received his bachelors degree in precision instruments at Tsinghua University in China in 2011.



    Wednesday, March 27, 2019
    3:30 PM
    Seaver Science Library, Room 150 (SSL 150)
    Refreshments will be served at 3:15 pm.

    Host: AME Department

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

    Location: Seaver Science Library (SSL) - 150

    Audiences: Everyone Is Invited

    Contact: Tessa Yao

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

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  • Spring 2019 ITP Open House

    Spring 2019 ITP Open House

    Thu, Mar 28, 2019 @ 09:30 AM - 11:30 AM

    Technology & Applied Computing Program (TAC)

    Workshops & Infosessions


    All current and prospective students are invited to attend. Learn about our classes, ask questions about our minor programs, and meet our faculty.

    We'll have snacks from Porto's Bakery to enjoy with coffee and tea, and advisers will be available to answer questions about course planning and how to declare minors! Stop by whenever you are able to. No RSVP required.

    More Information: Spring 2019 ITP Open Houses.pdf

    Location: Ronald Tutor Hall of Engineering (RTH) - 526

    Audiences: Everyone Is Invited

    Contact: Tim Gotimer

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  • CS Colloquium: Abe Davis (Stanford University) - Augmenting Imagination: Capturing, Modeling, and Exploring the World Through Video

    Thu, Mar 28, 2019 @ 09:30 AM - 10:30 AM

    Thomas Lord Department of Computer Science

    Conferences, Lectures, & Seminars


    Speaker: Abe Davis, Stanford University

    Talk Title: Augmenting Imagination: Capturing, Modeling, and Exploring the World Through Video

    Series: CS Colloquium

    Abstract: Cameras offer a rich and ubiquitous source of data about the world around us, providing many opportunities to explore new computational approaches to real-world problems. In this talk, I will show how insights from art, science, and engineering can help us connect progress in visual computing with typically non-visual problems in other domains, allowing us to leverage the convenience and power of video to solve new problems. The first section of the talk will focus on visual vibration analysis: I will show how insights from physics can help us extract sound from silent video, reason about structural and material properties that are perceptually invisible to humans, and even build interactive physical simulations of visible objects. The second section of the talk will give an overview of how similar methodologies can be applied to artistic domains, using insights from music, dance, and cinematography to design computational tools that offer creative control over large amounts of media.

    This lecture satisfies requirements for CSCI 591: Research Colloquium


    Biography: Abe Davis is a postdoctoral researcher at Stanford University working at the intersections of computer graphics, vision, HCI, and civil engineering. He earned his Ph.D. in Electrical Engineering and Computer Science from MIT in 2016 and is the recipient of the MIT Sprowls Award for Outstanding Dissertation in Computer Science and the ACM SIGGRAPH Outstanding Doctoral Dissertation Honorable Mention Award. Abe was awarded NSF and Mathworks graduate fellowships, named one of Forbes Magazine's "30 under 30", Business Insider's "50 Scientists Who are Changing the World" and "8 Innovative Scientists in Tech and Engineering." As a postdoc, he won the "Most Practical SHM Solution for Civil Infrastructures" Award at IWSHM 2017, and has been the recipient of two Magic Grants from the Brown Institute for Media Innovation.


    Host: Jernej Barbic

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

    Audiences: Everyone Is Invited

    Contact: Assistant to CS chair

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  • ECE Seminar: Secure Computer Hardware in the Age of Pervasive Security Attacks

    ECE Seminar: Secure Computer Hardware in the Age of Pervasive Security Attacks

    Thu, Mar 28, 2019 @ 10:30 AM - 11:45 AM

    Ming Hsieh Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering

    Conferences, Lectures, & Seminars


    Speaker: Mengjia Yan, PhD Candidate, University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign

    Talk Title: Secure Computer Hardware in the Age of Pervasive Security Attacks

    Abstract: Recent attacks such as Spectre and Meltdown have shown how vulnerable modern computer hardware is. The root cause of the problem is that computer architects have traditionally focused on performance and energy efficiency. Security has never been a first-class requirement. Moving forward, however, this has to radically change: we need to rethink computer architecture from the ground-up for security.

    As an example of this vision, in this talk, I will focus on speculative execution in out-of-order processors --- a core computer architecture technology that is the target of the recent attacks. I will describe InvisiSpec, the first robust hardware defense mechanism against speculative (a.k.a transient) execution attacks. The idea is to make loads invisible in the cache hierarchy, and only reveal their presence at the point when they are safe. Once an instruction is deemed safe, our hardware is able to cheaply modify the cache coherence state in a consistent manner. Further, to reduce the cost of InvisiSpec and increase its protection coverage, I propose Speculative Taint Tracking (STT). This is a novel form of information flow tracking that is specifically designed for speculative execution. It reduces cost by allowing tainted instructions to become safe early, and by effectively leveraging the predictor hardware that is ubiquitous in modern processors. Further improvements of InvisiSpec-STT can be attained with new compiler techniques. Finally, I will conclude my talk by describing ongoing and future directions towards designing secure processors.

    Biography: Mengjia Yan is a Ph.D. student at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign (UIUC), working with Professor Josep Torrellas. Her research interest lies in the areas of computer architecture and hardware security, with a focus on defenses against transient execution attacks and cache-based side channel attacks. Her work has appeared in some of the top venues in computer architecture and security, and has sparked a large research collaboration initiative between UIUC and Intel. Mengjia received the UIUC College of Engineering Mavis Future Faculty Fellow, the Computer Science W.J. Poppelbaum Memorial Award, a MICRO TopPicks in Computer Architecture Honorable Mention, and was invited to participate in two Rising Stars workshops.

    Host: Professor Murali Annavaram, annavara@usc.edu

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

    Audiences: Everyone Is Invited

    Contact: Mayumi Thrasher

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  • CS Colloquium: TBA

    Thu, Mar 28, 2019 @ 11:00 AM - 12:00 PM

    Thomas Lord Department of Computer Science

    Conferences, Lectures, & Seminars


    Speaker: TBA, TBA

    Talk Title: TBA

    Series: CS Colloquium

    Abstract: TBA



    This lecture satisfies requirements for CSCI 591: Research Colloquium.


    Biography: TBA

    Host: Ramesh Govindan

    Location: Olin Hall of Engineering (OHE) - 132

    Audiences: Everyone Is Invited

    Contact: Assistant to CS chair

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  • Meet USC: Admission Presentation, Campus Tour, and Engineering Talk

    Fri, Mar 29, 2019

    Viterbi School of Engineering Undergraduate Admission

    University Calendar


    This half day program is designed for prospective freshmen (HS seniors and younger) and family members. Meet USC includes an information session on the University and the Admission process, a student led walking tour of campus, and a meeting with us in the Viterbi School. During the engineering session we will discuss the curriculum, research opportunities, hands-on projects, entrepreneurial support programs, and other aspects of the engineering school. Meet USC is designed to answer all of your questions about USC, the application process, and financial aid.

    Reservations are required for Meet USC. This program occurs twice, once at 8:30 a.m. and again at 12:30 p.m.

    Please make sure to check availability and register online for the session you wish to attend. Also, remember to list an Engineering major as your "intended major" on the webform!

    RSVP

    Location: Ronald Tutor Campus Center (TCC) - USC Admission Office

    Audiences: Everyone Is Invited

    Contact: Viterbi Admission

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  • Architecture and Runtime for Scalable Quantum Computers

    Fri, Mar 29, 2019 @ 10:30 AM - 12:00 PM

    Ming Hsieh Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering

    Conferences, Lectures, & Seminars


    Speaker: Moinuddin Qureshi , Georgia Institute of Technology

    Talk Title: Architecture and Runtime for Scalable Quantum Computers

    Abstract: Quantum computing promise exponential speedups for a class of important problems. However, this potential can be realized only by large-scale quantum systems that operate on a large number of qubits. Unfortunately, to build a scalable quantum computer several challenges must be overcome, including the design of conventional computing and memory systems that can effectively interface with the quantum substrate while obeying the thermal and power constraints dictated by the quantum devices. In this, talk, I will discuss some of our recent work in addressing the design challenges for the control computer for scalable quantum computers.

    First, I will discuss our QuEST architecture from MICRO-50 that deals with taming the instruction bandwidth of quantum computers via hardware-managed Error Correction. Qubits are fickle and require continuous error correction. This can require an instruction bandwidth that must scale linearly with the number of qubits and can limit the scalability if error correction is managed in software. QuEST delegates the task of error correction to the hardware and uses programmable microcode to reduce the instruction bandwidth requirements. Second, I will discuss the feasibility of using DRAM-based memory system for Quantum Computers. Quantum computers will require significant memory that can operate at cryogenic temperatures. We characterized commodity DRAM at cryogenic environments and examined the minimum operating temperatures and nature of faults. Finally, I will discuss our upcoming work at ASPLOS 2019 that exploits variation in device error rate to improve the overall reliability of near-term quantum computers.


    Biography: Moinuddin Qureshi is a Professor of Electrical and Computer Engineering at the Georgia Institute of Technology. His research interests include computer architecture, memory systems, hardware security, and quantum computing. Previously, he was a research staff member (2007-2011) at IBM T.J. Watson Research Center, where he developed the caching algorithms for Power-7 processors. He is a member of the Hall of Fame for ISCA, MICRO, and HPCA. His research has been recognized with the best paper award at MICRO 2018, best paper award at HiPC, and two selections (and three honorable mentions) at IEEE MICRO Top Picks. His ISCA 2009 paper on Phase Change Memory was awarded the 2019 Persistent Impact Prize in recognition of exceptional impact on the fields of study related to non-volatile memories. He was the Program Chair of MICRO 2015 and Selection Committee Co-Chair of Top Picks 2017. He received his Ph.D. (2007) and M.S. (2003) from the University of Texas at Austin


    Host: Xuehai Qian, xuehai.qian@usc.edu

    More Information: 190329_Moinuddin Qureshi.pdf

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

    Audiences: Everyone Is Invited

    Contact: Brienne Moore

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  • Astronautical Engineering (ASTE) - Seminar

    Fri, Mar 29, 2019 @ 11:00 AM - 12:00 PM

    Astronautical Engineering

    Conferences, Lectures, & Seminars


    Speaker: Prof. Jonathan Black, Virginia Tech

    Talk Title: Autonomy and Machine Learning in Space and Space Domain Awareness

    Abstract: As resident space object populations grow, and satellite propulsion capabilities improve, it is becoming increasingly challenging for space-reliant nations to maintain space situational awareness using current human-in-the-loop methods. This presentation describes several real-time adaptive approaches to autonomous sensor network management for tracking multiple maneuvering and non-maneuvering satellites with a diversely populated Space Object Surveillance and Identification network. The methods integrate suboptimal Partially Observed Markov Decision Processes (POMDPs) with covariance inflation or multiple model adaptive estimation techniques to task sensors and maintain viable orbit estimates for all targets. Like in real-world situations, the population of target satellites vastly outnumbers the available set of sensors. Robust and adaptable tasking algorithms are needed in this scenario to determine how and when sensors should be tasked. The strategies successfully track hundreds of non-maneuvering and maneuvering spacecraft using only dozens of ground and space-based sensors. The results show that multiple model adaptive estimation coupled with a multi-metric, suboptimal POMDP can effectively and efficiently task a diverse network of sensors to track multiple maneuvering spacecraft, while simultaneously monitoring a large number of non-maneuvering objects. Overall, this work demonstrates the potential for autonomous and adaptable sensor network command and control for real-world space situational awareness.

    Biography: Professor, Department of Aerospace and Ocean Engineering; Director, Aerospace and Ocean Systems Laboratory; Virginia Tech

    Host: Astronautical Engineering - Mike Gruntman

    More Information: 2019_03_29_ASTE-Seminar_Prof-Black_flier.pdf

    Location: Vivian Hall of Engineering (VHE) - 217

    Audiences: Everyone Is Invited

    Contact: Mike Gruntman

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  • W.V.T. RUSCH ENGINEERING HONORS COLLOQUIUM

    Fri, Mar 29, 2019 @ 01:00 PM - 01:50 PM

    USC Viterbi School of Engineering

    Conferences, Lectures, & Seminars


    Speaker: Mr. Chris Tremmel and Mr. Vik Saraf, Co-General Managers, Jam City LA Studio

    Talk Title: The Business of Mobile Gaming

    Host: EHP and Dr. Prata

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

    Audiences: Everyone Is Invited

    Contact: Amanda McCraven

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  • J. Joshua Yang Seminar- Friday, March 29th at 2PM in EEB 132

    Fri, Mar 29, 2019 @ 02:00 PM - 03:30 PM

    Ming Hsieh Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering

    Conferences, Lectures, & Seminars


    Speaker: J. Joshua Yang, University of Massachusetts

    Talk Title: Unconventional Computing With Memristive Devices

    Abstract: Memristive devices have become a promising candidate for energy-efficient and high-throughput unconventional computing, which is a key enabler for artificial intelligent systems in the big data and IoT era. The computing can be implemented on a Resistive Neural Network with memristive synapses and neurons or a Capacitive Neural Network with memcapacitive synapses and neurons. In this talk, I will first briefly introduce the promises and challenges of memristive devices and the key ideas behind bio-inspired computing. I will then discuss a few examples selected from our recent experimental demonstrations of unconventional computing using memristive networks with different levels of bio-inspiration: first, deep learning accelerators with supervised online learning; second, neuromorphic computing for pattern classification with unsupervised learning; last, other computing applications, such as reinforcement learning for decision making, artificial nociceptors for robotics, provable key destruction and true random number generators for cybersecurity.

    Biography: Dr. J. Joshua Yang is a professor of the Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering at the University of Massachusetts, Amherst. Before joining UMass in 2015, he spent eight years at HP Labs and led the Memristive Materials and Devices team since 2012. His current research interests are Nanoelectronics and Nanoionics for computing and artificial intelligent systems, where he authored and co-authored over 140 technical papers and holds 110 granted and 55 pending US Patents. His MRAM patents were licensed by Intel, RRAM patents were technology-transferred to SK-hynix for memory development and recent patents at UMass led to a spin-off company on AI accelerators. He was named as a Spotlight Scholar of UMass Amherst in 2017. He obtained his PhD from the University of Wisconsin - Madison in the Material Science Program in 2007.

    Host: ECE-Electrophysics

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

    Audiences: Everyone Is Invited

    Contact: Marilyn Poplawski

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  • Astronautical Engineering (ASTE) - Seminar

    Fri, Mar 29, 2019 @ 02:00 PM - 03:00 PM

    Astronautical Engineering

    Conferences, Lectures, & Seminars


    Speaker: Prof. Jonathan Black, Virginia Tech

    Talk Title: Autonomy and Machine Learning in Space and Space Domain Awareness

    Abstract: As resident space object populations grow, and satellite propulsion capabilities improve, it is becoming increasingly challenging for space-reliant nations to maintain space situational awareness using current human-in-the-loop methods. This presentation describes several real-time adaptive approaches to autonomous sensor network management for tracking multiple maneuvering and non-maneuvering satellites with a diversely populated Space Object Surveillance and Identification network. The methods integrate suboptimal Partially Observed Markov Decision Processes (POMDPs) with covariance inflation or multiple model adaptive estimation techniques to task sensors and maintain viable orbit estimates for all targets. Like in real-world situations, the population of target satellites vastly outnumbers the available set of sensors. Robust and adaptable tasking algorithms are needed in this scenario to determine how and when sensors should be tasked. The strategies successfully track hundreds of non-maneuvering and maneuvering spacecraft using only dozens of ground and space-based sensors. The results show that multiple model adaptive estimation coupled with a multi-metric, suboptimal POMDP can effectively and efficiently task a diverse network of sensors to track multiple maneuvering spacecraft, while simultaneously monitoring a large number of non-maneuvering objects. Overall, this work demonstrates the potential for autonomous and adaptable sensor network command and control for real-world space situational awareness.

    Biography: Professor, Department of Aerospace and Ocean Engineering; Director, Aerospace and Ocean Systems Laboratory; Virginia Tech

    Host: Astronautical Engineering - Mike Gruntman

    More Information: 2019_03_29_ASTE-Seminar_Prof-Black_flier.pdf

    Location: Vivian Hall of Engineering (VHE) - 217

    Audiences: Everyone Is Invited

    Contact: Mike Gruntman

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