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Events for the 2nd week of April

  • Seminar will be exclusively online (no in-room presentation) - CS Colloquium: Vatsal Sharan (Stanford) - Modern Perspectives on Classical Learning Problems: Role of Memory and Data Amplification

    Mon, Apr 06, 2020 @ 11:00 AM - 12:00 PM

    Thomas Lord Department of Computer Science

    Conferences, Lectures, & Seminars


    Speaker: Vatsal Sharan, Stanford University

    Talk Title: Modern Perspectives on Classical Learning Problems: Role of Memory and Data Amplification

    Series: CS Colloquium

    Abstract: This talk will discuss statistical and computation requirements---and how they interact---for three learning setups. In the first part, we inspect the role of memory in learning. We study how the total memory available to a learning algorithm affects the amount of data needed for learning (or optimization), beginning by considering the fundamental problem of linear regression. Next, we examine the role of long-term memory vs. short-term memory for the task of predicting the next observation in a sequence given the past observations. Finally, we explore the statistical requirements for the task of manufacturing more data---namely how to generate a larger set of samples from an unknown distribution. Can "amplifying" a dataset be easier than learning?

    This lecture satisfies requirements for CSCI 591: Research Colloquium

    Biography: Vatsal Sharan is a Ph.D. student at Stanford, advised by Greg Valiant. He is a part of the Theory group and the Statistical Machine Learning group, and his primary interests are in the theory and practice of machine learning.

    Host: Shaddin Dughmi

    Location: Seminar will be exclusively online (no in-room presentation)

    Audiences: Everyone Is Invited

    Contact: Assistant to CS chair

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  • Astani Civil and Environmental Engineering RA/TA Awards

    Mon, Apr 06, 2020 @ 12:00 PM - 03:30 PM

    Sonny Astani Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering

    Conferences, Lectures, & Seminars


    Speaker: Mark Sarkisian, TBA

    Talk Title: TBA

    Abstract: TBA

    Host: Dr. Burcin Becerik-Gerber

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

    Audiences: Everyone Is Invited

    Contact: Evangeline Reyes

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  • Seminar will be exclusively online (no in-room presentation) - CS Colloquium: Zhiting Hu (Carnegie Mellon University) - Towards Training AI Agents with All Types of Experiences via a Single Algorithm

    Tue, Apr 07, 2020 @ 11:00 AM - 12:00 PM

    Thomas Lord Department of Computer Science

    Conferences, Lectures, & Seminars


    Speaker: Zhiting Hu, Carnegie Mellon University

    Talk Title: Towards Training AI Agents with All Types of Experiences via a Single Algorithm

    Series: CS Colloquium

    Abstract: Training AI agents for complex problems, such as controllable content generation, requires integrating all sources of experiences (e.g. data, constraints, information from relevant tasks) in learning. Past decades of research has led to a multitude of learning algorithms for dealing with distinct experiences. However, the conventional approach to creating solutions based on such a bewildering marketplace of algorithms demands strong ML expertise and bespoke innovations. This talk will present an alternative approach from a unifying perspective. I will show that many of the popular algorithms in supervised learning, constraint-driven learning, reinforcement learning, etc, indeed share a common succinct formulation and can be reduced to a single algorithm that enables learning with different experiences in the same way. This allows us to create solutions by simply plugging arbitrary experiences in learning, and to systematically enable new learning capabilities by repurposing off-the-shelf algorithms.

    Biography: Zhiting Hu is a Ph.D. student in the Machine Learning Department at CMU. He received his B.S. from Peking University. His research interests lie in the broad area of machine learning. His research was recognized with best demo nomination at ACL2019, best paper award at ICLR 2019 DRL workshop, outstanding paper award at ACL2016, and IBM Fellowship.

    Host: Yan Liu

    Location: Seminar will be exclusively online (no in-room presentation)

    Audiences: Everyone Is Invited

    Contact: Assistant to CS chair

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  • Undergraduate Admission Virtual Information Session

    Tue, Apr 07, 2020 @ 02:00 PM - 03:00 PM

    Viterbi School of Engineering Undergraduate Admission

    Workshops & Infosessions


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

    Please register here!

    Audiences: Everyone Is Invited

    Contact: Viterbi Admission

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  • USC Viterbi Admitted Student Keynote

    Tue, Apr 07, 2020 @ 03:00 PM - 04:00 PM

    Viterbi School of Engineering Undergraduate Admission

    Workshops & Infosessions


    Learn everything you can to find out if USC and the Viterbi School is right for you by dropping by one of our virtual admitted student keynote sessions. If you only have time for one event, make it this one. We will discuss our curriculum, your four year plan, and our co-curricular programs that will fulfill your experience. Each session will include a USC Viterbi representative as well as a current student panel to answer your questions.

    Register Now!

    Audiences: Everyone Is Invited

    Contact: Viterbi Admission

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  • **CANCELED** ISE 651 - Epstein Seminar

    Tue, Apr 07, 2020 @ 03:30 PM - 04:50 PM

    Daniel J. Epstein Department of Industrial and Systems Engineering

    Conferences, Lectures, & Seminars


    Speaker: Dr. Wotao Yin, Professor, UCLA

    Talk Title: TBD

    Host: Dr. Meisam Razaviyayn

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

    Audiences: Everyone Is Invited

    Contact: Grace Owh

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  • Alumni X Zoom Happy Hour

    Tue, Apr 07, 2020 @ 04:00 PM - 05:00 PM

    Viterbi School of Engineering Alumni

    Workshops & Infosessions


    Please join us for Happy Hour via Zoom on April 7, 2020 at 4 PM. This event is hosted by the USC Viterbi Emerging Leaders Board and Bay Area Viterbi Innovation Partners.

    We will send the Zoom Link to registered participants before the event. Please RSVP today as space is limited. Link below:

    https://uscviterbialumnizoomhappyhour.eventbrite.com

    For any questions, please email us at viterbia@usc.edu.

    Audiences: Everyone Is Invited

    Contact: Kristy Ly

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  • Computer Science General Faculty Meeting

    Wed, Apr 08, 2020 @ 12:00 PM - 02:00 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: Everyone Is Invited

    Contact: Assistant to CS chair

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  • Seminar will be exclusively online (no in-room presentation) - CS Colloquium: Yuxiong Wang (Carnegie Mellon University) - Learning to Learn More with Less

    Thu, Apr 09, 2020 @ 11:00 AM - 12:00 PM

    Thomas Lord Department of Computer Science

    Conferences, Lectures, & Seminars


    Speaker: Yuxiong Wang, Carnegie Mellon University

    Talk Title: Learning to Learn More with Less

    Series: CS Colloquium

    Abstract: Understanding how humans and machines learn from few examples remains a fundamental challenge. Humans are remarkably able to grasp a new concept from just few examples, or learn a new skill from just few trials. By contrast, state-of-the-art machine learning techniques typically require thousands of training examples and often break down if the training sample set is too small.

    In this talk, I will discuss our efforts towards endowing visual learning systems with few-shot learning ability. Our key insight is that the visual world is well structured and highly predictable in feature, data, and model spaces. Such structures and regularities enable the systems to learn how to learn new tasks rapidly by reusing previous experience. I will focus on two topics to demonstrate how to leverage this idea of learning to learn, or meta-learning, to address a broad range of few-shot learning tasks: task-oriented generative modeling and meta-learning in model space. I will also discuss some ongoing work towards building machines that are able to operate in highly dynamic and open environments, making intelligent and independent decisions based on limited information.

    This lecture satisfies requirements for CSCI 591: Research Colloquium

    Biography: Yuxiong Wang is a postdoctoral fellow in the Robotics Institute at Carnegie Mellon University. He received a Ph.D. in robotics from Carnegie Mellon University under the supervision of Martial Hebert in 2018. His research interests lie in computer vision, machine learning, and robotics, with a particular focus on few-shot learning and meta-learning. He has spent time at Facebook AI Research (FAIR), and has collaborated with researchers in other institutions, including NYU, UIUC, UC Berkeley, Cornell University, INRIA (France), and CSIC-UPC (Spain).

    Host: Ramakant Nevatia

    Location: Seminar will be exclusively online (no in-room presentation)

    Audiences: Everyone Is Invited

    Contact: Assistant to CS chair

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  • Viterbi Live - Working Remotely: Lessons I Learned From Space with Garrett Reisman

    Thu, Apr 09, 2020 @ 12:30 PM - 01:30 PM

    Viterbi School of Engineering Alumni

    Workshops & Infosessions


    Join Garrett Reisman, Professor of Astronautical Engineering at USC and a Senior Advisor at SpaceX, as he shares his insight and experience as an astronaut in our new Viterbi Live Series. He will speak about how the isolation strategies he learned can help us during this time and answer questions from the audience.

    Professor Reisman was selected by NASA as a mission specialist astronaut in 1998. His first mission was aboard the Space Shuttle Endeavour, which dropped him off for a 95 day mission aboard the International Space Station. He then returned to Earth aboard the Space Shuttle Discovery. His second mission was aboard the Space Shuttle Atlantis which returned him to the Space Station. During these missions, Professor Reisman performed 3 spacewalks, operated the Space Station Robot Arm, and was a flight engineer aboard the Space Shuttle.

    Please register here: https://viterbilivereisman.eventbrite.com

    Audiences: Everyone Is Invited

    Contact: Kristy Ly

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  • Undergraduate Admission Virtual Information Session

    Thu, Apr 09, 2020 @ 02:00 PM - 03:00 PM

    Viterbi School of Engineering Undergraduate Admission

    Workshops & Infosessions


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

    Please register here!

    Audiences: Everyone Is Invited

    Contact: Viterbi Admission

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  • Astani Civil and Environmental Engineering Seminar

    Thu, Apr 09, 2020 @ 04:00 PM - 05:00 PM

    Sonny Astani Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering

    Conferences, Lectures, & Seminars


    Speaker: Dr. Shihong Lin, Vanderbilt University

    Talk Title: Energy Efficiency of Desalination

    Abstract: TBA

    Host: Dr. Amy Childress

    Location: Kaprielian Hall (KAP) - 209

    Audiences: Everyone Is Invited

    Contact: Evangeline Reyes

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  • Grammar Tutoring

    Fri, Apr 10, 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.edu

    Location: Olin Hall of Engineering (OHE) - Zoom

    Audiences: Graduate and Undergraduate Students

    Contact: Helen Choi

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  • VGSA Virtual Happy Hour!

    Fri, Apr 10, 2020 @ 06:00 PM - 07:00 PM

    Thomas Lord Department of Computer Science

    Receptions & Special Events


    Come have a drink with the CS department senators at the Viterbi Graduate Student Associate Virtual Happy Hour!

    April 10, 2020, 6-7pm PST
    Space is limited!
    Zoom link will be emailed to those who RSVP at: http://bit.ly/vgsahappyhr

    Catch up with your fellow students and join us for an evening of fun!

    Location: Online

    Audiences: Graduate

    Contact: Ryan Rozan

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