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Events for the 2nd week of April

  • CS Colloquium: Austin Benson (Stanford) -Tools for higher-order network analysis

    Mon, Apr 03, 2017 @ 11:00 AM - 12:20 PM

    Thomas Lord Department of Computer Science

    Conferences, Lectures, & Seminars


    Speaker: Austin Benson , Stanford University

    Talk Title: Tools for higher-order network analysis

    Series: CS Colloquium

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

    Networks are a fundamental model of complex systems in biology, neuroscience, engineering, and social science. Networks are typically described by lower-order connectivity patterns that are captured at the level of individual nodes and edges. However, higher-order connectivity patterns captured by small subgraphs, or network motifs, describe the fundamental structures that control and mediate the behavior of many complex systems. In this talk, I will discuss several higher-order analyses based on higher-order connectivity patterns that I have developed to gain new insights into network data. Specifically, I will introduce a motif-based clustering methodology, a generalization of the classical network clustering coefficient, and a formalism for temporal motifs to study temporal networks. I will also show applications of higher-order analysis in several domains including ecology, biology, transportation, neuroscience, social networks, and human communication.

    Biography: Austin Benson is a PhD candidate at Stanford University in the Institute for Computational and Mathematical Engineering where he is advised by Professor Jure Leskovec of the Computer Science Department. His research focuses on developing data-driven methods for understanding complex systems and behavior. Broadly, his research spans the areas of network science, applied machine learning, tensor and matrix computations, and computational social science. Before Stanford, he completed undergraduate degrees in Computer Science and Applied Mathematics at the University of California, Berkeley. Outside of the university, he has spent summers interning at Google (four times), Sandia National Laboratories, and HP Labs.



    Host: CS Department

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

    Audiences: Everyone Is Invited

    Contact: Assistant to CS chair

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  • Seminars in Biomedical Engineering

    Mon, Apr 03, 2017 @ 12:30 PM - 01:50 PM

    Alfred E. Mann Department of Biomedical Engineering

    Conferences, Lectures, & Seminars


    Speaker: Song Li, PhD, Chancellor Professor & Dept. Chair, UCLA, Dept. of Bioengineering & Medicine

    Talk Title: Microbiology Application

    Host: Qifa Zhou

    Location: Olin Hall of Engineering (OHE) - 122

    Audiences: Everyone Is Invited

    Contact: Mischalgrace Diasanta

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  • CS Colloquium: Stephan Mandt (Disney Research) - Next generation variational inference: algorithms, models, and applications

    Mon, Apr 03, 2017 @ 01:00 PM - 02:00 PM

    Thomas Lord Department of Computer Science

    Conferences, Lectures, & Seminars


    Speaker: Stephan Mandt, Disney Research

    Talk Title: Next generation variational inference: algorithms, models, and applications

    Series: CS Colloquium

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

    Probabilistic modeling is a powerful paradigm in machine learning. In this field, we assume a generative process in order to explain our observations, and then use a Bayesian inference algorithm to reason about its parameters. Probabilistic modeling has become scalable due to stochastic variational inference which reduces Bayesian inference to non-convex stochastic optimization. This talk focuses on two new inference algorithms: variational tempering-an algorithm that operates on several artificial temperatures simultaneously to find better local optima, and constant SGD-a scalable inference algorithm with applications to hyperparameter optimization. I will then present several new models that have become tractable due to modern variational inference with applications in text modeling, recommendations, and computer vision. I will show how a probabilistic view on Google's word2vec algorithm allows for extensions to other types of high dimensional data and show new applications: analyzing supermarket shopping data, movie ratings, and tracking semantic changes of individual words over centuries of digitized books. Finally, I will show how factorized variational autoencoders allow us to analyze audience reactions to movies.

    Biography: Stephan Mandt is a research scientist at Disney Research Pittsburgh, where he leads the statistical machine learning group. From 2014 to 2016 he was a postdoctoral researcher with David Blei at Columbia University, and from 2012 to 2014 a PCCM postdoctoral fellow at Princeton University. Stephan did his Ph.D. with Achim Rosch at the Institute for Theoretical Physics at the University of Cologne, supported by a fellowship of the German National Merit Foundation. His research interests include scalable approximate Bayesian inference and machine learning for media analytics.

    Host: Fei Sha

    Location: Kaprielian Hall (KAP) - 140

    Audiences: Everyone Is Invited

    Contact: Assistant to CS chair

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

    Mon, Apr 03, 2017 @ 02:00 PM - 03:30 PM

    Ming Hsieh Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering

    Conferences, Lectures, & Seminars


    Speaker: Oleg Sokolsky, Research Professor, University of Pennsylvania

    Talk Title: Behavior Modeling in Patient-in-the-Loop Medical CPS

    Abstract: Human-in-the-loop cyber-physical systems (CPS) is an active area of research. As the level of autonomy in systems we use every day is rapidly increasing, the problems of human-automation interaction and of trust in technology are becoming more important. In medical CPS, interactions between the human and technology happen both through behavior as well as through patient physiology. This talk motivates the need for modeling and analysis techniques that take both behavioral and physiological interactions into consideration. We present a case study of diabetic patients interacting with smart insulin pumps and consider how behavioral modeling and analysis can impact treatment outcomes.

    Biography: Oleg Sokolsky is a Research Professor of Computer and Information Science at PRECISE Center, University of Pennsylvania. His research interests include applications of formal methods and runtime verification to the design and analysis. He received a Ph.D. in Computer Science from State University of New York at Stony Brook.

    Host: Paul Bogdan and Chao Wang

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

    Audiences: Everyone Is Invited

    Contact: Estela Lopez

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  • Entrepreneurial Visa Options for International Students and Scholars

    Mon, Apr 03, 2017 @ 05:00 PM - 06:30 PM

    Viterbi School of Engineering Career Connections

    Student Activity


    Students and scholars who would like to found a start-up venture in the U.S. face vexing immigration law challenges. Immigration attorney Tien-Li Loke Walsh, Loke Walsh Immigration Law, will explain issues related to start-up businesses and self-employment for international students and scholars and discuss possible visa options for such entrepreneurial endeavors. Reserve your seat online.
    https://events.r20.constantcontact.com/register/eventReg?oeidk=a07edu8pa5781ee3a27&oseq=&c=&ch=

    Location: Mark Taper Hall Of Humanities (THH) - 101

    Audiences: Everyone Is Invited

    Contact: RTH 218 Viterbi Career Connections

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  • Improving Sensitivity and Spatial Coverage of Myocardial Arterial Spin Labeling

    Tue, Apr 04, 2017 @ 03:00 AM - 04:00 PM

    Conferences, Lectures, & Seminars


    Speaker: Terrence Jao, University of Southern California

    Talk Title: Improving Sensitivity and Spatial Coverage of Myocardial Arterial Spin Labeling

    Series: Medical Imaging Seminar Series

    Biography: Terrence Jao is a MD/PhD student in the department of biomedical engineering working under Prof. Krishna Nayak at the Magnetic Resonance Engineering Laboratory. His research interests are in pulse sequence development, image reconstruction, and cardiac imaging. He received a B.S. from Johns Hopkins University in 2008.


    Host: Professor Krishna Nayak

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

    Audiences: Everyone Is Invited

    Contact: Talyia White

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  • USC Stem Cell Seminar: Rafi Kopan, Cincinnati Children's Hospital

    USC Stem Cell Seminar: Rafi Kopan, Cincinnati Children's Hospital

    Tue, Apr 04, 2017 @ 11:00 AM - 12:00 PM

    Alfred E. Mann Department of Biomedical Engineering

    Conferences, Lectures, & Seminars


    Speaker: Rafi Kopan, Cincinnati Children's Hospital

    Talk Title: TBD

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

    Host: USC Stem Cell

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

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

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

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

    Audiences: Everyone Is Invited

    Contact: Cristy Lytal/USC Stem Cell

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

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  • CS Colloquium: Jelena (Marasevic) Diakonikolas (Boston University ) -From Networked Systems to Theory and Back: Full-Duplex Wireless and Beyond

    CS Colloquium: Jelena (Marasevic) Diakonikolas (Boston University ) -From Networked Systems to Theory and Back: Full-Duplex Wireless and Beyond

    Tue, Apr 04, 2017 @ 11:00 AM - 12:20 PM

    Thomas Lord Department of Computer Science

    Conferences, Lectures, & Seminars


    Speaker: Jelena (Marasevic) Diakonikolas, Boston University

    Talk Title: From Networked Systems to Theory and Back: Full-Duplex Wireless and Beyond

    Series: CS Colloquium

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

    As our ambitions to build larger and more complex networked systems are ever increasing, the following three general trends can be observed: (i) wireless data traffic is growing, (ii) the number of devices connecting to the networked systems is surging, and (iii) networks are increasingly used not only for communication, but also for computation. I will present results that are motivated by these trends and that span different aspects of networked systems: from modeling of the system components, over rigorous algorithm design and analysis, to testbed development and performance evaluation.

    The unprecedented growth of the wireless traffic over scarce spectrum resources prompts the development of more spectrum-efficient techniques. On the roadmap to 5G wireless standards, full-duplex has been recognized as one of the key technologies for improving the spectrum efficiency. I will present the results on principled design of full-duplex systems that were obtained as part of a cross-disciplinary project "Full-duplex wireless: From integrated circuits to networks" (FlexICoN), which I co-initiated at Columbia. In particular, I will describe a mathematical model of an integrated full-duplex receiver developed within FlexICoN and present resource allocation algorithms tailored to the realistic receiver models. Then, I will highlight the experimental results obtained in a custom-designed full-duplex wireless testbed, developed for the evaluation of our full-duplex hardware and resource allocation and scheduling algorithms.

    Further, I will highlight how the growing scale of networked systems raises the need for fast fair resource allocation algorithms and describe our novel algorithmic results for addressing these issues. Finally, I will describe some of the challenges in networks involving communication and computation, my ongoing work in this area, and future directions.

    Biography: Jelena (Marasevic) Diakonikolas is a Postdoctoral Associate at Boston University and a Visiting Scholar at Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Her research focuses on principled design of networked systems. Her research on full-duplex wireless systems was awarded a Qualcomm 2015 Innovation Fellowship, was featured in IEEE Spectrum, and resulted in several invited papers. She was selected as an MIT EECS Rising Star in 2015, and named one of the "10 Women in Networking/Communications That You Should Watch" in 2016. She designed the first cellular networking hands-on lab, winning GENI GREE 2013 Best Educational Paper Award. Jelena completed her Ph.D. and M.S. degrees at Columbia University, with an M.S. Award of Excellence and a Jacob Millman Prize for Excellence in Teaching Assistance. She obtained her Bachelor's degree from University of Belgrade, where she held the two most prestigious government-awarded fellowships.

    Host: CS Department

    More Information: headshot.jpg

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

    Audiences: Everyone Is Invited

    Contact: Assistant to CS chair

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  • Matthew Gilbert, Nano Science & Technology Seminar Series, Tuesday, April 4 at 2:00pm in EEB 248

    Tue, Apr 04, 2017 @ 02:00 PM - 03:30 PM

    Ming Hsieh Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering

    Conferences, Lectures, & Seminars


    Speaker: Matthew J. Gilbert, University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign

    Talk Title: Topological Energy Transduction

    Abstract: Within the CMOS architecture, the interconnected devices may either be categorized as an "active" device, which produces energy in the form of a current or a voltage, or a "passive" device, which stores or maintains energy in the form of a current or voltage. The societal demand for smaller sized electronic devices, such as computers and cellular phones, with improved functionality has forced not only the sizes of the constituent components of CMOS information processing technology to rapidly shrink, but for the operational frequencies to increase. While it has been possible to reduce the size of active CMOS devices, passive devices have not seen the same reduction in size. Of the passive devices (e.g. resistors, capacitors and inductors) used in CMOS technologies, the circuit element that consumes the most area on a circuit board while simultaneously finding the least success in miniaturization is the inductor. In this talk, we will present a novel method for energy transduction that utilizes the interplay between magnetism and topology on the surface of a newly discovered materials, referred to as time-reversal invariant topological insulators, to create a paradigmatically different inductor. Using a novel self-consistent simulation that couples AC non-equilibrium Green functions to fully electrodynamic solutions of Maxwell's equations, we demonstrate excellent inductance densities up to terahertz frequencies thereby providing a potential solution to an eminent grand challenge.

    Biography: Matthew J. Gilbert is an Associate Professor in the Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign (UIUC). He is affiliated with the Micro and Nanotechnology Laboratory, the Department of Physics and the Institute for Condensed Matter Theory at UIUC. His research broadly focuses on theoretically elucidating new phenomena in emergent nanoscale systems with the goal of developing new types of nanoelectronic and nanophotonic devices and functionality for next-generation information processing systems. The majority of his current work revolves around understanding the properties of topological materials, including insulators, semimetals and superconductors, with the goal of understanding their potential role in the post-CMOS device landscape. This research also includes examinations into the appearance and stability of unconventional superconductivity and non-Abelian anyons, such as Majorana and parafermions, in topological systems for the purposes of topological quantum computation. His emerging research interests include: the role of interactions in the classification and properties of topological systems, dissipation and relaxation in non-equilibrium materials and systems, transport properties and phenomena in 2D materials particularly those under strain, energy harvesting using topological materials, and designer layered quantum materials. He has authored more than 70-refereed publications, and has given presentations at over 50 international conferences.

    Host: Wang, Zhou, Cronin, Wu - MHI

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

    Audiences: Everyone Is Invited

    Contact: Marilyn Poplawski

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  • Epstein Seminar, ISE 651

    Tue, Apr 04, 2017 @ 03:30 PM - 04:50 PM

    Daniel J. Epstein Department of Industrial and Systems Engineering

    Conferences, Lectures, & Seminars


    Speaker: Dr. Elizabeth Tseng, Senior Staff Scientist, Pacific Biosciences

    Talk Title: Applying Long Read DNA Sequencing for Genome Assembly and Transcriptome Analysis: Existing Solutions and Open Problems

    Host: Prof. Meisam Razaviyayn

    More Information: April 4, 2017_Tseng.pdf

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

    Audiences: Everyone Is Invited

    Contact: Grace Owh

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  • Astani Civil and Environmental Engineering Seminar

    Wed, Apr 05, 2017 @ 11:00 AM - 12:00 PM

    Sonny Astani Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering

    Conferences, Lectures, & Seminars


    Speaker: Dr. Monica Kohler, Research Assistant Professor, Department of Mechanical and Civil Engineering, Caltech

    Talk Title: Damage Detection in Buildings Using

    More Information: Kohler Seminar Announcement April 5.pdf

    Location: Kaprielian Hall (KAP) - 140

    Audiences: Everyone Is Invited

    Contact: Evangeline Reyes

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  • Computer Science General Faculty Meeting

    Wed, Apr 05, 2017 @ 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: Hughes Aircraft Electrical Engineering Center (EEB) - 248

    Audiences: Invited Faculty Only

    Contact: Assistant to CS chair

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  • Matthew Gilbert - Nano Science & Technology Seminar Series, Wednesday, April 5th at 2:00pm in KAP 209

    Wed, Apr 05, 2017 @ 02:00 PM - 03:30 PM

    Ming Hsieh Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering

    Conferences, Lectures, & Seminars


    Speaker: Matthew J. Gilbert, University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign

    Talk Title: Unconventional Superconductivity in Topological Heterostructures

    Abstract: The search for materials and systems that exhibit unconventional superconductivity, or superconductivity beyond the canonical s-wave pairing as predicted in BCS theory, is one of the most active areas within condensed matter physics. This effort has been reinvigorated by the interesting properties inherent to a new class of materials that possess topological phases. A topological phase is unique in that it does not break any of the underlying symmetries of the system and cannot be described by a local order parameter. In other words, the inherent properties of the system cannot be changed by adiabatic shifts in materials parameters unless the system passes a quantum critical point associated with a phase transition. More recently, this search has taken on additional significance due to the fact that systems that possess unconventional superconductivity may enable a new type of fault tolerant quantum information processing that may significantly increase computing power when compared to traditional information processing. In this talk, I will discuss the appearance and signatures of unconventional superconductivity and review some of the most prominent systems that have been predicted to exhibit unconventional superconductivity. In particular, I will focus on heterostructures containing s-wave superconductors and proximity-coupled 3D time-reversal invariant topological insulators. I will explain some of the experimentally relevant conditions that must be satisfied in order to observe the features of unconventional superconductivity and conclude by examining the potential for finding unconventional superconductivity in emergent topological materials such as semimetals and crystalline insulators.

    Biography: Matthew J. Gilbert is an Associate Professor in the Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign (UIUC). He is affiliated with the Micro and Nanotechnology Laboratory, the Department of Physics and the Institute for Condensed Matter Theory at UIUC. His research broadly focuses on theoretically elucidating new phenomena in emergent nanoscale systems with the goal of developing new types of nanoelectronic and nanophotonic devices and functionality for next-generation information processing systems. The majority of his current work revolves around understanding the properties of topological materials, including insulators, semimetals and superconductors, with the goal of understanding their potential role in the post-CMOS device landscape. This research also includes examinations into the appearance and stability of unconventional superconductivity and non-Abelian anyons, such as Majorana and parafermions, in topological systems for the purposes of topological quantum computation. His emerging research interests include: the role of interactions in the classification and properties of topological systems, dissipation and relaxation in non-equilibrium materials and systems, transport properties and phenomena in 2D materials particularly those under strain, energy harvesting using topological materials, and designer layered quantum materials. He has authored more than 70-refereed publications, and has given presentations at over 50 international conferences.

    Host: Wang, Zhou, Cronin, Wu - MHI

    Location: Kaprielian Hall (KAP) - 209

    Audiences: Everyone Is Invited

    Contact: Marilyn Poplawski

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  • MHI CommNetS seminar

    Wed, Apr 05, 2017 @ 02:00 PM - 03:00 PM

    Ming Hsieh Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering

    Conferences, Lectures, & Seminars


    Speaker: Hamidreza Tavafoghi, University of Michigan

    Talk Title: Dynamic Market Mechanisms for Wind Energy

    Series: CommNetS

    Abstract: We investigate the problem of market mechanism design for wind energy integration into the power grid. We show that the current static two-settlement market structure is not efficient for the integration of wind energy, and does not provide appropriate information for scheduling of flexible loads/reserves. We consider a dynamic two-step model with strategic seller(s) with wind generation and one buyer, who trade energy through a mechanism determined by a designer (ISO). The seller has private information about his technology and wind condition, which he learns dynamically over time. We consider the existing (static) forward and real-time mechanisms that take place at times T = 1 and T = 2, respectively. We propose a dynamic mechanism that provides a coupling between the outcomes of the forward and real-time markets, and show that the dynamic mechanism outperforms the forward and real-time mechanisms for a general objective of the designer. We demonstrate that the advantages of our proposed dynamic mechanism come from the designer's ability to price discriminate and the seller's exposure to penalty risk. Moreover, our proposed mechanism reveals (probabilistic) information about wind generation in advance so as to schedule flexible loads/reserves efficiently. We further analyze variants of the dynamic mechanism that guarantee no penalty risk for sellers, and/or monitor the wind condition.

    Biography: Hamidreza Tavafoghi is a Ph.D. candidate in the Electrical Engineering and Computer Science department at the University of Michigan working with Prof. Demosthenis Teneketzis, where he also pursues a M.A. in Economics. His research interests lie in stochastic control, game theory, mechanism design, and strategic learning. Currently, he is working on the design and analysis of informational and monetary incentive mechanisms for cyber-physical systems with applications to power systems, transportation networks, and security. Hamidreza received his B.Sc. in Electrical Engineering from Sharif University of Technology, Tehran, Iran, 2011, and his M.Sc. in Electrical Engineering: Systems from the University of Michigan, 2013. He was awarded the Dow Sustainability Fellowship in 2015. He is a Silver medalist of 37th International Physics Olympiad, Singapore, 2006, and a Gold medalist of 18th National Physics Olympiad, Iran, 2005.

    Host: Prof. Ashutosh Nayyar

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

    Audiences: Everyone Is Invited

    Contact: Annie Yu

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  • Aerospace & Mechanical Engineering Seminar

    Wed, Apr 05, 2017 @ 03:30 PM - 04:30 PM

    Aerospace and Mechanical Engineering

    Conferences, Lectures, & Seminars


    Speaker: Michael W. Plesniak, Professor, Department of Mechanical & Aerospace Engineering, The George Washington University

    Talk Title: Fluid Dynamics of Phonation

    Abstract: Speech production involves unsteady pulsatile flow and turbulent structures that affect the aeroacoustics and fluid-tissue interaction. The goal of our human phonation research program is to investigate the dynamics of flow past the vocal folds (VF) and the aerodynamic interaction with the VF. Over the course of the program we have studied static, driven and self-oscillating models of the VF system. Silicone-based, self-oscillating synthetic vocal fold (VF) models are fabricated with material properties representative of the different layers of human VFs and then evaluated experimentally in a life-size vocal tract simulator to replicate physiological conditions. Our experimental investigations utilize high-speed imaging, particle image velocimetry (PIV), pressure transducers and microphones, and the clinical Rothenberg mask. Studies are performed under both normal and pathological conditions of speech. In particular, recent attention has been focused on understanding the role of polyps (growths on the VF) in altering voice quality. This has led to very fundamental studies of 3D flow separation in pulsatile flows. We have also collaborated with colleagues in the Department of Speech and Hearing Sciences to better understand the effects of ageing on voice. Our overarching motivation for studying flow associated with phonation is to facilitate evaluation and design of treatment interventions and for surgical planning, i.e. to enable physicians to assess the outcomes of surgical procedures by using faithful computer simulations. Such simulations are on the horizon with the advent of increasingly more powerful high performance computing and cyberinfrastructure, but they still lack many of the necessary physical models. We also seek to inform non-surgical clinical treatment strategies of voice disorders.

    Biography: Michael W. Plesniak is Professor and Chair of the Department of Mechanical & Aerospace Engineering at The George Washington University, with a secondary appointment in the Department of Biomedical Engineering. He was formerly Professor of Mechanical Engineering at Purdue University and Eugene Kleiner Professor for Innovation in Mechanical Engineering at Polytechnic University in Brooklyn, NY. He served as the Director of the Fluid Dynamics & Hydraulics program at the National Science Foundation from 2002-2006. Prof. Plesniak earned his Ph.D. degree from Stanford University, and his M.S. and B.S degrees from the Illinois Institute of Technology; all in Mechanical Engineering. Dr. Plesniak is a Fellow of AIAA, ASME, the American Physical Society (APS), the American Institute for Medical and Biological Engineering (AIMBE) and the Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS). He has authored over two hundred fifty refereed archival publications, conference papers and presentations. He has presented numerous invited seminars and keynote addresses. His research group is currently studying the physics of phonation and cardiovascular flows. Dr. Plesniak is the Director of GW's Center for Biomimetics and Bioinspired Engineering. Prof. Plesniak was a recipient of the 2017 ASME Fluids Engineering Award, the 2011 NASA DC Space Grant Consortium's Outstanding STEM Faculty Award, awarded to faculty that make an outstanding contribution to STEM that goes above and beyond the classroom. Dr. Plesniak was also named the American Institute for Aeronautics and Astronautics, National Capital Section Engineer of the Year 2010-2011.

    Host: Department of Aerospace and Mechanical Engineering

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

    Location: Seaver Science Library (SSL) - 150

    Audiences: Everyone Is Invited

    Contact: Ashleen Knutsen

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

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  • Riot Games Talk and LoL

    Riot Games Talk and LoL

    Wed, Apr 05, 2017 @ 07:00 PM - 10:00 PM

    Thomas Lord Department of Computer Science

    Workshops & Infosessions


    Riot Games Talk and LoL
    Wednesday 4/5, 7PM // MHP B7B
    An Evening with Riot

    As you're coming back from spring break, we have some exciting events coming up!

    We will be hosting a talk with Riot Games on Wednesday, April 5th at 7pm (location MHP B7B). Rioters will be coming in to speak about the game - primarily champion ideation and design, from a programming, design, and graphics perspective. They will also go over the company, what it's like to work there, and what it takes to work there.

    After the talk, there will be a mini League of Legends tournament of sorts, where you'll get to join a game of LoL with the Rioters! Make sure to sign up below if you would like a chance to play. (We will be selecting players by lottery leading up to the event). Sign ups will close on Sunday, April 2nd at 11:59pm.


    Event RSVP: https://www.facebook.com/events/270662613390090/

    LoL Tournament Sign up: https://docs.google.com/a/usc.edu/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSc3c4w1TFdh9amefCBveNSjpnGXfHMI5JOYsd8gMQ2hftaHkg/viewform?c=0&w=1

    Location: Seeley Wintersmith Mudd Memorial Hall (of Philosophy) (MHP) - B7B

    Audiences: Everyone Is Invited

    Contact: Ryan Rozan

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  • Spring 2017 Academic Career Mentoring Panel

    Thu, Apr 06, 2017 @ 11:30 AM - 03:00 PM

    Viterbi School of Engineering Doctoral Programs

    Workshops & Infosessions


    The Viterbi School of Engineering initiated an Academic Career Mentoring Panel Series to encourage Ph.D. students and postdocs to pursue a rewarding career in academia and research. Distinguished faculty will discuss their academic paths and offer strategic advice and answer your questions. Engineering Ph.D. students and postdocs from all areas and departments are strongly encouraged to attend.

    The Spring 2017 Academic Career Mentoring Panel, "What Surprised Me About Work as a Faculty Member, and What Should I have Done Differently" will be held on Thursday, April 6, 2017, from 11:30am-3:00pm in THH 210.

    RSVP:

    https://uscviterbi.qualtrics.com/SE/?SID=SV_1L0qKdkf1J9pYQl&Q_JFE=0

    Location: Mark Taper Hall Of Humanities (THH) - 210

    Audiences: Ph.D. and Postdoctoral

    Contact: Tracy Charles

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  • Lyman Handy Colloquia

    Thu, Apr 06, 2017 @ 12:45 PM - 01:45 PM

    Mork Family Department of Chemical Engineering and Materials Science

    Conferences, Lectures, & Seminars


    Speaker: Professor Tobias A. Schaedler, Senior Research Scientist, HRL Laboratories, LLC, Malibu, CA

    Talk Title: Additive Manufacturing of Polymer-Derived Ceramics

    Host: Dr. Andrea Hodge

    Location: James H. Zumberge Hall Of Science (ZHS) - 159

    Audiences: Everyone Is Invited

    Contact: Aleessa Atienza

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  • Civil/ENE Viterbi Alumni & Industry Spotlight-Networking Reception

    Thu, Apr 06, 2017 @ 06:30 PM - 08:00 PM

    Viterbi School of Engineering Career Connections

    Workshops & Infosessions


    Students will hear from alumni panelists regarding their academic/professional experiences AND network with companies that hire Civil/Environmental engineering students.
    Food Provided!

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

    Audiences: Undergrad

    Contact: RTH 218 Viterbi Career Connections

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  • USC Viterbi Robotics Open House

    USC Viterbi Robotics Open House

    Fri, Apr 07, 2017 @ 09:00 AM - 05:00 PM

    USC Viterbi School of Engineering, Viterbi School of Engineering K-12 STEM Center

    University Calendar


    The annual Robotics Open House will be on Friday, April 7, 2017, from 9 a.m. - 5 p.m., with all the robotics research labs open for school groups, families, and individuals to view interactive demonstrations to learn about how the next generation of robots will help society in health, manufacturing, education, environmental protection, communication, and homeland security. Demonstrations include research on how swarms of drones communicate to one another autonomously, how underwater robots help protect the oceans, how brain circuitry gives researchers insights into building and programming robots, and how difficult but useful it is to make robots walk instead of roll. There will also be a premiere of the short film, When Dinosaurs Ruled the Earth, about how a child with autism breaks out of his imaginary worlds thanks to a friendship with a robot.
    https://viterbipk12.usc.edu/research/robotics-openhouse/

    More Information: USC Robotics Open House 2017.pdf

    Location: Ronald Tutor Hall of Engineering (RTH) - Check in for maps at courtyard between RTH & EEB (3710 McClintock Ave.)

    Audiences: free event, pre-registration required!

    Contact: Katie Mills

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  • AI Seminar

    Fri, Apr 07, 2017 @ 11:00 AM - 12:00 PM

    Information Sciences Institute

    Conferences, Lectures, & Seminars


    Speaker: Marijn ten Thij, Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam

    Talk Title: Beyond tracking: modelling human behavior through social media

    Abstract: In this talk, I present my ongoing work in modeling human behavior
    using data from online platforms. I will discuss three of my projects
    that focus on two online platforms Wikipedia and Twitter. First, I
    will illustrate how I model the effect of promoting content on the
    page view activity on Wikipedia by using the page view logs provided
    by WikiMedia. I will then discuss the random graph model I designed
    based on data from Twitter, which may be used to mimic the progression
    of a trend through the network of Twitter. Finally, I will talk about
    my current project, where we aim to capture business value from a
    social feed for the Horticulture Industry.



    Biography: Marijn ten Thij is a PhD student in Mathematics at Vrije Universiteit
    Amsterdam, who graduated in Applied Mathematics at the Stochastic
    Operations Research group at the University of Twente. His research
    interest lies in the fields of Complex Science, Network Science and
    Big Data. In 2014, Marijn was a member of the Dutch National
    ThinkTank, where he worked on the question Can Big Data be used to
    make the Netherlands more mobile, more social, and more healthy?
    Marijn lives in Amsterdam and enjoys playing American pool billiards
    in his spare time.

    Host: Emilio Ferrara

    More Info: http://webcastermshd.isi.edu/Mediasite/Play/d5714d851721421a857168a930b571e81d

    Location: 11th floor large conference room

    Audiences: Everyone Is Invited

    Contact: Kary LAU

    Event Link: http://webcastermshd.isi.edu/Mediasite/Play/d5714d851721421a857168a930b571e81d

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

    Fri, Apr 07, 2017 @ 01:00 PM - 01:50 PM

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

    University Calendar


    Join us for a presentation by Dr. Daniel Oppenheimer, Professor of Marketing and Psychology at the UCLA Anderson School of Management, titled "A Dozen (or More) Studies on the Psychology of Decision Making."

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

    Audiences: Everyone Is Invited

    Contact: Ramon Borunda/Academic Services

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  • Seminars in Biomedical Engineering

    Seminars in Biomedical Engineering

    Fri, Apr 07, 2017 @ 02:30 PM - 04:30 PM

    Alfred E. Mann Department of Biomedical Engineering

    Conferences, Lectures, & Seminars


    Speaker: Raymond Goldsworthy, PhD, Associate Professor of Clinical Otolaryngology-Head and Neck Surgery

    Talk Title: TBA

    Series: Seminars in BME (Lab Rotations)

    Biography: http://keck.usc.edu/faculty/raymond-l-goldsworthy/

    Host: Brent Liu, PhD

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

    Audiences: Everyone Is Invited

    Contact: Mischalgrace Diasanta

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  • Ming Hsieh Institute Seminar Series on Integrated Systems

    Fri, Apr 07, 2017 @ 02:30 PM - 04:30 PM

    Ming Hsieh Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering

    Conferences, Lectures, & Seminars


    Speaker: Dr. Hua Wang, Assistant Professor, Georgia Institute of Technology

    Talk Title: Pushing the Envelope of RF mmWave Power Generation by Relearning Ohms Law

    Host: Profs. Hossein Hashemi, Mike Chen, Dina El-Damak, and Mahta Moghaddam

    More Information: MHI Seminar Series IS - Hua Wang.pdf

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

    Audiences: Everyone Is Invited

    Contact: Jenny Lin

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  • Astani Civil and Environmental Engineering Ph.D. Seminar

    Fri, Apr 07, 2017 @ 03:00 PM - 04:00 PM

    Conferences, Lectures, & Seminars


    Speaker: Allyson McGaughey and Joao , TBA

    Talk Title: TBA

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

    Audiences: Everyone Is Invited

    Contact: Evangeline Reyes

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  • NL Seminar - ConversAtion level Syntax SImilarity Metric CASSIM)

    Fri, Apr 07, 2017 @ 03:00 PM - 04:00 PM

    Information Sciences Institute

    Conferences, Lectures, & Seminars


    Speaker: Reihane Boghrati , (USC)

    Talk Title: ConversAtion level Syntax SImilarity Metric CASSIM

    Series: Natural Language Seminar

    Abstract: Abstract: The syntax and semantics of human language can illuminate many individual psychological differences and important dimensions of social interaction. Thus, analysis of language provides important insights into the underlying psychological properties of individuals and groups. Accordingly, psychological and psycholinguistic research has begun incorporating sophisticated representations of semantic content to better understand the connection between word choice and psychological processes. While the majority of language analysis work in psychology has focused on semantics, psychological information is encoded not just in what people say, but how they say it. We introduce ConversAtion level Syntax SImilarity Metric (CASSIM), a novel method for calculating conversation-level syntax similarity. CASSIM estimates the syntax similarity between conversations by automatically generating syntactical representations of the sentences in conversations, estimating the structural differences between them, and calculating an optimized estimate of the conversation-level syntax similarity. Also, we conduct a series of analyses with CASSIM to investigate syntax accommodation in social media discourse. Further, building off of CASSIM, we propose ConversAtion level Syntax SImilarity Metric-Group Representations CASSIM GR. This extension builds generalized representations of syntactic structures of documents, thus allowing researchers to distinguish between people and groups based on syntactic differences.


    Biography: Reihane is a forth year Ph.D student at USC, working with Morteza Dehghani in Computational Social Science Laboratory. She is interested in introducing new methods and computational models to psychology, and more broadly to social sciences. Her work spans the boundary between natural language processing and psychology, as does her intellectual curiosity.

    Host: Marjan Ghazvininejad and Kevin Knight

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

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

    Audiences: Everyone Is Invited

    Contact: Peter Zamar

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

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  • HackForHealth - Cancer Hackathon

    HackForHealth - Cancer Hackathon

    Fri, Apr 07, 2017 @ 05:00 PM - 12:00 AM

    Thomas Lord Department of Computer Science

    Workshops & Infosessions


    Dear Trojan Family,

    In the spirit of the National Cancer Moonshot, The Kuhn Lab at USC is calling upon all Trojans to join to HackForHealth. Together we will spend a weekend building meaningful solutions to the problems that cancer patients and researchers face everyday. All are welcome, regardless of medical background or technical expertise.
    HackForHealth is a cancer-focused hackathon organized by the diverse team of researchers, physicians, students, and patients behind CancerBase -- a digital tool for cancer patients to securely track and share their medical data, powering research into the progression and treatment of cancer. We hope that you can join us from April 7-9 to interact with members of the cancer community and hack together solutions to help them, whether it be an app, website, gadget, or sketch. Projects will be judged by representatives from the National Cancer Institute. The prizes include cash and internship opportunities.

    Register today and let-'s beat cancer together!

    www.hackforhealth.co

    To learn more about HackForHealth, please attended one of our information sessions:

    UPC: March 8th, 2017 - 6pm at THH 202
    HSC: March 15th, 2017 - 6pm at NRT LG 503

    More Information: H4Hposter final.pdf

    Audiences: Everyone Is Invited

    Contact: Ryan Rozan

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  • HackForHealth - Cancer Hackathon

    Sat, Apr 08, 2017 @ 12:00 AM - 12:00 AM

    Thomas Lord Department of Computer Science

    Workshops & Infosessions


    Dear Trojan Family,

    In the spirit of the National Cancer Moonshot, The Kuhn Lab at USC is calling upon all Trojans to join to HackForHealth. Together we will spend a weekend building meaningful solutions to the problems that cancer patients and researchers face everyday. All are welcome, regardless of medical background or technical expertise.
    HackForHealth is a cancer-focused hackathon organized by the diverse team of researchers, physicians, students, and patients behind CancerBase - a digital tool for cancer patients to securely track and share their medical data, powering research into the progression and treatment of cancer. We hope that you can join us from April 7-9 to interact with members of the cancer community and hack together solutions to help them, whether it be an app, website, gadget, or sketch. Projects will be judged by representatives from the National Cancer Institute. The prizes include cash and internship opportunities.

    Register today and let's beat cancer together!

    www.hackforhealth.co

    To learn more about HackForHealth, please attended one of our information sessions:

    UPC: March 8th, 2017 - 6pm at THH 202
    HSC: March 15th, 2017 - 6pm at NRT LG 503

    More Information: H4Hposter final.pdf

    Audiences: Everyone Is Invited

    Contact: Ryan Rozan

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