USC - Viterbi School of Engineering

Apr
23

BME 533 (Seminar in Biomedical Engineering)
Mon, Apr 23, 2012 @ 12:30 PM - 01:50 PM
Alfred E. Mann Department of Biomedical Engineering
Conferences, Lectures, & Seminars

Speaker: Dr. David Meany, University of Pennsylvania

Talk Title: Mechanoregulation of synaptic neurotransmission following traumatic brain injury

Abstract: Mechanical forces influence the development, maintenance, and degeneration of the nervous system at many length scales. At the synaptic scale, mechanical forces can play a role in the formation and maintenance of the synapse. One well studied synaptic receptor, the NMDA receptor (NMDAR), is considered important in regulating neuronal survival during disease or after injury. In this talk, we show the NMDA receptor is mechanosensitive, and this mechanosensitivity is a key aspect that underlies the role of the NMDA receptor in traumatic brain injury. The molecular domains of the NMDA receptor controlling mechanosensitivity are identified, and we use this molecular map to study how local synaptic signaling is modified following NMDAR mechanoactivation. Next, we use simulations of synaptic networks to identify how normal neurotransmission is altered following traumatic injury, and use these data to test the effectiveness of targeting NMDAR subpopulations for reducing neuronal death after injury. Consistent with predictions, results show that the most effective therapeutic approach is not a broad spectrum inhibition of the receptor, but a more targeted approach that stimulates synaptically localized receptors while inhibiting receptors localized extrasynaptically.

Host: BME Department

Location: Olin Hall of Engineering (OHE) - 122
Audiences: Everyone Is Invited

Contact: Mischalgrace Diasanta
Apr
23

Astani Civil and Environmental Engineering Seminar
Mon, Apr 23, 2012 @ 01:00 PM - 02:00 PM
Sonny Astani Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering
Conferences, Lectures, & Seminars

Speaker: Mani Golparvar-Fard , Assistant Professor of Civil Engineering, Director, Real-time and Automated Monitoring and Control (RAAMAC) lab, Virginia Tech

Talk Title: Automated Visual Sensing and Augmented Reality Visualization of Construction Performance Metrics

Abstract: The destructive impact of construction and operation of the built environment in forms of materials, energy consumption, and Green House Gas emissions are becoming increasingly evident. As a result, government agencies are proposing incentive-based regulations for companies to reduce carbon footprint associated with their projects. In this modus operandi, AEC professionals need to find ways by which they can set realistic goals for schedule, cost, and carbon footprint of their projects, systematically track and monitor operations to promptly identify, process, and communicate discrepancies between actual and expected performances. Maintaining focus on these goals in the minutiae of construction activities is still more of an art than a science today. Hence, many projects do not meet their potential performance. Building on advanced computer vision, graphics, and machine learning techniques, this talk addresses how the utilization of images and videos along with BIM can be streamlined to monitor actual performance of a project, highlight deviations from expected performance, and provide an opportunity to initiate proactive actions to avoid them or minimize their impacts. The underlying hypotheses, algorithmic developments, and validations on using 1) video streams for automated construction productivity and environmental impact assessments, along with 2) images and BIM for automated progress and quality assessments are discussed in detail. Experimental results on several challenging datasets are presented and perceived benefits of the proposed methods are discussed. This talk will end with the implications of current and future research aimed at development of visual sensing techniques for automated tracking of productivity, safety, quality, carbon footprint, and visualizing performance deviations in augmented reality environments.

Host: Astani CEE Department

Location: Kaprielian Hall (KAP) - 209
Audiences: Everyone Is Invited

Contact: Cassie Cremeans
Apr
23

Samsung Information Session
Mon, Apr 23, 2012 @ 05:30 PM - 08:00 PM
Viterbi School of Engineering Career Connections
Workshops & Infosessions

This presentation will introduce Samsung's Digital Media Solutions (DMS) Lab in Irvine, CA. We will talk about the past, present and the future of Television and the research areas of the DMS Lab.

This session is oriented towards Computer Science and related majors.
Location: Grace Ford Salvatori Hall Of Letters, Arts & Sciences (GFS) - 106
Audiences: All Viterbi

Contact: RTH 218 Viterbi Career Services
Apr
23

Cofounder of Activision and Director of LA Accelerator, StartEngine, coming to USC campus!
Mon, Apr 23, 2012 @ 07:30 PM - 08:30 PM
Viterbi School of Engineering Student Organizations
Student Activity

Howard Marks closely follows the progress of USC entrepreneurs, and is always looking for new teams for his accelerator program. This evening will provide us a great opportunity to hear his story and learn the necessary steps to get your company started in LA!. Co sponsored with NOBE, MBSG, Eclub (organized by NOBE)
Location: HOH 302
Audiences: Everyone Is Invited

Contact: Associated Students of Biomedical Engineering
Apr
24

A Compelling Reason to Increase the Price of Gas
Tue, Apr 24, 2012 @ 06:00 PM - 08:00 PM
Viterbi School of Engineering Student Organizations
Student Activity

Brian Pallasch, ASCE National Managing Director of Government Relations and Infrastructure Initiatives, will provide a compelling argument of the advantages and disadvantages to increasing the price of gas as well as the importance of engineers being involved in politics.

The official flyer can be viewed here:
http://www.projectpartners.com/society_files/20/ASCE MLAB_Speaker Series_Why Increase Gas Prices_Brian Pallasch (2).pdf

Please RSVP to Oscar Rivera at riverame@usc.edu
Location: Mark Taper Hall Of Humanities (THH) - 106
Audiences: Everyone Is Invited

Contact: American Society of Civil Engineers
Apr
25

Speech Coding and the BroadVoice Speech Codec
Wed, Apr 25, 2012 @ 10:30 AM - 12:00 PM
Ming Hsieh Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering
Conferences, Lectures, & Seminars

Speaker: Juin-Hwey (Raymond) Chen, Ph.D., Broadcom Corporation

Talk Title: Speech Coding and the BroadVoice Speech Codec

Abstract: This talk consists of two parts: Part 1 gives a brief introduction to speech coding in preparation for Part 2, which describes the BroadVoiceÂ® speech codec that was developed by Broadcom and was included in multiple standards for Voice over IP (VoIP) in cable telephony as standardized by CableLabs, SCTE (Society of Cable Telecommunications Engineers), ANSI, and ITU-T. Speech coding is the science and art of reducing the bit-rate needed to represent speech signals while maintaining a certain level of speech quality under given constraints on coding delay and complexity. Previous medium- to low-bit-rate speech coding standards typically have medium to high coding delay and complexity, and are usually encumbered by royalties. In contrast, the BroadVoice speech codec was designed from the outset to be low-delay, low-complexity, high-quality, and most importantly, free of third-party intellectual properties so it can be freely used by anyone without royalty payments. This talk gives a brief historical overview of the development of BroadVoice and also provides a high-level description of the BroadVoice speech coding algorithm. The BroadVoice family of codecs includes a 16 kb/s BroadVoice16â¢ (BV16) narrowband codec and a 32 kb/s BroadVoice32â¢ (BV32) wideband codec. Based on a novel two-stage noise feedback coding structure with vector quantization of excitation, BroadVoice achieves a low algorithmic buffering delay of merely 5 ms and codec complexity of only 12 and 17 MIPS for BV16 and BV32, respectively. The speech quality of BV16 is better than that of the ITU-T G.728, G.729, and 32 kb/s G.726 standards, and the speech quality of BV32 is better than that of the 64 kb/s G.722 standard. Audio demonstrations will be played in this talk. Both BV16 and BV32 are not only royalty-free but also open source with both floating-point and fixed-point C source code freely downloadable (www.broadcom.com/broadvoice).

Biography: Juin-Hwey (Raymond) Chen received his B.S.E.E. degree from National Taiwan University in 1980 and his Master and Ph.D. degrees in Electrical Engineering from University of California, Santa Barbara in 1983 and 1987, respectively. He joined Broadcom Corporation in 2000 and is now a Senior Technical Director there. Prior to joining Broadcom, Raymond spent 8 1/2 years at AT&T Bell Labs and AT&T Labs, three years at Voxware, Inc., and one year at Lucent Technologies. His research focus is on compression and quality enhancement of speech and audio signals. He has more than 50 technical publications and is an inventor of 57 issued United States patents and 35 pending U.S. Patents. He is the primary inventor of the ITU-T G.728 speech coding standard and the BV16 and BV32 speech codecs in the PacketCable, SCTE, ANSI, and ITU-T J.161 and J.361 standards. He is also well-known for inventing a postfiltering speech enhancement technique that is used in most international speech coding standards established since 1987. Throughout his career he has invented numerous speech codecs, many of which are widely used commercially. Raymond was elected a Fellow of the IEEE in 1995. He was also elected a Broadcom Fellow in 2006.

Host: Professor Shrikanth Narayanan

Location: Ronald Tutor Hall of Engineering (RTH) - 320
Audiences: Everyone Is Invited

Contact: Mary Francis
Apr
25

EE Distinguished Lecturer Series
Wed, Apr 25, 2012 @ 03:00 PM - 04:00 PM
Ming Hsieh Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering
Conferences, Lectures, & Seminars

Speaker: Dr. Jelena Kovačević, Director, Center for Bioimage Informatics, Carnegie Mellon University

Talk Title: âProblems in Biological Imaging: Opportunities for Signal Processingâ

Abstract: In recent years, the focus in biological sciences has shifted from understanding single parts of larger systems, a sort of vertical approach, to understanding complex systems at the cellular and molecular levels, a horizontal approach. Thus the revolution of "omics" projects such as genomics and now proteomics. Understanding complexity of biological systems is a task that requires acquisition, analysis and sharing of huge databases, and in particular, high-dimensional databases. Processing such a huge amount of bioimages visually by biologists is inefficient, time-consuming and error-prone. Therefore, we would like to move toward automated, efficient and robust processing of such bioimage data sets. Moreover, some information hidden in the images may not be readily visually available. Thus, we do not only help humans by using sophisticated algorithms for faster and more efficient processing, but also because new knowledge is generated through use of such algorithms.

The ultimate dream is to have distributed yet integrated large bioimage databases which would allow researchers to upload their data, have it processed, share the data, download data as well as platform-optimized code, etc, and all this in a common format. To achieve this goal, we must draw upon a whole host of sophisticated tools from signal processing, machine learning and scientific computing. I will address some of these issues in this presentation, especially those where signal processing expertise can play a significant role.

Biography: Jelena Kovačević received a Ph.D. degree from Columbia University. She then joined Bell Labs, followed by Carnegie Mellon University in 2003, where she is currently a Professor in the Departments of BME and ECE and the Director of the Center for Bioimage Informatics. She received the Belgrade October Prize and the E.I. Jury Award at Columbia University.
She is a coauthor on an SP Society award-winning paper and is a coauthor of the book "Wavelets and Subband Coding." Dr. Kovacevic is the Fellow of the IEEE and was the Editor-in-Chief of the IEEE Transactions on Image Processing. She was a keynote speaker at several meetings and has been involved in organizing numerous conferences. Her research interests include multiresolution techniques and biomedical applications

Host: Dr. Antonio Ortega

More Info: http://ee.usc.edu/news/dls/

Location: John Stauffer Science Lecture Hall (SLH) - 100
Audiences: Everyone Is Invited

Contact: Estela Lopez

Event Link: http://ee.usc.edu/news/dls/
Apr
25

AME Department Seminar
Wed, Apr 25, 2012 @ 03:30 PM - 04:30 PM
Aerospace and Mechanical Engineering
Conferences, Lectures, & Seminars

Speaker: Mitchell D. Smooke, Strathcona Professor of Mechanical Engineering & Materials Science & Applied Physics. Department of Mechanical Engineering. Yale University. New Haven, CT 06520-8284.

Talk Title: Computational and Experimental Study of Laminar Flames

Abstract: As emissions legislation becomes more restrictive, a detailed understanding of pollutant formation in flames has become even more critical for the design of pollutant abatement strategies and for the preservation of the competitiveness of combustion related industries. It is clear that there will be continuing pressure to lower both NOx emission indices and soot volume fractions in practical combustion devices. This is in response to the toxicological effects of small particles and to the impact, for example, that soot can have on thermal radiation loads in combustors and on turbine blades. Moreover, soot emissions can enhance contrail formation and such "man made" clouds may have an impact ultimately on the Earth's climate. In this talk we discuss our research related to the effects of complex chemistry and detailed transport on the structure and extinction of hydrocarbon flames in coflowing axisymmetric configurations. We have pursued both computational and experimental aspects of the research in parallel on both steady-state and time-dependent systems. The computational work has focused on the application of accurate and efficient numerical methods for the solution of the steady-state and time-dependent boundary value problems describing the various reacting systems. Detailed experimental measurements were performed using two-dimensional imaging techniques. Our goal has been to obtain a more fundamental understanding of the important fluid dynamic and chemical interactions in these flames so that this information can be used effectively in combustion modeling.

Host: Prof. Paul Ronney

More Info: http://ame-www.usc.edu/seminars/index.shtml#upcoming

Location: Seaver Science Library (SSL) - 150
Audiences: Everyone Is Invited

Contact: April Mundy

Event Link: http://ame-www.usc.edu/seminars/index.shtml#upcoming
Apr
25

ASBME: Mobile Apps For Medicine
Wed, Apr 25, 2012 @ 07:00 PM - 08:00 PM
Viterbi School of Engineering Student Organizations
Student Activity

Professor Trina Gregory from the USC ITP department will be talking about how smartphone apps are being used in the healthcare industry, and what exciting things we can expect moving forward! Professor Gregory currently teaches ITP499 - Mobile Apps For Medicine.
Location: TCC 227
Audiences: Everyone Is Invited

Contact: Associated Students of Biomedical Engineering
Apr
25

From Poem to Stage
THE FACE by Donald Crockett and David St. John
Wed, Apr 25, 2012 @ 07:30 PM - 09:30 PM
USC Viterbi School of Engineering
Receptions & Special Events

Admission is free. Reservations required. To RSVP, click on the links below beginning Thursday, March 29, at 9 a.m.

USC Students, Staff and Faculty: To RSVP, click here http://www.usc.edu/dept/pubrel/visionsandvoices/RSVP/reserve.php?RSVPEvtCode=206

General Public: To RSVP, click here http://www.usc.edu/dept/pubrel/visionsandvoices/RSVP/reserveGeneral_Multi.php?RSVPEvtCode=206

THE FACE is a multidisciplinary chamber opera featuring music, film and choreography created by USC composer Donald Crockett and USC poet David St. John. Set in Venice Beach, THE FACE tells a deeply compelling story about the price of fame, desire and creativity. The central character, a poet named Raphael, struggles with the recent loss of his lover/muse while juggling the demands of a movie being made about his life and his increasing notoriety. The narrative is both passionate and raw in its candor, offering an insightful view of the human condition.

The artistic team for the production includes the innovative Parisian stage director/filmmaker Paul Desveaux and renowned European choreographer Yano Iatrides. An exceptional international cast includes acclaimed British tenor Daniel Norman as Raphael; American lyric baritone Thomas Meglioranza as the movie producer, Memphis; American mezzo-soprano Janna Baty as the director, Infanta; and young Australian soprano Jane Sheldon as the actress, Cybele.

The event will include an introduction by composer Donald Crockett followed by a semi-staged performance of selected scenes accompanied by the USC Thornton Contemporary Music Ensemble. Short readings from the original novella in verse by eminent poet and USC professor David St. John will be interspersed between scenes. A Q&A with members of the creative team and the cast will follow.

Related Events:
From Poem to Stage: THE FACE is a multi-event residency that will offer a rare behind-the-scenes look into the process of transforming an idea (in this case a novella in verse) into a 21st-century multidisciplinary chamber opera.

Monday, April 23, 6 p.m.
Lloyd Sound Stage
Open musical rehearsal with an introduction by composer Donald Crockett.

Tuesday, April 24, 5 p.m.
Bovard Auditorium
Open dance/movement rehearsal with an introduction by choreographer Yano Iatrides.

Tuesday, April 24, 6:15 p.m.
Bovard Auditorium
Open stage rehearsal with an introduction by stage director Paul Desveaux.

Thursday, April 26, 11 a.m.
Location TBA
A panel discussion will explore a variety of aspects related to the development of this multidisciplinary production. Panelists will include poet/librettist David St. John, composer Donald Crockett, director Paul Desveaux, choreographer Yano Iatrides, producer Kate Vincent, USC Thornton faculty Chris Sampson and Brian Head and USC theatre faculty Sharon Carnicke.

Organized by the USC Thornton School of Music.

Photo: Katherine Vincent

For further information on this event:
visionsandvoices@usc.edu
Location: George Finley Bovard Administration Building (ADM) - Bovard Auditorium
Audiences: Everyone Is Invited

Contact: Daria Yudacufski
Apr
26

ISI 40th Anniversary Seminar
Thu, Apr 26, 2012 @ 01:00 PM - 05:00 PM
Thomas Lord Department of Computer Science, Information Sciences Institute, Ming Hsieh Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering, USC Viterbi School of Engineering
Conferences, Lectures, & Seminars

Speaker: Five eminent IT experts, from five distinguished institutions

Talk Title: The USC Information Sciences Institute, From Beginnings to Now

Abstract: George Bekey, How ISI came to USC; Bob Kahn, Internet/networking; Rod Beckstrom, Internet/ICANN; Bert Sutherland, MOSIS creation; Bill Swartout, AI evolution; Herb Schorr, Closing Remarks

Biography: ISI celebrates its 40th birthday this year. This program illustrates its achievements.

Host: Herbert Schorr

More Information: ISI 40th Anniversary Seminar program.pdf
Location: Marina del Rey Hotel, Marina del Rey Hotel, 13534 Bali Way, MdR.
Audiences: Everyone Is Invited

Contact: Eric Mankin
Apr
27

Meet USC: Admission Presentation, Campus Tour, & Engineering Talk
Fri, Apr 27, 2012
Viterbi School of Engineering Undergraduate Admission
Receptions & Special Events

This half day program is designed for prospective freshmen 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. 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 visit https://esdweb.esd.usc.edu/unresrsvp/MeetUSC.aspx to check availability and make an appointment. Be sure to list an Engineering major as your "intended major" on the webform!
Location: Ronald Tutor Campus Center (TCC) - USC Admission Office
Audiences: Everyone Is Invited

Contact: Viterbi Admission
Apr
27

USC Physical Sciences in Oncology Center
Fri, Apr 27, 2012 @ 11:45 AM - 01:00 PM
Alfred E. Mann Department of Biomedical Engineering
Conferences, Lectures, & Seminars

Speaker: Dr. Mingming Wu, Associate Professor, Biological and Environmental Engineering Department, Cornell University

Talk Title: Microfluidics for Cancer Cell Chemotaxis

Abstract: The emerging field of micro-technology has opened up new possibilities for exploring cellular chemotaxis in real time and space, and at single cell resolution. Cancer cell chemotaxis plays important roles in cancer metastasis, where cancer cells break away from the primary tumors, migrate through the interstitial space, and establish secondary tumors at foreign sites. It is known that cells of many cancer types metastasize to lymph nodes. Despite its clinical importance, the physical and molecular cues that cancer cells use to navigate and migrate around lymph nodes are far from understood. In this talk, I will present efforts from my lab (biofluidics.bee.cornell.edu) in studying cancer cell migrating in well defined chemokine gradients, slow fluid flows (i.e. engineered interstitial flow), and biomatrix stiffness. We use microfluidic 3D in vitro model to provide physiologically realistic, 3D, microenvironment for cells, advanced imaging systems to follow cancer dynamics within a lymphoidal like environment. Using a malignant breast cancer cell line (MDA-MB-231) as a model system, we found that cancer cell migration is tightly controlled by the chemokine gradients, the compliance of the 3D biomatrix, and the intersitial fluid flows.

Biography: Mingming Wu received her PhD in Physics from the Ohio State University in the United States in 1992, and was a postdoctoral researcher in Ecole Polytechnique, France in year 1992 and University of California at Santa Barbara in 1993- 1995. In year 1996, she joined the physics department at Occidental College in Los Angeles as an assistant/associate professor. Since 2003, she is an adjunct associate professor in the engineering college at Cornell University. Her current research interests are: Bio-inspired engineering, microfluidics and quantitative imaging. Her role in the PS-OC center is to use advanced imaging, as well as micro-fabrication techniques to explore dynamic processes in cancer metastatic cascades.

Host: Center for Applied Molecular Medicine

More Information: USC-PSOC_MonthlySeminar.pdf
Location: Clinical Science Center (CSC) - Harkness Auditorium
Audiences: Everyone Is Invited

Contact: Kristina Gerber
Apr
27

Senior Design Expo
Fri, Apr 27, 2012 @ 01:00 PM - 03:00 PM
Viterbi School of Engineering Student Affairs
Student Activity

Join students, faculty, staff and industry partners at the 4th annual KIUEL Senior Design Expo to recognize the capstone projects of Viterbi seniors! Learn how you can apply your current classes to future engineering projects and support the hard work of your fellow students, as well as vote for your favorite project.

To learn more about the Senior Design Expo and KIUEL, visit viterbi.usc.edu/kiuel
Audiences: Undergrad

Contact: Christine D'Arcy
Apr
27

Integrated Systems Seminar Series
Fri, Apr 27, 2012 @ 02:30 PM - 04:00 PM
Ming Hsieh Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering
Conferences, Lectures, & Seminars

Speaker: Prof. Kenneth K. O, University of Texas Dallas

Talk Title: Sub-millimeter Wave CMOS Integrated Circuits and Systems

Host: Hossein Hashemi

More Information: Seminar_Speaker_kenneth O_2012_4_27.pdf
Location: Hughes Aircraft Electrical Engineering Center (EEB) - 248
Audiences: Everyone Is Invited

Contact: Hossein Hashemi

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