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Events for April 21, 2016

  • Ultrafast & Broadband Photonic Signal Processing

    Thu, Apr 21, 2016 @ 02:00 PM - 03:00 PM

    Ming Hsieh Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering

    Conferences, Lectures, & Seminars


    Speaker: Andrew M. Weiner, Purdue University

    Talk Title: Ultrafast & Broadband Photonic Signal Processing

    Abstract: Lasers capable of generating picosecond and femtosecond pulses of light are now firmly established and widely deployed. Going beyond simple pulse generation, the programmable shaping of ultrafast laser fields into arbitrary waveforms has resulted in substantial impact, both enabling new ultrafast science and contributing to applications in high-speed signal transmission. The lecture begins with an introduction to methods permitting shaping of ultrafast laser fields on time scales too fast for direct electronic control. Recent research areas in the Purdue University Ultrafast Optics and Fiber Communications Laboratory drawing on ultrafast pulse shaping are then reviewed. I first discuss photonically-assisted radio-frequency arbitrary waveform generation with application to spatial and temporal focusing of ultrabroadband wireless signals distorted by antennas or multiply scattering indoor propagation environments. In a second example, I describe recent experiments in which pulse shaping is applied in the regime of quantum optics to manipulate the wave packets of correlated photon pairs. A final example pertains to broadband optical frequency comb fields generated via nonlinear wave mixing in chip-scale microresonators pumped by a single-frequency laser. Line-by-line shaping of such fields permits compression into high repetition rate femtosecond pulse trains and furnishes insight into their coherence.


    Biography: Andrew Weiner is the Scifres Family Distinguished Professor of Electrical and Computer Engineering at Purdue University. In 2008 he was elected to membership in the National Academy of Engineering and in 2009 was named a Department of Defense National Security Science and Engineering Faculty Fellow. Weiner has served a three year term as Chair of the National Academy's U.S. Frontiers of Engineering Meeting; at present he serves as Editor-in-chief of Optics Express, an all-electronic, open access journal publishing more than 3000 papers a year emphasizing innovations in all aspects of optics and photonics. After Prof. Weiner earned his Sc.D. in electrical engineering in 1984 from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, he joined Bellcore, at that time a premier telecommunications industry research organization, first as Member of Technical Staff and later as Manager of Ultrafast Optics and Optical Signal Processing Research. He joined Purdue as Professor in 1992, and has since graduated over 35 Ph.D. students. Prof. Weiner has also spent sabbaticals at the Max Born Institute for Nonlinear Optics and Ultrashort Pulse Spectroscopy, Berlin, Germany and at JILA, University of Colorado and National Institute of Standards and Technology, Boulder, Colorado.

    Prof. Weiner's research focuses on ultrafast optics, with a focus on processing of extremely high speed lightwave signals and ultrabroadband radio-frequency signals. He is especially well known for his pioneering work on programmable generation of arbitrary ultrashort pulse waveforms, which has found application both in fiber optic networks and in ultrafast optical science laboratories around the world.

    Prof. Weiner is author of a textbook entitled Ultrafast Optics, has published eight book chapters, over 300 journal articles, and over 500 conference papers, and is inventor of 18 U.S. patents. His numerous awards include the Hertz Foundation Doctoral Thesis Prize (1984), the Optical Society of America's Adolph Lomb Medal (1990) and R.W. Wood Prize (2008), the International Commission on Optics Prize (1997), and the IEEE Photonics Society's William Streifer Scientific Achievement Award (1999) and Quantum Electronics Prize (2011). At Purdue he has been recognized with the inaugural Research Excellence Award from the Schools of Engineering (2003), the Provost's Outstanding Graduate Student Mentor Award (2008), the Herbert Newby McCoy Award for outstanding contributions on the natural sciences (2013), and the College of Engineering Mentoring Award (2014).

    Host: Andreas Molisch, molisch@usc.edu, EEB 530, x04670

    Location: Henry Salvatori Computer Science Center (SAL) - 322

    Audiences: Everyone Is Invited

    Contact: Gerrielyn Ramos

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  • Repeating EventDepartment of Astronautical Engineering: Presentation on Lessons from Columbia by Matthew Melis

    Thu, Apr 21, 2016 @ 03:00 PM - 05:00 PM

    Astronautical Engineering

    Conferences, Lectures, & Seminars


    Speaker: Matthew Melis, NASA Glenn Research Center

    Talk Title: Lessons from Columbia A Decade Later

    Abstract: Matt Melis provides a detailed look into the inner workings of the Space Shuttle and a behind the scenes perspective on the impact analysis and testing done for the Columbia Accident Investigation and NASA's Return to Flight programs. His presentation is full of rich, still and motion picture imagery, and, although technical, is easily understood by all audiences. In addition, highlights from recent Shuttle missions are presented demonstrating how NASA conducted its operations differently and more safely, post Columbia, through better imagery, better analysis, and enhanced best practices.

    Biography: Matt received both a BS in Civil Engineering and an MS in Engineering Mechanics from Michigan State University and has worked at the NASA Glenn Research Center for thirty two years. His primary area of focus is in advanced finite element modeling and analysis methods including nonlinear and dynamic impact loading. Trained in engineering mechanics, he has been recognized for expertise in actively cooled structures, stress analysis, ballistic impact research, and multi physics analysis during his tenure at the Research Center. He has worked on numerous aeronautics and space programs for the agency including the International Space Station, the Space Shuttle, and NASA's Exploration Program. In the four and one half years that followed the Columbia accident, Matt was assigned full time to working the Columbia Accident Investigation and the Shuttle Return to Flight Program as technical lead of the NASA Glenn Ballistic Impact team. Most recent Matt has worked on landing impact testing of various design concepts for the Orion crew module and is currently a program sub-element lead for a cryogenic fluid management program at NASA Glenn.

    In addition to his technical commitments, Matt also devotes significant effort to public outreach and teaching for NASA at all levels of education as well as conferences pertaining to Ballistic Impact Research, The Columbia Accident Investigation, NASA's Return to Flight and the Space Shuttle Program. Organizations he has spoken to include: The National Transportation and Safety Board, The Nuclear Regulatory Commission, Dartmouth College, The Canadian Royal Astronomical Society, Ontario Science Center, Ivey Business School in Canada, The University of Reykjavik, Iceland, The American Society for Metals, Skywalker Sound, Industrial Light and Magic, and the London Science Festival.



    Host: Department of Astronautical Engineering, Ad Astra Student Society, VGSA

    Location: John Stauffer Science Lecture Hall (SLH) - 100

    Audiences: Everyone Is Invited

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    Contact: Norma Perry

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