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Events for May 09, 2018

  • Repeating EventSix Sigma Green Belt for Process Improvement

    Wed, May 09, 2018

    Executive Education

    Conferences, Lectures, & Seminars


    Abstract: Learn how to integrate principles of business, statistics, and engineering to achieve tangible results. Master the use of Six Sigma to quantify the critical quality issues in your company. Once the issues have been quantified, statistics can be applied to provide probabilities of success and failure. Six Sigma methods increase productivity and enhance quality.

    More Info: https://viterbiexeced.usc.edu/engineering-program-areas/six-sigma-lean-certification/six-sigma-green-belt-process-improvement/

    Audiences: Registered Attendees

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    Contact: Corporate & Professional Programs

    Event Link: https://viterbiexeced.usc.edu/engineering-program-areas/six-sigma-lean-certification/six-sigma-green-belt-process-improvement/

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  • PhD Defense- Haifeng Xu

    Wed, May 09, 2018 @ 10:00 AM - 12:00 PM

    Thomas Lord Department of Computer Science

    University Calendar


    Title: Information as A Double-Edged Sword in Strategic Interactions

    PhD Candidate: Haifeng Xu

    Committee:
    Shaddin Dughmi (Chair), Milind Tambe (Chair), David Kempe, Detlof von Winterfeldt, Vincent Conitzer, Odilon Camara.

    Location & Time: SSL 150, 10 - 12 pm May 9th.

    Abstract:

    Strategic interactions among self-interested agents (a.k.a., games) are ubiquitous, ranging from economic activity in daily life and the Internet to defender-adversary interactions in national security. A key variable influencing agents' strategic decision making is the information they have available about their environment as well as the preferences and actions of others. In this talk, I will describe my work on computational questions pertaining to the role of information in games. In particular, I will illustrate the double-edged role of information through two threads of my research: (1) how to utilize information to one's own advantage in strategic interactions; (2) how to mitigate losses resulting from information leakage to an adversary. In each part, I will demonstrate how the study of fundamental theoretical questions sheds light on executable solutions to real-world problems in security applications including, e.g., delivered software to the Federal Air Marshal Service for improving the scheduling of US federal air marshals.

    Location: 150

    Audiences: Everyone Is Invited

    Contact: Lizsl De Leon

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  • PhD Defense- Sean Mason

    Wed, May 09, 2018 @ 10:00 AM - 12:00 PM

    Thomas Lord Department of Computer Science

    University Calendar



    Title: Optimization Based Whole-Body Control and Reactive Planning for a Torque Controlled Humanoid Robot

    PhD Candidate: Sean Mason

    Date and Time: Wednesday May 9, 2018 at 10:00 AM in RTH 406

    Committee: Stefan Schaal (Chair), Gaurav Sukatme, James Finley, Ludovic Righetti

    Abstract:
    Humanoid robots are expected to both locomote and interact with objects within unstructured environments. As robot hardware technologies have advanced, high-bandwidth, torque-controlled robots have become more widely-available as research platforms. In this work, I explore optimization-based methods for planning and control of a humanoid robot. I focus on the importance of controlling contact interactions with the environment for the tasks of balancing and walking of a bipedal system. This work is driven by and centered on the challenge of real robot implementations, and thus addresses the questions that come along with designing control algorithms for real systems. I will present lightweight control algorithms for whole-body balance, a model-predictive control approach to walking while using hands, and show extensive experiments on a humanoid robot.

    Location: Ronald Tutor Hall of Engineering (RTH) - 406

    Audiences: Everyone Is Invited

    Contact: Lizsl De Leon

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  • PhD Defense - Kyriakos Zarifis

    Wed, May 09, 2018 @ 01:00 PM - 03:00 PM

    Thomas Lord Department of Computer Science

    University Calendar


    Title: Making Web Transfers More Efficient

    PhD Candidate: Kyriakos Zarifis

    Date: 05-09-18
    1pm
    SAL 322

    Committee:
    Ethan Katz-Bassett (Chair)
    Ramesh Govindan
    Konstantinos Psounis (Outside)

    Abstract:
    Delays in web applications have been repeatedly shown to negatively impact business revenues. In this dissertation we perform studies related to Web transfer delays specific to propagation delay due to inflated paths, and delays in transferring data between servers and clients due to inefficient use of the communication channels.
    Previous research has shown that the shortest path between a client and a server is not always selected, due to routing protocol policy-based decisions. We develop a methodology identify root causes of path inflation, specifically focusing on mobile traffic directed to Google servers, in order to understand the evolution of the infrastructure of mobile carrier networks and how it can affect user experience.
    Once a connection has been established, information is exchanged between the two hosts according to rules defined by HTTP, the application layer protocol used for today's Web transfers. In this work we develop a model of the new version of HTTP/2 and pass through it a large dataset of HTTP/1 traces, in order to understand the performance implications of deploying the new version of the protocol in the wild. Our study exposes several opportunities for improvements, specifically using a new feature that allows a server to send to the client an object without the client requesting it. Generalizing from that observation, we design, develop and evaluate a system that allows CDNs to utilize idle network time around page downloads to send to the client content that the client is expected to request in the current or next page navigation. We show that if implemented correctly, speculative content prepositioning on the client can achieve a performance improvement comparable to having a page loaded on the client cache.

    Location: 322

    Audiences: Everyone Is Invited

    Contact: Lizsl De Leon

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