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Events for the 5th week of January

  • Repeating EventEiS Communications Hub Drop-In Hours

    Mon, Jan 29, 2024 @ 10:00 AM - 01:00 PM

    Viterbi School of Engineering Student Affairs

    Workshops & Infosessions


    Viterbi Ph.D. students are invited to stop by the EiS Communications Hub for one-on-one instruction for their academic and professional communications tasks. All instruction is provided by Viterbi faculty at the Engineering in Society Program.

    Location: Ronald Tutor Hall of Engineering (RTH) - 222A

    Audiences: Viterbi Ph.D. Students

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    Contact: Helen Choi

    Event Link: https://sites.google.com/usc.edu/eishub/home?authuser=0

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  • CSC/CommNetS-MHI Seminar: Eva Kanso

    Mon, Jan 29, 2024 @ 02:00 PM - 03:00 PM

    Ming Hsieh Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering

    Conferences, Lectures, & Seminars


    Speaker: Dr. Eva Kanso, Professor of Aerospace and Mechanical Engineering | Professor of Physics and Astronomy | University of Southern California

    Talk Title: Insights into physical intelligence from individual and collective animal behavior

    Series: CSC/CommNetS-MHI Seminar Series

    Abstract:


    I will discuss three problems inspired by Nature: (i) the snap-through instability utilized in plants and animals to generate rapid motions accompanied by a release of elastically- stored energy; (ii) synchrony and biological functions of cilia beating in human tissues; and (iii) spontaneous transitions in the emergent collective phases in fish schools. From these examples, I will draw and discuss three paradigms of “mechanical intelligence” that may be incorporated in the design of engineered systems.




    Biography:


    Eva Kanso is a Professor in the Department of Aerospace and Mechanical Engineering and the Department of Physics and Astronomy at the University of Southern California, where she also holds the named chair “Z. H. Kaprielian Fellow in Engineering”". Kanso earned PhD and Masters degrees in Mechanical Engineering (1999, 2003) and Applied Mathematics (2002) from UC Berkeley, followed by a post-doctoral training at Caltech (2003-2005). She served as a Program Director at the National Science Foundation (2021-2023). Kanso's research focuses on studying fundamental problems in the biophysics of cellular and subcellular processes and the physics of animal behavior, both at the individual and collective levels. A central theme in her work is the role of the mechanical environment, specifically the fluid medium and fluid-structure interactions, in shaping and driving biological functions.




    Host: Dr. Mihailo Jovanovic

    More Information: 2024.01.29 Seminar - Eva Kanso.pdf

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

    Audiences: Everyone Is Invited

    Contact: Miki Arlen

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  • How to Develop an Effective Resume and Cover Letter

    Tue, Jan 30, 2024 @ 12:00 PM - 01:00 PM

    Viterbi School of Engineering Career Connections

    Workshops & Infosessions


    THIS EVENT WILL BE HOSTED HYBRID: IN-PERSON & ONLINE SIMULTANEOUSLY
    Zoom link: https://usc.zoom.us/meeting/register/tJwod-qgqj4rHNzPd-Bs-MCcxUijIGkQwc3K
    Does your resume highlight the skills that will land an interview? Review tips and tricks on how to best showcase yourself to employers by attending this professional development Q&A moderated by Viterbi Career Connection staff. Have your resume ready to take notes and make modifications in real time!  
    For more information about all workshops, please visit  viterbicareers.usc.edu/workshops.

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

    Audiences: All Viterbi

    Contact: RTH 218 Viterbi Career Connections

    Event Link: https://usc.zoom.us/meeting/register/tJwod-qgqj4rHNzPd-Bs-MCcxUijIGkQwc3K

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  • Epstein Institute, ISE 651 Seminar Class

    Tue, Jan 30, 2024 @ 03:30 PM - 04:50 PM

    Daniel J. Epstein Department of Industrial and Systems Engineering

    Conferences, Lectures, & Seminars


    Speaker: Dr. David E. Bernal Neira, Assistant Professor Davidson School of Chemical Engineering, Purdue University

    Talk Title: Discrete Nonlinear Optimization: Modeling and Solutions Via Novel Hardware and Decomposition Algorithms

    Host: Dr. Andres Gomez

    More Information: January 30, 2024.pdf

    Location: Social Sciences Building (SOS) - SOS Building, B2

    Audiences: Everyone Is Invited

    Contact: Grace Owh

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  • MFD Spring Seminars- Distinguished Lecture Series

    Tue, Jan 30, 2024 @ 04:00 PM - 05:20 PM

    Mork Family Department of Chemical Engineering and Materials Science

    Conferences, Lectures, & Seminars


    Speaker: David Muller , Cornell University

    Talk Title: A new way to image atoms

    Abstract: Electron microscopes use electrons with wavelengths of a few picometers and are potentially capable of imaging individual atoms in solids at a resolution ultimately set by the intrinsic size of an atom. Until very recently, the best resolution was more than an order magnitude worse than this. This was caused by two things – first the intrinsic aberrations in electron lenses are much worse than for optical lenses – it would be like trying to use a beer bottle as a magnifying glass. Second, electrons are multiply scattered inside the sample – a process described by Hans Bethe over 90 years ago. It’s been a headache for electron microscopists ever since, but with our recent advances in detector technology and ptychographic reconstruction algorithms, the resolution of the electron microscope is now limited only by the dose to the sample, and thermal vibrations of the atoms themselves [1]. These approaches have also allowed us to image the internal structures of both magnetic and ferroelectric vortices, skyrmions and merons, including their singular points that are critical for accurately describing the topological properties of these field textures. The reduced sensitivity to chromatic aberrations also makes these ptychographic approaches of interest for thick biological samples such as 3D reconstructions of whole cells.

    Host: Mork Family Department

    Location: James H. Zumberge Hall Of Science (ZHS) - 252

    Audiences: Everyone Is Invited

    Contact: Monique Garcia

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  • DEN@Viterbi: How to Apply Virtual Info Session

    Tue, Jan 30, 2024 @ 05:00 PM - 06:00 PM

    DEN@Viterbi, Viterbi School of Engineering Graduate Admission

    Workshops & Infosessions


    Join USC Viterbi representatives for a step-by-step guide and tips for how to apply for formal admission into a Master's degree or Graduate Certificate program. The session is intended for individuals who wish to pursue a graduate degree program completely online via USC Viterbi's flexible online DEN@Viterbi delivery method. Attendees will have the opportunity to connect directly with USC Viterbi representatives and ask questions about the admission process throughout the session. 

    WebCast Link: https://uscviterbi.webex.com/weblink/register/rc0e92dfc7c31f0a384044a1697dd47d4

    Audiences: Everyone Is Invited

    Contact: Corporate & Professional Programs

    Event Link: https://uscviterbi.webex.com/weblink/register/rc0e92dfc7c31f0a384044a1697dd47d4

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  • Trojan Talk with Veeva Systems

    Tue, Jan 30, 2024 @ 05:00 PM - 06:30 PM

    Viterbi School of Engineering Career Connections

    Workshops & Infosessions


    Location: Gwynn Wilson Student Union (STU) - B3

    Audiences: All Viterbi

    Contact: RTH 218 Viterbi Career Connections

    Event Link: https://careers.usc.edu/events/2024/01/30/trojan-talk-with-veeva-systems/

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  • Bloomberg Engineering Competition

    Tue, Jan 30, 2024 @ 05:30 PM - 09:00 PM

    Viterbi School of Engineering Career Connections

    Workshops & Infosessions


    Join Bloomberg Engineering for a competition in which teams of four use creativity, lateral thinking, and teamwork to solve logic puzzles. The winning team will compete in our global competition in NYC this spring!  
     
    BPuzzled by Bloomberg
    Tuesday, January 30 5:30 – 9:00 pm
    Location: Ronald Tutor Hall Room 211 
    Please bring your laptop and charger. Dinner provided.  
     
    Video instructions on team creation and event: http://puzl.ink/howto Audience: Computer Science majors, undergraduate students      

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

    Audiences: Everyone Is Invited

    Contact: RTH 218 Viterbi Career Connections

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  • Repeating EventEiS Communications Hub Drop-In Hours

    Wed, Jan 31, 2024 @ 10:00 AM - 01:00 PM

    Viterbi School of Engineering Student Affairs

    Workshops & Infosessions


    Viterbi Ph.D. students are invited to stop by the EiS Communications Hub for one-on-one instruction for their academic and professional communications tasks. All instruction is provided by Viterbi faculty at the Engineering in Society Program.

    Location: Ronald Tutor Hall of Engineering (RTH) - 222A

    Audiences: Viterbi Ph.D. Students

    View All Dates

    Contact: Helen Choi

    Event Link: https://sites.google.com/usc.edu/eishub/home?authuser=0

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  • Computer Science General Faculty Meeting

    Wed, Jan 31, 2024 @ 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: Invited Faculty Only

    Contact: Assistant to CS Chair

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  • CCI, AAI, and MHI Joint Seminar Series - Baxi Chong (Georgia Tech): Gait coding scheme for multi-legged robots

    Wed, Jan 31, 2024 @ 02:00 PM - 03:00 PM

    Thomas Lord Department of Computer Science

    Conferences, Lectures, & Seminars


    Speaker: Baxi Chong, Georgia Tech

    Talk Title: Gait coding scheme for multi-legged robots

    Abstract: While the transport of matter by wheeled vehicles or legged robots can be guaranteed in engineered landscapes like roads or rails, locomotion prediction in complex environments like collapsed buildings or crop fields remains challenging. Inspired by principles of information transmission which allow signals to be reliably transmitted over noisy channels, we develop a “matter transport" framework demonstrating that non-inertial locomotion can be provably generated over “noisy" rugose landscapes (heterogeneities on the scale of locomotor dimensions). Experiments confirm that sufficient spatial redundancy in the form of seriallyconnected legged robots leads to reliable transport on such terrain without requiring sensing and control.  
     
    Despite robustness, locomotors with excessively redundant legs are often practically unfavored because of limited efficiency and applicability. Analogous to signal transmission, we further improve locomotion efficiency by properly coordinating (coding) the redundant legs. The challenges of such coding partially lie on the high dimensionality associated with the additional legs and the emergent importance of inter-leg centralized coordination. Specifically, we need a top-down approach to analyze the central coordination among the additional legs, and further design how it should adapt to different environments. We use geometric mechanics, a mathematical framework for studying locomotion in various systems, for motion planning in multi-legged robots operating in complex environments. As a result, open-loop operation on multi-legged robots achieves remarkable performance on terrains with different types and levels of complexity. Additionally, analogies from communication theory coupled to advances in coding for error detection/correction further improve the locomotion efficiency and robustness via centralized adaptation (using simple contact sensors to estimate environmental uncertainty). This research contributes to the field of legged robot locomotion, providing new possibilities for designing effective and adaptable robots for challenging environments.  
     
    This lecture satisfies requirements for CSCI 591: Research Colloquium  
     
    Zoom Link: https://usc.zoom.us/j/98624281836?pwd=ajJSWGRvbkRpUVgvRC9nOXd5K29TZz09  
     
    Meeting ID: 986 2428 1836 Passcode: CPS24

    Biography: Dr. Baxi Chong is a postdoctoral fellow at the CRAB (Complex Rheology And Biomechanics) Lab in the School of Physics at Georgia Tech. His research focuses on locomotion, aiming to diversify robot morphology with reference to evolutionary biology. Dr. Chong has contributed to high-impact journals and conferences such as Science, PNAS, IJRR, and RSS. Additionally, he actively serves as a reviewer for robotics conferences and journals, including ICRA, IROS, IJRR, and TRO. Dr. Chong obtained his Ph.D. from Georgia Tech and his Bachelor of Engineering from the University of Hong Kong.

    Host: Pierluigi Nuzzo and Feifei Qian

    More Info: https://usc.zoom.us/j/98624281836?pwd=ajJSWGRvbkRpUVgvRC9nOXd5K29TZz09

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

    Audiences: Everyone Is Invited

    Contact: CS Events

    Event Link: https://usc.zoom.us/j/98624281836?pwd=ajJSWGRvbkRpUVgvRC9nOXd5K29TZz09

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  • Where are the Jobs? Uncovering the Hidden Job Market

    Wed, Jan 31, 2024 @ 03:00 PM - 04:00 PM

    Viterbi School of Engineering Career Connections

    Workshops & Infosessions


      THIS EVENT WILL BE HOSTED HYBRID: IN-PERSON & ONLINE SIMULTANEOUSLY Zoom link: https://usc.zoom.us/meeting/register/tJYsd-quqzsoH9Up_tqxCoIfpoUYcnJDGssj Increase your career and internship knowledge on networking by attending this professional development Q&A moderated by Viterbi Career Connections staff. For more information about all workshops, please visit viterbicareers.usc.edu/workshops.

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

    Audiences: All Viterbi

    Contact: RTH 218 Viterbi Career Connections

    Event Link: https://usc.zoom.us/meeting/register/tJYsd-quqzsoH9Up_tqxCoIfpoUYcnJDGssj

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  • AME Seminar

    Wed, Jan 31, 2024 @ 03:30 PM - 04:30 PM

    Aerospace and Mechanical Engineering

    Conferences, Lectures, & Seminars


    Speaker: Rui (Ray) Xu , Stanford University

    Talk Title: Enabling Sustainable Propulsion and Clean Energy Transitions: Reacting Flow Modeling across molecular to continuum scales

    Abstract: While the global demand for air travel continues to rise, the aerospace carbon footprint is increasingly concerning. In the near term, it is highly desirable for the rational design, efficient certification, and massive production of carbon-neutral fuels to mitigate greenhouse emissions. Furthermore, future aerospace vehicles will be integrated with highly efficient and high-speed propulsion devices using clean and renewable energy sources. The design of these sustainable and high-speed propulsion systems requires a fundamental understanding of reacting flow physics across multiple scales, featuring interactions between the molecular and the continuum flow scale.
    In this talk, I will present state-of-the-art approaches to multiscale reacting flow modeling of sustainable aerospace energy carriers. The modeling spans from molecular scale using GPU-enabled quantum chemistry computation to continuum scale gas dynamics and turbulence-resolved flow modeling. I will first emphasize the reacting flow modeling of bio-derived sustainable aviation fuel (SAF), which is considered a near-term alternative to conventional jet fuels. I will then discuss the study of methane and natural gas as potential transition fuels, along with hydrogen and battery technologies for the long-term future. I envision that the presented approach will help not only to enable sustainable aviation but also to advance a clean and sustainable transition in the future energy landscape.

    Biography: Rui (Ray) Xu is a Postdoctoral Scholar in the Department of Chemistry at Stanford University and the PULSE Institute in the SLAC National Accelerator Laboratory. His research centers around multiscale reacting flow modeling to enable sustainable aerospace propulsion and clean energy transitions. Dr. Xu obtained his Ph.D. in Mechanical Engineering from Stanford University, his M.S. in Mechanical Engineering from Northwestern University, and his B.S. in Mechanical Engineering from Shanghai Jiao Tong University. He is the recipient of the ACS Wiley Computers in Chemistry Outstanding Postdoc Award in 2024 and the ACTC AFOSR Scholar Award in 2022.

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

    Webcast: https://usc.zoom.us/j/95892885119?pwd=QXZOZUhrcTJRYk5qZzZwVThrTytVZz09

    Location: James H. Zumberge Hall Of Science (ZHS) - 252

    WebCast Link: https://usc.zoom.us/j/95892885119?pwd=QXZOZUhrcTJRYk5qZzZwVThrTytVZz09

    Audiences: Everyone Is Invited

    Contact: Tessa Yao

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

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  • PhD Thesis Proposal - Matthew Ferland

    Thu, Feb 01, 2024 @ 12:30 AM - 02:00 PM

    Thomas Lord Department of Computer Science

    University Calendar


    Event: PhD Thesis Proposal (Matthew Ferland)
     
    Committee: Shanghua Teng, David Kempe, Jiapeng Zhang, Shaddin Dughmi, and Larry Goldstein
     
    Date: February 1, 2024, 12:30pm – 2:00pm
     
    Title: Exploring the complexity landscape of combinatorial games
     
    Abstract: People have been playing games since before written history, and many of the earliest games were combinatorial games, that is to say, games of perfect information and no chance. This type of game is still widely played today, and many popular games of this type, such as Chess and Go, are some of the most studied games of all time. This proposed work resolves around a game-independent systemic study of these games, involving computational properties involving evaluating the mathematical analysis tools, such as sprague-grundy values and switches, as well identifying what can be determined about these games under simple oracle models.
     
     
     

    Location: Henry Salvatori Computer Science Center (SAL) - 213

    Audiences: Everyone Is Invited

    Contact: CS Events

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  • NL Seminar -Harnessing Black-Box Control to Boost Commonsense in LM's Generation

    Thu, Feb 01, 2024 @ 11:00 AM - 12:00 PM

    Information Sciences Institute

    Conferences, Lectures, & Seminars


    Speaker: Yufei Tian, UCLA

    Talk Title: Harnessing Black-Box Control to Boost Commonsense in LM's Generation

    Series: NL Seminar

    Abstract: REMINDER: This talk will be a live presentation only, it will not be recorded.  Meeting hosts only admit guests that they know to the Zoom meeting. Hence, you’re highly encouraged to use your USC account to sign into Zoom. If you’re an outside visitor, please provide your: Full Name, Title and Name of Workplace to (nlg-seminar-host(at)isi.edu) beforehand so we’ll be aware of your attendance. Also, let us know if you plan to attend in-person or virtually. More Info for NL Seminars can be found at: https://nlg.isi.edu/nl-seminar/  Large language models like Alpaca and GPT-3 generate coherent texts but sometimes lack commonsense, yet improving their commonsense via fine-tuning is resource expensive in terms of both data and computation. In this talk, I'll present BOOST, a resource-efficient framework that steers a frozen Pre-Trained Language Model (PTLM) towards more reasonable outputs. This involves creating an interpretable and reference-free evaluator that assigns a sentence with a commonsensical score which grounds the sentence to a dynamic commonsense knowledge base. Using this evaluator as a guide, we extend the NADO controllable generation method to train an auxiliary head that improves the PTLM's output. Our framework was tested on various language models, including GPT-2, Flan-T5, and Alpaca-based models. On two constrained concept-to-sentence benchmarks, human evaluation results show that BOOST consistently generates the most commonsensical content. Finally, I will demonstrate how ChatGPT outputs are different from and sometimes less favored than our outputs.

    Biography: Yufei Tian is a CS PhD student at UCLA advised by Prof. Nanyun (Violet) Peng. Her research is centered around creative and controllable text generation, machine reasoning and its interaction with cognitive science, as well as designing evaluation metrics for open-ended NLG tasks. She is supported by the UCLA-Amazon fellowship program.

    Host: Jon May and Justin Cho

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

    Webcast: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WTIKszPDzDk

    Location: Information Science Institute (ISI) - Virtual and ISI-Conf Rm#689

    WebCast Link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WTIKszPDzDk

    Audiences: Everyone Is Invited

    Contact: Pete Zamar

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

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  • PhD Defense - KR Zentner

    Thu, Feb 01, 2024 @ 02:00 PM - 04:00 PM

    Thomas Lord Department of Computer Science

    University Calendar


    Title: Leveraging Cross-Task Transfer in Sequential Decision Problems: Scalable Reinforcement Learning for Robotics          
     
    Defense Committee:  Gaurav Sukhatme (chair), Heather Culbertson, Stefanos Nikolaidis, Laurent Itti, Bhaskar Krishnamachari           
     
    Date: Feb 1, 2024, 2 p.m. - 4 p.m.  - RTH 217       
     
    Abstract: The past few years have seen an explosion of interest in using machine learning to make robots capable of learning a diverse set of tasks. Potentially, these robots could operate in close proximity to humans, assisting humans with a wide variety of needs and being instructed to perform new tasks as needed. However, these robots generally use Reinforcement Learning to learn detailed sub-second interactions, but consequently require large amounts of data for each task. In this thesis we explore how Reinforcement Learning can be combined with Transfer Learning to re-use data across tasks. We begin by reviewing the state of Multi-Task and Meta RL and describe the motivations for using Transfer Learning. Then, we describe a basic framework for using Transfer Learning to efficiently learn multiple tasks, and show how it requires predicting how effectively transfer can be performed across tasks. Next, we present a simple rule, based in information theory, for predicting the effectiveness of Cross-Task Transfer, which we call the "Transfer Cost Rule." We discuss the theoretical implications of that rule, and show various quantitative evaluations of it. Then, we show two directions of work making use of our insights to perform efficient Transfer Reinforcement Learning. The first of these directions uses Cross-Task Co-Learning and Plan Conditioned Behavioral Cloning to share skill representations produced by a Large Language Model, and is able to learn many tasks from a single demonstration each in a simulated environment. The second of these directions uses Two-Phase KL Penalization to enforce a (potentially off-policy) trust region. These advances in Transfer RL may enable robots to be used in a wider range of applications, such as in the home or office. The insight provided by the Transfer Cost Rule may also be relevant to a wide audience of Reinforcement Learning practitioners, since it provides a practical and theoretically grounded explanation for the performance of Deep Reinforcement Learning algorithms.      
     
    Zoom link: https://usc.zoom.us/j/96965616504?pwd=QngwQTJsTXJkbXJJNU9hRVV2Mk1DQT09   

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

    Audiences: Everyone Is Invited

    Contact: CS Events

    Event Link: https://usc.zoom.us/j/96965616504?pwd=QngwQTJsTXJkbXJJNU9hRVV2Mk1DQT09

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  • Preparing for the Career & Internship Expo

    Thu, Feb 01, 2024 @ 03:00 PM - 04:00 PM

    Viterbi School of Engineering Career Connections

    Workshops & Infosessions


    THIS EVENT WILL BE HOSTED HYBRID: IN-PERSON & ONLINE SIMULTANEOUSLY
    Increase your preparedness for the Career & Internship Expo by attending this professional development Q&A moderated by Viterbi Career Connections staff or Viterbi employer partners.
    Zoom link:  https://usc.zoom.us/meeting/register/tJElc-CrpzsuEtFJDe8q8IP-qlj4DLN5xdkp
    For more information about all workshops, please visit viterbicareers.usc.edu/workshops.

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

    Audiences: All Viterbi

    Contact: RTH 218 Viterbi Career Connections

    Event Link: https://usc.zoom.us/meeting/register/tJElc-CrpzsuEtFJDe8q8IP-qlj4DLN5xdkp

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  • 2024 Advanced Writing Symposium

    Fri, Feb 02, 2024

    Engineering in Society Program

    Workshops & Infosessions


    This one-day ONLINE SYMPOSIUM aims to bring together teachers of advanced and/or upper-division college composition courses to discuss innovative methods and best practices for widening and strengthening student engagement with diverse genres and audiences. Registration is free and open to all.

    Location: Online

    Audiences: Everyone Is Invited

    Contact: Helen Choi

    Event Link: https://dornsife.usc.edu/the-writing-program/2024-advanced-writing-symposium/

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  • Repeating EventEiS Communications Hub Drop-In Hours

    Fri, Feb 02, 2024 @ 10:00 AM - 01:00 PM

    Viterbi School of Engineering Student Affairs

    Workshops & Infosessions


    Viterbi Ph.D. students are invited to stop by the EiS Communications Hub for one-on-one instruction for their academic and professional communications tasks. All instruction is provided by Viterbi faculty at the Engineering in Society Program.

    Location: Ronald Tutor Hall of Engineering (RTH) - 222A

    Audiences: Viterbi Ph.D. Students

    View All Dates

    Contact: Helen Choi

    Event Link: https://sites.google.com/usc.edu/eishub/home?authuser=0

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  • Alfred E. Mann Department of Biomedical Engineering

    Fri, Feb 02, 2024 @ 11:00 AM - 12:00 PM

    Alfred E. Mann Department of Biomedical Engineering

    Conferences, Lectures, & Seminars


    Speaker: Michael Elowitz, Howard Hughes Medical Institute Investigator and Professor of Biology and Biological Engineering and Applied Physics at Caltech

    Talk Title: Many to many protein networks: modules of multicellularity

    Abstract: In multicellular organisms, many biological pathways exhibit a curious structure, involving sets of protein variants that bind or interact with one another in a many-to-many fashion. What functions do these seemingly complicated architectures provide. And can similar architectures be useful in synthetic biology. Here, I will discuss recent work in our lab that shows how many to many circuits can function as versatile computational devices, explore the roles these computations play in natural biological contexts, and show how many-to-many architectures can be used to design synthetic multicellular behaviors. 
     

    Biography: Michael Elowitz is a Howard Hughes Medical Institute Investigator and Professor of Biology and Biological Engineering, and Applied Physics at Caltech. Dr. Elowitz's laboratory has introduced synthetic biology approaches to build and understand genetic circuits in living cells and tissues. As a graduate student with Stanislas Leibler, Elowitz developed the Repressilator, an artificial genetic clock that generates gene expression oscillations in individual E. coli cells. Since then, he has continued to design and build synthetic genetic circuits, bringing a “build to understand” approach to bacteria, yeast, and mammalian cells. He and his lab showed that gene expression is intrinsically stochastic, or ‘noisy’, and revealed how noise functions to enable probabilistic differentiation, time-based regulation, and other functions. Currently, Elowitz’s lab is bringing synthetic approaches to understand and program cell-cell communication, epigenetic memory and cell fate control, and to provide foundations for future therapeutic devices. His lab also co-develops the synthetic “MEMOIR” system that allows cells to record their own lineage histories. Elowitz received his PhD in Physics from Princeton University and did postdoctoral research at Rockefeller University. Honors include the HFSP Nakasone Award, MacArthur Fellowship, Presidential Early Career Award, Allen Distinguished Investigator Award, the American Academy of Arts and Sciences, and election to the National Academy of Sciences.

    Host: Peter Wang

    Location: Olin Hall of Engineering (OHE) - 100 B

    Audiences: Everyone Is Invited

    Contact: Carla Stanard

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  • PhD Thesis Proposal - Hsien-Te Kao

    Fri, Feb 02, 2024 @ 01:00 PM - 02:30 PM

    Thomas Lord Department of Computer Science

    University Calendar


    Committee: Emilio Ferrara (Chair), Kristina Lerman, Phebe Vayanos, Souti Chattopadhyay, Ruishan Liu  
     
    Date and Time: Friday, February 2, 2024, 1:00 PM - 2:30 PM PST - RTH 115
     
    Title: Cold Start Prediction in Personalized mHealth  
     
    Abstract: Mobile health has brought fundamental changes to the healthcare industry, offering new hope in addressing growing healthcare expenditures, opportunity costs, and labor shortages. Machine learning is driving mobile health towards decentralized healthcare by automating health monitoring, diagnosis, and treatment. Personalized mobile health systems are a key component in advancing patient-centric healthcare, but these systems remain unfeasible outside of hospital settings because personal health data is largely inaccessible, uncollectible, and regulated. In this proposal, we introduce a personalized mobile health system to predict individual health status without user context through a set of mobile, wearable, and ubiquitous technologies. The model leverages collaborative filtering to replace missing user context with learned similar group characteristics, where user similarity is captured through multiple dimensions of cognitive appraisal based on a combination of psychology theories. The system eliminates user dependence through passive feedback that satisfies real-world constraints. Our preliminary results demonstrate a proof-of-concept system.

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

    Audiences: Everyone Is Invited

    Contact: CS Events

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  • Photonics SEminar - Jie Qiao, Friday, Feb 2nd at 3pm in EEB 248

    Fri, Feb 02, 2024 @ 03:00 PM - 04:30 PM

    Ming Hsieh Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering

    Conferences, Lectures, & Seminars


    Speaker: Jie Qiao, Rochester Institute of Technology

    Talk Title: Ultrafast-Lasers-Enabled Photonics, Optics, and Waveguide Lasers

    Series: Photonics Seminar Series

    Abstract: The investigation into ultrafast-laser-based photonics fabrication and integration represents multifaceted interdisciplinary research, intersecting applied physics, photonics, lasers, materials, and imaging.  This presentation describes computational models and elucidates physical processes pertaining to the utilization of ultrafast lasers for the fabrication of optical, photonic, and laser components. Topics covered include the 3D writing of waveguides, waveguide lasers, and beam splitters in crystal and glass materials, as well as nanostructuring, shape correction, and the precision bonding of semiconductor and dielectric materials.

    Biography: Dr. Jie Qiao is an associate professor at the Carlson Center for Imaging Science at the Rochester Institute of Technology.  Her research at RIT focuses on ultrafast laser phonics, wavefront sensing and beam shaping. Prior to joining RIT, she was a laser system scientist at the Department -of-Energy-funded Laboratory for Laser Energetics, the University of Rochester. She led the demonstration of the world's first 1.5-meter coherently-phased-grating pulse compressor for the OMEGA EP kilojoule, petawatt lasers. She has worked on technology innovation of various ultrafast laser systems, photonics devices, optical imaging, and metrology systems for two photonic startups and one optics company. She was a Fulbright US research scholar and a visiting professor at the Center for Intense Lasers and Applications (CELIA), Universite Bordeaux, France in the 2022 academic year. Dr. Qiao is an Optica Fellow and was an associate editor for Optics Express from 2018 to 2021. She is the General Chair for the 2024 and 2025 CLEO conference, the Application and Technology Program. She earned her doctoral degree from the Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering, University of Texas, Austin.

    Host: Mercedeh Khajavikhan, Michelle Povinelli, Constantine Sideris; Hossein Hashemi; Wade Hsu; Mengjie Yu; Wei Wu; Tony Levi; Alan E. Willner; Andrea Martin Armani

    More Information: Jie Qiao Seminar.pdf

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

    Audiences: Everyone Is Invited

    Contact: Marilyn Poplawski

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