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SUNMONTUEWEDTHUFRISAT
Events for the 3rd week of February
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EiS Communications Hub Drop-In HoursMon, Feb 12, 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
Contact: Helen Choi
Event Link: https://sites.google.com/usc.edu/eishub/home?authuser=0
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Sierra Space Dare To Be a Dreamer Event
Mon, Feb 12, 2024 @ 10:00 AM - 11:00 PM
Viterbi School of Engineering Career Connections
Workshops & Infosessions
Sierra Space Dare To Be a Dreamer Event
The featured speakers for the event are our executive leadership team (mostly engineering background), who will share their journey, career experiences, industry trends, and advice on navigating the aerospace landscape. We will also cover information on who we are and the exciting ongoing projects at Sierra Space.
To learn more about our featured speakers and event details, please visit the event registration page.
Event date: Monday, February 12th
Time: 10 AM – 11 AM
External employer-hosted events and activities are not affiliated with the USC Career Center. They are posted on Viterbi Career Connections because they may be of interest to members of the Viterbi community. Inclusion of any activity does not indicate USC sponsorship or endorsement of that activity or event. It is the participant’s responsibility to apply due diligence, exercise caution when participating, and report concerns to vcareers@usc.edu">vcareers@usc.eduLocation: Virtual
Audiences: Everyone Is Invited
Contact: RTH 218 Viterbi Career Connections
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EiS Communications Hub Drop-In Hours
Mon, Feb 12, 2024 @ 10:00 AM - 01:00 PM
Engineering in Society Program
Student Activity
Location: Ronald Tutor Hall of Engineering (RTH) - 222
Audiences: Everyone Is Invited
Contact: Helen Choi
Event Link: https://sites.google.com/usc.edu/eishub/home
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ECE Virtual Seminar: Transdisciplinary Engineering: Reaching Beyond Engineering to Exploit Concepts From Other Disciplines
Mon, Feb 12, 2024 @ 02:00 PM - 03:00 PM
Ming Hsieh Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering
Conferences, Lectures, & Seminars
Speaker: Dr. Azad M. Madni, University Professor of Astronautics, Aerospace and Mechanical Engineering, USC Viterbi School of Engineering
Talk Title: Transdisciplinary Engineering: Reaching Beyond Engineering to Exploit Concepts From Other Disciplines
Abstract: This talk presents transdisciplinary engineering and how it is enabled by exploiting convergence of engineering with other disciplines. Specifically, it presents an overview of my research in this area, TRASEE™ educational paradigm, and the transformation of the Systems Architecting and Engineering Program using TRASEE. It focuses on storytelling in virtual worlds as an exemplar of exploiting convergence between engineering and entertainment/cinematic arts.
Biography: Azad Madni is a University Professor of Astronautics, Aerospace and Mechanical Engineering in the University of Southern California. The designation of University Professor honors USC’s most accomplished multidisciplinary faculty with significant achievements across multiple technical fields. He is the holder of the Northrop Grumman Fred O’Green Chair in Engineering, and the Executive Director of University of USC’s Systems Architecting and Engineering Program. He also holds a joint appointment in the Sonny Astani Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, and courtesy appointments in the Rossier School of Education and Keck School of Medicine. He is the Founding Director of the Distributed Autonomy and Intelligent Systems Laboratory and is a faculty affiliate of USC’s Ginsberg Institute for Biomedical Therapeutics in the Keck School of Medicine. He is the founding director of the Ph.D. degree program in Systems Engineering in the Astronautics Department. He is also a Senior Fellow of the Loker Hydrocarbon Research Institute founded by Nobel Laureate, George Olah. He is a member of the London Digital Twin Research Centre. He is the founder and CEO of Intelligent Systems Technology, Inc., an award-winning hi-tech company specializing in model-based approaches for addressing scientific and societal problems of national and global significance. He is the Chief Systems Engineering Advisor to The Aerospace Corporation. He received his Ph.D., M.S., and B.S. degrees in Engineering from the University of California, Los Angeles. He is a graduate of AEA/Stanford Institute Executive Program for Technology Executives.
Host: Dr. Richard M. Leahy, leahy@usc.edu
Webcast: https://usc.zoom.us/j/91315597163?pwd=YjlrMlhGYnV4NEV4UkFiZXdETkZiQT09WebCast Link: https://usc.zoom.us/j/91315597163?pwd=YjlrMlhGYnV4NEV4UkFiZXdETkZiQT09
Audiences: Everyone Is Invited
Contact: Mayumi Thrasher
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The Good Life Discussion Series
Tue, Feb 13, 2024
Engineering in Society Program
Receptions & Special Events
The new Good Life Discussion Series allows USC Viterbi students to ask such big questions in a safe, supportive setting. This is an invitation-only event.
Audiences: This event is invitation only
Contact: Martha Townsend
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Lockheed Martin Trojan Talk
Tue, Feb 13, 2024 @ 11:00 AM - 12:00 PM
Viterbi School of Engineering Career Connections
Workshops & Infosessions
Date: Tuesday, February 13th
Time: 11 am - 12 pm
Location: RTH 211
Hear from Lockheed Martin recruiter, Margaret Paulin on what it takes to stand out in an application and interview, and practical tips from the employer's view on what students should do. This talk will provide a presentation on interview and application tips to be used in the early career recruiting process.
There will be time for Q&A, food will be served!Location: Ronald Tutor Hall of Engineering (RTH) - 211
Audiences: Everyone Is Invited
Contact: RTH 218 Viterbi Career Connections
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Riverside County Flood Control and Water Conservation District Information Session
Tue, Feb 13, 2024 @ 12:00 PM - 01:00 PM
Viterbi School of Engineering Career Connections
Workshops & Infosessions
Come learn about internships and full-time opportunities at the Riverside County Flood Control and Water Conservation District
Tuesday, February 13th, from 12-1 pm
Join this virtual Trojan Talk here.
What degree levels are you recruiting for? Juniors, Seniors, Masters
Majors of interest: Civil Engineering, Environmental Engineering, Bioresource engineering and Agricultural Engineer
Can you offer Visa sponsorship? We don’t offer sponsorship.Location: Virtual Event
Audiences: Everyone Is Invited
Contact: RTH 218 Viterbi Career Connections
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CCI, AAI, and MHI Joint Seminar Series - Radoslav Ivanov (Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute): Safe and secure autonomy within reach: a verified machine learning and control perspective
Tue, Feb 13, 2024 @ 02:00 PM - 03:00 PM
Thomas Lord Department of Computer Science
Conferences, Lectures, & Seminars
Speaker: Radoslav Ivanov, Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute
Talk Title: Safe and secure autonomy within reach: a verified machine learning and control perspective
Abstract: In this talk, I will present an integrated approach to assuring the safety and security of cyber-physical systems (CPS) through a combination of offline verification and online monitoring techniques. For offline assurance, I have developed an approach, called Verisig, for verifying the safety of autonomous systems with neural network controllers. I will present an exhaustive evaluation on a neural-network-controlled (1/10-scale) autonomous racing car, in terms of modeling, verification and experiments on the real platform. In the second part of the talk, I will describe my work on run-time monitoring of system safety, with applications to medical CPS. Specifically, I will present a detector for critical drops in the patient's oxygen content during surgery, with guaranteed performance regardless of varying physiological parameters such as metabolism. The detector is evaluated on real-patient data collected from the Children's Hospital of Philadelphia.
Zoom Link: https://usc.zoom.us/j/98624281836?pwd=ajJSWGRvbkRpUVgvRC9nOXd5K29TZz09 Meeting ID: 986 2428 1836 Passcode: CPS24
This lecture satisfies requirements for CSCI 591: Research Colloquium
Biography: Radoslav Ivanov He is an Assistant Professor in Computer Science at the Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute. Prior to that, he was a postdoc at the PRECISE center at the University of Pennsylvania. Radoslav received the B.A. degree in computer science and economics from Colgate University in 2011, and the Ph.D. degree in computer and information science from the University of Pennsylvania in 2017. His research interests are broadly in the field of safe and secure autonomy, with a focus on verified machine learning, control theory and cyber-physical security. The natural application domains of his work are automotive and medical cyber-physical systems.
Host: Pierluigi Nuzzo and Lars Lindemann
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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Epstein Institute, ISE 651 Seminar Class
Tue, Feb 13, 2024 @ 03:30 PM - 04:50 PM
Daniel J. Epstein Department of Industrial and Systems Engineering
Conferences, Lectures, & Seminars
Speaker: Dr. Yale T. Herer, Professor, Technion - Israel Institute of Technology
Talk Title: An Asymptotic Perspective on Risk Pooling: Limitations and Relationship to Transshipments
Host: Prof. Maged Dessouky
More Information: February 13, 2024.pdf
Location: Social Sciences Building (SOS) - SOS Building, B2
Audiences: Everyone Is Invited
Contact: Grace Owh
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Job Searching in the US
Tue, Feb 13, 2024 @ 04:00 PM - 05:00 PM
Viterbi School of Engineering Career Connections
Workshops & Infosessions
THIS EVENT WILL BE HOSTED HYBRID: IN-PERSON & ONLINE SIMULTANEOUSLY
Increase your knowledge on the job/internship search 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/tJEtc-yorD4sH9zc8DUKnB0xGH68PTHf60D-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/tJEtc-yorD4sH9zc8DUKnB0xGH68PTHf60D-
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MFD Spring Seminars- Distinguished Lecture Series
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Tue, Feb 13, 2024 @ 04:00 PM - 05:20 PM
Mork Family Department of Chemical Engineering and Materials Science
Conferences, Lectures, & Seminars
Speaker: Yury Gogotsi, Drexel University
Talk Title: 2D Carbides and Nitrides (MXenes) -“ from Discovery to Applications
Abstract: MXenes are a family of two-dimensional (2D) early transition metal carbides, nitrides, oxycarbides, carbonitrides, and related structures with a general formula of Mn+1XnTx, where M is a transition metal, X is carbon or nitrogen (oxygen substitution is possible), T represents the surface terminations (O, OH, halogen, chalcogen, etc.), and n = 1—4 [1]. More than 50 MXene compositions have already been reported, but the number of possible compositions is infinite if one considers solid solutions and combinations of surface terminations. MXenes open an era of computationally driven atomistic design of 2D materials. MXenes possess electronic, optical, mechanical, and electrochemical properties that differentiate them from other materials. Chemically tunable superconductivity has been demonstrated in Nb- and Mo-based MXenes. Chemically tunable ferromagnetism and antiferromagnetism have been predicted. Highly nonlinear optical properties of MXenes are being explored. Several MXenes have been predicted to act as topological insulators. Many MXenes are metals but with a tunable density of states at the Fermi level, like semiconductors. Moreover, their properties are tunable by design and can be modulated using an ionotronic approach [2], leading to breakthroughs in the fields ranging from optoelectronics, electromagnetic interference shielding, and communication to energy storage, catalysis, sensing, and healthcare. In several applications, such as electromagnetic interference shielding, MXenes have already outperformed all other materials. In this talk, I’ll discuss the synthesis and structure of MXenes, their optoelectronic properties, and the coupling between electrochemical redox processes in MXenes and their optical properties, which can be monitored in situ using spectroelectrochemistry techniques [3].
Biography: Yury Gogotsi is a Distinguished University Professor and Charles T. and Ruth M. Bach Endowed Chair in the Department of Materials Science and Engineering at Drexel University (Philadelphia, USA). He is the founding Director of the A.J. Drexel Nanomaterials Institute. He received his MS (1984) and PhD (1986) from Kyiv Polytechnic and a DSc degree from the National Academy of Sciences of Ukraine in 1995. Together with his students and colleagues, he made principal contributions to the development of materials for electrochemical capacitors and other energy storage devices, discovered MXenes, demonstrated the tuning of structure and porosity of carbide-derived carbons, and developed new processes for the synthesis, surface modification, and purification of nanotubes and nanodiamonds. He also published the first microscopic observation of water inside carbon nanotubes, discovered polygonal nanotubes (graphite polyhedral crystals), and shaped the field of high-pressure surface science. He is recognized as a Highly Cited Researcher in Materials Science and Chemistry and a Citations Laureate by Clarivate Analytics (Web of Science). He has received numerous awards for his research, including the Ceramic Prize from the World Academy of Ceramics, the Materials Research Society (MRS) Medal, the American Chemical Society (ACS) Award in the Chemistry of Materials, etc. He has been elected a Fellow of the National Academy of Inventors, the World Academy of Ceramics, the European Academy of Sciences, and many professional societies. He holds honorary doctorates from several European Universities.
Host: Mork Family Department
Location: James H. Zumberge Hall Of Science (ZHS) - 252
Audiences: Everyone Is Invited
Contact: Monique Garcia
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Mentorship Galentines!
Tue, Feb 13, 2024 @ 06:00 PM - 07:00 PM
USC Viterbi School of Engineering
Student Activity
Join WIE mentorship for a fun Galentines night! Come meet new friends and old! We will be docoring candy jars, making letters and having some Valentine's inspired snacks and Dulce!
Location: Sign into EngageSC to View Location
Audiences: Everyone Is Invited
Contact: Thelma Federico Zaragoza
Event Link: https://engage.usc.edu/WIE/rsvp?id=395636
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EiS Communications Hub Drop-In Hours
Wed, Feb 14, 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
Contact: Helen Choi
Event Link: https://sites.google.com/usc.edu/eishub/home?authuser=0
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EiS Communications Hub Drop-In Hours
Wed, Feb 14, 2024 @ 10:00 AM - 01:00 PM
Engineering in Society Program
Student Activity
Location: Ronald Tutor Hall of Engineering (RTH) - 222
Audiences: Everyone Is Invited
Contact: Helen Choi
Event Link: https://sites.google.com/usc.edu/eishub/home
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Computer Science General Faculty Meeting
Wed, Feb 14, 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: Everyone Is Invited
Contact: Ass
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CS Colloquium: Parastoo Abtahi (Princeton University) - From Haptic Illusions to Beyond Real Interactions in Virtual Reality
Wed, Feb 14, 2024 @ 02:00 PM - 03:00 PM
Thomas Lord Department of Computer Science
Conferences, Lectures, & Seminars
Speaker: Parastoo Abtahi, Princeton University
Talk Title: From Haptic Illusions to Beyond Real Interactions in Virtual Reality
Abstract: Advances in audiovisual rendering have led to the commercialization of virtual reality (VR) hardware; however, haptic technology has not kept up with these advances. While haptic devices aim to bridge this gap by simulating the sensation of touch, many hardware limitations make realistic touch interactions in VR challenging. In my research, I explore how by understanding human perception, we can design VR interactions that not only overcome the current limitations of VR hardware but also extend our abilities beyond what is possible in the real world. In this talk, I will present my work on redirection illusions that leverage the limits of human perception to improve the perceived performance of encountered-type haptic devices, such as improving the position accuracy of drones, the speed of tabletop robots, and the resolution of shape displays when used for haptics in VR. I will then present a framework I have developed through the lens of sensorimotor control theory to argue for the exploration and evaluation of VR interactions that go beyond mimicking reality.
This lecture satisfies requirements for CSCI 591: Research Colloquium
Biography: Parastoo Abtahi is an Assistant Professor of Computer Science at Princeton University, where she leads Princeton’s Situated Interactions Lab (Ψ Lab) as part of the Princeton HCI Group. Before joining Princeton, Parastoo was a visiting research scientist at Meta Reality Labs Research. She received her PhD in Computer Science from Stanford University, working with Prof. James Landay and Prof. Sean Follmer. Her research area is human-computer interaction, and she works broadly on augmented reality and spatial computing. Parastoo received her bachelor’s degree in Electrical and Computer Engineering from the University of Toronto, as part of the Engineering Science program
Host: Heather Culbertson
More Info: https://usc.zoom.us/j/95030499252?pwd=YVl3dU93ZUlTeVNrWEFVeWNkYjB2Zz09
Location: Ronald Tutor Hall of Engineering (RTH) - 115
Audiences: Everyone Is Invited
Contact: CS Events
Event Link: https://usc.zoom.us/j/95030499252?pwd=YVl3dU93ZUlTeVNrWEFVeWNkYjB2Zz09
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AME Seminar
Wed, Feb 14, 2024 @ 03:30 PM - 04:30 PM
Aerospace and Mechanical Engineering
Conferences, Lectures, & Seminars
Speaker: Zhenyu Gao, University of Texas at Austin
Talk Title: Computational Paradigms Towards Sustainable Aeronautics
Abstract: As technology and the environment rapidly evolve, the aerospace industry is actively seeking solutions to three significant opportunities and challenges. First, the data-intensive transformation will reframe the aerospace industry with big data technologies, analytical methods, and high-performance computation. Second, future aerospace systems must be environmentally, socially, and economically sustainable. Third, aerospace systems of diverse types and capabilities will grow robustly and operate at larger scales. In this talk, I will share a series of recent studies which leverage data-driven and computational methods for the design and analysis of sustainable aeronautical systems. This includes (1) a machine learning approach for efficient and accurate aviation environmental impact modeling, (2) a data-driven optimization approach for holistic and equitable advanced air mobility noise management, and (3) a modeling and simulation approach for sustainable and safe 3D urban airspace design. This research highlights the significance of data-driven approaches for the sustainable development of novel aerospace systems.
Biography: Zhenyu Gao is a Postdoctoral Fellow in the Department of Aerospace Engineering and Engineering Mechanics at The University of Texas at Austin. His areas of research encompass sustainable aviation, data-driven aerospace engineering, and intelligent transportation systems. He earned his Ph.D. in Aerospace Engineering and an M.S. in Operations Research from Georgia Institute of Technology, and a B.S. in Aerospace Engineering from the University of Illinois at Urbana–Champaign. His doctoral dissertation was awarded the 2023 Georgia Tech Sigma Xi Best Ph.D. Thesis Award. He has also served as a visiting researcher at the National University of Singapore and the Institute of Science and Technology Austria (ISTA). During his time at Georgia Tech and UT Austin, he has contributed to over ten research projects funded by entities such as the FAA, NASA, and industry corporations like The Boeing Company.
Host: AME Department
More Info: https://ame.usc.edu/seminars/
Webcast: https://usc.zoom.us/j/95892885119?pwd=QXZOZUhrcTJRYk5qZzZwVThrTytVZz09Location: 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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Exponent: Technical and Scientific Consulting for PhD Students
Thu, Feb 15, 2024 @ 06:00 PM - 07:30 PM
Viterbi School of Engineering Career Connections
Workshops & Infosessions
Exponent: Technical and Scientific Consulting for PhD Students
Thursday, February 15th, 6-7:30 pm
Location: RTH 211
RSVP: Viterbi Career Gateway
If you are a Ph.D. candidate with strong communication skills, are motivated to learn on the job, and have a desire to apply your education in unexpected and innovative ways, Exponent will be an exciting opportunity for you! At Exponent, we work on many of the most challenging and prominent engineering and scientific problems in the world.
Degree Levels: PhD students
Majors: Aerospace, Mechanical, Astronautical, Biomed, ChemE, Petroleum, Civil, Environmental, CS, Computer Eng, EE, Industrial SystemsLocation: Ronald Tutor Hall of Engineering (RTH) - RTH 211
Audiences: Everyone Is Invited
Contact: RTH 218 Viterbi Career Connections
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Global Women in Science Editathon
Fri, Feb 16, 2024 @ 12:00 AM - 02:00 PM
Engineering in Society Program
Student Activity
Join the USC Libraries and the Engineering in Society Program for a worldwide Wikipedia editathon for women in science! USC will be joining the American University of Beirut, Boston University, and the University of Calgary to expand the world's knowledge about the scientific contributions of amazing women!Friday, February 16, 2024 12 noon to 2pm SSL 210 Pizza served New and experienced editors welcome
Location: Seaver Science Library (SSL) - 210
Audiences: Everyone Is Invited
Contact: Helen Choi
Event Link: https://outreachdashboard.wmflabs.org/courses/Boston_University/Women_in_Science_Edit-a-thon?enroll=cmgpofsr
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EiS Communications Hub Drop-In Hours
Fri, Feb 16, 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
Contact: Helen Choi
Event Link: https://sites.google.com/usc.edu/eishub/home?authuser=0
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EiS Communications Hub Drop-In Hours
Fri, Feb 16, 2024 @ 10:00 AM - 01:00 PM
Engineering in Society Program
Student Activity
Location: Ronald Tutor Hall of Engineering (RTH) - 222
Audiences: Everyone Is Invited
Contact: Helen Choi
Event Link: https://sites.google.com/usc.edu/eishub/home
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Alfred E. Mann Department of Biomedical Engineering
Fri, Feb 16, 2024 @ 11:00 AM - 12:00 PM
Alfred E. Mann Department of Biomedical Engineering
Conferences, Lectures, & Seminars
Speaker: Arnab Mukherjee, Ph.D., Assistant Professor of Chemical Engineering & Biological Engineering University of California, Santa Barbara
Talk Title: Engineering genetic reporters for molecular MRI
Abstract: The study of biological functions in intact organisms requires noninvasive genetic reporters to track cells, image gene expression, and monitor signaling pathways. While fluorescent and bioluminescent proteins are widely used as reporters, their utility in deep tissues is limited due to the scattering and absorption of light, which impede imaging beyond a depth of ~ 1 mm from the tissue surface. To overcome this challenge, my research harnesses unexpected connections between proteins and the physics of magnetic resonance (MRI) to create new biomolecular reporters for deep tissue imaging. In this talk, I will discuss our recent efforts to address three long-standing challenges in the development of viable MRI reporters: sensitivity, specificity, and sensor design. First, I will highlight our recent work in increasing reporter gene sensitivity to detect small numbers of genetically labeled cells, potentially, as few as hundred cells per imaging voxel. I will then describe the creation of chemically erasable reporters, which enable “hotspot” imaging with a low tissue background. Finally, I will discuss a new modular approach for programming MRI sensors based on protease modulation of reporter activity.
Biography: Arnab Mukherjee is an Assistant Professor of Chemical Engineering & Biological Engineering at the University of California, Santa Barbara. Prior to arriving at UCSB, Dr. Mukherjee completed a James G. Boswell fellowship in Molecular Engineering at Caltech (working with Prof. Mikhail Shapiro) and obtained his Ph.D. in chemical and biomolecular engineering from the University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign. The Mukherjee lab works at the intersection of molecular engineering, synthetic biology, and molecular imaging to create new genetic reporters and sensors for magnetic resonance imaging (MRI). Research in the Mukherjee group has been consistently supported by the NIH, Army, and foundations; and recognized with notable awards, including an Outstanding Young Investigator Award (NIH MIRA), a Discovery Award from the DoD, the NARSAD Young Investigator Award from the Brain & Behavior Research Foundation, and a 2022 Scialog Fellows award in Advanced Bioimaging.
Host: Jenny Treweek
Location: Olin Hall of Engineering (OHE) - 100 B
Audiences: Everyone Is Invited
Contact: Carla Stanard
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Ed Discussion Workshop
Fri, Feb 16, 2024 @ 02:00 PM - 03:00 PM
DEN@Viterbi
Workshops & Infosessions
Zoom registration link: https://usc.zoom.us/webinar/register/WN_wEJJNmp4QhiTIAB25IgKgg
Instructors at USC are using Ed Discussion for class Q&A with great success. Folks have found it saves considerable time for teaching staff, reduces emails, while also increasing student engagement and peer learning.
In this workshop, we'll show you:
How to save time and reduce student emails by leveraging the class Q&A
How to post an icebreaker thread to encourage and engage students from week 1
How to set up course categories and subcategories to keep questions organized and searchable
A quick online search of "Ed Discussion" shows many universities who have adopted Ed on an enterprise scale including
Harvard, Stanford, UC Berkeley, UC Irvine, UT Austin, Princeton, Columbia, Cornell
Brown, Yale, Penn, Duke, UW, Georgia Tech, NYU, ASU, Imperial College London
Ed Discussion is a quick and easy drop in for class Q&A with superior functionality and usability.
Less direct emails being sent to staff
Fewer duplicate questions being asked
Students often answer each other's questions
Questions can reach and benefit the whole class
Students like the modern user interface and excellent usability
Higher quality questions and less back and forth with thread templates
Easier to express ideas with equations, runnable code, annotations, and more
Zoom registration link: https://usc.zoom.us/webinar/register/WN_wEJJNmp4QhiTIAB25IgKgg
About EdStem:
EdStem centers around its interactive discussion boards, enabling students to ask questions, participate in discussions, and collaborate on solutions, thereby nurturing a community-focused learning atmosphere. It also caters to programming and computer science courses with integrated coding environments, where students can directly write, test, and submit code on the platform. Additionally, EdStem provides instructors with real-time feedback and analytics on student engagement and comprehension, facilitating the customization of teaching approaches. These analytics also offer valuable insights into overall class performance and individual student progress, making EdStem a comprehensive tool for both learning and teaching in dynamic academic settings.
Audiences: Everyone Is Invited
Contact: Jairo Delgado
Event Link: https://usc.zoom.us/webinar/register/WN_wEJJNmp4QhiTIAB25IgKgg
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Seminar
Fri, Feb 16, 2024 @ 03:30 PM - 04:30 PM
Ming Hsieh Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering
Conferences, Lectures, & Seminars
Speaker: Ahmad Beirami, Google Research
Talk Title: Language Model Alignment: Theory & Practice
Series: AIF4S Seminar Series
Abstract: Generative language models have advanced to a level where they can effectively solve a variety of open-domain tasks with little task specific supervision. However, the generated content from these models may still not satisfy the preference of a human user. The goal of the alignment process is to remedy this issue by generating content from an aligned model that improves a reward (e.g., make the generation safer) but does not perturb much from the base model. A simple baseline for this task is best-of-N, where N responses are drawn from the base model, ranked based on a reward, and the highest ranking one is selected. More sophisticated techniques generally solve a KL-regularized reinforcement learning (RL) problem with the goal of maximizing expected reward subject to a KL divergence constraint between the aligned model and the base model. An alignment technique is preferred if its reward-KL tradeoff curve dominates other techniques. In this talk, we give an overview of language model alignment and give an understanding of known results in this space through simplified examples. We also present a new modular alignment technique, called controlled decoding, which solves the KL-regularized RL problem while keeping the base model frozen through learning a prefix scorer, offering inference-time configurability. Finally, we also shed light on the remarkable performance of best-of-N in terms of achieving competitive or even better reward-KL tradeoffs when compared to state-of-the-art alignment baselines.
Biography: Ahmad Beirami is a research scientist at Google Research, leading research efforts on building safe, helpful, and scalable generative language models. At Meta AI, he led research to power the next generation of virtual digital assistants with AR/VR capabilities through robust generative language modeling. At Electronic Arts, he led the AI agent research program for automated playtesting of video games and cooperative reinforcement learning. Before moving to industry in 2018, he held a joint postdoctoral fellow position at Harvard & MIT, focused on problems in the intersection of core machine learning and information theory. He is the recipient of the Sigma Xi Best PhD Thesis Award from Georgia Tech.
Host: Mahdi Soltanolkotabi
Webcast: https://usc.zoom.us/j/92673154833?pwd=Z1QwYk52RVhWSkRXRmhzTmRhUTU3UT09More Information: 14766.pdf
Location: Hughes Aircraft Electrical Engineering Center (EEB) - 132
WebCast Link: https://usc.zoom.us/j/92673154833?pwd=Z1QwYk52RVhWSkRXRmhzTmRhUTU3UT09
Audiences: Everyone Is Invited
Contact: Gloria Halfacre
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VLP LeetCode Jam Night
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Fri, Feb 16, 2024 @ 05:00 PM - 07:00 PM
Viterbi School of Engineering Student Affairs
Student Activity
Jam with the Viterbi Learning Program! Join us for a company-specific (MAANG) problems session where we code and discuss. Also - we have pizza.
Location: Ronald Tutor Hall of Engineering (RTH) - 526
Audiences: Everyone Is Invited
Contact: Alex Bronz
Event Link: https://cglink.me/2nB/r395727
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