Conferences, Lectures, & Seminars
Events for October
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Albert Dorman Distinguished Lecture Series
Wed, Oct 08, 2014 @ 03:30 PM - 05:30 PM
Sonny Astani Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering
Conferences, Lectures, & Seminars
Speaker: G. Wayne Clough, President Emiritus of the Georgia Institute of Technology & Secretary of the Smithsonian Institute
Talk Title: From the Eocene to the Anthropocene:An Engineer's View of Climate Change
Abstract: The lecture series honors Albert Dorman, an architect and civil engineer who is a USC alumnus and the founding chairman of AECOM Technology Corporation. He is the first person to become both a Fellow of the American Institute of Architects and an Honorary Member of the American Society of Civil Engineering (ASCE). He is a member of the National Academy of Engineering and the winner of the ASCE Outstanding Lifetime Achievement Award in Leadership.
Biography: Dr. Wayne Clough is the Secretary of the Smithsonian Institution, the worldâs largest museum and research complex with activities in more than 130 countries. He oversees a construction and renovation program of more than $1 billion, including the current refurbishing of the Cooper-Hewitt, Smithsonian Design Museum and construction of the new National Museum of African American History and Culture. Before his appointment to the Smithsonian, Clough was president of the Georgia Institute of Technology for 14 years, which U.S. News and World Report ranked among the top 10 public universities during his tenure. He holds a bachelorâs degree and a masterâs degree from Georgia Tech and a Ph.D. from the University of California, Berkeley, with specialties in geotechnical and earthquake engineering.
Reception follows after the lecture.
Location: Ronald Tutor Hall of Engineering (RTH) - 526
Audiences: Everyone Is Invited
Contact: Evangeline Reyes
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Astani CEE Ph.D. Seminar
Fri, Oct 10, 2014 @ 03:00 PM - 04:00 PM
Sonny Astani Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering
Conferences, Lectures, & Seminars
Speaker: Dr. Todd Oliver, Institute for Computational Engineering and Sciences (ICES) at UT-Austin
Talk Title: A Framework for Validating Predictions of Unobserved Quantities with Applicatons from Turbulent Flow Similation
Abstract:
In applied science and engineering, computational models are commonly used to make predictions of quantities that are not experimentally observable. Assessing the validity of such predictions, which are fundamentally extrapolations, is challenging but critical. In classical approaches to validation, model outputs for observed quantities are compared to observations to determine if they are consistent. By itself, this consistency only ensures that the model can predict the observed quantities under the conditions of the observations. This limitation dramatically reduces the utility of the
validation effort for decision making because it implies nothing about predictions of unobserved QoIs or for scenarios outside of the range of observations.
This talk will describe a process for validation of extrapolative predictions for models with known sources of error. The process includes stochastic modeling, calibration, validation, and predictive assessment phases where representations of known sources of uncertainty and error are built, informed, and tested. The methodology is applied to a simple spring-mass-damper system to illustrate the process in the simplest possible setting. Finally, some aspects of the process, including calibration and stochastic modeling, are discussed in the context of RANS turbulence modeling.
Biography:
Todd Oliver is a research associate with the Center for Predictive Engineering and Computational Sciences (PECOS) at the Institute for Computational Engineering and Sciences (ICES) at UT-Austin. Dr. Oliver's expertise is in the broad area of computational fluid dynamics with specific focus on statistical methods for the validation of models and predictions. At PECOS he developed predictive tools for the analysis and design of re-entry vehicles.
Host: Dr. Roger Ghanem
Location: Seeley G. Mudd Building (SGM) - 101
Audiences: Everyone Is Invited
Contact: Evangeline Reyes
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Astani Environmental Engineering Seminar
Tue, Oct 14, 2014 @ 04:00 PM - 05:00 PM
Sonny Astani Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering
Conferences, Lectures, & Seminars
Speaker: Dr. Kai Loon Chen, Johns Hopkins University
Talk Title: Interactions of Carbon-Based Nanomaterials with Model Cell Membranes: Implications for Nanotoxicity
Host: Dr. Amy Childress
Location: John Stauffer Science Lecture Hall (SLH) - 200
Audiences: Everyone Is Invited
Contact: Evangeline Reyes
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Astani Environmental Engineering Seminar
Wed, Oct 29, 2014 @ 04:00 PM - 05:00 PM
Sonny Astani Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering
Conferences, Lectures, & Seminars
Speaker: Dr. Isaam Najm, Water Quality & Treatment Solutions, Inc
Talk Title: Challenges to the Implementation of Biological Groundwater Treatment
Abstract:
Host: Dr. Amy Childress
Location: Grace Ford Salvatori Hall Of Letters, Arts & Sciences (GFS) - 106
Audiences: Everyone Is Invited
Contact: Evangeline Reyes