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Conferences, Lectures, & Seminars
Events for February
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Oblivious Cooperation of Wireless Colocated Transmitters
Fri, Feb 01, 2008 @ 11:00 AM - 12:00 PM
Ming Hsieh Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering
Conferences, Lectures, & Seminars
SPEAKER: Professor Shlomo Shamai, Technion - Israel Institute of TechnologyABSTRACT: We consider a scenario where a source sends information to a remote destination and where a relay terminal is occasionally present in close proximity to the source, but without the source's awareness. We assume slow fading (block fading) independent channels between the source and the occasional relay to destination, while the channel between the source to the relay is assumed to be additive Gaussian, due to their relatively close proximity. The focus is on oblivious cooperative schemes which make efficient use of the relay when it is present, and still maintain single user optimality when the relay is absent. One such scheme is shown to be Block Markov decode-and-forward which involves correlated transmissions of the source and the relay. The optimal correlation for this scheme is found by solving the optimal outage performance of a 2 X 1 multiple-input single-output (MISO) link under individual power constraints and a correlation constraint. Finally, quantization schemes based on various levels of side information are also discussed.Joint work with Michael Katz, EE Department, Technion, Haifa 32000, Israel.BIO: Shlomo Shamai (Shitz) is now the William Fondiller Professor of Telecommunications at the Department of Electrical Engineering, Technion---Israel Institute of Technology. His research interests encompasses a wide spectrum of topics in information theory and statistical communications.Dr. Shamai (Shitz) is an IEEE Fellow and a member of the Union Radio Scientifiqu e Internationale (URSI). He is the recipient of the 1999 van der Pol Gold Medal of URSI, and a co-recipient of the 2000 IEEE Donald G. Fink Prize Paper Award, the 2003, and the 2004 joint IT/COM societies paper award, and the 2007 IEEE Information Theory Society Paper Award. He is also the recipient of the 2000 Technion Henry Taub Prize for Excellence in Research. He has served as Associate Editor for the Shannon Theory of the IEEE Transactions on Information Theory}, and also serves on the Board of Governors of the Information Theory Society.HOST: Prof. Giuseppe Caire, caire@usc.edu
Location: Hughes Aircraft Electrical Engineering Center (EEB) - 248
Audiences: Everyone Is Invited
Contact: Mayumi Thrasher
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Honors Colloquium: Desalination Helps Meet Southern Californiaâ€s Water Demands
Fri, Feb 01, 2008 @ 01:00 PM - 01:50 PM
Viterbi School of Engineering Student Affairs
Conferences, Lectures, & Seminars
Lecture offered by Mr. Steve Tedesco, Senior Vice President for the Infrastructure Group, and Dr. Mark Wilf, Director of Membrane Technology for Tetra Tech, Inc.
Location: Olin Hall of Engineering (OHE) - 122
Audiences: Honors Program Students and all Faculty and Staff are invited to attend
Contact: Erika Chua
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Uptake and Methylation of Mercury in Planktonic and Biofilm Cultures of Sulfate-Reducing Bacteria
Fri, Feb 01, 2008 @ 01:00 PM - 02:00 PM
Sonny Astani Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering
Conferences, Lectures, & Seminars
Speaker: Dr. Chu-Ching Lin, Research Associate, Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering,
University of California, Los AngelesAbstract:
Mercury (Hg) methylation is the most critical Hg transformation in nature because the end product, methylmercury (MeHg), is a potent neurotoxin that can be effectively bioaccumulatd and biomagnified through food chains to become a level of a threat to human health and wildlife reproduction. It is well accepted that the dominant environmental Hg methylation process is mediated biologically, and sulfate-reducing bacteria (SRB) have been identified as the primary Hg methylators in a wide range of aquatic systems. While all previous Hg methylation studies to date have been conducted with planktonic SRB cultures, it is generally believed that the majority of bacteria in the environment live in surface-attached communities, or biofilms. Little work has been undertaken to investigate the role of biofilms in Hg cycling, particularly in the formation of MeHg. In this seminar, the effects of chemical speciation on uptake and methylation of Hg in both planktonic and biofilm cultures of the model microorganisms (E. coli and Desulfovibrio desulfuricans) will be discussed. Also, pathways of Hg methylation that caused the observation of differential Hg methylation capacity between planktonic and biofilm cultures of SRB will be touched.
Location: Kaprielian Hall (KAP) - 209
Audiences: Everyone Is Invited
Contact: Evangeline Reyes
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Designing Synthetic Biological Networks
Mon, Feb 04, 2008 @ 11:00 AM - 12:00 PM
Ming Hsieh Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering
Conferences, Lectures, & Seminars
SPEAKER: Dr. Desmond Lun, Computational Biologist, Broad Institute MIT; Research Fellow, Harvard Medical SchoolABSTRACT: The engineering of simple living organisms such as microbes in a well-defined, systematic manner---in much the same way as computer systems or communication systems are engineered---has recently emerged as an exciting, realizable prospect. Such engineering, which is often referred to as synthetic biology, promises new, improved ways of producing drugs and fuels as well as to serve functions that are yet to be imagined. But, as with all engineering, synthetic biology requires design, and, at present, few design tools or principles exist for synthetic biology.In this talk, we discuss how mathematical optimization can be used to aid the design of synthetic microbes. In particular, we focus on the problem of engineering E. coli to produce biofuel and discuss a network optimization problem that arises in this context. We outline a local-search heuristic that we have implemented to tackle this problem, and we discuss potential areas for improvement as well as general future directions in the nascent field of analytical design for synthetic biology.BIO: Desmond Lun is a Computational Biologist at the Broad Institute of MIT and Harvard and a Research Fellow in Genetics at Harvard Medical School. Prior to his present position, he was a Postdoctoral Research Associate in the Coordinated Science Laboratory at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. He received bachelor's degrees in mathematics and computer engineering from the University of Melbourne, Australia in 2001, and S.M. and Ph.D. degrees in electrical engineering and computer science from MIT in 2002 and 2006, respectively.Dr. Lun's research interests are in networking and in synthetic and systems biology. He is co-author, with Tracey Ho, of "Network Coding: An Introduction," forthcoming from Cambridge University Press.HOST: Prof. Giuseppe Caire, caire@usc.edu
Location: Hughes Aircraft Electrical Engineering Center (EEB) - 248
Audiences: Everyone Is Invited
Contact: Mayumi Thrasher
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BME 533 Seminar : Edward DiBella, Assistant Professor, University of Utah
Mon, Feb 04, 2008 @ 12:30 PM - 01:50 PM
Alfred E. Mann Department of Biomedical Engineering
Conferences, Lectures, & Seminars
Dynamic MRI: Reconstruction and Quantitation
Audiences: Department Only
Contact: Mischalgrace Diasanta
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Motion-Compensated Orthogonal Video Transforms
Mon, Feb 04, 2008 @ 01:30 PM - 03:00 PM
Ming Hsieh Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering
Conferences, Lectures, & Seminars
Abstract:
In 1989, Torbjorn Kronander observed that techniques known at that time for 3D subband coding of image sequences do not use motion compensation. Knowing the importance of motion compensation for efficient video coding, he proposed a method for invertible motion fields. Unfortunately, motion compensation is, in general, not invertible and subsequent research addressed the problem of motion-compensated subband coding.In this talk, we review the basic concepts of video compression, stress advantages and disadvantages of popular compression schemes, and present a new class of motion-compensated orthogonal video transforms. This class offers strictly orthonormal subbands while permitting general motion compensation.Bio:
Markus Flierl is Visiting Assistant Professor at the Max Planck Center for Visual Computing and Communication at Stanford University. He received the Doctorate in Engineering from Friedrich Alexander University, Germany, in 2003. From 2003 to 2005, he has been a senior researcher at the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology Lausanne, Switzerland. He has authored the book 'Video Coding with Superimposed Motion-Compensated Signals: Applications to H.264 and Beyond.' He has been named the recipient of the 2007 VCIP Young Investigator Award. His research interests include visual communication networks and video representations.Host: Professor Antonio Ortega, x02320, ortega@sipi.usc.edu
Location: Hughes Aircraft Electrical Engineering Center (EEB) - 248
Audiences: Everyone Is Invited
Contact: Gloria Halfacre
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CS Colloquia: Towards a Visually-Guided Semi-Autonomous Wheelchair for the Disabled
Tue, Feb 05, 2008 @ 01:30 PM - 03:00 PM
Thomas Lord Department of Computer Science
Conferences, Lectures, & Seminars
Title: Towards a Visually-Guided Semi-Autonomous Wheelchair for the DisabledSpeaker: Prof. John K. Tsotsos (York)ABSTRACT:
An intelligent, autonomous wheelchair for the disabled has been the dream of
many for some time.
Yet, the dream seems to still be very distant. In part, the role and utility
of vision seems to not have
reached its full potential in this application. I will describe a
long-standing project we affectionately call
Playbot whose goal is to develop a purely visually-guided wheelchair with
manipulator that would assist
a child. Most of the functionality easily translates to assistance for a
broader population. I will present an
overview of the project with a focus on several vision-based components
including active visual object
search, mapping, and doorway behavior. Video will demonstrate many of these
functions. There is
much to do particularly in integration and a preview of a control architecture
for this purpose will be given.
As a general goal, we seek to understand the role of vision, as a primary
sense, in autonomous assistive agents.
This project, framed against this ambitious goal, hopes to make a few small
steps towards the dream.BIO:
John K. Tsotsos received an honours undergraduate degree in Engineering
Science in 1974 from the University of Toronto and continued at the University
of Toronto to complete a Master's degree in 1976 and a Ph.D. in 1980 both in
Computer Science. He was on the faculty in Computer Science and in Medicine at
the University of Toronto from 1980 - 1999, where he founded and led the
Computer Vision Research Group. In 2000 he moved to York University in Toronto
where he is currently Professor in the Dept. of Computer Science &
Engineering. He was Director of York's Centre for Vision Research, 2000 -2006. He holds the NSERC Tier I Canada Research Chair in Computational Vision
and is an Adjunct Professor in both the departments of Ophthalmology and of
Computer Science at the University of Toronto. He was a Fellow in the
Artificial Intelligence and Robotics program of the Canadian Institute for
Advanced Research from 1985 - 95, has several conference papers that received
recognition, was awarded the 2006 Canadian Image Processing and Pattern
Recognition Society Award for Research Excellence and Service, and is part of
the ACM Distinguished Speaker Program for 2007-08.Location: Hughes Aircraft Electrical Engineering Center (EEB) - 248
Audiences: Everyone Is Invited
Contact: CS Colloquia
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CS Colloquia: Computing Equilibria in Games
Tue, Feb 05, 2008 @ 03:30 PM - 05:00 PM
Thomas Lord Department of Computer Science
Conferences, Lectures, & Seminars
Title: Computing Equilibria in GamesSpeaker: Constantinos Daskalakis (UC Berkeley)ABSTRACT:
Game Theory is important for the study of large competitive environments, such
as the Internet, the market, and even social and biological systems. A key
tool in analyzing such systems (games) is the study of their stable states,
that is, their equilibria. Understanding the properties of equilibria can give
insights into the effectiveness of economic policies, engineering decisions,
etc. However, due to the large scale of most interesting games, the problem of
computing equilibria cannot be separated from complexity considerations.
Motivated by this challenge, I will discuss the problem of computing
equilibria in games.I will show first that computing a Nash equilibrium is an intractable problem.
It is not NP-complete, since, by Nash's theorem, an equilibrium is always
guaranteed to exist, but it is at least as hard as solving any fixed point
computation problem, in a precise complexity-theoretic sense.In view of this hardness result, I will present algorithms for computing
approximate equilibria. In particular, I will describe algorithms that achieve
constant factor approximations for 2-player games, and give a quasi-polynomial
time approximation scheme for the multi-player setting.Finally, I will consider a very natural and important class of games termed
anonymous games. In these games every player is oblivious to the identities of
the other players; examples arise in auction settings, congestion games, and
social phenomena. I will introduce a polynomial time approximation scheme for
the anonymous setting and provide surprising connections to Stein's method in
probability theory.BIO:
Constantinos (or Costis) Daskalakis grew up in Athens, Greece, where he
received his undergraduate degree in Electrical and Computer Engineering from
the National Technical University of Athens. In 2004 he moved to California to
pursue a Ph.D. in Computer Science at U.C. Berkeley under the supervision of
Professor Christos H. Papadimitriou. Costis¡¦s work has focused on
computational game theory and applied probability, in particular the
computation of equilibria in games, the study of social networks, and
computational problems in biology. His research is motivated by two questions:
"How does the algorithmic perspective influence economics, biology, physics,
and the social sciences?" And, "how does the study of computational problems
arising from areas outside computer science transform the theory of
computation?"Location: Seaver Science Library (SSL) - 150
Audiences: Everyone Is Invited
Contact: CS Colloquia
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New remote sensing tools for study of the solid Earth
Thu, Feb 07, 2008 @ 02:00 PM - 03:00 PM
Sonny Astani Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering
Conferences, Lectures, & Seminars
Speaker: Dr. Tom Farr, Earth and Space Sciences Division, Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Pasadena, CAAbstract:
Last year the National Academy released a report: Earth Science and Applications from Space (http://www.nap.edu/catalog.php?record_id=11820) which provided a blueprint for Earth science missions over the next decade and beyond. These include missions to study Earth's cryosphere, vegetation, soil moisture, and oceans. The missions oriented toward the solid Earth will be described, including the technical challenges and applications.Location: Kaprielian Hall (KAP) - 209
Audiences: Everyone Is Invited
Contact: Evangeline Reyes
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CS Colloq: Secure Web Applications and Expressive Security Policies
Thu, Feb 07, 2008 @ 03:30 PM - 05:00 PM
Thomas Lord Department of Computer Science
Conferences, Lectures, & Seminars
Title: Secure Web Applications and Expressive Security PoliciesSpeaker: Stephen Chong (Cornell)ABSTRACT:
Information-flow control promises strong, end-to-end security. In this talk,
I'll present two recent projects that make programming with information-flow
control more practical: a new way of writing secure web applications, and a
framework for expressive security policies.Swift is a new, principled approach to building web applications that are
secure by construction. Swift automatically partitions application code while
providing assurance that the resulting placement of code and data on client
and server is secure and efficient. Application code is written as Java-like
code, annotated with information flow policies that specify the
confidentiality and integrity of information. Using these policies, the
compiler partitions a web application into JavaScript code to run on the
client, and Java code to run on the server. Code and data are placed to ensure
that the specified policies are obeyed, and also to provide good interactive
performance. However, security critical code and data are always placed on the
server. Swift makes it easier to write secure web applications: the programmer
uses just one language, and does not need to worry about the secure or
efficient placement of code and data.Computer systems often have detailed and complicated information security
requirements, perhaps derived from legislation, or organizational policy.
However, it is difficult to ensure that these requirements are correctly
enforced in a system's implementation. We have developed a framework for
specifying, reasoning about, and enforcing, two common requirements:
declassification and erasure. Declassification occurs when the confidentiality
of information is weakened, for example, allowing more people to read. Erasure
is the opposite, and occurs when confidentiality is strengthened, for example,
allowing fewer people to read, perhaps removing the information from the
system entirely. The framework's policies specify when declassification may
occur, and when erasure must occur. A security-type system, in conjunction
with a trusted runtime system, ensures that the policies are enforced. We have
used the policies to implement a secure remote voting service, giving
increased assurance that the voting service satisfies its information security
requirements.BIO:
Stephen Chong is a Ph.D. candidate at Cornell University, in Ithaca, NY, where
he is advised by Andrew Myers. Steve's research focuses on language-based
security and programming languages. He received a bachelor's degree from
Victoria University of Wellington, New Zealand, and plans to complete his
doctorate by May 2008.Location: Seaver Science Library (SSL) - 150
Audiences: Everyone Is Invited
Contact: CS Colloquia
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WiSE Distinguished Lecturer: Dr. Maria Klawe, Gender, Lies and Videogames
Thu, Feb 07, 2008 @ 04:00 PM - 05:00 PM
Viterbi School of Engineering Student Affairs
Conferences, Lectures, & Seminars
Maria Klawe became the fifth president of Harvey Mudd College on July 1, 2006. A renowned computer scientist and scholar, Klawe is the first woman to serve as president of HMC. Prior to joining HMC, she served as dean of engineering and professor of computer science at Princeton University.Klawe earned her B.Sc. and Ph.D. degrees in mathematics at the University of Alberta, Canada, and began her tenure at Princeton in January 2003. Prior to that, she held academic positions at the University of British Columbia (UBC), the University of Toronto and Oakland University. During her 15 years at the University of British Columbia she served as head of the Department of Computer Science from 1988 to 1995, vice president of student and academic services from 1995 to 1998, and dean of science from 1998 to 2002. She also spent eight years in industry, serving at IBM Almaden Research Center, in San Jose, Calif., first as a research scientist, then as manager of the Discrete Mathematics Group and manager of the Mathematics and Related Computer Science Department.Klawe has been active in many organizations promoting women and leadership in science and technology, and is currently chair of the board for the Anita Borg Institute for Women and Technology in Palo Alto, Calif. She is a current member of the Executive Committee, the past president (2002-2004), and also a fellow (1995) of the Association of Computing Machinery (ACM), and was a board member of the Computing Research Association. Her service to other organizations includes work as a trustee for the Institute for Pure and Applied Mathematics at UCLA, the Mathematical Sciences Research Institute in Berkeley, and the American Mathematical Society. She holds honorary doctorates from Dalhousie University (2005), Queen's University (2004), the University of Waterloo (2003), and Ryerson University (2001).
Location: Hedco Neurosciences Building (HNB) - 100 (Hedco Auditorium)
Audiences: Everyone Is Invited
Contact: Nicole Hawkes
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Protocol Design Issues in Underwater Acoustic Networks
Fri, Feb 08, 2008 @ 11:30 AM - 12:30 PM
Ming Hsieh Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering
Conferences, Lectures, & Seminars
SPEAKER: Professor Michele Zorzi, Department of Information Engineering, University of PadovaABSTRACT: Interest in underwater acoustic networking research has grown rapidly in the past few years. Fundamental differences between underwater acoustic propagation and terrestrial radio propagation call for new criteria for the design of communications systems and networking protocols. In this talk, we will provide an overview of the main challenges posed by the underwater acoustic propagation environment, with special emphasis on networking and protocol design issues, and provide novel insights that are useful in guiding both protocol design and network deployment. We will then address in more detail some specific examples of how the unique features of underwater propagation and acoustic modems affect protocol design. In particular, we will (1) focus on the energy consumption profile of acoustic modems and its impact on the design of topology control mechanisms and on the trade-off between sleep cycles and wake-up modes, and (2) present a novel energy-efficient routing protocol for underwater networks that explicitly accounts for the relationship between hop distance, bandwidth, and energy consumption.BIO: Michele Zorzi is a Professor at the Department of Information Engineering of the University of Padova. Prior to his current appointment, he was employed at the Politecnico di Milano, the University of Ferrara and the University of California at San Diego, with which he still has an active collaboration. He received a PhD in Electrical Engineering from the University of Padova in 1994. Michele was the EiC of the IEEE Wireless Communications magazine in 2003-2005, is now the EiC of the IEEE Transactions on Communications, and has served on the Editorial Boards of the top journals in his area of research and on the Organizing and Technical Program Committee for many international conferences. He is an IEEE Fellow. His main research interest are in the area of wireless communications and networking, ad hoc and sensor network, and energy-efficient protocol design.HOST: Prof. Urbashi Mitra, ubli@usc.edu
Location: Hedco Pertroleum and Chemical Engineering Building (HED) - 116
Audiences: Everyone Is Invited
Contact: Mayumi Thrasher
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Honors Colloquium: UAVs Not Powered by Fossil Fuels
Fri, Feb 08, 2008 @ 01:00 PM - 01:50 PM
Viterbi School of Engineering Student Affairs
Conferences, Lectures, & Seminars
Lecture offered by Mr. Wyatt Sadler, Chief Test Pilot for Aerovironment Inc.
Location: Olin Hall of Engineering (OHE) - 122
Audiences: Honors Program Students and all Faculty and Staff are invited to attend
Contact: Erika Chua
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Microbial Biofilms : Our Under-Used Allies in Oil Recovery and Bioremediation
Fri, Feb 08, 2008 @ 01:00 PM - 02:00 PM
Sonny Astani Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering
Conferences, Lectures, & Seminars
Speaker: Dr. Bill Costerton,
Director, Center for Biofilms, Dentistry, University of Southern,
California - Los Angeles, CAAbstract:Microbiology impacts the formation of oil, the recovery of oil, and the effects of oil recovery operations on the environment. The science of Microbiology is undergoing a radical transformation, from dependence on cultures to a new era in which bacteria are characterized by molecular techniques and studied directly in situ in the ecosystems in which they operate. Bill will discuss the roles that bacteria play in reservoir souring and reservoir plugging, as well as the beneficial role they can play in profile modification and Microbially Enhanced Oil Recovery (MEOR). Bill will also discuss modern methods for the determination of the impact of oil recovery on environmental systems, whose conclusions differ radically from those of the conventional methods used heretofore, and the impact that these new perceptions have on such large issues as the Athabasca Tar Sands operations and the routing of oil from the North Slope to the Continental USA.Location: Kaprielian Hall (KAP) - 209
Audiences: Everyone Is Invited
Contact: Evangeline Reyes
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Glenn B. Pfeffer and Margo Apostolos
Mon, Feb 11, 2008 @ 12:30 PM - 01:50 PM
Alfred E. Mann Department of Biomedical Engineering
Conferences, Lectures, & Seminars
Glenn B. Pferrer, MD, Director, Foot and Ankle Center, Cedars-Sinai Medical Center, and Margo Apostolos, PhD, Associate Professor and Director of Dance, USC School of Theatre.
"Dance Medicine"Audiences: Department Only
Contact: Mischalgrace Diasanta
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Multiscale Design System
Wed, Feb 13, 2008 @ 02:00 PM - 03:00 PM
Sonny Astani Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering
Conferences, Lectures, & Seminars
Speaker: Dr. Jacob Fish, The Rosalind and John J. Redfern Chaired Professor of Engineering; Director, Multiscale Science and Engineering Center, Renssalaer Polytechnic Institute"Multiscale Design System"The first integrated design system for composite materials and structures has been developed and validated at Rensselaer. The multiscale design system (MDS) is a complete environment for analysis and design of structural components made of composites (CMCs, PMCs or MMCs), polycrystals, concrete, soil or any other material system involving microstructure. The MDS consists of the state-of-the-art multiscale analysis tools integrated with the commercial finite element analysis engine and optimization package for model calibration (or parameter identification) and validation. The MDS has been successfully applied to design of polymer matrix based composite cars developed by a consortium of GM, FORD and Chrysler, life prediction of CMC-based JSF components (Rolls-Royce design) and hybrid steel-composite naval ships.
Location: Kaprielian Hall (KAP) - 209
Audiences: Everyone Is Invited
Contact: Evangeline Reyes
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Nonlinear control and bioinspired underwater vehicle systems
Wed, Feb 13, 2008 @ 03:30 PM - 04:30 PM
Aerospace and Mechanical Engineering
Conferences, Lectures, & Seminars
Professor Kristi MorgansenUniversity of WashingtonDepartment of Aeronautics and AstronauticsUnderwater locomotion and propulsion for underwater vehicles provide rich applications for the development of control methods for nonlinear systems and underactuated mechanical systems. In the work here, the tasks of modeling and control for agile gait generation for robots built with fin propulsive and maneuvering surfaces are considered. Previous work for such bioinspired devices has shown that simplified models with quasistatic lift and drag can be used to construct trajectory tracking controls for forward and turning motions that strongly resemble biomimetic motions. Here we will evaluate the use of such models for agile maneuverability by comparing biomimetic fast start and snap turn data from experiment with simulation data from the model. Beyond single-vehicle applications, a number of current science applications indicate the need for operation of multivehicle groups composed of different types of vehicles operating in different media (air, water, space). Recent work in coordinated control of vehicle systems has shown that earlier studies in mathematics, physics, and chemistry with models of interconnected oscillators can be used to construct controls for coordinated vehicles. Additionally these oscillator models have been demonstrated to have direct connection to Frenet-Serret models of dynamics for nonholonomic systems (e.g. ground vehicles, fixed-wing aircraft, and underwater vehicles). The work presented here will address the construction of controls for oscilator-based analysis that allow a group of vehicles to track a moving target. Further, when these models are considered in a discrete time setting, effects of intermittent, dynamic and asynchronous communication can be incorporated into the dynamics. Stability bounds for particular group modes of behavior (identical heading or common point of rotation) can then be determined in the context of limited communication. Results are demonstrated in simulation and experiment with applications drawn from the engineering contexts of autonomous air and underwater vehicles as well as the biological context of schooling fish.Beyond single-vehicle applications, a number of current science applications indicate the need for operation of multivehicle groups composed of different types of vehicles operating in different media (air, water, space). Further, such systems are needed to operate with variable levels of autonomy and human interaction. Recent work in coordinated control of vehicle systems has shown that earlier studies in mathematics, physics, and chemistry with models of interconnected oscillators can be used to construct controls for coordinated vehicles. Additionally these oscillator models have been demonstrated to have direct connection to Frenet-Serret models of dynamics for nonholonomic systems (e.g. ground vehicles, fixed-wing aircraft, and underwater vehicles). The work presented here will address the construction of controls for oscillator-based analysis that allow a group of vehicles to track a moving target. Further, when these models are considered in a discrete time setting, effects of intermittent, dynamic and asynchronous communication can be incorporated into the dynamics. Stability bounds for particular group modes of behavior (identical heading or common point of rotation) can then be determined in the context of limited communication. Results are demonstrated in simulation and experiment with applications drawn from the engineering contexts of autonomous air and underwater vehicles as well as the biological context of schooling
fish.
Location: Seaver Science Library, Rm 150
Audiences: Everyone Is Invited
Contact: April Mundy
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Scaling Laws of Multiple Antenna (Group) Broadcast Channels
Wed, Feb 13, 2008 @ 04:00 PM - 05:00 PM
Ming Hsieh Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering
Conferences, Lectures, & Seminars
SPEAKER:Professor Tareq Al-Naffouri, King Fahd University of Petroleum and Minerals, Dhahran, Saudi Arabia; Fulbright Research Visitor, Communication Sciences InstituteABSTRACT:Broadcast (or point to multipoint) communication has attracted a lot of research recently. In this talk we consider the scaling laws for two broadcast scenarios.In the first part of the talk, we consider the effect of spatial correlation between transmit antennas on the sum-rate capacity of the MIMO broadcast channel (i.e., downlink of a cellular system). Specifically, for a system with a large number of users n, we analyze the scaling laws of the sum-rate for the dirty paper coding (DPC) and for different types of beamforming transmission schemes. When the channel is i.i.d., it has been shown that for large number of users n, the sum rate is equal to M*loglog(n) + M*log SNR where M is the number of transmit antennas. When the channel exhibits some spatial correlation with a covariance matrix R, we show that this results in an SNR hit that depends on 1) the multiuser broadcast technique and 2) on the eigenvalues of the correlation matrix R. We quantify this hit for DPC and various beamforming techniques.In the second part of the talk, we consider the multiple antenna group broadcast channel where a base station is to transmit to a group of users and where the users' pool is divided into K groups, each group of which is interested in common information. Such a situation occurs for example in digital audio and video broadcast where the users are divided into various groups according to the shows they are interested in. We study the scaling laws of the sum-rate in the large number of users and/or large number of antennas regimes. Intuitively, the group broadcast capacity should decrease with the number of users. We show that in order to achieve a constant rate per user, the number of transmit antennas should scale at least logarithmically with the number of users.This is a joint work with Masoud Sharif (Boston University), Amir Dana (Qualcomm Corporation), and Babak Hassibi (California Institute of Technology)BIO: Dr. Tareq Al-Naffouri obtained his B.S. in Mathematics in 1994 from King Fahd University of Petroleum and Minerals, Saudi Arabia, his MS in Electrical Engineering from Georgia Institute of Technology in 1998, and his PhD in Electrical Engineering in 2004 from Stanford University. In 2005, he was a visiting researcher in the Electrical Engineering Department at California Institute of Technology. In September 2005, he joined the Electrical Engineering Department at King Fahd University of Petroleum and Minerals, Dhahran, Saudi Arabia, as an assistant professor.Dr. Al-Naffouri's research interests are in adaptive and statistical signal processing and their application to wireless communications and in multiuser wireless networks. His research on adaptive signal processing won the best student paper award in an international meeting. He has held internship and research positions in NEC, Tokyo, National Semiconductors, Santa Clara, CA, Beceem Communications, Santa Clara, CA, the University of California at Los Angeles, and California Institute of Technology.http://faculty.kfupm.edu.sa/EE/naffouri/Host: Prof. Giuseppe Caire, caire@usc.edu
Location: Hughes Aircraft Electrical Engineering Center (EEB) - 248
Audiences: Everyone Is Invited
Contact: Mayumi Thrasher
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CS Colloq: The Impact of Research on the Development of Middleware Technology
Thu, Feb 14, 2008 @ 11:00 AM - 12:30 PM
Thomas Lord Department of Computer Science
Conferences, Lectures, & Seminars
Title: The Impact of Research on the Development of Middleware TechnologySpeaker: Professor Wolfgang EmmerichABSTRACT:
The middleware market represents a sizable segment of the overall Information
and Communication Technology market. In 2005, the annual middleware license
revenue was reported by Gartner to be in the region of
8.5 billion US Dollars. In this talk we address the question whether research
had any involvement in the creation of the technology that is being sold in
this market? We attempt a scholarly discourse. We present the research method
that we have applied to answer this question. We then present a brief
introduction into the key middleware concepts that provide the foundation for
this market. It would not be feasible to investigate any possible impact that
research might have had. Instead we select a few very successful technologies
that are representative for the middleware market as a whole and show the
existence of impact of research results in the creation of these technologies.
We investigate the origins of web services middleware, distributed transaction
processing middleware, message oriented middleware, distributed object
middleware and remote procedure call systems. For each of these technologies
we are able to show ample influence of research and conclude that without the
research conducted by PhD students and researchers in university computer
science labs at Brown, CMU, Cambridge, Newcastle, MIT, Vrije, and University
of Washington as well as research in industrial labs at APM, AT&T Bell Labs,
DEC Systems Research, HP Labs, IBM Research and Xerox PARC we would not have
middleware technology in its current form. We summarise by distilling lessons
that can be learnt from this evidenced impact for future technology transfer
undertakings.BIO:
Wolfgang Emmerich holds the Chair in Distributed Computing in the Department
of Computer Science at University College London. He is Director of Research
in the Dept. of Computer Science. He received his undergraduate degree in
Informatics from the University of Dortmund in 1990 and went on to conduct
research into process-centred software engineering environments. He received a
PhD in Computer Science from University of Paderborn in 1995. After a brief
post-doctoral appointment at the Software Verification Research Centre of the
University of Queensland in Brisbane, he joined The City University as a
Lecturer in 1996. He was appointed as a Lecturer at UCL in the Department of
Computer Science in 1997 and co-founded the Software Systems Engineering
Research Group, which he currently heads. He is a member of the ACM SIGSOFT
Impact project (see http://www.acm.org/sigsoft/impact) where the work
described here was conducted. In parallel to his academic career, he worked
for the Central European OMG representation on the CORBA middleware
specification and co-founded three start-up companies. He is a co-founder,
partner and non-executive director of the Zuhlke Technology Group.Location: Seeley G. Mudd Building (SGM) - 123
Audiences: Everyone Is Invited
Contact: CS Colloquia
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Optimization of Oil and Gas Recovery by Closer Reservoir Monitoring
Thu, Feb 14, 2008 @ 12:45 PM
Mork Family Department of Chemical Engineering and Materials Science
Conferences, Lectures, & Seminars
Lyman Handy Colloquium SeriesPresentsRoland Horne
from
Stanford UniversityAbstractThe permanent downhole pressure gauge is a class of tool recently harnessed in the industry. These tools are installed during the well completion and provide a continuous record of pressure changes during production. Permanent downhole gauges have the potential to provide more information than the traditional well test, which is carried out for a relatively short duration. Permanent downhole gauges may provide useful information regarding changes in reservoir properties or well condition with time as reservoir is produced.However interpretation of permanent downhole gauge data is a new problem. Firstly, unlike the traditional well test where "disturbances" in reservoir (i.e. rates) are created and pressure and rates are both known, in the record from the permanent downhole gauge the changes in rates may not be properly known. Moreover, the dynamic changes in the reservoir, along with changes in the flowing temperature or in the gauge itself, make the data more complicated to interpret.Location: Olin Hall of Engineering (OHE) - 122
Audiences: Everyone Is Invited
Contact: Petra Pearce Sapir
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EE Students Practical Guide Seminar Series - How to Pursue an Academic Career
Fri, Feb 15, 2008 @ 11:30 AM - 01:30 PM
Ming Hsieh Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering
Conferences, Lectures, & Seminars
Seminar Speakers: Profs. Bhaskar Krishnamachari and
Krishna Nayak Organizer: Prof. Alan Willner* Pizza will be graciously provided by the EE Department.*Abstract: Abstract: Are you considering an academic career after graduate school? We will host an informal discussion of the process of deciding on, obtaining, and transitioning to an academic career. It is a little bit more complicated than it seems, but if you're prepared for what's to come, it can be a smooth process.
- Is an academic career right for me?
- How do I land a great academic position?
- What can I do now, to be better prepared?Location: Seaver Science Library (SSL) - 150
Audiences: Everyone Is Invited
Contact: Gerrielyn Ramos
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Honors Colloquium Lecture
Fri, Feb 15, 2008 @ 01:00 PM - 01:50 PM
Viterbi School of Engineering Student Affairs
Conferences, Lectures, & Seminars
Lecture offered by Dr. Charles Massey, Director of Ports and Maritime Security for Alion Science and Technology
Location: Olin Hall of Engineering (OHE) - 122
Audiences: Honors Program Students and all Faculty and Staff are invited to attend
Contact: Erika Chua
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A Chemical Perspective of Nano-Cosmetics
Fri, Feb 15, 2008 @ 01:00 PM - 02:00 PM
Sonny Astani Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering
Conferences, Lectures, & Seminars
Prof. Chang-Chin Kwan,
Department of Applied Chemistry,
Providence University, TaiwanAbstract:Nano-cosmetics have recently raised environmental hazard concerns as nano particles have the ability to be absorbed into skin cells. As the growth of the science becomes enormous, so does the danger and long term risk involved in their use. Nano-cosmetics generally includes nano-sized materials (zinc oxide, titanium dioxide, nano-gold or nano-silver) and perhaps includes nano-carriers (nano-encapsulation, liposome, fullerene, carbon tube and dentrimer).Titanium dioxide usage in cosmetics is very extensive. The titanium dioxide used in cosmetics products is Rutile (R-type, where the photocatalytic effect is not obvious), but Anatase (R-type, a photo-catalyst) is a contaminant in it. In this study we use salicylic acid as a hydroxyl free radical capture agent or dismutant, to confirm whether the cosmetic grade titanium dioxide will produce free radicals or not. An important segment of Dr. Kwan's research includes relating the surfactant with flow properties. His findings show that suspension flow curves at low shear rate (1-15 s-1 by cone-and-plate method) showed a non-Newtonian behavior. Plastic and relative viscosities, along with the Bingham yield, were derived from these flow curves.Magnesium ascorbyl phosphate is commonly used in the productions of whitening and anti-aging materials. It can prevent from the deactivation of tyrosinase and reduction the oxidized melanin. However, magnesium ascorbyl phosphate, a hydrophilic derivative of ascorbic acid, is not stable in the air.
Location: Kaprielian Hall (KAP) - 209
Audiences: Everyone Is Invited
Contact: Evangeline Reyes
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Presidents Day
Mon, Feb 18, 2008 @ 12:30 PM - 01:50 PM
Alfred E. Mann Department of Biomedical Engineering
Conferences, Lectures, & Seminars
No class
Audiences: Department Only
Contact: Mischalgrace Diasanta
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Investigation of Physico-Chemical Characteristics of Particulate Matter from Vehicular Sources
Tue, Feb 19, 2008 @ 02:30 PM - 05:00 PM
Sonny Astani Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering
Conferences, Lectures, & Seminars
Doctoral Dissertation:
Subhasis Biswas,
Sonny Astani Department of Civil and Environmental EngineeringAbstract:
Particles from vehicular sources have drawn public attention for their potential to cause health risks. Beside chemical composition of these particles, their physical attributes are considered to be critical in eliciting adverse health outcomes. This thesis provides valuable information on particle physico-chemical properties with special focus on physical parameters such as size distribution, volatility, effective density, fractal dimension, surface area etc. Particle effective density and fractal dimensions were measured near a gasoline and a mixed freeway with significant diesel fleet. Diesel vehicles emit higher fraction of low density chain agglomerates compared to gasoline vehicles. Particle density at a receptor site showed interesting diurnal trend with peaks during sunny afternoons. Overall, particles demonstrated an inverse relation between size and density. Particle volatility, an important parameter to infer exposure to commuters, was measured near a pure gasoline and diesel dominated mixed-traffic freeway. Diesel particulates were associated with higher content of non-volatiles than those generated from gasoline engines and correlated excellently with the refractory elemental carbon emissions. Particle mixing characteristics not only depend on the fleet composition but also on environmental factors. Thus, to investigate the effect of meteorological conditions on particle characteristics experimental campaigns were designed to capture seasonal and diurnal variability. Although the daytime seasonal influences on particle volatility were minimal, strong diurnal changes were observed during winter. Finally, the physical characteristics of particles from diesel vehicles retrofitted with advanced emission control technologies were determined by controlled studies with a dynamomter set-up. These after treatment devices were efficient in removing solid particles, but were less effective in controlling volatile species which formed fresh nucleation mode particles. Particle volatility, density, surface diameter and extent of agglomeration were determined and compared with respect to a baseline vehicle. Our results indicate that vehicles with strong nucleation mode particles are associated with higher volatility and density and lower agglomeration.Location: Kaprielian Hall (KAP) - 209
Audiences: Everyone Is Invited
Contact: Evangeline Reyes
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From Nature and back again... Giving new life to materials for energy, electronics and the environme
Tue, Feb 19, 2008 @ 03:30 PM
Mork Family Department of Chemical Engineering and Materials Science
Conferences, Lectures, & Seminars
PresentingThe Spitzer LecturewithProfessor Angela M. BelcherDepartment of Materials Science, Engineering
and Biological EngineeringMassachusetts Institute of Technology
Cambridge. MAAbstractOrganisms have been making exquisite inorganic materials for over 500 million years. Although these materials have many desired physical properties such as strength, regularity, and environmental benign processing, the types of materials that organisms have evolved to work with are limited. However, there are many properties of living systems that could be potentially harnessed by researchers to make advanced technologies that are smarter, more adaptable, and that are synthesized to be compatible with the environment. One approach to designing future technologies which have some of the properties that living organisms use so well, is to evolve organisms to work with a more diverse set of building blocks. These materials could be designed to address many scientific and technological problems in electronics, military, medicine, and energy applications. Examples include a virus enabled lithium ion rechargeable battery we recently built that has many improved properties over conventional batteries, as well as materials for solar and display technologies. This talk will address conditions under which organism first evolved to make materials and scientific approaches to move beyond naturally evolved materials to genetically imprint advanced technologies.Tuesday, February 19, 2008
Seminar at 3:30p.m.
SAL – 101Reception Following the Lecture
The Scientific Community is Cordially Invited.
Location: Henry Salvatori Computer Science Center (SAL) - 101
Audiences: Everyone Is Invited
Contact: Petra Pearce Sapir
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CS Colloq: New Primitives and Metrics for Distributed Systems
Tue, Feb 19, 2008 @ 03:30 PM - 05:00 PM
Thomas Lord Department of Computer Science
Conferences, Lectures, & Seminars
Title: New Primitives and Metrics for Distributed SystemsSpeaker: Dr. Byung-Gon Chun (ICSI)ABSTRACT:
With the advent of data centers and "cloud computing", distributed
systems are becoming much larger and far more sophisticated, with
computation spread over thousands of hosts and complex execution
paths. In this talk I will discuss new approaches to securing and
understanding these complex systems.I will first describe how we can build more robust systems using a new
trusted primitive called Attested Append-Only Memory (A2M). We trade
off assumptions on trusted components for improved Byzantine fault
bounds of safety and liveness. I will then present a way of
characterizing the complexity of general networked systems. I will
describe a metric based on distributed state dependencies, and apply
it to routing and classical distributed systems.BIO:
Byung-Gon Chun is a postdoctoral researcher at the International
Computer Science Institute, funded by Intel Corporation. He received
his Ph.D. in Computer Science in 2007 from the University of
California at Berkeley. His research interests span distributed
systems and networks with emphasis on fault tolerance, security,
complexity, and system troubleshooting.Location: Seaver Science Library (SSL) - 150
Audiences: Everyone Is Invited
Contact: CS Colloquia
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MODELING AND SIMULATION OF MULTIPHYSICAL PROCESSES IN PARTICULATE MEDIA
Wed, Feb 20, 2008 @ 02:00 PM - 03:00 PM
Sonny Astani Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering
Conferences, Lectures, & Seminars
Speaker: Dr. Tarek Zohdi, California State University-BerkleyAbstract:
Recently, several applications, primarily driven
by micro-technology, have emerged where a successful
analysis requires the simulation of flowing particulate media involving simultaneous near-field interaction between charged particles and momentum exchange through mechanical contact. For example, industrial processes such as Chemical Mechanical Planarization (CMP), which involves using chemically-reacting particles embedded in fluid (gas or liquid) to ablate rough small-scale surfaces flat, have become important for the success of many micro- and nano- technologies. Charged material can lead to inconsistent ``clean'' manufacturing processes, for example, due to difficulties with dust control, although intentional charging of particulate material can be quite useful in some applications, for example involving electrostatic copiers, inkjet printers, powder coating machines, etc. The presence of near-field interaction forces can produce particulate flows that are significantly different than purely contact-driven scenarios. The determination of the dynamics of such materials is important for the accurate description of the flow of powders, which form the basis of micro-fabrication. Near-field forces can lead to particle clustering, resulting in inconsistent fabrication quality.
Therefore, neglecting such near-field effects can lead to a gross miscalculation of the characteristics of such flows.
Thus, an issue of overriding importance to the successful characterization of such flows is the development of models and reliable computational techniques to simulate the dynamics of multibody particulate systems involving near-field interaction and contact simultaneously (including thermal effects).Ideally, in an attempt to reduce laboratory expenses, one would like to make predictions of a complex particulate flow's behavior by numerical
simulations, with the primary goal being to minimize time-consuming
trial and error experiments. A central objective of this presentation is to provide basic models and numerical solution strategies for the direct simulation of flowing particulate media that can be achieved within a relatively standard desktop or laptop computing environment. Also, if time permits, the closely related topic of ``swarms'' is discussed.
The topics to be touched upon are:(1) Particulate flows(2) Related problems in swarm modeling(3) Optical (electromagnetic energy) propagation(4) Acoustical (mechanical energy) propagation(5) Degradation/aging of particulate continua and(6) Related problems in electromagnetic materialsLocation: Kaprielian Hall (KAP) - 209
Audiences: Everyone Is Invited
Contact: Evangeline Reyes
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Heterostructures: From Physics to Devices and Back (A Personal Perspective)
Wed, Feb 20, 2008 @ 03:30 PM - 04:30 PM
Ming Hsieh Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering
Conferences, Lectures, & Seminars
Dr. Herbert KroemerUniversity of California, Santa BarbaraNobel Laureate, Physics, 2000Abstract
In semiconductor heterostructures the basic semiconductor itself– not just the doping– changes with position, and the transition region between the different semiconductorsplays an essential role in the operation of the device. The underlying physics is that in the transition region the forces acting on electrons and holes are no longer of purely electrostatic
origin, but contain an essentially quantum-mechanical component that is decoupled from the electrostatic forces. In fact, the resulting net forces can act in the same direction for electrons and holes, something fundamentally impossible with purely electrostatic forces.
The added forces give the device designer a powerful new degree of freedom that ranges from performance improvements
in already-existing devices, to the creation of devices that are fundamentally unachievable in homostructures, like the double-heterostructure laser. Today, all compound semiconductor devices of importance are heterostructure devices, and Si-Ge heterostructures have invaded mainstream silicon technology.
In addition to their importance in practical devices, heterostructures are playing a similarly dominant role in basic semiconductor physics. The best-known example–recognized by the 1998 Nobel Prize in Physics–is the fractional quantum Hall effect in the 2D electron gas at certain hetero-interfaces. Numerous other research areas in semiconductor
physics involve heterostructures in an essential way. Examples are nanostructures like quantum wires and quantum dots, superlattice Bloch Oscillators, and induced superconductivity in InAs quantum wells.Bio
Herbert Kroemer was born in 1928 in Weimar, Germany. He received a Doctorate in Theoretical Solid-State Physics
in 1952 from the University of Göttingen, Germany. Since then, he has worked on the physics and technology of semiconductors and semiconductor devices in a number of research laboratories in Germany and the U.S. Since 1976, he has been with the University of California at Santa Barbara.
Dr. Kroemer is the originator of several device concepts, including the heterostructure bipolar transistor, the double-heterostructure laser, and other heterostructure topics. During the '60s, he also worked on microwave device problems,
and in 1964 he was the first to publish an explanation for the Gunn Effect. With the emergence of molecular beam epitaxy in the mid-'70s, he returned to heterostructure devices, and he was one of the first to apply the emerging new technology to new and unconventional materials combinations, such as GaP-on-Si, GaAs-on-Si, and InAs/(Al,Ga)Sb structures, making several contributions to the development of MBE itself.
Dr. Kroemer is a Fellow of the IEEE and of the APS, and a Member of both the National Academy of Engineering and the National Academy of Sciences. He holds honorary doctorates from the Technical University of Aachen, Germany,
the University of Lund, Sweden, the University of Colorado, and the University of Duisburg-Essen, Germany. He has received numerous awards, most recently, in 2000, the Nobel Prize in Physics, "for developing semiconductor heterostructures used in high-speed and optoelectronics," and in 2002 the IEEE Medal of Honor.
His research interests continue to be in the physics and technology of semiconductor heterostructures.http://ee.usc.edu/munushianLocation: Ethel Percy Andrus Gerontology Center (GER) - 124
Audiences: Everyone Is Invited
Contact: Ericka Lieberknecht
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Impact of sea-salt aerosol on the weekend effect
Wed, Feb 20, 2008 @ 03:30 PM - 04:30 PM
Aerospace and Mechanical Engineering
Conferences, Lectures, & Seminars
Donald DabdubProfessor of Mechanical and Aerospace EngineeringProfessor, Advanced Power and Energy ProgramUniversity of California, IrvineABSTRACT:The weekend effect has become an important issue in regulation as it may suggest that controlling NOx would be counter productive to reducing ozone concentrations. Current hypotheses suggest that the dynamics of NOx (changes of quantities and timing NOx emissions rates) explain in part the increase in ozone concentrations. In the past few years there have been new discoveries of atmospheric processes such as the chemistry of sea-salt aerosol in coastal areas. This study quantifies the impact that sea-salt aerosol has on air quality in urban regions. The focus area of this study is the South Coast Air Basin of California.
Particular emphasis will be placed to the impact of sea-salt aerosol to the weekend effect.Location: Seaver Science Library, Rm 150
Audiences: Everyone Is Invited
Contact: April Mundy
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A Robust Control Approach to Optimizing Production, Inventory and Transportation
Thu, Feb 21, 2008 @ 12:45 PM
Mork Family Department of Chemical Engineering and Materials Science
Conferences, Lectures, & Seminars
Graduate Seminar byProfessor Thomas MarlinDepartment of Chemical EngineeringMcMaster University
Ontario, Canada AbstractRecently, advances in computing and optimization algorithms have lead to a renewed interest in analyzing logistics systems with the recognition that (1) substantial uncertainties exist in their dynamic behavior and (2) periodic re-optimization (rolling horizon optimization) affects the future behavior. The Model-Predictive Control (MPC) structure is ideal for modeling these closed-loop logistics systems. This talk will introduce the concept of robust model-predictive control of uncertain systems and how it can be implemented in real-time. Challenges in formulation and computation will be introduced, and proposals for a computationally tractable approach presented. Application to a simple (but real) industrial logistics problem will be presented. The problem has several manufacturing steps with intermediate inventory and transportation to regional distribution outlets. Uncertainty occurs in manufacturing times, transportation times, and customer demands. The goal is to reduce holding (inventory) costs while preventing backorders, where possible. The behavior of the system under various control approaches will be compared, and the advantages of a robust approach quantified.This work has been performed in conjunction with Adam Warren and Xiang Li at McMaster University.
Location: Olin Hall of Engineering (OHE) - 122
Audiences: Everyone Is Invited
Contact: Petra Pearce Sapir
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Honors Colloquium: The 21st Century Oil Refinery
Fri, Feb 22, 2008 @ 01:00 PM - 01:50 PM
Viterbi School of Engineering Student Affairs
Conferences, Lectures, & Seminars
Lecture offered by Mr. Omar Hamid, Senior Process Engineer for Jacobs Engineering
Location: Olin Hall of Engineering (OHE) - 122
Audiences: Honors Program Students and all Faculty and Staff are invited to attend
Contact: Erika Chua
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Analog Circuit Design in Biomedical Engineering
Mon, Feb 25, 2008 @ 11:00 AM - 12:00 PM
Ming Hsieh Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering
Conferences, Lectures, & Seminars
Christopher D. SalthouseMassachusetts Institute of TechnologyAnalog circuits can be used to solve a variety of problems in biomedical engineering. This talk will present projects from two different areas: a micropower cochlear implant and a fluorescence based imaging technology. Cochlear implants have already given hearing to more than 100,000 deaf patients by directly stimulating nerves in the inner ear, but patients are burdened by battery lives as short as 9 hours. A mixed signal integrated circuit including subthreshold analog signal processing and micropower digital blocks performs the same functions as a commercial DSP solution using only four percent of the power. In biomedical imaging, high-speed analog sampling circuits are used in ratiometric fluorescent-lifetime imaging(RFLI). Unlike the steady-state fluorescence imaging being used in research laboratories today, RFLI uses dual fluorophore probes to measure enzyme activity independent of probe concentration and tissue attenuation. Discrete analog circuits are used to deliver nanosecond pulses from a diode laser and sample the fluorescence signal with subnanosecond temporal resolution to independently measure the signal from two fluorophores at the same wavelength. This technique will be demonstrated in vitro in a time domain fluorimeter(TDF) and in a mouse model using a small animal lifetime imager(SALI).Biography:
Christopher Salthouse received his bachelor and master of electrical engineering degrees from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology in 2000. He finished his Ph.D. in electrical engineering with Prof. Rahul Sarpeshkar at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology in 2006. Since 2006, he has been working as a research fellow in the Center for Molecular Imaging Research at the Massachusetts General Hospital, Harvard Medical School.
Location: Hedco Neurosciences Building (HNB) - 100
Audiences: Everyone Is Invited
Contact: Ericka Lieberknecht
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Stephen McAleavey, Assitant Professor of Biomedical Engineering, Rochester
Mon, Feb 25, 2008 @ 12:30 PM - 01:50 PM
Alfred E. Mann Department of Biomedical Engineering
Conferences, Lectures, & Seminars
Assessing native and engineered tissue stiffness with acoustic radiation force.
Audiences: Department Only
Contact: Mischalgrace Diasanta
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CS Colloq: Data-Driven Grasping and Manipulation
Tue, Feb 26, 2008 @ 11:00 AM - 12:00 PM
Thomas Lord Department of Computer Science
Conferences, Lectures, & Seminars
Title: Data-Driven Grasping and ManipulationSpeaker: Prof. Nancy Pollard (CMU)ABSTRACT:
ata captured from human performances of activities ranging from the everyday
through the extraordinary has become widely accessible over the past 10 years.
The ability to download or capture human motion and process it in real-time
has led to many new algorithms and new ways of thinking about character
animation and robot control. However, we do not yet know how to make the most
effective use of this data. What is important about a given performance? How
can it be modified to create realistic new scenarios? And what are the limits
of this approach. Can we ever create behavior that could be called dexterous
from a collection of observed performances?In this talk, I will focus on the problem of creating dexterous grasping and
manipulation behaviors from observed performances. I will discuss how my ideas
have changed over the past decade, as we have gone from the idea that a grasp
is made up of contact points between the hand and object through consideration
of the hand geometry, anatomical constraints, and dynamic properties to the
observation that grasps often involve preparatory sensing and manipulation
actions which we have shown can reduce the effort needed to acquire an object.
Results in computer animation and robot control, as well as results from
controlled human subjects experiments will be presented.BIO:
Nancy Pollard is an Associate Professor in the Robotics Institute and Computer
Science Department at Carnegie Mellon University. She received her PhD in
Electrical Engineering and Computer Science from the MIT Artificial
Intelligence Laboratory in 1994, where she performed research on grasp
planning for articulated robot hands. Before joining CMU, Nancy was an
Assistant Professor and part of the Computer Graphics Group at Brown
University. She received the NSF CAREER award in 2001 for research on
'Quantifying Humanlike Enveloping Grasps' and the Okawa Research Grant in 2006
for "Studies of Dexterity for Computer Graphics and Robotics."Location: Grace Ford Salvatori Hall Of Letters, Arts & Sciences (GFS) - 220
Audiences: Everyone Is Invited
Contact: CS Colloquia
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CS Colloq: Apprenticeship Learning
Tue, Feb 26, 2008 @ 03:30 PM - 05:00 PM
Thomas Lord Department of Computer Science
Conferences, Lectures, & Seminars
Title: Apprenticeship LearningSpeaker: Pieter Abbeel (Stanford)ABSTRACT:
Machine learning is a powerful paradigm which enables autonomous
decision making by learning from examples. Despite its successes,
human learning and decision making still vastly outperform autonomous
decision making, particularly for complex sequential decision making
tasks, where decisions made now have great ramifications far into the
future. In this talk, I will present machine learning techniques with
formal performance guarantees that efficiently learn to perform well
in the apprenticeship learning setting---the setting when expert
demonstrations of the (sequential decision making) task are available.
I will also describe how my apprenticeship learning techniques have
enabled us to solve real-world problems that could not be solved
before. For example, they have enabled a helicopter to perform by far
the most challenging aerobatic maneuvers performed by any autonomous
helicopter to date. They have also enabled us to learn an autonomous
controller for a quadruped robot to traverse challenging terrains and
to learn a variety of different driving behaviours in our highway
driving simulator.BIO:
Pieter Abbeel is a Ph.D. candidate in the Computer Science
Department at Stanford University. His research focuses on machine
learning, including both the foundations of learning, and its practical
application to problems in text mining, computer vision, control,
computational biology, graphics, and computer systems.Location: Seaver Science Library (SSL) - 150
Audiences: Everyone Is Invited
Contact: CS Colloquia
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A Co-rotational Kinematic Framework for Large Deformation Analysis
Wed, Feb 27, 2008 @ 02:00 PM - 03:00 PM
Sonny Astani Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering
Conferences, Lectures, & Seminars
Speaker: Dr. Arif Masud, Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, The University of Illinois at Urbana-ChampaignThis talk presents a hierarchical approach to the modeling of multi-layered composites with arbitrary ply lay-up sequences and orientations. The approach is applicable to flat as well as curved geometric configurations. The model is based on a co-rotational procedure that is derived consistently from the updated Lagrangian framework. The underlying variational formulation is based on an assumed strain method. Displacements and rotations are assumed finite while the strains are infinitesimal. The close relationship between the co-rotational procedure and its underlying updated Lagrangian framework is presented to highlight the cost reduction for large and complicated geometric configurations. Some simple but mathematically consistent procedures for updating element stresses and calculating the internal force vector are also discussed.
An elastoplastic damage model is incorporated in this co-rotational framework to accommodate material degradation in each individual laminate. The model is based on irreversible thermodynamics with the damage surface defined in terms of an internal damage variable of energy, along with a set of rate-independent elastoplastic constitutive equations that are defined in an effective stressâ€"strain space. Employing the operator splitting methodology, a three-step predictor/multi-corrector algorithm is developed that includes an elastic predictor, a plastic corrector, and a damage corrector.
Several representative numerical simulations of materially and geometrically nonlinear analysis are presented to show the accuracy and the range of applicability of the model. The model is then applied to the design of a co-axial laminated system.Vita: Professor Arif Masud received Ph.D. in Computational Mechanics from Stanford University in April 1993. He joined the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign in August 2006, after having served on the faculty of University of Illinois at Chicago from 1994-2006. Dr. Masud is working on the development of multi-scale finite element methods for application in nonlinear solid and fluid mechanics. He has delivered several Keynote Lectures at International Conferences, and organized more than ten International Symposia on Multiscale & Stabilized Finite Element Methods. He is co-editor of the book The Finite Element Method: 1970s and Beyond that appeared in 2004. In 1999 he was awarded the Teaching Recognition Award by the Council for Excellence in Teaching at UIC, and in 2002 he was awarded the Faculty Distinguished Research Award by the College of Engineering at UIC. Dr. Masud serves on the Editorial Boards of five International Journals. He is Chair of the Computational Mechanics Committee of ASCE, and Vice-Chair of the Fluid Mechanics Committee of ASME. Dr. Masud serves as an Associate Editor of the ASCE Journal of Engineering Mechanics, and an Associate Editor of the ASME Journal of Applied Mechanics. In 2006 he was elected Fellow of the International Association of Computational Mechanics (IACM).
Location: Kaprielian Hall (KAP) - 209
Audiences: Everyone Is Invited
Contact: Evangeline Reyes
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Prospects for Very Large Space Telescopes: How Mass Scales with Structural Requirements
Wed, Feb 27, 2008 @ 03:30 PM - 04:30 PM
Aerospace and Mechanical Engineering
Conferences, Lectures, & Seminars
Lee Peterson ProfessorGary L. Roubos Endowed ChairDepartment Chair (on sabbatical)Director, Center for Aerospace StructuresDepartment of Aerospace Engineering SciencesUniversity of ColoradoBoulder, CO A conceptual design framework is presented for studying how the mass of a large space telescope mirror will depend on design disturbances, mirror diameter, and practical structural design constraints. A variety of on-orbit, launch, and ground test design requirements are considered, as are practical constraints on structural truss member properties. While prior work emphasized the trade between structural depth and overall mass fraction, this paper shows how these practical constraints limit the achievable structural depth, and thus define an optimal depth. An example of a tetrahedral support truss for a segmented mirror is presented. For lightly loaded design cases, it is observed that the minimum mass structure is determined by the simultaneous application of minimum allowable tube thickness, a specified strut Euler buckling load, and a specified strut pin-pin frequency. Closed form solutions are derived for the optimal structural depth and areal density. These are shown to be independent of the diameter of the telescope mirror.
Location: Seaver Science LIbrary, Rm 150
Audiences: Everyone Is Invited
Contact: April Mundy
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CS Colloq: Modeling Human Behavior for Defense against Flash-Crowd Attacks
Wed, Feb 27, 2008 @ 03:30 PM - 05:00 PM
Thomas Lord Department of Computer Science
Conferences, Lectures, & Seminars
Title: Modeling Human Behavior for Defense against Flash-Crowd AttacksSpeaker: Dr. Jelena Mirkovic (ISI)ABSTRACT:
Flash-crowd attacks are the most vicious form of distributed denial
of service (DDoS). They flood the victim with service requests
generated from numerous bots. Attack requests are identical in
content to those generated by legitimate, human users, and bots send
at a low rate to appear non-aggressive --- these features defeat many
existing DDoS defenses. We propose defenses against flash-crowd
attacks via human behavior modeling, which differentiate bots from
human users. Current approaches to human-vs-bot differentiation, such
as graphical puzzles, are insufficient and annoying to users, whereas
our defenses are highly effective and transparent to humans. We have
developed three types of human behavior models: a) request dynamics
models learn several features of human interaction dynamics, and
detect bots that exhibit higher aggressiveness in one or more of
these features, b) request sequence models learn visit and
transitional probabilities of user requests; they detect bots that
generate valid but low-probability sequences, and c) deception
techniques embed human-invisible objects into server replies, and
flag users that visit them as bots. Our techniques raise the bar for
a successful attack to a botnet size that is accessible to less than
5%, and sometimes less than 1%, of attackers today.BIO:
Dr. Jelena Mirkovic is a computer scientist at USC/ISI, which she
joined in 2007. Previously she was an assistant professor at the
University of Delaware, 2003-2007.
She received her M.S. and Ph.D. from UCLA, and her B.S. in Computer
Science and Engineering from the School of Electrical Engineering,
University of Belgrade, Serbia. Her current research is focused on:
methodologies for security experimentation, computer worms and viruses,
denial-of-service attacks, and IP spoofing.Location: Hughes Aircraft Electrical Engineering Center (EEB) - 248
Audiences: Everyone Is Invited
Contact: CS Colloquia
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CS Colloq: Internet Equilibrium Analysis Through Separation of User and Network Behavior
Thu, Feb 28, 2008 @ 11:00 AM - 12:30 PM
Thomas Lord Department of Computer Science
Conferences, Lectures, & Seminars
Title: Internet Equilibrium Analysis Through Separation of User and Network
BehaviorSpeaker: Prof. Y.C. Tay (National University of Singapore)ABSTRACT:
Internet complexity makes reasoning about traffic equilibrium difficult, partly
because users react to congestion. This difficulty calls for an analytic
technique that is simple, yet have enough details to capture user behavior and
flexibly address a broad range of
issues.This talk presents such a technique. It treats traffic equilibrium as a balance
between an inflow controlled by user demand, and an outflow provided by network
supply (link capacity, congestion avoidance, etc.). This decomposition is
demonstrated with a surfing session model, and validated with a traffic trace
and NS2 simulations.The technique's accessibility and breadth are illustrated through an analysis
of several issues concerning the location, stability, robustness and dynamics
of traffic equilibrium.(Joint work with D. Nguyen Tran, Eric Y. Liu, Wei Tsang Ooi and Robert Morris)BIO:
Y.C. Tay received his B.Sc. degree from the University of Singapore and Ph.D.
degree from Harvard University. He is a professor in the Departments of
Mathematics and Computer Science at the National University of Singapore
(http://www.comp.nus.edu.sg/~tayyc). His main research interest is performance
modeling.Location: Hughes Aircraft Electrical Engineering Center (EEB) - 248
Audiences: Everyone Is Invited
Contact: CS Colloquia
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Menagerie of Viruses: Diverse Chemical Sequences or Simple Electrostatics
Thu, Feb 28, 2008 @ 12:45 PM
Mork Family Department of Chemical Engineering and Materials Science
Conferences, Lectures, & Seminars
Distinguished Lecture SerieswithProfessor M. Muthukumar
University of Massachusetts
Amherst, MA 01003
muthu@polysci.umass.edu AbstractThe genome packing in hundreds of viruses is investigated by analyzing the chemical sequences of the genomes and the corresponding capsid proteins, in combination with experimental facts on the structures of the packaged genomes. Based on statistical mechanics arguments and computer simulations, we have derived a universal model, based simply on non-specific electrostatic interactions. Our model is able to predict the essential aspects of genome packing in diversely different viruses, such as the genome size and its density distribution. Our result is in contrast to the long-held view that specific interactions between the sequenced amino acid residues and the nucleotides of the genome control the genome packing. Implications of this finding in the evolution and biotechnology will be discussed. Additionally, we will present mechanisms of how DNA worms through protein channels and synthetic pores.Location: Olin Hall of Engineering (OHE) - 122
Audiences: Everyone Is Invited
Contact: Petra Pearce Sapir
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EFFICIENT INTEGRATION OF NONLINEAR SITE RESPONSE
Thu, Feb 28, 2008 @ 02:00 PM - 03:00 PM
Sonny Astani Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering
Conferences, Lectures, & Seminars
Dominic Assimaki-Professor
School of Civil and Environmental Engineering - Georgia TechABSTRACT:
While the quantification of site effects is of great significance in seismic hazard mitigation, there currently exists a large degree of uncertainty concerning the mathematical model to be employed for the efficient evaluation of these effects, and the site investigation program for evaluation of the associated input parameters. Towards the development of a comprehensive framework for credible and efficient integration of site response predictions in rupture scenaria simulations that addresses these issues, we here combine downhole observations and broadband ground motion synthetics for characteristic profiles in the Los Angeles Basin, and investigate the variability in ground motion introduced by the site response assessment methodology and uncertainty in nonlinear model parameter description. Regional velocity and attenuation structures are initially compiled using geotechnical data and the crustal velocity structure at three sites in Southern California. Broadband ground motion simulations are next conducted for scenaria of weak, medium and large magnitude events, and three component seismograms are computed on a surface station grid at distances 1km-75km from the surface projection of the fault. Elastic, equivalent linear and nonlinear site response simulations at multiple levels of complexity are then evaluated, and the coefficient of variation (COV) of site amplification factors is evaluated, defined as the ratio of the predicted peak ground acceleration (PGA) and spectral acceleration (SA) at short and long periods to the corresponding ground motion intensity measure on rock-outcrop. A frequency index is developed to identify the site conditions and ground motion characteristics where the high COV of free-field response implies that incremental nonlinear analyses should be employed in lieu of approximate methodologies. Next, the parametric uncertainty of nonlinear models is assessed by defining fixed- and free-parameters for each model and systematically randomizing the latter. Results show that site nonlinearity susceptibility and optimal nonlinear model complexity may be quantified by the proposed intensity-frequency index pair representation of site conditions and ground motion characteristics, while development of the target generalized computational framework for site response analyses is conditioned on the collection a statistically significant number of ground motion observations and synthetics at a wide spectrum of site conditions.Location: Kaprielian Hall (KAP) - 209
Audiences: Everyone Is Invited
Contact: Evangeline Reyes
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From Edison to Viterbi
Thu, Feb 28, 2008 @ 03:00 PM - 05:00 PM
Ming Hsieh Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering
Conferences, Lectures, & Seminars
About Jack Keil Wolf:
Jack Keil Wolf received the B.S.E.E. degree from the University of Pennsylvania, and the M.S.E., M.A., and Ph.D. degrees from Princeton University. He has been teaching for more than 40 years. He is currently the Stephen O. Rice Professor of Electrical and Computer Engineering and a member of the Center for Magnetic Recording Research at the University of California-San Diego, La Jolla. He also holds a part-time appointment at Qualcomm, Inc., San Diego. Dr. Wolf is a member of the National Academy of Engineering and the American Academy of Arts and Sciences. He has received several IEEE awards including: the 1990 E. H. Armstrong Achievement Award, the 1993 Leonard G. Abraham Prize Paper Award (co recipient), the 1975 IEEE Information Theory Group Prize Paper Award (co recipient), the 1998 IEEE Koji Kobayashi Award, the 2001 Claude E. Shannon Award, the 2004 IEEE Richard W. Hamming Medal, and the 2007 Aaron D. Wyner Distinguished Service Award. He held an NSF Senior Postdoctoral Fellowship and a Guggenheim Fellowship.About Andrew J. Viterbi:
Andrew J. Viterbi is a co-founder and retired vice chairman and chief technical officer of QUALCOMM Incorporated. He spent equal portions of his career both in industry, having previously co-founded Linkabit Corporation, and in academia as professor in the Schools of Engineering and Applied Science, first at UCLA and then at UCSD, where he is now professor emeritus. He is currently president of the Viterbi Group, a technical advisory and investment company. His principal research contribution, the Viterbi Algorithm, is used in most digital cellular phones and digital satellite receivers, as well as in such diverse fields as magnetic recording, voice recognition and DNA sequence analysis. More recently, he concentrated his efforts on establishing CDMA as the multiple access technology of choice for cellular telephony and wireless data communication. Viterbi has received numerous honors both in the U.S. and internationally. Among these are four honorary doctorates from the Universities of Waterloo, Rome, Technion and Notre Dame, as well as memberships in the National Academy of Engineering, the National Academy of Sciences and the American Academy of Arts and Sciences. He has received the Marconi International Fellowship Award, the IEEE Alexander Graham Bell and Claude Shannon Awards, the NEC C&C Award, the Eduard Rhein Foundation Award and the Christopher Columbus Medal.About the Viterbi Lecture
The Viterbi Lecture was created as the USC Viterbi School of Engineering’s premier academic distinction in information technology and digital communications, an area of research in which the school of Engineering is a national leader. Each year, an awardee who has made fundamental contributions of profound impact in communication will present the Viterbi Lecture.Location: Andrus Gerontology Center: Reception 3:00 to 4:00PM & Lecture 4:00 to 5:00PM
Audiences: Everyone Is Invited
Contact: Estela Lopez
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CS Colloq: Fitting Polynomials to Noisy Data
Thu, Feb 28, 2008 @ 03:30 PM - 05:00 PM
Thomas Lord Department of Computer Science
Conferences, Lectures, & Seminars
Title: Fitting Polynomials to Noisy DataSpeaker: Dr. Parikshit Gopalan (Washington)ABSTRACT:
The problem of finding the polynomial that best fits a noisy data-set (or
polynomial reconstruction) has a long history, dating back to curve-fitting
problems studied in the 1800s. In the last two decades, there has been
tremendous progress on this problem in computer science, driven by the
discovery of powerful new algorithms. These results have spurred exciting new
developments in Coding theory, Computational learning, Cryptography and
Hardness of Approximation. In this talk, we will explore this problem from the
perspectives of Coding theory and Computational learning.We begin with an algorithm for decoding a well-studied family of binary
error-correcting codes called Reed-Muller codes, which are obtained from
low-degree polynomials. The salient feature of this algorithm is that it works
even when the number of errors far exceeds the so-called Johnson bound.I will present an algorithm for agnostically learning decision trees under the
uniform distribution. This is the first polynomial time algorithm for learning
decision trees in a harsh noise model. This algorithm solves the
reconstruction problem for real polynomials using tools from convex
optimization.I will also discuss settings where the reconstruction problem seems
intractable. We will see evidence that the notorious Noisy Parity problem is
hard under the uniform distribution. We will see hardness results suggesting
that learning simple concepts with noise is impossible for arbitrary
distributions.BIO:
Parikshit Gopalan grew up in India in the city of Bombay (now called Mumbai).
He graduated with an undergraduate degree from IIT-Bombay (whose name,
thankfully, has not changed). He received his Ph.D from Georgia Tech in August
2006, under the guidance of Dick Lipton. Following this, he did a short stint
as a postdoctoral researcher at the University of Texas at Austin. He is
currently a postdoc at the University of Washington, visiting Princeton
University.His research focuses on theoretical computer science, especially on algebraic
problems arising from algorithms and complexity. He also likes to dabble in
other areas such as Data-stream algorithms and Communication complexity.Location: Seaver Science Library (SSL) - 150
Audiences: Everyone Is Invited
Contact: CS Colloquia
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Honors Colloquium Lecture
Fri, Feb 29, 2008 @ 01:00 PM - 01:50 PM
Viterbi School of Engineering Student Affairs
Conferences, Lectures, & Seminars
Lecture offered by Dr. Curt J. Cutler, Senior Research Scientist for Jet Propulsion Laboratory
Location: Olin Hall of Engineering (OHE) - 122
Audiences: Honors Program Students and all Faculty and Staff are invited to attend
Contact: Erika Chua
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Monitoring Water for People Projects in Malawi
Fri, Feb 29, 2008 @ 01:00 PM - 02:00 PM
Sonny Astani Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering
Conferences, Lectures, & Seminars
Environmental Engineering Seminar:Joyce.T.Lee,
Environmental Engineer,
MWH Americas, Inc.,
Arcadia, CA 91007AbstractWater For People has been working in Malawi since 2000, helping to provide more than 150,000 people with safe drinking water and/or improved sanitation. As part of a WFP Water Corps Team, Joyce T. Lee recently conducted a Monitoring Study in Malawi. The study involved follow-up research on previously installed water and sanitation projects funded by Water for People including borehole wells, hand-dug shallow wells, Afridev hand pumps, rainwater catchment tanks, community tap stands and pit latrines. The team conducted water committee and user interviews, reviewed operations, data and revenue collection, sanitation and hygiene education. Data were entered into the Water for People database for future site monitoring and follow-up. A complete report from the monitoring study should be available shortly on the Water for People website. During this talk, Joyce shares her experience as a member of the team that conducted the 2007 Monitoring Study in Malawi.
Location: Kaprielian Hall (KAP) - 209
Audiences: Everyone Is Invited
Contact: Evangeline Reyes
