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• Conferences, Lectures, & Seminars (18)
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Conferences, Lectures, & Seminars
Events for February

• Feb

  01

  USC On the Road

  Tue, Feb 01, 2005 @ 06:00 PM - 08:30 PM

  Viterbi School of Engineering Alumni

  Conferences, Lectures, & Seminars

  
  

  Join the Alumni Association as they hit the road with some of USC's finest. Scheduled to speak are: Major General Charles Bolden, Jr., USMC (Ret.); Mike Zyda, Director of the USC Viterbi School of Engineering's GamePipe Laboratory, and Yannis Yortsos, Dean of the USC Viterbi School of Engineering who will give a special presentation on "Creating a Science of Games"Join us at The Crescent Club at 200 Crescent Court, 17th Floor Dallas, Texas 75201Admission is $20 per person, Hors d'oeuvres and beverages will be servedFor more information call the USC Alumni Association at (213) 740-2300 or visit http://alumni.usc.edu/ontheroad/

  Location: Dallas, TX

  Audiences: Everyone Is Invited

  Contact: Kirstin Strickland

  

• Feb

  01

  USC On the Road

  Tue, Feb 01, 2005 @ 06:00 PM - 08:30 PM

  Viterbi School of Engineering Alumni

  Conferences, Lectures, & Seminars

  
  

  Join the Alumni Association as they hit the road with some of USC's finest. Scheduled to speak are: Major General Charles Bolden, Jr., USMC (Ret.); Mike Zyda, Director of the USC Viterbi School of Engineering's GamePipe Laboratory, and Yannis Yortsos, Dean of the USC Viterbi School of Engineering who will give a special presentation on "Creating a Science of Games"Join us at The Crescent Club at 200 Crescent Court, 17th Floor Dallas, Texas 75201Admission is $20 per person, Hors d'oeuvres and beverages will be servedFor more information call the USC Alumni Association at (213) 740-2300 or visit http://alumni.usc.edu/ontheroad/

  Location: Dallas, TX

  Audiences: Everyone Is Invited

  Contact: Kirstin Strickland

  

• Feb

  02

  A Modeling Framework for Facility Location of Medical Services for Large-Scale Emergencies

  Wed, Feb 02, 2005 @ 03:30 PM

  Daniel J. Epstein Department of Industrial and Systems Engineering

  Conferences, Lectures, & Seminars

  
  

  650 Seminar by Bill (Hongzhong) JiaAbstractWe present a survey of facility location problems and discuss their
  applicability to large-scale emergencies. We propose a general facility
  location model for large-scale emergencies that includes requirements of
  quantity and quality of coverage. Possible algorithm to solve the problem is
  discussed. This model, which can be a covering, P-median, or P-center
  problem, is illustrated with a few examples.

  Location: Ralph And Goldy Lewis Hall (RGL) - , room TBA

  Audiences: Everyone Is Invited

  Contact: Shah Nirav

  

• Feb

  04

  Attaching to Surfaces and Passing around Electrons: the Things Microbes do

  Fri, Feb 04, 2005 @ 02:30 PM - 04:00 PM

  Mork Family Department of Chemical Engineering and Materials Science

  Conferences, Lectures, & Seminars

  
  

  Presented by:Professor Kenneth Nealson Wrigley Professor of Geobiology,
  Earth Sciences Abstract: The microbe Shewanella oneidensis MR-1, isolated from anaerobic metal-rich sediments, is representative of a group generally referred to as dissimilatory metal-ion reducing microbes -- those bacteria that use oxidized metals as electron acceptors. When presented with insoluble oxidants, MR-1 attaches to the metal surface, forms a primitive biofilm, and proceeds to grow at the expense of metal ion reduction. Properties of Shewanella, its role in metal reduction, and the relationship of these properties to extracellular electron transfer will be discussed including recent results obtained using MR-1 for current production in biofuel cells.Refreshments will be served at 2:30p.m. All first-year MASC students are required to attend.

  Location: Vivian Hall of Engineering (VHE) - 217

  Audiences: Everyone Is Invited

  Contact: YUN TAO

  

• Feb

  07

  SIPI Seminar

  Mon, Feb 07, 2005 @ 10:00 AM

  Ming Hsieh Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering

  Conferences, Lectures, & Seminars

  
  

  "Multiscale Reconstruction of Spatio-Temporally Distributed Phenomena"Rebecca WillettRice University, Electrical & Computer Engineering DepartmentAbstract:
  Many critical scientific and engineering applications rely upon the accurate reconstruction of spatio-temporally distributed phenomena from measured data. A number of information processing challenges arise routinely in these problems: indirect sensing modalities, decentralized sensing and processing resources, distorted and noisy data, and complicated signal behavior. Sensing is often indirect in nature, such as tomographic projections in medical imaging, resulting in complicated inverse reconstruction problems. The sensing can also be decentralized, as in wireless sensor networks, leading to complex trade-offs between communications, sensing and processing. Furthermore, in any practical system, the measurements are noisy due to errors in sensing and/or quantization effects. In addition to the complex issues associated with sensing, the behavior of the information-bearing signals of interest may be very rich and complex, and consequently difficult to model a priori. All of these issues combine to make accurate reconstruction a complicated task, involving a myriad of system-level and algorithm trade-offs.In this talk, I will demonstrate that nonparametric multiscale reconstruction methods can overcome all the challenges above and provide a theoretical framework for assessing trade-offs between reconstruction accuracy and system resources. First, the theory supporting these methods facilitates characterization of fundamental performance limits. Examples include lower bounds on the best achievable error performance in medical image reconstruction and upper bounds on the total amount of power that must be consumed to perform a sensor network task. Second, the methods themselves are practical and resource-efficient in a broad range of contexts, including a diverse variety of sensing modalities, noise models, data dimensionalities, and error metrics. Third, existing reconstruction methods can often be enhanced with multiscale techniques, resulting in significant improvements in a number of application domains. Underlying these methods are ideas drawn from the theory of multiscale analysis, statistical learning, nonlinear approximation theory, and iterative reconstruction algorithms. I will demonstrate the effectiveness of the theory and methods in several important applications, including medical image reconstruction and environmental monitoring with wireless sensor networks.Biography:
  Rebecca Willett is a graduate student in the Electrical and Computer Engineering Department at Rice University. In addition to studying at Rice, Ms. Willett has worked as a Fellow of the Institute for Pure and Applied Mathematics at UCLA, as a visiting researcher at the University of Wisconsin-Madison and the French National Institute for Research in Computer Science and Control (INRIA), and as a member of the Applied Science Research and Development Laboratory at GE Medical Systems (now GE Healthcare). She received the National Science Foundation Graduate Research Fellowship, the Rice University Presidential Scholarship, and the Society of Women Engineers Caterpillar Scholarship. Her research interests include signal processing and communications with applications in medical imaging, astrophysics, and wireless sensor networks. Additional information, including publications and software, are available online at http://www.ece.rice.edu/~willett/.Host: Richard Leahy

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

  Audiences: Everyone Is Invited

  Contact: Alma Hernandez

  

• Feb

  09

  METRANS Annual Research Conference - Mobility in the Metropolis: Making the Most of What we Have

  Wed, Feb 09, 2005

  Daniel J. Epstein Department of Industrial and Systems Engineering

  Conferences, Lectures, & Seminars

  
  

  Click on the link for more details.METRANS
  Annual Research Conference - Mobility in the Metropolis: Making
  the Most of What we Have

  Audiences: Everyone Is Invited

  Contact: Shah Nirav

  

• Feb

  10

  Agilent Guest Lecture: The Society of the Future

  Thu, Feb 10, 2005 @ 11:45 AM - 12:45 PM

  USC Viterbi School of Engineering

  Conferences, Lectures, & Seminars

  
  

  The Society of the Future: The Mega Trends of the 21st Century and Their Implications on the Global Research Community Presented by: Dr. Ishak, Director, Photonics & Electronics of Agilent Laboratories We are approaching a very interesting era in which Digital Consumer Electronics and Life Sciences will drive a lot of the high technology research and products. Both waves will have major impacts on our society and will create an environment in which people's lives will be prolonged and improved and they will be able to communicate better with eachother. Photonics and Electronics will have major impacts on both waves: Digital Electronics and Biosciences. The integration of Photonics and Electronics, with the utilization of micromechanics, will allow us to develop sophisticated systems never achieved before. The presentation will cover the Mega Trends in demographics, environment, security and safety, health care, and the convergence of computers, communications & consumers. In addition, the impact of these trends on the research communities around the world will be discussed in details.
  

  Location: Ethel Percy Andrus Gerontology Center (GER) - ontology Auditorium

  Audiences: Faculty / Graduate Students

  Contact: Sylvia Adams

  

• Feb

  11

  New Approaches to Control Biofilm Formation and Chronic infection of Medical Devices

  Fri, Feb 11, 2005 @ 02:30 PM - 04:00 PM

  Mork Family Department of Chemical Engineering and Materials Science

  Conferences, Lectures, & Seminars

  
  

  Presented by:Professor Bill Costerton, DirectorCenter for Biofilms,
  School of Dentistry,
  University of Southern CaliforniaAbstract :One of the most important limitations in the design and use of medical
  devices derives from our failure to find biomaterials that resist the
  tendency of bacteria to form biofilms on inert surfaces. These biofilms
  are
  inherently resistant to host defenses and to antibiotics, and they cause
  chronic infections that often necessitate the removal of the device
  concerned. Now that we appreciate the nature of device-related
  infections,
  we can combine new anti-biofilm strategies with standard anti-bacterial
  strategies, and achieve some measure of control of the infections that
  virtually preclude the use of some of the most sophisticated medical
  devices.Refreshments served at 2:30All first year MASC students are required to attend
  

  Location: Vivian Hall of Engineering (VHE) - 217

  Audiences: Everyone Is Invited

  Contact: Petra Pearce

  

• Feb

  11

  Continuous-Time Digital Filters and Other Mixed-Domain Processors\N

  Fri, Feb 11, 2005 @ 03:00 PM

  USC Viterbi School of Engineering

  Conferences, Lectures, & Seminars

  
  

  The main part of this talk by Yannis Tsividis of Columbi University considers the mixing of two domains usually kept
  separate: the digital domain, and the continuous time domain. When a
  continuous-time analog signal is to be processed using conventional DSPs, it
  is first sampled and quantized. This introduces aliasing of both the signal
  and the quantization distortion. He proposes to quantize, but not sample, the
  input signal, producing continuous-time binary signals which are processed
  directly using continuous-time digital hardware. This eliminates aliasing and
  results in much smaller in-band quantization error than is possible with
  conventional digital techniques. Preliminary experimental and simulation
  results support these claims. He then introduces other mixed-domain signal
  processors, including linear analog filters which use nonlinear signal
  decompositions and processors in which digital waveforms are processed
  directly with analog circuits. The emphasis of the talk is on principles, some
  of which may lead to practically important results whereas others may be
  interesting only from a conceptual viewpoint.Yannis Tsividis received the B.S. degree from the University of Minnesota,
  Minneapolis in 1972, and the M.S. and Ph.D. degrees from the University of
  California, Berkeley, in 1973 and 1976, respectively. Since 1976 he has been
  with the Department of Electrical Engineering, Columbia University, New York,
  where he currently holds the Charles Batchelor Memorial Chair. He has done
  extensive work in analog and mixed-signal MOS integrated circuits at the
  device, circuit, system, and computer simulation level, starting with the
  first fully-integrated MOS operational amplifier in 1975. A Fellow of the
  IEEE, Dr. Tsividis has received or co-received several research awards,
  including the 1984 Baker Prize Award for the best IEEE publication, the IEEE
  Circuits and Systems Society's Darlington (1987) and Guilllemin-Cauer (1998)
  Best Paper Awards, and the 2003 International Solid-State Circuits Conference
  L. Winner Outstanding Paper Award. He received Columbia's Presidential Award
  for Outstanding Teaching in 2003 and the IEEE Undergraduate Teaching Award in
  2005.
   
  Host:  Prof. John Choma

  Location: Ethel Percy Andrus Gerontology Center (GER) - ontology Auditorium.

  Audiences: Everyone Is Invited

  Contact: Eric Mankin

  

• Feb

  11

  DISTINGUISHED LECTURER SERIES

  Fri, Feb 11, 2005 @ 03:00 PM - 04:00 PM

  Ming Hsieh Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering

  Conferences, Lectures, & Seminars

  
  

  "CONTINUOUS-TIME DIGITAL FILTERS AND OTHER MIXED-DOMAIN PROCESSORS"PROF. YANNIS TSIVIDISColumbia UniversityGerontology Auditorium (GER 124)Friday, February 11, 20053:00-4:00p.m.Abstract:---------The main part of this talk considers the mixing of two domains usually kept separate: the digital domain, and the continuous time domain. When a continuous-time analog signal is to be processed using conventional DSPs, it is first sampled and quantized. This introduces aliasing of both the signal and the quantization distortion. We propose to quantize, but not sample, the input signal, producing continuous-time binary signals which are processed directly using continuous-time digital hardware. This eliminates aliasing and results in much smaller in-band quantization error than is possible with conventional digital techniques. Preliminary experimental and simulation results support these claims. We then introduce other mixed-domain signal processors, including linear analog filters which use nonlinear signal decompositions and processors in which digital waveforms are processed directly with analog circuits. The emphasis of the talk is on principles, some of which may lead to practically important results whereas others may be interesting only from a conceptual viewpoint.Bio:-----Yannis Tsividis received the B.S. degree from the University of Minnesota, Minneapolis in 1972, and the M.S. and Ph.D. degrees from the University of California, Berkeley, in 1973 and 1976, respectively. Since 1976 he has been with the Department of Electrical Engineering, Columbia University, New York, where he currently holds the Charles Batchelor Memorial Chair. He has done extensive work in analog and mixed-signal MOS integrated circuits at the device, circuit, system, and computer simulation level, starting with the first fully-integrated MOS operational amplifier in 1975. A Fellow of the IEEE, Dr. Tsividis has received or co-received several research awards, including the 1984 Baker Prize Award for the best IEEE publication, the IEEE Circuits and Systems Society's Darlington (1987) and Guilllemin-Cauer (1998) Best Paper Awards, and the 2003 International Solid-State Circuits Conference L. Winner Outstanding Paper Award. He received Columbia's Presidential Award for Outstanding Teaching in 2003 and the IEEE Undergraduate Teaching Award in 2005.Host: Prof. John Choma, x04692 ***A reception will follow the seminar at 4:00p.m.
  

  Location: Ethel Percy Andrus Gerontology Center (GER) - ontology Auditorium

  Audiences: Everyone Is Invited

  Contact: Rosine Sarafian

  

• Feb

  16

  Data Fusion for Quality Improvements in Complex Systems

  Wed, Feb 16, 2005 @ 03:30 PM - 04:30 PM

  Daniel J. Epstein Department of Industrial and Systems Engineering

  Conferences, Lectures, & Seminars

  
  

  
  Data Fusion for Quality Improvements
  in Complex SystemsJionghua (Judy) JinAssistant Professor
  Department of Systems and Industrial Engineering
  University of ArizonaABSTRACTThe rapid advancement of sensing and computing techniques provides unprecedented opportunities for quality improvement in both manufacturing and service industries. The wide deployment and applications of automatic sensing devices and computer systems have resulted in both temporally and spatially dense data-rich environments, which bring new challenges in data acquisition, processing, simulation, information extraction, decision making and dissemination. The development of novel quality engineering methodologies is highly demanded and has been emerging in various technical directions through objected oriented data fusion which includes data preprocessing and cleaning from massive and different domain data, feature extraction from multivariate/multi-attribute data for information extraction and representation, data structure modeling, pattern analysis, physical inference, knowledge discovery, and real time decision making for system change detection, root cause diagnostics, and control with well-informed risk analysis and managements . Data fusion, through integration of engineering domain knowledge with data analysis techniques from advanced statistics, signal processing, decision making and control, represents one of the frontiers in quality improvement research for complex systems. This presentation will provide an overview of ongoing data fusion research activities and its applications in both manufacturing industry and service industry. The basic concepts in data fusion research will be discussed with emphasis on promoting the integration of disparate information into a cohesive entity to make effective decision for variation reduction and quality improvements. Examples of methodological developments and their applications will be discussed to demonstrate the characteristics of data fusion research and the need of multidisciplinary efforts. Detailed discussions will be given on DOE-based APC methodology development for variation reduction beyond the robust design to fully utilize online observable noise variable information with the consideration of data uncertainty.WEDNESDAY, FEBRUARY 16, 2005
  GERONTOLOGY BUILDING (GER) ROOM 309
  3:30 – 4:30 PMBio for Dr. Judy JinJionghua (Judy) Jin is an assistant professor in the Department of Systems and Industrial Engineering at the University of Arizona. She received her B.S. and M.S. degree in Mechanical Engineering, both from Southeast University in 1984 and 1987 respectively, and her Ph.D. degree in Industrial and Operations Engineering at the University of Michigan in 1999. Dr. Jin's research interests focus on data fusion and decision making for complex systems to develop new methodologies for system modeling, condition monitoring and fault diagnosis, process control, knowledge discovery and decision making. Her research emphasizes multidisciplinary approach by integrating applied statistics, signal processing, reliability engineering, system control, and decision-making theory. Over the years, she has been working on various research programs including multistage manufacturing processes of semiconductor manufacturing, assembly, stamping, service industry of transportation and telecommunication. Her research has being sponsored by National Science Foundation, U.S. Air Force Office of Scientific Research, SME Education Foundation, Department of Transportation . Bureau of Transportation Statistics, Federal Highway Administration/Arizona Department of Transportation, Arizona State Foundation, Department of Energy, and various industrial support funds/collaborations from General Motors, Caterpillar Inc., Daimler Chrysler Corp, and Global Solar Energy Inc. etc.She is the chair-elect of the Quality, Statistics, and Reliability Section of INFORMS, and also an elected board member for the Quality Control & Reliability Engineering Division of IIE. She plays various editorial roles including a guest editor for two special issues for The International Journal of Flexible Manufacturing Systems, a member on the Editorial Board of IIE Transactions on Quality and Reliability. She has received a number of awards including the NSF-CAREER Award in 2002; Excellence at the Student Interface Award from University of Arizona in 2001; Best Paper Award from ASME in 2000, Best Paper Award from IIE Transactions in 2005, and Presidential Early Career Award for Scientists and Engineers (PECASE) in 2004. Dr. Jin is a member of INFORMS, IIE, ASQC, ASME, and SME.More information about Dr. Judy Jin can be found at http://tucson.sie.arizona.edu/ faculty/jhjin/.

  Location: Ethel Percy Andrus Gerontology Center (GER) - 309

  Audiences: Everyone Is Invited

  Contact: Shah Nirav

  

• Feb

  18

  Using chlorine stable isotopes to characterize sources and monitor attenuation of groundwater pollu

  Fri, Feb 18, 2005 @ 01:00 PM - 02:00 PM

  Sonny Astani Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering

  Conferences, Lectures, & Seminars

  
  

  Using chlorine stable isotopes to characterize sources and monitor attenuation of
  groundwater pollutantsPresented by:Dr. Max Coleman
  Jet Propulsion Laboratory
  California Institute of Technology
  Pasadena, CAAbstractChlorine has two stable (non-radioactive) isotopes, atomic masses 35 and 37. Disappointingly for geochemists there is generally very little variation in the abundance ratio of the two isotopes in natural sedimentary rocks and waters. There are exceptions to this rule. Fortunately, manufactured chemicals occurring in soils and groundwaters show a range of values and may be characterized isotopically to trace sources of pollution. However, the microbial processes of perchlorate reduction and dechlorination of chlorinated aliphatic hydrocarbon solvents produce large changes in isotope compositions of both the pollutant and the harmless chloride produced. These changes are systematic and depend on the extent of completion of the process. Thus, they can be used to monitor natural attenuation of pollution but would seem to deny the possibility of characterizing the source. Our recent work has shown that analysis of the isotopic compositions of two elements in a pollutant (e.g. Cl and O in perchlorate and Cl and C in solvents) may allow simultaneous characterization and attenuation monitoring.

  Location: Kaprielian Hall (KAP) - 156

  Audiences: Everyone Is Invited

  Contact: Evangeline Reyes

  

• Feb

  18

  Using chlorine stable isotopes to characterize sources and monitor attenuation of groundwater pollu

  Fri, Feb 18, 2005 @ 01:00 PM - 02:00 PM

  Sonny Astani Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering

  Conferences, Lectures, & Seminars

  
  

  Using chlorine stable isotopes to characterize sources and monitor attenuation of ground pollutantsPresented by:Dr. Max Coleman
  Jet Propulsion Laboratory
  California Institute of Technology
  Pasadena, CAAbstractChlorine has two stable (non-radioactive) isotopes, atomic masses 35 and 37. Disappointingly for geochemists there is generally very little variation in the abundance ratio of the two isotopes in natural sedimentary rocks and waters. There are exceptions to this rule. Fortunately, manufactured chemicals occurring in soils and groundwaters show a range of values and may be characterized isotopically to trace sources of pollution. However, the microbial processes of perchlorate reduction and dechlorination of chlorinated aliphatic hydrocarbon solvents produce large changes in isotope compositions of both the pollutant and the harmless chloride produced. These changes are systematic and depend on the extent of completion of the process. Thus, they can be used to monitor natural attenuation of pollution but would seem to deny the possibility of characterizing the source. Our recent work has shown that analysis of the isotopic compositions of two elements in a pollutant (e.g. Cl and O in perchlorate and Cl and C in solvents) may allow simultaneous characterization and attenuation monitoring.

  Location: Kaprielian Hall (KAP) - 156

  Audiences: Everyone Is Invited

  Contact: Evangeline Reyes

  

• Feb

  18

  Research and Practice of Structural Control and Health Monitoring at Harbin Institute of Technology

  Fri, Feb 18, 2005 @ 02:00 PM - 03:00 PM

  Sonny Astani Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering

  Conferences, Lectures, & Seminars

  
  

  Speaker: Prof. Hui LiThis presentation will give an overview of the research activities at HIT in the broad field of structural control and health monitoring of civil infrastructure systems in China. The use of adaptive dampers such as MR devices and shape memory alloys for control applications will be discussed, as well as applications of SHM approaches involving development and implementation of intelligent health monitoring systems for civil infrastructures.An overview will also be provided about the planning of long-range research activities in China in which the National Science Foundation is developing avenues for international collaboration involving structural health monitoring and "intelligent" systems.Biosketch of Prof Li• Professor, School of Civil Engineering, Harbin Institute of Technology, China
  • Secretary-general of China Panel, International Association of Structural Control and Monitoring (IASCM)
  • Research areas include structural health monitoring, vibration control and damage control, smart materials and structures, smart concrete and structures, composite structures.
  • 1994 got her PhD at Harbin Institute of Technology, China
  • 2001-2002 Visiting Professor, Disaster Prevention Research Institute, Kyoto University, Japan.
  • 2001 Visiting Professor, Department of Civil and Structural Engineering, Hong Kong Polytechnic University.
  • She is PI of 20 projects supported by NSFC, Ministry of Science and Technology, Ministry of Education, etc.
  

  Location: Kaprielian Hall (KAP) - 203

  Audiences: Everyone Is Invited

  Contact: Evangeline Reyes

  

• Feb

  18

  Mechanistic Aspects of Fatigue and Fracture in Brittle Solids: Ceramics, Biomaterials and MEMS

  Fri, Feb 18, 2005 @ 02:30 PM - 04:00 PM

  Mork Family Department of Chemical Engineering and Materials Science

  Conferences, Lectures, & Seminars

  
  

  Presented by:Dr. Robert O. RitchieMaterials Science Division, Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, and Department of Materials Science and Engineering, University of BerkeleyAbstract:Whereas fatigue is generally considered as a major mechanism of failure in metallic and polymeric components, brittle materials, such as ceramics and silicon, are also susceptible to premature failure under cyclic loads, although the micro-mechanisms of fatigue damage are quite distinct to those encountered in ductile materials. This presentation focuses on the failure of such materials and specifically addresses the fatigue of "small-volume' structures for MEMS and fatigue-crack propagation in structural ceramics and elevated temperature. The relevance of such behavior to the failure of biological materials, such as teeth and bone, is described with particular emphasis to how these mineralized tissues degrade with age in terms of accumulated microstructural damage.Refreshments will be served at 2:30pmAll first-year MASC students are required to attend.

  Location: Vivian Hall of Engineering (VHE) - 217

  Audiences: Everyone Is Invited

  Contact: YUN TAO

  

• Feb

  25

  The Future of Watershed Planning

  Fri, Feb 25, 2005 @ 01:00 PM - 02:00 PM

  Sonny Astani Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering

  Conferences, Lectures, & Seminars

  
  

  ENVIRONMENTAL ENGINEERING SEMINARThe Future of Watershed PlanningPresented by:Mark Horne
  Technical Director
  EIP Associates
  Los Angeles, CAAbstractTraditionally focused on water quality, watershed plans are evolving. In a land with limited water supplies, increasing urban growth pressures, and high public expectations for natural resource preservation—watershed plans will increasingly become the vehicle to address these issues. Water quality concerns, expressed as Total Maximum Daily Loads may result in compulsory implementation plans at the watershed scale. City and county planning departments are being encouraged to treat water in a comprehensive fashion in their General Plans. Regional management of water supplies appears to be the focus of interest at the state level. If these trends intersect, what will be the shape of future watershed plans, and can engineers, planners and regulators learn to work together?Friday, February 25, 2005
  1:00 – 2:00 PM
  Kaprielian Hall, 156

  Audiences: Everyone Is Invited

  Contact: Evangeline Reyes

  

• Feb

  25

  Parylene as a New MEMS Material and its Applications

  Fri, Feb 25, 2005 @ 02:30 PM - 04:00 PM

  Mork Family Department of Chemical Engineering and Materials Science

  Conferences, Lectures, & Seminars

  
  

  Presented by:Prof. Yu-Chong TaiProfessor of Electrical Engineering and Bioengineering,CaltechAbstract:This seminar will review the research on parylene MEMS material, technology and applications that is performed at the Caltech MEMS Lab. Parylene is widely available through a unique room-temperature, pinhole-free and conformal CVD deposition method. This benign parylene preparation process makes it a suitable technology for post-CMOS integration. Material wise, parylene has a low melting temperature around 300oC, but it is rather inert and biocompatible. We have shown that it is straightforward to make parylene thin films with a tensile intrinsic stress by controlling the last thermal steps. This feature allows free-standing parylene MEMS structures in many designs. As a result, we have successfully developed a multi-layer parylene MEMS technology including buried metal layers and have demonstrated various parylene MEMS applications including microstructures, microsensors and actuators. I will cover many parylene applications such as parylene-based filters, neurocages, flow sensors, pressure sensors, accelerometers, bolometers, valves, pumps, etc. It is my belief that the brightest future of parylene MEMS is for fully integrated functional systems. To this point, I will discuss two examples of retinal implants and HPLC-based labs on-a-chip.Refreshments will be served at 2:30pmAll first-year MASC students are required to attend
  

  Location: Vivian Hall of Engineering (VHE) - 217

  Audiences: Everyone Is Invited

  Contact: YUN TAO

  

• Feb

  25

  Convincing Touching of Rigid Virtual Environments

  Fri, Feb 25, 2005 @ 03:00 PM - 04:00 PM

  Daniel J. Epstein Department of Industrial and Systems Engineering

  Conferences, Lectures, & Seminars

  
  

  Convincing Touching of Rigid Virtual EnvironmentsDaniela ConstantinescuPh.D. Candidate
  Electrical & Computer Engineering
  University of British Columbia, VancouverABSTRACTTouching of virtual objects entails exchange of energy with a virtual environment via force interactions. Convincing touching of computer models is potentially useful in a large number of applications. For example, engineers could discover design flaws sooner by operating virtual prototypes; doctors could practice surgery on virtual brains; and the popularity of computer games would increase even further if users could touch the virtual characters and objects. However, few examples of force interaction with virtual environments have been demonstrated to date. This is because physically realistic exchange of energy is challenging to guarantee at the high frequencies required by our sense of touch. This talk presents an approach for physically-motivated energy transfer between users and virtual environments comprising rigid objects. Three features distinguish the proposed approach from prior work. First, the approach allows users to feel collisions. Collisions enhance the perceived rigidity of virtual objects and the stability of the interaction. Second, the approach permits unrestricted operation of virtual linkages. Users can hold linkages from any link and can move then through singularities. Third, the approach caches data provided by any commercial simulation engine on the force control microprocessor. It then uses the cached data to transfer energy via interaction torques in addition to interaction forces. Hence, the approach provides a general-purpose force interface to interactive virtual environments. Software developers may lack understanding of the energy transfer involved in touching computer models. Nonetheless, the interface enables them to add realistic forces to interactive virtual worlds. The talk discusses the methods developed in the proposed approach.

  Location: (GER) 309

  Audiences: Everyone Is Invited

  Contact: Shah Nirav