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SUNMONTUEWEDTHUFRISAT
Conferences, Lectures, & Seminars
Events for September
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Environmental Impact of Sewer Gases and Odor Mitigation in the City of Los Angeles
Fri, Sep 02, 2005 @ 01:00 PM - 02:00 PM
Sonny Astani Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering
Conferences, Lectures, & Seminars
By Dr. Roshanak Aflaki
Wastewater Manager II
Wastewater Collection Systems Division
Los Angeles, CA ABSTRACTIn July 2001 the court granted a motion to intervene in an existing lawsuit against the City of Los Angeles (City) regarding sewer overflows. In addition to other requirements, the Case Management Order issued by the court stipulated that the City must investigate and mitigate all odor complaints and issues. The City has developed an extensive multi faceted Odor Control Program to address the City's complex odor problem. In this presentation, the source of odor and different methods of mitigation and their advantages and disadvantages are discussed. The City is currently using Public Outreach, Chemical Feed techniques, Maintenance Program and multiple Activated Carbon Scrubbers. In addition, within the next 2 years, the City will install seven air treatment facilities throughout the collection system. This presentation visits different aspects of the City's Odor Control Program.
Location: Kaprielian Hall (KAP) - 156
Audiences: Everyone Is Invited
Contact: Evangeline Reyes
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Symposium: Building US/UK Partnerships for Homeland Security Solutions
Thu, Sep 08, 2005 @ 07:45 AM - 06:00 PM
USC Viterbi School of Engineering
Conferences, Lectures, & Seminars
This event is jointly sponsored by USC and the British Consulate-General in Los Angeles and is open to all academic and industry leaders to promote and facilitate US/UK collaboration for the development of new technologies, software and products for homeland security. This will be a unique opportunity for US companies and researchers to exchange expertise and forge partnerships with their British counterparts, and to further our joint efforts to combat terrorism.Keynote speakers will include Bob Whalley, Director of Counter-Terrorism and Intelligence for the UK Home Office, Cris Arcos, Director of International Cooperation for the U.S. Department of Homeland Security and Matt Bettenhausen, Director of the California Office of Homeland Security.Leading academic and industry experts will conduct panel discussions in the areas of Risk and Economic Assessment of Terrorist Threats, Biometrics for Personal Identification, Sensing Systems and Sensor Networks, and Information Management and Data Mining.The event is free but participants must register by August 26. Seating will be limited so early registration is encouraged to ensure a space. Register online at
http://www.usc.edu/dept/create/events/2005_08_09/form.phpMore information on the agenda can be found at:
http://www.usc.edu/dept/create/news.php?id=100
Location: Davidson Conference Center
Audiences: Everyone Is Invited
Contact: Eric Mankin
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Slice, Dice and Analyze Bacteria One Cell and one Atom at a Time
Fri, Sep 09, 2005 @ 01:00 PM - 02:00 PM
Sonny Astani Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering
Conferences, Lectures, & Seminars
Presented by:
Prof. Radu Popa, Ph.D.
Earth Science
USCAbstract:
Modern microanalysis in material sciences and in environmental sciences is dominated by three technological approaches: Mass Spectrometry (MS), High Resolution Electron Microscopy with EDS (HRTEM-EDS); and Atomic Force Microscopy (AFM). MS instruments have considerable analytical capabilities, yet, cannot probe samples at very small scales (such as 1 m); and thus are less helpful in studying individual microbes. HRTEM-EDS and AFM instruments can reveal structures at Angstrom scales but have considerable analytical limitations. Nano-Secondary Ion Mass Spectrometry (NanoSIMS) is an edge technology; an ion microprobe developed for the purpose of bringing together the benefits of high resolution imaging with the analytical capabilities of MS. Using NanoSIMS it is now possible to explore the chemistry and the isotopic composition of one bacterium cell, with 50 nm lateral resolution and 10-20 Å vertical resolution. We tested the limits of this technology by addressing physiological questions in individual microbes. The model organisms for this study are Cyanobacteria, a group of Prokaryotes with an impressive array of metabolic capabilities including N2-fixation, C-fixation and heterotrophy. In some filaments of Cyanobacteria such as Anabaena sp. certain cells named heterocysts are metabolically specialized. This specialization results in considerable biochemical differences between adjacent cells. We used NanoSIMS to measure this variability and to make kinetic analyses bacteria. Currently, NanoSIMS allows the physiologist study the metabolic performance of one microbe, and the micropaleontologist to distinguish abiotic from biogenic structures in ancient samples. In the near future ion microprobe instruments will also be used for chemical and isotopic characterization of samples in environmental studies, in astrobiology and in forensic analysis.
Location: Kaprielian Hall (KAP) - 156
Audiences: Everyone Is Invited
Contact: Evangeline Reyes
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IEEE Ultrasonics, Ferroelectrics and Frequency Control Society Distinguished Lecture
Fri, Sep 09, 2005 @ 02:00 PM
Alfred E. Mann Department of Biomedical Engineering
Conferences, Lectures, & Seminars
The BME Community is invited to attend the IEEE Ultrasonics, Ferroelectrics and Frequency Control Society Distinguished Lecture sponsored by the NIH Resource on Medical Ultrasonic Transducer Technology. Dr. Nava Stter will be talking on Down Scaling in Piezoelectric and Pyroelectrics: Microdevices, Nanofabrication, Nanoscale Features and Size Effects. The lecture will be held Friday, September 9, 2005 in GFS 101 at 2:00pm. For more information please contact Joe Han (joehan@usc.edu).
Location: Grace Ford Salvatori Hall Of Letters, Arts & Sciences (GFS) - 101
Audiences: Graduate/Undergrad
Contact: Darryl Hwang
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Discrete Mechanics and Control
Fri, Sep 09, 2005 @ 02:00 PM - 03:00 PM
Ming Hsieh Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering
Conferences, Lectures, & Seminars
DISTINGUISHED LECTURER SERIES"Discrete Mechanics and Control"Dr. Jerrold E. MarsdenCalifornia Institute of TechnologyAbstract:This talk will outline new methods from discrete mechanics for stabilization and optimization of mechanical systems. The idea of discrete mechanics is to replace Hamilton's principle, possibly including dissipative or control forces, by a corresponding discrete version. These methods have led to the development of successful variational integrators for the dynamics of mechanical systems, including continuum mechanics. After reviewing this methodology for dynamics, we show how it is also useful for control. Optimization is illustrated using a fleet of hovercraft, underwater vehicles and spacecraft (with Oliver Junge and Sina Ober-Bloebaum) and for locomotion problems (with Eva Kanso).Bio:Jerrold E. Marsden received his PhD from Princeton University in 1968 in Applied Mathematics and is now the Carl F. Braun Professor of Engineering and Control and Dynamical Systems at Caltech. His primary current interests are in applied dynamics, control theory, and multiscale systems, especially how these subjects relate to dynamical and mechanical systems with symmetry, to numerical algorithms in computational mechanics, as well as to the dynamics and control of underwater vehicles in a dynamic ocean environment, and to astrodynamics and space mission design. He received the AMS-SIAM Norbert Wiener prize (1990), a Humboldt Senior Scientist award (1991, 1999), a Fairchild Fellowship (1992), a Max Planck Research Award (2000), and the SIAM von Neumann prize (2005). He is a fellow of the Royal Society of Canada and the American Academy of Arts and Science. He is an Editor of Springer-Verlag's Applied Mathematical Sciences Series and is on the editorial boards for a number of prominent journals in applied dynamics and mechanics. He currently serves as director of CIMMS, the Center for Integrative Multiscale Modeling and Simulation at Caltech, is on the Board of Trustees of SIAM, is on the Scientific Advisory board of the DFG Research Center "Mathematics for Key Technologies", Berlin and is the scientific co-chair of ICIAM 2011.Host: Prof. Edmond Jonckheere, x04457 ***A reception will follow the seminar at 3:00p.m.
Location: Ethel Percy Andrus Gerontology Center (GER) - ontology Auditorium
Audiences: Everyone Is Invited
Contact: Rosine Sarafian
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NANOTECHNOLOGY AND THE DEVELOPMENT AND ANALYSIS OF ENERGETIC MATERIALS
Fri, Sep 09, 2005 @ 02:30 PM - 04:00 PM
Mork Family Department of Chemical Engineering and Materials Science
Conferences, Lectures, & Seminars
Presented by:Professor Richard A. YetterMechanical Engineering, Pennsylvania State UniversityAbstract:Over the next decade, nanotechnology is expected to produce significant advancements in the development of energetic materials. Much of the highly desirable traits of nano-sized ingredients (e.g., metal powders and crystalline oxidizers) in energetic materials have been attributed to their high specific surface area (high reactivity), lower melting temperatures, increased catalytic activity, and potential ability to store energy in surface defects. In addition, the nano dimensions of these materials result in small characteristic transport times for mass and energy between fuel and oxidizer.
Metal additives have long been used in energetic materials to increase energy densities. Although the addition of micron-sized metal particulate has been successful in many applications, their size generally limits overall combustion times, requires high ignition temperatures, and generates condensed phase products also of micron size. The possibility of increasing the reactivity of metal particulate, thereby lowering ignition temperatures and shortening reaction times, as well as increasing densities and overall energy, could greatly enhance existing uses and even generate new usage of metals in reactive systems. In the presentation, the oxidation and combustion characteristics of metal nanoparticles are reviewed and compared with micron-sized particles. In addition, their application in various fuels, propellants, and explosive systems are summarized.
While usage of nano-ingredients in current energetic materials has demonstrated considerable benefits that can be attributed to the characteristics of the nano-material, much of the anticipated benefits have not been realized due to the use of conventional fabrication techniques in integrating the nano-material into the formulations. The presentation also examines new ways to assemble nano-energetic materials, including self-assembly of components with sizes in the nm to mm range, to provide concurrent increases in performance and managed energy release while providing reduced sensitivity and ease of processing and handling. Refreshments will be served at 2:30p.m.Location: Vivian Hall of Engineering (VHE) - 217
Audiences: Everyone Is Invited
Contact: Petra Pearce
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Lyman Handy Colloquium
Thu, Sep 15, 2005
Mork Family Department of Chemical Engineering and Materials Science
Conferences, Lectures, & Seminars
Programmable molecular sensors and switches: applications in metabolic engineering, intelligent therapeutics, and bbiosensorsPresented By:Professor Christina D. SmolkeDivision of Chemistry and Chemical Engineering, California Institute of TechnologyABSTRACTCells employ a variety of different sensor biomolecules to dynamically evaluate their environments and trigger appropriate metabolic responses. The ability to program cells with engineered molecules that can sense structural and chemical events is a critical technology for many of the challenges that face us in biotechnology and medical research. Recent progress in the design of tailor-made molecular switches and sensors is rapidly advancing our ability to engineer smart systems that will perform information processing or signal integration within cells or complex biological samples. I will discuss our work in the design a new class of nucleic acid-based molecular sensors that transform different types of informational input into biological function and their application in regulating complex cellular behavior. In particular, the application of these devices to metabolic engineering strategies for microbial alkaloid synthesis, targeted molecular therapies, and diagnostic devices will be addressed. **All first year materials science graduate students are required to attend**
Location: Olin Hall of Engineering (OHE) - 122
Audiences: Everyone Is Invited
Contact: Petra Pearce
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Connecting sensory computations to dendritic computations - Seminar Series
Mon, Sep 19, 2005 @ 12:30 PM - 01:30 PM
Alfred E. Mann Department of Biomedical Engineering
Conferences, Lectures, & Seminars
Bartlett Mel, PhD
Associate Professor of Biomedical Engineering, USC"Connecting sensory computations to dendritic computations"Location: Olin Hall of Engineering (OHE) - -132
Audiences: Graduate
Contact: Darryl Hwang
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Community College Counselor Conference
Tue, Sep 20, 2005 @ 08:30 AM - 03:00 PM
Viterbi School of Engineering Undergraduate Admission
Conferences, Lectures, & Seminars
Location: USC Town & Gown
Audiences: Community college counselors
Contact: Undergraduate Admission
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COMPUTER ENGINEERING SEMINAR SERIES
Thu, Sep 22, 2005 @ 02:00 PM - 03:00 PM
Ming Hsieh Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering
Conferences, Lectures, & Seminars
"A New Scalable and Cost-Effective Congestion Management Strategy for Lossless Multistage Interconnection Networks"PROF. JOSE DUATODepartment of Computer EngineeringUniversidad Politécnica de Valencia, SpainThursday, September 22, 20052:00-3:00p.m.EEB-248[Refreshments will be served]Abstract:In this talk, we propose a new congestion management strategy for lossless multistage interconnection networks that scales as network size and/or link bandwidth increase. Instead of eliminating congestion, our strategy avoids performance degradation beyond the saturation point by eliminating the HOL blocking produced by congestion trees. This is achieved in a scalable manner by using separate queues for congested flows. These are dynamically allocated only when congestion arises, and deallocated when congestion subsides. Performance evaluation results show that our strategy responds to congestion immediately and completely eliminates the performance degradation by HOL blocking while using only a small number of additional queues.Bio:José Duato received the MS and PhD degrees in electrical engineering from the Technical University of Valencia, Spain, in 1981 and 1985, respectively. Currently, Dr. Duato is Professor in the Department of Computer Engineering (DISCA) at the same university. He was also an adjunct professor in the Department of Computer and Information Science, The Ohio State University. His current research interests include interconnection networks, multiprocessor architectures, networks of workstations, and switch fabrics for IP routers. Prof. Duato has published over 280 refereed papers. He proposed a powerful theory of deadlock-free adaptive routing for wormhole networks. Versions of this theory have been used in the design of the routing algorithms for the MIT Reliable Router, the Cray T3E supercomputer, the internal router of the Alpha 21364 microprocessor, the IBM BlueGene/L supercomputer, and the Cray Black Widow supercomputer. Prof. Duato is the first author of the book "Interconnection Networks: An Engineering Approach". This book was co-authored by Prof. Sudhakar Yalamanchili, from Georgia Institute of Technology, and Prof. Lionel Ni, from Michigan State University.Host: Prof. Timothy Pinkston, x04482 http://engineering.usc.edu/calendar/
Location: Hughes Aircraft Electrical Engineering Center (EEB) - -248
Audiences: Everyone Is Invited
Contact: Rosine Sarafian
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Bioengineering Approaches for Environmental Studies
Fri, Sep 23, 2005 @ 01:00 PM - 02:00 PM
Sonny Astani Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering
Conferences, Lectures, & Seminars
Presenter:Professor Ching-An Peng
Department of Chemical Engineering and Materials Science
University of Southern CaliforniaAbstractResonant acoustic fields used for enhancing gene delivery efficiency will be discussed in the first part of my talk. Another recently developed methodology for the incorporation of virus with quantum dots will be demonstrated as a potential imaging probes for the analysis of intracellular trafficking and cytoskeleton reorganization during virus entry. These bioengineering approaches used in my lab might be applied in the environmental field.Location: Kaprielian Hall (KAP) - 156
Audiences: Everyone Is Invited
Contact: Evangeline Reyes
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Bioengineering Approaches for Environmental Studies
Fri, Sep 23, 2005 @ 01:00 PM - 02:00 PM
Sonny Astani Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering
Conferences, Lectures, & Seminars
Speaker:Professor Ching-An Peng
Department of Chemical Engineering and Materials Science
University of Southern CaliforniaAbstractResonant acoustic fields used for enhancing gene delivery efficiency will be discussed in the first part of my talk. Another recently developed methodology for the incorporation of virus with quantum dots will be demonstrated as a potential imaging probes for the analysis of intracellular trafficking and cytoskeleton reorganization during virus entry. These bioengineering approaches used in my lab might be applied in the environmental field.Location: Kaprielian Hall (KAP) - 156
Audiences: Everyone Is Invited
Contact: Evangeline Reyes
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Development of Integrated Parylene Microfluidics for Biomedical Applications - Seminar Series
Mon, Sep 26, 2005 @ 12:30 PM - 01:30 PM
Alfred E. Mann Department of Biomedical Engineering
Conferences, Lectures, & Seminars
Ellis Meng, PhD
Assistant Professor of Biomedical Engineering, USC"Development of Integrated Parylene Microfluidics for Biomedical Applications"Location: Olin Hall of Engineering (OHE) - -132
Audiences: Graduate
Contact: Darryl Hwang
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Materials Science Program Seminar
Fri, Sep 30, 2005
Mork Family Department of Chemical Engineering and Materials Science
Conferences, Lectures, & Seminars
THE MORK FAMILY DEPARTMENT OF CHEMICAL ENGINEERING AND MATERIALS SCIENCE PRESENTS A SEMINAR
BYProfessor Adri van Duin Materials and Process Simulation Center, Beckman Institute
Caltech, Pasadena, CAA transferable computational method for atomistic-scale dynamical simulations of chemical reactionsAbstractCoupling the structures, compositions, and properties at the atomistic level to predictions of macroscopic properties and processes provides an enormous technical challenge for computational chemistry, physics, materials science, and engineering. This lecture will provide an overview of the applications and background of the ReaxFF reactive force field, which provides a method for incorporating chemical reactions in atomistic simulations. ReaxFF is a bond-order dependent force field method that includes a geometry-dependent polarizable charge distribution, allowing reactive, atomistic scale dynamic simulations at a computational expense magnitudes lower than quantum mechanical (QM) simulations. While initially developed for first-row elements, over the last years we found the method to be highly transferable, allowing us to develop ReaxFF descriptions for covalent, metallic, ionic and mixed systems all across the periodic system.Ongoing projects involving ReaxFF include:- Reactions on Ni/Pt/Ru anodes and cathodes in fuel cells
- Hydrogen and oxygen transfer through fuel cell electrolytes
- Carbon deposition and nanotube growth catalyzed by transition metals
- Hydrogen storage in magnesium and magnesium fluorides
- Stress-induced cracking in silicon and aluminium oxides
- Temperature and chemistry-induced failure of silicon polymers
- Nitramine and peroxide-based high-energy material sensitivity
- Energy release of nitramine/metal/metal oxide composite materials
- Enzyme catalysis
- Iron melting at the temperatures and pressures of the Earth's core
- Dielectric breakdown in silicon-based semiconductors
-This lecture will address the highlights from this research and will discuss the concepts behind ReaxFF and its relation to other computational simulation methods, including its implementation in a multiscale simulation environment (CMDF) that allows coupling of different length- and time scales.
Location: Vivian Hall of Engineering (VHE) - 217
Audiences: Everyone Is Invited
Contact: Petra Pearce
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The Enduring Consequences and Lesons of the Chernobyl Accident
Fri, Sep 30, 2005 @ 01:00 PM - 02:00 PM
Sonny Astani Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering
Conferences, Lectures, & Seminars
Speaker:Professor Najm Meshkati
Department of Civil & Environmental Engineering
Viterbi School of Engineering
University of Southern CaliforniaAbstractIn the early morning hours of 26 April 1986, a testing error caused an explosion at the reactor number 4 at the Chernobyl nuclear power station in northern Ukraine. The major consequences of Chernobyl fall into three categories: the physical impacts, in terms of health and environmental effects; the psychological and social impacts on the affected populations; and the influence of the accident on the nuclear industry worldwide. This accident caused a radioactive fire that burned for 10 days, releasing 190 tons of toxic materials into the atmosphere. The wind blew 70% of the radioactive material into the neighboring country of Belarus and the rest of the world, causing twenty-three percent (23%) of prime Belarusian farmland to become and to this day remains dangerously contaminated. At the time of the accident, about 7 million people lived in the surrounding area.According to a most recent speech on September 6, 2005, by Dr. Mohamed ElBaradei, the Director General of the UN's International Atomic Energy Agency, "the first lesson that emerged from Chernobyl was the direct relevance of international cooperation to nuclear safety" and "nuclear and radiological risks transcend national borders -- that an accident anywhere is an accident everywhere." This presentation covers consequences and lessons of the Chernobyl accidents for the world's nuclear industry. Professor Meshkati, through an invitation from the United Nations, inspected and spent time in the control room of the only operating reactor (No. 3) of the Chernobyl in May 1997, studied the Sarcophagus and its environmental health hand safety problems for the EBRD, and visited the Exclusion Zone and the (deserted, ghost) town of Pripyat.
Location: Kaprielian Hall (KAP) - 156
Audiences: Everyone Is Invited
Contact: Evangeline Reyes
