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• Conferences, Lectures, & Seminars (70)
• Workshops & Infosessions (19)
• Student Activity (36)
• Receptions & Special Events (22)
• University Calendar (7)

Events for the 4^th week of February

• Feb

  20

  Technical Entrepreneurship Conference

  Sun, Feb 20, 2011 @ 09:00 AM - 06:00 PM

  Daniel J. Epstein Department of Industrial and Systems Engineering

  Conferences, Lectures, & Seminars

  
  

  Speaker: Various - See Sample Conference Sessions, Various - See Sample Conference Sessions
  
  Talk Title: Various - See Sample Conference Sessions
  
  Abstract: Given the current state of the global economic climate the subject of entrepreneurship is becoming increasingly important and appealing worldwide. The relative scarcity and declined security of corporate jobs in this economic climate yield stronger motivation for entrepreneurship, which provides a rewarding career option with a better potential for one's utilization of his or her creative abilities, not only in advancing in professional career and in attaining financial security but also in making lasting impacts for the society at large.
  
  This timely Technical Entrepreneurship Conference effectively utilizes the knowledge and experience of successful technical entrepreneurs and recognized practitioners and academicians in the related fields.
  
  The conference aims at highlighting:
  
  Attitudes and behaviors needed for stimulating innovation
  Knowledge and experience needed as entrepreneurial skills
  Issues related to intellectual property
  Raising the needed funds
  Starting up a company
  Product development and commercialization
  
  See Sample Conference Sessions
  
  Conference web site:
  http://www.apsih.org/index.php/events/apsih-conferences
  
  Sample conference sessions:
  
  Creating Opportunity in Uncertain Times
  
  Kathleen Allen – Professor of Entrepreneurship, USC
  
  The days of writing in-depth business plans before executing a new venture are over. An uncertain economic environment, global competition, and chaotic markets require that entrepreneurs engage in sense-and-respond experiments to recognize opportunity, develop business models, and design sustainable businesses. Dr. Allen will present a micro-experimental approach to assessing the feasibility of new ventures and rapidly achieving proof of concept.
  
  Dr. Kathleen Allen is the author of more than 15 books in the field of entrepreneurship and technology commercialization. She is a professor of entrepreneurship and the Director of the USC-Marshall Center for Technology Commercialization. Allen has started and operated four companies, including two technology ventures, and is a director of a NYSE company.
  
  
  There's an Easy Way and a Hard Way: The 5 Concepts an Entrepreneur Must Understand
  
  Tom Tsao – Hi Tech Entrepreneur
  
  Abstract: The path a start-up takes is stochastic, not deterministic. The key is to make choices that have high probabilities of success. Despite having an extensive history available to them, many first time entrepreneurs make the same crippling mistakes made by their predecessors. Using actual examples, this presentation will give the rationale behind the best advice that is often ignored.
  Dr. Tom Tsao is an experienced high tech entrepreneur who has raised capital from both venture capitalists and the government. He has aided over a dozen high tech start-ups evolve from concept through funding and product development. He guest lectures at the UCLA Anderson School of Management and teaches a seminar on raising VC capital at the UCLA Samueli School of Engineering. He received his PhD in electrical engineering from Caltech.
  
  How to Establish a Start-up with SBIR Funding
  
  Fred Mohamadi – CEO, Tialinx
  
  Establishing a start-up that can benefit from SBIR funding as an alternative to raising seed from venture capital will be elaborated with focus on how to use effectively the entity’s intellectual properties. Challenges in continuation of funding, dealing with the contracting offices, meeting the funding agency requirements and expectations, maintaining the pipeline of IPs while focusing on generating revenue through productization will be addressed.
  
  Dr. Fred Mohamadi is the CEO of TiaLinx, Inc. He has held senior and executive management positions at National Semiconductor, Lucent technologies, Broadcom Corporation, and start-up companies involved with the development of radar and communication component and products for thirty years. He received M.S. and Ph.D. degrees in Electrical Engineering from Stanford University. He also holds an MBA from Santa Clara University. He founded TiaLinx, Inc. envisioning convergence of smart antenna beamforming technology and wafer scale integration for ultra wide bandwidth (UWB) wireless applications.
  
  Developing the perfect investor pitch
  
  John Sweet – Senior Licensing Associate, USC Stevens Institute
  
  Tips will be given on how to construct presentations that succinctly answer investors' most important questions and maximize the chance that you'll get funded. If your hope is to attract venture capital or other sources of funding from investors who you don't personally know, then you will certainly need a salient presentation that portrays who you are and why you are deserving of investment.
  Mr. John Sweet is a Senior Technology Advancement and Licensing Associate for the USC Stevens Institute for Innovation at USC. He is also an active member of the Pasadena Angels, a network of early-stage angel investors in Southern California. He was a software engineer and entrepreneur in Silicon Valley and launched two companies. He earned his BS degree in Integrative Biology from the University of California at Berkeley, and received his MBA with Honors specializing in investment finance at USC.
  
  How venture capitalists evaluate and how venture firms operate
  
  Shahin Farshchi – Senior Associate, Lux Capital
  
  Significant improvements in computerized design & simulation, as well as accessibility to high-throughput test and characterization tools have accelerated the development and demonstration of cutting edge technology. However, funding a startup to bring the technology to the mainstream has turned into a longer, more expensive process than ever before – especially in areas relating to semiconductors and energy. An introduction to how venture capitalists evaluate new investment opportunities with respect to how venture firms operate will be provided, in addition to several case studies.
  
  Dr. Farshchi is a senior associate with Lux Capital, focusing on investments in semiconductor, wireless, and alternative energy technologies. He has held technical positions at General Motors and several Silicon Valley technology startups. He has also served as a postdoctoral scholar at the UCLA department of Electrical Engineering where he received his PhD. His research on wireless biosignal telemetry has been widely published. He has sourced Lux’s investments in Silicon Clocks (NASDAQ:SLAB) and SiBeam, in addition to assisting with Everspin and Luxtera, while supporting Lux’s energy and semiconductor portfolio.
  
  Challenges and Best Practices for Fundraising
  Saeed Amidi - CEO/President & Founder, Plug and Play Tech Center
  The presentation covers the basics of setting the right strategy, choosing the right Venture Capitalists, and the right partner at the firm to champion the projects, as well as getting the right introduction to a VC, having the right pitch and addressing the right points which substantially increase fundraising chances. Several case studies will be presented on reasons for success or failure, based on presenter's experience in raising more than $100M.
  Mr. Amidi is the Founder, President and CEO of Plug and Play Tech Center, a premier technology startup accelerator with over 300 companies which collectively have raised an excess of $700 million. He is a serial entrepreneur and a seasoned executive with over 28 years of experience in founding, operating, and growing successful companies. He is also a general partner in Amidzad which holds successful investments in companies such as PayPal, DropBox, etc.
  
  Stock Market Reflection of Entrepreneurialism
  Scott O’Neil – President, MrketSmith
  Entrepreneurialism is the key driver of the stock market. The stock market is a true reflection of the success or failure of new innovations and follow-on technologies. It is the vehicle for many entrepreneurs to achieve significant societal impact. We will look at a sampling of key innovations over the last 110 years from stock market perspective.
  Scott O’Neil received a degree in Business Management from Loyola Marymount University and later graduated from Harvard Business School’s Program for Management Development. He has over 25 years experience in the financial industry. Mr. O’Neil joined Investor’s Business Daily in 1986 and was promoted to Publisher in 1994. In 2000, he became a Portfolio Manager and now also acts as President of MarketSmith, an investment research tool.
  
  Entrepreneurial Business Organizations: Structure Mirrors Function
  
  Dana Sherman – Engineering, Business and Law Professor, USC
  
  Professor Sherman will simplify much of the confusion regarding the legal aspects of starting a new business by providing a framework that explains how to focus on just four key considerations.
  Professor Dana Sherman has been a USC faculty member for over 30 years and has taught in the Viterbi School of Engineering, the Marshall School of Business, and the USC Law Center. He is an active member of the California State Bar and has advised many businesses from small companies to Fortune 500 corporations. Among his five degrees are a MS in public administration from Harvard and a MS in Business Taxation from USC.
  
  Basics of Inventive Thinking
  
  Behrokh Khoshnevis – Engineering Professor, USC
  
  Great products, processes and systems are typically resulted from inventive thinking which unfortunately is not effectively nurtured by academic education as ihas been practiced. Creativity is induced by a particular state of mind and a matching life style. Some guidelines about the essentials will be given in this presentation.
  Dr. Khoshnevis is a Professor of Industrial & Systems Engineering, Aerospace & Mechanical Engineering, and Civil and Environmental Engineering at USC. He has extensive experience in invention and commercialization of products and processes and has numerous innovations in diverse fields ranging from medical devices to oil and gas and construction fields. His inventions, especially in robotics construction, have received worldwide coverage in acclaimed media.
  
  Intellectual Property Fundamentals and Patent Portfolio Management
  
  Clifford Cousin – Patent Portfolio Manager, Boeing
  
  The fundamentals of intellectual property (IP) are introduced and an overview of the different types of IP including: Copyrights, Trademarks, Trade Secrets, and Patents is presented. After this introduction, a more in-depth presentation will cover the patenting process from disclosure to patent grant, and building and managing a patent portfolio.
  Mr. Cliff Cousins is a Registered Patent Agent, and is admitted to practice before the US Patent and Trademark Office in patent cases. Cliff currently works as a Patent Portfolio Manager for The Boeing Company. Before his legal career, Cliff was a chip designer working for TRW and then two Dot-Com electronics companies PairGain Technologies, and GlobeSpan. Cliff holds an MSEE from the Viterbi School of Engineering and a Graduate Certificate in Technology Commercialization from the Marshall School of Business, both at USC.
  
  Royalty Audits of Technology License Agreements
  
  Keith Johanns – Managing Director, Quids, Ltd.
  
  An audit of a license agreement is an important part of the technology commercialization process. The audit provides a licensor with an independent assessment on the correct amount of royalties to be paid by a licensee under the terms of the agreement. This presentation will review key terms in a license agreement, and the steps involved during a royalty audit.
  Mr. Keith Johanns is the Founder and Managing Director of Quids Ltd, a license management and royalty audit company incorporated during 2005. Mr. Johanns is also the Co-Founder and Managing Director of Avant-Garde Patents Ltd, a commercialization company incorporated during 2010 for patent applications filed by international inventors at the United States Patent & Trademark Office.
  
  The art of patent searching - Patentability, Validity and Infringement
  
  Parham Fatehi – Patent Analyst
  
  Patent searching is a powerful business and engineering development process and is critical to patent strategy. Through patent searching one can determine whether an invention is novel and warrants further development investment. This presentation will focus on Patent Law and Examination as context for patent searching, types of patent searches, the mechanics of searching, patent analysis, and search tools.
  
  Mr. Fatehi is a former Electrical Engineering Patent Examiner with the US Patent & Trademark Office (USPTO). He is currently a Patent Analyst at Landon IP, a global patent support firm, where he provides written opinion to the USPTO regarding international patent applications published by the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO) and performs commercial searches for leading technology firms.
  
  Product Design and Realization Considerations for the Entrepreneur
  
  Everette Philiips – President, Global Manufacturing Network
  
  In an era when it seems most new business models are oriented towards software or service, it can be challenging for an entrepreneur to realize a new physical product. Mr. Phillips will discuss current trends and issues related to designing and manufacturing of products in our global economy. What considerations should an entrepreneur consider when designing and planning the realization of the design and review trends for international production of high technology products.
  
  Everette Phillips is President of Global Manufacturing Network (GMN). GMN is a contract manufacturing firm and international sourcing organization with production and resources in the US and Asia. Mr. Phillips has nearly 20 years of experience in robotics, machine vision and advanced manufacturing technologies in diverse industries. He is on the board of Entrepreneurship@Cornell. He received his BS in Bioengineering from Cornell. He also has an MBA from the UCLA Anderson School is participates in programs that involve both USC and Anderson alumni in Southern California.
  
  Host: Association of Professors and Scholars of Iranian Heritage
  
  

  Audiences: Everyone Is Invited

  Contact: Berok Khoshnevis

  

• Feb

  20

  Alumni Lunch with Dean Yortsos

  Sun, Feb 20, 2011 @ 12:00 PM - 02:30 PM

  Viterbi School of Engineering Alumni

  Receptions & Special Events

  
  

  Alumni Lunch in Mumbai, India with Dean Yortsos
  
  Taj Mahal Hotel
  Mumbai, India

  Audiences: Alumni invited

  Contact: Sudha Kumar

  

• Feb

  20

  Hi-Tea for Parents Hosted by Dean Yortsos

  Sun, Feb 20, 2011 @ 03:00 PM - 05:30 PM

  USC Viterbi School of Engineering

  Receptions & Special Events

  
  

  3.00 p.m.- 5.30 p.m.
  February 20, 2011
  
  Hi-Tea for Viterbi parents hosted by Dean Yortsos
  Taj MahalPalace Hotel
  Mumbai, India

  Audiences: By invitation

  Contact: Sudha Kumar

  

• Feb

  21

  BME 533 - Seminar in Biomedical Engineering

  Mon, Feb 21, 2011 @ 12:30 PM - 01:50 PM

  Alfred E. Mann Department of Biomedical Engineering

  Conferences, Lectures, & Seminars

  
  

  Speaker: President's Day (No Seminar),
  
  Host: Department of Biomedical Engineering, USC
  
  

  Location: Olin Hall of Engineering (OHE) - 122

  Audiences: Everyone Is Invited

  Contact: Mischalgrace Diasanta

  

• Feb

  22

  Aviation Security Program Management (AVSEC)

  Tue, Feb 22, 2011 @ 08:00 AM - 04:00 PM

  Aviation Safety and Security Program

  University Calendar

  
  

  This course is designed for individuals responsible for managing and implementing aviation security measures at medium to small size aircraft operators, all airports and Indirect Air Carriers (IAC's). This course demonstrates how to apply the SMS principles in the aviation security environment.

  Location: Aviation Safety & Security Campus

  Audiences: Aviation Professionals

  Contact: Harrison Wolf

  

• Feb

  22

  Grad Fair

  Tue, Feb 22, 2011 @ 09:00 AM - 04:00 PM

  Viterbi School of Engineering Student Affairs

  Student Activity

  
  

  Grad Fair is your one-stop way to get all the information you need about Commencement. All soon-to-be graduates are encouraged to stop by Grad Fair for answers to questions, or to purchase Commencement-related products.
  
  For more information, visit this website:
  http://www.usc.edu/dept/pubrel/specialevents/commencement/gradfair.php

  Location: Ronald Tutor Campus Center (TCC) - Ballroom

  Audiences: Everyone Is Invited

  Contact: Jeffrey Teng

  

• Feb

  22

  On Representing Acoustics of Speech for Speech Processing

  Tue, Feb 22, 2011 @ 10:00 AM - 12:00 PM

  Ming Hsieh Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering

  Conferences, Lectures, & Seminars

  
  

  Speaker: Bishnu S. Atal, Dept. of Electrical Engineering, Univ. of Washington, Seattle, WA
  
  Talk Title: On Representing Acoustics of Speech for Speech Processing
  
  Abstract: Most methods for analyzing speech start by transforming the acoustic time-domain signal into spectral form. The short-time Fourier transform provides a representation of the time-varying characteristics of the signal and has a long history. There are many issues, such as the size and shape of the window, that remain unresolved. The use of a relatively short window is widespread. In early development of the sound spectrograph, use of both narrow and wideband analysis was quite common, but the narrow-band analysis faded away. In digital speech coding applications (multipulse and code-excited linear prediction), high-quality speech is produced at low bit rates only when prediction using both short and long intervals is used. What are the issues that arise in using a short or a long window? What are the relative advantages or disadvantages? In this talk, we will discuss these topics and present results that suggest that a short-time Fourier transform using long windows has advantages. In most speech representations, the Fourier components are not used directly but converted to their magnitude spectrum; the so-called phase is considered to be irrelevant. There are open questions regarding the use of phase information and we will discuss this important issue in the talk.
  
  Biography: Bishnu S. Atal is an Affiliate Professor in the Electrical Engineering Department at the University of Washington, Seattle, WA. He retired in March 2002 after working for more than 40 years at Lucent Bell Labs, and AT&T Labs. He was a Technical Director at the AT&T Shannon Laboratory, Florham Park, New Jersey, from 1997 where he was engaged in research in speech coding and in automatic speech recognition. He joined the technical staff of AT&T Bell Laboratories in 1961, became head of Acoustics Research Department in 1985, and head of Speech Research Department in 1990.
  He is internationally recognized for his many contributions to speech analysis, synthesis, and coding. His pioneering work in linear predictive coding of speech established linear prediction as one of the most important speech analysis technique leading to many applications in coding, recognition and synthesis of speech. His research work is documented in over 90 technical papers and he holds 17 U.S. and numerous international patents in speech processing.
  He was elected to the National Academy of Engineering in 1987 and to the National Academy of Sciences in 1993. He is a Fellow of the Acoustical Society of America and the IEEE. He received the IEEE Morris N. Liebmann Memorial Field Award in 1986, the Thomas Edison Patent Award from the R&D Council of New Jersey in 1994, New Jersey Inventors Hall of Fame Inventor of the Year Award in 2000 and the Benjamin Franklin Medal in Electrical Engineering in 2003.
  Bishnu lives in Mukilteo, Washington.
  
  Host: Sanjit Mitra and Shrikanth Narayanan
  
  

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

  Audiences: Everyone Is Invited

  Contact: Mary Francis

  

• Feb

  22

  E-Week Kickoff!

  Tue, Feb 22, 2011 @ 11:00 AM - 02:00 PM

  Viterbi School of Engineering Student Organizations

  Student Activity

  
  

  Join us and your fellow engineers to start off E-Week! There will be fun games, including IEEE's Professor Pie Toss, Tau Beta Pi's "bent" bean bag toss, AIChE's Quantum Dots color memory game, as well as a few others.
  
  Stop by for some fun and some food!
  
  Check out the rest of E-Week at: http://viterbistudents.usc.edu/vsc/e-week/

  Location: E-Quad

  Audiences: Everyone Is Invited

  Contact: VSC

  

• Feb

  22

  IEEE Professor Pie Toss

  Tue, Feb 22, 2011 @ 11:00 AM - 02:00 PM

  Viterbi School of Engineering Student Organizations

  Student Activity

  
  

  Come check out the annual IEEE Professor Pie Toss at the E-Week Kickoff Day! Toss whipped cream pies at your favorite electrical engineering professors and administrators while helping us raise funds to support K-12 education in math and science.
  
  The schedule for professors to be pied is set!
  
  11:00 AM - 12:00 PM: Professor Gene Bickers
  12:00 PM - 1:00 PM: Diane Demetras, EE Graduate Advisor
  1:00 PM - 1:45 PM: Professor Mark Redekopp
  
  In addition, Viterbi Student Council will be free 21 choices during the day! Check out the rest of the week at http://viterbistudents.usc.edu/vsc/e-week/

  Location: E-QUAD

  Audiences: Everyone Is Invited

  Contact: Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers

  

• Feb

  22

  Got a Brand? The Art of the Interview

  Tue, Feb 22, 2011 @ 12:30 PM - 01:30 PM

  Viterbi School of Engineering Career Connections

  Workshops & Infosessions

  
  

  Discover tips on how to prepare for both technical and behavioral interviews, as well as the proper steps for follow-up.

  Location: Ronald Tutor Hall of Engineering (RTH) - 211

  Audiences: All Viterbi Students

  Contact: RTH 218 Viterbi Career Services

  

• Feb

  22

  Robust Modeling and Analysis of High-Dimensional Data

  Tue, Feb 22, 2011 @ 02:00 PM - 03:00 PM

  Ming Hsieh Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering

  Conferences, Lectures, & Seminars

  
  

  Speaker: John Wright, Ph.D.
  
  Talk Title: Robust Modeling and Analysis of High-Dimensional Data
  
  Abstract: In this talk, I introduce several recent theoretical and algorithmic advances in robust recovery of low-dimensional structure from high-dimensional data. I show how to correctly and efficiently recover two important, closely-related types of low-dimensional structure: sparse vectors and low-rank matrices. For sparse vectors, we prove that as long as the signal of interest has a sufficiently sparse representation in a coherent dictionary, convex programming corrects large fractions of errors. In the same spirit, we prove that convex programming recovers low-rank matrices from large fractions of errors and missing observations. I motivate these general problems from the perspective of automatic face recognition in computer vision, and demonstrate how theoretical advances have inspired progress on this challenging problem. I discuss several additional applications of these tools including robust batch image alignment and registration, 3D shape recovery from multiple images, video stabilization and enhancement, web data analysis, indexing and search.
  
  
  
  Biography: John Wright received his PhD in Electrical Engineering from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign in October 2009. He is currently a researcher in the Visual Computing group at Microsoft Research Asia. His research focuses on developing provably correct and efficient tools for recovering low-dimensional structure in high-dimensional datasets, even when data are missing or grossly corrupted. These techniques address critical estimation problems in imaging and vision applications such as automatic face recognition, video stabilization and tracking, image and data segmentation, and more. They also find application outside of vision, for example in web data analysis and bioinformatics. His work has received a number of awards and honors, including the 2009 Lemelson-Illinois Prize for Innovation for his work on robust face recognition, the 2009 UIUC Martin Award for Excellence in Graduate Research, a 2008-2010 Microsoft Research Fellowship, a Carver fellowship, and a UIUC Bronze Tablet award.
  
  Host: Prof. Antonio Ortega
  
  

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

  Audiences: Everyone Is Invited

  Contact: Talyia Veal

  

• Feb

  22

  CS Colloquium

  Tue, Feb 22, 2011 @ 03:30 PM - 05:00 PM

  Thomas Lord Department of Computer Science

  Conferences, Lectures, & Seminars

  
  

  Speaker: Dr. Mohit Singh, McGill University
  
  Talk Title: Iterative Methods in Combinatorial Optimization
  
  Abstract: Many fundamental combinatorial optimization problems including minimum spanning tree, matchings, flows are polynomial time solvable but most problems that arise in practice turn out to be NP-hard. Fortunately, many NP-hard problems can be modeled by introducing extra side constraints in some fundamental optimization problem. A natural question to ask is whether we can extend any techniques for solving simple combinatorial optimization problems to NP-hard variants. In this talk we will demonstrate iterative methods as such a general technique to prove near optimal results for many optimization problems.
  We will focus on degree bounded network design problems where the task is to minimize the cost of the network and also satisfy given degree bounds on nodes. The most studied problem in this class is the Minimum Bounded Degree Spanning Tree problem. We will present a polynomial time algorithm that returns a spanning tree of optimal cost while exceeding the degree bound of any vertex by at most an additive one. This is the best possible result for this problem and settles a 15-year-old conjecture of Goemans affirmatively.
  We will also discuss extensions to degree constrained versions of more general network design problems and give the first additive approximation algorithms using the iterative method. These results add to a rather small list of combinatorial optimization problems which have an additive approximation algorithm.
  
  Biography: Mohit Singh is an Assistant Professor in the School of Computer Science, McGill University since 2010. Mohit Singh received his Bacherlor’s degree in computer science and engineering from Indian Institute of Technology, Delhi in 2003. He obtained his Ph.D. in the Algorithms, Combinatorics and Optimization program from Carnegie Mellon University in 2008 where his advisor was Prof. R. Ravi. He was then a post-doctoral candidate at Microsoft Research, New England. His main research interests are in approximation algorithms, combinatorial optimization and optimization under uncertainty.
  
  Host: Prof. David Kempe
  
  

  Location: Seaver Science Library (SSL) - 150

  Audiences: Everyone Is Invited

  Contact: Kanak Agrawal

  

• Feb

  22

  Southern California Edison- IT SAP Info Session

  Tue, Feb 22, 2011 @ 06:00 PM - 08:00 PM

  Viterbi School of Engineering Career Connections

  Workshops & Infosessions

  
  

  Join representatives of this company as they share general company information and available opportunities.

  Location: Grace Ford Salvatori Hall Of Letters, Arts & Sciences (GFS) - 106

  Audiences: All Viterbi Students

  Contact: RTH 218 Viterbi Career Services

  

• Feb

  23

  Grad Fair

  Wed, Feb 23, 2011 @ 09:00 AM - 04:00 PM

  Viterbi School of Engineering Student Affairs

  Student Activity

  
  

  Grad Fair is your one-stop way to get all the information you need about Commencement. All soon-to-be graduates are encouraged to stop by Grad Fair for answers to questions, or to purchase Commencement-related products.
  
  For more information, visit this website:
  http://www.usc.edu/dept/pubrel/specialevents/commencement/gradfair.php

  Location: Ronald Tutor Campus Center (TCC) - Ballroom

  Audiences: Everyone Is Invited

  Contact: Jeffrey Teng

  

• Feb

  23

  EE-Electrophysics Seminar

  Wed, Feb 23, 2011 @ 10:00 AM - 11:00 AM

  Ming Hsieh Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering

  Conferences, Lectures, & Seminars

  
  

  Speaker: Gianluca Piazza, University of Pennsylvania, Department of Electrical and Systems Engineering
  
  Talk Title: AlN Piezoelectric NanoElectroMechanical Resonators and Switches for RF Signal Processing, Sensing and Computing
  
  Abstract: NanoElectroMechanical Systems (NEMS) resonators and switches have been identified as some of the most interesting technologies that will enable the More Moore and More than Moore evolution of the semiconductor industry. These NEMS devices will yield transformational improvements over state-of-the-art semiconductor-based products by decreasing power consumption, increasing frequencies of operation and increasing sensing resolution – which will revolutionize computing, chemical/biological sensing, and radio frequency (RF) and microwave communication.
  A major challenge for developing NEMS based technology is the ability to efficiently transduce the mechanical device at the chip scale. This talk presents remarkable opportunities associated with the scaling of piezoelectric AlN films to the nano realm and their application to the making of efficient NEMS resonators and switches that can be directly interfaced with conventional electronics.
  Experimental data showing NEMS AlN resonators (250 nm thick with lateral features as small as 300 nm) vibrating at record-high frequencies approaching 10 GHz with Qs in excess of 500 will be presented. The extremely compact form factor of these devices permits to envision large scale integration (LSI) of NEMS to develop low power and highly reconfigurable microwave radio transceivers. Similarly, experimental results will show how these NEMS resonators can yield unprecedented sensitivities and be employed to form miniaturized gas sensor arrays and tag gas analyte concentrations that reach the part per trillion levels.
  Finally, nano-piezoelectric films (50-100 nm thick) for switching applications and experimental data confirming that bimorph AlN nano-piezo-actuators achieve the same piezoelectric properties of microscale counterparts will be presented. These NEMS devices set a realistic pathway towards the development of low energy nanomechanical computing.
  
  
  
  Biography: Gianluca Piazza is a Wilf Family Term Assistant Professor in the department of Electrical and Systems Engineering (ESE) at the University of Pennsylvania. His research interests focus on piezoelectric micro and nano electromechanicalsystems (MEMS/NEMS) for RF wireless communications, chemical/biological detection, and all mechanical computing. He also has a general interest in the areas of micro/nano fabrication techniques and integration of micro/nano devices with state-of-the-art electronics. He received his Ph.D. degree from the University of California, Berkeley in 2005. He has more than 10 years of experience working with piezoelectric materials. He holds several patents in the field of micromechanical resonators some of which have been succesfully acquired by industry (IDT and Qualcomm). He received the IBM Young Faculty Award in 2006 and has won, with his students, the Best Paper Award in Group 1 and 2 at the IEEE Frequency Control Symposium in 2008 and 2009, respectively.
  
  Host: EE-Electrophysics
  
  More Info: http://ee.usc.edu/news/seminars/eep

  Location: Seaver Science Library (SSL) - 150

  Audiences: Everyone Is Invited

  Contact: Marilyn Poplawski

  Event Link: http://ee.usc.edu/news/seminars/eep

  

• Feb

  23

  PhD Defense - Optimal Resource Allocation and Cross-Layer Control in Cognitive and Cooperative Wireless Networks

  Wed, Feb 23, 2011 @ 10:30 AM - 11:30 AM

  Ming Hsieh Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering

  Conferences, Lectures, & Seminars

  
  

  Speaker: Rahul Urgaonkar, USC PhD Candidate
  
  Talk Title: PhD Defense - Optimal Resource Allocation and Cross-Layer Control in Cognitive and Cooperative Wireless Networks
  
  Abstract: Next generation wireless networks will be required to provide significantly higher data rates, reliability, and energy efficiency than the existing systems. Cognitive radio and cooperative communication are expected to be two essential technologies towards achieving this goal. In this thesis, we study several resource allocation problems in the area of cognitive and cooperative wireless networks. Our goal is to design optimal control algorithms that maximize time-average network utilities (such as throughput) subject to time-average constraints (such as power, reliability, etc.). This talk will present our work on two such problems.
  
  
  
  The first problem considers opportunistic cooperation in cognitive radio networks. Specifically, we assume that a secondary user can use its resources to improve the transmission rates of the primary user. In return, the secondary user can get more opportunities for transmitting its own data when the primary user is idle. In this scenario, it is important for the secondary user to balance the desire to cooperate more (to create more transmission opportunities) with the need for maintaining sufficient energy levels for its own transmissions. Such a model is applicable in the emerging area of cognitive femtocell networks. We formulate the problem of maximizing the secondary user throughput subject to a time average power constraint under these settings as a constrained Markov Decision Problem. Conventional solution techniques to this problem are based on dynamic programming and require either extensive knowledge of the system dynamics or learning based approaches that suffer from large convergence times. However, using the technique of Lyapunov optimization, we design a novel greedy and online control algorithm that does not require any knowledge of network dynamics or explicit learning, yet is optimal.
  
  
  
  The second problem investigates optimal routing and scheduling strategies for multi-hop wireless networks with rateless codes. Rateless codes allow each node of the network to accumulate mutual information with every packet transmission. This enables a significant performance gain over conventional shortest path routing. Further, it also outperforms cooperative communication techniques that are based on energy accumulation. However, it requires complex and combinatorial networking decisions concerning which nodes participate in transmission, and which decode ordering to use. We formulate the general problem as a combinatorial optimization problem and then make use of several structural properties to simplify the solution and derive optimal greedy algorithms. A key feature of these algorithms is that unlike prior works on these problems, they do not require solving any linear programs to compute the optimal solution.
  
  Biography: Rahul Urgaonkar obtained the B.Tech. degree in Electrical Engineering from the Indian Institute of Technology (IIT) Bombay in 2002 and the M.S. degree in Electrical Engineering from the University of Southern California, Los Angeles in 2005. He is currently a PhD candidate in Electrical Engineering at USC working with Prof. Michael Neely. His research interest is in the area of stochastic network optimization with applications to resource allocation and scheduling problems in next generation wireless networks and data centers.
  
  Host: Prof. Michael J. Neely
  
  

  Location: Hughes Aircraft Electrical Engineering Center (EEB) - 539

  Audiences: Everyone Is Invited

  Contact: Gerrielyn Ramos

  

• Feb

  23

  Dodgeball in the E-Quad

  Wed, Feb 23, 2011 @ 12:00 PM - 01:00 PM

  Viterbi School of Engineering Student Organizations

  Student Activity

  
  

  The Viterbi Student Council will be hosting a dodgeball game to encourage some friendly competition among engineers! Stop by on your own or with a team, and get ready to play dodgeball and enjoy some free food!
  
  Check out the rest of E-Week at: http://viterbistudents.usc.edu/vsc/e-week/

  Location: E-Quad

  Audiences: Everyone Is Invited

  Contact: VSC

  

• Feb

  23

  CiSoft/PTE Webinar

  Wed, Feb 23, 2011 @ 12:45 PM - 01:30 PM

  Mork Family Department of Chemical Engineering and Materials Science

  Conferences, Lectures, & Seminars

  
  

  Speaker: Anil Ambastha, Chevron, Indonesia
  
  Talk Title: Recent Trends in Reservoir Engineering Research
  
  Abstract: This talk would concentrate on recent trends in reservoir engineering research based on empirical observations from reservoir engineering papers submitted for peer review for the "SPE Reservoir Evaluation and Engineering" journal in the last 2 1/2 years. In enhanced oil recovery (EOR) arena, chemical flooding methods, involving alkali, surfactant, polymer as well as CO2, continue to garner significant interest from researchers. A key challenge for EOR methods is to improve overall recovery economically, especially for heterogeneous reservoirs. Also, an area of considerable environmental importance is long-term CO2 sequestration in porous media which is being researched actively within the petroleum engineering community at this time.
  
  From theoretical computation point of view, experimental-design methods and optimization algorithms for a wide variety of scenarios continue to evolve. Intelligent computational techniques need to be refined to be consistent with historical field data, assist in identifying important known and "unknown" uncertainties, and yield robust results for future field development plans.
  
  An area of widespread application is geomechanical computation coupled with flow simulation. In particular, if fracture evolution can be reliably simulated, it will have profound implications for fluid flow in situations such as injection of water, CO2, steam etc. under fracturing conditions, and production from oil shale, gas shale, and extremely low-permeability reservoirs where massive and/or multiple fracturing is a prerequisite to economic production rates.
  
  This talk would conclude with the thought that all of our research efforts need to be geared toward "economic energy production with the least environmental impact" as a key objective.
  
  
  Host: CiSoft & Petroleum Engineering Program
  
  More Info: http://usccisoft.omnovia.com/register/48091298056533

  Location: Ronald Tutor Hall of Engineering (RTH) -

  Audiences: Please RSVP: legat@usc.edu

  Contact: Juli Legat

  Event Link: http://usccisoft.omnovia.com/register/48091298056533

  

• Feb

  23

  Multiscale Analysis of Multifunctional Nano- and Bio- Materials

  Wed, Feb 23, 2011 @ 02:00 PM - 03:00 PM

  Sonny Astani Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering

  Conferences, Lectures, & Seminars

  
  

  Speaker: Vinu Unnikrishnan, Texas A&M University
  
  Talk Title: Multiscale Analysis of Multifunctional Nano- and Bio- Materials
  
  Abstract: An understanding of the structure-property relationships involving coupling of physics
  occurring at different length and time scales are necessary for the estimation of mechanical
  properties of complex nano- and bio- materials. In the first part of this talk, a multiscale
  computational analysis of nano-polymers would be discussed. Nano-polymeric materials are
  used in applications ranging from tissue engineering scaffolds in biomechanics to self-healing
  smart materials for civil engineering structures. The mechanical characterization studies of
  nano-polymers discussed in this talk involves atomistic-scale modeling of the nano-structures,
  followed by a systematic and rigorous up-scaling of the mechanical properties using nonlinear
  homogenization models.
  In the second part of this talk, a mechano-biological computational model to analyze the
  effect of varying micro-structural constituents on the mechanical behavior of breast and tumor
  tissue would be presented. Since lobular density variation with age is a major risk factor in
  breast carcinoma, a correlation of the change in breast density with the corresponding change in
  the mechanical response of breast tissue has to be established. This study aims at providing
  clinical diagnostic tools to supplement current breast examination guidelines, and can be
  enhanced using information from imaging techniques. The development of novel mathematical
  computational formulations not only helps in understanding and providing patient-specific
  diagnosis of pathological conditions of the human body, but also helps in developing
  biomedical hazard mitigating standards.
  
  
  Biography: Dr. Vinu Unnikrishnan is a post-doctoral research associate in the Department of Mechanical
  Engineering at Texas A&M University, College Station, TX. He received his Ph.D. in Civil
  Engineering from Texas A&M University in 2007. His doctoral research was carried out under
  the supervision of Professor J. N. Reddy on the multiscale modeling of nano- and biological systems,
  where he developed multiscale methods for the mechanical and thermal characteristics of
  carbon-nanotube and polymeric based composite systems for use in advanced bio-medical,
  industrial and civil engineering applications. He is currently focused on developing
  computational models for the bio-mechanical characterization of human pathological
  conditions like breast tumor, pelvic prolapse, uterine scarring, atherosclerosis, etc. His research
  focus also involves developing nonlinear homogenization methods using continuum mechanics
  principles together with advanced computational techniques.
  
  Host: Sonny Astani Dept. of Civil and Environmental Engineering
  
  

  Location: Kaprielian Hall (KAP) - 209

  Audiences: Everyone Is Invited

  Contact: Erin Sigman

  

• Feb

  23

  Channel Coding: Non-Asymptotic Fundamental Limits With and Without Feedback

  Wed, Feb 23, 2011 @ 02:00 PM - 03:00 PM

  Ming Hsieh Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering

  University Calendar

  
  

  Abstract: Information theory studies the question of the maximum possible rate achievable by an ideal system under certain assumptions regarding the noise generation and structural design constraints. The study of such questions, initiated by Claude Shannon in 1948, has typically been carried out in the asymptotic limit of an infinite number of signaling degrees of freedom (blocklength). However, with the ever increasing demand for ubiquitous access to real time data, such as audio and video streaming for mobile devices, as well as the advent of modern sparse graph codes, one is interested in describing fundamental limits non-asymptotically, i.e. for blocklengths of the order of 1000. By employing some of our recently developed methods it will be demonstrated that for such blocklengths the backoff from the capacity can be quite significant. On the other hand, this penalty can be considerably mitigated by employing variable-length codes with feedback.
  
  
  
  Biography: Yury Polyanskiy received the M.S. degree (with honors) in applied mathematics and physics from the Moscow Institute of Physics and Technology, Moscow, Russia in 2005 and the Ph.D. degree in electrical engineering from Princeton University, Princeton, NJ in 2010.
  
  In 2000-2005, he was with the Department of Surface Oilfield Equipment, Borets Company LLC, where he rose to the position of Chief Software Designer. His research interests include information theory, coding theory and the theory of random processes.
  
  Dr. Polyanskiy won a silver medal at the 30th International Physics Olympiad (IPhO), held in Padova, Italy. He was a recipient of the Best Student Paper Awards at the 2008 and 2010 IEEE International Symposia on Information Theory (ISIT). His final year of graduate studies was supported by a Princeton University Honorific Dodds Fellowship (2009-2010).
  
  
  
  Host: Alex Dimakis, dimakis@usc.edu and Urbashi Mitra, ubli@usc.edu

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

  Audiences: Everyone Is Invited

  Contact: Gerrielyn Ramos

  

• Feb

  23

  AME Department Seminar

  Wed, Feb 23, 2011 @ 03:30 PM - 04:30 PM

  Aerospace and Mechanical Engineering

  Conferences, Lectures, & Seminars

  
  

  Speaker: Stephen B. Pope, Professor, Sibley School of Mechanical & Aerospace Engineering, Cornell University
  
  Talk Title: Advances in Computer Simulations of Turbulent Combustion
  
  Abstract: Combustion will remain a key technology for several decades in power generation, transportation and many other applications. Advances are continually sought in terms of efficiency gains, pollution reduction, and alternative technologies facilitating carbon capture. As in other areas of engineering, computer simulations are central to the design and development of combustion technologies. Great strides are being made both in the computation fluid dynamics (CFD) of turbulent reactive flows and in the development of more accurate and comprehensive chemical mechanisms, which may involve thousands of species. However, the combination of advanced approaches to turbulent flows and large chemical mechanisms poses a formidable computational challenge. The approach to the simulation of turbulent combustion described in this talk consists of the following three components: large-eddy simulation (LES) to treat the flow and turbulence; a probability density function (PDF) method to treat the turbulence-chemistry interactions; and, dimension-reduction and tabulation for the computationally-efficient implementation of combustion chemistry. Recent advances and examples of simulations are presented.
  
  Host: Dr. P. Roney
  
  More Info: http://ame-www.usc.edu/seminars/2-23-11-pope.shtml

  Location: Seaver Science Library (SSL) - 150

  Audiences: Everyone Is Invited

  Contact: April Mundy

  Event Link: http://ame-www.usc.edu/seminars/2-23-11-pope.shtml

  

• Feb

  23

  KIUEL SHOWCASE

  Wed, Feb 23, 2011 @ 04:00 PM - 06:00 PM

  Viterbi School of Engineering Student Affairs

  Receptions & Special Events

  
  

  Have a talent for music, film, or art? SHOWCASE offers an opportunity for Viterbi's undergraduate students and faculty to display their artistic talents to the Viterbi community. Film screenings, music performances, art displays, and dance performances are presented during this event and attendees vote for their favorites.
  
  If you are interested in attending, email viterbi.kiuel@usc.edu
  
  To learn more about KIUEL, visit viterbi.usc.edu/kiuel. You can also view previous SHOWCASE winners on the KIUEL website.

  Location: Ronald Tutor Hall of Engineering (RTH) - Viterbi Museum

  Audiences: Undergrad

  Contact: KIUEL

  

• Feb

  23

  Viterbi E-Week: NSBE Quiz Bowl

  Wed, Feb 23, 2011 @ 05:00 PM - 07:00 PM

  Viterbi School of Engineering Student Organizations

  Student Activity

  
  

  USC NSBE is hosting a Quiz Bowl as part of Viterbi E-Week! Click the following link for the E-week website as well as the E-week Facebook page!
  
  http://viterbistudents.usc.edu/vsc/e-week/ http://www.facebook.com/event.php?eid=193497847336776
  
  The Quiz bowl is a Jeopardy style (Multiple-choice questions) competition of engineering and pop culture questions Eight teams, 4 people per team, the winning team gets a $100 cash prize!
  
  Email nsbe@usc.edu if you want to form a team!
  
  

  Location: Ronald Tutor Hall of Engineering (RTH) - 211

  Audiences: Everyone Is Invited

  Contact: NSBE National Society of Black Engineers

  

• Feb

  23

  Halliburton Info Session

  Wed, Feb 23, 2011 @ 05:30 PM - 07:00 PM

  Viterbi School of Engineering Career Connections

  Workshops & Infosessions

  
  

  Join representatives of this company as they share general company information and available opportunities.

  Location: Grace Ford Salvatori Hall Of Letters, Arts & Sciences (GFS) - 106

  Audiences: All Viterbi Students

  Contact: RTH 218 Viterbi Career Services

  

• Feb

  24

  E-Week Spirit Day

  Thu, Feb 24, 2011

  Viterbi School of Engineering Student Organizations

  Student Activity

  
  

  In honor of National Engineers Week, show off your pride and spirit in being an engineer by wearing your Viterbi shirts!
  
  Check out the E-Week website for more info on the rest of the week: http://viterbistudents.usc.edu/vsc/e-week/
  
  Questions? Feel free to email vsc@usc.edu!

  Audiences: Everyone Is Invited

  Contact: VSC

  

• Feb

  24

  Grad Fair

  Thu, Feb 24, 2011 @ 09:00 AM - 06:00 PM

  Viterbi School of Engineering Student Affairs

  Student Activity

  
  

  Grad Fair is your one-stop way to get all the information you need about Commencement. All soon-to-be graduates are encouraged to stop by Grad Fair for answers to questions, or to purchase Commencement-related products.
  
  For more information, visit this website:
  http://www.usc.edu/dept/pubrel/specialevents/commencement/gradfair.php

  Location: Ronald Tutor Campus Center (TCC) - Ballroom

  Audiences: Everyone Is Invited

  Contact: Jeffrey Teng

  

• Feb

  24

  KIUEL SHOWCASE

  Thu, Feb 24, 2011 @ 11:00 AM - 03:00 PM

  Viterbi School of Engineering Student Affairs

  Receptions & Special Events

  
  

  Have a talent for music, film, or art? SHOWCASE offers an opportunity for Viterbi's undergraduate students and faculty to display their artistic talents to the Viterbi community. Film screenings, music performances, art displays, and dance performances are presented during this event and attendees vote for their favorites.
  
  If you are interested in attending, email viterbi.kiuel@usc.edu
  
  To learn more about KIUEL, visit viterbi.usc.edu/kiuel. You can also view previous SHOWCASE winners on the KIUEL website.

  Location: Ronald Tutor Hall of Engineering (RTH) - Viterbi Museum

  Audiences: Undergrad

  Contact: KIUEL

  

• Feb

  24

  Alumni Lunch with Dean Yortsos

  Thu, Feb 24, 2011 @ 12:00 PM - 02:30 PM

  Viterbi School of Engineering Alumni

  Receptions & Special Events

  
  

  Alumni Lunch with Dean Yortsos
  
  Taj Mahal Hotel (Mansingh)
  New Delhi,India

  Audiences: Alumni invited

  Contact: Sudha Kumar

  

• Feb

  24

  Distinguished Lecture Series

  Thu, Feb 24, 2011 @ 12:45 PM - 01:50 PM

  Mork Family Department of Chemical Engineering and Materials Science

  Conferences, Lectures, & Seminars

  
  

  Speaker: Professor Michael V. Pishko, Texas A&M University College Station, Texas
  
  Talk Title: Encapsulation of Drugs Nanoparticles in Self-Assembled Macromolecular Nanoshells
  
  Series: Distinguished Lectures Series
  
  Abstract: A layer-by-layer (LbL) self-assembly technique was used to encapsulate core charged drug particles in a polymeric nanoshell. This approach provides a new strategy in the development of polymeric vehicles for controlled release and targeting to diseased tissues and cells. A nanoshell composed of two biopolymers, poly-L-lysine and heparin sulfate, were assembled stepwise onto core charged drug nanoparticles. The exterior surface of the nanoshell was functionalized with biocompatible polymers(poly(ethylene glycol)) and targeting functional moieties, such as folic acid or protein ligands. Drug nanoparticles of dexamethasone, paclitaxol, and 5-fluorouracil were fabricated using a modified solvent evaporation technique, producing particles within a range of 150 to 300 nm. Assembly of the nanoshell was characterized by zeta potential measurements and XPS. Surface morphology of the encapsulated drug nanoparticles were viewed by TEM and SEM. XPS data collected for PEG modified drug nanoparticles confirmed that the peak at 286 eV represented the repeat unit in a PEG molecule. Zeta potential results re-confirmed PEG’s presence at the surface. Cell uptake studies of PEG modified drug particles were performed using a flow cytometric assay and suggested that the neutral charge of the nanoshell results in decreased phagocytosis after 48 hours of incubation. Using paclitaxel nanoparticles with a breast cancer cell line, the nanoparticles were found to be effective in the absence of an excipient such as Cremophor EL. Strategies to create multifunctional nanoparticles and to deliver nanoparticles orally will also be discussed.
  
  Host: Professor Gupta
  
  More Info: http://chems.usc.edu/academics/10-11/d-02-24-11.htm

  Location: James H. Zumberge Hall Of Science (ZHS) - 159

  Audiences: Everyone Is Invited

  Contact: Petra Pearce

  Event Link: http://chems.usc.edu/academics/10-11/d-02-24-11.htm

  

• Feb

  24

  Photonics Seminar Series

  Thu, Feb 24, 2011 @ 01:00 PM - 02:00 PM

  Ming Hsieh Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering

  Conferences, Lectures, & Seminars

  
  

  Speaker: Prof. Ofer Levi, University of Toronto
  
  Talk Title: Integrated optical sensors for portable biomedical sensing and imaging
  
  Abstract: Optical techniques are widely used in clinical settings and in biomedical research labs to interrogate bio-molecular interactions and evaluate tissue dynamics. Miniature integrated optical systems for sensing and imaging enjoy several advantages over bulk optical systems. These include portable long-term studies in living tissues, lower cost, higher speed, while keeping high sensitivity.
  
  In this presentation I will review our miniature semiconductor-based sensors and nano-structures for optical bio-sensing and bio-medical imaging. I will discuss our progress in design, fabrication and optimization of miniature fluorescence and index-of-refraction optical bio-sensors. In optofluidics studies for Lab on a Chip diagnosis applications, we have recently demonstrated sensitive fluorescence sensors (~ 1 nMolar) equal to or better than state-of-the-art miniature optical sensors and studied large area label-free photonic crystal slab (PCS) index-of-refraction sensors (Δn ≤ 10^-5). I will also describe our progress towards portable implantable optical sensors in freely-moving rodents in (i) applying Vertical Cavity Surface Emitting Lasers (VCSELs) as coherent/incoherent light sources for portable optical brain imaging and (ii) implanting VCSEL/PIN diode miniature fluorescence sensors in mice for portable long-term cancer monitoring.
  
  Biography: Ofer Levi is an Assistant Professor at the Institute of Biomaterials and Biomedical Engineering and the Edward S. Rogers Sr. Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering in the University of Toronto since 2007. In 2000-2007 Dr. Levi worked as a Post Doctoral Fellow and a Research Associate at the Departments of Applied Physics and Electrical Engineering, Stanford University, CA. He is a member of OSA, IEEE-Photonics, and SPIE. His recent research areas include biomedical imaging systems and optical bio-sensors based on semiconductor devices and nano-structures, and their application to bio-medical diagnostics, in vivo imaging, and study of bio-molecular interactions. More details can be found at http://biophotonics.utoronto.ca/
  
  Host: Prof. Michelle Povinelli
  
  More Info: http://ee.usc.edu/news/seminars/photonics/

  Location: Seaver Science Library (SSL) - 150

  Audiences: Everyone Is Invited

  Contact: Jing Ma

  Event Link: http://ee.usc.edu/news/seminars/photonics/

  

• Feb

  24

  CS Colloquium

  Thu, Feb 24, 2011 @ 03:30 PM - 05:00 PM

  Thomas Lord Department of Computer Science

  Conferences, Lectures, & Seminars

  
  

  Speaker: William Enck, Penn State University
  
  Talk Title: Analysis Techniques for Mobile Operating System Security
  
  Abstract: Over the last several years, smartphone application markets such as Google's Android Market and Apple's App Store have become a thriving industry with simplified distribution and little barrier to entry for developers. Smartphone users face many security and privacy risks, the most wide-spread of which results from applications operating within the confines of existing operating system protections. In this talk, I will discuss how to assess the current state of smartphone security using a range of analysis techniques. Existing smartphone security is permission oriented. First, I will use a formal model of permission policy to understand the permissions an application asks for, defining a coarse upper bound on its runtime behavior. Second, I will present a performance efficient method of dynamic analysis to determine actual application behavior, and subsequently identify several privacy concerns in real applications. Finally, I will describe a static analysis approach to characterize potential behavior based on implemented functionality. Using these approaches, we identify trends and primary security challenges so that future mobile operating system designs can mitigate existing threats.
  
  Biography: William Enck is a doctoral candidate in the Systems and Internet Infrastructure Security (SIIS) laboratory in the Computer Science and Engineering Department at Penn State University. William's research efforts primarily focus on mobile operating system security, but also include telecommunications security, access control mechanisms in operating systems, hardware security, voting systems security, network security, and large-scale network configuration.
  
  
  Host: Dr. William Halfond
  
  

  Location: Seaver Science Library (SSL) - 150

  Audiences: Everyone Is Invited

  Contact: Kanak Agrawal

  

• Feb

  24

  Southern California Association of Governments Information Session

  Thu, Feb 24, 2011 @ 05:00 PM - 06:00 PM

  Viterbi School of Engineering Career Connections

  Workshops & Infosessions

  
  

  The presentation will provide a brief overview of the SCAG 2012 RTP Process, an overview of the Non-Motorized Transportation Chapter of the RTP and an introduction to the SCAG Bike/Ped Wiki. The goal of the presentation is to inform the students about SCAG’s efforts to support non-motorized transportation and provide them with the opportunity to provide feedback during the RTP process.

  Location: Grace Ford Salvatori Hall Of Letters, Arts & Sciences (GFS) - 106

  Audiences: Everyone Is Invited

  Contact: RTH 218 Viterbi Career Services

  

• Feb

  24

  E-Week More Than Meets the Eye: Viterbi Talent Show and Date Auction

  Thu, Feb 24, 2011 @ 07:00 PM - 10:00 PM

  Viterbi School of Engineering Student Organizations

  Student Activity

  
  

  Come out to the new Campus Center and support your fellow engineers as they show off some of their talents!
  
  If you missed getting a ticket to the Viterbi Ball, you still have one more chance to go. Donate to charity and get a date for the ball at the date auction!
  
  Check out the rest of E-Week at: http://viterbistudents.usc.edu/vsc/e-week/

  Location: Ronald Tutor Campus Center (TCC) - 227

  Audiences: Everyone Is Invited

  Contact: VSC

  

• Feb

  24

  An Evening with Andy Summers and Benjamin Verdery

  Thu, Feb 24, 2011 @ 07:30 PM - 09:00 PM

  USC Viterbi School of Engineering

  Receptions & Special Events

  
  

  Andy Summers, best known as the guitarist of influential rock band The Police, and Benjamin Verdery, chair of the guitar department at Yale University and “one of the classical guitar world’s foremost personalities” (Classical Guitar magazine), will join forces for a performance and discussion. The two renowned guitarists first performed together in 2002 at the New York Guitar Festival. In 2005, they premiered Ingram Marshall’s Dark Florescence: Variations for Two Guitars and Orchestra at Carnegie Hall. Join us as they come together to seamlessly blend their diverse musical backgrounds, creating a unique, hybrid style that relies heavily on improvisation. The famed guitarists will perform selections from their new album, First You Build a Cloud, and discuss how they came to meet and to begin working together as a duo.
  
  Organized by James Smith (Music).
  
  For further information on this event:
  visionsandvoices@usc.edu

  Location: George Finley Bovard Administration Building (ADM) -

  Audiences: Everyone Is Invited

  Contact: Daria Yudacufski

  

• Feb

  25

  AIChE Chevron El Segundo Tour

  Fri, Feb 25, 2011 @ 08:30 AM - 12:00 PM

  Viterbi School of Engineering Student Organizations

  Student Activity

  
  

  Thinking about declaring yourself as a Chemical (Petroleum) Engineer? Interested in oil? In love with log charts and Dr. Jessen?
  
  Come out to tour a Chevron Refinery in El Segundo with fellow AIChE Members! Process Engineers and USC alumni will be there to show hands on work in the petroleum industry. Chevron will be providing transportation.
  
  Date: Friday, February 25th
  Time: 8:30 AM to 12 PM
  Location: Meet in front of RTH by 8:20 AM
  Please Wear: Pants and Closed Toed Shoes
  Please Bring: Government issued photo ID
  
  Please register by Thursday, February 10th by 11:59pm to aiche@usc.edu.

  Location: Chevron

  Audiences: Everyone Is Invited

  Contact: USC American Institute of Chemical Engineers

  

• Feb

  25

  E-Week Discover-E

  Fri, Feb 25, 2011 @ 09:00 AM - 01:00 PM

  Viterbi School of Engineering Student Organizations

  Student Activity

  
  

  Inspire the next generation of engineers by giving local middle school students a feel... or taste! ... of what we do! 200 students from the local community will be brought to USC to spend the day participating in engaging engineering activities sponsored by Viterbi student organizations. Activities include: Strawberry DNA, Tallest Tower, Egg Drop, and Ice Cream Making!
  
  If you'd like to get involved, please fill out this form with your availability:
  
  https://spreadsheets1.google.com/viewform?hl=en&formkey=dHlUaTBjdmVxOXpYSmhyTk40YlRYWlE6MQ#gid=0
  
  Check out the E-Week website for more info: http://viterbistudents.usc.edu/vsc/e-week/
  
  Questions? Feel free to email vsc@usc.edu!
  

  Location: E-Quad

  Audiences: Everyone Is Invited

  Contact: VSC

  

• Feb

  25

  USC Water Institute Seminar

  Fri, Feb 25, 2011 @ 11:00 AM - 12:00 PM

  Thomas Lord Department of Computer Science

  Conferences, Lectures, & Seminars

  
  

  Speaker: Stephen Monismith , Chair, Dept of Civil and Env Eng, Stanford University
  
  Talk Title: : (Not quite) Everything you wanted to know about freshwater flows into the San Francisco Bay/Delta - But were afraid to ask
  
  Abstract: I will discuss an overview of one of the central and most contentious issues facing California's management of water resources: the ecological effects of freshwater flows through the Sacramento/San Joaquin Delta into San Francisco Bay and their diversion for human use. In particular, I will focus on selected aspects of the role hydrodynamic processes may play in determining how we manage the system with the aim of achieving the desired "co-equal goals" of ecosystem restoration and water supply reliability. Central to this discussion are the alternative views that argue that the fundamental problem is one of plumbing or that it is the volume of water diverted and the timing of those diversions that matters.
  
  
  Biography: Stephen Monismith's research in environmental and geophysical fluid dynamics involves the application of fluid mechanics principles to the analysis of flow processes operating in rivers, lakes, estuaries and the oceans. Making use of laboratory experimentation, numerical modelling, and field measurements, his current research includes studies of estuarine hydrodynamics and mixing processes, flows over coral reefs, wind wave-turbulent flow interactions in the upper ocean, turbulence in density stratified fluids, and physical-biological interactions in phytoplankton and benthic systems. Because his interest in estuarine processes is intertwined with an interest in California water policy issues, he has been involved with efforts at developing management strategies for improving the "health" of the Bay through regulation of freshwater flow into the Bay. Professor Monismith is currently director of the Environmental Fluid Mechanics Laboratory. He was a resident fellow in Robinson House (Stanford's environment theme house) 2000-2002. He is a 1989 recipient of the Presidential Young Investigator award. Prior to coming to Stanford, he spent three years in Perth (Australia) as a research fellow at the University of Western Australia.
  
  
  Host: Prof. Gaurav Sukhatme
  
  

  Location: Seaver Science Library (SSL) - 150

  Audiences: Everyone Is Invited

  Contact: Kanak Agrawal

  

• Feb

  25

  Distinguished Lecture Series in Energy Informatics

  Fri, Feb 25, 2011 @ 12:00 PM - 01:00 PM

  Ming Hsieh Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering

  Conferences, Lectures, & Seminars

  
  

  Speaker: Prof. K. Mani Chandy, California Institute of Technology
  
  Talk Title: Uncertain, Intermittent Power: Hurdles in Reaching Pres. Obama's Goal of 80% Renewable Energy by 2035
  
  Series: Distinguished Lecture Series in Energy Informatics
  
  Abstract: Wind and solar power are intermittent whereas gas, coal, and nuclear generation are not.Moreover, we cannot accurately predict the amount of wind and solar power that will be available
  minute-by-minute, over the next hour, or even the next day; thus, our predictions are uncertain.
  Intermittent power and uncertainty in predictions are fundamental problems in reaching an energy economy based primarily on wind and solar power. This talk describes research at Caltech in collaboration with Cal State Chico on ways of dealing with the intermittent and uncertain nature of wind and solar power. The research deals with methods of mitigating these problems by aggregating power over time by storing power, aggregating power over large geographical regions by investing in transmission, by customer response to supply (demand-response), and by pricing uncertainty. The talk covers several topics briefly and goes into a couple of topics in depth. This work is led at Caltech by Steven Low and at Cal State Chico by Christina Archer.
  
  Biography: K. Mani Chandy is the Simon Ramo Professor and Deputy Chair of
  Engineering and Applied Sciences at the California Institute of
  Technology in Pasadena, California. His Bachelors is from the Indian Institute of Technology, Madras and PhD from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology in Electrical Engineering. He was a professor at the University of Texas at Austin from 1970 to 1987, and has been at Caltech since then. He is a member of the U.S. National Academy of Engineering and has received several awards. He does research on distributed systems and systems that sense and respond. He works on applications dealing with earthquakes, radiation detection, healthcare for the disadvantaged, and the smart grid.
  
  Host: Prof. Viktor Prasanna
  
  

  Location: Henry Salvatori Computer Science Center (SAL) - 101

  Audiences: Everyone Is Invited

  Contact: Annie Yu

  

• Feb

  25

  W.V.T. Rusch Engineering Honors Colloquium; Building Integrated Wind Power

  Fri, Feb 25, 2011 @ 01:00 PM - 01:50 PM

  USC Viterbi School of Engineering, Viterbi School of Engineering Student Affairs

  Conferences, Lectures, & Seminars

  
  

  Speaker: Thomas Zambrano, Director for Technology Initiatives for AeroVironment
  
  Talk Title: W.V.T. Rusch Engineering Honors Colloquium; Building Integrated Wind Power
  
  Abstract: Mr. Thomas Zambrano, Director for Technology Initiatives for AeroVironment, will be speaking on "Building Integrated Wind Power" as part of the W.V.T. Rusch Engineering Honors Colloquium.
  
  Host: W.V.T. Rusch Engineering Honors Colloquium
  
  More Info: http://viterbi.usc.edu/students/undergrad/honors/schedules/

  Location: Seeley G. Mudd Building (SGM) - 101

  Audiences: Everyone Is Invited

  Contact: Amanda Atkinson

  Event Link: http://viterbi.usc.edu/students/undergrad/honors/schedules/

  

• Feb

  25

  USC in Bangalore

  Fri, Feb 25, 2011 @ 07:00 PM - 09:00 PM

  Viterbi School of Engineering Alumni

  Receptions & Special Events

  
  

  Reception
  
  Taj West End
  Bangalore, India

  Audiences: By invitation

  Contact: Sudha Kumar

  

• Feb

  25

  E-Week Viterbi Ball 2011

  Fri, Feb 25, 2011 @ 08:15 PM - 01:00 AM

  Viterbi School of Engineering Student Organizations

  Student Activity

  
  

  Celebrate the end of E-Week with fellow engineers at a mystery location! Tickets are sold out, but bid on a date at More Than Meets the Eye, a date auction and talent show featuring wonderful Viterbi undergrads!
  
  Check out the E-Week page for more info on the week and for Viterbi Ball:
  
  http://www.facebook.com/event.php?eid=193497847336776

  Audiences: Everyone Is Invited

  Contact: VSC

  

• Feb

  26

  USC Global Forum

  Sat, Feb 26, 2011 @ 08:30 AM - 12:00 PM

  Viterbi School of Engineering Alumni

  Receptions & Special Events

  
  

  USC Global Forum
  
  Taj West End
  Bangalore, India

  Audiences: By invitation

  Contact: Sudha Kumar

  

• Feb

  26

  USC vs. UCLA IEEE Broomball Showdown

  Sat, Feb 26, 2011 @ 02:30 PM - 05:00 PM

  Viterbi School of Engineering Student Organizations

  University Calendar

  
  

  In 2010, at the IEEE USC-UCLA Broomball Showdown, USC managed to defeat UCLA for the second straight year. However, UCLA is back with a vengeance... and we're having a rematch to see if UCLA can seize the crown. It all happens on Saturday, February 26, at 3:30 PM. Meet in front of RTH at 2:30 to get there. Signups close on Thursday, February 24 at 5 PM. Get ready by signing up on our website! After an hour of free broomball, we will return to USC by 5:30 PM at the latest (probably closer to 5).
  
  Visit www-scf.usc.edu/~ieee to sign up now!

  Location: Pasadena Ice Rink

  Audiences: Everyone Is Invited

  Contact: Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers