MEAM Seminar: “Engineering Microdevices Using Atomic Layer Deposition and Electrowetting”

Wu and Chen Auditorium (Room 101), Levine Hall 3330 Walnut Street, Philadelphia, PA, United States

This talk will cover 1) devices created one atomic layer at a time and 2) electrowetting optical elements. Atomic layer deposition (ALD) and Atomic Layer Etching (ALE) are self-limiting processes that enable accurate atomic-scale thickness control either through deposition or etching of various materials. We are developing novel manufacturing processes that study how ALD materials […]

ESE & Statistics Seminar: “Large Neural Networks: Insights from Linearized Models”

PICS Conference Room 534 - A Wing , 5th Floor 3401 Walnut Street, Philadelphia, PA, United States

Abstract: Modern machine learning models, and in particular multilayer neural networks, exhibit a broad range of puzzling phenomena. Their training requires to minimize a highly non-convex high-dimensional cost function, and yet it is efficiently addressed using simple gradient descent (GD) or stochastic gradient descent (SGD) algorithms. This model contains more parameters than the number of […]

CBE Seminar: “Evolution of the Conformational-free Energy Landscapes of Proteins”

Wu and Chen Auditorium (Room 101), Levine Hall 3330 Walnut Street, Philadelphia, PA, United States

Abstract: One of the holy grails of drug-design is to obtain high-selectivity binding of a drug to the target protein, an extremely challenging endeavor for proteins that share high sequence and structural similarity. We investigate several systems of high biological importance to elucidate how selectivity emerged during evolution and how it can inform the design […]

CIS Seminar: “What Society Must Require from AI”

Wu and Chen Auditorium (Room 101), Levine Hall 3330 Walnut Street, Philadelphia, PA, United States

Abstract:  Artificial intelligence (AI) algorithms, especially machine learning (ML) programs, are now being employed or proposed for use in: a) scanning résumés to weed out job applicants; b) evaluating risks children face in their families; c) informing judicial decisions about bail, sentencing, and parole; d) diagnosing medical conditions, and not just classifying medical images; e) […]

MEAM Seminar: “Robot Design Concepts for Intuitive Physical Human-robot Interaction”

Wu and Chen Auditorium (Room 101), Levine Hall 3330 Walnut Street, Philadelphia, PA, United States

Physical human-robot interaction (pHRI) aims at taking advantage of the complementary capabilities of robots and humans. One of the key challenges in pHRI is to provide a high-bandwidth human-robot interaction that is safe and intuitive for the human user. To this end, it is proposed in this work to revisit the design of robots in […]

Penn Engineering’s NSF Fellowship Workshop

Heilmeier Hall (Room 100), Towne Building 220 South 33rd Street, Philadelphia, PA, United States

Penn Engineering is holding a workshop for students interested in applying for the 2020 National Science Foundation Graduate Research Fellowship (NSFGRF) . The goal of this workshop is to discuss strategies for submitting a strong application, as well as to connect applicants with mentors to help guide applicants through the process. This event will involve […]

CBE Seminar: “Protein-integrated Electronics: From Molecules to Machines”

Wu and Chen Auditorium (Room 101), Levine Hall 3330 Walnut Street, Philadelphia, PA, United States

Abstract: We are developing chemo-mechatronic systems, structures, and machines that can transduce signals between the chemical, mechanical, and electrical domains to produce intelligent behaviors in response to an external stimuli. Inspired by systems spanning from how tissues build themselves to how animals camouflage, I will discuss our molecular-level approach to building new materials that can […]

MSE Seminar: “Topology and Quantum Matter: From Axions to Spintronics”

Auditorium, LRSM Building 3231 Walnut Street, Philadelphia, PA, United States

The confluence of fundamental symmetries and spin-orbit coupling is known to produce emergent electronic states in crystalline solids that are accurately described using the language of topology. This talk provides an overview of this relatively young field of research, showing how the synthesis and study of topological quantum matter yields a playground for both exotic […]