Computational fluid dynamics (CFD) can inform sustainable design of buildings and cities in terms of optimizing pedestrian wind comfort, air quality, thermal comfort, energy efficiency, and resiliency to extreme wind events. An important challenge is that the accuracy of CFD results can be compromised by the large natural variability and complex physics that are characteristic […]
As we march towards the age of “ubiquitous intelligence”, we note that AI and Machine learning are progressively moving from the Cloud to the Edge devices. The success of Edge-AI is pivoted on innovative circuits and hardware that can enable inference and limited learning, in hardware-constrained ultra-low-power (uW to mW) systems – an area of […]
Machine learning can be a powerful tool in helping society reduce greenhouse gas emissions and adapt to a changing climate. In this talk, we will explore opportunities and challenges in AI-for-climate, from optimizing electrical grids to monitoring crop yield, and how these impactful problems can also drive methodological innovations in machine learning.
We would like to have robots which can perform useful manipulation tasks in real-world environments. This requires robots that can perceive the world with both precision and semantic understanding, methods for communicating desired tasks to these systems, and closed loop visual feedback controllers for robustly executing manipulation tasks. This is hard to achieve with previous […]
Abstract A delicate balance of noncovalent interactions drives hydrated molecular amphiphiles to self-assemble into lyotropic liquid crystals (LLCs) of varied topologies, the exquisite nanodomain structures of which suggest applications as separations membranes, mesoporous materials synthesis templates, and therapeutic delivery vehicles. Based on hard sphere colloidal crystals, spherical micelles are intuitively expected to form high symmetry […]
Materials design in the quantum regime call for the integration of multi-tier materials information that go beyond atomic structures. Especially, many quantum behaviors are greatly controlled by local symmetries and local bonding environments. In this talk, motivated by Pauling’s rules, Dr. Yan will show that local bonding environments (motifs) can be incorporated in a graph-based […]
Today’s robots are very brittle in their intelligence. This follows from a legacy of industrial robotics where robots pick and place known parts repetitively. For humanoid robots to function as servants in the home and in hospitals they will need to demonstrate higher intelligence, and must be able to function in ways that go beyond […]
The exponential growth of biological datasets in recent years has increased the dependency of cancer research on AI and computational analysis. Cancer evolves through the accumulation of genetic events over time, which are represented through different types of data. Integration of machine learning methods with temporal modeling and genomic methods has the potential to improve our […]
*This will be a HYBRID Event with in-person attendance in Wu & Chen Auditorium and Virtual attendance via Zoom Webinar here. The prevalent approach to object manipulation is based on the availability of explicit 3D object models. By estimating the pose of such object models in a scene, a robot can readily reason about how […]
Abstract: Computational fluid dynamics simulations and experiments were conducted to study the performance of distillation membrane process for water treatment and desalination applications. Polarizations and fouling/scaling in a direct contact membrane distillation module were examined. Laminar and turbulent flow regimes in the feed and permeate channels were considered. The hydrophobic membrane separates feed and permeate […]
This year marks the 40th anniversary of Penn Engineering's diversity efforts and we invite you to join us on Friday, December 3, at 3:00 p.m. EST to celebrate Penn Engineering’s new Office of Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (ODEI), formerly known as the Office of Minority Programs. We plan to meet in Heilmeier Hall (Towne 100) […]
The fascinating diversity of material behavior at the macroscopic scale, including plasticity, phase transformations, viscoelasticity or diffusion, can only emerge from the underlying atomistic or particle behavior. Yet, the direct connection between these two scales for non-equilibrium phenomena remains an extremely challenging quest from both a theoretical and computational perspective. This knowledge gap currently hinders […]
Machine learning has dramatically enhanced the role of automated decision making across a variety of domains. There are three ingredients that are at the heart of designing of sound ML algorithms: data, learning architectures, and loss functions. In this talk, we focus on loss functions and the role of information theory in understanding the choice […]
Synthetic data has been advertised as a silver-bullet solution to privacy-preserving data publishing that addresses the shortcomings of traditional anonymisation techniques. The promise is that synthetic data drawn from generative models preserves the statistical properties of the original dataset but, at the same time, provides perfect protection against privacy attacks. In this work, we present the first […]
Lossy data compression is a vital, if hidden, enabling technology. This virtual seminar would be impossible without data compression! Existing compression standards for images and audio rely on a "classical" theory of compression that models sources as stationary Gaussian processes. This theory is quite mature, and it provides remarkable insights into how to compress Gaussian […]
Dr. Bansil will discuss some of his recent work aimed at understanding the electronic structure and spectroscopy of novel superconductors, topological materials, and atomically thin 2D films and battery materials. Illustrative examples will include: (i) How by exploiting electronic structure techniques we have been able to successfully predict and understand the characteristics of many new […]
This seminar will be held live and broadcast on zoom - check your email for the zoom link or contact ksas@seas.upenn.edu. Improved experimental model systems are critically needed to better understand cancer progression and bridge the gap between lab bench proof-of-concept studies, validation in animal models, and eventual clinical application. Many methods exist to create […]
The Department of Bioengineering at the University of Pennsylvania and Dr. Brian Chow are pleased to announce the Doctoral Dissertation Defense of Erin Berlew. Title: "Single-component optogenetic tools for cytoskeletal rearrangements" Date: Friday, December 10, 2021 Time: 10:00 AM Location: Towne 337 and Zoom Zoom information: ERIN BERLEW is inviting you to a scheduled Zoom […]
Architected plates feature geometrical patterns that provide advantageous mechanical properties, such as an enhanced bending stiffness or a reduced tendency to tear. In this talk I will introduce our research group’s multiscale hexagonally patterned corrugated plates, which have nano-scale film thicknesses, micron-scale total heights, and square-centimeter-scale lateral area dimensions. I will first explain how we […]
Applications are increasingly data-intensive and bound by the performance of the memory and/or storage system. This “memory wall” arises from several factors: the volume of data is increasing exponentially, outstripping cache capacities; many applications extensively use streaming data with little or no temporal reuse; as algorithms become more sophisticated, access patterns are often unfriendly to […]
Abstract: "Efforts have been devoted to understanding the upgrading of plant-based biomass waste into useful chemicals to replace the current petrochemical production. An extensive amount of work has been accomplished in the past few decades but there are still many uncertainties. The transformation of furanic compounds, which present a major fraction in lignocellulosic biomass, is […]
Launched in May 2021, the Future Leaders in Mechanobiology is a monthly seminar series featuring up-and-coming leaders in mechanobiology–PhD students and postdocs from a wide range of fields, backgrounds, and institutions. By providing an international stage to share one’s work and opportunities to interact with researchers at all career stages, we aim to create an inclusive and […]
The Department of Bioengineering at the University of Pennsylvania and Dr. Jason Burdick are pleased to announce the Doctoral Dissertation Defense of Jonathan Galarraga. Title: "Biofabrication approaches with hyaluronic acid hydrogels for cartilage repair" Date: Wednesday, December 15, 2021 Time: 12:00 PM Location: Glandt Forum, Singh Center for Nanotechnology and Zoom Zoom Information: JONATHAN GALARRAGA […]
Piezoelectricity is the intrinsic coupling between electric fields and strains in materials. While piezoelectric sensors, actuators, and RF filters are ubiquitous and important components of existing microsystems, their potential is still largely underutilized in many application spaces. In this talk, I will discuss the physics, engineering, and applications of two novel classes of piezoelectrically enabled […]
The Department of Bioengineering at the University of Pennsylvania and Dr. Despina Kontos are pleased to announce the Doctoral Dissertation Defense of Rhea Chitalia. Title: "Computational imaging biomarkers for precision medicine: characterizing heterogeneity in breast cancer" Date: Thursday, December 16, 2021 Time: 1:15 PM Location: BRB 0253 and Zoom. Zoom information: RHEA CHITALIA is inviting […]
This seminar will be held live and broadcast on zoom – link coming soon. Neural engineering is enjoying an era of transformative growth. Classical methods that dominated the neurosciences for decades are being replaced by powerful new technologies. In this talk, I will discuss how to engineer electrical and optical interfaces to the primate brain. […]