Tag: Past seminars and events

Event: ISU Cyber Defense Competition

Date: October 15, 2011

Time: 8 a.m. to 5 p.m.

Location: Howe Hall Atrium

Details: Cyber Defense Competitions are a chance to learn and teach about practical information assurance in a fast-paced and real-world environment. Teams of competitors are given a limited amount of time to build and secure a network that provides required services. These networks are then attacked by a team of experienced intrusion specialists whose only goal is to compromise these networks, and even bring them down. Teams are scored based upon the security of their networks, quality of their documentation, usability of their systems (as scored by competition guests on the Green Team), and their participation in other fun events during the course of the competition.

ISU students will be participating in 20 teams total (Blue Teams) in building and defending computer networks against information assurance professionals acting as hackers (Red Team). The event is open to the public for observation. A Red Team debriefing and awards ceremony will take place at the end of the event. Registration for the upcoming CDC has closed. However, if you still wish to participate, e-mail msulliv@iastate.edu.

Event: Burns & McDonnell Company Information Meeting

Date: October 11, 2011

Time: 5 p.m.

Location: 2245 Coover Hall

Details: Please join Burns & McDonnell Representatives to learn more about the company, projects and culture. Employees and Interns will be available to talk one-on-one and answer questions. For more information on Burns & McDonnell, visit their Web site. For additional information on company information sessions or to RSVP, visit the ISU CMS site.

Seminar: Maintaining Formations with a Directed Information Structure and Cycles

Speaker: Soura Dasgupta, Professor, Electrical and Computer Engineering, University of Iowa

Date: October 10, 2011

Time: 1:10 p.m.

Location: 3043 ECpE Building Addition

Abstract: Dasgupta will address the n-agent formation shape maintenance problem in the plane. The objective is to design decentralized control laws so that the agents cooperatively restore a prescribed formation shape in the presence of small perturbations from the prescribed shape. We consider directed, cyclic information architectures associated with so-called minimally persistent formations. In our framework the formation shape is maintained by controlling certain interagent distances. Only one agent is responsible for maintaining each distance. We propose a decentralized control law where each agent executes its control using only the relative position measurements of agents it must maintain its distance to. The resulting nonlinear closed-loop system has a manifold of equilibria, which implies that the linearized system is nonhyperbolic. We apply center manifold theory to show local exponential stability of the desired formation shape. Choosing stabilizing gains is possible if a certain submatrix of the rigidity matrix of the graph representing the desired formation, has all leading principal minors nonzero, and we show that this condition holds for all minimally persistent formations with generic agent positions.

Speaker biography: Soura Dasgupta is a Professor of Electrical and Computer Engineering and Applied Mathematical and Computational Sciences, and a researcher for the Center for Computer-Aided Design at the University of Iowa. His special fields of knowledge include control theory, signal processing, and communications. Currently, his research interests are focused on synchronization, localization, control of multiagent systems, and consensus theory. Soura holds a PhD degree in systems engineering from the Australian National University (1985) and a BS degree in electrical engineering from the University of Queensland (1980). He is a fellow of IEEE.

Dr. Dasgupta is hosted by Aditya Ramamoorthy. Contact him (4-1583) if you would like to meet with Soura on Monday. 

Event: College of Engineering Diversity Workshop: Panel Discussions on Effective Mentoring

Date: October 7, 2011

Time: 1 to 2 p.m.

Location: 114 Marston Hall

Details: This student workshop is focused on improving mentoring of underrepresented students. Panelists include the 2011 Diversity Workshop Keynote Speaker, Professor Isiah Warner, Louisiana State University, and Professor Craig Ogilvie, Assistant Dean, Graduate College, Iowa State University. Questions? Contact mfrank@iastate.edu.

Event: Vermeer Corporation Company Information Session

Date: October 4, 2011

Time: 7 p.m.

Location: 1246 Howe Hall

Details: Come learn more about Vermeer Corporation and opportunities within the company. This event is hosted by the National Society of Black Engineers (NBSE). Food and drink will be provided.

Seminar: Dynamics and Control of Uncertain Nonlinear Systems: Limitations and Non-equilibrium Dynamics

Speaker: Assistant Professor Umesh Vaidya

Date: October 3, 2011

Time: 1:10 p.m.

Location: 3043 ECpE Building Addition

Abstract: Analysis and control of uncertain nonlinear systems exhibiting non-equilibrium dynamics is of interest in various applications such as fluid flow control, electric power grid, and biological systems. In this talk, we will present results on the application of novel ergodic theory-based framework for the analysis of non-equilibrium dynamics that arise in electric power grid and building systems. In particular, we present results on the development of tools for online transient stability monitoring of power system and for actuator and sensor placement in building systems.

In the second part of this talk, we demonstrate the application of the ergodic theory-based framework to the problem of control of nonlinear systems over uncertain channels. We show that the non-equilibrium dynamics of the system present fundamental limitations to the control of nonlinear systems. The limitation for control is expressed in terms of the channel uncertainty and the entropy of the non-equilibrium dynamics. Our limitation result highlights, for the first time, the important role-played by the non-equilibrium dynamics in the control of system over uncertain channels. The framework is extendable to study more general control problems over uncertain networks with nonlinear components dynamics.

Speaker bio: Dr. Umesh Vaidya received his bachelor’s degree in electrical engineering from University of Mumbai in 1997; his master’s degree in systems and control engineering from the Indian Institute of Technology, Bombay in 1999; and his PhD in mechanical engineering from University of California, Santa Barbara in 2004. From August 2004 to September 2005, he worked as a senior scientist at United Technologies Research Center (UTRC) in East Hartford, CT. He is currently an assistant professor in the Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering at Iowa State University. His research interest is in the area of dynamical systems and control theory with particular emphasis on the application of ergodic theory methods to control problems.

The ECpE Distinguished Lecture on September 30, 2011 has been postponed due to health reasons.

Taming Heterogeneous Parallelism with Domain Specific Languages

Speaker: Kunle Olukotun, Director of the Pervasive Parallelism Laboratory and Professor, Department of Electrical Engineering and Department of Computer Science, Stanford University

Date: September 30, 2011

Time: 1:10 p.m.

Location: Alliant Energy – Lee Liu Auditorium, Howe Hall

Abstract: Computing systems are becoming increasingly parallel and heterogeneous; however, exploiting the full capability of these architectures is complicated because it requires application code to be developed with multiple programming models. A much more productive single programming model approach to heterogeneous parallelism uses domain specific languages (DSLs). DSLs provide high-level abstractions, which improve programmer productivity and enable transformations to high performance parallel code. In this talk, Olukotun will discuss the DSL approach to heterogeneous parallelism, show example DSLs that provide both high productivity and performance, and describe Delite, a framework that simplifies the development of DSLs embedded in Scala.

Speaker biography: Olukotun is a professor of electrical engineering and computer science at Stanford University. He is best known as a pioneer in chip multiprocessor (CMP) design and the leader of the Stanford Hydra CMP research project. Olukotun founded Afara Websystems to develop high-throughput, low-power server systems with CMP technology. The Afara microprocessor, called Niagara, was acquired by Sun Microsystems. Niagara-derived processors now power all Oracle SPARC-based servers. Olukotun currently directs the Stanford Pervasive Parallelism Laboratory, which seeks to proliferate the use of heterogeneous parallelism in all application areas using Domain Specific Languages (DSLs). Olukotun is a Fellow of the Association for Computing Machinery Fellow and IEEE. He received his PhD in computer engineering from the University of Michigan.

Event: Friday Activities at Noon (FAN) Event – Designing and Marketing an iPhone/Android Application

Date: September 30, 2011

Time: 11:30 a.m. to 1 p.m.

Location: 1041 ECpE Building Addition

Details: All undergraduate and graduate students are invited to attend this FAN event to learn about designing and marketing iPhone/Android Apps. Stop by, check it out, and get a coupon for two free slices of pizza!

Event: Microsoft Meet the Company Presentation

Date: September 28, 2011

Time: 6:30 to 8 p.m.

Location: 3043 ECpE Building Addition

Details: Learn about the cool technologies that YOU could develop, hear tips on how to prepare yourself to land a job at Microsoft, and hear what it’s really like to live and work in the Seattle Area. Bring your resume for a chance to win some great prizes, including an XBOX! This event is hosted by the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE) and Eta Kappa Nu (HKN) Honor Society. Food and drink is provided, and business casual dress is recommended. For more information on Microsoft, visit their Web site.

Event: Burns & McDonnell Company Information Session

Date: September 28, 2011

Time: 5 to 6 p.m.

Location: 3043 ECpE Building Addition

Details: This event is hosted by the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE) and Eta Kappa Nu (HKN) Honor Society. Food and drink is provided, and business casual dress is recommended. For more information on Burns & McDonnell, visit their website.