• CIS Seminar: “Towards Flexible, Scalable, and Knowledgeable Generative Intelligence”

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

    From language modeling to 3D vision, generative AI has revolutionized nearly every aspect of machine learning. In this talk, I will examine the limitations of the foundation behind many generative AI techniques–autoregressive models. Despite their impressive successes, these token-by-token models face various challenges, including 1). non-flexible computation during generation, 2). lack of rich inner structures […]

    ASSET Seminar: “Mathematical Foundations for Physical Agents” (Max Simchowitz, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, CSAIL)

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    Raisler Lounge (Room 225), Towne Building 220 South 33rd Street, Philadelphia, PA, United States

    ABSTRACT: From robotics to autonomous vehicles, machine learning agents deployed in the physical world (“physical agents”) promise to revolutionize endeavors ranging from manufacturing to agriculture to domestic labor. In this talk, we will develop mathematical foundations, from the ground up, for how to carry out this vision. We will begin our investigation by examining linear […]

    Spring 2024 GRASP SFI: Erik Bekkers, University of Amsterdam, “Fast, Expressive SE(n) Equivariant Networks through Weight-Sharing in Position-Orientation Space”

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    Levine 307 3330 Walnut Street, Philadelphia, PA, United States

    This will be a hybrid event with in-person attendance in Levine 307 and virtual attendance on Zoom. This week's speaker will be virtual. There will be an extended Q&A/discussion after the seminar from 4:00 PM to 4:30 PM.  ABSTRACT Based on the theory of homogeneous spaces we derive \textit{geometrically optimal edge attributes} to be used […]

    CBE Seminar: “Minimally Invasive Neuroelectronics” (Anqi Zhang, Stanford)

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

    Abstract Neuroelectronic interfaces have enabled significant advances in both fundamental neuroscience research and the treatment of neurological disorders. However, current neuroelectronic devices have a clear trade-off between invasiveness and spatial resolution, and are unable to achieve seamless integration into the nervous system with cell-type specificity. In this talk, I will first introduce an ultra-small and […]

    ESE & BE Spring Seminar – “Ultra-high-throughput computational imaging: towards a trillion voxels per second”

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    Raisler Lounge (Room 225), Towne Building 220 South 33rd Street, Philadelphia, PA, United States

    Traditional biomedical imaging techniques face throughput bottlenecks that limit our ability to study complex dynamic samples like cells, organoids, tissues, and organisms. In particular, hardware-only systems have inherent physical limitations preventing the simultaneous improvement of resolution, field of view, and frame rate. In this seminar, I propose that large-scale, machine learning-accelerated computational imaging will be […]

    BE Seminar: “Endothelial cells and the promise of regeneration on demand” (Brisa Palikuqi, UCSF)

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    Raisler Lounge (Room 225), Towne Building 220 South 33rd Street, Philadelphia, PA, United States

    In this seminar, I explore the pivotal role of tissue stem cells and their microenvironment, known as the niche, in regeneration. With a focus on the endothelial cell niche, my work introduces an innovative in vitro vascularized perfusable model tailored for human tissue explants and organoids. My findings also highlight the crucial contribution of paracrine […]

    Spring 2024 GRASP on Robotics: Pietro Valdastri, University of Leeds, “Magnetic Surgical Robots: A “Fantastic Voyage” deep inside the human body”

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

    This is a hybrid event with in-person attendance in Wu and Chen and virtual attendance on Zoom. ABSTRACT Magnetic fields offer the possibility of manipulating objects from a distance and are ideal for medical applications, as they penetrate human tissue without inflicting any harm on the patient. Magnetic fields can be harnessed to actuate surgical robots, […]

    PICS Colloquium: “Genetic testing and adverse selection”

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

    Technology is dramatically driving down the cost of sequencing genetic data and increasing the quality of predictions made with this data. A standard concern is that these predictions could impair the functioning of insurance markets, either because insurers would abuse genetic information or because of adverse selection. We make three contributions. First, we develop a […]

    CBE Doctoral Dissertation Defense: “Synthesis of Enzyme-Powered Motors using Microfluidics” (Jessica O’Callaghan)

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    Levine 307 3330 Walnut Street, Philadelphia, PA, United States

    Abstract: This thesis addresses the fundamental questions surrounding the design and functional capabilities of enzyme-powered micromotors synthesized using microfluidic techniques. The research focuses on the development of these motors, made from artificial cell (protocell) scaffolds, and which seek to replicate the motion behavior of biological cells, investigating their propulsion mechanisms, motion directionality, and collective behavior. […]

    PRECISE Seminar: Image Curation for AI in Ophthalmology

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    https://upenn.zoom.us/j/93008201901

    This presentation will explore the critical process of curating medical imaging data for AI algorithm development in ophthalmology, highlighting the challenges and current limitations in data curation. It will discuss benchmark datasets, reference standards for FDA validation, and innovative strategies to enhance data availability. Attendees will gain insights into best practices and future directions in […]

    MEAM Seminar: “Harnessing Mechanobiology for Therapeutic Innovations: From Brain Tumors to Kidney Tissues”

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

    Engineered, personalized tissues are transforming healthcare by accelerating clinical testing and serving as cell-based therapies. The emergence of induced pluripotent stem cells coupled with innovations in biomanufacturing and cellular engineering have rapidly advanced engineered tissue cellular and structural complexity. However, generating functional, mature tissues remains an enormous challenge. Control over biophysical forces governing development and […]

    ESE & CIS Spring Seminar – “Towards Transparent Representation Learning”

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    Raisler Lounge (Room 225), Towne Building 220 South 33rd Street, Philadelphia, PA, United States

    Machine learning models trained on vast amounts of data have achieved remarkable success across various applications. However, they also pose new challenges and risks for deployment in real-world high-stakes domains. Decisions made by deep learning models are often difficult to interpret, and the underlying mechanisms remain poorly understood. Given that deep learning models operate as […]