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DTSTART;TZID=America/New_York:20250806T110000
DTEND;TZID=America/New_York:20250806T120000
DTSTAMP:20260403T191523
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SUMMARY:[VIRTUAL SPEAKER]: Summer 2025 GRASP Seminar: Michal Gregor\, Kempelen Institute of Intelligent Technologies\, "Low-Resource NLP: Not Just Throwing Data at a Model and Hoping for the Best"
DESCRIPTION:This is a virtual event ONLY with attendance via Zoom.  \nABSTRACT\nThe talk will introduce several topics in low-resource and multilingual NLP – in the domain of disinformation combatting\, through works done at the Kempelen Institute of Intelligent Technologies in Bratislava – and also in the more general context of efficiently adapting large language models to smaller languages. It will argue that machine learning – even in the era of deep learning and large language models – is not just about throwing increasing amounts of data at a model and hoping for the best; our lack of understanding can and sometimes does severely limit the capabilities of our models.
URL:https://seasevents.nmsdev7.com/event/virtual-speaker-summer-2025-grasp-seminar-michal-gregor-kempelen-institute-of-intelligent-technologies-low-resource-nlp-not-just-throwing-data-at-a-model-and-hoping-for-the-best/
LOCATION:Virtual via Zoom
CATEGORIES:Seminar
ORGANIZER;CN="General Robotics%2C Automation%2C Sensing and Perception (GRASP) Lab":MAILTO:grasplab@seas.upenn.edu
END:VEVENT
BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;TZID=America/New_York:20250807T100000
DTEND;TZID=America/New_York:20250807T120000
DTSTAMP:20260403T191523
CREATED:20250804T135920Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20250804T135920Z
UID:10008419-1754560800-1754568000@seasevents.nmsdev7.com
SUMMARY:CBE Doctoral Dissertation Defense: "Quantitative Transcriptional Regulation through Protein–DNA Interactions in Developing Systems" (Gaochen Jin)
DESCRIPTION:Abstract: \nPrecise regulation of gene expression is essential for controlling developmental programs\, maintaining cellular identity\, and ensuring proper tissue function. Dynamic interactions between proteins and cis-regulatory elements integrate molecular mechanisms and extracellular signaling to achieve precise control of transcriptional activity. In this thesis\, I investigate protein-DNA-mediated transcriptional regulation across two distinct developmental systems: mouse embryonic stem cells (mESCs) and early Drosophila embryos. \nUsing PP7/PCP live-cell imaging\, I tracked Sox2 transcriptional activity in single mESCs under LIF pathway perturbations (Chapter 2). Removing LIF ligand or inhibiting JAK signaling induced heterogeneous changes in Sox 2 activity\, reducing the number of Sox2-active cells. Transcriptional output in remaining Sox2-active cells decreased\, caused by smaller and less frequent transcriptional bursts. LIF perturbation also decreased the number of pluripotent cells\, with pluripotent marker-positive cells showing higher Sox2 mRNA production. Moreover\, Sox2 transcription displayed transcriptional memory\, with active mother cells more likely to reactivate Sox2 in daughter cells\, even under signaling disruption. These findings reveal quantitative aspects of Sox2 regulation essential for pluripotency maintenance. \nIn early Drosophila embryos\, I investigated how the dosage of the transcription factor Dorsal (Dl) and TF binding sites affinity govern the spatial and temporal regulation of the snail (sna) gene (Chapter 3). Surprisingly\, reducing the level of Dl\, normally an activator of sna\, led to increased sna transcriptional activity. This inverted dosage effect is mediated by the autoregulation of the Sna repressor. Reduced Dl initially decreases Sna protein production\, which in turn reduces autorepressive feedback on the sna gene\, leading to compensatory increases in sna transcription. Increasing Dl binding sites affinity within sna enhancers also reduced sna transcriptional activity and altered bursting behavior. Finally\, we showed that Sna-mediated autorepression modulates enhancer responsiveness in a dosage- and context-dependent manner. \nTogether\, this work reveals how transcriptional feedback mechanisms can modulate gene expression outputs beyond the direct effects of TF input levels. Together\, these studies demonstrate how examining gene regulatory dynamics across distinct biological systems can uncover fundamental principles of transcriptional control and inform strategies for targeted modulation of gene expression in biomedical research. \nZoom Information: \nMeeting ID: 925 5127 1427 \nPasscode: 335045
URL:https://seasevents.nmsdev7.com/event/cbe-doctoral-dissertation-defense-quantitative-transcriptional-regulation-through-protein-dna-interactions-in-developing-systems-gaochen-jin/
LOCATION:Towne 225
CATEGORIES:Doctoral,Student,Dissertation or Thesis Defense
ORGANIZER;CN="Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering":MAILTO:cbemail@seas.upenn.edu
END:VEVENT
BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;TZID=America/New_York:20250812T101500
DTEND;TZID=America/New_York:20250812T111500
DTSTAMP:20260403T191523
CREATED:20250805T205246Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20250805T205246Z
UID:10008421-1754993700-1754997300@seasevents.nmsdev7.com
SUMMARY:MEAM Seminar: "Predicting Infant Center of Pressure through Physics and Data Driven Modeling"
DESCRIPTION:Affecting roughly 2 in 1000 infants in the USA\, Cerebral Palsy (CP) is the most common cause of motor impairment in children. CP has no cure\, but motor therapy is an effective tool for providing rehabilitation. Although therapy is most effective before the age of 2\, early CP detection is difficult and labor-intensive\, making the processes inaccessible in low-resource settings. To remedy this inaccessibility\, we seek to create an accessible technology-based tool to make detecting neuromotor impairment in infants less easier. Studies have shown promising results in quantifying infant impairment by observing changes in the Center of Pressure (COP)\, as they lie supine. Although a useful metric\, the force plates necessary to capture COP are often not readily accessible in low-resource settings due to factors such as high price and a lack of portability. In response\, my goal is to make COP easier to obtain by predicting supine infant COP through human pose data gathered with cameras. I seek to derive a generalized physics-based model of the infant’s dynamics that calculates COP based on insights gained from examining how infant movement interacts with changes in COP. I will then use this physics-based model to improve the ability to use machine learning to derive COP from only camera information. As a result\, I will create a novel framework involving the use of physics-based modeling and data-driven modeling to predict COP.
URL:https://seasevents.nmsdev7.com/event/meam-seminar-predicting-infant-center-of-pressure-through-physics-and-data-driven-modeling/
LOCATION:Room 337\, Towne Building\, 220 South 33rd Street\, Philadelphia\, PA\, 19104\, United States
CATEGORIES:Seminar,Doctoral
ORGANIZER;CN="Mechanical Engineering and Applied Mechanics":MAILTO:meam@seas.upenn.edu
END:VEVENT
BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;TZID=America/New_York:20250819T101500
DTEND;TZID=America/New_York:20250819T111500
DTSTAMP:20260403T191523
CREATED:20250811T131814Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20250811T131814Z
UID:10008425-1755598500-1755602100@seasevents.nmsdev7.com
SUMMARY:MEAM Seminar: "Temperature Dependent Offset for Spin Lattice Dynamics Modeling"
DESCRIPTION:Spin lattice dynamics (SLD) modeling is an approach to modeling magnetic interactions at the nanoscale. Current spin lattice dynamics models do not model magnetoelastic effects well\, giving non-physical lattice parameters and poorly modeling behavior like forced volume magnetostriction. A new model\, based on a temperature dependent offset that subtracts out the part of the magnetic interactions accounted for in the lattice potential to avoid double counting of forces\, has been developed to address these shortcomings. The current model matches lattice parameter for no field applied conditions. Currently\, forced volume magnetostriction is being studied with the model.
URL:https://seasevents.nmsdev7.com/event/meam-seminar-temperature-dependent-offset-for-spin-lattice-dynamics-modeling/
LOCATION:Room 337\, Towne Building\, 220 South 33rd Street\, Philadelphia\, PA\, 19104\, United States
CATEGORIES:Seminar,Doctoral
ORGANIZER;CN="Mechanical Engineering and Applied Mechanics":MAILTO:meam@seas.upenn.edu
END:VEVENT
BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;TZID=America/New_York:20250826T120000
DTEND;TZID=America/New_York:20250826T130000
DTSTAMP:20260403T191523
CREATED:20250821T165721Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20250821T165721Z
UID:10008441-1756209600-1756213200@seasevents.nmsdev7.com
SUMMARY:AI + Science Seminar
DESCRIPTION:Extracting Knowledge Priors from Scientific Texts for De Novo Molecular Design\nThis talk will explore a large-scale effort to exploit the natural-language understanding capabilities of large language models in order to unlock information about the structure\, function\, and biological activity for proteins\, small molecules\, genetic variants\, and other biological entities of interest. \nRegister Now
URL:https://seasevents.nmsdev7.com/event/ai-science-seminar/
LOCATION:Amy Gutmann Hall\, Room 414\, 3333 Chestnut Street\, Philadelphia\, 19104\, United States
CATEGORIES:Seminar
ATTACH;FMTTYPE=image/jpeg:https://seasevents.nmsdev7.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/08/AI-Science.jpeg
END:VEVENT
BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;TZID=America/New_York:20250827T120000
DTEND;TZID=America/New_York:20250827T131500
DTSTAMP:20260403T191523
CREATED:20250821T202002Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20250821T202002Z
UID:10008444-1756296000-1756300500@seasevents.nmsdev7.com
SUMMARY:ASSET Seminar: "AIRFoundry: AI for RNA Discovery and Synthesis"
DESCRIPTION:Virtually everyone today is aware of the mRNA vaccine for COVID\, which saved many lives and earned the Nobel Prize for Drs. Drew Weissman and Katalin Kariko. The vaccine consisted not only of mRNA that coded for the COVID spike protein\, but a protective lipid nanoparticle envelope that carried the RNA to cells in the body. RNA has immense potential beyond vaccines\, for instance\, as a way of stimulating cells to manufacture particular proteins; silencing certain genes; altering gene expression; and targeting CRISPR/CAS gene editing. \nThe mission of the AIRFoundry is to offer an AI-guided facility for biologists\, veterinarians\, biomedical researchers\, and industry to develop and synthesize RNA and LNPs appropriate for different therapeutic uses. This exceeds the capabilities of existing scientific question-answering tools\, and needs to be done while simultaneously “bootstrapping” a community of users. In this talk\, I will describe our early experiences and innovations in developing AI question answering and “lead discovery” tools for promising candidate RNAs and LNPs — even as our collaborators build out tools for RNA and LNP optimization\, and robot-driven synthesis. \nCollaborative work with Daeyeon Lee\, David Issadore\, Drew Weissman\, Claribel Acevedo-Velez\, Joost Wagenaar\, Sharath Guntuku\, Rodolfo Ramanach\, Masoud Soroush\, Jake Gardner\, Mark Yatskar\, Jiaming Liang\, Varun Jana\, Haydn Jones\, and John Frommeyer. \n  \nSeminar Recording: https://drive.google.com/file/d/1jsi-4eQoiPYg9u-ivvh4KflLC6oTY7Mr/view?usp=drive_link
URL:https://seasevents.nmsdev7.com/event/asset-seminar-airfoundry-ai-for-rna-discovery-and-synthesis/
LOCATION:Amy Gutmann Hall\, Room 414\, 3333 Chestnut Street\, Philadelphia\, 19104\, United States
CATEGORIES:Seminar
ORGANIZER;CN="AI-enabled Systems%3A Safe%2C Explainable%2C and Trustworthy (ASSET) Center":MAILTO:asset-info@seas.upenn.edu
END:VEVENT
BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;TZID=America/New_York:20250827T170000
DTEND;TZID=America/New_York:20250827T190000
DTSTAMP:20260403T191523
CREATED:20250821T175815Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20250821T175815Z
UID:10008443-1756314000-1756321200@seasevents.nmsdev7.com
SUMMARY:Entrepreneurship Expo 2025
DESCRIPTION:On Wednesday\, August 27\, from 5:00 PM to 7:00 PM ET\, Venture Lab is hosting the 2025 Entrepreneurship Expo\, a one-stop experience for students to explore co-curricular programs\, discover entrepreneurship clubs\, and learn how to take the next step in their entrepreneurial journey. \nFrom students who are curious about innovation to those actively launching ventures\, the Expo offers pathways for skill-building\, mentorship\, funding\, and more. It’s also a great way for students to network and get inspired by the broader entrepreneurial ecosystem at Penn.\n\nWho’s invited: This event is ONLY open to active Penn students and special guests.  \nLocation: 115 South 40th Street\nWhen: Wednesday\, August 27\, from 5:00 PM to 7:00 PM ET\n \nRegister Now \n 
URL:https://seasevents.nmsdev7.com/event/entrepreneurship-expo-2025/
LOCATION:Stat
CATEGORIES:Student
ATTACH;FMTTYPE=image/png:https://seasevents.nmsdev7.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/08/2025_VentureLab_Expo2025_1920x1080.png
END:VEVENT
BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;TZID=America/New_York:20250829T110000
DTEND;TZID=America/New_York:20250829T133000
DTSTAMP:20260403T191523
CREATED:20250822T175318Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20250822T175318Z
UID:10008454-1756465200-1756474200@seasevents.nmsdev7.com
SUMMARY:CBE Doctoral Dissertation Defense: "Silica Nanoparticle-Based Platform for Rare Earth Element Recovery  and Separation" (Ivy Dai)
DESCRIPTION:Abstract: \nRare earth elements (REEs) are essential for clean energy technologies including batteries for electrical vehicles\, wind turbines and LED screens due to their unique magnetic\, optical\, and electronic properties. Efficient methods for their recovery and separation are urgently needed to meet the growing demands of a rapidly evolving green economy worldwide. However\, current separation technologies\, such as liquid-liquid extraction (LLE)\, suffer from harmful environmental impacts\, scalability limitations and high energy costs\, due to the similar physiochemical properties of REEs and the dependence on organic solvents. These environmental\, operational\, and economic challenges motivate the development of sustainable\, selective and scalable REE separations. \nNanostructured materials\, such as those incorporating silica nanoparticles (SiO 2 NPs)\, are promising materials to incorporate into REE separations due to their high surface area\, tunable surface chemistry and environmental compatibility. Their scale offers several advantages\, including high surface-to-volume ratio\, integration into dynamic architectures\, and stabilization of complex structures. These features offer new opportunities for designing alternative methods for REE recovery and separation methods which do not have the drawbacks of existing approaches. \nThis thesis focuses on developing a SiO 2 NP-based platform for REE separation\, building from fundamental understanding to practical applications. We investigate the fundamental interactions between SiO 2 NPs and REEs across the full pH range of pH 3 – 10\, identifying and mapping the transition of three distinct interaction modes with a combinational of technical tools. We demonstrate the intrinsic\, size dependent selectivity\, with SiO 2 NPs favoring smaller\, more charge dense heavy REEs (HREEs) over larger light REEs (LREEs) in both binary and ternary mixtures under competitive conditions. Our results also show reversible adsorption of REEs on SiO 2 NP surfaces\, enabling ligand-free separation processes. \nBuilding upon this mechanistic understanding\, we integrate the SiO 2 NP-based platform into three separation processes: (i) solid phase extraction\, where SiO 2 NPs act as active adsorbents that enable size-dependent selectivity and reversible capture and release via simple pH-swings\, (ii) froth flotation\, where SiO 2 NPs serve as REE carrier and foam stabilizer\, and (iii) bicontinuous interfacially jammed emulsion gels\, where the nanoparticle-stabilized interfaces enable high interfacial area for REE adsorption and extractant loading. This work provides a foundation for developing sustainable REE separation strategies with nanoparticles.
URL:https://seasevents.nmsdev7.com/event/cbe-doctoral-dissertation-defense-silica-nanoparticle-based-platform-for-rare-earth-element-recovery-and-separation-ivy-dai/
LOCATION:Vagelos Institute for Energy Science and Technology\, Room 121\, 231 S 34th Street\, Philadelphia\, PA\, 19104\, United States
CATEGORIES:Doctoral,Student,Dissertation or Thesis Defense
ORGANIZER;CN="Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering":MAILTO:cbemail@seas.upenn.edu
END:VEVENT
BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;TZID=America/New_York:20250902T101500
DTEND;TZID=America/New_York:20250902T111500
DTSTAMP:20260403T191523
CREATED:20250812T201538Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20250812T201538Z
UID:10008426-1756808100-1756811700@seasevents.nmsdev7.com
SUMMARY:MEAM Seminar: "Harnessing Living Bacteria\, Fungi\, and Plants as Functional Materials"
DESCRIPTION:For decades materials engineers have been inspired by biology to create improved properties\, for example nacre-inspired hierarchical structures to improve toughness\, tree-inspired vasculature to deliver fluids that can react and heal an interface\, and mussel-inspired strong underwater adhesives utilizing cation-pi interactions. Now\, the bioengineering toolset has reached a maturity where we can start to employ biology directly as materials for the built environment – the mission of the Engineered Living Materials Institute at Cornell. In this seminar\, I will highlight several recent projects and then focus on our design and validation of a hybrid living coating that can be applied to conventional structural materials for crack detection. I will describe the development of a bacterial spore–polymer composite coating that enables in situ detection of cracks under different loading modes\, geometries\, and substrate materials. Excitingly\, this biohybrid coating approach unlocks potential\, beyond crack detection\, for crack mitigation by leveraging the biological component.
URL:https://seasevents.nmsdev7.com/event/meam-seminar-harnessing-living-bacteria-fungi-and-plants-as-functional-materials/
LOCATION:Wu and Chen Auditorium (Room 101)\, Levine Hall\, 3330 Walnut Street\, Philadelphia\, PA\, 19104\, United States
CATEGORIES:Colloquium
ORGANIZER;CN="Mechanical Engineering and Applied Mechanics":MAILTO:meam@seas.upenn.edu
END:VEVENT
BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;TZID=America/New_York:20250902T120000
DTEND;TZID=America/New_York:20250902T130000
DTSTAMP:20260403T191523
CREATED:20250827T183057Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20250827T183057Z
UID:10008466-1756814400-1756818000@seasevents.nmsdev7.com
SUMMARY:Penn AI Seminar Series: Geometric and Physics Stucture Preservation in Scientific Machine Learning
DESCRIPTION:Geometric and Physics Stucture Preservation in Scientific Machine Learning \nNat Trask\, Associate Professor in Mechanical Engineering and Applied Mechanics at Penn Engineering\, will share about his work constructing real-time digital twins built upon a data-driven finite element exterior calculus; constructing auto-regressive integrators with guaranteed long-term stability independent of rollout length; and constructing data-driven particle models built upon metriplectic bracket theory\, which preserve emergent statistical mechanics. \nLunch will be served. \nRegistration is required. Sign up here.
URL:https://seasevents.nmsdev7.com/event/penn-ai-seminar-series-geometric-and-physics-stucture-preservation-in-scientific-machine-learning/
LOCATION:Amy Gutmann Hall\, Room 414\, 3333 Chestnut Street\, Philadelphia\, 19104\, United States
CATEGORIES:Seminar
END:VEVENT
BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;TZID=America/New_York:20250903T120000
DTEND;TZID=America/New_York:20250903T131500
DTSTAMP:20260403T191523
CREATED:20250821T202340Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20250821T202340Z
UID:10008445-1756900800-1756905300@seasevents.nmsdev7.com
SUMMARY:ASSET Seminar: "Provable vs Impossible Trust: Reasoning\, Steering\, and Safety"
DESCRIPTION:Abstract: In this talk\, I will discuss a collection of highlights from our recent work in trustworthy AI.\n(1) Certifying reasoning explanations with reliability guarantees and aligning with expert knowledge\,\n(2) Simple yet effective steering inspired from theoretical rule-following mechanisms for transformers\, and\n(3) The impossibility of monitoring stateless attackers and what safety defenses should be doing.\n  \nSeminar Recording: https://drive.google.com/file/d/1FNeVVPXb_vZiNWVexFTgTFoVKBM_QnqQ/view?usp=sharing \n 
URL:https://seasevents.nmsdev7.com/event/asset-seminar-title-tbd/
LOCATION:Amy Gutmann Hall\, Room 414\, 3333 Chestnut Street\, Philadelphia\, 19104\, United States
CATEGORIES:Seminar
ORGANIZER;CN="AI-enabled Systems%3A Safe%2C Explainable%2C and Trustworthy (ASSET) Center":MAILTO:asset-info@seas.upenn.edu
END:VEVENT
BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;TZID=America/New_York:20250903T153000
DTEND;TZID=America/New_York:20250903T163000
DTSTAMP:20260403T191523
CREATED:20250818T200954Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20250818T200954Z
UID:10008427-1756913400-1756917000@seasevents.nmsdev7.com
SUMMARY:CBE Seminar: "Water–Hydrophobe Interfaces: From Debunking Myths to Boosting Global Food–Water–Climate Resilience" (Himanshu Mishra\, KAUST)
DESCRIPTION:Abstract: \nFirst\, I will outline our work on overcoming barriers to desert rehabilitation for urban greening\, landscaping\, and regional food security. In arid regions\, freshwater is scarce\, sandy soils lose water and fertilizers rapidly\, which stifles plant growth. Our team has developed two complementary solutions: (i) Superhydrophobic Sand (SHS)1 — a plastic-free\, bio-inspired mulch that cuts evaporative water loss from topsoil by ~80%; (ii) CarboSoil2 — an engineered biochar that greatly enhances nutrient and water retention in sandy soils. I will share our translational journey from materials invention and characterization to multi-year field trials with food crops and native plants in collaboration with industry partners. Results show SHS and CarboSoil can dramatically improve irrigation and fertilizer-use efficiency in hot\, dry\, sandy environments. Terraxy LLC\, the startup I co-founded\, is now scaling Carbosoil production to 6\,000 tons/year for regional sustainability projects (video link). \nNext\, I will discuss our investigation into controversial claims that hydrogen peroxide (H₂O₂) forms spontaneously at the air–water interface in microdroplets3-5 — a phenomenon that would upend fundamental physical chemistry and impact fields from cloud chemistry to green synthesis. We tested H₂O₂ formation in sprayed and condensed microdroplets under varied flow rates\, air compositions\, pH\, and salt content. Our findings show that the effect is not due to the air–water interface or microdroplet geometry6. Instead\, H₂O₂ originates from the reduction of dissolved oxygen at the solid–water interface7. Within a 50 nM detection limit\, no H₂O₂ was detected in oxygen-free conditions (more here). \n  \nReferences \n\nA. Gallo\, K. Odokonyero\, M. A. A. Mousa\, J. Reihmer\, S. Al-Mashharawi\, R. Marasco\, E. Manalastas\, M. J. L. Morton\, D. Daffonchio\, M. F. McCabe\, M. Tester and H. Mishra\, ACS Agricultural Science & Technology\, 2022\, 2\, 276-288.\nK. Odokonyero\, B. Vernooij\, B. Albar\, L. O. Exposito\, A. Alsamdani\, A. A. G. Haider\, N. V. H. Musskopf\, N. Kharbatia\, A. Gallo and H. Mishra\, Frontiers in Plant Science\, 2024\, Volume 15 – 2024.\nM. A. Mehrgardi\, M. Mofidfar and R. N. Zare\, Journal of the American Chemical Society\, 2022\, 144\, 7606-7609.\nJ. K. Lee\, K. L. Walker\, H. S. Han\, J. Kang\, F. B. Prinz\, R. M. Waymouth\, H. G. Nam and R. N. Zare\, P Natl Acad Sci USA\, 2019\, 116\, 19294-19298.\nR. A. LaCour\, J. P. Heindel\, R. Zhao and T. Head-Gordon\, J Am Chem Soc\, 2025\, 147\, 6299-6317.\nN. H. Musskopf\, A. Gallo\, P. Zhang\, J. Petry and H. Mishra\, The Journal of Physical Chemistry Letters\, 2021\, 12\, 11422-11429.\nM. A. Eatoo and H. Mishra\, Chem Sci\, 2024\, 15\, 3093-3103.
URL:https://seasevents.nmsdev7.com/event/cbe-seminar-water-hydrophobe-interfaces-from-debunking-myths-to-boosting-global-food-water-climate-resilience-himanshu-mishra-kaust/
LOCATION:Wu & Chen Auditorium
CATEGORIES:Seminar
ORGANIZER;CN="Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering":MAILTO:cbemail@seas.upenn.edu
END:VEVENT
BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;TZID=America/New_York:20250904T120000
DTEND;TZID=America/New_York:20250904T130000
DTSTAMP:20260403T191523
CREATED:20250825T231628Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20250825T231628Z
UID:10008456-1756987200-1756990800@seasevents.nmsdev7.com
SUMMARY:FOLDS Seminar: Positive random walks and positive-semidefinite random matrices
DESCRIPTION:On the real line\, a random walk that can only move in the positive direction is very unlikely to remain close to its starting point. After a fixed number of steps\, the left tail has a Gaussian profile\, under minimal assumptions. Remarkably\, the same phenomenon occurs when we consider a positive random walk on the cone of positive-semidefinite matrices. After a fixed number of steps\, the minimum eigenvalue is also described by a Gaussian model. \nThis talk introduces a new way to make this intuition rigorous. The methodology provides the solution to an open problem in computational mathematics about sparse random embeddings. The presentation is targeted at a general mathematical audience. \n  \nZoom link: https://upenn.zoom.us/j/98220304722
URL:https://seasevents.nmsdev7.com/event/folds-seminar-positive-random-walks-and-positive-semidefinite-random-matrices/
LOCATION:Amy Gutmann Hall\, Room 306\, 3317 Chestnut Street\, Philadelphia\, PA\, 19104\, United States
CATEGORIES:Seminar,Colloquium
END:VEVENT
BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;TZID=America/New_York:20250904T140000
DTEND;TZID=America/New_York:20250904T150000
DTSTAMP:20260403T191523
CREATED:20250828T180248Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20250828T180248Z
UID:10008473-1756994400-1756998000@seasevents.nmsdev7.com
SUMMARY:BE Doctoral Dissertation Defense: Aoife O'Farrell
DESCRIPTION:The Department of Bioengineering at the University of Pennsylvania and Dr. Arjun Raj are pleased to announce the Doctoral Dissertation Defense of Aoife O’Farrell. \nTitle: Stimulus Specificity of Trained Immune Memory in Human Macrophages\nAdvisor: Dr. Arjun Raj\nDate and Time: Thursday\, September 4th at 2:00 PM\nLocation: Smilow 12-146AB\nZoom Link: https://upenn.zoom.us/j/94438324577 \nThe public is welcome to attend.
URL:https://seasevents.nmsdev7.com/event/be-doctoral-dissertation-defense-aoife-ofarrell/
CATEGORIES:Dissertation or Thesis Defense
END:VEVENT
BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;TZID=America/New_York:20250905T110000
DTEND;TZID=America/New_York:20250905T120000
DTSTAMP:20260403T191523
CREATED:20250828T175551Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20250828T175551Z
UID:10008472-1757070000-1757073600@seasevents.nmsdev7.com
SUMMARY:BE Doctoral Dissertation Defense: Michael Yao
DESCRIPTION:The Department of Bioengineering at the University of Pennsylvania and Drs. Osbert Bastani and James Gee are pleased to announce the Doctoral Dissertation Defense of Michael Yao. \nTitle: Distributionally Robust Machine Intelligence\nAdvisors: Osbert Bastani\, PhD and James Gee\, PhD\nDate & Time: Friday\, September 5th at 11am\nLocation: Amy Gutmann Hall\, Room 414 (3317 Chestnut St\, Philadelphia\, PA 19104) \nRSVP Link: https://www.michaelsyao.com/defense \nZoom Link: https://pennmedicine.zoom.us/j/93390061157?pwd=gzaxVRmcZs0ASpUxBVpEtkMhMxTV2I.1 \nThe public is welcome to attend. \n 
URL:https://seasevents.nmsdev7.com/event/be-doctoral-dissertation-defense-michael-yao/
CATEGORIES:Dissertation or Thesis Defense
END:VEVENT
BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;TZID=America/New_York:20250908T150000
DTEND;TZID=America/New_York:20250908T160000
DTSTAMP:20260403T191523
CREATED:20250717T155534Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20250717T155534Z
UID:10008412-1757343600-1757347200@seasevents.nmsdev7.com
SUMMARY:Future Proof Your Research With Rigor
DESCRIPTION:What’s the best way to avoid paper retractions and irreproducible results? Conduct rigorous research. Join us for a public talk with Ivan Oransky\, Co-Founder of Retraction Watch\, Anita Anita Bandrowski\, founder of The Research Resource Identification Initiative (RRID)\, and Jason Williams\, Assisant Director of the DNA Learning Center\, Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory\, on doing science that stands the test of time—and scrutiny. \nHouston Hall – Bodek Lounge\, 3417 Spruce Street Philadelphia\, PA 19104 \nRSVP here to save your spot! \n \n*This event is part of the C4R25 Conference – Sep 8-10 in Philadelphia – the world’s only conference dedicated to research rigor! Learn more at c4r.io/conference 
URL:https://seasevents.nmsdev7.com/event/future-proof-your-research-with-rigor/
LOCATION:Bodek Lounge\, Houston Hall\, 3417 Spruce St\, Philadelphia\, PA\, 19104\, United States
CATEGORIES:Faculty,Graduate,Student,Panel Discussion,Master's,Conference
ORGANIZER;CN="Community for Rigor":MAILTO:c4r@seas.upenn.edu
END:VEVENT
BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;TZID=America/New_York:20250909T101500
DTEND;TZID=America/New_York:20250909T111500
DTSTAMP:20260403T191523
CREATED:20250903T142619Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20250903T142619Z
UID:10008496-1757412900-1757416500@seasevents.nmsdev7.com
SUMMARY:MEAM Seminar: MEAM Faculty Showcase
DESCRIPTION:Please join us on Tuesday\, September 9 for an overview of research being done in the MEAM Department\, hosted by MEAM Department Chair\, Dr. Kevin Turner. This is an excellent opportunity for current graduate students to learn about the breadth of work being done in MEAM. The following faculty will be presenting (not in order of presentation):
URL:https://seasevents.nmsdev7.com/event/meam-seminar-meam-faculty-showcase/
LOCATION:Wu and Chen Auditorium (Room 101)\, Levine Hall\, 3330 Walnut Street\, Philadelphia\, PA\, 19104\, United States
ORGANIZER;CN="Mechanical Engineering and Applied Mechanics":MAILTO:meam@seas.upenn.edu
END:VEVENT
BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;TZID=America/New_York:20250910T120000
DTEND;TZID=America/New_York:20250910T131500
DTSTAMP:20260403T191523
CREATED:20250821T202705Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20250821T202705Z
UID:10008446-1757505600-1757510100@seasevents.nmsdev7.com
SUMMARY:ASSET Seminar: "Rethinking Test-Time Thinking: From Token-Level Rewards to Robust Generative Agents"
DESCRIPTION:We present a unified perspective on test-time thinking as a lens for improving generative AI agents through finer-grained reward modeling\, data-centric reasoning\, and robust alignment. Beginning with GenARM\, we introduce an inductive bias for denser\, token-level reward modeling that guides generation during decoding\, enabling token-level alignment without retraining. While GenARM targets reward design\, ThinkLite-VL focuses on the data side of reasoning. It proposes a self-improvement framework that selects the most informative samples via MCTS-guided search\, yielding stronger visual reasoning with fewer labels. Taking this a step further\, MORSE-500 moves beyond selection to creation: it programmatically generates targeted\, controllable multimodal data to systematically probe and stress-test models’ reasoning abilities. We then interrogate a central assumption in inference-time alignment: Does Thinking More Always Help? Our findings reveal that increased reasoning steps can degrade performance–not due to better or worse reasoning per se\, but due to rising variance in outputs\, challenging the naive scaling paradigm. Finally\, AegisLLM applies test-time thinking in the service of security\, using an agentic\, multi-perspective framework to defend against jailbreaks\, prompt injections\, and unlearning attacks–all at inference time. Together\, these works chart a path toward generative agents that are not only more capable\, but more data-efficient\, introspective\, and robust in real-world deployment. \n  \nSeminar Recording: https://drive.google.com/file/d/13jOKuou0QzqkMo9QHEdoHA1nCIxOPsbm/view?usp=drive_link
URL:https://seasevents.nmsdev7.com/event/asset-seminar-rethinking-test-time-thinking-from-token-level-rewards-to-robust-generative-agents/
LOCATION:Amy Gutmann Hall\, Room 414\, 3333 Chestnut Street\, Philadelphia\, 19104\, United States
CATEGORIES:Seminar
ORGANIZER;CN="AI-enabled Systems%3A Safe%2C Explainable%2C and Trustworthy (ASSET) Center":MAILTO:asset-info@seas.upenn.edu
END:VEVENT
BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;TZID=America/New_York:20250910T150000
DTEND;TZID=America/New_York:20250910T160000
DTSTAMP:20260403T191523
CREATED:20250902T163122Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20250902T163122Z
UID:10008489-1757516400-1757520000@seasevents.nmsdev7.com
SUMMARY:Fall 2025 GRASP SFI: Tairan He\, Carnegie Mellon University & NVIDIA\, “Scalable Sim-to-Real Learning for General-Purpose Humanoid Skills”
DESCRIPTION:This is a hybrid event with in-person attendance in Levine 307 and virtual attendance via Zoom.  \nABSTRACT\nHumanoids represent the most versatile robotic platform\, capable of walking\, manipulating\, and collaborating with people in human-centered environments. Yet\, despite recent advances\, building humanoids that can operate reliably in the real world remains a fundamental challenge. Progress has been hindered by difficulties in whole-body control\, robust perceptive reasoning\, and bridging the sim-to-real gap.\n\nIn this talk\, I will discuss how scalable simulation and learning can systematically overcome these barriers. I will present a research trajectory that advances humanoid capabilities along three dimensions:\n\n1. Sim-to-Real Control: From real-time teleoperation (H2O) to dexterous loco-manipulation (OmniH2O)\, to a versatile generalist controller (HOVER)\, and agile transfer via dynamics alignment (ASAP)\, these works demonstrate increasingly dexterous and adaptable control.\n2. Sim-to-Real Perception: With ABS\, we show that robust real-world locomotion requires tightly coupling exteroceptive and proprioceptive sensing—shifting sim-to-real learning from blind skill execution to perception-driven control.\n3. Future Directions: I will outline potential next steps in (1) Perceptive Loco-Manipulation: end-to-end visuomotor policies unifying perception\, locomotion\, and manipulation—and (2) Real-to-Sim Evaluation: using high-fidelity simulators environments to provide consistent evaluation protocols and benchmarks for real-world policy evaluation.\n\nTaken together\, these works explore how far scalable sim-to-real learning can advance humanoid capabilities across control and perception. While sim-to-real is not the only path toward reliable humanoids\, this talk aims to test its limits—probing how scaling simulation and learning can push humanoids closer to functioning as capable partners in real-world environments.
URL:https://seasevents.nmsdev7.com/event/fall-2025-grasp-sfi-tairan-he/
LOCATION:Levine 307\, 3330 Walnut Street\, Philadelphia\, PA\, 19104\, United States
CATEGORIES:Seminar
ORGANIZER;CN="General Robotics%2C Automation%2C Sensing and Perception (GRASP) Lab":MAILTO:grasplab@seas.upenn.edu
END:VEVENT
BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;TZID=America/New_York:20250910T153000
DTEND;TZID=America/New_York:20250910T163000
DTSTAMP:20260403T191523
CREATED:20250818T201347Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20250818T201347Z
UID:10008428-1757518200-1757521800@seasevents.nmsdev7.com
SUMMARY:CBE Seminar: "Non-equilibrium Dynamics of Lipid Vesicles using Automated Flow Control" (Charles Schroeder\, Princeton University)
DESCRIPTION:Abstract: \nVesicles are membrane-bound compartments that play a central role in biology. Despite recent progress\, the dynamics of single- and multi-component lipid vesicles are not fully understood\, particularly far from equilibrium where complex nonspherical shapes undergo large deformations in flow. In this talk\, I will present recent work from our group on the non-equilibrium dynamics of lipid vesicles in precisely defined flows using the Stokes trap – a new method that enables full 3D control of position and orientation of molecules or particles using active feedback control\, without the need for external optical\, magnetic\, or electric fields. After characterizing equilibrium properties including bending modulus and membrane tension\, we study vesicle deformation as a function of dimensionless flow strength (capillary number\, Ca) and vesicle deflation (reduced volume). Our results show that vesicles are remarkably deformable\, exhibiting reversible shape changes with aspect ratios exceeding 20 in repeated stretch-relax cycles in the bending-dominated regime. Single-component vesicles show a rich variety of shapes and conformations\, including asymmetric and symmetric dumbbells\, in addition to pearling\, wrinkling\, and buckling instabilities\, depending on membrane properties. Based on these observations\, we construct a detailed flow-phase diagram for vesicles in extensional flow\, and we further analyze transient stretching and relaxation dynamics. Two distinct relaxation processes emerge for deformed vesicles\, including a fast relaxation process corresponding to bending modes and a slow process governed by membrane tension relaxation. Finally\, we study vesicle shape dynamics in time-dependent large-amplitude oscillatory flows\, revealing three distinct dynamical regimes – pulsating\, reorienting\, and symmetrical deformations – arising from the competition between flow and membrane deformation timescales. Together\, these results provide new insight into flow-driven shape instabilities for lipid vesicles using new methods in flow automation.
URL:https://seasevents.nmsdev7.com/event/cbe-seminar-non-equilibrium-dynamics-of-lipid-vesicles-using-automated-flow-control-charles-schroeder-princeton-university/
LOCATION:Wu & Chen Auditorium
CATEGORIES:Seminar
ORGANIZER;CN="Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering":MAILTO:cbemail@seas.upenn.edu
END:VEVENT
BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;TZID=America/New_York:20250911T120000
DTEND;TZID=America/New_York:20250911T130000
DTSTAMP:20260403T191523
CREATED:20250828T163935Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20250828T163935Z
UID:10008468-1757592000-1757595600@seasevents.nmsdev7.com
SUMMARY:FOLDS seminar: Algorithmic stability for regression and classification
DESCRIPTION:In a supervised learning setting\, a model fitting algorithm is unstable if small perturbations to the input (the training data) can often lead to large perturbations in the output (say\, predictions returned by the fitted model). Algorithmic stability is a desirable property with many important implications such as generalization and robustness\, but testing the stability property empirically is known to be impossible in the setting of complex black-box models. In this work\, we establish that bagging any black-box regression algorithm automatically ensures that stability holds\, with no assumptions on the algorithm or the data. Furthermore\, we construct a new framework for defining stability in the context of classification\, and show that using bagging to estimate our uncertainty about the output label will again allow stability guarantees for any black-box model. This work is joint with Jake Soloff and Rebecca Willett. \n  \nZoom link: https://upenn.zoom.us/j/98220304722
URL:https://seasevents.nmsdev7.com/event/folds-seminar-algorithmic-stability-for-regression-and-classification/
LOCATION:Amy Gutmann Hall\, Room 414\, 3333 Chestnut Street\, Philadelphia\, 19104\, United States
CATEGORIES:Seminar,Colloquium
END:VEVENT
BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;TZID=America/New_York:20250911T150000
DTEND;TZID=America/New_York:20250911T170000
DTSTAMP:20260403T191523
CREATED:20250820T171923Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20250820T171923Z
UID:10008440-1757602800-1757610000@seasevents.nmsdev7.com
SUMMARY:ESE PhD Thesis Defense - "Design and Characterization of AlScN-Based Ferroelectric Devices for Non-Volatile Memory Applications"
DESCRIPTION:Ferroelectric materials have emerged as promising candidates for next-generation non-volatile memory technologies due to their intrinsic remnant polarization and fast switching dynamics. Among them\, aluminum scandium nitride (AlScN) stands out for its CMOS compatibility\, low growth temperature\, exceptional thermal stability and high remnant polarization compared to conventional perovskite and hafnia-based ferroelectrics. \nIn this dissertation\, I present a comprehensive study of AlScN-based ferroelectric devices for non-volatile memory applications. I first demonstrate ferroelectric field-effect transistors (FeFETs) by integrating AlScN with 2D materials\, where the Sc composition in AlScN is controlled. Through systematic electrical characterization\, including current–voltage (I–V)\, polarization–voltage (P–V) loops\, and pulsed positive up negative down (PUND) measurements\, I elucidate device physics\, endurance\, and wake-up/fatigue behavior. By engineering the contact interface\, I further realize n-type\, p-type\, and ambipolar FeFETs with enhanced ferroelectric gating efficiency and substantially improved on-state current. \nNext\, I investigate highly scaled AlScN-based ferroelectric diodes (Fe-diodes) and highlight their potential for high-density memory integration. Taken together\, these studies establish AlScN as a robust material platform for ferroelectric device technologies\, bridging fundamental materials science with device- and circuit-level opportunities in memory and beyond.
URL:https://seasevents.nmsdev7.com/event/ese-phd-thesis-defense-design-and-characterization-of-alscn-based-ferroelectric-devices-for-non-volatile-memory-applications/
LOCATION:Room 221\, Singh Center for Nanotechnology\, 3205 Walnut Street\, Philadelphia\, PA\, 19104\, United States
CATEGORIES:Dissertation or Thesis Defense
ORGANIZER;CN="Electrical and Systems Engineering":MAILTO:eseevents@seas.upenn.edu
END:VEVENT
BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;TZID=America/New_York:20250912T120000
DTEND;TZID=America/New_York:20250912T133000
DTSTAMP:20260403T191523
CREATED:20250903T165703Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20250903T165703Z
UID:10008497-1757678400-1757683800@seasevents.nmsdev7.com
SUMMARY:ESE PhD Thesis Defense - "Learning-based Safe and Robust Control for Multi-Agent Systems"
DESCRIPTION:AI-enabled systems have become ubiquitous and integral to safety-critical domains\, e.g.\, autonomous vehicles and aerial robotics. Despite promising empirical results\, decision-making processes for critical systems incorporating AI components require careful consideration\, as failures may have catastrophic consequences. One key challenge is that various uncertainties will inevitably arise from system limitations\, black-box models\, or environmental factors\, and inaccurate estimation of intrinsic uncertainties or failure to account for other agents in the environment can lead to hazardous behaviors. \nIn this dissertation\, we study how to develop safe and robust learning-based control policies under various uncertainties. In particular\, it explores how tools from statistics\, game theory and formal methods can empower uncertainty quantification\, adaptation to other agents\, and robust policy synthesis. The first part focuses on safe learning and control multi-agent systems\, where we show how to develop safe\, robust\, and adaptive control strategies in safety-critical systems when encountering other agents. The second part studies how to synthesize safe perception-based control policy for robotic systems under uncertainties.
URL:https://seasevents.nmsdev7.com/event/ese-phd-thesis-defense-learning-based-safe-and-robust-control-for-multi-agent-systems/
LOCATION:WYSIWYG
CATEGORIES:Dissertation or Thesis Defense
ORGANIZER;CN="Electrical and Systems Engineering":MAILTO:eseevents@seas.upenn.edu
END:VEVENT
BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;TZID=America/New_York:20250912T130000
DTEND;TZID=America/New_York:20250912T140000
DTSTAMP:20260403T191523
CREATED:20250828T151507Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20250828T151507Z
UID:10008467-1757682000-1757685600@seasevents.nmsdev7.com
SUMMARY:ESE PhD Thesis Defense - "Magnetostatic Surface Wave and Surface Acoustic Wave Devices for Tunable and Energy Efficient Radio Frequency Filters"
DESCRIPTION:Tunable and energy-efficient filters are key components in modern wireless communication\, where RF front-end systems must operate across multiple frequency bands while minimizing power consumption. \nThis thesis focuses on the design and fabrication of miniature\, narrowband\, tunable bandpass and bandstop filters based on magnetostatic waves (MSW) in yttrium iron garnet (YIG) waveguides. A zero-static-power magnetic bias circuit is used to tune the filter’s center frequency\, but the compact size of the magnetic bias circuit imposes stringent limits on the YIG waveguide dimensions. To address this challenge\, microfabricated YIG thin films with aluminum meander-line transducers were developed. These designs improve the resonator figure of merit\, reduce insertion loss\, and enhance coupling. Increasing the YIG thickness further improves skirt selectivity\, lowers propagation loss\, and increases power handling. By integrating wideband tunability with nonreciprocal behavior\, a single device can replace multiple RF switches\, filters\, and isolators\, simultaneously controlling passband selection and directional isolation. This integration simplifies RF front-end design by reducing the number of required components. \nIn parallel\, this thesis introduces a high-frequency surface acoustic wave (SAW) platform using aluminum scandium nitride (AlScN) on 4H-silicon carbide (SiC). This material system combines high sound velocity\, high thermal conductivity\, and strong piezoelectric response. Furthermore\, the acoustoelectric effect (AE) was harnessed to achieve nonreciprocal RF amplification. A proof-of-concept AE delay line was realized by integrating Sezawa-mode SAWs in AlScN/SiC with ion-implanted SiC\, supporting future applications for energy efficient RF amplifiers.
URL:https://seasevents.nmsdev7.com/event/ese-phd-thesis-defense-magnetostatic-surface-wave-and-surface-acoustic-wave-devices-for-tunable-and-energy-efficient-radio-frequency-filters/
LOCATION:Greenberg Lounge (Room 114)\, Skirkanich Hall\, 210 South 33rd Street\, Philadelphia\, PA\, 19104\, United States
CATEGORIES:Dissertation or Thesis Defense
ORGANIZER;CN="Electrical and Systems Engineering":MAILTO:eseevents@seas.upenn.edu
END:VEVENT
BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;TZID=America/New_York:20250913T100000
DTEND;TZID=America/New_York:20250913T110000
DTSTAMP:20260403T191523
CREATED:20250828T174856Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20250828T174856Z
UID:10008471-1757757600-1757761200@seasevents.nmsdev7.com
SUMMARY:BE Doctoral Dissertation Defense: Brian-Tinh D. Vu
DESCRIPTION:The Department of Bioengineering at the University of Pennsylvania and Dr. Chamith Rajapakse are pleased to announce the Doctoral Dissertation Defense of Brian-Tinh D. Vu. \nTitle: “Rapid\, High-resolution\, and Signal-efficient Methods for the Clinical Translation of Bone Magnetic Resonance Imaging”\nDate: Wednesday\, September 17th\nTime: 10:00 AM\nLocation: BRB 1412 \nZoom: https://upenn.zoom.us/j/99746435550?pwd=PSZPcdjQznAxQK4TRsyydCi0IQE52L.1 \nThe public is welcome to attend.
URL:https://seasevents.nmsdev7.com/event/be-doctoral-dissertation-defense-brian-tinh-d-vu/
CATEGORIES:Dissertation or Thesis Defense
END:VEVENT
BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;TZID=America/New_York:20250915T123000
DTEND;TZID=America/New_York:20250915T143000
DTSTAMP:20260403T191523
CREATED:20250904T151234Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20250904T151234Z
UID:10008498-1757939400-1757946600@seasevents.nmsdev7.com
SUMMARY:BE Doctoral Dissertation Defense: Georgios Mentzelopoulos
DESCRIPTION:The Department of Bioengineering at the University of Pennsylvania and Dr. Flavia Vitale are pleased to announce the Doctoral Dissertation Defense of Georgios Mentzelopoulos. \nTitle: From thoughts to actions: cracking the neural code across scales and modalities\nAdvisor: Dr. Flavia Vitale\nDate: Monday\, September 15th\nTime: 12:30 PM- 2:30 PM\nLocation: 225 Towne Building \nThe public is welcome to attend.
URL:https://seasevents.nmsdev7.com/event/be-doctoral-dissertation-defense-georgios-mentzelopoulos/
CATEGORIES:Dissertation or Thesis Defense
END:VEVENT
BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;TZID=America/New_York:20250916T101500
DTEND;TZID=America/New_York:20250916T111500
DTSTAMP:20260403T191523
CREATED:20250819T175647Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20250819T175647Z
UID:10008436-1758017700-1758021300@seasevents.nmsdev7.com
SUMMARY:MEAM Seminar: "Micro-surgical Tools for Dissecting Cells and Tissues"
DESCRIPTION:Wound healing is an essential biological process for maintaining homeostasis and\, ultimately\, for survival. We investigate the mechanisms underlying extreme wound healing in Stentor coeruleus\, a single-celled organism\, capable of recovering from drastic membrane wounds exceeding half of the cell surface. This talk focuses on our recent effort on developing a microfluidic platform for the manipulation and reproducible wounding of the cell. We demonstrate a microfluidic “guillotine” for bisecting cells in a continuous flow\, and a “SMORES” platform to immobilize the cells for laser ablation. We further discuss the extension of the tool for dissecting live tumors to generate organoids that preserve the tumor immune microenvironment for applications including the testing of immunotherapy on a chip.
URL:https://seasevents.nmsdev7.com/event/meam-seminar-micro-surgical-tools-for-dissecting-cells-and-tissues/
LOCATION:Wu and Chen Auditorium (Room 101)\, Levine Hall\, 3330 Walnut Street\, Philadelphia\, PA\, 19104\, United States
CATEGORIES:Seminar
ORGANIZER;CN="Mechanical Engineering and Applied Mechanics":MAILTO:meam@seas.upenn.edu
END:VEVENT
BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;TZID=America/New_York:20250917T120000
DTEND;TZID=America/New_York:20250917T131500
DTSTAMP:20260403T191523
CREATED:20250821T202941Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20250821T202941Z
UID:10008448-1758110400-1758114900@seasevents.nmsdev7.com
SUMMARY:ASSET Seminar: "Symbolic Reasoning in the Age of Large Language Models"
DESCRIPTION:Today\, reasoning is commonly interpreted as large language models generating chains of thought. Yet historically\, AI reasoning had a very different meaning: executing algorithms that manipulated symbols to perform logical or probabilistic deduction and derive definite answers to questions about knowledge. In this talk\, I show that such old-fashioned ideas are very relevant to reasoning with large language models today. In particular\, I will demonstrate that integrating symbolic reasoning algorithms directly into the architecture of language models enables state-of-the-art capabilities in controllable text generation\, alignment\, and mathematical reasoning. These capabilities are built on top of tractable probabilistic circuit models that approximate the distribution of the large language model’s future behavior\, and allow for efficient reasoning on the GPU. I will further show that the same ideas naturally extend to neurosymbolic offline reinforcement learning and image diffusion. \n  \nSeminar Recording: https://drive.google.com/file/d/1PF5GxivBHKiloFdKTv59NMae5dtXDzSk/view?usp=sharing \n 
URL:https://seasevents.nmsdev7.com/event/asset-seminar-title-tbd-2/
LOCATION:Amy Gutmann Hall\, Room 414\, 3333 Chestnut Street\, Philadelphia\, 19104\, United States
CATEGORIES:Seminar
ORGANIZER;CN="AI-enabled Systems%3A Safe%2C Explainable%2C and Trustworthy (ASSET) Center":MAILTO:asset-info@seas.upenn.edu
END:VEVENT
BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;TZID=America/New_York:20250917T153000
DTEND;TZID=America/New_York:20250917T163000
DTSTAMP:20260403T191523
CREATED:20250818T201637Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20250818T201637Z
UID:10008429-1758123000-1758126600@seasevents.nmsdev7.com
SUMMARY:CBE Seminar: "Natural Product Research for Human Health and Biocatalysis" (Wenjun Zhang\, UC Berkeley)
DESCRIPTION:Abstract: \nNatural products are historically great sources of human medicines\, but their impacts are well beyond their use as drugs. In addition to well-known producers like environmental microbes and plants\, the human microbiome is an emerging source of new natural products that often correlate with health or disease. There is an urgent need for the experimental characterization of these abundant\, yet poorly understood\, molecules and the downstream socio-chemical relationships they mediate. In the first half of my lecture\, I will introduce efforts from my group on the discovery and functional study of new bioactive natural products\, particularly from the human oral microbiome. In the second half\, I will discuss our work on understanding natural product biosynthesis\, which makes it possible to produce more bioactive natural products and their analogs via synthetic biology and yield useful enzymes for biocatalysis. Our recent efforts on discovering and characterizing N-N bond-forming enzymes will be highlighted.
URL:https://seasevents.nmsdev7.com/event/cbe-seminar-natural-product-research-for-human-health-and-biocatalysis-wenjun-zhang-uc-berkeley/
LOCATION:Wu & Chen Auditorium
CATEGORIES:Seminar
ORGANIZER;CN="Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering":MAILTO:cbemail@seas.upenn.edu
END:VEVENT
BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;TZID=America/New_York:20250918T103000
DTEND;TZID=America/New_York:20250918T120000
DTSTAMP:20260403T191523
CREATED:20250810T210321Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20250810T210321Z
UID:10008423-1758191400-1758196800@seasevents.nmsdev7.com
SUMMARY:MSE Seminar: 1D Topological Systems for Next-Generation Electronics - Judy J. Cha - Cornell University
DESCRIPTION:Topological nanowires\, topological materials confined in one dimension (1D)\, hold great promise for robust and scalable quantum computing and low-dissipation interconnect applications\, which will transform current computing technologies. To do so\, research in topological nanowires must continue to improve their synthesis and properties. \nIn this talk\, I will discuss my group’s efforts to develop a high throughput and precision synthesis method to fabricate 1D topological systems. We employ recently developed thermomechanical nanomolding to extrude single crystal nanowires of topological materials with controlled diameter. I will highlight our transport studies on topological semimetal nanowires for their potential application as extremely scaled\, low-resistance interconnects. We demonstrate that the resistivity scaling of topological semimetal nanowires is superior to those of the state-of-the-art Cu interconnects and Cu alternative metals\, presenting them as viable candidates for the low-resistance interconnect applications.
URL:https://seasevents.nmsdev7.com/event/mse-seminar-1d-topological-systems-for-next-generation-electronics-judy-j-cha-cornell-university/
LOCATION:Wu and Chen Auditorium (Room 101)\, Levine Hall\, 3330 Walnut Street\, Philadelphia\, PA\, 19104\, United States
CATEGORIES:Seminar
ORGANIZER;CN="Materials Science and Engineering":MAILTO:johnruss@seas.upenn.edu
END:VEVENT
END:VCALENDAR