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    • IDEAS/STAT Optimization Seminar: “Negative Stepsizes Make Gradient-Descent-Ascent Converge”

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    Amy Gutmann Hall, Room 414 3333 Chestnut Street, Philadelphia, United States

    Zoom link: https://upenn.zoom.us/j/98220304722 Abstract: Solving min-max problems is a central question in optimization, games, learning, and controls. Arguably the most natural algorithm is Gradient-Descent-Ascent (GDA), however since the 1970s, conventional wisdom has argued that it fails to converge even on simple problems. This failure spurred the extensive literature on modifying GDA with extragradients, optimism, momentum, anchoring, […]

    MEAM Master’s Thesis Defense: “Learning a Vision-Based Footstep Planner for Hierarchical Walking Control on Unstructured Terrain”

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    David Rittenhouse Laboratory Building, Room 4C4 209 S. 33rd Street, Philadelphia, PA, United States

    Bipedal robots demonstrate high potential in navigating challenging terrains through dynamic ground contact. However, current frameworks often depend solely on proprioception or use manually designed visual processing pipelines, which are fragile in real-world settings and complicate real-time footstep planning in unstructured environments. To overcome this problem, this work proposes a vision-based hierarchical control framework that […]

    BE-Grace Hopper Distinguished Lecture: Melody Swartz, PhD “Immunoregulatory roles of lymphatic vessels in cancer and opportunities for immunoengineering”

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    Berger Auditorium (Room 13), Skirkanich Hall 210 South 33rd Street, Philadelphia, PA, United States

    Tumor lymphangiogenesis, which involves both the activation and growth induction of surrounding lymphatic vessels, is well-known to correlate with tumor progression and metastasis in many solid tumors. While it is typically assumed that lymphangiogenesis supports an ‘escape route’ for cells to leave the primary tumor, the tumor-draining lymph node serves as the key site of […]

    Spring 2025 GRASP on Robotics: Phillip Isola, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, “Robots and Artificial Life from Visual Foundation Models”

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

    This will be a hybrid event with in-person attendance in Wu and Chen and virtual attendance on Zoom. ABSTRACT I will talk about two ways we can design agents with the help of powerful vision/graphics models. In the first project, LucidSim, we augment a traditional robotics simulation engine (MuJoCo) with visual detail from an image […]

    MEAM Seminar: “Atmospheric Boundary Layer Simulations for Wind Energy”

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

    The growth in wind energy is driving a need to understand how wind turbines perform under a range of atmospheric conditions. Under stably stratified conditions, for example, wind turbine wakes can persist for long distances and impact the performance of downwind turbines. Additionally, variations in surface topography, from shallow depressions to steep mountains, can deflect […]

    CBE Special Guest Lecture: “Preventing, Understanding and Reducing End-Customers’ Power Supply Outages with Digital Twins” (Panayiotis Moutis, City College of New York)

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

    Abstract: Blackouts have become rarer in the last decade. However, equipment wear and faults (some predictable)affect smaller scales but many parts of Distribution Networks (DNs) more frequently and add up to several hours of interruptions per customer per year. Also, utilities will preemptively de-energize thousands of customers in the path or vicinity of forest fires […]

    Steering Higher Ed Through Rough Seas: Three Bold Strategies to Navigate the Future

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

    Higher education is navigating intense political pressure, shifting demographics, rising costs and evolving workforce demands. In this talk, John Katzmann will detail three strategies for sustaining academic excellence while lowering administrative costs, expanding reach and impact, and regaining public trust.

    Benjamin Franklin Medal in Electrical Engineering Symposium Honoring Kurt Petersen: “Small Tech, Big Impact: The Development and Commercialization of MEMS Sensors & Actuators”

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    Glandt Forum, Singh Center for Nanotechnology 3205 Walnut Street, Philadelphia, PA, United States

    For two centuries, The Franklin Insitute has honored pioneering achievements in science, engineering, and industry. As the oldest comprehensive science awards program in the United States. The Franklin Insitute Awards celebrates Benjamin Franklin's legacy by honoring the Franklins of today. Through their remarkable contributions, our laureates inspire the Franklins of tomorrow. The 2025 Benjamin Franklin […]

    Franklin Awards Symposium: Honoring Professor Naomi J. Halas – Rice University – Recipient of the 2025 Franklin Medal in Chemistry

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    Vagelos Institute for Energy Science and Technology, Room 121 231 S 34th Street, Philadelphia, PA, United States

    This symposium will feature cutting-edge contributions in plasmonics and nanonphonics research that are enabling advances in life sciences, energy sustainability, and information technology. Event Schedule 8:50 am:  Welcome 9:00 am: Prof. Rizia Bardhan, Iowa State University. 9:35 am: Prof. Stephan Link, University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign (UIUC) 10:10 am: Break 10:30 am: Prof. Peter J. A. […]

    ASSET Seminar: “Neurosymbolic Program Synthesis: Bridging Perception and Reasoning in Real-World Applications”

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

    Abstract: Neurosymbolic Program Synthesis (NSP) integrates neural networks and symbolic reasoning to tackle complex tasks requiring both perception and logical reasoning. This talk provides an overview of the NSP framework and its applications in domains such as image editing, data extraction, and robot learning from demonstrations. We will delve into the key ideas behind NSP […]

    JOHN A. QUINN DISTINGUISHED LECTURE IN CHEMICAL ENGINEERING: “Sticky Nanoparticles: Electrostatic Assembly of Targeted Delivery Agents” (Paula Hammond, MIT)

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    Wu & Chen Auditorium

    Abstract: Electrostatic assembly can be used to engineer coatings that yield release of different drugs, DNA or protein, resulting in highly tunable multi -agent delivery nanolayered release systems for tissue engineering, biomedical devices, and wound healing applications. Most recently, we have developed a modular nanoparticle approach using liposomal core particles and layering them with an […]

    • Energy-Efficient AI: The Franklin Institute Awards Laureate Symposium Honoring William James Dally

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    Amy Gutmann Hall, Auditorium 3333 Chestnut Street, Philadelphia, PA, United States

    The Franklin Institute Awards Laureate Symposium is dedicated to honoring William James Dally, recipient of the 2025 Benjamin Franklin Medal in Computer and Cognitive Science The event will feature Margaret Martonosi (H. T. Adams ’35 Professor of Computer Science, Princeton University), Yakun Sophia Shao (Associate Professor in Electrical Engineering and Computer Sciences, UC Berkeley), Joe […]