Penn Engineering Events

ODEI Spotlight: Penn Global Opportunities Fair
2021-02-04 14:00 - 20:00 (America/New_York) | PA
Thursday, February 4 | 2:00pm–8:00pm ET | Online
Register Here: https://pennabroad.vfairs.com/
At the Penn Global Opportunities Fair, Penn undergraduate and graduate students from across all schools and programs are invited to explore the many exciting international initiatives, student support services, and global opportunities that make up life at Penn. You will have the opportunity to explore interactive booths, chat live with Penn staff, and attend exclusive live events sponsored by ISSS, Penn Abroad, Perry World House, and other globally-focused offices.

Spring 2021 GRASP SFI: “Commercializing people-scale vision-based autonomy in agriculture”
2021-02-03 15:00 - 16:00 | Zoom
Abstract: The Burro team, including Terry Scott (CTO) and Charlie Andersen (CEO) will provide an overview of their people-scale vision-based autonomous platform and their experiences selling Burros and building an autonomy business, within agriculture.
Join the Zoom Meeting here

CBE Seminar: "Integrating Machine Learning and Multiscale Modeling in Biomedicine"
2021-02-03 15:00 - 16:00 | Zoom – Email CBE for link
Abstract
Machine learning and multiscale modeling complement each other in a unique way, enabling us to seamlessly integrate big data and biophysical pathways and interpret the results while formulating truly predictive and generalizable models, based on both data and physics. In multiscale modeling, I have developed adaptive methods and kinetic models to simulate intracellular polymerization of sickle hemoglobin (HbS) and subsequent interaction with the membrane of a red blood cell (RBC) in sickle cell anemia, which occurs at multispatial scales, ranging from nanometers to micrometers. Machine learning, especially deep learning, usually requires a large amount of data of high accuracy, which is often difficult to obtain in biological and biomedical sciences. I have developed multi-fidelity neural networks, physics-informed neural networks (PINNs), and deep operator network (DeepONets), so that we can learn deep learning models accurately and robustly from even “small” datasets. I will present several examples and discuss further the interaction of both that will lead to a paradigm shift in modeling biomedical systems in the future.

CBE PhD Dissertation Defense | Exploring the Molecular Origins of Icephilicity Using Specialized Molecular Simulations
2021-02-03 10:00 - 12:00 | Zoom – Email CBE for link
Abstract:

Exercising control over the formation of ice and similar crystalline structures is important in a variety of contexts, from preserving organs for transplant to preventing clathrate hydrate plugs in natural gas pipelines. To achieve this control, it is crucial to understand nucleation phenomena at the molecular level. Studies have shown that heterogeneous nucleation proceeds orders of magnitude faster than homogeneous nucleation. Hence an understanding of ice nucleation phenomena in most real-world contexts hinges upon identifying the molecular-scale features of surfaces that inhibit (or even promote) heterogeneous ice nucleation. Yet the combination of molecular-scale characteristics that determines the ice nucleation propensity of a given material remain poorly understood.

We approach this challenge from a thermodynamic perspective, with the goal of understanding emph{icephilicity}: the preference of a heterogeneous solid surface (or macromolecule) for ice over liquid water. Recent work has shown that there is a complex interplay between a surface’s morphology and its icephilicity: small variations in properties (such as surface flexibility and lattice mismatch) can significantly impact a material’s ability to interact favorably with ice. We have developed novel approaches for characterizing surface icephilicity, and applied them to study a wide range of materials using molecular simulations and enhanced sampling techniques. Our results shed new light on the molecular-scale features that govern a material’s propensity to nucleate (or inhibit) ice and related crystalline structures.

ODEI Spotlight: "Dissecting Chaos: An Interdisciplinary Look at the Attack on the U.S. Capitol"
2021-02-02 16:00 - 17:30 | PA
Esteemed faculty from five disciplines at Penn will come together to unpack the myriad policies, messages, and conditions that led to the events at the U.S. Capitol on January 6, 2021, as well as explore how we move forward as a country. This 90-minute panel discussion — moderated by Dean Erika James of the Wharton School with a Q&A session facilitated by Dean Ted Ruger of the University of Pennsylvania Carey Law School — is a unique opportunity to hear the diverse perspectives of scholars across our University.

Register here to receive the link to join this virtual event.

MEAM Seminar: "Modeling the Behavior of Shape Memory Alloy Structures"
2021-02-02 10:30 - 12:00 | Zoom – Email MEAM for Link, peterlit@seas.upenn.edu
I will present recent work on the modeling of the structural response of shape memory alloy tubes, bars, and beams. We have developed a new constitutive model that captures pseudoelastic transformation induced recoverable deformation in SMAs including the strong asymmetries in the tensile and compressive responses. Instead of introducing multiple conditions for forward phase transformation, reverse phase transformation, and martensite reorientation, the model is based on a J2-type nonlinear kinematic hardening framework with a single transformation surface and the back stress represented through a weighted mix of two potential functions that are calibrated to the tensile and compressive stress-strain responses of the material. The constitutive model has been used to simulate numerically the interaction of these complex material behaviors with structural nonlinear behavior observed in experiments. Problems analyzed include the buckling and recovery of NiTi tubes under axial compression, the propagation of a well defined deformation front in uniaxial tension, and the reversible propagation of curvature localization in NiTi tubes under bending. The numerical simulations reproduce the structural behavior both qualitatively and quantitatively demonstrating the fidelity of the constitutive modeling framework developed. After illustrating the success of the isothermal model, I will present some recent work on modeling non-isothermal behavior within the same constitutive framework.

ODEI Spotlight: Strategies and Tools for Remote Research
2021-02-02 08:00 - 09:00 | https://upenn.zoom.us/j/96715197752

Faculty panel for Black students in STEM at Penn
2021-01-29 16:00 - 17:00 | https://upenn.zoom.us/j/96715197752
Find out how you can get more involved with STEM faculty and students.
Learn more about STEM majors at Penn.
Hosted by the Makuu Center and the SEAS Office of Diversity, Equity and Inclusion.
For more information, contact Rita Powell, rpowell@cis.upenn.edu
This panel discussion was recorded and is available here for viewing.

GRASP On Robotics: "Wearable Haptic Devices for Ubiquitous Communication"
2021-01-29 11:00 - 12:00 | Zoom
Abstract: Haptic devices allow touch-based information transfer between humans and intelligent systems, enabling communication in a salient but private manner that frees other sensory channels. For such devices to become ubiquitous, their physical and computational aspects must be intuitive and unobtrusive. The amount of information that can be transmitted through touch is limited in large part by the location, distribution, and sensitivity of human mechanoreceptors. Not surprisingly, many haptic devices are designed to be held or worn at the highly sensitive fingertips, yet stimulation using a device attached to the fingertips precludes natural use of the hands. Thus, we explore the design of a wide array of haptic feedback mechanisms, ranging from devices that can be actively touched by the fingertips to multi-modal haptic actuation mounted on the arm. We demonstrate how these devices are effective in virtual reality, human-machine communication, and human-human communication.
Zoom Webinar Link: https://upenn.zoom.us/j/94052429739

BE Seminar: "Designing Biology for Detection and Control" (Pamela A. Silver)
2021-01-28 15:00 - 16:00 | PA
This seminar will be held virtually – Zoom link coming soon.
The engineering of Biology presents infinite opportunities for therapeutic design, diagnosis, and prevention of disease. We use what we know from Nature to engineer systems with predictable behaviors. We also seek to discover new natural strategies to then re-engineer. I will present concepts and experiments that address how we approach these problems in a systematic way. Conceptually, we seek to both design cells and proteins to control disease states and to detect and predict the severity of emerging pathogens. For example, we have engineered components of the gut microbiome to act therapeutics for infectious disease, proteins to prolong cell states, living pathogen sensors and high throughput analysis to predict immune response of emerging viruses.

ODEI Spotlight: The 20th Annual Reverend Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Lecture in Social Justice
2021-01-27 17:30 - 18:30 | https://upenn.zoom.us/j/96715197752
Dr. Cornel West is Professor of the Practice of Public Philosophy at Harvard University and Professor Emeritus at Princeton University. Cornel West graduated Magna Cum Laude from Harvard in three years and obtained his M.A. and Ph.D. in Philosophy at Princeton.
He has written 20 books and has edited 13. He is best known for his classics, Race Matters and Democracy Matters, and for his memoir, Brother West: Living and Loving Out Loud. His most recent book, Black Prophetic Fire, offers an unflinching look at nineteenth and twentieth-century African American leaders and their visionary legacies.
Dr. West is the co-host along with Dr. Tricia Rose of The Tight Rope which is a weekly podcast where they take time to welcome listeners and guests as thought collaborators with revered hosts and public intellectuals.
Dr. West is a frequent guest on the Bill Maher Show, CNN, C-Span and Democracy Now. He has a passion to communicate to a vast variety of publics in order to keep alive the legacy of Martin Luther King, Jr. – a legacy of telling the truth and bearing witness to love and justice.

CBE Seminar: "Phase Behavior and Self-Assembly of Active Colloids"
2021-01-27 15:00 - 16:00 | Zoom – Email CBE for link
Abstract
In recent years, a new type of synthetic microparticle has captured the imagination of researchers across the physical and biological sciences. These so-called active colloids convert chemical or environmental free energy into irreversible directed motion. Impressively, the active force generated by the particles can lead to self-propelling speeds of tens of hundreds of microns per second. Active colloids challenge our theoretical understanding of nonequilibrium phenomena and simultaneously represent a potentially innovative approach to directed transport and material design at the microscale. In this talk, I will discuss one of the most striking features of active colloids, which is their rich and complex nonequilibrium phase behavior. Special emphasis will be given to motility-induced phase separation where purely repulsive active colloids undergo a liquid-gas phase transition. This talk will provide a quantitative understanding of this phenomenon by generalizing concepts in classical statistical mechanics and liquid state theory to active systems. This newfound understanding can be leveraged to improve the self-assembly of many complex colloidal structures using active colloids.

ODEI Spotlight: Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Interfaith Commemoration
2021-01-26 18:00 - 19:00 | PA

"Integrating Knowledge and the Realities of Fake News"
2021-01-26 16:00 - 17:00 | https://upenn.zoom.us/j/96715197752

MEAM Seminar: "Wave Engineering: From Geometry to Fragility"
2021-01-26 10:30 - 12:00 | Zoom – Email MEAM for Link, peterlit@seas.upenn.edu
The elastic properties of materials are determined by a few material constants such as the Young’s modulus. Using super-structures one can effectively change these “constants”. In this way we obtain functionalities such as wave-guiding, acoustic lensing or programmable failure. I will show how topological band theory, known from the description of electrons in solids, provides us with a powerful design-principle for such mechanical metamaterials. Moreover, mechanical metamaterials offer a powerful platform for the study of fundamentally new phenomena that are hard to observe in other arenas. Here, I will highlight the first measurement of a quadrupole topological insulator in a silicon based metamaterial, the implementation of an axial gauge field in an acoustic Weyl system and the measurements of fragile topology.

ODEI Spotlight: Natives at Penn Welcome Program
2021-01-25 18:00 - 19:00 | PA

PSOC Webinar: "Predicting Interactions Between Cell Collectives and Their Environment" (M. Lisa Manning)
2021-01-25 12:00 - 13:00 | PA
Physical Sciences in Oncology Center PSOC@Penn
Spring 2021 Webinar Series Mondays at 12:00 noon (EST)
For webinar links, please contact manu@seas.upenn.edu.

PICS Colloquium: "Machine learning for Fluid Mechanics"
2021-01-22 14:00 - 15:00 | PA
Abstract: Many tasks in fluid mechanics, such as design optimization and control, are challenging because fluids are nonlinear and exhibit a large range of scales in both space and time. This range of scales necessitates exceedingly high-dimensional measurements and computational discretization to resolve all relevant features, resulting in vast data sets and time-intensive computations. Indeed, fluid dynamics is one of the original big data fields, and many high-performance computing architectures, experimental measurement techniques, and advanced data processing and visualization algorithms were driven by decades of research in fluid mechanics. Machine learning constitutes a growing set of powerful techniques to extract patterns and build models from this data, complementing the existing theoretical, numerical, and experimental efforts in fluid mechanics. In this talk, we will explore current goals and opportunities for machine learning in fluid mechanics, and we will highlight a number of recent technical advances. Because fluid dynamics is central to transportation, health, and defense systems, we will emphasize the importance of machine learning solutions that are interpretable, explainable, generalizable, and that respect known physics.

GRASP On Robotics: "Biorobotics for Personal Assistance - Translational Research and Opportunities for Human-Centered Developments"
2021-01-22 11:00 - 12:30 | https://upenn.zoom.us/j/96715197752
Abstract: The seminar will focus on the opportunities and challenges offered by the digital transformation of healthcare which was accelerated in the COVID-19 Pandemia. In this framework rehabilitation and social robotics can play a fundamental role as enabling technologies for providing innovative therapies and services to patients even at home or in remote environments.
In order to achieve a complete transition of research results and products we need efforts to support translational research and evidence-based protocols based on clinical trials and appropriate methodologies.
Robotics and technologies can provide solutions for digital therapies and for assisting chronic patients in order to improve quality of life and their participation in activities, meanwhile decreasing the burden for the society, but biomedical engineers and roboticist should work towards the development of affordable and acceptable solution to reach the population at sustainable cost.
Critical issues and future perspective will be presented in order to open the discussion with students and attendees.
Zoom Webinar Link: https://upenn.zoom.us/j/92242249880

ODEI Spotlight: Power of Community: FGLI Program Learning Communities Info-Session
2021-01-21 17:30 - 18:30 | https://upenn.zoom.us/j/96715197752
Hosted by Greenfield Intercultural Center

BE Seminar: Deconstructing and Reconstructing Human Tissues (Kelly Stevens)
2021-01-21 15:00 - 16:00 | PA
This seminar will be held virtually on Zoom. Check email for details or contact ksas@seas.upenn.edu.
Although much progress has been made in building artificial human tissues over the past several decades, replicating complex tissue structure remains an enormous challenge. To overcome this challenge, our field first needs to create better three-dimensional spatial maps, or “blueprints” of human tissues and organs. We also need to then understand how these spatial blueprints encode positional processes in tissues. My group is developing new advanced biofabrication technologies to address both of these issues. Here, I will describe some of our work in both attaining transcriptomic maps as well as in controlling spatiogenetic wiring of human artificial tissues.

ODEI Spotlight: Penn Women's Center Open House
2021-01-21 11:00 - 12:00 | PA

2020 Heilmeier Award Lecture, Dr. Dan Roth
2021-01-19 15:00 - 16:00 | PA
“It’s Time for Reasoning”
This event will take place via Zoom Webinar, click here to join.
Password: [REDACTED]
The lecture will be recorded and will be made available for viewing here.

BE Doctoral Dissertation Defense: "Magnetic Resonance Imaging Assessment of Maternal Uteroplacental Hemodynamics During Pregnancy" (Eileen Hwuang)
2021-01-19 13:30 - 15:30 | PA
The Department of Bioengineering along with Drs. Walter Witschey and John Detre are pleased to announce the Doctoral Dissertation Defense of Eileen Hwuang. The public is welcome to attend via Zoom.
Title: “Magnetic resonance imaging assessment of maternal uteroplacental hemodynamics during pregnancy”
Zoom link
Meeting ID: 745 723 0989
Passcode: [REDACTED]

CIS Seminar: “Hash Tables Lecture”
2021-01-19 11:00 - 12:00 | Zoom – Email CIS for link, cherylh@cis.upenn.edu
Abstract:
The lecture that I will cover is going to be on Hash Tables. The lecture is designed for an introductory CS course and/or a data structures course. We are in the last 3rd of the semester when this topic is covered. At this point, students are comfortable with programming (in Python). In addition, they have some experience with complexity analysis in the context of the topics we have already covered in the course, including iteration, recursion, various search and sort algorithms, arrays, and lists.
The lecture will discuss what hash tables are, their importance, and examples of their use in real life. We will then talk about what hashing is and how hash tables work. We will briefly discuss collisions, what they are, how to deal with them, and why they are problematic. Lastly, we will introduce dictionaries, the hash table implementation in Python. The lecture will involve multiple active learning exercises and live coding.

Doctoral Dissertation Defense: "Multiscale Modeling of Cell Fate Switching to Predict Patient-specific Responses to Combination Cancer Therapy" (Lindsey Fernandez)
2021-01-15 15:00 - 16:00 | PA
The Department of Bioengineering at the University of Pennsylvania and Dr. Ravi Radhakrishnan are pleased to announce the Doctoral Dissertation Defense of Lindsey Fernandez. The public is welcome to attend via Blujeans (Meeting ID 680 058 608 4).
Title: “Multiscale Modeling of Cell Fate Switching to Predict Patient-specific Response to Combination Cancer Therapy”

MSE Seminar: "The light stuff: sculpting photons at the molecular-scale for sustainability"
2021-01-14 10:45 - 11:45 | PA
We present methods to sculpt light at the atomic and molecular scale to detect and control chemical transformations, en-route to improved planetary and personal health. First, we study plasmon-driven chemical transformations, focussing on the photocatalytic dehydrogenation of AuPd systems. Here, the Au acts as a plasmonic light absorber and Pd serves as the catalyst. Using optically-coupled electron microscopy, we find that plasmons modify the rate of distinct reaction steps differently, increasing the overall rate more than ten-fold. Plasmons also open a new reaction pathway that is not observed without illumination, laying a foundation for site-selective and product-specific photocatalysts. Next, we describe methods to enable enantiospecific photochemistry, using resonant dielectric nanoparticles. By overlapping electric and magnetic resonances, these nanostructures can significantly enhance circular dichroism for improved chiral sensing and spectroscopy as well as high-yield enantioselective photochemistry. Finally, we describe resonant nanophotonic surfaces that enable multiplexed detection of SARS-CoV-2 gene sequences. The high quality factor (high-Q) produces a large amplification of the electromagnetic field intensities near the nanostructures that increase the response to minute refractive index changes from targeted binding of nucleic acids; simultaneously, the optical signal is beam-steered for multiplexed detection. We will present the design and development of this quantitative optical assay, as well as application to clinical samples.

CBE PhD Dissertation Defense | Study of Metal Catalysts Supported on Thin Films of Perovskites prepared by Atomic Layer Deposition (ALD)
2021-01-11 15:00 - 17:00 | Zoom – Email CBE for link
Abstract:

Sintering is a severe problem with supported-metal catalysts in high-temperature applications, such as in automotive-emissions control, because it leads to a loss of catalytically active surface area. To stabilize the metal particles, in 2001, the Daihatsu group proposed using perovskite-supported metals, which they referred to as “intelligent” catalysts. The original goal was to regenerate sintered metals by driving the metal into the oxide lattice by high-temperature oxidation and releasing the metal as small particles by reduction. Unfortunately, the concept has not been entirely successful, partially because of the large crystallite size and low surface areas of typical perovskites. To achieve higher surface areas and reduce the length scale for any ingress-egress of metal particles, Atomic Layer Deposition (ALD) was used in this thesis to prepare thermally stable thin films of perovskites on high-surface-area supports. Metal catalysts, Pt, Ni, Pd, and Rh, were deposited onto the perovskite thin films, LaCoO 3 and LaFeO 3 , using ALD.

This thesis focused on studying metal-perovskite interactions in the ALD samples of metals supported on LaFeO 3 films. It was found that metal-perovskite interactions could dramatically affect the preferential alignment of metal particles with the substrate, the metal dispersions, and catalytic activity. In the presence of the perovskite films, the equilibrium oxidation of the metals could also shift several order-of-magnitudes towards lower PO 2 . The changes in the thermodynamic properties would further cause different catalytic behaviors. Systems of different metals supported on LaFeO 3 films were studied and compared; it was found that the metal-perovskite interaction is specific for each system.

CBE PhD Dissertation Defense | Investigation of High-Surface-Area Titanate (ATiO3) Thin Films Prepared by Atomic Layer Deposition
2021-01-07 09:30 - 12:30 | Zoom – Email CBE for link
Abstract:
“Heterogeneous catalysis is critically important in the chemical-processing and energy-related industries. Ideally, reaction sites on heterogeneous catalysts can be regenerated, and the catalysts should be active throughout the catalytic process. However, harsh reaction conditions and parallel side reactions can be harmful to the metal catalysts, making deactivation a common phenomenon. Finding a catalyst that is stable can be a challenging yet significant task. Metal-doped perovskite materials have been referred to as “intelligent catalysts” because of the ability to insert and remove precious metal cations from the support lattice under cyclic redox conditions. The concept of “intelligent catalysts” became interesting because the stability of the doped metals was found to be significantly improved. However, the concept was not entirely successful due to the low specific surface areas of these materials, the slow kinetics for ingress and egress from the lattice, and poor metal utilization. Reducing the length scale of the perovskite materials could potentially overcome these problems, and it can be achieved by coating a thin perovskite film with a thickness of around 1nm on a high-surface-area onto an inert support. Work in this thesis used Atomic Layer Deposition (ALD) to deposit titanates (ATiO3, A=Ca, Sr or Ba) that were roughly 1-nm thick onto high-surface-area substrates. When using these thin-film materials as supports for catalytically active metals, the thin-film samples showed properties similar to their bulk counterparts. Improved stabilities were found on the systems where strong interactions occur. However, the interactions between metals and the thin-film perovskite materials to be different from bulk “intelligent catalysts” in some ways. The differences between bulk and thin-film systems can lead to very different particle geometries and catalytic properties. Systematic comparisons of metal-perovskite interactions were performed for the titanate thin films with different A-site cations. Changing A-site cations can lead to changes in metal properties, including but not limited to the metal geometries, reducibilities, and the resulting catalytic performances. The role of A-site cations in determining the forms and degrees of metal-perovskite interactions were also discussed.“

MEAM Ph.D. Thesis Defense: "Structural and Mechanical Responses to Intermittent Parathyroid Hormone Treatment, Discontinuation, and Cyclic Administration Regimens"
2020-12-17 10:00 - 11:00 | Zoom – Email MEAM for Link, peterlit@seas.upenn.edu
Bone mineral density rapidly decreases upon withdrawal from intermittent parathyroid hormone (PTH) treatment despite its potent effect of promoting bone formation. To better understand this adverse phenomenon, this study first aimed to investigate the phenotype of PTH withdrawal in both intact and estrogen-deficient rat model by using a well-designed experiment combined with innovative longitudinal imaging techniques and localized cellular activities. Due to observing a continuous anabolic window upon early discontinuation of PTH treatment in estrogen-deficient animals, we propose a potential effective treatment strategy, the short cycles of PTH and antiresorptive treatment regimen, which could extend the anabolic windows by increasing the number of newly activated modeling-based bone formation (MBF) sites. Lastly, to understand the structure-function relationships of bone tissue formed through MBF compared to the remodeling-based bone formation (RBF), we developed an innovative imaging platform with a mechanical testing platform to determine the mechanical properties of MBF and RBF and their long-term contributions in intact animals.
