BEGIN:VCALENDAR
VERSION:2.0
PRODID:-//Penn Engineering Events - ECPv6.15.18//NONSGML v1.0//EN
CALSCALE:GREGORIAN
METHOD:PUBLISH
X-WR-CALNAME:Penn Engineering Events
X-ORIGINAL-URL:https://seasevents.nmsdev7.com
X-WR-CALDESC:Events for Penn Engineering Events
REFRESH-INTERVAL;VALUE=DURATION:PT1H
X-Robots-Tag:noindex
X-PUBLISHED-TTL:PT1H
BEGIN:VTIMEZONE
TZID:America/New_York
BEGIN:DAYLIGHT
TZOFFSETFROM:-0500
TZOFFSETTO:-0400
TZNAME:EDT
DTSTART:20200308T070000
END:DAYLIGHT
BEGIN:STANDARD
TZOFFSETFROM:-0400
TZOFFSETTO:-0500
TZNAME:EST
DTSTART:20201101T060000
END:STANDARD
BEGIN:DAYLIGHT
TZOFFSETFROM:-0500
TZOFFSETTO:-0400
TZNAME:EDT
DTSTART:20210314T070000
END:DAYLIGHT
BEGIN:STANDARD
TZOFFSETFROM:-0400
TZOFFSETTO:-0500
TZNAME:EST
DTSTART:20211107T060000
END:STANDARD
BEGIN:DAYLIGHT
TZOFFSETFROM:-0500
TZOFFSETTO:-0400
TZNAME:EDT
DTSTART:20220313T070000
END:DAYLIGHT
BEGIN:STANDARD
TZOFFSETFROM:-0400
TZOFFSETTO:-0500
TZNAME:EST
DTSTART:20221106T060000
END:STANDARD
END:VTIMEZONE
BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;TZID=America/New_York:20210712T120000
DTEND;TZID=America/New_York:20210712T130000
DTSTAMP:20260406T222904
CREATED:20210520T134233Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20210520T134233Z
UID:10006793-1626091200-1626094800@seasevents.nmsdev7.com
SUMMARY:PSOC Webinar: Indrajit Tah & Chris Price
DESCRIPTION:Join Zoom Meeting: \nhttps://upenn.zoom.us/j/99334915941?pwd=eDRXV1lITDlySXFyRHUyUzdmRldoQT09 \nMeeting ID: 993 3491 5941 \nPasscode: 189247 \nPSOC@Penn Summer Webinars 2021 \nContact manu@seas.upenn.edu with any questions \nIndrajit Tah 12:00-12:30 PM \nChris Price 12:30-1:00 PM
URL:https://seasevents.nmsdev7.com/event/psoc-webinar-indrajit-tah-chris-price/
LOCATION:https://upenn.zoom.us/j/96715197752
CATEGORIES:Seminar,Doctoral,Graduate,Student,Postdoctoral
ORGANIZER;CN="PSOC":MAILTO:manu@seas.upenn.edu
END:VEVENT
BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;TZID=America/New_York:20210712T133000
DTEND;TZID=America/New_York:20210712T153000
DTSTAMP:20260406T222904
CREATED:20210707T185041Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20210707T185041Z
UID:10006828-1626096600-1626103800@seasevents.nmsdev7.com
SUMMARY:CBE PhD Dissertation Defense | "Structures Formed By Colloids at Curved Fluid Interfaces"
DESCRIPTION:Abstract: \nColloidal particles accumulate and organize at fluid interfaces via capillary interactions. We study pair interactions and structure formation around spherical particles with pinned contact lines. Particles attract to apparent contact and organize in near trapped structures that reflect the underlying curvature field. We have derived pair potentials to describe these interactions. The particles distort the surrounding interface in which we calculate the distortion area and hence capillary energy around a colloid and its dependence on proximity to neighbors and on the underlying interface curvature. Dimer formation alignment with respect to principal axes and dynamics compare favorably to prediction. We use this pair potential in Monte Carlo simulations to compare to the structures formed. Extensions to address elongated particles are discussed.
URL:https://seasevents.nmsdev7.com/event/cbe-phd-dissertation-defense-structures-formed-by-colloids-at-curved-fluid-interfaces/
LOCATION:Zoom – Email CBE for link
CATEGORIES:Doctoral,Graduate,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:20210713T103000
DTEND;TZID=America/New_York:20210713T120000
DTSTAMP:20260406T222904
CREATED:20210629T220346Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20210629T220346Z
UID:10006815-1626172200-1626177600@seasevents.nmsdev7.com
SUMMARY:MEAM Seminar: "A Methodology for Self-Replicating Robots from Ice"
DESCRIPTION:In the late 1940s\, John von Neumann first introduced the concept of self-replication as a way of furthering cellular reproduction research. By the late ‘50s and ’60s this research diverges along two separate paths: cellular automata replication with a focus on biological systems and robotics/machine replication. Generally the work in robotic systems focuses on the theoretical. While there has been some work on physical systems they are not deployable outside of a laboratory setting and are in fact self-assembling systems rather than self-replicating systems. \nIn this talk I will present research towards a self-replicating and self-reconfigurable system which uses found materials. These projects work towards solving a limitation of self-replicating robotic systems and their inability to utilize materials at the deployment sites for replication. First I review the current state of the art in self-replication and then present our work to date with found materials. Our contributions include: (1) a low-cost technique for quantifying the material properties of tree branches and building structures with them and (2) highlighting\, from the perspective of energy efficiency\, the manufacturing methods behind a proof-of-concept robot made from ice.
URL:https://seasevents.nmsdev7.com/event/meam-seminar-a-methodology-for-self-replicating-robots-from-ice/
LOCATION:Zoom – Email MEAM for Link\, peterlit@seas.upenn.edu
CATEGORIES:Seminar
ORGANIZER;CN="Mechanical Engineering and Applied Mechanics":MAILTO:meam@seas.upenn.edu
END:VEVENT
BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;TZID=America/New_York:20210713T110000
DTEND;TZID=America/New_York:20210713T120000
DTSTAMP:20260406T222904
CREATED:20210629T173019Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20210629T173019Z
UID:10006813-1626174000-1626177600@seasevents.nmsdev7.com
SUMMARY:MEAM Ph.D. Thesis Defense: "From Deployments of Elder Care Service Robots to the Design of Affordable Low-Complexity End-Effectors and Novel Manipulation Techniques"
DESCRIPTION:Older adults are forming a much larger percentage of the population leading to a strain in the healthcare sector. It is expected that the population aged 65 and over in the United States alone will double in the next 30 years\, and similarly worldwide. Despite the abundance of facilities to accommodate the growing older adult population\, there is a shortage of caregivers to staff these facilities. With the scarcity of care options available\, and necessity aggravated by the COVID-19 pandemic and its impact on the elderly\, low-cost robots may be a creative and vastly accessible solution for mobile and manipulation tasks that would normally be handled by a caregiver. \nThis thesis proposes an investigation on both behavioral and technical aspects of human-robot interaction (HRI) in elder care settings\, in view of an affordable platform capable of executing desired tasks. The behavioral investigation combines a qualitative study with focus groups and surveys from not only the elders’ standpoint\, but also from the standpoint of healthcare professionals to investigate suitable tasks to be accomplished by a service robot in such environments. Through multiple deployments of various robot embodiments at actual elder care facilities (such as at a low-income Supportive Apartment Living\, SAL\, and Program of All-Inclusive Care\, PACE Centers) and interaction with older adults\, design guidelines are developed to improve on both interaction and usability aspects. This need assessment informed the technical investigation of this work\, where we initially propose picking and placing objects using end-effectors without internal mobility (or zero degrees-of-freedom\, DOF)\, considering both quasi-static (tipping and regrasping as in-hand manipulation) and dynamic approaches. Maximizing grasping versatility by allowing robots to grasp multiple objects sequentially using a single end-effector and DOF is also proposed. These novel manipulation techniques and end-effector designs focus on minimizing robot hardware usage and cost\, while still performing complex tasks and complying with safety constraints imposed by the elder care facilities.
URL:https://seasevents.nmsdev7.com/event/meam-ph-d-thesis-defense-from-deployments-of-elder-care-service-robots-to-the-design-of-affordable-low-complexity-end-effectors-and-novel-manipulation-techniques/
LOCATION:Zoom – Email MEAM for Link\, peterlit@seas.upenn.edu
CATEGORIES:Dissertation or Thesis Defense
ORGANIZER;CN="Mechanical Engineering and Applied Mechanics":MAILTO:meam@seas.upenn.edu
END:VEVENT
BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;TZID=America/New_York:20210715T100000
DTEND;TZID=America/New_York:20210715T120000
DTSTAMP:20260406T222904
CREATED:20210707T190014Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20210707T190014Z
UID:10006829-1626343200-1626350400@seasevents.nmsdev7.com
SUMMARY:CBE PhD Dissertation Defense | "Bijels for Continuous Reactive Separation"
DESCRIPTION:Abstract: \nSeveral chemical processes involve the use of mutually immiscible molecules\, for example a water-soluble catalyst is used in combination with oil-soluble reagents to produce water soluble products. There are two possible strategies to run these processes. A mutual solvent can be used to promote mixing of the otherwise immiscible molecules; however\, such a system would make the separation of the product challenging. Biphasic systems comprising two immiscible phases provide a very powerful platform because their ability to host both polar and apolar species and at the same time allowing separation of molecules of different polarity by simple phase partitioning\, without relying on complex and often energy intensive separation processes. Such a strategy is employed in several industrially relevant scenarios like fatty acid and pharmaceutical manufacturing for which the desired product is made from an oil-soluble precursor\, while the desired products and the catalyst are water-soluble. Two forms of biphasic reactive separation systems have been widely studied: emulsion-based and membrane-based systems. There are several examples of successful implementation of simultaneous reactive separation based on emulsions and membranes; however\, the efficiency and effectiveness of these systems can be further enhanced. Significantly\, all emulsion based systems comprise a continuous phase and a droplet phase; the discrete nature of the droplets makes the supply or reagent or retrieval of product challenging. Although continuous processing is possible\, membrane reactors have limitations in their interfacial area. \nA recently developed class of soft materials\, bicontinuous interfacially jammed emulsion gels or bijels provide opportunity to overcome the shortcomings of emulsions and membrane-based biphasic reactors. Bijels have a bicontinuous architecture which allows intimate contact between the two fluid phases; moreover\, bijels provide a significantly higher water/oil interfacial area than membranes. Traditionally bijels are made by triggering the spinodal decomposition of a binary mixture of fluids either by temperature change or co-solvent removal; the three dimensional bicontinuous structure arising from spinodal decomposition has several advantages since both the water and the oil phases are co-continuous and therefore allow for the continuous transport of chemicals throughout its domains. Despite these promising features\, several aspects of bijels must be further addressed to enable their application as reactive media. For examples\, bijels are fragile; they lose their microscopic and macroscopic structure under mechanical (e.g. flow\, agitation) and chemical stresses (e.g. pH change). Moreover\, most bijel formulations are unsuitable for system involving biological molecules such as enzymes\, as they require surfactants to control nanoparticle wetting properties. This study addresses these shortcomings and develops simple and inexpensive methods to engineer bijels for reactive separation. Reactive separation is successfully demonstrated in these bijels in batch mode. Lastly\, for the first time\, bijels are used for continuous reactive separation; bijel-based reactor conversion is compared to membrane based reactors and simple batch stirred tank reactors. Future studies will include the further development of bijels microreactor design and its development as a potentially disruptive technology in multiphase catalysis.
URL:https://seasevents.nmsdev7.com/event/cbe-phd-dissertation-defense-bijels-for-continuous-reactive-separation/
LOCATION:Zoom – Email CBE for link
CATEGORIES:Doctoral,Graduate,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:20210715T100000
DTEND;TZID=America/New_York:20210715T120000
DTSTAMP:20260406T222904
CREATED:20210709T164717Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20210709T164717Z
UID:10006830-1626343200-1626350400@seasevents.nmsdev7.com
SUMMARY:CBE PhD Dissertation Defense | "Diverse Roles of Nuclear Intermediate Filaments in Proliferating Cells"
DESCRIPTION:Abstract: \nEmbryonic tissues and cancer have in common the fact that they are both highly proliferative tissues rapidly moving through the cell cycle\, as opposed to most other differentiated tissues in an adult. DNA damage can arrest some embryonic cells but genetic instability is a hallmark of cancer. This thesis studies the contrasting role of two nuclear intermediate filaments – Lamin A and Lamin B1 in the proliferating cells of embryonic hearts and cancer. Lamin B1 is upregulated together with proliferation genes in at least 15 cancers curated in The Cancer Genome Atlas (TCGA)\, whereas Lamin A trends align with ‘matrix mechanosensititve’ genes. With physicochemical principles in mind\, we show Lamin B1 scales with many mitosis genes in cancer\, and experiments reveal its role in promoting cell cycle and direct regulation by the cell cycle transcription factor FOXM1. The genes that scale are used in Scaling-informed Machine Learning (SIML) to better predict overall patient survival and to better identify cell lineage in single cell RNA profiles. A distinct role of Lamin A is revealed by experiments on the first organ in its first days – the heart – which show Lamin A levels are modulated in interphase cells through phosphorylation in response to acto-myosin stress. Lamin A levels determine the probability of nuclear rupture and subsequent DNA damage\, telomere attrition\, and cell cycle arrest. Nuclear lamins thus have different roles in responding to and regulating cell cycle.
URL:https://seasevents.nmsdev7.com/event/cbe-phd-dissertation-defense-diverse-roles-of-nuclear-intermediate-filaments-in-proliferating-cells/
LOCATION:Zoom – Email CBE for link
CATEGORIES:Doctoral,Graduate,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:20210715T130000
DTEND;TZID=America/New_York:20210715T140000
DTSTAMP:20260406T222904
CREATED:20210712T210417Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20210712T210417Z
UID:10006833-1626354000-1626357600@seasevents.nmsdev7.com
SUMMARY:MEAM PhD Thesis Defense: "Modular Robots Morphology Transformation and Task Execution"
DESCRIPTION:Self-reconfigurable modular robots are composed of a small set of modules with uniform docking interfaces. Different from conventional robots that are custom-built and optimized for specific tasks\, modular robots are able to adapt to many different activities\, and handle hardware and software failures by rearranging their components. This reconfiguration capability allows these systems to exist in a variety of morphologies\, and the introduced flexibility enables self-reconfigurable modular robots to handle a much wider range of tasks\, but also complicates the design\, control\, and planning. \nThis thesis considers a hierarchy framework in order to deploy modular robots in the real world: the robot first identifies its current morphology\, then reconfigures itself into a new morphology if needed\, and finally executes either manipulation or locomotion tasks. A reliable system architecture is necessary to handle a large number of modules. The number of possible morphologies constructed by modules increases exponentially as the number of modules grows\, and these morphologies usually have many degrees of freedom with complex constraints. In this thesis\, hardware platforms and several control methods and planning algorithms are developed to build this hierarchy framework leading to the system-level deployment of modular robots\, including a hybrid modular robot (SMORES-EP) and a modular truss robot (VTT). Graph representations of modular robots are introduced as well as several algorithms for morphology identification. Efficient mobile-style reconfiguration strategies are explored for hybrid modular robots\, and a real-time planner based on optimal control is developed to perform dexterous manipulation tasks. For modular truss robots\, configuration space is studied and a hybrid planning framework (sampling-based and search-based) is presented to handle reconfiguration activities. A non-impact rolling locomotion planner is then developed to drive an arbitrary truss robot in an environment.
URL:https://seasevents.nmsdev7.com/event/meam-phd-thesis-defense-modular-robots-morphology-transformation-and-task-execution/
LOCATION:Zoom – Email MEAM for Link\, peterlit@seas.upenn.edu
CATEGORIES:Doctoral,Dissertation or Thesis Defense
ORGANIZER;CN="Mechanical Engineering and Applied Mechanics":MAILTO:meam@seas.upenn.edu
END:VEVENT
END:VCALENDAR