Seminar: TBA
Speaker: Omar Smadi, Adjunct Assistant Professor, Department of Civil, Construction, and Environmental Engineering; and Research Scientist, Center for Transportation Research and Education, Iowa State University
Date: November 28, 2011
Time: 1:10 p.m.
Location: 3043 ECpE Building Addition
Abstract: Information coming soon
Speaker bio: Information coming soon
Event: Summer Research Opportunities Informational Meeting
Date: November 17, 2011
Time: 5:10 to 6 p.m.
Location: Gold Room, Memorial Union
Details: Learn about the National Science Foundation’s Research Experience for Undergraduates (REU) program and other summer research opportunities at Iowa State and elsewhere. A panel of faculty and students who participated in summer research programs will talk about finding positions, application processes and other topics related to undergraduate research.
Seminar: Digital Archaology
Speaker: Audris Mockus, Avaya Labs
Date: November 17, 2011
Time: 3:40 p.m.
Location: 2432 Food Science Building
Abstract: Measurement is the essence of science. Many professional and social activities become software mediated, thus generating vast digital remains that represent projections of collective and individual activities. The reconstruction and quantification of the behavior of an individual, an organization, or a society from these projections is the main challenge of digital archeology. I will illustrate the approach in the context of current software development practice. Software development is experiencing a radical change driven by the open source movement and the business needs to move development to low-cost locations. I will discuss ways to measure mentor-follower relationships in succession (the transfer of code ownership), and the aspects of succession that impact productivity and quality. I will introduce measures of relative sociality (the ratio of social and technical competencies), illustrate how they evolve over time, and quantify how the initial project environment is associated with the probability that a developer will become a long-term contributor.
In conclusion, I will discuss how digital archeology offers new ways to understand software development and human nature.
Speaker bio: Audris Mockus studies software developers’ culture and behavior through the recovery, documentation, and analysis of digital remains. These digital traces reflect projections of collective and individual activity. He reconstructs the reality from these projections by designing data mining methods to summarize and augment these digital traces, interactive visualization techniques to inspect, present, and control the behavior of teams and individuals, and statistical models and optimization techniques to understand the nature of individual and collective behavior.
Audris Mockus received B.S. and M.S. in Applied Mathematics from Moscow Institute of Physics and Technology in 1988. In 1991 he received M.S. and in 1994 he received Ph.D. in Statistics from Carnegie Mellon University. He works at Avaya Labs Research. Previously he worked at Bell Labs.
This lecture was made possible in part by the generosity of F. Wendell Miller, who left his entire estate jointly to Iowa State University and the University of Iowa. Mr. Miller, who died in 1995 at age 97, was born in Altoona, Ill., grew up in Rockwell City, graduated from Grinnell College and Harvard Law School and practiced law in Des Moines and Chicago before returning to Rockwell City to manage his family’s farm holdings and to practice law. His will helped to establish the F. Wendell Miller Trust, the annual earnings on which, in part, helped to support this activity.
Event: Summer Research Opportunities Informational Meeting
Date: November 16, 2011
Time: 12:10 to 1 p.m.
Location: Gold Room, Memorial Union
Details: Learn about the National Science Foundation’s Research Experience for Undergraduates (REU) program and other summer research opportunities at Iowa State and elsewhere. A panel of faculty and students who participated in summer research programs will talk about finding positions, application processes and other topics related to undergraduate research.
Seminar: TBA
Speaker: Assistant Professor Liang Dong, Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering, Iowa State University
Date: November 14, 2011
Time: 1:10 p.m.
Location: 3043 ECpE Building Addition
Abstract: Information coming soon
Speaker bio: Information coming soon
Event: Society of International Engineers CAFÉ (Creating a Fellowship of Engineers) Informational Meeting
Date: November 13, 2011
Time: 6 p.m.
Location: 114 Marston Hall
Details: Want to study abroad? The Society of International Engineers (SIE) is holding an informational meeting about studying abroad. The meeting is a great way for students to learn more about studying abroad and network with students who have studied or worked abroad.
Magnetic Materials in Sustainable Energy
Speaker: Oliver Gutfleisch, Leibniz Institute for Solid State and Materials Research Dresden (IFW Dresden) and Distinguished Lecturer, IEEE Magnetics Society (2011-12)
Date: November 11, 2011
Time: 1:30 p.m.
Location: 3043 ECpE Building Addition
Abstract: A new energy paradigm, consisting of greater reliance on renewable energy sources and increased concern for energy efficiency in the total energy life cycle, has accelerated research in energy-related technologies. Due to their ubiquity, magnetic materials play an important role in improving the efficiency and performance of devices in electric power generation, conversion and transportation. Magnetic materials are essential components of energy applications (i.e. motors, generators, transformers, actuators, etc.) and improvements in magnetic materials will have significant impact in this area, on par with many “hot” energy materials efforts (e.g. hydrogen storage, batteries, thermoelectrics, etc.).
The lecture focuses on the state-of-the-art hard and soft magnets and magnetocaloric materials with an emphasis on their optimization for energy applications. Specifically, the impact of hard magnets on electric motor and transportation technologies, of soft magnetic materials on electricity generation and conversion technologies, and of magnetocaloric materials for refrigeration technologies, will be discussed.
The synthesis, characterization, and property evaluation of the materials, with an emphasis on structure-property relationships, will be examined in the context of their respective markets as well as their potential impact on energy efficiency.
Finally, considering future bottle-necks in raw materials and in the supply chain, options for recycling of rare-earth metals will be analysed.
Speaker bio: Information coming soon
Event: Nationwide Insurance Company Information Meeting
Date: November 8, 2011
Time: 6:15 p.m.
Location: 1011 ECpE Building Addition
Details: Nationwide Insurance is hosting an information session for students to learn about the company, as well as internship and full-time job opportunities in software development. The information session is hosted by the Computer Science and Software Engineering Club (CSE).
Growth-control and Microstructure Characterization of Magnetic Thin Films
Speaker: Masaaki Futamoto, Professor, Chuo University, Bunkyo-ku Tokyo and Distinguished Lecturer, IEEE Magnetics Society (2011-12)
Date: November 7, 2011
Time: 1:10 p.m.
Location: 3043 ECpE Building Addition
Abstract: Various magnetic thin films are used for recording media and heads of hard disk drives. The magnetic properties have been greatly improved to cope with a continuous areal density increase of nearly 105 times over the past quarter century. The improvement has been realized by tailoring the composition and microstructure of magnetic thin films.
This lecture covers the technology and physics for controlling the microstructure of magnetic thin films, focusing mainly on perpendicular recording media and related magnetic materials. Initially, technological developments will be briefly reviewed, then the following topics will be discussed: (1) nucleation and growth of magnetic thin films on nonmagnetic underlayers, (2) nanostructure and nano-composition characterization, (3) application to perpendicular magnetic recording media, (4) magnetization structure analysis, (5) epitaxial growth of single-crystal and meta-stable magnetic thin films, and (6) patterned-type perpendicular recording media for higher densities. The relationships between film microstructure and magnetic properties will also be discussed.
Speaker bio: Dr. Masaaki Futamoto received B.E., M.E., and Dr. degrees in material science from Osaka University in 1971, 1973, and 1982, respectively. He joined Central Research Laboratory, Hitachi Ltd., in 1973 working on electron emissive materials. From 1982 to 1983, he was a visiting scientist at the University of Sussex, U.K. From 1983 to 2003, he has engaged in the research and development of high density magnetic recording, in particular the development of perpendicular magnetic recording media. From 1996 to 2001, he served as the leader of a research group in a Japanese National Project that was established to develop future-oriented magnetic recording technologies. In 2004, he was appointed as a professor of the Faculty of Science and Engineering, Chuo University.
Seminar: Spatial Sampling Design and Wireless Sensor Networks
Speaker: Zhengyuan Zhu, Associate Professor, Department of Statistics & Statistical Laboratory, College of Liberal Arts & Sciences, Iowa State University
Date: November 4, 2011
Time: 1:10 p.m.
Location: 3043 ECpE Building Addition
Abstract: Spatial sampling design problem has been studied by statisticians for a long time in different application areas such as agriculture, soil science, and ecology. Both probability based sampling such as simple random sampling and stratified random sampling and model based optimal spatial sampling approaches have been used in practice for different applications. Though many of the methodologies in spatial sampling design can be used to help design the sampling plan of wireless sensor network (WSN), WSN has some characteristics which is not present in a traditional network, such as the energy constraints and the communication constraints, which poses new challenges to statisticians. In this talk we will give a general discussion on the connection between classical spatial sampling design and the sampling design for WSN, and present some preliminary results on the optimal sampling design of a WSN for parameter estimation under energy and communication constraints.
Speaker bio: Zhengyuan Zhu is interested in optimal design for correlated observations, modeling of spatio-temporal processes, anomaly detection for correlated observations, long range dependent processes, and applications in environmental statistics, survey sampling, biostatistics, astrostatistics, and Internet traffic modeling. He received his Ph.D. in statistics from the University of Chicago in 2002 and had a previous appointment at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.