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Series: Other Talks
Emory University, Georgia Tech and Georgia State University, with support from the
National Science Foundation, will continue the
series of mini-conferences and host a series of 9 new mini-conferences from
2014-2017. The 15th of these mini-conferences will be held at
Georgia Tech during April 11-12, 2015. The conferences will stress a variety of
areas and feature one prominent researcher giving 2 fifty minute lectures and 4
outstanding researchers each giving one fifty minute lecture. There will also be
several 25 minute lecturers by younger researchers or graduate students.
For more details, see the
schedule
Series: Other Talks
We will present a broad overview of UTRC’s research initiative
in Autonomous and Intelligent Systems (AIS) that was created to
conceive, develop and mature a broad range of intelligent mobile robotic
systems and capabilities to enhance and support the diverse array of
businesses that comprise the United Technologies Corporation. While
initial efforts have been focused on Sikorsky Aircraft unmanned
rotorcraft, the initiative is now expanding to include other aerospace
and commercial applications, as well. The research, conducted by a
diverse team of researchers in robotics, dynamical systems, control,
applied mathematics, computer vision, and computer science (in
partnership with several leading universities including CMU, MIT, UPenn,
and UCB) includes:
• Real-time algorithms for dynamic collision avoidance in an obstacle-rich environment using probabilistic roadmaps.
• Navigation with imperfect and intermittent sensors in GPS degraded environments.
• Multi-vehicle missions including efficient robotic search algorithms based on ergodic theory methods.
• Collaborative motion planning for multiple aerial and ground robots in
large, cluttered environments, trading off mission objectives while
satisfying logical/spatial/temporal constraints.
• Intelligent system design methodology including architectures for autonomy, human-machine systems, and formal verification.
We will conclude with research problems of interest to UTRC and discuss
existing and future career and internship opportunities in the broad
area of autonomy and robotics.
Series: Other Talks
Hosted by Predrag Cvitanovic, School of Physics
A brief presentation, followed by an informal discussion.
Series: Other Talks
A reception will follow the talk and giving time for visitors to chat with Ellenberg and each other.
The math we learn in school can seem like a dull set of rules, laid down by the ancients and not to be questioned. In How Not to Be Wrong, Jordan Ellenberg shows us how wrong this view is: Math touches everything we do, allowing us to see the hidden structures beneath the messy and chaotic surface of our daily lives. It’s a science of not being wrong, worked out through centuries of hard work and argument.
Series: Other Talks
Hosted by GT Honors Program and College of Sciences
Series: Other Talks
Predrag Cvitanovic, School of Physics
The syntax of theoretical physics and modern finance is deceptively similar, but the semantics is very different. I present a short introduction to the principles of modern finance, and compare and contrast the field to physics.
Series: Other Talks
Colm Mulcahy is a professor of mathematics at Spelman College, in Atlanta, where he has
taught since 1988. He's currently on leave in the DC area. Over the last decade, he has
been at the forefront of publishing new mathemagical principles and effects for cards,
particularly in his long-running bi-monthly Card Colm for the MAA. Some of his puzzles
have been featured in the New York Times. His book
<a href="http://www.crcpress.com/product/isbn/9781466509764" target="_blank">Mathematical Card Magic: Fifty-Two New Effects</a> was published by AK Peters/CRC Press in 2013.
Colm is a recipient of MAA's Allendoerfer Award for excellence in expository writing, for
an article on image compression using wavelets.
Martin Gardner was best known for his 300 "Mathematical Games" columns in Scientific
American, in which he introduced thousands of budding mathematicians to topics such as
RSA cryptography, fractals, Penrose tiles and Conway's game of Life, as well as elegant
puzzles which still lead to "Aha!" moments today. In his centennial year we'll survey
some of what he achieved and in particular the puzzle legacy he leaves behind.
Series: Other Talks
Host: College of Sciences, Georgia Tech
Series: Other Talks
Biography: Michael Levitt is an American-British-Israeli biophysicist and professor of structural biology in
the Stanford University School of Medicine and a winner of the 2013 Nobel Prize in Chemistry. Born
in South Africa in 1947, Levitt earned his Bachelor of Science in Physics from Kings College
London and his Ph.D. in biophysics from Cambridge University. His research involves multi-scale
approaches to molecular modeling: Coarse-grained models that merge atoms to allow folding
simulation and hybrid models that combine classical and quantum mechanics to explain how enzymes
works by electrostatic strain. Levitt's diverse interests have included RNA and DNA modeling,
protein folding simulation, classification of protein folds and protein geometry, antibody
modeling, x-ray refinement, antibody humanization, side-chain geometry, torsional normal mode,
molecular dynamics in solution, secondary structure prediction, aromatic hydrogen bonds, structure
databases, and mass spectrometry. His Stanford research team currently works on protein evolution,
the crystallographic phase problem and Cryo-EM refinement. He is a member of both the Royal
Society of London and the U.S. National Academy of Science. Levitt also remains an active computer
programmer--"a craft skill of which I am particularly proud," he says.
The development multiscale models for complex chemical systems began in 1967 with publications by
Warshel and Levitt recently recognized by the 2013 Nobel Committee for Chemistry. The
simplifications used then at the dawn of the age of computational structural biology were mandated
by computers that were almost a billion times less cost-effective than those we use today. These
same multiscale models have become increasingly popular in application that range from simulation
of atomic protein motion, to protein folding and explanation of enzyme catalysis. In this talk I
describe the origins of computational structural biology and then go on to show some of the most
exciting current and future applications.
Please RSVP.
Reception begins at 4:30PM; lecture starts at 5:00PM.
Series: Other Talks
After the talk there will be a reception and time for visitors to chat with Donelan and each other.
Professor Max Donelan talks about the bionic energy harvester, which uses energy generated from walking to power portable devices. He also discusses his research on the reflexes and nerves of animals, from elephants to shrews.
