Department Events & Announcements
Events
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Dec6
EVENT DETAILSmore info
lessTitle: Economic Modeling and Machine Learning
Abstract
Machine learning has demonstrated tremendous predictive success in problems ranging from medical diagnosis to which criminal defendants should be released on bail.
Economic modeling, however, is often directed at least in part towards advancing understanding of the behaviors we see. Black-box algorithms that generate substantial improvements in prediction may not (indeed, often do not) generate comparable improvements in insight. Can machine learning algorithms be leveraged as a tool for social science modelers?
This talk will propose methodologies for use of machine learning techniques to complement and improve traditional economic modeling. Specifically, I will discuss work that applies machine learning techniques to (1) evaluate the predictive capabilities of economic models, and (2) identify interpretable extensions of existing models. These methodologies are used to derive new insights into specific economic problems, and may be applied more broadly within the social sciences.
Bio
Annie Liang is an Assistant Professor of Economics at the University of Pennsylvania. She is an economic theorist whose work focuses on information economics, and the application of machine learning techniques for model building and evaluation.
Prior joining UPenn, Annie was a post-doc at Microsoft Research-New England. She received a B.S. in Mathematics and a B.S. in Economics from MIT in 2011, and a Ph.D. in Economics from Harvard in 2016.
TIME Friday, December 6, 2019 at 12:00 PM - 1:00 PM
LOCATION 3514, Mudd Hall ( formerly Seeley G. Mudd Library) map it
CONTACT Colleen Gallagher colleen.gallagher1@northwestern.edu EMAIL
CALENDAR Department of Computer Science
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Dec9
EVENT DETAILS
lessFall examinations begin
TIME Monday, December 9, 2019
CONTACT Office of the Registrar nu-registrar@northwestern.edu EMAIL
CALENDAR University Academic Calendar
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Dec9
EVENT DETAILS
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Title: Toward a universal quantum programming language
Abstract
Quantum computing is more powerful than classical computing because qubits can do exponentially more work than bits. Quantum computers with 72 qubits exist today and a few thousand qubits may be sufficient for quantum computers to outperform all current classical computers. Until recently, every quantum computer had its own programming language. Are we moving towards a quantum programming language that is universal, that is, one whose programs can run on all quantum computers? Will a winner emerge among the many languages that flourish at the moment? What are the challenges in making a universal language?
I will argue that a key enabler will be better compilers that can translate quantum algorithms, overcome hardware differences, and handle combinatorial explosion.
Bio
Jens Palsberg is a Professor and former Department Chair of Computer Science at University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA).
His research interests span the areas of compilers, embedded systems, programming languages, software engineering, and information security.
He is the chair of ACM SIGPLAN and a member of the editorial board of Information and Computation. He is also a former editor-in-chief of ACM Transactions of Programming Languages and Systems and a former conference program chair of ACM Symposium on Principles of Programming Languages (POPL).
In 2012 he received the ACM SIGPLAN Distinguished Service Award.
TIME Monday, December 9, 2019 at 12:00 PM - 1:00 PM
LOCATION 3514, Mudd Hall ( formerly Seeley G. Mudd Library) map it
CONTACT Gretchen Burnett gretchen-burnett@northwestern.edu EMAIL
CALENDAR Department of Computer Science
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Dec10
EVENT DETAILSmore info
less
Title: Computational X: the Power of Computer Science in Neuroscience, Medicine, and Healthcare
Abstract
We are now in the era of big data which allows us to answer the biomedical questions today that we couldn’t answer before. As a computer scientist, this is the most exciting time in my entire career. In the last ten years, I have been collaborating with neurology, neuroscience, genetics, and imaging experts to understand the pathophysiological mechanism of Alzheimer’s disease (AD) and how AD-related genes affect the aging brains. The focus of my lab is to develop state-of-the-art computational tools to accelerate research in neuroscience and clinical areas. Specifically, my lab is interested in establishing a neurobiological basis to quantify the structural/functional/behavior difference across individuals and discover reliable and putative biomarkers that will allow us to come up with personalized therapy and treatment for individuals. In this talk, I would like to share my experience of integrating the domain knowledge of neuroscience into the development of imaging-AI based computational tools for automated image analysis, image interpretation, and outcome prediction, with the focus on imaging biomarkers and the computer-assisted early diagnostic engine for AD.
Bio
Dr. Guorong Wu is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Psychiatry at the University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill. His primary research interests are medical image analysis, big data mining, scientific data visualization, and computer-assisted diagnosis. He has been working on medical image analysis since he started my PhD study in 2003. In 2007, he received the Ph.D. degree in computer science and engineering from Shanghai Jiao Tong University, Shanghai, China. He has developed many image processing methods for brain magnetic resonance imaging (MRI), diffusion-weighted imaging, breast dynamic contrast-enhanced MRI (DCE-MRI), and computed tomography (CT) images. These cutting-edge computational methods have been successfully applied to early diagnosis of Alzheimer’s disease, infant brain development study, and image-guided lung cancer radiotherapy. Meanwhile, Dr. Wu leads a multi-discipline research team in UNC which aims to translate the cutting-edge intelligent techniques to imaging-based biomedical applications, for the sake of boosting translational medicine. Dr. Wu has released more than 10 image analysis software packages to the medical imaging community, which count to in total more than 15,000 downloads since 2009. Dr. Wu is the recipient of NIH Career Development Award (K01) He also serves as the PI and Co-PI in several NIH and NSF grants.
TIME Tuesday, December 10, 2019 at 1:00 PM - 2:15 PM
LOCATION 3514, Mudd Hall ( formerly Seeley G. Mudd Library) map it
CONTACT Gretchen Burnett gretchen-burnett@northwestern.edu EMAIL
CALENDAR Department of Computer Science
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Dec14
EVENT DETAILS
lessWinter Break Begins
TIME Saturday, December 14, 2019
CONTACT Office of the Registrar nu-registrar@northwestern.edu EMAIL
CALENDAR University Academic Calendar
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Dec14
EVENT DETAILS
lessThe ceremony takes place at 4 p.m. on Saturday, December 14 in Pick-Staiger Concert Hall, 50 Arts Circle Drive.
*No tickets required
TIME Saturday, December 14, 2019 at 4:00 PM - 5:30 PM
LOCATION Pick-Staiger Concert Hall map it
CONTACT Paula Straaton p-straaton@northwestern.edu EMAIL
CALENDAR McCormick School of Engineering and Applied Science
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Dec26
EVENT DETAILS
lessWinter Recess - University Closed
TIME Thursday, December 26, 2019
CONTACT Office of the Registrar nu-registrar@northwestern.edu EMAIL
CALENDAR University Academic Calendar
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Dec27
EVENT DETAILS
lessWinter Recess - University Closed
TIME Friday, December 27, 2019
CONTACT Office of the Registrar nu-registrar@northwestern.edu EMAIL
CALENDAR University Academic Calendar
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Dec30
EVENT DETAILS
lessWinter Recess University Closed
TIME Monday, December 30, 2019
CONTACT Office of the Registrar nu-registrar@northwestern.edu EMAIL
CALENDAR University Academic Calendar
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Dec31
EVENT DETAILS
lessNew Year's Eve
TIME Tuesday, December 31, 2019
CONTACT Office of the Registrar nu-registrar@northwestern.edu EMAIL
CALENDAR University Academic Calendar
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Jan1
EVENT DETAILS
lessNew Year's Day
TIME Wednesday, January 1, 2020
CONTACT Office of the Registrar nu-registrar@northwestern.edu EMAIL
CALENDAR University Academic Calendar
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Jan6
EVENT DETAILS
lessWinter Classes begin 8 a.m.
TIME Monday, January 6, 2020
CONTACT Office of the Registrar nu-registrar@northwestern.edu EMAIL
CALENDAR University Academic Calendar