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Department Events & Announcements

Events

• Oct

  7

  Data Warehousing: The Industrial Perspective | ACM Chicago Talk

  Department of Computer Science (CS)

  6:00 PM 3514, Mudd Hall ( formerly Seeley G. Mudd Library)

  EVENT DETAILS

  Join us in Mudd 3514 for a presentation by Henrietta Dombrovskaya, ACM Chicago Chapter Communications Chair and Illinois Prairie Postgres User Group Organizer for an abbreaviated version of the Data Warehousing: The Industrial Perspective tutorial. The presentation will be followed by a Q&A and information about the Northwestern ACM Chicago Student Chapter.

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  Tutorial Title
  Data Warehousing: The Industrial Perspective

  Abstract
  "Like with many other concepts, the theoretical ideas regarding how data warehouses should be organized are rarely followed in real-life systems. The notion of data warehouses as storage for historical, rarely or never changing records used for summary reports, slicing and dicing, and trend analysis do not reflect the most common business needs. In this tutorial, we will closely examine existing business demands and discuss how to support them. In this tutorial, we are going to discuss the data warehousing industry needs and whether these needs are covered by existing commercial offerings. We will outline some known challenges and discuss how new research could address them. We want to convince attendees that data warehouses are more complicated than they are usually thought of and are therefore interesting as a source of research problems."

  Presenter
  Henrietta Dombrovskaya is a database researcher and practitioner with over 40 years of academic and industrial experience. She holds a Ph.D. in Computer Science from the University of Saint Petersburg, Russia. At present she is Database Architect at DRW Holdings in Chicago, IL. Her research interests are focused on developing efficient interactions between applications and databases and implementation of temporal data. Henrietta is an active community member, a PostgreSQL Contributor and a frequent speaker at the PostgreSQL Conferences. She is a founder of Prairie Postgres, a not-forprofit with the goal to promote Postgres education in the Midwest states of the USA.

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  TIME Tuesday, October 7, 2025 at 6:00 PM - 7:00 PM

  LOCATION 3514, Mudd Hall ( formerly Seeley G. Mudd Library)    map it

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  CONTACT Bella Barrios    marbella.barrios@northwestern.edu EMAIL

  CALENDAR Department of Computer Science (CS)

• Aug

  20

  Nathaniel Hejduk Qualifying Exam Presentation August 20: Navigating Mixed-Typed Migration with Profilers

  Department of Computer Science (CS)

  1:00 PM Mudd 3514, Mudd Hall ( formerly Seeley G. Mudd Library)

  EVENT DETAILS

  The component-by-component migration of a program from untyped to typed can trigger unintended performance degradations. When such a degradation occurs, typing well-chosen components can lessen the cost of type enforcement, while typing poorly chosen components can exacerbate it. In this talk, I examine whether off-the-shelf profiling tools deliver information that helps programmers navigate these migration choices effectively in Typed Racket.

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  TIME Thursday, August 20, 2026 at 1:00 PM - 4:00 PM

  LOCATION Mudd 3514, Mudd Hall ( formerly Seeley G. Mudd Library)    map it

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  CONTACT Jensen Smith    jensen.smith@northwestern.edu EMAIL

  CALENDAR Department of Computer Science (CS)

• Sep

  14

  Welcome & Breakfast for New McCormick PhD Students

  McCormick School of Engineering and Applied Science

  9:00 AM LR2, Technological Institute

  EVENT DETAILS

  Enjoy a welcome from Dean Christopher A. Schuh and other McCormick leaders, and receive a Northwestern Engineering T-shirt. A free breakfast on the Tech East Plaza will follow.

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  TIME Monday, September 14, 2026 at 9:00 AM - 10:30 AM

  LOCATION LR2, Technological Institute    map it

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  CONTACT Andi Joppie    andi.joppie@northwestern.edu EMAIL

  CALENDAR McCormick School of Engineering and Applied Science

• Sep

  22

  Welcome & Luncheon for New Full-time Graduate Students

  McCormick School of Engineering and Applied Science

  11:00 AM Ryan Family Auditorium, Technological Institute

  EVENT DETAILS

  Enjoy a welcome from Dean Christopher A. Schuh and other McCormick leaders, and receive a Northwestern Engineering T-shirt. A free lunch on the Tech East Plaza will follow.

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  TIME Tuesday, September 22, 2026 at 11:00 AM - 12:30 PM

  LOCATION Ryan Family Auditorium, Technological Institute    map it

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  CONTACT Andi Joppie    andi.joppie@northwestern.edu EMAIL

  CALENDAR McCormick School of Engineering and Applied Science

• Sep

  24

  Bagel Thursday + Discussion

  Department of Computer Science (CS)

  9:00 AM 3514, Mudd Hall ( formerly Seeley G. Mudd Library)

  EVENT DETAILS

  tba

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  TIME Thursday, September 24, 2026 at 9:00 AM - 11:00 AM

  LOCATION 3514, Mudd Hall ( formerly Seeley G. Mudd Library)    map it

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  CONTACT Wynante R Charles    wynante.charles@northwestern.edu EMAIL

  CALENDAR Department of Computer Science (CS)

• Sep

  28

  CS Seminar

  Department of Computer Science (CS)

  12:00 PM 3514, Mudd Hall ( formerly Seeley G. Mudd Library)

  EVENT DETAILS

  Monday / CS Seminar
  September 28 / 12:00 PM
  Hybrid / Mudd 3514

  Speaker
  TBA

  Talk Title
  TBA

  Abstract
  TBA

  Biography
  TBA

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  Zoom Link
  Panopto Link

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  TIME Monday, September 28, 2026 at 12:00 PM - 1:00 PM

  LOCATION 3514, Mudd Hall ( formerly Seeley G. Mudd Library)    map it

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  CONTACT Wynante R Charles    wynante.charles@northwestern.edu EMAIL

  CALENDAR Department of Computer Science (CS)

• Oct

  5

  CS Seminar: Formal Relational Equivalence for SQL, GenAI, and Beyond (Brian Suchy)

  Department of Computer Science (CS)

  12:00 PM 3514, Mudd Hall ( formerly Seeley G. Mudd Library)

  EVENT DETAILS

  Monday / CS Seminar
  October 5 / 12:00 PM
  Hybrid / Mudd 3514

  Speaker
  Brian Suchy, Software Engineer Google DeepMind

  Talk Title
  Formal Relational Equivalence for SQL, GenAI, and Beyond

  Abstract
  Verifying that complex query rewrites from database optimizers or AI-driven generators preserve exact bag semantics under three-valued logic is an NP-hard challenge. To address this, we present an MLIR-native compiler framework that formally reasons about relational algebra. By decoupling query semantics from specific execution engines and lowering queries into a unified Relational Algebra Intermediate Representation, our language-agnostic methodology definitively proves semantic equivalence across all possible database states.

  The core of the presentation will deep-dive into our multi-tiered proving architecture, which synthesizes several advanced academic methodologies. First, we utilize E-Graphs and Equality Saturation to rapidly explore the equivalence space and detect structural congruence between query abstract syntax trees using fast, algebraic rewrite rules. Second, we employ Semiring Arithmetic, treating relational algebra as expressions over K-relations to leverage algebraic simplification and canonical forms under semiring laws. Finally, we implement a First-Order Logic and SMT translation path, lowering Relational Algebra into Relational Calculus and then into First-Order Logic to evaluate constraints and domain-specific axioms using parallel solvers like Z3 and CVC5, which either formally proves equivalence or synthesizes concrete counter-examples.

  Finally, we will discuss the practical implications of combining these formal mathematical methods with modern compiler design. Attendees will leave with a comprehensive understanding of how bridging database theory, equality saturation, and SMT solving can create robust solutions for verifying query optimizers, enforcing semantic correctness, and validating automated SQL generation at scale.

  Biography
  Brian Suchy is a Software Engineer within Google DeepMind.
  In his time at Google he has worked on F1 Query (Google's internal SQL query engine), hardware development, and (of course) AI.
  Prior to joining Google, Brian received his PhD student at Northwestern University, advised by Peter Dinda, with a focus on hardware/software codesign and memory management.

  Research Interests: Artificial Intelligence, Query Processing and Formal Logic

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  Zoom Link
  Panopto Link

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  TIME Monday, October 5, 2026 at 12:00 PM - 1:00 PM

  LOCATION 3514, Mudd Hall ( formerly Seeley G. Mudd Library)    map it

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  CONTACT Wynante R Charles    wynante.charles@northwestern.edu EMAIL

  CALENDAR Department of Computer Science (CS)

• Oct

  29

  Bagel Thursday + Discussion

  Department of Computer Science (CS)

  9:00 AM 3514, Mudd Hall ( formerly Seeley G. Mudd Library)

  EVENT DETAILS

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  TIME Thursday, October 29, 2026 at 9:00 AM - 11:00 AM

  LOCATION 3514, Mudd Hall ( formerly Seeley G. Mudd Library)    map it

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  CONTACT Wynante R Charles    wynante.charles@northwestern.edu EMAIL

  CALENDAR Department of Computer Science (CS)

• Nov

  19

  Bagel Thursday + Discussion

  Department of Computer Science (CS)

  9:00 AM 3514, Mudd Hall ( formerly Seeley G. Mudd Library)

  EVENT DETAILS

  tba

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  TIME Thursday, November 19, 2026 at 9:00 AM - 11:00 AM

  LOCATION 3514, Mudd Hall ( formerly Seeley G. Mudd Library)    map it

  ADD TO CALENDAR

  CONTACT Wynante R Charles    wynante.charles@northwestern.edu EMAIL

  CALENDAR Department of Computer Science (CS)