News & EventsDepartment Events & Announcements
Events
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Jan29
EVENT DETAILS
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Join us for our monthly free bagels and coffee while mingling with fellow faculty and students.
There will also be another informal discussion from 9:30AM hosted by CSPAC and CSSI on the topic "AI in Research". Invited guests Aaron Shaw, Jessica Hullman, and Samir Khuller will discuss this topic with a focus on integrating AI in the research process (brainstorming, literature review, experimental setup, writing, etc.).
TIME Thursday, January 29, 2026 at 9:00 AM - 11:00 AM
LOCATION 3514, Mudd Hall ( formerly Seeley G. Mudd Library) map it
CONTACT Wynante R Charles wynante.charles@northwestern.edu EMAIL
CALENDAR Department of Computer Science (CS)
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Feb12
EVENT DETAILS
lessTitle: Complementarity in Human-AI Collaborations
Abstract: Multi-agent decision pipelines (including human-AI collaboration) can outperform single agent workflows when complementarity holds, i.e., different agents bring unique information to the table to inform a final decision. In this talk, I will present a set of decision-theoretic frameworks we developed to measure and leverage complementarity in multi-agent decision-making. I will share examples of how these tools help diagnose when people should rely on AI, communicate what information is missing, and train language models to surface complementary signals from text to support better decisions.
TIME Thursday, February 12, 2026 at 12:00 PM - 1:00 PM
LOCATION 3514, Mudd Hall ( formerly Seeley G. Mudd Library) map it
CONTACT Wynante R Charles wynante.charles@northwestern.edu EMAIL
CALENDAR Department of Computer Science (CS)
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Feb23
EVENT DETAILS
lessMonday / CS Seminar
February 23 / 12:00 PM
Hybrid / Mudd 3514Speaker
Xiaorui Sun, UICTalk Title
Toward Faster Algebraic Computation: An Isomorphism PerspectiveAbstract
"Over the past few decades, linear-algebraic techniques played a central role in the design of faster algorithms, with notable successes in many graph algorithms such as maximum flow and shortest paths. However, for many problems that are not yet known to admit polynomial-time algorithms—such as integer factoring and various isomorphism problems—linear methods alone are often insufficient. In these settings, more general nonlinear algebraic structures, including groups, rings, and modules, naturally arise. Achieving further algorithmic progress requires a deeper understanding of these algebraic objects.
In this talk, I will discuss how algebraic representations have become essential to recent advances in isomorphism problems. I will highlight connections among several central isomorphism problems and survey the techniques that have led to more efficient algorithms. I will conclude by discussing open challenges and outlining promising directions for future research."
Biography
Xiaorui Sun is an Associate Professor of Computer Science at the University of Illinois Chicago. His research interests lie in theoretical computer science, with an emphasis on the intersection of algorithms and algebraic computation. After earning his PhD from Columbia University, he worked at Simons Institute for the Theory of Computing and Microsoft Research. He is a recipient of the NSF CAREER Award, and his work have been featured in Communications of the ACM and Quanta Magazine.Research Interests: theoretical computer science, algorithms, and algebraic computation
TIME Monday, February 23, 2026 at 12:00 PM - 1:00 PM
LOCATION 3514, Mudd Hall ( formerly Seeley G. Mudd Library) map it
CONTACT Wynante R Charles wynante.charles@northwestern.edu EMAIL
CALENDAR Department of Computer Science (CS)
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Feb25
EVENT DETAILS
lessWednesday / CS Seminar
February 25 / 12:00 PM
Hybrid / Mudd 3514Speaker
Austin Mordahl, UICTalk Title
TBAAbstract
TBA
Biography
TBAResearch Interests: tba
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Zoom Link
Panopto LinkTIME Wednesday, February 25, 2026 at 12:00 PM - 1:00 PM
LOCATION 3514, Mudd Hall ( formerly Seeley G. Mudd Library) map it
CONTACT Wynante R Charles wynante.charles@northwestern.edu EMAIL
CALENDAR Department of Computer Science (CS)
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Feb26
EVENT DETAILS
lessCS Community! Join us for our monthly free bagels and coffee while mingling with fellow faculty and students.
TIME Thursday, February 26, 2026 at 9:00 AM - 11:00 AM
LOCATION 3514, Mudd Hall ( formerly Seeley G. Mudd Library) map it
CONTACT Wynante R Charles wynante.charles@northwestern.edu EMAIL
CALENDAR Department of Computer Science (CS)
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Mar2
EVENT DETAILS
lessMonday / CS Seminar
March 2 / 12:00 PM
Hybrid / Mudd 3514Speaker
Rana Hanocka, University of ChicagoTalk Title
Data-Driven Neural Mesh Editing – without 3D DataAbstract
Much of the current success of deep learning has been driven by massive amounts of curated data, whether annotated or unannotated. Compared to image datasets, developing large-scale 3D datasets is either prohibitively expensive or impractical. In this talk, I will present several works that harness the power of data-driven deep learning for tasks in shape editing and processing, without any 3D datasets. I will discuss works that learn to synthesize and analyze 3D geometry using large image datasets.Biography
Rana Hanocka is an Assistant Professor at the University of Chicago and holds a courtesy appointment at the Toyota Technological Institute at Chicago (TTIC). She founded and directs the 3DL (Threedle) research collective, comprised of enthusiastic researchers passionate about 3D, machine learning, and visual computing. Her research interests span computer graphics, computer vision, and machine learning. She completed her Ph.D. at Tel Aviv University under the supervision of Daniel Cohen-Or and Raja Giryes. Her Ph.D. research focused on building neural networks for irregular 3D data and applying them to problems in geometry processing.---
Zoom: TBA
Panopto: TBATIME Monday, March 2, 2026 at 12:00 PM - 1:00 PM
LOCATION 3514, Mudd Hall ( formerly Seeley G. Mudd Library) map it
CONTACT Wynante R Charles wynante.charles@northwestern.edu EMAIL
CALENDAR Department of Computer Science (CS)
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Apr6
EVENT DETAILS
lessMonday / CS Joint Seminar
April 6 / 3:00 PM
Ford Motor ITWA joint seminar presented by Mechanical Engineering, Computer Science, and the Center for Human–Computer Interaction + Design
Speaker
Faez Ahmed, Massachusetts Institute of TechnologyTalk Title
From Data to Design: Rethinking Engineering Design With Next-Gen AIAbstract
Generative AI is transforming how we create, customize, and accelerate digital content. Yet applying these tools to engineering design introduces unique challenges, from maintaining precision under evolving requirements to working effectively in data-scarce environments and interpreting designer intent. In this talk, I will discuss these challenges and show how emerging engineering-focused foundation models are beginning to address them, reshaping workflows in areas such as vehicle design, CAD automation, and design optimization. I will highlight new opportunities enabled by generative AI that integrates multimodal data with engineering analysis and optimization, and present examples of AI-driven design co-pilots for engineering tasks. The talk will conclude with a perspective on how AI enables us to broaden design democratization, accelerate innovation cycles, and fundamentally reshape the role of engineers.Biography
Faez Ahmed is an Associate Professor of Mechanical Engineering at MIT, where heleads the DeCoDE Lab. His research focuses on AI for engineering design, including deep generative models, multimodal representations, and human–AI collaboration. His work has been recognized with the NSF CAREER Award, ASME DAC and DTM Young Investigator Awards, the Google Research Scholar Award, and the Amazon Research Award. He serves as an Associate Editor for Computer-Aided Design and Design Science.TIME Monday, April 6, 2026 at 12:00 PM - 1:00 PM
LOCATION ITW 1350, Ford Motor Company Engineering Design Center map it
CONTACT Wynante R Charles wynante.charles@northwestern.edu EMAIL
CALENDAR Department of Computer Science (CS)
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May4
EVENT DETAILS
lessMonday / CS Seminar
May 4 / 12:00 PM
Hybrid / Mudd 3514Speaker
TBATalk Title
TBAAbstract
TBABiography
TBA---
Zoom: TBA
Panopto: TBATIME Monday, May 4, 2026 at 12:00 PM - 1:00 PM
LOCATION 3514, Mudd Hall ( formerly Seeley G. Mudd Library) map it
CONTACT Wynante R Charles wynante.charles@northwestern.edu EMAIL
CALENDAR Department of Computer Science (CS)