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• Apr

  29

  ECE Seminar: Randy Freeman

  Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering (ECE)

  10:00 AM L440, Technological Institute

  EVENT DETAILS

  Data privacy has become a major concern in machine learning and other applications of data processing. Differential privacy, a particular form of data privacy, has emerged as a powerful and rigorous approach to defending against a variety of privacy attacks. This approach involves a fundamental trade-off between privacy and accuracy (or utility), and one must carefully manage this trade-off in algorithm design. In this talk, I will explore a new notion of privacy, called relative privacy, which is based on the information-theoretic notion of relative entropy. An intriguing feature of relative privacy is that it is decoupled from accuracy in the sense that some algorithms can simultaneously provide perfect accuracy and near-perfect relative privacy. In some cases, one can make a relatively private algorithm also differentially private simply by perturbing the data at the algorithm input. I will describe a new gradient-descent method for distributed optimization that guarantees both perfect accuracy and near-perfect relative privacy, both from participating computational nodes and from eavesdroppers, under simple topological conditions on the communication graph.

  Randy Freeman received a Ph.D. in Electrical Engineering from the University of California at Santa Barbara in 1995, after having received B.S. and M.S. degrees in EE from Cornell University and the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign (respectively). He joined Northwestern University in 1996, where he is currently a Professor of Electrical and Computer Engineering. He received the National Science Foundation CAREER Award in 1997, as well as best paper awards from the Asian Journal of Control (2013-2014) and the IEEE Control Systems Magazine (2021). He received his department's best teacher award twice, first in 1998 and again in 2025. His research interests include nonlinear system theory, nonlinear control, robust control, optimal control, and distributed control and estimation.

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  TIME Wednesday, April 29, 2026 at 10:00 AM - 11:30 AM

  LOCATION L440, Technological Institute    map it

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  CONTACT Amani Walker    amani.walker@northwestern.edu EMAIL

  CALENDAR Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering (ECE)

• Jun

  3

  ECE Seminar: Gil Zussman

  Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering (ECE)

  10:00 AM L440, Technological Institute

  EVENT DETAILS

  Join us for our weekly Electrical and Computer Engineering Speaker Series, where innovation meets insight. Each week, we host a distinguished speaker from academia, industry, or research who will share cutting-edge developments, emerging trends, and real-world applications shaping the future of ECE.

  From advances in artificial intelligence and embedded systems to breakthroughs in communications, power systems, and beyond, these talks are designed to spark curiosity, inspire new ideas, and connect our community with leaders in the field.

  Whether you're a student, researcher, or simply passionate about technology, this series offers a valuable opportunity to learn, ask questions, and engage with exciting work at the forefront of Electrical and Computer Engineering.

  Stay tuned for weekly updates on upcoming topics and speakers!

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  TIME Wednesday, June 3, 2026 at 10:00 AM - 11:30 AM

  LOCATION L440, Technological Institute    map it

  ADD TO CALENDAR

  CONTACT Amani Walker    amani.walker@northwestern.edu EMAIL

  CALENDAR Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering (ECE)