Inside Our ProgramProgram Events
Events
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Apr15
EVENT DETAILS
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In collaboration with the Kellogg Operations Department
Monday / CS Seminar
April 15th / 12:15 PM
In Person / Kellogg Global Hub 1120Speaker
Cynthia Rudin, Duke UniversityTalk Title
Simpler Machine Learning Models for a Complicated WorldAbstract
While the trend in machine learning has tended towards building more complicated (black box) models, such models have not shown any performance advantages for many real-world datasets, and they are more difficult to troubleshoot and use. For these datasets, simpler models (sometimes small enough to fit on an index card) can be just as accurate. However, the design of interpretable models is quite challenging due to the "interaction bottleneck" where domain experts must interact with machine learning algorithms.I will present a new paradigm for interpretable machine learning that solves the interaction bottleneck. In this paradigm, machine learning algorithms are not focused on finding a single optimal model, but instead capture the full collection of good (i.e., low-loss) models, which we call "the Rashomon set." Finding Rashomon sets is extremely computationally difficult, but the benefits are massive. I will present the first algorithm for finding Rashomon sets for a nontrivial function class (sparse decision trees) called TreeFARMS. TreeFARMS, along with its user interface TimberTrek, mitigate the interaction bottleneck for users. TreeFARMS also allows users to incorporate constraints (such as fairness constraints) easily.
I will also present a "path," that is, a mathematical explanation, for the existence of simpler-yet-accurate models and the circumstances under which they arise. In particular, problems where the outcome is uncertain tend to admit large Rashomon sets and simpler models. Hence, the Rashomon set can shed light on the existence of simpler models for many real-world high-stakes decisions. This conclusion has significant policy implications, as it undermines the main reason for using black box models for decisions that deeply affect people's lives.
This is joint work with my colleagues Margo Seltzer and Ron Parr, as well as our exceptional students Chudi Zhong, Lesia Semenova, Jiachang Liu, Rui Xin, Zhi Chen, and Harry Chen. It builds upon the work of many past students and collaborators over the last decade.
Here are papers I will discuss in the talk:
Rui Xin, Chudi Zhong, Zhi Chen, Takuya Takagi, Margo Seltzer, Cynthia Rudin
Exploring the Whole Rashomon Set of Sparse Decision Trees, NeurIPS (oral), 2022.
https://arxiv.org/abs/2209.08040Zijie J. Wang, Chudi Zhong, Rui Xin, Takuya Takagi, Zhi Chen, Duen Horng Chau, Cynthia Rudin, Margo Seltzer
TimberTrek: Exploring and Curating Sparse Decision Trees with Interactive Visualization, IEEE VIS, 2022.
https://poloclub.github.io/timbertrek/Lesia Semenova, Cynthia Rudin, and Ron Parr
On the Existence of Simpler Machine Learning Models. ACM Conference on Fairness, Accountability, and Transparency (ACM FAccT), 2022.
https://arxiv.org/abs/1908.01755Lesia Semenova, Harry Chen, Ronald Parr, Cynthia Rudin
A Path to Simpler Models Starts With Noise, NeurIPS, 2023.
https://arxiv.org/abs/2310.19726Biography
TBATIME Monday, April 15, 2024 at 12:15 PM - 1:15 PM
LOCATION KGH 1120, Kellogg Global Hub map it
CONTACT Wynante R Charles wynante.charles@northwestern.edu EMAIL
CALENDAR Department of Computer Science (CS)
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May19
EVENT DETAILS
lessThere is now a broad agreement that photonics is essential for reducing energy consumption of AI hardware through optical interconnects, but quantum technologies also need photonics for scaling. This is true even for “non-photonic” quantum systems based on superconductors, or trapped atoms and ions in vacuum. For example, new types of spatial light modulators and switches are needed to trap and control atoms and ions, microwave to optical quantum transducers are needed for networking superconducting processors, chip-scale laser systems are required for controlling atoms or spin qubits in solids, and very high efficiency integrated photonics is needed for quantum networks, sensors, and chip-based semiconductor quantum systems. Unfortunately, the desired level of performance and some of the functionalities are not available even in today’s best integrated photonics. We show how this can be addressed by photonics inverse design combined with emerging materials, new nanofabrication and heterogenous integration approaches. Specific examples include development of miniaturized titanium:sapphire lasers and amplifiers on chip, quantum network nodes in diamond, and a quantum simulator with silicon carbide color centers. Classical photonic technologies that will be discussed include fast, compact and error-free chip-scale optical interconnects, as well as CMOS compatible laser isolators and frequency stabilizers.
Jelena Vuckovic (PhD Caltech 2002) is the Jensen Huang Professor of Global Leadership, Professor of Electrical Engineering and, by courtesy, of Applied Physics at Stanford. She is a member of the National Academy of Sciences and an External Scientific Member of the Max Planck Institute for Quantum Optics. Her awards include the R.W. Wood Prize from Optica, Zeiss Award, Vannevar Bush Faculty Fellowship, Geoffrey Frew Fellowship from the Australian Academy of Sciences, the IET A. F. Harvey Engineering Research Prize, Mildred Dresselhaus Lectureship from MIT, and the Humboldt Prize. She is a Fellow of the APS, Optica, and IEEE, a lead editor of Physical Review Applied, and an Editor of PNAS.
TIME Tuesday, May 19, 2026 at 10:00 AM - 11:30 AM
LOCATION L440, Technological Institute map it
CONTACT Amani Walker amani.walker@northwestern.edu EMAIL
CALENDAR Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering (ECE)
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May19
EVENT DETAILS
lessCSPAC and CSSI are excited to announce our upcoming series of events on public speaking! All are welcome and encouraged to participate. See below for details:
Public speaking workshop w/ Prof. Samir Khuller @ May 19, 12-1 PM
Come hear tips for crafting talks for various genres, audiences, and venues from Samir! Afterwards, we will split into small groups to draft, practice, and give feedback on talks. Lunch will be provided.Students at any stage in their program are highly encouraged to participate! This is a great opportunity to practice an essential research skill, share your research with others, and receive constructive feedback from supportive faculty!
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What is CSPAC?We are the CS PhD Advisory Council. We are a PhD student-led organization, and our mandate is to interface between PhD students and faculty on academic issues. We want to advocate for PhD students in the department, so if there is some way we can support you, please come talk to us. We welcome PhD students to our weekly meetings on Wednesday 9:30am-10:30am in Mudd 3501 and on zoom. We also welcome anonymous concerns/feedback at any time via this form. Anyone in the community can reach us at cspac@u.northwestern.edu.
TIME Tuesday, May 19, 2026 at 12:00 PM - 1:00 PM
LOCATION Tech L211, Technological Institute map it
CONTACT Melissa Chen melissac@u.northwestern.edu EMAIL
CALENDAR Department of Computer Science (CS)
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May20
EVENT DETAILS
lessJJoin 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!
TIME Wednesday, May 20, 2026 at 10:00 AM - 11:30 AM
LOCATION L440, Technological Institute map it
CONTACT Amani Walker amani.walker@northwestern.edu EMAIL
CALENDAR Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering (ECE)
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May20
EVENT DETAILS
lessWednesday / CS Distinguished Lecture
May 20 / 12:00 PM
Hybrid / Mudd 3514Speaker
Julio OttinoTalk Title
From Clocks to Clouds: Computer Science and the New Architecture of RealityAbstract
"Computer science has become one of the most powerful intellectual forces of our time. It does something no other field quite does: it discovers like science, invents like engineering, and creates like art. In doing so, it has helped build the infrastructure of modern reality—algorithms, platforms, networks, and increasingly, AI systems that shape how billions of people think, interact, and decide.
This talk places computer science on a larger intellectual canvas. It contrasts two ways of seeing the world: one rooted in determinism, decomposition, and control—what we might call the “clock” worldview—and another grounded in emergence, adaptation, and irreducible complexity—the “cloud” worldview. Computer science sits uniquely at the intersection of these modes of thinking.
The field’s greatest achievements have come from its mastery of “clock thinking”: formalization, algorithms, optimization, and scalable systems. But the world these systems now inhabit—and increasingly create—is a “cloud world”: dynamic, interconnected, and only partially predictable.
This mismatch raises a central question: what does computer science need to become when it is not just solving problems, but designing environments—and increasingly, reality itself?
The talk argues that the next phase of the field will require complementing its extraordinary precision with new forms of rigor—tools for navigating uncertainty, reasoning under incomplete models, and designing for emergence rather than control.
Computer science has already shaped the landscape we live in. The question now is whether it will also develop the intellectual frameworks needed to understand—and responsibly guide—the worlds it is creating."Biography
Julio Mario Ottino is a researcher, engineering scientist, academic leader, educator, artist, and author. He is Founder and Co-Director of the Northwestern Institute on Complex Systems, McCormick Institute Professor of Engineering, and Professor of Management and Organizations at Northwestern University. Widely recognized as a world authority on chaos and complexity, he has been a Guggenheim Fellow and is a member of the National Academy of Engineering, the National Academy of Sciences, and the American Academy of Arts and Sciences. As Dean of Engineering, he launched major university-wide initiatives, programs, degrees, and centers spanning design, energy and sustainability, human–computer interaction, and entrepreneurship. His most recent book is The Nexus: Augmented Thinking for a Complex World — The New Convergence of Art, Technology, and Science (MIT Press, 2022).Research Areas: complex systems
TIME Wednesday, May 20, 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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May22
EVENT DETAILS
lessAdvanced Persistent Threats (APTs) have emerged as one of the most consequential categories of cyberattacks, causing widespread damage to enterprise infrastructure, critical systems, and national security. In response, the research community has made substantial progress in APT detection and defense, especially through the development of provenance-based intrusion detection systems (PIDS). Despite these advances, significant gaps persist between academic research and operational practice. First, complex graph-learning-based detectors incur high computational overhead, excessive detection latency, and degraded performance under the bursty, irregular workloads common in production environments. Second, the absence of systematic, scalable methods for generating realistic APT attack scenarios limits the thoroughness with which defense systems can be stress-tested. Lastly, the field continues to be constrained by the scarcity of comprehensive, realistic, and up-to-date benchmark datasets for APT intrusion detection research. This dissertation addresses these three operational gaps through ML and AI, particularly generative AI. It defines, analyzes, and proposes solutions for: (1) efficiency challenges in provenance-based intrusion detection; (2) the absence of systematic, scalable methods for generating realistic, causality-preserving APT attack scenarios for rigorous red-team evaluation; and (3) the scarcity of comprehensive, realistic, and up-to-date benchmark datasets for APT intrusion detection.
TIME Friday, May 22, 2026 at 11:00 AM - 1:00 PM
LOCATION Mudd 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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May22
EVENT DETAILS
lessStructured schematic images—such as diagrams, maps, and puzzles—convey meaning through discrete visual elements and spatial relations. Although modern vision-language models offer strong semantic priors, they often struggle with fine-grained structure, precise relational grounding, and long-horizon state tracking. I propose a neuro-symbolic approach to schematic visual understanding centered on explicit, grounded intermediate representations.
The work builds on cognitive science accounts in which visual understanding proceeds from primitives and objects to qualitative spatial relations and task-relevant structures. It extends CogSketch, a cognitive visual-understanding system that represents scenes using glyphs and qualitative relations and links them to analogical reasoning systems such as SME, MAC/FAC, and SAGE. CogSketch plus analogy has been used in both cognitive modeling and deployed systems where the input is digital ink. This prospectus addresses the challenge of starting with images of structured semantic materials. VLMs are used as components in a representation-building pipeline that produces visual elements and spatial relations for downstream symbolic and analogical reasoning. Planned experiments to test these ideas include visual-to-formal encoding for puzzle solving, planning, and theory of mind reasoning. My claim is that explicit grounded representations offer a more interpretable, data-efficient, and reliable basis for advanced reasoning than direct end-to-end vision-language methods alone.
TIME Friday, May 22, 2026 at 3:00 PM - 5:00 PM
CONTACT Wynante R Charles wynante.charles@northwestern.edu EMAIL
CALENDAR Department of Computer Science (CS)
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May26
EVENT DETAILS
lessCSPAC and CSSI are excited to announce our upcoming series of events on public speaking! All are welcome and encouraged to participate. See below for details:
Lightning talk competition @ May 26, 3:30-5 PM [sign up to present]
Present a 3-minute lightning talk about your research to a panel of judges. Winners will be awarded at the department awards ceremony on May 27. Snacks and refreshments will be provided. While we encourage all students to present, you are also welcome to join to watch and support your peers!
Students at any stage in their program are highly encouraged to participate! This is a great opportunity to practice an essential research skill, share your research with others, and receive constructive feedback from supportive faculty!
Questions? Email melissac@u.northwestern.edu.
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What is CSPAC?We are the CS PhD Advisory Council. We are a PhD student-led organization, and our mandate is to interface between PhD students and faculty on academic issues. We want to advocate for PhD students in the department, so if there is some way we can support you, please come talk to us. We welcome PhD students to our weekly meetings on Wednesday 9:30am-10:30am in Mudd 3501 and on zoom. We also welcome anonymous concerns/feedback at any time via this form. Anyone in the community can reach us at cspac@u.northwestern.edu.
TIME Tuesday, May 26, 2026 at 3:30 PM - 5:00 PM
CONTACT Melissa Chen melissac@u.northwestern.edu EMAIL
CALENDAR Department of Computer Science (CS)
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May27
EVENT DETAILS
lessDear CS Community:
We are excited to invite you to our End of Year Awards Celebration! Join us on Wednesday, May 27th in TGS Commons at 3pm to help recognize the amazing dedication and hard work our students, faculty, and staff have done this year. Light refreshments and snacks will be served.
Please RSVP no later than May 25th by following this link: Computer Science End of Year Awards Celebration
TIME Wednesday, May 27, 2026 at 3:00 PM - 5:00 PM
LOCATION TGS Commons, 2122 Sheridan Road map it
CONTACT Wynante Charles wynante.charles@northwestern.edu EMAIL
CALENDAR Department of Computer Science (CS)
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May28
EVENT DETAILS
lessJoin us for free bagels and coffee followed by an informal discussion hosted by CSPAC and CSSI.
TIME Thursday, May 28, 2026 at 9:00 AM - 11:00 PM
LOCATION 3514, Mudd Hall ( formerly Seeley G. Mudd Library) map it
CONTACT Wynante Charles wynante.charles@northwestern.edu EMAIL
CALENDAR Department of Computer Science (CS)
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Jun3
EVENT DETAILS
lessJoin 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!
TIME Wednesday, June 3, 2026 at 10:00 AM - 11:30 AM
LOCATION L440, Technological Institute map it
CONTACT Amani Walker amani.walker@northwestern.edu EMAIL
CALENDAR Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering (ECE)
