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Department Events

Events

• Nov

  8

  Belytshcko Lecture: Prof. Cristina Amon

  McCormick - Mechanical Engineering

  4:00 PM The Hive, Room 2350, Ford Motor Company Engineering Design Center

  EVENT DETAILS

  Rethinking Education for the 21st Century Engineers

  Experiences from the University of Toronto

  The engineering profession continues to increase in relevance and complexity with the convergence of disciplines and globalization while benefiting from greater diversity of perspectives. Engineering education is evolving in response to these factors and the increased emphasis on entrepreneurship and innovation to drive economic prosperity.

  Educating engineers for this 21st century reality requires instilling in our students professional competencies in cross-disciplinary collaboration, global and diverse perspective, leadership, entrepreneurship and business, in addition to strong technical foundation. This talk describes curricular and co-curricular programming which provides opportunities for engineering students to develop those competencies, offered through the Centre for Global Engineering, the Entrepreneurship Hatchery, the Institute for Multidisciplinary Design & Innovation, the Troost Institute for Leadership Education in Engineering and the recently launched Institute for Studies in Transdisciplinary Engineering Education and Practice at the University of Toronto. It also describes the relevance of collaborative learning environments and experiential learning programming as well as initiatives in cross-cultural and multidisciplinary capstone courses in partnership with industry.

  Biography

  Cristina Amon is the Distinguished Alumni Professor and former Dean at the University of Toronto’s Faculty of Applied Science & Engineering. Under her visionary leadership, Canada’s top ranked engineering Faculty has become a global hub for interdisciplinary research and education, known for its strategic initiatives, cross-Faculty centres and institutes, and innovative undergraduate and graduate programming. Prior to joining U of T in 2006, Dean Amon was the Raymond J. Lane Distinguished Professor and Director of the Institute for Complex Engineered at Carnegie Mellon University.

  A pioneer in Computational Fluid Dynamics for thermal designs subject to multidisciplinary constraints, Professor Amon’s current research is in thermal transport in nanoscale semiconductors, energy systems, EV batteries and biomedical devices. She is a professional engineer, fellow of all major professional societies in her field, and has contributed over 380 articles to the education and research literature.

  Among numerous recognitions, Cristina Amon received the ASME Gustus Larson Memorial Award, the ASEE Westinghouse Medal, and the ASME Heat Transfer Memorial Award. She was named one of America’s most important Hispanics in technology and business, and received the Engineers Canada Award for support of Women in the Engineering Profession. She was recognized as Canada's Most Influential Women in 2012, received the YWCA Toronto Woman of Distinction Award, and was honoured with the Society of Women Engineers top award. She received the 2017 Sir John Kennedy Medal, the highest recognition of the Engineering Institute of Canada, and was awarded the 2015 PEO Gold Medal, Ontario’s most prestigious honour for engineering public service, technical excellence and professional leadership. She was inducted into the Canadian Academy of Engineering, Spanish Royal Academy, U.S. National Academy of Engineering and Royal Society of Canada.

  Born in Uruguay, Dr. Amon earned her Mechanical Engineering degree from Simon Bolivar University in Venezuela, and her M.S. and Sc.D. from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.

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  TIME Friday, November 8, 2019 at 4:00 PM - 5:00 PM

  LOCATION The Hive, Room 2350, Ford Motor Company Engineering Design Center    map it

  ADD TO CALENDAR

  CONTACT Jeremy Wells    jeremywells@northwestern.edu EMAIL

  CALENDAR McCormick - Mechanical Engineering

• Apr

  30

  ME Alumni Seminar Series- Apostolos Karafillis

  McCormick - Mechanical Engineering (ME)

  2:00 PM 1.350, Ford Motor Company Engineering Design Center

  EVENT DETAILS

  On the Design and Manufacture of Structures for Flightworthy Gas Turbines
  by Apostolos Karafillis
  Chief Consulting Engineer
  Structures and Additive Design
  GE Aerospace
  Abstract
  The design and manufacture of gas turbine components presents unique technical challenges that highlight the relevance and importance of the disciplines of mechanical and aerospace engineering. In this presentation, we will focus on describing the fundamental technical requirements for parts of flightworthy gas turbines and will then share examples of designs and innovations to meet these requirements. The talk will include the description of typical loading conditions and operating environments, and the description of how these requirements guide the selection of design features, materials, and manufacturing methods. We will discuss three specific examples: The selection of features and architecture of a bearing housing, the design of a turbine frame with a mix of metallic and composite materials, and the development of methods for characterizing the performance of components manufactured with non-traditional methods. Through these examples, it will be shown that successful hardware design requires the combination of robust design methods, rigorous implementation of the principles of mechanics of materials, and the development of design and manufacturing innovation.

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  TIME Tuesday, April 30, 2024 at 2:00 PM - 3:00 PM

  LOCATION 1.350, Ford Motor Company Engineering Design Center    map it

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  CONTACT Jeremy Wells    jeremywells@northwestern.edu EMAIL

  CALENDAR McCormick - Mechanical Engineering (ME)

• May

  3

  Russ Tedrake, MIT and Toyota Research Institute, "Dexterous Manipulation with Diffusion Policies"

  Center for Robotics and Biosystems (CRB)

  11:30 AM M416, Technological Institute

  EVENT DETAILSmore info

  

  Speaker: Russ Tedrake, Toyota Professor of EECS, Aero/Astro, ME at Massachusetts Institute of Technology and VP of Research at Toyota Research Institute

  Title: Dexterous Manipulation with Diffusion Policies

  Date and Time: Friday, May 3 at 11:30 AM CT

  Location: Tech ESAM M416 and Zoom

  Zoom Link: https://tinyurl.com/CRBSeminar

  • NU-authenticated attendees will be automatically admitted. Others, please email amy.nedoss@northwestern.edu to be admitted from the waiting room.

  Abstract:

  At the Toyota Research Institute (TRI), we've been working on behavior cloning for dexterous manipulation. Building on the Diffusion Policy framework that we've recently developed in collaboration with Shuran Song, we now have a very solid pipeline for taking ~50-100 bimanual haptic teleop demonstrations and turning that into a surprisingly effective visuomotor (+tactile) policy. Because there is no explicit state representation required, these skills work equally well manipulating deformable, liquid, or other difficult to model tasks as they do for more traditional rigid-object manipulation. We're actively scaling this up into the multi-task setting and now see a plausible path towards "Large Behavior Models". This behavior cloning pipeline is working incredibly well, and must be understood deeply in the broader context of output-feedback control. Time permitting, I'll also tell you a bit about some new results in optimization-based planning and control, and where they might fit in the age of foundation models.

  Bio:

  Russ Tedrake is the Toyota Professor at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) in the Department of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science, Mechanical Engineering, and Aero/Astro, and he is a member of MIT’s Computer Science and Artificial Intelligence Lab (CSAIL). He is also the Vice President of Robotics Research at Toyota Research Institute (TRI). He received a B.S.E. in Computer Engineering from the University of Michigan in 1999, and a Ph.D. in Electrical Engineering and Computer Science from MIT in 2004. Dr. Tedrake is the Director of the MIT CSAIL Center for Robotics and was the leader of MIT’s entry in the DARPA Robotics Challenge. He is a recipient of the NSF CAREER Award, the MIT Jerome Saltzer Award for undergraduate teaching, the DARPA Young Faculty Award in Mathematics, the 2012 Ruth and Joel Spira Teaching Award, and was named a Microsoft Research New Faculty Fellow. His research has been recognized with numerous conference best paper awards, including ICRA, Robotics: Science and Systems, Humanoids, Hybrid Systems: Computation and Control, as well as the inaugural best paper award from the IEEE RAS Technical Committee on Whole-Body Control.

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  TIME Friday, May 3, 2024 at 11:30 AM - 12:30 PM

  LOCATION M416, Technological Institute    map it

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  CONTACT Amy Nedoss    amy.nedoss@northwestern.edu EMAIL

  CALENDAR Center for Robotics and Biosystems (CRB)

• May

  8

  Extending Care: A Conversation about Conservation and Futurity

  Block Museum of Art

  6:00 PM Block Museum of Art, Mary and Leigh

  EVENT DETAILSmore info

  The Center for Scientific Studies in the Arts is a collaboration between the Art Institute of Chicago and materials science-related departments at Northwestern University to pursue objects-based and objects-inspired scientific research. Materials research benefits ongoing work in conservation, archaeology, art history, and curatorial scholarship.

  Learn how the Center uses materials research to care for art objects in sustainable, innovative ways with Maria Kokkori, Senior Scientist in the Center for Scientific Studies in the Arts. She will be in conversation with Corey Byrnes, Northwestern Associate Professor of Chinese Culture and co-founder/co-director of the Environmental Humanities Workshop in Kaplan Humanities Center.

  This event is presented by the McCormick School of Engineering and Applied Science in conjunction with exhibition Actions for the Earth: Art, Care & Ecology.

  Register Now

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  TIME Wednesday, May 8, 2024 at 6:00 PM - 7:30 PM

  LOCATION Block Museum of Art, Mary and Leigh    map it

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  CONTACT Block Museum of Art    block-museum@northwestern.edu EMAIL

  CALENDAR Block Museum of Art

• Jun

  10

  Northwestern Engineering PhD Hooding and Master's Degree Recognition Ceremony

  McCormick School of Engineering and Applied Science

  9:00 AM Welsh-Ryan Arena

  EVENT DETAILSmore info

  McCormick School of Engineering PhD Hooding and Master’s Degree Recognition Ceremony

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  TIME Monday, June 10, 2024 at 9:00 AM - 11:00 AM

  LOCATION Welsh-Ryan Arena   

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  CONTACT Amy Pokrass    amy.pokrass@northwestern.edu EMAIL

  CALENDAR McCormick School of Engineering and Applied Science

• Jun

  10

  Northwestern Engineering Undergraduate Convocation

  McCormick School of Engineering and Applied Science

  2:00 PM Welsh-Ryan Arena

  EVENT DETAILSmore info

  McCormick School of Engineering Undergraduate Convocation

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  TIME Monday, June 10, 2024 at 2:00 PM - 4:00 PM

  LOCATION Welsh-Ryan Arena   

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  CONTACT Amy Pokrass    amy.pokrass@northwestern.edu EMAIL

  CALENDAR McCormick School of Engineering and Applied Science

• Aug

  14

  Undergraduate Quantum Summer School

  McCormick School of Engineering and Applied Science

  All Day Ford Motor Company Engineering Design Center

  EVENT DETAILSmore info

  Innovation in Quantum Pedagogy, Application, and its Relation to Culture (IQ-PARC), funded by the Department of Defense — National Defense Education Program, is extending an invitation to underrepresented students nationwide (including military-connected students) to participate in a summer school focused on quantum technologies, to be held at Northwestern University. Join us for presentations by faculty and industry partners introducing quantum technologies, cutting-edge research areas, and related job opportunities particularly in the areas of national security.

  This effort aims to foster an inclusive environment that encourages participation from all corners of the academic community. Successful applicants will receive up to $1,000 USD to cover travel and lodging expenses in Evanston, IL.

  Priority application deadline: May 15, 2024.

  Decisions will be sent by June 15, 2024.

  Register Now

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  TIME Wednesday, August 14, 2024

  LOCATION Ford Motor Company Engineering Design Center    map it

  ADD TO CALENDAR

  CONTACT Dongyang Li    lidongyang@northwestern.edu EMAIL

  CALENDAR McCormick School of Engineering and Applied Science

• Aug

  15

  Undergraduate Quantum Summer School

  McCormick School of Engineering and Applied Science

  All Day Ford Motor Company Engineering Design Center

  EVENT DETAILSmore info

  Innovation in Quantum Pedagogy, Application, and its Relation to Culture (IQ-PARC), funded by the Department of Defense — National Defense Education Program, is extending an invitation to underrepresented students nationwide (including military-connected students) to participate in a summer school focused on quantum technologies, to be held at Northwestern University. Join us for presentations by faculty and industry partners introducing quantum technologies, cutting-edge research areas, and related job opportunities particularly in the areas of national security.

  This effort aims to foster an inclusive environment that encourages participation from all corners of the academic community. Successful applicants will receive up to $1,000 USD to cover travel and lodging expenses in Evanston, IL.

  Priority application deadline: May 15, 2024.

  Decisions will be sent by June 15, 2024.

  Register Now

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  TIME Thursday, August 15, 2024

  LOCATION Ford Motor Company Engineering Design Center    map it

  ADD TO CALENDAR

  CONTACT Dongyang Li    lidongyang@northwestern.edu EMAIL

  CALENDAR McCormick School of Engineering and Applied Science