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  • Connected Cars for Smart Cities

    Room ENG 288, Ryerson University, 245 Church Street, Toronto, ON

    Monday December 7, 2015 at 12:30 p.m. Shahrokh Valaee, Professor and Associate Chair for Undergraduate Studies at the Edward S. Rogers Sr. Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering, University of Toronto, will be presenting “Connected Cars for Smart Cities”. Speaker: Shahrokh Valaee Professor, Associate Chair for Undergraduate Studies Edward S. Rogers Sr. Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering University of Toronto Day & Time: Monday, December 7, 2015 12:30 p.m. – 1:30 p.m. Location: Room ENG 288, Ryerson University George Vari Center for Engineering & Computing 245 Church Street, Toronto, ON Organizer: IEEE Toronto Computer, Magnetics and Instrument-Measurement Chapters Contact: Dr. Maryam Davoudpour Abstract: Recently we are witnessing the emergence of situation-aware vehicles, equipped with plurality of sensors that can help driver with vehicle control and maneuvering. Cars that can park themselves, provide lane-departure warning, and monitor the driver alertness are marketed with affordable prices. The sensing and processing power of cars are increasing, enabling various safety-enhancing features, such as blind-spot warning, adaptive headlights, adaptive cruise control, and so on. In this talk, we will discuss the next steps for autonomous vehicles. In particular, we will project the path forward by transitioning from autonomous cars to cognitive and intelligent vehicles. Future cars will be enabled with car-to-car and car-to-infrastructure communication capabilities. We will review such enhancement and will focus on two recent research directives that will make future cars intelligent. The two enablers are compressive sensing and network coding. We will show that cooperative compressive sensing can reduce the wireless channel congestion, which is the main challenge in dense vehicular networks. To discuss the communications aspects of vehicular networks, we will introduce a repetition-based medium access control method using positive orthogonal codes, and then propose an opportunistic network-coding scheme to enhance the reliability of communication. We will finally discuss some open research issues. Biography: Shahrokh Valaee is with the Edward S. Rogers Sr. Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering, University of Toronto, where he is a Professor and the Associate Chair for Undergraduate Studies. He is the Founder and the Director of the Wireless and Internet Research Laboratory (WIRLab) at the University of Toronto. Professor Valaee recently served as the TPC Co-Chair of ICT 2015. He was the Track Chair of the IEEE Wireless Communications and Networking Conference (WCNC) 2014, the TPC Co-Chair and the Local Organization Chair of IEEE Personal Mobile Indoor Radio Communication (PIMRC) Symposium 2011, and the Co-Chair for Wireless Communications Symposium of IEEE GLOBECOM 2006. From December 2010 to December 2012, he was the Associate Editor of the IEEE Signal Processing Letters. Currently, he serves as an Editor of IEEE Transactions on Wireless Communications. Since Feb 2015 he has been an Editor of the Elsevier Journal of Computer and System Science. Professor Valaee is a Fellow of the Engineering Institute of Canada.

  • Every Picture Tells a Story: Visual Cluster Assessment in Square and Rectangular Relational Data

    Room 1180, Bahen Center for Information Technology, University of Toronto

    Monday December 7, 2015 at 4:00 p.m. Professor Emeritus James Bezdek will be presenting “Every Picture Tells a Story: Visual Cluster Assessment in Square and Rectangular Relational Data”. Speaker: Emeritus James Bezdek Past President of NAFIPS, IFSA and the IEEE CIS Day & Time: Monday, December 7, 2015 4:00 p.m. – 6:00 p.m. Location: Room 1180 Bahen Center for Information Technology 40 St. George Street, Toronto Organizer: IEEE Toronto Signals & Computational Intelligence Chapter Distinguished Lecturer Program Contact: Lorenzo Livi, Email:llivi@scs.ryerson.ca Abstract: The VAT/iVAT, algorithms are the parents of a large family of visual assessment models. Part 1. Definitions of the three canonical problems of cluster analysis: tendency assessment, clustering, and cluster validity. History of Visual Clustering. Applications: role-based compliance assessment, eldercare time series data, and anomaly detection in wireless sensor networks. Part 2. Extension to siVAT, scalable iVAT for big data. This is the basis of clusiVAT and clusiVAT+ for clustering in big data (Topic 4 below). Application: image segmentation. Extension to coiVAT for assessment of co-clustering tendency in the four clustering problems associated with rectangular relational data. Application: response of 18 Fetal Bovine Serum Treatments to the treatment of fibroblasts in gene expression data. Biography: Jim received the PhD in Applied Mathematics from Cornell University in 1973. Jim is past president of NAFIPS (North American Fuzzy Information Processing Society), IFSA (International Fuzzy Systems Association) and the IEEE CIS (Computational Intelligence Society): founding editor the Int’l. Jo. Approximate Reasoning and the IEEE Transactions on Fuzzy Systems: Life fellow of the IEEE and IFSA; and a recipient of the IEEE 3rd Millennium, IEEE CIS Fuzzy Systems Pioneer, and IEEE technical field award Rosenblatt medals. Jim’s interests: woodworking, optimization, motorcycles, pattern recognition, cigars, clustering in very large data, fishing, co-clustering, blues music, wireless sensor networks, poker and visual clustering. And of course, clustering in big data. Jim retired in 2007, and will be coming to a university near you soon.

  • Applications of Miniaturized-Element Frequency Selective Surfaces in Designing Microwave Lenses, Reflectarrays, and Polarization Converters

    Room BA1210, Bahen Center for Information Technology, 40 St. George Street, Toronto

    Friday December 11, 2015 at 4:00 p.m. Prof. Nader Behdad of University of Wisconsin – Madison, will be presenting “Applications of Miniaturized-Element Frequency Selective Surfaces in Designing Microwave Lenses, Reflectarrays, and Polarization Converters”. Speaker: Prof. Nader Behdad University of Wisconsin – Madison Day & Time: Friday, December 11, 2015 4:00 p.m. Location: Room BA1210, Bahen Center for Information Technology 40 St. George Street, Toronto, ON, M5S 2E4 Organizer: IEEE Toronto Electromagnetics and Radiation Chapter Contact: Sean Victor Hum Abstract: Over the past several years, we have conducted research on a class of frequency selective surfaces with building blocks that consist of cascaded arrays of non-resonant, sub-wavelength periodic structures. Due to the small lateral dimensions and thicknesses of their unit cells, these structures are referred to as miniaturized-element frequency selective surfaces (MEFSSs). As spatial filters, MEFSSs can be designed to provide a wide range of response types with arbitrary levels of selectivity. MEFSSs capable of operating at extremely high incident power levels have also been developed and experimentally demonstrated for operation as spatial filters in HPM systems. Finally, MEFSSs having suppressed harmonics over extremely broad bandwidths have been developed for reduction of radar signatures of antennas and other objects. In addition to acting as spatial filters, the building blocks of MEFSSs can be used to serve other purposes as well. For example, by using the unit cells of a band-pass or a low-pass MEFSS as a spatial phase shifter or a spatial time-delay unit (TDU), wideband, true-time-delay lenses and reflectarrays may be designed. By using anisotropic versions of these spatial TDUs, wideband linear-to-circular polarization converters or polarization selective surfaces can be designed. In this presentation, I will first briefly discuss the principles of operation of MEFSSs and present examples of spatial filters developed for different applications. Subsequently, I will discuss three specific applications where the unit cells of MEFSSs are used as transmissive or reflective time-delay units. These include the development of wideband true-time-delay microwave lenses and reflectarrays as well as broadband linear-to-circular polarization converters designed using anisotropic time delay units. Biography: Nader Behdad received the B.S. degree in Electrical Engineering from Sharif University of Technology (Tehran, Iran) in 2000 and the M.S. and Ph.D. degrees in Electrical Engineering from University of Michigan (Ann Arbor, MI, U.S.A.) in 2003 and 2006 respectively. He was an Assistant Professor with the Department of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science, University of Central Florida, Orlando, FL, USA, from 2006 to 2008, and the Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering, University of Wisconsin–Madison, Madison, WI, USA, from 2009 to 2013, where he is currently an Associate Professor. His research expertise is in the area of applied electromagnetics with emphasis on electrically-small antennas, antenna arrays, antennas for biomedical applications, biomedical applications of RF/microwaves, periodic structures, frequency selective surfaces, passive high-power microwave devices, metamaterials, and biomimetics and biologically inspired systems in electromagnetics. Prof. Behdad was a recipient of the IEEE R. W. P. King Prize Paper Award in 2014, the IEEE Piergiorgio L. E. Uslenghi Letters Prize Paper Award in 2012, the CAREER Award from the U.S. National Science Foundation in 2011, the Young Investigator Award from the United States Air Force Office of Scientific Research in 2011, and the Young Investigator Award from the United States Office of Naval Research in 2011. He received the Office of Naval Research Senior Faculty Fellowship in 2009, the Young Scientist Award from the International Union of Radio Science (URSI) in 2008, the Horace H. Rackham Predoctoral Fellowship from the University of Michigan in 2005-2006, the best paper awards in the Antenna Applications Symposium in Sep. 2003, and the second prize in the paper competition of the USNC/ URSI National Radio Science Meeting, Boulder, CO, in January 2004. His graduate students were the recipients of the ten different awards/recognitions at the IEEE Pulsed Power & Plasma Science in 2013, IEEE AP-S/URSI Symposium in 2010, 2012, 2013, and 2014, and the Antenna Applications Symposium in 2008, 2010, and 2011. He serves as an Associate Editor for IEEE Antennas and Wireless Propagation Letters and served as the co-chair of the technical program committee of the 2012 IEEE International Symposium on Antennas and Propagation and USNC/URSI National Radio Science Meeting.

  • The Wonderful World of Nonlinearity: Modeling and Characterization of RF and Microwave Circuits

    Room GB405, Galbraith Building, 35 St. George Street, Toronto, M5S 1A4

    Monday January 18, 2016 at 5:00 p.m. Jose C. Pedro, Professor at the University of Aveiro, will be presenting a Distinguished Microwave Lecture, on “The Wonderful World of Nonlinearity: Modeling and Characterization of RF and Microwave Circuits”. Speaker: Jose C. Pedro University of Aveiro Day & Time: Monday, January 18, 2016 5:00 p.m. – 6:00 p.m. Location: Room GB405, Galbraith Building 35 St. George Street, Toronto, M5S 1A4 Organizer: IEEE Toronto Electromagnetics and Radiation Chapter Contact: George V. Eleftheriades Abstract: Despite the many studies that have been undertaken to understand the wonderful world of nonlinearity, most undergraduate electrical engineering programs are still confined to linear analysis and design tools. As a result, the vast majority of microwave designers still cannot profit from the significant technological advancements that have been made in nonlinear circuit simulation, active device modeling and new instrumentation for performance verification. So, they tend to conduct their designs relying on experience, empirical concepts, and many trial and error iterations in the lab. This talk will reveal the ubiquitous presence of nonlinearity in all RF and microwave circuits and the recent efforts made to understand, model, predict, and measure its diverse manifestations. We aim to bring microwave engineers’ attention to newly available techniques, and attract researchers to pursue further studies on this scientifically exciting topic. Starting with some elementary properties of nonlinear circuits (like nonlinear signal distortion, harmonic generation, frequency conversion and spectral regrowth), we will show that nonlinearity is present in all wireless circuits, either to perform a desired signal operation or as unintentional distortion. In this way, we will show how oscillators, modulators or mixers could not exist without nonlinearity, while power-amplifier designers struggle to get rid of its distortion effects. After this theoretical overview, we will introduce some recent advancements in nonlinear microwave circuit analysis tools and illustrate different types of models that are currently being used to represent and predict device, circuit, and system performance. Finally, we will focus the talk on the key metrics that are used to characterize nonlinear behavior, as well as newly developed lab instruments and their ability to assess device performance. Biography: José C. Pedro received the diploma, doctoral and habilitation degrees in electronics and telecommunications engineering, from University of Aveiro, Portugal, in 1985, 1993 and 2002, respectively. From 1985 to 1993 he was an Assistant Lecturer at University of Aveiro, and a Professor since 1993. Currently he is a Full Professor at the same University, and a Senior Research Scientist at the Institute of Telecommunications. His main scientific interests include active device modeling and the analysis and design of various nonlinear microwave circuits, in particular, the design of highly linear multi-carrier power amplifiers and mixers. He is the leading author of Intermodulation Distortion in Microwave and Wireless Circuits (Artech House, 2003), has authored or co-authored more than 200 papers in international journals and symposia, and served the IEEE in the Portuguese MTT/AP/ED Joint Chapter, the MTT-11 Technical Committee and as a reviewer and Associate Editor for the MTT Transactions and reviewer for the MTT-IMS and the EuMC. Prof. Pedro has served his university department as the Coordinator of the Scientific Council and as the Department Head. Prof. Pedro received the Marconi Young Scientist Award in 1993 and the 2000 Institution of Electrical Engineers (IEE) Measurement Prize. In 2007 he was elected Fellow of the IEEE for his contributions to the nonlinear distortion analysis of microwave devices and circuits. Currently, he is an IEEE MTT-S Distinguished Microwave Lecturer.

  • Linearization Techniques for Push-Pull Amplifiers

    University of Toronto, Bahen Centre, Room BA1230

    Thursday January 28, 2016 at 11:10 a.m. Dr. Rinaldo Castello, IEEE Fellow, will be presenting “Linearization Techniques for Push-Pull Amplifiers”. Speaker: Dr. Rinaldo Castello IEEE Fellow University of Pavia, Italy Day & Time: Thursday, January 28, 2016 11:10 a.m. Location: University of Toronto, Bahen Centre, Room BA1230 Organizer: Solid-State Circuits Society Contact: Dustin Dunwell Abstract: Amplifiers that need to drive heavy loads (low resistances and/or large capacitances) or to handle high current signals with good efficiency generally use a push-pull output stage. This intrinsically creates large open-loop distortion components that need to be compressed through feedback to insure high closed-loop linearity. Minimizing close loop residual distortion involves three steps that will be discussed. First, eliminate all open-loop source of distortion not intrinsic to the proper operation of the push pull structure. Second, choose the amplifier topology that gives the maximum close loop compression of the open-loop distortion components for a given bandwidth. Third, maximize the open-loop gain in the signal band and/or the unity gain bandwidth of the amplifier for a given topology while insuring stability in the presence of variable loads. Biography: Rinaldo Castello (S’78–M’78–SM’92–F’99) graduated from the University of Genova (summa cum laude) in 1977 and received the M.S. and the Ph. D. from the University of California, Berkeley, in ‘81 and ‘84. From ‘83 to ‘85 he was Visiting Assistant Professor at the University of California, Berkeley. In 1987 he joined the University of Pavia where he is now a Full Professor. He consulted for ST-Microelectronics, Milan, Italy up to 2005 in ‘98 he started a joint research centre between the University of Pavia and ST and was its Scientific Director up to ‘05. He promoted the establishing of several design centre from multinational IC companies in the Pavia area among them Marvell for which he has been consulting from 2005. Rinaldo Castello has been a member of the TPC of the European Solid State Circuit Conference (ESSCIRC) since 1987 and of the International Solid State Circuit Conference (ISSCC) from ‘92 to ‘04. He was Technical Chairman of ESSCIRC ’91 and General Chairman of ESSCIRC ‘02, Associate Editor for Europe of the IEEE J. of Solid-State Circ. from ’94 to ’96 and Guest Editor of the July ’92 special issue. From 2000 to 2007 he has been Distinguished Lecturer of the IEEE Solid State Circuit Society. Prof Castello was named one of the outstanding contributors for the first 50 and 60 years of ISSCC and a co-recipient of the Best Student Paper Award at the 2005 Symposium on VLSI of the Best Invited Paper Award at the 2011 CICC and of the Best Evening Panel Award at ISSCC 2012. He was one of the two European representatives at the Plenary Distinguished Panel of ISSCC 2013 and the Summer 2014 Issue of the IEEE Solid State Circuit Magazine was devoted to him. Rinaldo Castello is a Fellow of the IEEE.

  • The Art of Successful Presentation

    Thursday January 28th, 2016 at 1:00 p.m. Dr. Alex. Ferworn, Associate Chair and Graduate Programs Director at Ryerson University, will be presenting “The Art of Successful Presentation”. Speaker: Dr. Alex Ferworn Associate Chair and Graduate Programs Director, Ryerson University Director, Program in Disaster and Emergency Management Day & Time: Thursday, January 28, 2016 1:00 p.m. – 2:00 p.m. Location: Room LG04, George Vari Engineering and Computing Centre Ryerson University, Toronto, M5B 1Z4 Contact: Dr. Maryam Davoudpour Abstract: The fear of needles (trypanophobia) is the 20th most prevalent phobia. The fear of public speaking (glossophobia) is ranked at 13th. Does this mean that some people would rather be stuck with needles than make a public presentation? Based on the experience of Prof. Ferworn, this may be true. Some fear of making a presentation can be mitigated by knowing what to do. In this presentation, Prof. Ferworn will discuss how to make a successful presentation by providing simple guidelines so that no one must stick themselves with needles in order to feel better about talking publicly. Biography: Prof. Ferworn received his PhD in Systems Design Engineering from the University of Waterloo, his MSc in Computing and Information Science from the University of Guelph and his B.Tech in Applied Computer Science from Ryerson University, where he is a faculty member in the Department of Computer Science, Associate Chair and Graduate Programs Director. He is also Director of a number of Certificate programs including the Program in Disaster and Emergency Management. Ferworn is an adjunct faculty member in the Department of Computing and Software, Faculty of Engineering at McMaster University. Prof. Ferworn has been collaborating with the USAR and CBRNe Response Team (UCRT) of the Ontario Provincial Police since 2005. He has worked extensively with USAR teams in Canada and the United States on a broad range of technology issues related to Computational Public Safety. He does not own a dog.

  • Imaging Tissue and Treating Cancer with Microwaves

    Sandford Fleming Building, 10 King’s College Rd Room, SF1105

    Thursday January 28, 2016 at 3:00 p.m. Professor Susan Hagness, University of Wisconsin-Madison, will be presenting “Imaging Tissue and Treating Cancer with Microwaves”. Speaker: Professor Susan Hagness University of Wisconsin-Madison Day & Time: Thursday, January 28, 2016 3:00 p.m. Location: Sandford Fleming Building, 10 King’s College Rd Room SF1105 Organizer: IEEE Toronto Electromagnetics and Radiation Chapter Contact: Costas D. Sarris Abstract: The endogenous (and possibly exogenously influenced) dielectric properties of tissue at microwave frequencies vary across different tissue types and physiological states. These properties may be exploited to differentiate tissues via low-power microwave imaging and to selectively heat diseased tissue at higher power levels. This presentation will highlight recent theoretical and experimental advances in low-cost microwave theranostics – that is, diagnostic and therapeutic microwave-based technologies – with an emphasis on breast imaging and targeted cancer treatment. On the diagnostic side, 3-D quantitative microwave imaging technology has the potential to address several important clinical needs in breast imaging, including evaluating breast density as part of a patient’s individualized risk assessment, screening women who are at higher risk for cancer, and monitoring changes in breast tissue in response to prevention and treatment protocols. On the therapeutic side, minimally invasive microwave ablation using miniaturized antennas as interstitial heating probes is emerging as a less invasive alternative to surgical resection and more effective and versatile alternative to conventional thermoablative techniques for the treatment of primary tumors. Biography: Susan C. Hagness received the B.S. degree with highest honors and the Ph.D. degree in electrical engineering from Northwestern University in 1993 and 1998, respectively. Since 1998, she has been with the Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, where she currently holds the title of Philip D. Reed Professor and serves as the Associate Dean for Research and Graduate Affairs in the College of Engineering. She is also a Faculty Affiliate of the Department of Biomedical Engineering and a member of the UW Carbone Comprehensive Cancer Center. Dr. Hagness was the recipient of the Presidential Early Career Award for Scientists and Engineers (PECASE) presented by the U.S. White House in 2000. In 2002, she was named one of the 100 top young innovators in science and engineering in the world by the MIT Technology Review magazine. She is also the recipient of the UW-Madison Emil Steiger Distinguished Teaching Award (2003), the IEEE Engineering in Medicine and Biology Society Early Career Achievement Award (2004), the URSI Isaac Koga Gold Medal (2005), the IEEE Transactions on Biomedical Engineering Outstanding Paper Award (2007), the IEEE Education Society Mac E. Van Valkenburg Early Career Teaching Award (2007), the UW System Alliant Energy Underkofler Excellence in Teaching Award (2009), the Physics in Medicine and Biology Citations Prize (2011), the UW-Madison Kellett Mid- Career Award (2011), and the UW-Madison College of Engineering Benjamin Smith Reynolds Award for Excellence in Teaching Engineers (2014). She was elected Fellow of the IEEE in 2009. She has held numerous leadership positions within the IEEE Antennas and Propagation Society (AP-S) and the United States National Committee (USNC) of the International Union of Radio Science (URSI). She was the Technical Program Chair of the 2012 IEEE International Symposium on Antennas and Propagation and USNC/URSI National Radio Science Meeting in Chicago, IL, and most recently completed a term as Chair of the IEEE AP-S Fellows Evaluation Committee.

  • IBM Internet of Things Point of View and Strategy

    Room VIC608, Victoria Building, Ryerson University, 285 Victoria Street, Toronto

    Thursday January 28, 2016 at 6:30 p.m. Jim Caldwell, Director of IBM Internet of Things, Continuous Engineering Solutions Development, will be presenting “IBM Internet of Things Point of View and Strategy”. Speaker: Jim Caldwell Director, IBM Internet of Things, Continuous Engineering Solutions Development Day & Time: Thursday, January 28, 2016 6:30 p.m. – 8:30 p.m. Location: Room VIC608 Victoria Building, Ryerson University 285 Victoria Street, Toronto Map: http://www.ryerson.ca/maps Contact: d.cecic@ieee.org Abstract: The Internet of Things is predicted to have an economic impact of more than $11 Trillion per year by 2025. It has become a focus of discussion by technologists, the business press and the general public. Clearly something is happening but what? And what should businesses and institutions do about it? This presentation will survey the topic from IBM’s perspective. We will discuss what the Internet of Things is. We will also discuss IBM’s point of view and strategy, some examples of offerings and client engagements. Finally, we will conclude with some key questions and research challenges. Biography: As Director, IBM Internet of Things, Continuous Engineering Solutions Development, Mr. Caldwell is responsible for the development of a set of software tools and solutions used in the design and development of “things”. This includes motor vehicles, aircraft and electronic devices. He is also a member of the leadership team for IBM’s Collaborative Lifecycle Management toolset used in the design and development of large software systems industry wide. Previously, as Director of Software Group (SWG) Technical Strategy, Mr. Caldwell was responsible for working across SWG to continually update and communicate the SWG technical strategy. This included working with SWG divisional leaders (technical and business) on key elements of strategy and cross IBM initiatives. It also included selection, development and delivery of incubator programs and joint programs with IBM research. Prior to that, Mr. Caldwell served as Director of WebSphere Application Infrastructure Product Management where he was responsible for business management of the infrastructure portion of IBM’s WebSphere portfolio of e-business products. This included WebSphere Application Server, WebSphere Commerce Server, WebSphere Voice Server and Embedded ViaVoice. He drove business decisions across all disciplines within these groups including development, services, business development, and marketing. In his more than 25 years at IBM, Mr. Caldwell has held technical, managerial and executive roles in IBM’s software businesses including Director, WebSphere Commerce Development in which he helped grow IBM’s Commerce offering from an incubator activity to the market leader. Mr. Caldwell is a Mathematics graduate from the University of Waterloo and is currently based in IBM’s Toronto Software Laboratory.

  • Agile Methodologies in the Enterprise

    Room LG04, Ryerson University, Toronto, M5B 1Z4

    Thursday February 4th, 2016 at 1:00 p.m. Dr. Salah Sharieh, Senior Technical Innovator, will be presenting “Agile Methodologies in the Enterprise”. Speaker: Salah Sharieh Senior Technical Innovator Doctor of Philosophy, McMaster University Day & Time: Thursday, February 4, 2016 1:00 p.m. – 2:00 p.m. Location: Room LG04, George Vari Engineering and Computing Centre Ryerson University, Toronto, M5B 1Z4 Contact: Dr. Maryam Davoudpour Abstract: The only constant is change and technology is changing very fast. To build an enterprise software is inherently complex and lengthy with a need for flexibility to adjust to the changing needs of customers and market conditions. Agile methodologies are often presented as the solution for these problems. Adopting a new concept often proves harder than it seems at first but having the right people with the right tools to support the change can make it easier. Introducing Agile into large organization has advantages and disadvantages such as accelerating delivery and shortening the feedback cycle. On the other hand, these types of methodologies have higher dependency on people skills rather than processes which makes it harder to achieve the desired value. After further analysis, it appears that only some parts of agile methodologies work well. In this topic, we will talk about the challenges that CIOs face with adapting agile methods and what can be done to increase the likely hood of useful adoption and implementation in large organizations. In addition, we will talk about vendors’ role in agile projects and how they might contribute to the failure or the success of a project. Finally, we will compare and contrast Agile with iterative approaches. Biography: Dr. Salah Sharieh is a Senior Technical Innovator with extensive experience in business and technology. He has developed his business savvy through working with Fortune 500 companies. Salah also holds the degree of Doctor of Philosophy from McMaster University. He has more than twenty peer reviewed publications and has contributed to several books. He also is a technical reviewer for several journals and conferences and is a member of the CIO association of Canada. Recently Salah led the National Occupation Standards for Cyber Security. In the last 20 years, Salah Sharieh founded several companies, some of which were later acquired by larger organizations. He has delivered high profile solutions and provided vision and leadership to several industries including financial, telecommunication, manufacturing, and the public sector. Under Salah’s leadership, start-up companies evolved from concept to companies providing products and solutions for businesses across Canada, the United States, and Europe.

  • Semi-automated Genome Annotation and an Expanded Epigenetic Alphabet

    Room LG04, George Vari Engineering and Computing Centre, Ryerson University, Toronto

    Thursday February 11th, 2016 at 1:00 p.m. Michael Hoffman, Principal Investigator at Princess Margaret Cancer Centre and Assistant Professor in the Departments of Medical Biophysics, University of Toronto, will be presenting “Semi-automated genome annotation and an expanded epigenetic alphabet”. Speaker: Michael Hoffman Principal Investigator at Princess Margaret Cancer Centre Assistant Professor in the Departments of Medical Biophysics, University of Toronto Day & Time: Thursday, February 11, 2016 1:00 p.m. – 2:00 p.m. Location: Room LG04, George Vari Engineering and Computing Centre Ryerson University, Toronto, M5B 1Z4 Please check before the seminar Contact: llivi@scs.ryerson.ca Abstract: First, we will discuss Segway, an integrative method to identify patterns from multiple functional genomics experiments, discovering joint patterns across different assay types. We apply Segway to ENCODE ChIP-seq andDNase-seq data and identify patterns associated with transcription start sites, gene ends, enhancers, CTCF elements, and repressed regions. Segway yields a model which elucidates the relationship between assay observations and functional elements in the genome. Second, we will discuss a new method to discover transcription factor motifs and identify transcription factor binding sites in DNA with covalent modifications such as methylation. Just as transcription factors distinguish one standard nucleobase from another, they also distinguish unmodified and modified bases. To represent the modified bases in a sequence, we replace cytosine (C) with symbols for 5-methylcytosine (5mC), 5-hydroxylmethylcytosine (5hmC), 5-formylcytosine (5fC). Similarly, we adapted the well-established position weight matrix model of transcription factor binding affinity to an expanded alphabet. We created an expanded-alphabet genome sequence using genome-wide maps of 5mC, 5hmC, and 5fC in mouse embryonic stem cells. Using this sequence and expanded-alphabet position weight matrixes, we reproduced various known methylation binding preferences, including the preference of ZFP57 and C/EBPβ for methylated motifs and the preference of c-Myc for unmethylated motifs. Using these known binding preferences to tune model parameters enables discovery of novel modified motifs. Biography: Michael Hoffman is a principal investigator at the Princess Margaret Cancer Centre and Assistant Professor in the Departments of Medical Biophysics and Computer Science, University of Toronto. He researches the application of machine learning techniques to epigenomic data. He previously led the National Institutes of Health ENCODE Project’s large-scale integration task group while at the University of Washington. He has a PhD from the University of Cambridge, where he conducted computational genomics studies at the European Bioinformatics Institute. He also has a B.S. in Biochemistry and a B.A. in the Plan II Honors Program at The University of Texas at Austin. He was named a Genome Technology Young Investigator and has received several awards for his academic work, including a NIH K99/R00 Pathway to Independence Award.

  • Systematic Design of Analog Circuits Using Pre-Computed Lookup Tables

    BA1210, University of Toronto

    Friday February 26th, 2016 at 11:10 a.m. Dr. Boris Murmann, Associate Professor at Stanford University, will be presenting “Systematic Design of Analog Circuits Using Pre-Computed Lookup Tables”. Speaker: Dr. Boris Murmann Associate Professor, Electrical Engineering, Stanford University IEEE Fellow, and Program Vice-Chair at ISSCC 2016 Day & Time: Friday, February 26th, 2016 11:10 a.m. – 12:40 p.m. Location: BA1210, Bahen Centre for Information Technology, University of Toronto 40 St George St, Toronto, ON M5S 2E4 Contact: Dustin Dunwell Abstract: The majority of textbook material on analog circuit design is based on the square-law model for MOS transistors. While this model remains useful for teaching, it has become too inaccurate for design in nanoscale CMOS. In circuit simulators, this problem has been solved using complex models equations with hundreds of parameters. Since these descriptions are impractical for manual use, designers tend to shy away from hand-analysis-based optimization and resort to a design style built on iterative and time-consuming “tweaking” in a simulator. This tutorial presents a systematic design methodology that bridges the gap between simulation, hand analysis and script-based optimization. The approach hinges upon Spice-generated look-up tables containing the transistor’s equivalent model parameters (gm, gds, etc.) across a multi-dimensional sweep of the terminal voltages. We interpret and organize these data based on the transistor’s inversion level, employing gm/ID as a proxy and key parameter for design. This width-independent metric captures a device’s efficiency in translating bias current to transconductance and spans nearly the same range in all modern CMOS processes (~3…30 S/A). When combined with other width-independent figures of merit (gm/Cgg, gm/gds, etc.) thinking in terms of gm/ID (rather than gate overdrive) allows us to study the tradeoffs between bandwidth, noise, distortion and power dissipation in a normalized space. The final bias currents and device sizes follow from a straightforward denormalization step using the current density ID/W. Since this entire flow is driven by Spice-generated data, we maintain close agreement between the desired specs and the circuit’s simulated performance. We will detail the inner workings of this approach, and showcase its capabilities using a variety of practical examples. Biography: Boris Murmann joined Stanford University in 2004, where he currently serves as an Associate Professor of Electrical Engineering. He received the Ph.D. degree in electrical engineering from the University of California at Berkeley in 2003. From 1994 to 1997, he was with Neutron Microelectronics, Germany, where he developed low-power and smart-power ASICs in automotive CMOS technology. Dr. Murmann’s research interests are in the area of mixed-signal integrated circuit design, with special emphasis on data converters and sensor interfaces. In 2008, he was a co-recipient of the Best Student Paper Award at the VLSI Circuits Symposium in 2008 and a recipient of the Best Invited Paper Award at the IEEE Custom Integrated Circuits Conference (CICC). He received the Agilent Early Career Professor Award in 2009 and the Friedrich Wilhelm Bessel Research Award in 2012. He has served as an Associate Editor of the IEEE Journal of Solid-State Circuits and as the Data Converter Subcommittee Chair of the IEEE International Solid-State Circuits Conference (ISSCC). He currently serves as the program vice-chair for the ISSCC 2016. He is a Fellow of the IEEE.

  • Photonics for Microwave Systems and Ultra-Wideband Signal Processing

    GB 120, University of Toronto

    Monday February 29th, 2016 at 3:10 p.m. Professor Willie Ng, Dept. of Electrical Engineering, University of Southern California, will be presenting “Photonics for Microwave Systems and Ultra-Wideband Signal Processing”. Speaker: Professor Willie Ng Dept. of Electrical Engineering, University of Southern California IEEE Fellow Day & Time: Monday, February 29th, 2016 3:10 p.m. – 4:00 p.m. Location: GB 120, Galbraith Building, University of Toronto 35 St George St, Toronto, ON M5S 1A4 **Refreshments will be served** Contact: Junho Jeong Abstract: This seminar will describe the development and application of photonics technology in microwave antenna systems and ultra-wideband signal processing. It will cover our recent work on the characterization of high frequency modulators and mode-locked lasers, photonic-assisted analog-to-digital conversion, as well as RF-photonic filtering. The seminar will also describe how the broadband capabilities of photonics and wavelength division multiplexed (WDM) technologies can be utilized for high dynamic range antenna remoting and true-time-delay beamforming that cover multiple microwave bands. Biography: Dr. Willie W. Ng is currently a Research Professor ofl Engineering at the University of Southern California (USC). Prior to joining USC in 2013, he spent close to three decades at HRL Laboratories, Malibu, CA, where he was a Principal Research Scientist, Program Manager and Department Manager. Under DARPA and U.S. Air Force sponsorships, he led HRL teams that demonstrated a variety of photonic devices/subsystems designed for microwave antenna systems and ultra-wideband signal processing, including RF-photonic filtering and photonics-assisted analog-to-digital conversion. He has given many invited talks in IEEE/OSA Conferences and DARPA Symposiums, and is the author and co-author of over 100 journal articles and conference papers. He holds 26 U.S. patents in the area of photonics technology, with many pending. Cited for pioneering contributions to microwave photonics, he was one of six individuals selected to receive the Excellence in Technology Award in 2005 from the Raytheon Company. Prior to HRL, he was a Member of the Technical Staff at the Rockwell Science Center, Thousand Oaks, Calif., where he developed GaInAsP/InP buried heterostructure lasers and power converters. He received his B.S. degree in Electrical Engineering from Case Western Reserve University (Cleveland, Ohio), and his M.S. and Ph.D. degrees in Electrical Engineering from the California Institute of Technology (Pasadena, Calif.) under the guidance of Prof. A. Yariv. His thesis work was on the demonstration of GaAlAs/GaAs Distributed Bragg Reflector lasers and Bragg waveguides. He is a fellow of the IEEE, and serves on the 2013-2015 CLEO (Conference on Lasers and Electro-Optics) Technical Committee.