BEGIN:VCALENDAR VERSION:2.0 PRODID:-//Events - ECPv6.17.0//NONSGML v1.0//EN CALSCALE:GREGORIAN METHOD:PUBLISH X-ORIGINAL-URL:https://events.ucsc.edu X-WR-CALDESC:Events for Events REFRESH-INTERVAL;VALUE=DURATION:PT1H X-Robots-Tag:noindex X-PUBLISHED-TTL:PT1H BEGIN:VTIMEZONE TZID:America/Los_Angeles BEGIN:DAYLIGHT TZOFFSETFROM:-0800 TZOFFSETTO:-0700 TZNAME:PDT DTSTART:20250309T100000 END:DAYLIGHT BEGIN:STANDARD TZOFFSETFROM:-0700 TZOFFSETTO:-0800 TZNAME:PST DTSTART:20251102T090000 END:STANDARD BEGIN:DAYLIGHT TZOFFSETFROM:-0800 TZOFFSETTO:-0700 TZNAME:PDT DTSTART:20260308T100000 END:DAYLIGHT BEGIN:STANDARD TZOFFSETFROM:-0700 TZOFFSETTO:-0800 TZNAME:PST DTSTART:20261101T090000 END:STANDARD BEGIN:DAYLIGHT TZOFFSETFROM:-0800 TZOFFSETTO:-0700 TZNAME:PDT DTSTART:20270314T100000 END:DAYLIGHT BEGIN:STANDARD TZOFFSETFROM:-0700 TZOFFSETTO:-0800 TZNAME:PST DTSTART:20271107T090000 END:STANDARD END:VTIMEZONE BEGIN:VEVENT DTSTART;TZID=America/Los_Angeles:20260528T120000 DTEND;TZID=America/Los_Angeles:20260528T140000 DTSTAMP:20260526T163353Z CREATED:20260526T163353Z LAST-MODIFIED:20260526T163353Z UID:10014868-1779969600-1779976800@events.ucsc.edu SUMMARY:Ortiz Barbosa\, D. (CSE) - HARDENING AUTONOMOUS CYBER-PHYSICAL SYSTEMS AGAINST ADVERSARIAL CONDITIONS DESCRIPTION:Autonomous systems\, such as Autonomous Vehicles (AVs) and drones\, are increasingly\ndeployed across a wider array of contexts for both civilian and military use. As these\nsystems become more common\, they may be targeted by malicious actors seeking to\nexploit and abuse them\, compromising safety-critical operations. Among the ways to\nprotect these systems simulation based testing frameworks have been developed. How-\never\, existing testing frameworks primarily focus on identifying logical flaws or system\nvulnerabilities\, often emphasizing static scenarios and paying less attention to an adap-\ntive intelligent adversary.\nTo help reduce this gap\, this dissertation develops and applies adaptive\, adversary-\naware methodologies to discover\, formalize\, and mitigate security vulnerabilities in au-\ntonomous systems spanning vehicle platooning\, drone swarms\, and vision-based drone\nrecovery. We first apply NLP techniques to discover and formalize driving rules across\nNorth American and Australian jurisdictions\, identifying possible restriction that an\nadversary can exploit. Likewise\, these rules can be used to test the adaptability of AVs\nto new contexts and to establish a formal basis for context-aware AV testing. Next\,\nwe apply optimization-based adversarial search to both ACC-controlled vehicle pla-\ntoons and obstacle-avoiding drone swarms. We uncover maneuvers that an adversary\ncan use against the system that range from crash-inducing patterns against platooning\ncontrollers to herding strategies that divert swarms from their objectives. Finally\, to\naddress the gap regarding the possible solutions to an adversarial attack we explore how\na drone can recover from it by using LVLMs to understand its context and select a safe\nlanding surface. \nEvent Host: Diego Ortiz Barbosa\, Ph.D. Candidate\, Computer Science & Engineering  \nAdvisor: Alvaro A Cardenas URL:https://events.ucsc.edu/event/ortiz-barbosa-d-cse-hardening-autonomous-cyber-physical-systems-against-adversarial-conditions/ LOCATION:Engineering 2\, Engineering 2 1156 High Street\, Santa Cruz\, CA\, 95064 CATEGORIES:Ph.D. Presentations ATTACH;FMTTYPE=image/jpeg:https://events.ucsc.edu/wp-content/uploads/2026/04/ph.d.-presentation-graphic-option2.jpg GEO:37.0009723;-122.0632371 X-APPLE-STRUCTURED-LOCATION;VALUE=URI;X-ADDRESS=Engineering 2 Engineering 2 1156 High Street Santa Cruz CA 95064;X-APPLE-RADIUS=500;X-TITLE=Engineering 2 1156 High Street:geo:-122.0632371,37.0009723 END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT DTSTART;TZID=America/Los_Angeles:20260528T114000 DTEND;TZID=America/Los_Angeles:20260528T131500 DTSTAMP:20260522T170730Z CREATED:20260522T170730Z LAST-MODIFIED:20260522T170730Z UID:10014864-1779968400-1779974100@events.ucsc.edu SUMMARY:BME 280B Seminar: 4th Year Grad Talks DESCRIPTION:Please join us for our BME 280B seminar series Thursday (5/28/26) in person at Biomed 200. The event will run from 11:40 AM to 1:15 PM and feature our 4th year grad talks. \n\n\n11:40AM – 11:50AM: Ivana Pacar\n11:53AM – 12:03PM: Jesus Gonzalez Ferrer\n12:06PM – 12:16PM: Connor Mattingly\n12:19PM – 12:29PM: Samira Vera\n12:32PM – 12:42PM: Nick Chu\n12:45PM – 12:55PM: Julian Menendez\n12:58PM – 1:08PM: Parsa Eskandar URL:https://events.ucsc.edu/event/bme-280b-seminar-4th-year-grad-talks-2/ LOCATION:Biomedical Sciences Building\, 575 McLaughlin Drive CATEGORIES:Lectures & Presentations,Seminars ATTACH;FMTTYPE=image/png:https://events.ucsc.edu/wp-content/uploads/2026/04/BE-logomark_localist.png GEO:46.1226939;-64.7891251 X-APPLE-STRUCTURED-LOCATION;VALUE=URI;X-ADDRESS=Biomedical Sciences Building 575 McLaughlin Drive;X-APPLE-RADIUS=500;X-TITLE=575 McLaughlin Drive:geo:-64.7891251,46.1226939 END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT DTSTART;TZID=America/Los_Angeles:20260528T110000 DTEND;TZID=America/Los_Angeles:20260528T120000 DTSTAMP:20260522T165248Z CREATED:20260522T165248Z LAST-MODIFIED:20260522T165248Z UID:10014863-1779966000-1779969600@events.ucsc.edu SUMMARY:Oh\, S. (CSE) - Efficient Instruction Supply for Datacenter Processors DESCRIPTION:Modern datacenter CPUs lose 25–66% of execution cycles to instruction-delivery stalls. This bottleneck persists\, despite the recent trend towards accelerators and GPUs\, as there is continuing demand by applications that only execute on CPUs. Two workload classes dominate today’s datacenter execution cycles: hyperscale server software (databases\, build systems\, and content stores)\, whose large instruction footprints create severe frontend pathologies; and agentic AI systems\, in which large-language-model agents plan\, dispatch tools\, and maintain growing conversational contexts\, causing CPUs to account for up to 88% of end-to-end agent latency. Reflecting this shift\, major CPU vendors have publicly repositioned the CPU as the orchestration layer of the AI stack and have begun shipping processors optimized for agent-centric workloads. \nThis dissertation argues that instruction delivery is the dominant CPU bottleneck across both workload classes and that the recent trend towards agentic AI further exacerbates this challenge. In hyperscale server binaries\, the primary pathologies are wrong-path prefetch pollution and post-recovery instruction-delivery gaps across large\, irregular call graphs. In agentic AI systems\, the bottleneck shifts to an orchestration substrate composed of protocol stacks\, dynamic-runtime dispatch\, and agent-specific extensions that is even more frontend-bound than traditional warehouse-scale workloads. \nTo address these bottlenecks\, this dissertation presents three technical contributions\, together with a companion infrastructure contribution. First\, Utility-Driven Prefetching (UDP) extends fetch-directed instruction prefetching (FDIP) with a learned per-prefetch utility model that admits candidates based on their historical contribution to demand-fetch hits\, including those reached along wrong-path execution. Second\, Junction-based Unified Miss-point Prefetching (JUMP) addresses the post-recovery instruction-delivery gap that UDP and prior FDIP optimizations cannot reach by launching a lightweight secondary FDIP thread at a learned miss point following each branch-prediction failure. Across a suite of datacenter workloads\, UDP improves IPC by 3.6% on average (up to 16.1%) over a state-of-the-art FDIP baseline\, while JUMP improves IPC by 2.0% on average (up to 14.9%). Combined\, the two mechanisms substantially close the gap between FDIP and a perfect L1 instruction cache at a storage cost of only a few tens of kilobytes.\nThird\, this dissertation introduces the Agentic Tax\, the first CPU characterization study of agentic AI workloads across three runtime families. The study is packaged as a deterministic-replay benchmark infrastructure that enables repeatable\, cycle-level evaluation under controlled conditions. The characterization shows that the orchestration substrate of agentic AI workloads is significantly more frontend-bound than the hyperscale datacenter workloads examined in prior work\, and that it introduces new dominant function families with no analog in traditional warehouse-scale systems. These findings motivate two architectural directions proposed as future work: extending UDP and JUMP to optimize the orchestration substrate itself\, and designing heterogeneous CPU cores that allocate frontend resources according to the execution phase. \nEvent Host: Surim Oh\, Ph.D. Candidate\, Computer Science & Engineering  \nAdvisor: Heiner Litz \nZoom: https://ucsc.zoom.us/j/94753352649?pwd=7vQxlnSJkUb0KfG3t6STo639LhRv7j.1 \nPasscode: 205162 URL:https://events.ucsc.edu/event/oh-s-cse-efficient-instruction-supply-for-datacenter-processors/ LOCATION:Engineering 2\, Engineering 2 1156 High Street\, Santa Cruz\, CA\, 95064 CATEGORIES:Ph.D. Presentations ATTACH;FMTTYPE=image/jpeg:https://events.ucsc.edu/wp-content/uploads/2026/04/ph.d.-presentation-graphic-option-1.jpg GEO:37.0009723;-122.0632371 X-APPLE-STRUCTURED-LOCATION;VALUE=URI;X-ADDRESS=Engineering 2 Engineering 2 1156 High Street Santa Cruz CA 95064;X-APPLE-RADIUS=500;X-TITLE=Engineering 2 1156 High Street:geo:-122.0632371,37.0009723 END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT DTSTART;TZID=America/Los_Angeles:20260527T120000 DTEND;TZID=America/Los_Angeles:20260527T140000 DTSTAMP:20260518T162624Z CREATED:20260518T162624Z LAST-MODIFIED:20260518T162624Z UID:10014651-1779883200-1779890400@events.ucsc.edu SUMMARY:Zheng\, Y. (CSE) - Extending eBPF Beyond Kernel Extensions: Verified Interfaces for Runtime System Extensibility DESCRIPTION:Modern system software increasingly needs runtime extensibility: userspace applications need safe ways to expose domain-specific extension points\, GPU resource management needs workload-specific memory and scheduling policies\, and kernel eBPF JIT compilers need different runtime optimizations as workloads and hardware vary. However\, built-in policies are safe but difficult to specialize across rapidly changing workloads and hardware environments\, limiting efficiency\, while code modifications are flexible but difficult to deploy safely. This dissertation argues that verified eBPF interfaces can turn eBPF from a kernel-extension mechanism into a general substrate for safe runtime extensibility. In this model\, trusted mechanisms expose narrow\, constrained programmable hooks; extensions declare their requirements; verifier-enforced checks preserve safety; and execution remains low-overhead. \nI develop this thesis through three systems spanning userspace applications\, heterogeneous GPU subsystems\, and the kernel eBPF compiler itself. EIM\, implemented in bpftime\, applies verified eBPF interfaces to userspace applications\, allowing application behavior to be extended through explicit constraints and efficient userspace eBPF execution. gpu_ext extends the same idea to heterogeneous systems by exposing programmable resource management hooks for GPU memory and scheduling policy across driver and device. BpfReJIT with kinsn makes the eBPF JIT compiler itself extensible: it enables runtime-guided optimization through dynamic recompilation and extends eBPF bytecode to express diverse hardware capabilities. Together\, these systems show how verified eBPF interfaces can support safe programmability\, separation of policy and mechanisms\, and runtime specialization across applications\, GPU subsystems\, and the kernel JIT infrastructure. \nEvent Host: Yusheng Zheng\, Ph.D. Student\, Computer Science & Engineering \nAdvisor: Andi Quinn \nZoom: 504 350 0245 \nPasscode: 521336 URL:https://events.ucsc.edu/event/zheng-y-cse-extending-ebpf-beyond-kernel-extensions-verified-interfaces-for-runtime-system-extensibility/ CATEGORIES:Ph.D. Presentations ATTACH;FMTTYPE=image/png:https://events.ucsc.edu/wp-content/uploads/2026/04/ph.d.-presentation-graphic-option-3.png LOCATION: END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT DTSTART;TZID=America/Los_Angeles:20260527T120000 DTEND;TZID=America/Los_Angeles:20260527T130000 DTSTAMP:20251001T224502Z CREATED:20250923T070000Z LAST-MODIFIED:20251001T224502Z UID:10000284-1779883200-1779886800@events.ucsc.edu SUMMARY:Engineering Teaching Community (Faculty) DESCRIPTION:During the chaos of a quarter\, is it hard to find time to reflect and improve as an instructor? Would you like to be a part of an inclusive\, supportive group of engineering instructors who do this in community? ETC is for sharing teaching experiences\, classroom ideas\, research on learning\, and methods that support instructors and students. All are welcome\, and lunch is provided. Please reach out to Jenny Quynn with questions. URL:https://events.ucsc.edu/event/engineering-teaching-community-faculty/2026-05-27/ LOCATION:Jack Baskin Engineering\, Baskin Engineering 1156 High Street\, Santa Cruz\, CA\, 95064 CATEGORIES:Meetings & Conferences,Training ATTACH;FMTTYPE=image/jpeg:https://events.ucsc.edu/wp-content/uploads/2025/09/b19cd317e2122064e85e5d3d896b4e3426736249.jpg GEO:37.000369;-122.0632371 X-APPLE-STRUCTURED-LOCATION;VALUE=URI;X-ADDRESS=Jack Baskin Engineering Baskin Engineering 1156 High Street Santa Cruz CA 95064;X-APPLE-RADIUS=500;X-TITLE=Baskin Engineering 1156 High Street:geo:-122.0632371,37.000369 END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT DTSTART;TZID=America/Los_Angeles:20260527T110000 DTEND;TZID=America/Los_Angeles:20260527T123000 DTSTAMP:20260330T203942Z CREATED:20260330T203942Z LAST-MODIFIED:20260330T203942Z UID:10011815-1779879600-1779885000@events.ucsc.edu SUMMARY:CSE Colloquium - Learning to Image: Computational Microscopy for Dynamic Systems DESCRIPTION:Presenter: Laura Waller\, UC Berkeley \nAbstract: \nComputational imaging jointly designs hardware and algorithms to push beyond the classical limits of imaging\, enabling measurement of new quantities (e.g. 3D\, phase\, and super-resolution) with simple\, inexpensive hardware. These approaches have already transformed consumer photography; our goal is to achieve a similar transformation in scientific microscopy. \nIn this talk\, I will show how end-to-end learning is reshaping the design of imaging systems\, from programmable illumination with LED arrays to compact\, lensless cameras built from Scotch tape. By combining physical models with neural networks\, we can jointly learn how to capture data\, reconstruct images\, and self-calibrate systems that would otherwise be too complex to model. However\, many computational methods rely on multiple measurements\, limiting their use for live\, dynamic samples. I will introduce new space-time algorithms based on implicit neural representations (INRs) that jointly recover structure and motion\, correct artifacts\, and enable high-resolution imaging in regimes where traditional approaches fail. \nBio: \nLaura Waller is the Charles A. Desoer Professor of Electrical Engineering and Computer Sciences at UC Berkeley. She received B.S.\, M.Eng. and Ph.D. degrees from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology in 2004\, 2005 and 2010. After that\, she was a Postdoctoral Researcher and Lecturer of Physics at Princeton University from 2010-2012. She is a Packard Fellow for Science & Engineering\, Moore Foundation Data-driven Investigator\, OSA Fellow\, and Chan-Zuckerberg Biohub Investigator. She has received the Carol D. Soc Distinguished Graduate Mentoring Award\, OSA Adolph Lomb Medal\, the SPIE Early Career Award and the Max Planck-Humboldt Medal. \nHosted by: Professor Alvaro Cardenas \nLocation: Engineering 2\, Room E2-180 (Refreshments such as fruit\, pastries\, coffee\, and tea will be provided.) \nZoom Option: https://ucsc.zoom.us/j/93445911992?pwd=YkJ2TQtF79h0PcNXbEcpZLbpK0coiY.1&jst=3 URL:https://events.ucsc.edu/event/cse-colloquium-learning-to-image-computational-microscopy-for-dynamic-systems/ LOCATION:Engineering 2\, Engineering 2 1156 High Street\, Santa Cruz\, CA\, 95064 CATEGORIES:Lectures & Presentations,Seminars ATTACH;FMTTYPE=image/png:https://events.ucsc.edu/wp-content/uploads/2026/03/BElogoWHITE.png GEO:37.0009723;-122.0632371 X-APPLE-STRUCTURED-LOCATION;VALUE=URI;X-ADDRESS=Engineering 2 Engineering 2 1156 High Street Santa Cruz CA 95064;X-APPLE-RADIUS=500;X-TITLE=Engineering 2 1156 High Street:geo:-122.0632371,37.0009723 END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT DTSTART;TZID=America/Los_Angeles:20260527T090000 DTEND;TZID=America/Los_Angeles:20260527T110000 DTSTAMP:20260518T163634Z CREATED:20260518T163634Z LAST-MODIFIED:20260518T163634Z UID:10014652-1779872400-1779879600@events.ucsc.edu SUMMARY:Tu\, H. (CSE) - From Evaluation to Adaptation: Building Reliable Multimodal Intelligence DESCRIPTION:Multimodal large language models (MLLMs) are rapidly becoming general-purpose AI systems\, yet their capabilities are advancing faster than our ability to evaluate\, improve\, and validate their reliability in realistic use. Standard benchmarks mainly measure in-distribution final-answer accuracy\, leaving critical gaps in safety\, robustness\, fine-grained reasoning evaluation\, and reliability in real-world agentic settings. My research proposes an evaluation-to-adaptation framework for building reliable multimodal intelligence: developing rigorous evaluations that expose failures beyond conventional benchmarks\, learning feedback models that guide inference-time reasoning\, and studying how multimodal systems can adapt through experience. We instantiate this agenda through two completed works and two proposed directions. Unicorn evaluates safety and robustness under out-of-distribution and adversarial conditions\, revealing substantial vulnerabilities across 22 vision-language models. ViLBench studies vision-language process reward modeling as both an evaluation challenge and a mechanism for inference-time improvement\, showing that process-guided reasoning selection can improve reliability. Building on these foundations\, we further study test-time experience accumulation and explore reliable multimodal agents for GUI and computer-use tasks. Together\, my research aims to move beyond capability-driven progress alone\, toward multimodal AI systems whose reliability can be evaluated\, improved\, and tested in realistic deployment settings. \nEvent Host: Haoqin Tu\, Ph.D. Student\, Computer Science & Engineering \nAdvisor: Cihang Xie \nZoom: 964 1355 0550 \nPasscode: zWxU8A URL:https://events.ucsc.edu/event/tu-h-cse-from-evaluation-to-adaptation-building-reliable-multimodal-intelligence/ CATEGORIES:Ph.D. Presentations ATTACH;FMTTYPE=image/jpeg:https://events.ucsc.edu/wp-content/uploads/2026/04/ph.d.-presentation-graphic-option2.jpg LOCATION: END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT DTSTART;TZID=America/Los_Angeles:20260527T090000 DTEND;TZID=America/Los_Angeles:20260527T110000 DTSTAMP:20260515T163555Z CREATED:20260515T163555Z LAST-MODIFIED:20260515T163555Z UID:10014642-1779872400-1779879600@events.ucsc.edu SUMMARY:Baskaran\, D. (CM) - More than Just Fun: Exploring Meaningful Play\, Communities of Play\, and Relatedness of Play DESCRIPTION:Play is often seen as a form of entertainment\, leisure\, or childhood development. However\, it also acts as a meaningful experience that shapes how people connect with others and interact with the world around them throughout their lives. Prior work on meaningful play and communities of play has mainly focused on individual experiences and participation\, giving less attention to how meaning is socially co-constructed through playful interactions and to how these experiences contribute to relatedness\, or the human need to feel connected to and belong with others\, across physical\, digital\, and hybrid environments. \nUsing qualitative methods\, this dissertation proposal explores how meaningful play is collectively constructed within communities of play and how it shapes relatedness among members. This work positions meaningful play as a socially and technologically embedded relational phenomenon rather than solely an individual experience. Across case studies of PlayStation trophy hunting\, Pokémon Nuzlocke\, LEGO\, and theme park communities of play\, this research explores how meaningful play within these communities contributes to relatedness among members. Ultimately\, this dissertation proposal aims to advance a more holistic understanding of play as a process through which people build shared meaning\, connection\, and belonging in increasingly digital and hybrid social spaces. \n  \nEvent Host: Derusha Baskaran\, Ph.D. Student\, Computational Media \nAdvisor: Kathryn Ringland \n  \nZoom: https://ucsc.zoom.us/j/96290198842?pwd=xtoEw1aIa2fciTbhr6eB9s3PqbWGdF.1 \nPasscode: 404425 URL:https://events.ucsc.edu/event/baskaran-d-cm-more-than-just-fun-exploring-meaningful-play-communities-of-play-and-relatedness-of-play/ CATEGORIES:Ph.D. Presentations ATTACH;FMTTYPE=image/jpeg:https://events.ucsc.edu/wp-content/uploads/2026/04/ph.d.-presentation-graphic-option-1.jpg LOCATION: END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT DTSTART;TZID=America/Los_Angeles:20260526T110000 DTEND;TZID=America/Los_Angeles:20260526T130000 DTSTAMP:20260515T174024Z CREATED:20260515T173857Z LAST-MODIFIED:20260515T174024Z UID:10014644-1779793200-1779800400@events.ucsc.edu SUMMARY:Liu\, P. (CM) - Reimagining Workplace Concern Reporting: From Emotional Harm to Co-Designed Futures DESCRIPTION:Workplace concern reporting infrastructure\, including human resources (HR) portals\, grievance procedures\, and whistleblower hotlines\, is the formal channel through which employees in most organizations raise concerns about harassment\, discrimination\, and retaliation. Yet existing research consistently finds that these systems fail the employees they are meant to protect: reports stall\, concerns get filtered\, retaliation occurs\, and marginalized employees face disproportionate risk. This dissertation examines workplace concern reporting as relational\, emotional\, and processual rather than procedural and discrete\, and pursues this account through three studies. Study 1\, drawing on semi-structured interviews with 12 HR professionals and 10 employees in California\, develops the concept of emotional re-victimization to describe how reporting infrastructure produces additional harm at multiple stages of the reporting process. Study 2 returns to the same corpus with a different theoretical lens to develop the concept of buffer spaces: intermediary practices through which employees navigate the gap between informal sense-making and formal escalation. Study 3 will move the dissertation from diagnostic to practical work in two phases. Phase 1 uses speculative co-design with employees and HR professionals to surface what each group would build if they could redesign concern reporting infrastructure together. Phase 2 translates design directions from Phase 1 into prototypes\, iterated with participants across both groups to develop design artifacts that have been shaped by the people who would use them. The dissertation as a whole moves from documenting harm\, through identifying workarounds\, to imagining redesign\, contributing to HCI/CSCW scholarship on workplace technology\, labor studies on employee voice and accountability\, and methodological work on cross-stakeholder speculative design. \nEvent Host: Peiyao Liu\, Ph.D. Student\, Computational Media \nAdvisor: Norman Makoto Su \nZoom: https://ucsc.zoom.us/j/99335305923?pwd=xP6QlNwzobLNQqnCxG3muuZD36C4rn.1 \nPasscode: 946352 \n  URL:https://events.ucsc.edu/event/liu-p-cm-reimagining-workplace-concern-reporting-from-emotional-harm-to-co-designed-futures/ CATEGORIES:Ph.D. Presentations ATTACH;FMTTYPE=image/png:https://events.ucsc.edu/wp-content/uploads/2026/04/ph.d.-presentation-graphic-option-3.png LOCATION: END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT DTSTART;TZID=America/Los_Angeles:20260526T103000 DTEND;TZID=America/Los_Angeles:20260526T123000 DTSTAMP:20260512T164007Z CREATED:20260512T164007Z LAST-MODIFIED:20260512T164007Z UID:10014630-1779791400-1779798600@events.ucsc.edu SUMMARY:Castro\, S. (CSE) - Agentic AI for Security: Adversarial Foundations for Autonomous Cyber Operations DESCRIPTION:Autonomous Cyber Operations (ACO) agents promise effective security automation with minimal human intervention\, yet their deployment raises three interconnected challenges: agents must be realistic (reproducing diverse attacker sophistication)\, secure (preventing autonomy from becoming an attack surface)\, and feasible (safely replicating human behavior at full autonomy). \nWe argue that these three properties are requirements for ACO agents. Existing approaches do not address them together and lack diverse adversarial coverage\, formal threat models for attacks against the agents themselves\, and systematic evaluation of multi-agent topologies. \nWe advance all three ACO properties: (1) For realism\, we establish adversarial foundations by discovering Windows OS vulnerabilities and releasing two exploits reliable across XP through 11. (2) For security\, we formalize ACO meta-attacks and meta-defenses\, propose the first invariant-based Meta-IDS detecting both sensor and actuator meta-attacks\, and introduce the first hybrid LLM–RL ACO integration for defense with a novel inter-agent communication protocol. (3) For feasibility\, we present MaLO\, the first dynamic-topology multi-agent ACO system\, achieving a 78.6\% success rate across a new 42-task security benchmark and solving operations up to 40× faster than human experts. We further propose the Security Operation Complexity Index (SOCX) classification and the T×V×O taxonomy as the first objective-driven evaluation methodology for coding-agent attacks. \nTogether\, these contributions demonstrate that ACO agents can match real-world adversarial sophistication\, resist meta-attacks\, and outperform human operators on complex security tasks. Open challenges remain in adaptive adversaries\, LLM–RL co-training\, dynamic topology selection\, and deployment beyond simulated environments. \n  \nEvent Host:  Sebastián R. Castro\, PhD Candidate\, Computer Science & Engineering \nAdvisor: Alvaro A. Cárdenas \nZoom: https://ucsc.zoom.us/j/2267557290?pwd=S0dNTTV3emZGUzlqV3dLbTg3a0NFUT09&omn=92791061627 \nPasscode: G20c06 URL:https://events.ucsc.edu/event/castro-s-cse-agentic-ai-for-security-adversarial-foundations-for-autonomous-cyber-operations/ LOCATION:Engineering 2\, Engineering 2 1156 High Street\, Santa Cruz\, CA\, 95064 CATEGORIES:Ph.D. Presentations ATTACH;FMTTYPE=image/jpeg:https://events.ucsc.edu/wp-content/uploads/2026/04/ph.d.-presentation-graphic-option2.jpg GEO:37.0009723;-122.0632371 X-APPLE-STRUCTURED-LOCATION;VALUE=URI;X-ADDRESS=Engineering 2 Engineering 2 1156 High Street Santa Cruz CA 95064;X-APPLE-RADIUS=500;X-TITLE=Engineering 2 1156 High Street:geo:-122.0632371,37.0009723 END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT DTSTART;TZID=America/Los_Angeles:20260526T100000 DTEND;TZID=America/Los_Angeles:20260526T110000 DTSTAMP:20260518T190031Z CREATED:20260518T185313Z LAST-MODIFIED:20260518T190031Z UID:10014653-1779789600-1779793200@events.ucsc.edu SUMMARY:Harsh\, B. (CSE) - SUPERSCALAR\, MULTIPLE TAKEN BRANCH PREDICTOR DESCRIPTION:This work addresses improvements in branch prediction mechanism to support high perfor-\nmance processors. The state of the art aims to balance the prediction latency and prediction\naccuracy using multi level correcting predictors [27]. Prior published work focusses on scalar\ndesigns and prediction accuracy improvement for hard to predict branches employing tailor\nmade\, non generic and non transferrable solutions [8]. Recent work also proposes ahead pre-\ndiction [42–44] to solve the problem of low accuracy of L0 predictor. \nThis work proposes efficent\, generic and transferrable solutions to reduce mispredic-\ntions and to use the fetch bandwidth more efficiently. This includes a biased overriding multi-\nlevel hierarchy with three predictor levels (L0\, L1\, L2). L0 uses a High-Confidence-Only Taken\n(HOTP) predictor that only predicts high-confidence taken control-flow instructions. This work\nfurther uses L1-L2 biased training to decrease mispredictions by L2 while it trains on branches\non which L1 has reached high confidence. This work proposes a superscalar predictor built\nusing the state of the art scalar predictor. Superscalar predictor is implemented by sizing a su-\nperscalar TAGE variant (BATAGE) using Optuna-based search. with varying table sizes and\naspect ratios. The work further proposes a branch predictor frontend design (nTakenBP) to de-\nliver multiple taken branch predictions per cycle. Unlike prior work\, nTakenBP achieves this by\nextending the existing BTB and TAGE tag-comparison logic rather than deepening lookahead. \n  \nEvent Host: Bhawandeep Singh Harsh\, Ph.D. Candidate\, Computer Science & Engineering \nAdvisor: Jose Renau \nZoom: https://ucsc.zoom.us/j/4166778865?pwd=cS9NcnVjRjArYlRRcDcrY3d5N0ZKQT09 URL:https://events.ucsc.edu/event/harsh-b-cse-superscalar-multiple-taken-branch-predictor/ LOCATION:Engineering 2\, Engineering 2 1156 High Street\, Santa Cruz\, CA\, 95064 CATEGORIES:Ph.D. Presentations ATTACH;FMTTYPE=image/jpeg:https://events.ucsc.edu/wp-content/uploads/2026/04/ph.d.-presentation-graphic-option-1.jpg GEO:37.0009723;-122.0632371 X-APPLE-STRUCTURED-LOCATION;VALUE=URI;X-ADDRESS=Engineering 2 Engineering 2 1156 High Street Santa Cruz CA 95064;X-APPLE-RADIUS=500;X-TITLE=Engineering 2 1156 High Street:geo:-122.0632371,37.0009723 END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT DTSTART;TZID=America/Los_Angeles:20260526T100000 DTEND;TZID=America/Los_Angeles:20260526T110000 DTSTAMP:20260520T182036Z CREATED:20260514T202927Z LAST-MODIFIED:20260520T182036Z UID:10014640-1779789600-1779793200@events.ucsc.edu SUMMARY:ECE Seminar: Advanced Sensing and AI Technologies for Food Safety and Precision Agriculture DESCRIPTION:Presenter: Hamid Jafarbiglu\, Agricultural Technology Evaluator\, Big Idea Ventures \nDescription: California agriculture is increasingly adopting organic and regenerative production systems\, creating a growing need for technologies capable of monitoring complex agricultural environments\, assessing food safety risks\, and supporting data-driven management decisions. Emerging tools such as drones\, hyperspectral scanning\, environmental sensors\, and artificial intelligence provide new opportunities for continues field-scale monitoring\, risk detection\, and precision management while supporting sustainable agricultural practices. This talk highlights several applied research projects focused on the use of drone-based sensing\, spatio-spectral responses\, soil and environmental sensors\, and machine learning approaches to address real- world challenges in specialty crop production. These projects demonstrate how sensing technologies and advanced analytics can improve field-scale monitoring\, continuous risk assessment\, early detection\, and suitability in food production. Building on these experiences\, future research directions will focus on the intersection of food safety\, organic and regenerative agriculture\, and precision agricultural technologies. \nBio: Hamid Jafarbiglu is a researcher specializing in remote sensing\, spectral analysis\, and machine learning for agricultural systems. His work focuses on enhancing food safety\, crop monitoring\, and precision decision-making in high-value specialty crops.\n \nDr. Jafarbiglu earned his Ph.D. in Biological Systems Engineering from the University of California\, Davis\, following six years of intensive field research. His expertise integrates drone-based remote sensing\, hyperspectral imaging\, and AI to identify crop stress\, pest/disease outbreaks\, and nutrient deficiencies at their earliest stages.\n \nDuring his tenure at the UC Davis Digital Agriculture Lab\, Dr. Jafarbiglu’s doctoral and postdoctoral research resolved critical limitations in aerial spectral measurements. This work led to superior accuracy in drone-based sensing under variable field conditions and the development of scalable image-processing pipelines and digital orchard models for deep learning applications.\nBeyond research\, Dr. Jafarbiglu is an experienced extension professional. He has delivered hands-on training in drone operations and geospatial analysis to growers\, researchers\, and industry stakeholders\, bridging the gap between data-driven innovation and real-world adoption.\n \nHis background also extends to the commercial sector; as an Agricultural Technology Evaluator with Big Idea Ventures\, he conducted technical and market assessments for agri-food innovations\, including early-stage bio-based products. Today\, Dr. Jafarbiglu’s work continues to advance the integration of AI and remote sensing to foster sustainable\, regenerative farming and robust food systems across California and beyond. \nHosted by: Professor Marco Rolandi\, ECE Department \nZoom Link: https://ucsc.zoom.us/j/96727838511?pwd=1Qzl9HTV3G2BxaSEG8GeKOPZVu2NWj.1 URL:https://events.ucsc.edu/event/ece-seminar-hamid-jafarbiglu/ LOCATION:Engineering 2\, Engineering 2 1156 High Street\, Santa Cruz\, CA\, 95064 CATEGORIES:Seminars ATTACH;FMTTYPE=image/png:https://events.ucsc.edu/wp-content/uploads/2026/05/Screenshot-2026-05-14-at-13.27.56.png GEO:37.0009723;-122.0632371 X-APPLE-STRUCTURED-LOCATION;VALUE=URI;X-ADDRESS=Engineering 2 Engineering 2 1156 High Street Santa Cruz CA 95064;X-APPLE-RADIUS=500;X-TITLE=Engineering 2 1156 High Street:geo:-122.0632371,37.0009723 END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT DTSTART;TZID=America/Los_Angeles:20260526T093000 DTEND;TZID=America/Los_Angeles:20260526T113000 DTSTAMP:20260519T162948Z CREATED:20260519T162948Z LAST-MODIFIED:20260519T162948Z UID:10014713-1779787800-1779795000@events.ucsc.edu SUMMARY:Weber\, Z. (ECE) - Sustainable Bioinspired Polymer–Mineral Composites for Adaptable Repair in Conservation Applications DESCRIPTION:Every year\, tens of thousands of tons of plaster-based materials are used in restoration and conservation applications\, many of which are derived from non-renewable sources and discarded at the end of their service life. Here\, we introduce a biodegradable\, bio-derived composite based on chitosan and calcium carbonate that is composed of simple\, widely available constituents and designed for adaptable repair applications. By varying polymer molecular weight\, concentration\, and mineral content\, the composite can be formulated to span injectable\, paste-like\, and putty-like behaviors\, enabling accommodation of diverse structural filling and stabilization needs. We examine relationships between composition\, flow behavior\, and mechanical performance through rheological characterization of the wet composite and measurements of bulk density\, porosity\, and compressive strength in the hardened state. Rather than targeting a single optimized formulation\, this work demonstrates a tunable material platform in which relationships between composition\, flow behavior and mechanical performance guide selection of material behavior based on application requirements. Future applications of this approach include sustainable repair and conservation materials for exhibits\, architectural restoration\, and other contexts where adaptable handling\, mechanical integrity\, and biodegradability are desired. \nEvent Host: Zoë Weber\, Ph.D. Student\, Electrical & Computer Engineering  \nAdvisor: Marco Rolandi \nZoom: https://ucsc.zoom.us/j/96509847894?pwd=Q5w4oFaXQQD4rbEehZHxuevh12Piar.1 \nPasscode: 324003 URL:https://events.ucsc.edu/event/weber-z-ece-sustainable-bioinspired-polymer-mineral-composites-for-adaptable-repair-in-conservation-applications/ LOCATION:Jack Baskin Engineering\, Baskin Engineering 1156 High Street\, Santa Cruz\, CA\, 95064 CATEGORIES:Ph.D. Presentations ATTACH;FMTTYPE=image/png:https://events.ucsc.edu/wp-content/uploads/2026/04/ph.d.-presentation-graphic-option-3.png GEO:37.000369;-122.0632371 X-APPLE-STRUCTURED-LOCATION;VALUE=URI;X-ADDRESS=Jack Baskin Engineering Baskin Engineering 1156 High Street Santa Cruz CA 95064;X-APPLE-RADIUS=500;X-TITLE=Baskin Engineering 1156 High Street:geo:-122.0632371,37.000369 END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT DTSTART;TZID=America/Los_Angeles:20260526T070000 DTEND;TZID=America/Los_Angeles:20260526T090000 DTSTAMP:20260515T203009Z CREATED:20260515T203009Z LAST-MODIFIED:20260515T203009Z UID:10014648-1779778800-1779786000@events.ucsc.edu SUMMARY:Chou\, Y. (CM) - Exploring Future AI-Mediated Health Creator–Audience Interactions on Social Media: Transparency\, Care\, and Accountability DESCRIPTION:Health and wellness content creators play an important role in shaping how people receive and engage with health information on social media. Beyond delivering information\, they also convey care\, build trust\, and sustain relationships with audiences. As generative AI (GenAI) becomes increasingly integrated into creator work\, existing research has examined AI disclosure\, AI-mediated communication\, and health communication more broadly\, but less is known about how AI should be integrated into health creator–audience interactions\, where informational support\, emotional care\, accountability\, and relational meaning are often intertwined. My dissertation examines AI-mediated health creator–audience interaction through four connected studies. Study 1 used mock-up interfaces and semi-structured interviews with 16 Instagram users who interact with health and wellness creators to examine audience perceptions of GenAI use disclosure. Study 2 conducts co-design sessions with social media health creators to explore how creators might communicate human labor and personal contribution in a future social media environment where AI-generated content is widespread. Study 3 extends the focus to audience-invoked AI in public comment sections by scraping and analyzing comment data from platfrom X\, examining how audiences invoke AI agents through @-mentions in response to health creator posts\, and how these public AI invocations may shape information credibility\, accountability\, community discussion\, and social dynamics. Finally\, Study 4 will synthesize insights from the first three studies and translate them into interactive prototypes. By examining how audiences and health creators interact with these prototypes\, this study will explore future forms of AI-mediated health creator–audience interaction and broader community engagement on social media. \n  \nEvent Host: Yuling Ruby Chou\, Ph.D. Student\, Computational Media \nAdvisor: Christina Chung \nZoom: https://ucsc.zoom.us/j/94127645445?pwd=dmlMkwbknDZE9pbklAC9jhwDTZPbVL.1 \nPasscode: 190739 URL:https://events.ucsc.edu/event/chou-y-cm-exploring-future-ai-mediated-health-creator-audience-interactions-on-social-media-transparency-care-and-accountability/ CATEGORIES:Ph.D. Presentations ATTACH;FMTTYPE=image/jpeg:https://events.ucsc.edu/wp-content/uploads/2026/04/ph.d.-presentation-graphic-option-1.jpg LOCATION: END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT DTSTART;TZID=America/Los_Angeles:20260521T114000 DTEND;TZID=America/Los_Angeles:20260521T131500 DTSTAMP:20260507T163056Z CREATED:20260507T163056Z LAST-MODIFIED:20260507T163056Z UID:10014617-1779363600-1779369300@events.ucsc.edu SUMMARY:BME 280B Seminar: Speaker Dylan Shropshire - "How did Wolbachia become Earth's most pervasive animal symbiont?" DESCRIPTION:Presenter: Dylan Shropshire\, Assistant Professor in the Department of Biological Sciences\, Lehigh University \nDescription: Maternally transmitted Wolbachia bacteria inhabit roughly half of all arthropod species\, making them likely the most common animal-associated microbe on Earth. Wolbachia alter host reproduction\, persist across deep evolutionary timescales\, and move into new host species in ways that we are only beginning to resolve. Wolbachia‘s biological success now also underpins global biocontrol programs aimed at suppressing arboviral disease\, lending applied urgency to a foundational question: how did a single bacterial lineage come to dominate the animal world? In this seminar\, I will draw on my recent and ongoing work to explore facets of this question\, leveraging Wolbachia‘s evolutionary diversity and wet-lab tools to define the mechanisms driving this microbe’s success across the animal world. Collectively\, this work aims to clarify the determinants of Wolbachia‘s natural prevalence and to sharpen the predictive frameworks underpinning Wolbachia-based biocontrol of vector-borne disease. \nBio: Dylan Shropshire is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Biological Sciences at Lehigh University in Pennsylvania\, where he leads a research group studying mechanisms of Wolbachia-host interactions. He earned his PhD at Vanderbilt University as an NSF Graduate Research Fellow and completed an NSF Postdoctoral Research Fellowship at the University of Montana. He is also a first-generation high school graduate and former Pell Grant recipient\, experiences that motivate his commitment to high-quality mentorship and evidence-based pedagogical practices. His work has been recognized by the Charles E. Kaufman New Investigator Award\, Lehigh’s Pre-Tenure Faculty Award\, and the College of Arts and Sciences Dean’s Award for Teaching Excellence. \nHosted by: Professor Shelbi Russell\, BME Department URL:https://events.ucsc.edu/event/bme-280b-seminar-speaker-dylan-shropshire-how-did-wolbachia-become-earths-most-pervasive-animal-symbiont/ LOCATION:Biomedical Sciences Building\, 575 McLaughlin Drive CATEGORIES:Lectures & Presentations,Seminars ATTACH;FMTTYPE=image/jpeg:https://events.ucsc.edu/wp-content/uploads/2026/05/BME-280B-Seminar-2.jpg GEO:46.1226939;-64.7891251 X-APPLE-STRUCTURED-LOCATION;VALUE=URI;X-ADDRESS=Biomedical Sciences Building 575 McLaughlin Drive;X-APPLE-RADIUS=500;X-TITLE=575 McLaughlin Drive:geo:-64.7891251,46.1226939 END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT DTSTART;TZID=America/Los_Angeles:20260521T090000 DTEND;TZID=America/Los_Angeles:20260521T143000 DTSTAMP:20260326T204610Z CREATED:20260326T204610Z LAST-MODIFIED:20260326T204610Z UID:10011802-1779354000-1779373800@events.ucsc.edu SUMMARY:Annual BE Student Project Showcase DESCRIPTION:Join Baskin Engineering for our annual Student Project Showcase to celebrate the innovative work and accomplishments of undergraduate engineers in capstone courses and research pathways. The broader campus community\, parents\, and industry partners are invited to view the culmination of student work. \nThe day begins with oral presentations from nominated “best-in-class” teams and those working on industry-sponsored projects. Following this\, all students will participate in a comprehensive Poster Session featuring project outcomes with some teams including table-top demonstrations of functional hardware. \nEvent Details: \n\nDate: May 21\, 2026\nOral Presentations (Nominated/Industry Teams): 9:00 AM to 11:00 AM\, Engineering 2\, Room 180\nPoster Session (All Student Teams): 11:30 AM to 2:30 PM\, Engineering Courtyard URL:https://events.ucsc.edu/event/be-student-project-showcase-2026/ CATEGORIES:Lectures & Presentations,Undergraduate ATTACH;FMTTYPE=image/png:https://events.ucsc.edu/wp-content/uploads/2026/03/BE-ug-project-showcase.png END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT DTSTART;TZID=America/Los_Angeles:20260520T132000 DTEND;TZID=America/Los_Angeles:20260520T142500 DTSTAMP:20260513T212109Z CREATED:20260513T211954Z LAST-MODIFIED:20260513T212109Z UID:10014632-1779283200-1779287100@events.ucsc.edu SUMMARY:BME80G Seminar – Ann Mc Cartney\, "The Why\, What and How of Indigenous Data Sovereignty" DESCRIPTION:Presenter: Dr. Ann Mc Cartney\n\n\nLocation: Virtual. Please register here: https://ucsc.zoom.us/meeting/register/ciShTZsyRViYxMDjCc_cAQ#/registration \nAbstract: In 2007 the General Assembly of the United Nations adopted the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples (UNDRIP) that supports Indigenous Peoples’ inherent rights to self-determination and governance over Indigenous Peoples\, territories and resources. This codification in an international treaty led to the conceptualization of Indigenous Data Sovereignty in 2016. Indigenous Data Sovereignty is defined as the right of Indigenous Peoples to own\, control\, access and possess data that derive from them\, and which pertain to Nation membership\, knowledge systems\, customs or territories and is not an internationally recognized concept. Practically\, Indigenous Data Sovereignty gives decision-making authority to Indigenous Peoples and allows them to decide how best data should be collected\, accessed\, and used for nation-building. For this reason\, Indigenous Data Sovereignty is inextricably linked to Indigenous Data Governance. \nThis lecture will dive into the why\, what\, and how of Indigenous Data Sovereignty. Beginning with dive into the history of genomics research and Indigenous Peoples. Then moving into a more in-depth description of both Indigenous Data Sovereignty and Indigenous Data Governance. The lecture will close with highlighting three real world case-studies of genomics projects operationalising Indigenous Data Sovereignty. \nAbout the speaker: Dr. Mc Cartney is a Full Researcher at the University of California\, Irvine and a Consultant for the Secretariat of the Convention on Biological Diversity\, where she works at the intersection of bioinformatics\, bioethics and policy across human and non-human species. Dr. Mc Cartney completed her PhD in Bioinformatics and Molecular Evolution from Dublin City University. After this she carried out a Genomics Aotearoa Postdoctoral Research Fellowship where she created culturally respectful genomic informatics pipelines for the project that were responsive to the needs and rights of Māori. She then moved Stateside and carried out a second Visiting Postdoctoral Fellowship in the Genome Informatics Section at the NHGRI. During this time\, she also conducted a detail in the NIH Office of Science Policy. Dr. Mc Cartney then transitioned to the University of California\, Santa Cruz’s Genomics Institute as an Assistant Researcher where she worked at the forefront of genomic sequencing technologies to develop more just genomic data infrastructures\, policies and frameworks for engagement. She became an elected member of the Executive Council of the Earth BioGenome Project\, the Vice-chair of the European Reference Genome Atlas\, and the Director of International Partnerships for the Human Pangenome Reference Consortium. She also acted as a “technical expert” for many international science policy initiatives including the DSI Scientific Network\, Native Biodata Consortium and the Informal Advisory Group on DSI for the Convention on Biological Diversity. Additionally\, Dr. Mc Cartney was part of the team to build the first NIH-funded Tribal Data Repository for American Indian and Alaska Natives. URL:https://events.ucsc.edu/event/bme80g-seminar-ann-mc-cartney-the-why-what-and-how-of-indigenous-data-sovereignty/ CATEGORIES:Lectures & Presentations,Seminars ATTACH;FMTTYPE=image/jpeg:https://events.ucsc.edu/wp-content/uploads/2026/05/6-6-23-Ann-Mccartney-CL-006-scaled.jpg LOCATION:https://events.ucsc.edu/event/bme80g-seminar-ann-mc-cartney-the-why-what-and-how-of-indigenous-data-sovereignty/ END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT DTSTART;TZID=America/Los_Angeles:20260520T110000 DTEND;TZID=America/Los_Angeles:20260520T121500 DTSTAMP:20260518T155149Z CREATED:20260518T155149Z LAST-MODIFIED:20260518T155149Z UID:10014650-1779274800-1779279300@events.ucsc.edu SUMMARY:CSE Colloquium - Safety Alignment of LMs via Non-cooperative Games DESCRIPTION:Presenter: Arman Zharmagambetov\, Meta \nAbstract:\nEnsuring the safety of language models (LMs) while maintaining their usefulness remains a critical challenge in AI alignment. Current approaches rely on sequential adversarial training: generating adversarial (harmful) prompts and fine-tuning LMs to defend against them. We introduce a different paradigm: framing safety alignment as a non-zero-sum game between an Attacker LM and a Defender LM trained jointly via online reinforcement learning. Each LM continuously adapts to the other’s evolving strategies\, driving iterative improvement. Our method uses a preference-based reward signal derived from pairwise comparisons instead of point-wise scores\, providing more robust supervision and potentially reducing reward hacking. Our RL recipe\, AdvGame\, shifts the Pareto frontier of safety and utility\, yielding a Defender LM that is simultaneously more helpful and more resilient to adversarial attacks. In addition\, the resulting Attacker LM converges into a strong\, general-purpose red-teaming agent that can be directly deployed to probe arbitrary target models. \nBio:\nArman Zharmagambetov is a research scientist in the Fundamental AI Research (FAIR) team at Meta. His research primarily focuses on machine learning and optimization\, recently exploring their application in enhancing the security and robustness of AI systems. He received his PhD from the University of California – Merced. Afterward\, he completed his postdoctoral research at FAIR\, focusing on Reinforcement Learning\, AI-guided design and Optimization. \nHosted by: Professor Alvaro Cardenas and Professor Sungjin Im \nDate and Time: Wednesday\, May 20\, 2026 from 11:00 am – 12:15 pm \nLocation: Engineering 2\, Room E2-180 (Refreshments such as fruit\, pastries\, coffee\, and tea will be provided.) \nZoom Option: https://ucsc.zoom.us/j/93445911992?pwd=YkJ2TQtF79h0PcNXbEcpZLbpK0coiY.1&jst=3 URL:https://events.ucsc.edu/event/cse-colloquium-safety-alignment-of-lms-via-non-cooperative-games/ LOCATION:Engineering 2\, Engineering 2 1156 High Street\, Santa Cruz\, CA\, 95064 CATEGORIES:Lectures & Presentations,Seminars ATTACH;FMTTYPE=image/png:https://events.ucsc.edu/wp-content/uploads/2026/03/BElogoWHITE.png GEO:37.0009723;-122.0632371 X-APPLE-STRUCTURED-LOCATION;VALUE=URI;X-ADDRESS=Engineering 2 Engineering 2 1156 High Street Santa Cruz CA 95064;X-APPLE-RADIUS=500;X-TITLE=Engineering 2 1156 High Street:geo:-122.0632371,37.0009723 END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT DTSTART;TZID=America/Los_Angeles:20260520T090000 DTEND;TZID=America/Los_Angeles:20260520T110000 DTSTAMP:20260507T160500Z CREATED:20260507T160500Z LAST-MODIFIED:20260507T160500Z UID:10014616-1779267600-1779274800@events.ucsc.edu SUMMARY:Lucas\, J. (BMEB) - Enabling Population-Scale Analysis of Human Centromere Diversity DESCRIPTION:Centromeric DNA is critical for accurate chromosome segregation and genome stability\, but due to its repetitive nature\, it was only recently fully included in a human reference. Rapid evolution and sequence diversity in these regions limit the utility of one reference sequence\, however. Integrating centromeric and pericentromeric satellite DNA – which together constitute over 5% of the human genome – into genetic research requires access to diverse sequences and the variation between them. The HPRC’s Release 2 dataset\, together with recent advancements in long-read assembly algorithms and new tools for sequence alignment and annotation\, now make characterization of centromeric variation possible. In this proposal\, I outline my work as part of the Human Pangenome Reference Consortium (HPRC) to create a diverse set of reference assemblies that accurately represent centromeric variation (aim 1)\, use novel tooling to characterize variation in centromeric regions (aim 2)\, and define the mutational processes that drive centromere evolution (aim 3). Completion of these aims will create a resource to enable the analysis and interpretation of centromeric variation data\, bringing these historically inaccessible regions into mainstream studies of human genetics\, evolution\, and disease. \nEvent Host: Julian Lucas\, Ph.D. Student\, Biomolecular Engineering & Bioinformatics \nAdvisor: Karen Miga \nZoom: https://ucsc.zoom.us/j/94129246296?pwd=QAs2hW8QZRNgpfaGJXvmaVfo52tIh7.1 \nPasscode: 669318 URL:https://events.ucsc.edu/event/lucas-j-bmeb-enabling-population-scale-analysis-of-human-centromere-diversity/ LOCATION:Engineering 2\, Engineering 2 1156 High Street\, Santa Cruz\, CA\, 95064 CATEGORIES:Ph.D. Presentations ATTACH;FMTTYPE=image/jpeg:https://events.ucsc.edu/wp-content/uploads/2026/04/ph.d.-presentation-graphic-option2.jpg GEO:37.0009723;-122.0632371 X-APPLE-STRUCTURED-LOCATION;VALUE=URI;X-ADDRESS=Engineering 2 Engineering 2 1156 High Street Santa Cruz CA 95064;X-APPLE-RADIUS=500;X-TITLE=Engineering 2 1156 High Street:geo:-122.0632371,37.0009723 END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT DTSTART;TZID=America/Los_Angeles:20260520T080000 DTEND;TZID=America/Los_Angeles:20260520T100000 DTSTAMP:20260422T160446Z CREATED:20260422T160446Z LAST-MODIFIED:20260422T160446Z UID:10013970-1779264000-1779271200@events.ucsc.edu SUMMARY:Maram\, S. (CM) - Scripture To Console: The Nexus between Religion and Digital Play DESCRIPTION:Religion has historically been a profound force for global mobilization\, shaping geopolitics\, economies\, and geography. Similarly\, contemporary interactive media\, with video games at the forefront\, has moved beyond mere entertainment to become a powerful vehicle for communication\, narrative\, and inspiration\, reaching millions worldwide. This dissertation investigates the intersection of these two influential forces: religion and video games\, demonstrating the influence of religion on video games\, the influence of video games on religion\, and finally\, how these two powerful mobilization forces can come together to solve global challenges. \nFirst\, I examine the current landscape of religious representation in commercial video games (e.g.\, Assassin’s Creed\, SMITE). I analyze how key stakeholders i.e. players\, game designers\, and development studios\, interpret and engage with embedded religious elements\, drawing on existing critical reception and player discourse. This analysis identifies common narrative pitfalls and successful strategies for incorporating complex religious themes in digital spaces\, culminating in proposed design frameworks for sensitive and effective representation. \nBuilding on this foundational work\, the thesis culminates in defining and validating a new interaction paradigm where learning meets religion through play. This paradigm focuses on intentionally leveraging religious content i.e. specifically its rituals and narratives as mechanics in serious games to drive motivation and learning toward collective action. I validate this paradigm through a comprehensive case study focused on climate change\, arguably the most pressing issue of the modern era. This involves the design and empirical discussion of a serious game that incorporates specific religious mechanics\, ethics\, and narratives (e.g.\, stewardship\, ritual) to effectively communicate the severity of the climate crisis and motivate stakeholders toward a collective solution. \n  \nEvent Host: Sai Siddartha Maram\, Ph.D. Candidate\, Computational Media \nAdvisor: Magy Seif El-Nasr \nZoom: https://ucsc.zoom.us/j/91946426300?pwd=wxe1x3YCRsXrtcvOSy2kmfC9dZ3inW.1 \nPasscode: 558570 URL:https://events.ucsc.edu/event/maram-s-cm-scripture-to-console-the-nexus-between-religion-and-digital-play/ CATEGORIES:Ph.D. Presentations ATTACH;FMTTYPE=image/jpeg:https://events.ucsc.edu/wp-content/uploads/2026/04/ph.d.-presentation-graphic-option-1.jpg LOCATION: END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT DTSTART;TZID=America/Los_Angeles:20260519T133000 DTEND;TZID=America/Los_Angeles:20260519T153000 DTSTAMP:20260512T163246Z CREATED:20260512T161808Z LAST-MODIFIED:20260512T163246Z UID:10014626-1779197400-1779204600@events.ucsc.edu SUMMARY:Bai\, G. (BMEB) - Long-read single-molecule chromatin architecture and its role in transcriptome regulation DESCRIPTION:Sequencing technologies have revolutionized our understanding of biology\, yet many existing methods require fragmentation of DNA or RNA\, fundamentally limiting our ability to study these molecules in their native\, intact forms. Long-read sequencing overcomes this constraint by enabling the sequencing of long\, single-molecule native DNA and RNA\, providing simultaneous access to both sequence and base modifications that reflect epigenetic state. This capability has already yielded landmark achievements\, including the first complete\, gapless human genome assembly. Yet while our ability to decode genomic sequence has advanced dramatically\, how chromatin structure shapes a cell’s transcriptome remains poorly understood. My thesis addresses this gap through three aims. First\, I co-developed a novel long-read approach for profiling chromatin accessibility at single-molecule resolution using the small molecule angelicin. Second\, I characterized how long-range chromatin states are associated with RNA processing and transcription\, leveraging multi-omic long-read data in yeast. Third\, I incorporate chromatin data into sequence-to-function deep learning models to interpret the mechanistic contribution of chromatin state to RNA processing. Together\, these aims establish a new framework for studying the relationship between epigenetic state and transcriptome regulation at a resolution not previously possible. \nEvent Host: Gali Bai\, Ph.D. Candidate\, Biomolecular Engineering & Bioinformatics \nAdvisor: Angela Brooks \nZoom Meeting ID: 940 6201 8397 \nPasscode: 700963 URL:https://events.ucsc.edu/event/bai-g-bmeb-long-read-single-molecule-chromatin-architecture-and-its-role-in-transcriptome-regulation/ LOCATION:Biomedical Sciences Building\, 575 McLaughlin Drive CATEGORIES:Ph.D. Presentations ATTACH;FMTTYPE=image/jpeg:https://events.ucsc.edu/wp-content/uploads/2026/04/ph.d.-presentation-graphic-option-1.jpg GEO:46.1226939;-64.7891251 X-APPLE-STRUCTURED-LOCATION;VALUE=URI;X-ADDRESS=Biomedical Sciences Building 575 McLaughlin Drive;X-APPLE-RADIUS=500;X-TITLE=575 McLaughlin Drive:geo:-64.7891251,46.1226939 END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT DTSTART;TZID=America/Los_Angeles:20260519T100000 DTEND;TZID=America/Los_Angeles:20260519T120000 DTSTAMP:20260512T163057Z CREATED:20260512T163057Z LAST-MODIFIED:20260512T163057Z UID:10014628-1779184800-1779192000@events.ucsc.edu SUMMARY:Paul Pena\, D. (CSE) - Efficient Pattern Counting in Sparse Graphs and Hypergraphs DESCRIPTION:Pattern counting is a fundamental problem in computer science with applications in many domains. For a fixed small pattern H\, we are given a large graph G and we are asked to count the number of subgraphs or homomorphisms (edge-preserving maps) of H in G. For practical applications where the input graph can be very large\, we are interested in finding efficient algorithms\, that is\, algorithms that run in linear or subquadratic time with respect to the size of the input. \nFinding such algorithms in general (when G can be any graph) is not possible. Instead\, we restrict our input to sparse classes of graphs. One family of graph classes that has been widely studied in the context of subgraph and homomorphism counting is bounded-degeneracy graph classes. Real-world graphs in many domains have bounded degeneracy\, so studying these classes in theory can lead to practical algorithms. \nA series of advances in the study of homomorphism counting led to a dichotomy theorem that exactly characterized which patterns were linear-time computable for bounded-degeneracy inputs. This dissertation builds on this result\, extending it to other variants of this problem\, and generalizing it to other different settings\, like counting hypergraphs and notions of sparsity beyond degeneracy. \nOur results help develop the theory of subgraph counting in sparse graphs and hypergraphs\, and showcase how sparsity can be used both in theory and practice to develop faster algorithms. \n  \nEvent Host: Daniel Paul Pena\, Ph.D. Candidate\, Computer Science & Engineering  \nAdvisor: C. Sheshadhri \nZoom: https://ucsc.zoom.us/j/97685906168?pwd=O35brsWilyn2m8AgMn0dKgALBe6wi1.1 URL:https://events.ucsc.edu/event/paul-pena-d-cse-efficient-pattern-counting-in-sparse-graphs-and-hypergraphs/ LOCATION:Engineering 2\, Engineering 2 1156 High Street\, Santa Cruz\, CA\, 95064 CATEGORIES:Ph.D. Presentations ATTACH;FMTTYPE=image/png:https://events.ucsc.edu/wp-content/uploads/2026/04/ph.d.-presentation-graphic-option-3.png GEO:37.0009723;-122.0632371 X-APPLE-STRUCTURED-LOCATION;VALUE=URI;X-ADDRESS=Engineering 2 Engineering 2 1156 High Street Santa Cruz CA 95064;X-APPLE-RADIUS=500;X-TITLE=Engineering 2 1156 High Street:geo:-122.0632371,37.0009723 END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT DTSTART;TZID=America/Los_Angeles:20260519T100000 DTEND;TZID=America/Los_Angeles:20260519T110000 DTSTAMP:20260514T225808Z CREATED:20260514T195842Z LAST-MODIFIED:20260514T225808Z UID:10014639-1779184800-1779188400@events.ucsc.edu SUMMARY:ECE Seminar: Multiscale Sensing for Specialty Crop Systems: From Field Monitoring to Food Safety Application DESCRIPTION:Presenter: Eve Laroche-Pinel\, Postdoctoral Researcher\, California State University\, Fresno \nDescription: Advances in remote sensing\, drone platforms\, and data analytics are enhancing the ability to monitor agricultural systems at fine spatial and temporal scales. This presentation will highlight applied research using multispectral and hyperspectral data from satellites\, drones\, aircraft\, and ground platforms to assess crop water status\, detect disease\, and estimate fruit composition. These efforts are developed in collaboration with growers and industry partners\, with an emphasis on methods that are robust under field conditions and scalable across production systems. Building on this foundation\, the talk will examine how similar sensing approaches could be extended to address food safety challenges in California agriculture\, particularly in systems transitioning toward organic and regenerative practices . By linking environmental variability\, water dynamics\, and landscape features with potential contamination pathways\, sensing technologies may support improved risk assessment and monitoring. \nBio: Eve Laroche-Pinel is a researcher specializing in the application of sensing technologies to agricultural systems\, with a focus on translating data-driven methods into tools that support decision-making in real production environments. Her work sits at the intersection of agricultural engineering\, remote sensing\, and applied machine learning. \nShe holds a PhD from the National Polytechnic Institute of Toulouse (France)\, completed in partnership with industry\, where she developed an operational service to monitor vineyard water status using satellite imagery. This work fostered a strong emphasis on applied research\, system integration\, and technology transfer to end users. \nShe is currently a postdoctoral researcher at California State University\, Fresno\, contributing to a research program that uses multispectral and hyperspectral data collected from satellites\, drones\, aircraft\, and ground-based platforms. Her work addresses plant water status\, disease detection\, and crop composition\, combining field measurements\, laboratory analyses\, and predictive modeling. These projects are conducted in collaboration with growers\, industry partners\, and multidisciplinary academic teams\, with the objective of producing methods that are robust under field conditions and scalable across production systems. \nShe plans to increasingly focus on how sensing technologies could contribute to food safety challenges in specialty crops. By linking environmental variability\, crop condition\, and landscape features with potential contamination pathways\, her future work would aim to support improved risk assessment and monitoring strategies\, particularly in systems transitioning toward organic and regenerative practices. \nExtension and stakeholder engagement are central to her approach. She works closely with growers and partners to co-develop field trials\, adapt methodologies to operational constraints\, and translate technical outputs into actionable guidance. Her work includes participation in workshops\, training activities\, and collaborative projects that connect research with practice. \nHer long-term goal is to build integrated research and extension programs that combine drones\, spectral sensing\, and environmental monitoring to support safe\, resilient\, and technology-enabled agriculture. \nHosted by: Professor Marco Rolandi\, ECE Department \nZoom Link: https://ucsc.zoom.us/j/96727838511?pwd=1Qzl9HTV3G2BxaSEG8GeKOPZVu2NWj.1 URL:https://events.ucsc.edu/event/ece-seminar-researcher-in-agricultural-sensing-remote-sensing-and-applied-ai/ LOCATION:Engineering 2\, Engineering 2 1156 High Street\, Santa Cruz\, CA\, 95064 CATEGORIES:Seminars ATTACH;FMTTYPE=image/png:https://events.ucsc.edu/wp-content/uploads/2026/05/Screenshot-2026-05-14-at-12.57.42.png GEO:37.0009723;-122.0632371 X-APPLE-STRUCTURED-LOCATION;VALUE=URI;X-ADDRESS=Engineering 2 Engineering 2 1156 High Street Santa Cruz CA 95064;X-APPLE-RADIUS=500;X-TITLE=Engineering 2 1156 High Street:geo:-122.0632371,37.0009723 END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT DTSTART;TZID=America/Los_Angeles:20260518T160000 DTEND;TZID=America/Los_Angeles:20260518T170000 DTSTAMP:20260429T152454Z CREATED:20260429T152454Z LAST-MODIFIED:20260429T152454Z UID:10014494-1779120000-1779123600@events.ucsc.edu SUMMARY:AM Seminar: Dissecting Complex Disease Mechanisms with Causal Inference and Deep Learning DESCRIPTION:Presenter: Dr. David A. Knowles\, New York Genome Center & Columbia University \nDescription: Many human diseases have a substantial genetic component\, which association studies are increasingly capable of characterizing\, empowered by ever-growing sample sizes. These associations have the potential to elucidate complex disease biology and prioritize therapeutic interventions. However\, it is challenging to determine the impacted genes\, pathways and cellular states since most risk variants are noncoding. I will describe strategies we have explored to address this challenge\, particularly in the context of Alzheimer’s disease. We have mapped genetic effects on expression\, splicing and RNA editing in over 10k postmortem brain samples\, enabling interpretation of common variant associations. We developed a Mendelian randomization-based causal network inference method to estimate how genetic effects propagate through the gene network to converge on disease risk. We show that deep learning models of pre- and post- transcriptional regulation can refine functional fine-mapping\, improve the portability of polygenic risk scores across ancestries\, and increase power in novel annotation-aware noncoding rare variant association studies. Finally\, we designed a CRISPR/Cas13-based strategy to perform isoform-specific knockdown\, opening the door for isoform-resolved functional characterization of putative disease-causal transcriptomic changes. \nAbout the speaker: Dr. Knowles studied Natural Sciences and Information Engineering at Cambridge before obtaining an MSc in Bioinformatics and Systems Biology at Imperial College London. During his PhD in the Cambridge University Machine Learning Group under Zoubin Ghahramani he worked on variational inference and Bayesian nonparametric models. He was a postdoc at Stanford developing methods for functional genomics with Daphne Koller (CS)\, Sylvia Plevritis (Computational Systems Biology/Radiology) and Jonathan Pritchard (Genetics/Biology). At Columbia\, he is an Associate Professor of Computer Science\, an Interdisciplinary Appointee in Systems Biology and an Affiliate Member of the Data Science Institute. He is also a Core Faculty Member at the New York Genome Center. His group develops methods to better understand the genetic basis of human disease. \n\n\n\nThis seminar is hosted by Professor Nilah Ioannidis. URL:https://events.ucsc.edu/event/am-seminar-dissecting-complex-disease-mechanisms-with-causal-inference-and-deep-learning/ LOCATION:Jack Baskin Engineering\, Baskin Engineering 1156 High Street\, Santa Cruz\, CA\, 95064 CATEGORIES:Lectures & Presentations,Seminars ATTACH;FMTTYPE=image/jpeg:https://events.ucsc.edu/wp-content/uploads/2026/04/small_headshot.jpeg GEO:37.000369;-122.0632371 X-APPLE-STRUCTURED-LOCATION;VALUE=URI;X-ADDRESS=Jack Baskin Engineering Baskin Engineering 1156 High Street Santa Cruz CA 95064;X-APPLE-RADIUS=500;X-TITLE=Baskin Engineering 1156 High Street:geo:-122.0632371,37.000369 END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT DTSTART;TZID=America/Los_Angeles:20260518T160000 DTEND;TZID=America/Los_Angeles:20260518T170000 DTSTAMP:20260408T220408Z CREATED:20260408T220408Z LAST-MODIFIED:20260408T220408Z UID:10012085-1779120000-1779123600@events.ucsc.edu SUMMARY:Statistics Seminar: Unifying Regression-Based and Design-Based Causal Inference in Time-Series Experiments and Crossover Experiments DESCRIPTION:Presenter: Peng Ding\, Associate Professor\, UC Berkeley \nDescription: I will present some recent results on unifying regression-based and design-based causal inference in time-series experiments and crossover experiments. Part I: Time-series experiments\, also called switchback experiments or N-of-1 trials\, play increasingly important roles in modern applications in medical and industrial areas. Under the potential outcomes framework\, recent research has studied time-series experiments from the design-based perspective\, relying solely on the randomness in the design to drive the statistical inference. Focusing on simpler statistical methods\, we examine the design-based properties of regression- based methods for estimating treatment effects in time-series experiments. We demonstrate that the treatment effects of interest can be consistently estimated using ordinary least squares with an appropriately specified working model and transformed regressors. Additionally\, we show that asymptotically\, the heteroskedasticity and autocorrelation consistent variance estimators provide conservative estimates of the true\, design-based variances. This part is based on https://arxiv.org/pdf/2510.22864 \nPart II: Crossover designs randomly assign each unit to receive a sequence of treatments. By comparing outcomes within the same unit\, these designs can effectively eliminate between-unit variation and facilitate the identification of both instantaneous effects of current treatments and carryover effects from past treatments. They are widely used in traditional biomedical studies and are increasingly adopted in modern digital platforms. However\, standard analyses of crossover designs often rely on strong parametric models\, making inference vulnerable to model misspecification. We unify the analysis of crossover designs using least squares\, with restrictions on the coefficients and weights on the units. Based on the theory\, we recommend specifying the regression function\, weighting scheme\, and coefficient restrictions to assess identifiability\, construct efficient estimators\, and estimate variances in a unified manner. This part is based on https://arxiv.org/pdf/2511.09215 \nAbout the speaker: Peng Ding is an Associate Professor in the Department of Statistics at UC Berkeley. He obtained his Ph.D. from the Department of Statistics\, Harvard University in May 2015 and worked as a postdoctoral researcher in the Department of Epidemiology\, Harvard T. H. Chan School of Public Health until December 2015. Previously\, he received his B.S. in Mathematics\, B.A. in Economics\, and M.S. in Statistics from Peking University. \nThis seminar is hosted by Professor Allen Kei. URL:https://events.ucsc.edu/event/statistics-seminar-unifying-regression-based-and-design-based-causal-inference/ LOCATION:Jack Baskin Engineering\, Baskin Engineering 1156 High Street\, Santa Cruz\, CA\, 95064 CATEGORIES:Lectures & Presentations,Seminars ATTACH;FMTTYPE=image/jpeg:https://events.ucsc.edu/wp-content/uploads/2026/04/unnamed-scaled.jpg GEO:37.000369;-122.0632371 X-APPLE-STRUCTURED-LOCATION;VALUE=URI;X-ADDRESS=Jack Baskin Engineering Baskin Engineering 1156 High Street Santa Cruz CA 95064;X-APPLE-RADIUS=500;X-TITLE=Baskin Engineering 1156 High Street:geo:-122.0632371,37.000369 END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT DTSTART;TZID=America/Los_Angeles:20260518T104000 DTEND;TZID=America/Los_Angeles:20260518T114500 DTSTAMP:20260514T225630Z CREATED:20260514T225630Z LAST-MODIFIED:20260514T225630Z UID:10014641-1779100800-1779104700@events.ucsc.edu SUMMARY:ECE 290 Seminar: AI for Enhancing Power Grid Resilience Against Extreme Weather Events DESCRIPTION:Presenter: Masood Parvania\, Roger P. Webb Endowed Professor\, University of Utah \n  \nDescription: Many communities across the world are experiencing more frequent and severe extreme weather disturbances such as wildfires\, heatwaves\, drought\, storms\, rising sea levels\, and flooding\, which not only pose threats to human health\, and the environment but also affect the ability of the power grid to continue powering the communities. This requires upgrading the operation of power grid from passive and manual applications to making complex decisions in real-time to facilitate the automated recovery of the system after major disturbances. This talk will review the application of various AI and ML techniques for detection\, response and mitigation of cyber anomalies and extreme weather events in power distribution systems.\n \n  \nBio: Masood Parvania is the Roger P. Webb Endowed Professor of Electrical and Computer Engineering and the Director of Utah Smart Energy Laboratory (U-Smart) at the University of Utah. Dr. Parvania is the Principal Investigator and Director of the U.S.-Canada Center on Climate-Resilient Western Interconnected Grid (NSF WIRED Global Center)\, co-funded by U.S. National Science Foundation (NSF) and Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada (NSERC). He is also the Founder and President of the Energy-AI company\, Grid Elevated\, which specializes on developing and commercializing AI technology for resilient and efficient power grid operation. \n  \nHosted by: Professor Soumya Bose\, ECE Department \nZoom Link: https://ucsc.zoom.us/j/97975378707?pwd=ljcgaCfhMmhZ88Vt5dqQUBVQRjehOx.1 URL:https://events.ucsc.edu/event/ece-290-seminar-ai-for-enhancing-power-grid-resilience-against-extreme-weather-events/ LOCATION:Engineering 2\, Engineering 2 1156 High Street\, Santa Cruz\, CA\, 95064 CATEGORIES:Lectures & Presentations,Seminars ATTACH;FMTTYPE=image/png:https://events.ucsc.edu/wp-content/uploads/2026/04/BE-logomark_localist.png GEO:37.0009723;-122.0632371 X-APPLE-STRUCTURED-LOCATION;VALUE=URI;X-ADDRESS=Engineering 2 Engineering 2 1156 High Street Santa Cruz CA 95064;X-APPLE-RADIUS=500;X-TITLE=Engineering 2 1156 High Street:geo:-122.0632371,37.0009723 END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT DTSTART;TZID=America/Los_Angeles:20260518T100000 DTEND;TZID=America/Los_Angeles:20260518T110000 DTSTAMP:20260514T203152Z CREATED:20260514T195027Z LAST-MODIFIED:20260514T203152Z UID:10014638-1779098400-1779102000@events.ucsc.edu SUMMARY:ECE Seminar: From Plumes to Produce: Leveraging Atmospheric Modeling and Smart Sensing for Food Safety DESCRIPTION:Presenter: Derek Hollenbeck\, postdoctoral research scholar\, University of California\, Merced \nDescription: Advances in drone-based environmental sensing\, atmospheric modeling\, and intelligent monitoring systems are creating new opportunities for addressing emerging challenges in food safety and agricultural resilience. This talk explores how methodologies originally developed for methane emission detection and quantification could be translated toward agricultural and food safety applications. The presentation begins with an overview of research experiences in autonomous sensing and environmental monitoring\, including work associated with the inaugural CITRIS Aviation Prize before outlining some key potential areas for food safety with drones. Then\, the talk overviews previous research on the topics related to drone-based environmental monitoring\, Digital Twins\, and Smart Sensing – with a focus on methane emission source quantification\, atmospheric transport modeling of a point source\, and inverse problem methodologies for real-time parameter estimation. Finally\, the talk examines how these concepts may be adapted to food safety research questions\, as well as highlight opportunities for interdisciplinary collaboration alongside emerging priorities from organizations and certification frameworks. \nBio: Derek Hollenbeck is a postdoctoral research scholar at the University of California\, Merced (UCM)\, where he serves as the manager of the Center for Methane Emissions Research and Innovation (CMERI) under the supervision of Dr. YangQuan Chen. He earned his B.Sc. (2016) and Ph.D. (2023) in Mechanical Engineering from UCM\, where he conducted research in the Mechatronics Embedded Systems and Automation (MESA) Lab.\n \nHis work sits at the intersection of fluid mechanics\, controls\, dynamics\, and inverse problems\, with a focus on developing intelligent environmental monitoring systems using small unmanned aerial systems (sUAS). His research integrates machine learning and physics-based modeling to detect\, localize\, and quantify methane emissions in complex environments.\n \nDr. Hollenbeck is the author of Smart Sensing with Digital Twins: Methane Emission Source Determination with sUAS\, which presents a framework for combining digital twins\, inverse modeling\, and autonomous sensing to improve environmental observability. His work emphasizes how data-driven and physics-informed approaches can be fused to optimize sensor placement\, enhance estimation accuracy\, and enable real-time decision-making in single/distributed mobile sensing systems. \nHosted by: Professor Marco Rolandi\, ECE Department \nZoom Link: https://ucsc.zoom.us/j/96727838511?pwd=1Qzl9HTV3G2BxaSEG8GeKOPZVu2NWj.1 URL:https://events.ucsc.edu/event/ece-seminar-from-plumes-to-produce-leveraging-atmospheric-modeling-and-smart-sensing-for-food-safety/ LOCATION:Engineering 2\, Engineering 2 1156 High Street\, Santa Cruz\, CA\, 95064 CATEGORIES:Seminars ATTACH;FMTTYPE=image/png:https://events.ucsc.edu/wp-content/uploads/2026/05/Screenshot-2026-05-14-at-12.49.40.png GEO:37.0009723;-122.0632371 X-APPLE-STRUCTURED-LOCATION;VALUE=URI;X-ADDRESS=Engineering 2 Engineering 2 1156 High Street Santa Cruz CA 95064;X-APPLE-RADIUS=500;X-TITLE=Engineering 2 1156 High Street:geo:-122.0632371,37.0009723 END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT DTSTART;TZID=America/Los_Angeles:20260515T180000 DTEND;TZID=America/Los_Angeles:20260516T180000 DTSTAMP:20260508T194542Z CREATED:20260428T221013Z LAST-MODIFIED:20260508T194542Z UID:10014001-1778868000-1778954400@events.ucsc.edu SUMMARY:NemoClaw NVIDIA x ASUS Hackathon @ UC Santa Cruz DESCRIPTION:Welcome to the premier physical AI hackathon on the West Coast. We are bringing together the top 200 AI\, infrastructure\, and hardware engineers to build autonomous\, agentic applications on the NVIDIA NemoClaw stack. \n​You aren’t just calling APIs\, you are building on enterprise-grade hardware. \n​The Tracks: \n\nThe Edge Track: 40 exclusive teams will be granted physical\, on-site access to an ASUS DGX Spark unit to build and deploy locally.\n​The Cloud Track: Teams will build the exact same stack utilizing fully sponsored cloud compute instances via Brev.dev.\n\n​The Arsenal & Prizes: Every team builds on a unified playing field. The top projects will take home heavy enterprise hardware\, including: \n\n​NVIDIA Jetson Orin Nanos\n​The ASUS Ascent (DGX Spark)\n​Jensen Huang signed NVIDIA hats & premium swag\n​High-value Brev.dev compute credits\n​Monitors\n​Internship Opportunities\n\n​The Details: \n\n​Who: Open to the top engineers at UC Santa Cruz and local feeder universities.\n​Food: Fully catered for 24 hours. Energy\, caffeine\, and meals are on us.\n​Special Guests*: Opening and closing ceremonies featuring VIP industry leaders (to be announced).\n​Title Sponsors: Nvidia\, ASUS\, Baskin School of Engineering\n\nRegister today! \n​Space is strictly capped at 200 builders. Registration requires application approval. \n*May subject to change \n  URL:https://events.ucsc.edu/event/nvidia-hackathon-2026/ LOCATION:Kresge College\, R-3 Suites\, Santa Cruz\, CA\, 95064 CATEGORIES:Competition,Meetings & Conferences ATTACH;FMTTYPE=image/png:https://events.ucsc.edu/wp-content/uploads/2026/04/NVIDIA-hackathon-x-UCSC-event-featured-image.png GEO:36.9977048;-122.0660116 X-APPLE-STRUCTURED-LOCATION;VALUE=URI;X-ADDRESS=Kresge College R-3 Suites Santa Cruz CA 95064;X-APPLE-RADIUS=500;X-TITLE=R-3 Suites:geo:-122.0660116,36.9977048 END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT DTSTART;TZID=America/Los_Angeles:20260515T130000 DTEND;TZID=America/Los_Angeles:20260515T160000 DTSTAMP:20260429T224549Z CREATED:20260306T005653Z LAST-MODIFIED:20260429T224549Z UID:10009405-1778850000-1778860800@events.ucsc.edu SUMMARY:STEM Culture Festival DESCRIPTION:The STEM Culture Festival is returning to UC Santa Cruz on Friday\, May 15 from 1-4pm in the Baskin Engineering Courtyard. Join us! \nThis year\, we’re expanding with even more performances\, activities\, and creative ways to celebrate UCSC’s vibrant\, diverse\, and excellent STEM culture!  \nWhat to expect: \n\nCuban Dance Master Susana Arenas and her troupe of Orisha dancers led by Cuban Drum Master Toribio Garcia return for a rousing\, communal dance\n\nStudent performers: Los Mejicas and their traditional baile folklórico followed by an open dance lesson/performance by Slug N’ Boots\n\nSTEM-themed drag performances and spoken word poetry by student creatives \n\nAssociate Vice Chancellor for Student Success and Equity Dr. Ebonee Williams (Chemical Engineering\, University of Washington ‘04) will share an inspirational talk on “Bringing our whole selves to STEM!”\n\nEl Buen Taco and Falafel Santa Cruz will be serving delicious food\, completely FREE for all attendees who engage with the student orgs and their activities\n\nMore than just your standard student organization tabling: Games\, interactive demos\, culturally themed activities\, and opportunities to learn more about clubs from all over campus \n\nRaffle for gift cards to be awarded every hour from 1-4pm – must be present to win! \n\nThis event will take place in the Baskin Engineering Courtyard and will be open to all UCSC students\, staff\, and faculty. \nThe STEM Culture Festival celebrates and elevates the many backgrounds\, cultures\, and identities that intersect with our work as scientists\, engineers\, educators\, and members of the UCSC community. It is a rare opportunity when all of UCSC is invited to meet at the engineering school for a time of joy and togetherness. We enthusiastically invite you to attend and be in community with us – especially now in these tumultuous times of division and disunity.  \nThis event represents a collaboration between Baskin Engineering\, the Women’s Center\, the Lionel Cantú Queer Resource Center\, El Centro Latinx and Chicanx Resource Center\, the Asian American and Pacific Islander Resource Center\, the Physical and Biological Sciences Division\, and the Genomics Institute. URL:https://events.ucsc.edu/event/stem-culture-festival-2026/ LOCATION:Jack Baskin Engineering\, Baskin Engineering 1156 High Street\, Santa Cruz\, CA\, 95064 CATEGORIES:Concerts,Performances,Social Gathering,Undergraduate ATTACH;FMTTYPE=image/png:https://events.ucsc.edu/wp-content/uploads/2026/03/BE-STEM-Culture-Festival_Events-Calendar-scaled.png GEO:37.000369;-122.0632371 X-APPLE-STRUCTURED-LOCATION;VALUE=URI;X-ADDRESS=Jack Baskin Engineering Baskin Engineering 1156 High Street Santa Cruz CA 95064;X-APPLE-RADIUS=500;X-TITLE=Baskin Engineering 1156 High Street:geo:-122.0632371,37.000369 END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT DTSTART;TZID=America/Los_Angeles:20260514T170000 DTEND;TZID=America/Los_Angeles:20260514T190000 DTSTAMP:20260422T164712Z CREATED:20260420T170937Z LAST-MODIFIED:20260422T164712Z UID:10013621-1778778000-1778785200@events.ucsc.edu SUMMARY:QB3/QBI Pre-Hackathon Mixer DESCRIPTION:Join us for an exciting pre-hackathon mixer at University of California\, Santa Cruz! Get ready to mingle\, form teams\, and start brainstorming ideas for your projects before the QBI Hackathon kicks off at UCSF in June 2026. \nAgenda\n5:00 PM – Doors Open\n5:30 PM – Pitch Session\n6:00 PM – Networking & Mingling \nWe can’t wait to see the ideas and projects that will be presented at the mixer. Whether you’re presenting or simply attending to learn more and meet potential teammates\, this event is an excellent opportunity to start building connections within our vibrant community of participants. \nDon’t miss out on this chance to get inspired and kickstart your hackathon experience. To attend\, please RSVP  – https://qbi.ucsf.edu/events/hackathon-mixer-ucsc-2026 \nThe QBI hackathon is a 48-hour event connecting the developer community in the Bay Area with the scientists from the three QB3 campuses (UCSF\, UCB and UCSC)\, during which we work together on cutting edge biomedical problems. One of the highlights of our pre-hackathon mixer is the opportunity for participants to showcase their ideas\, projects\, or concepts to the group. URL:https://events.ucsc.edu/event/qb3-qbi-pre-hackathon-mixer/ LOCATION:Rachel Carson College\, 1156 High Street\, Santa Cruz\, CA\, 95064 CATEGORIES:Meetings & Conferences,Reception ATTACH;FMTTYPE=image/jpeg:https://events.ucsc.edu/wp-content/uploads/2026/04/QBIMixerImage.jpg GEO:36.9834948;-122.0564004 X-APPLE-STRUCTURED-LOCATION;VALUE=URI;X-ADDRESS=Rachel Carson College 1156 High Street Santa Cruz CA 95064;X-APPLE-RADIUS=500;X-TITLE=1156 High Street:geo:-122.0564004,36.9834948 END:VEVENT END:VCALENDAR