EE Seminar: Prof. Jason L. Speyer

~~(The talk will be given in English)

Prof. Jason L. Speyer
Mechanical and Airspace Engineering Department, University of California, Los Angeles
Thursday, December 25, 2014
11:00 - 12:00
Room 011, Kitot Bldg., Faculty of Engineering

A System Theoretic Approach to the Feedback Control of Channel Flow
Abstract
A framework for determining feedback controllers for the stabilization of three-dimensional channel flow with wall pumping-and-suction control and wall shear measurements is developed using a control theoretic approach.  The elements of this approach are the determination of the finite-dimensional model based on the Navier- Stokes equations and the controller development based on the inherent decomposition of the system state and measurement model. Using balanced realization, the model reduction of the nonnormal Orr-Sommerfield system shows the sensitivity of the transfer function and the effect of the pseudo-spectrum due to the balanced model truncation. Finally, it is shown that an upstream travelling wave reduces friction drag, but induces secondary instabilities.  It is shown that the dynamics of the steady-state flow induced by a traveling wave must be linearized and decomposed in a frame of reference moving with the traveling wave. The resulting linear time-invariant equations are appropriate for system theoretic feedback control synthesis. A linear controller based on these equations is shown to suppress the secondary instabilities in direct numerical simulations. Although our ultimate goal of driving a turbulent boundary layer to a laminar boundary layer has not yet been achieved, these various steps appear to be bringing us closer to this goal.

 

25 בדצמבר 2014, 11:00 
חדר 011, בניין כיתות-חשמל  

Stem Cell Therapies for Skeletal Injuries

 

 

סמינר מחלקתי

 

 

 

 

סמינר מחלקתי

 

 

 

Stem Cell Therapies for Skeletal Injuries

Dan Gazit PhD, DMD

Skeletal Biotech Laboratory, The Hebrew University–Hadassah Faculty of Dental Medicine, Ein Kerem, Jerusalem, Israel

 

 

As the population grows older, our skeleton is subjected to increasing incidents of trauma, cancer and various disorders such as osteoporosis. Vertebral compression fractures are the most common fractures associated with osteoporosis. Approximately 700,000 osteoporosis-related vertebral compression fractures (OVCFs) occur each year in the USA. Multiple publications have shown that mortality risk is increased up to nine-fold following such fractures. It is estimated that about 100,000 cases of severe bone loss in the craniofacial bones and a million non-union fractures in long bones are treated each year. Most of the critical-size bone defects are treated with bone grafts, while OVCFs are often treated with bed rest and pain medication due to lack of effective therapeutic options. Current bone grafts suffer from several disadvantages: autografts have limited availability and often cause prolonged pain and comorbidity. Allografts, on the other hand, are more available but tend to fail due to poor integration. We hypothesized that mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs) could be utilized either to generate a new potent bone graft or to optimize the use of currently available allografts. Our studies included the use of exogenous or endogenous MSCs for the treatment of vertebral fractures and critical size defects in calvaria and long bones. Specifically, we treated osteopenic rats with multiple vertebral fractures by i.v. injections of human MSCs and intermittent administration of recombinant PTH, as an adjuvant to enhance cell homing and differentiation. We also used PTH to enhance the integration of calvaria bone allografts in mice, showing a local effect on osteoprogenitors around the graft. Finally, we used collagen scaffolds to recruit endogenous MSCs to radius bone defects in mice and then delivered a BMP gene to the cells using sonoporation. Our results showed accelerated bone repair and graft integration in all three-injury sites. Furthermore, pilot studies in pig models yielded promising results utilizing the same therapeutic approaches. In summary, we believe that by the right manipulation of either exogenous of endogenous MSCs it is possible to bring novel therapeutic options for unmet clinical needs in orthopedic medicine.

 

28 בדצמבר 2014, 14:15 
הנדסה ביו רפואית  

סמינר המחלקה להנדסה ביו רפואית יתקיים ביום ראשון  ה 28.12.14 בשעה 14:15

בחדר 315 ,הבניין הרב תחומי ,אוניברסיטת תל אביב

EE Seminar: Dr. Danial Zelazo, Technion

~~(The talk will be given in English)

Speaker: Dr. Daniel Zelazo,
Department of Aerospace Engineering, Technion
Monday, December 29th, 2014
15:00 - 16:00
Room 011, Kitot Bldg., Faculty of Engineering

Distributed Negotiation Methods for Multi-Agent Dynamical Systems

Abstract
Many applications of multi-agent systems assume that all agents in the system are cooperating to achieve a common goal.  From an optimization perspective, these systems are attempting to minimize some global objective function in a distributed manner.  Other applications, however, may require that each agent in the system behaves selfishly to achieve some local desired objective, but is constrained by certain team goals.  In this scenario there must be a compromise between what each individual agent considers optimal and the constraints imposed on the entire team.  In this talk, we explore this second scenario and describe a solution method we term the shrinking horizon preference agreement algorithm that allows each agent to distributedly and in real-time negotiate their individual optimal trajectories while satisfying the team constraints.  We consider this problem for both fixed and switching communication topologies and in the process reveal connections between distributed optimization algorithms, graph structures, and the classical linear quadratic regulator problem.
Bio:   Daniel Zelazo received his BSc. and M.Eng degrees in electrical engineering from MIT in '99 and '01.  He spent 2 years working at Texas Instruments in Japan before beginning his PhD at UW under the supervision of Mehran Mesbahi.  He received his doctorate in the AeroAstro department in 2009, and in 2010 he began a post-doc at the Institute for Systems Theory and Automatic Control in Stuttgart, Germany.  In the fall of 2012 he joined the Faculty of Aerospace Engineering as an assistant prof. at the Technion - Israel Institute of Technology in Haifa, Israel.

29 בדצמבר 2014, 15:00 
חדר 011, בניין כיתות-חשמל  

סמינר מחלקתי Rachel Ofir

07 בינואר 2015, 15:00 
וולפסון 206  
0
סמינר מחלקתי  Rachel Ofir

 

 

 

 

 

 

School of Mechanical Engineering Seminar
Wednesday, January 7, 2015 at 15:00
Wolfson Building of Mechanical Engineering, Room 206

 

 

 

 

Condensation in parallel pipes with common headers

 

Rachel Ofir

MSc Student of Prof. Yehuda Taitel and Prof. Dvora Barnea

 

In heat exchangers the motive fluid is usually distributed in multiple parallel channels in order to enhance heat transfer by increasing the contact area and at the same time decrease the equipment size. Uniform flow distribution is required to obtaining high performance in heat exchangers. However maldistribution may occur under certain condition, primarily in evaporating systems.

In this work condensation within a parallel pipes system is examined. The studied system is an air cooled condenser comprised of a number of parallel pipes (horizontally oriented) with common headers located at the entrance to the pipes and at exit of the pipes.

Hot n-Pentane flows through the parallel pipes system. Air flows across the pipes and heat is rejected from the hot n-Pentane to the ambient air. In this thesis a model for predicting flow rate distribution in an air cooled condenser is presented.

 

סמינר מחלקתי

23 בדצמבר 2014, 14:00 
חדר 206 בניין וולפסון  

Human-Technology Exploration: how do curious agents interact with learning systems?

Dr. Goren Gordon - MIT

Abstract:

 

People interact with novel technology all the time. How do they explore it? How do new learning systems explore their users to better understand and react to them? In this talk I present recent results from the study of curiosity, both human and artificial. To better understand basic curiosity-driven behaviors, we first studied rodents' exploration of a new environment, where we showed that curious animals optimize their novelty signal-to-noise ratio, so that their novelty input is high, yet stable. Incorporating this insight into an information-theoretic model of hierarchical curiosity loops and novelty management, resulted in a minimal model that can explain and predict many observed behaviors. We showed that people exploring with artificial whiskers followed these same principles. The same model, implemented in robots, results in curious robots that learn about themselves and people interacting with them. Finally, results from a recent study on how children interacted with robots, where human and artificial curiosity are combined in a literacy educational setting, indicate that children can “catch” curiosity from a curious robot in a selective manner. Future work on the study of how adults curiously explore novel technologies, and how these systems explore and personalize to their users concludes the talk.

24.12.14

24 בדצמבר 2014, 14:00 
031 Lab Build  
24.12.14

You are invited to attend a lecture

By

 

Iddo Amit

PhD student under the supervision of Prof. Yossi Rosenwaks

Department of Physical Electronics, School of Electrical Engineering

Tel Aviv University

 

On the subject:

 

Functional Imaging of In-situ and Ex-situ Doped Silicon Nanowires

Semiconductor Nanowire-based electronics offers the opportunity to achieve tight control over a precisely defined component, often comprised of the nanowire (NW) itself, which in turn, enables the enhancement of the device performance. Currently, one of the main challenges facing the fabrication process of NW-based electronics is the formation of well-defined doping profiles which are crucial for the fine-tuning of the device behavior.

However, the conventional doping mechanism, where dopants are introduced in-situ during growth, results in both axial and radial inhomogeneous doping profiles which stem from a surface doping mechanism known as vapor-solid (VS) doping. Moreover, in interfaces between different doping types, a region of diffuse boundaries is formed rather than an abrupt transition between the two segments.

We use quantitative Kelvin probe force microscopy (KPFM) and nano-probe scanning Auger spectroscopy to measure both the longitudinal and the radial doping distribution in doped Si nanowires (SiNWs). Our findings shed light on the underlying mechanisms that produce these inhomogeneities by studying P doping profiles of axially modulation-doped SiNWs. We find that both the VLS and the VS mechanisms result in radially inhomogeneous doping, specifically, a lightly doped core surrounded by a heavily doped shell structure. By designing a modulated doping profile, the effects of the two mechanisms can be distinguished. We also discuss the influence of the reservoir effect that significantly broadens the axial doping junctions.

These results are compared to measurements conducted on monolayer contact doped (MLCD) NWs. This ex-situ doping process takes advantage of the precision of electron beam lithography as well as the selectivity and controllability of chemical monolayer formation to produce tailor-made dopant profiles by post-growth doping through the surface.

24 December 2014, at 14:00,

Room 031, Engineering Labs Building

 

25.12.14

25 בדצמבר 2014, 14:00 
011 Kitot  
25.12.14

  Physical Electronics Dept

 

You are invited to attend a lecture

By

 

 

Prof. Alan Willner

 

 

(Steven and Kathryn Sample Chair in Engineering Rm. EEB 538

Ming Hsieh Dept. of Electrical Engineering

University of Southern California)

 

 

 

High-Capacity Optical and RF Communications using Multiplexing of Multiple Orbital-Angular-Momentum Beams

 

 

The ability to multiplex multiple, spatially overlapping data-carrying modes over the same physical medium represents the potential for increasing system capacity and spectral efficiency. Generating different amounts of orbital-angular-momentum (OAM) on different optical beams has emerged as a technique for such mode multiplexing.  Each OAM beam is orthogonal and can be efficiently multiplexed and demultiplexed, and OAM is compatible with other forms of multiplexing (e.g., polarization multiplexing and WDM). This presentation will explore the achievements of and challenges to OAM-based optical and RF communication systems, including transmission and switching.

 

 

Thursday, December 25, 2014, at 14:00

Room 011, EE- KITOT building

 

 

 

 

23.12.14

23 בדצמבר 2014, 11:00 
011 Kitot  
23.12.14

 

You are invited to attend a lecture

by

 

Omer Shlomovits

 

(MSc. student under the supervision of Prof. Moshe Tur)

School of Electrical Engineering, Tel-Aviv University, Tel-Aviv 69978, Israel

 

 

Depletion and noise issues in fiber-optic Brillouin amplification

 

In the Stimulated Brillouin Scattering (SBS) effect, two frequency-shifted counter-propagating lightwaves, called signal and pump, interact to induce an acoustic wave, which later functions as a light scatterer, thus coupling the optical fields to each other. Provided that the frequency offset between the two lightwaves matches a particular resonance frequency, characteristic of the fiber, called the Brillouin Frequency Shift, amplification of the lower frequency lightwave, the signal, occurs as it propagates.

SBS has been a favorable mechanism for its robustness, simplicity of implementation and low pump power in standard fibers at room temperature. For this reasons the effect is widely used for numerous applications, including distributed sensing of temperature and strain, fiber lasers, optical memories and more. This work spans two topics, aiming at a common purpose of getting a better insight into the Brillouin amplification process while adjusting the existing models one step closer to the physical world.

In the first part of the talk, we will discuss the impact of laser phase noise on the Brillouin gain. It is shown that insufficient coherence of laser sources used in Stimulated Brillouin amplification setups not only leads to reduced gain but also to source-induced gain fluctuations (noise), which may affect performance. We will show that under commonly encountered conditions, even a relatively coherent source, having a linewidth of a 1 MHz, has enough phase noise to become the dominant contributor to the observed Brillouin gain fluctuations.

In the second part, we will focus on gain and polarization vector-properties of the SBS interaction in the presence of birefringence for the case of a strong enough signal to cause pump depletion. We determine that maximum and minimum gains are achieved for the same input states of polarization as in the undepleted case. Under normal conditions, the signal and pump power distributions along the fiber of the two input polarizations, which exhibit maximum and minimum gains, can be approximately deduced from a much simpler scalar formulation.

 

Tuesday, December 23, 2014, at 11:00

Room 011, EE- KITOT building

 

SEMINAR 23.12.14

23 בדצמבר 2014, 10:00 
103 (Software Eng. (Tochna  
SEMINAR 23.12.14

  Physical Electronics Dept.

 

You are invited to attend a lecture

By

 

Lital Bar-Dea

 

(M.Sc. student under the supervision of Prof. Yael Hanein and Slava Krylov)

School of Electrical Engineering, Tel-Aviv University, Tel-Aviv 69978, Israel

 

 

Mechanical deformation of carbon nanotubes toward MEMS displacement sensing

 

 

The ability to measure nanoscale displacements is one of the most important and challenging aspects of micro electromechanical systems (MEMS) technology. The excellent electromechanical properties of carbon nanotubes (CNTs), namely the relation between mechanical deformation and electrical resistance, make them ideal for ultra sensitive sensors in various light-weight and small dimensions MEMS. According to recent studies, using individual suspended single-walled carbon nanotubes (SWCNTs) seems to be a very attractive way to exploit their unique properties in MEMS devices. Such sensing paradigm has been previously realized, however sufficient quantitative analysis has yet to be conducted.

In this work we employ a bottom-up CNT integration into MEMS process, suitable for mass fabrication. The process enables the control of the CNT positioning and length and results in taut and clean suspended SWCNTs. Devices were fabricated and optically characterized using Raman spectroscopy. A mechanical load in the form of axial stretch was applied to a suspended SWCNT while its electrical conductance was monitored. A gauge factor as high as 45600 was registered.

A SWCNT-based high frequency resonator was also fabricated using a similar fabrication process. The static and dynamic electromechanical properties of CNTs under electrical fields were studied experimentally. Electromechanical testing of these devices demonstrated resonant frequencies of ~28 MHz.

These results quantitatively demonstrate the potential use of suspended SWCNT in MEMS sensing. Having quantitative measures make the suggested sensing scheme comparable to others, and emphasizes its great potential use as nanoscale displacements sensing in micro devices.

 

Tuesday, December 23, 2014, at 10:00

Room 103, Software engineering (“Tochna”) building

 

 

 

16.12.14

16 בדצמבר 2014, 11:00 
011 Kitot  
16.12.14

***** Seminar *****

 

Gilad Wallach

 

M.Sc. student under the supervision of Prof. Yael Hanein

 

Glutamate Mediated Astrocytic Filtering of Neuronal Activity

Neuron-astrocyte communication is an important regulatory mechanism in various brain functions. The complexity and role of this communication are not yet fully understood and several recent models have been proposed. In this work we built, characterized and optimized a new in vitro experimental setup suitable for the investigation of the neuro-glia communication pathway. The electrical activity of neuron-astrocyte cultures on multi electrode arrays was mapped using  imaging while neurons were selectively activated using underlying micro-electrodes. Using this setup, we demonstrate, for the first time, the existence of a frequency dependent, glutamate-mediated signaling mechanism between neurons and astrocytes. By modifying the stimulation frequency and number of spikes, we revealed a clear onset of astrocytic activation at neuron firing rates around 3 Hz. Astrocytic activation by neurons, as evidenced by astrocytic intracellular free calcium ion concentration  transients, was abolished with glutamate receptor blockers, validating the glutamate-dependence of this neuron-to-astrocyte pathway. These experimental results are compared with a biophysical model of neuron-astrocyte intercellular signaling developed by Berry and colleagues, which further support a glutamate mediated frequency dependent neuro-astrocyte communication. The frequency dependent neuro-astrocytes communication presented here may play an important, task specific role in brain function.

 

Tuesday, 16 December 2014 at 11:00, Room 011, Kitot Building.

 

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