Undergraduate and graduate students from the Ming Hsieh Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering showcase their research to an audience of industry professionals and academic experts.
The Ming Hsieh Institute at USC Viterbi School of Engineering hosted its 14th Annual Electrical and Computer Engineering (ECE) Research Festival on November 8, 2024. This day-long event celebrated innovative research by Ph.D. and undergraduate students through engaging poster sessions and oral presentations, fostering collaboration among the USC Viterbi community, alumni and industry professionals.
The festival kicked off at 8:30 am with check-in, followed by a morning poster session where students presented their latest research findings. Attendees had the unique opportunity to interact directly with researchers, delving into advancements in areas such as bio-electronics and bio-optics, nano-science, nanotechnology, micro-electro-mechanical systems (MEMS) and networks—highlighting interdisciplinary innovations with real-world applications. The research festival highlighted more than 130 student-led research presentations.
Live demo of Disney’s Star Wars BD Robots and Interactive Lab Tours
Live demo of Disney’s Star Wars BD Robots
One of the event’s highlights was the live demonstration of two Disney’s Star Wars BD Robots, previously featured at NVIDIA’s GTC Artificial Intelligence conference in San Jose and Disney’s Data and Analytics Conference in Orlando earlier this year. Developed by Disney Research and Walt Disney Imagineering Research & Development, these robots showcased advanced balance, expressive movements and walking capabilities, all powered by NVIDIA Jetson robotics computers. Participants had the opportunity to interact with the robots up close and engage with Disney researchers, asking questions and gaining deeper insights into the technology.
In addition to live demos, attendees participated in lab tours, offering an in-depth look at some of USC’s most dynamic research environments and ongoing projects.
The festival also welcomed industry guests and sponsors, including prominent U.S. and international companies such as Disney, Samsung, Marvell and Santec, further emphasizing the event’s role in bridging academia and industry and the opportunity for students to network with professionals.
USC Alumni Share Advice with the Next Generation of ECE Students
Within this environment of collaboration, the festival also hosted a panel of USC Viterbi alumni who shared how their experiences as a Ph.D. student had shaped their career in the industry. In a panel moderated by Professor of Electrical and Computer Engineering Hossein Hashemi and Professor of Electrical Engineering, Physics, and Astronomy Michelle Povinelli, the panelists shared some of their life experiences and their motivations to pursue a graduate degree from the ECE department.
The panelists also offered candid career advice to undergraduates who are considering to pursue a Ph.D. degree and how their research allowed them to pivot to different industries in the future outside of electrical engineering. The panelists include Jan Florjanczyk from Netflix; Ping Yue Song from d-Matrix; Arash Saifhashemi from Google; and Erick Moen from Disney.
All four were graduates of the Ming Hsieh Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering who had ventured to work in fields such as software engineering, machine learning and research and development. Hosted in the Ming Hsieh Department’s conference room, the panel welcomed more than 40 faculty, industry professionals and students.
The Department Celebrates Innovative Student Research
The event concluded with an awards ceremony and reception featuring USC Viterbi Dean Yannis C. Yortsos, Ming Hsieh ECE Department Chair Richard Leahy and Ming Hsieh Institute Director Shrikanth Narayanan in the Ronald Tutor Hall Courtyard, celebrating outstanding research contributions with “best presentation awards” and fostering community spirit.
Shrikanth “Shri” Narayanan speaks to attendees at the Ronald Tutor Hall Courtyard. Awards were also presented by Dean Yannis C. Yortsos and Ming Hsieh ECE Department Chair Richard Leahy (not pictured).
The list of winners is as follows:
PhD Student Poster Winners
- Rishabh Agrawal
- Project title: Markov Balance Satisfaction Improves Performance in Strictly Batch Offline Imitation Learning
- Khaled Hassan
- Project title: Design of Low Phase Noise PLL
- Soumya Mahapatra
- Project title: A 24GHz Direct Digital Transmitter Using Multiphase Subharmonic Switching PA in 65nm CMOS
- Mahsa Torfeh
- Project title: Structural Light Projection: Metasurface Design with Mixture Density Networks
- Sasindu Wijeratne
- Project title: Taming Sparse Tensor Decomposition: Unified Acceleration Framework
- Abdulla Alshabanah
- Project title: Biased User History Synthesis for Personalized Long-Tail Item Recommendation
- Samuel Fernandez
- Project title: Feature-Preserving Rate-Distortion Optimization in Image Coding for Machines
- Kleanthis Avramidis
- Project title: Evaluating Atypical Gaze Patterns through Vision Models: The Case of Cortical Visual Impairment
- Ray Sun
- Project title: A Portable 14GHz Dual-Mode Pulse and Continuous-Wave Electron Paramagnetic Resonance Spectrometer Using a Subharmonic Direct Conversion Receiver
Masters Student Poster Winner
- Anni Li
- Project title: LMUFormer – Low Complexity Yet Powerful Spiking Model With Legendre Memory Units
Undergrad Student Poster Winner
- Claire Yuan (MHI Scholar)
- Project title: Design and Testing of Galvanic Skin Response Sensor Circuit
Published on December 16th, 2024
Last updated on December 16th, 2024
