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2023-06-07 18:30:00
2023-06-07 20:00:00
America/New_York
Securing global DNA synthesis without disclosing information hazards
Boston and Northern Virginia/Washington Chapters of IEEE Computer Society, Northern Virginia/Washington/Baltimore Chapter of IEEE Society on Social Implications of Technology, and GBC/ACM6:30 PM, Wednesday, 7 June 2023MIT Room 32-G449 (Kiva) and online via ZoomSecuring global DNA synthesis without disclosing information hazardsKevin EsveltPlease register in advance for this seminar even if you plan to attend in person at https://acm-org.zoom.us/webinar/register/4316829919029/WN_5PoH3WWnRgSS6cImHyr6yQAfter registering, you will receive a confirmation email containing information about joining the webinar.Indicate on the registration form if you plan to attend in person. This will help us determine whether the room is close to reaching capacity.We may make some auxiliary material such as slides and access to the recording available after the seminar to people who have registered.Abstract:Printing custom DNA sequences is essential to scientific and biomedical research, but the technology can be used to build plagues as well as cures. Just as ink printers recognize and reject attempts to counterfeit money, DNA synthesizers and assemblers should deny requests to make viral DNA that could be used to ignite another pandemic. There are three complications. First, we don't need to update printers to deal with newly discovered currencies, whereas we’ll constantly learn of new viruses and other biological threats. Second, anti-counterfeiting specifications on a local printer can’t be extracted and used to help terrorists – unlike DNA blueprints for hazards. Third, a list of all the DNA orders placed by a biotech company could paint a detailed portrait of its R&D program, so any screening system must protect the privacy of each customer’s orders as reliably as their banks safeguards their finances. Cryptography, the foundation of modern computer security, can do the same for synthesis screening. We will discuss SecureDNA, an internationally developed and fully automated system capable of securely screening all DNA synthesis that will be made freely available by the end of 2023.Bio:Kevin Esvelt is Associate Professor of Media Arts and Sciences, NEC Career Development Professor of Computer and Communications and director of the Sculpting Evolution group at the MIT Media Lab. His group invents new ways to study and influence the evolution of ecosystems.He received his Ph.D. from Harvard University for inventing a synthetic microbial ecosystem to rapidly evolve useful biomolecules, and subsequently helped pioneer the development of CRISPR, a powerful new method of genome engineering.In 2013, Esvelt was the first to identify the potential for CRISPR “gene drive” systems to alter wild populations of organisms. Recognizing the implications of an advance that could enable individual scientists to alter the shared environment, he and his colleagues chose to break with scientific tradition by revealing their findings and calling for open discussion and safeguards before building the first CRISPR-based gene drive system and demonstrating reversibility in the laboratory.An outspoken advocate of sharing research plans to accelerate discovery and improve safety, Esvelt's MIT lab seeks to accelerate beneficial advances while safeguarding biotechnology against mistrust and misuse. Projects include building catalytic platforms for directed evolution, pioneering new ways of developing ecotechnologies with the guidance of local communities, developing early-warning systems to reliably detect any catastrophic biological threat, applying cryptographic methods to enable secure and universal DNA synthesis screening, and advising policymakers on how best to mitigate global catastrophic biorisks.His work has been published in Nature and Science, covered by the New York Times and Washington Post, and featured on Last Week Tonight and the Netflix special Unnatural Selection.This joint meeting of the Boston Chapter of the IEEE Computer Society and GBC/ACM will be hybrid (in person and online), part of getting back to normal after the COVID-19 lockdown.Up-to-date information about this and other talks is available online at https://ewh.ieee.org/r1/boston/computer/. You can sign up to receive updated status information about this talk and informational emails about future talks at https://mailman.mit.edu/mailman/listinfo/ieee-cs, our self-administered mailing list.
June 07
May 18
Efficient Verification of Computation
Yael Kalai
CSAIL MIT
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2023-05-18 18:30:00
2023-05-18 20:00:00
America/New_York
Efficient Verification of Computation
Boston Chapter of IEEE Computer Society and GBC/ACM 6:40 PM, Thursday, 18 May 2023 MIT Room 32-G449 (Kiva) and online via Zoom Efficient Verification of Computation Yael Tauman Kalai Please register in advance for this seminar even if you plan to attend in person at https://acm-org.zoom.us/webinar/register/1016817586906/WN_cpY46yuPSq-LFUC5rLMZtg After registering, you will receive a confirmation email containing information about joining the webinar. Indicate on the registration form if you plan to attend in person. This will help us determine whether the room is close to reaching capacity. We may make some auxiliary material such as slides and access to the recording available after the seminar to people who have registered. Abstract: Efficient verification of computation is fundamental to computer science and is at the heart of the P vs. NP question. Recently it has had growing practical significance, especially with the increasing popularity of blockchain technologies and cloud computing. In this talk, I will present schemes for verifying the correctness of a computation. I will discuss both their practical aspects and their impact on quantum complexity, hardness of approximation, and the complexity of Nash equilibrium. Bio: Yael Tauman Kalai is Senior Principal Researcher at Microsoft Research New England, adjunct professor in the EECS Dept at MIT, and a member of the Computer Science and Artificial Intelligence Lab (CSAIL). Yael works on improving the efficiency and privacy of communications through cryptography and has developed methods for verifying the correctness of computation. She developed “doubly efficient” interactive proofs that minimize the computational overhead of using strong devices, machines capable of carrying out more complex cryptographic functions. Succinct proofs offload computations from a weak device to a stronger one, paving the way for faster, more reliable transactions. Ethereum and other blockchain companies have since implemented these proofs to verify the validity of transactions. Yael's work on delegating computation also has applications to cloud computing. Her master's thesis introduced the concept of ring signatures, a variation of group signatures that preserves the anonymity of individual signers, a concept she co-developed with Ron Rivest and Adi Shamir. This later became incorporated into cryptocurrency systems such as Cryptonote and Monero. Her work on the Fiat-Shamir heuristic established a better understanding of that paradigm’s security issues. Yael graduated from the Hebrew University of Jerusalem in 1997, worked with Adi Shamir at the Weizmann Institute of Science, earning a master's degree in 2001, and then moved to the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, where she completed her PhD in 2006 with Shafi Goldwasser as her doctoral advisor. She did postdoctoral study at Microsoft Research and the Weizmann Institute before becoming a faculty member at the Georgia Institute of Technology. She has been at Microsoft Research since 2008. Kalai was an invited speaker on mathematical aspects of computer science at the 2018 International Congress of Mathematicians. Her master's thesis introducing ring signatures won an outstanding master's thesis award and her MIT PhD dissertation was awarded the George M. Sprowls Award for Outstanding PhD Thesis in Computer Science. She was co-chair of the Theory of Cryptography Conference in 2017 and chair of the Innovations in Theoretical Computer Science (ITCS) Conference in 2023. She is a fellow of the International Association of Cryptographic Research (IACR), and was recently awarded the 2022 ACM Prize in Computing "for breakthroughs in verifiable delegation of computation and fundamental contributions to cryptography". This joint meeting of the Boston Chapter of the IEEE Computer Society and GBC/ACM will be hybrid (in person and online), our first attempt to get back to normal after the COVID-19 lockdown. Up-to-date information about this and other talks is available online at https://ewh.ieee.org/r1/boston/computer/. You can sign up to receive updated status information about this talk and informational emails about future talks at https://mailman.mit.edu/mailman/listinfo/ieee-cs, our self-administered mailing list.
March 23
Specialization and the End of Moore's Law
Neil Thompson
MIT
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2023-03-23 19:00:00
2023-03-23 20:00:00
America/New_York
Specialization and the End of Moore's Law
IEEE Computer Society and GBC/ACMonline 7:00 PM, Thursday, 23 March 2023Specialization and the End of Moore's LawNeil Thompson, MITRegister in advance for this webinar at https://acm-org.zoom.us/webinar/register/5016750322508/WN_2k-jR3BqSvihFD8EnJnIzQAfter registering, you will receive a confirmation email containing information about joining the webinar.Abstract:For decades, Moore’s Law made the economics of specialized chips unattractive because the upfront costs couldn’t be justified when the alternative was fast-improving CPUs. As Moore’s Law fades, however, this is changing. Not only is specialization becoming more economically attractive, but it is now one of the best ways to get performance improvements for many applications. In this talk, I will discuss (1) how the economics of specialization have changed, (2) how specialization is fracturing computing in ways commonly seen in other technologies, and (3) how long we can expect the gains from specialization to make up for the slowdown in Moore’s Law.Bio:Neil Thompson is the Director of the FutureTech research project at MIT’s Computer Science and Artificial Intelligence Lab, where his group studies the economic and technical foundations of progress in computing. He is also a Principal Investigator at MIT’s Initiative on the Digital Economy.Previously, Neil was an Assistant Professor of Innovation and Strategy at the MIT Sloan School of Management, where he co-directed the Experimental Innovation Lab (X-Lab), and a Visiting Professor at the Laboratory for Innovation Science at Harvard. He has advised businesses and government on the future of Moore’s Law, has been on National Academies panels on transformational technologies and scientific reliability, and is part of the Council on Competitiveness’ National Commission on Innovation & Competitiveness Frontiers.He has a PhD in Business and Public Policy from Berkeley, where he also did Masters degrees in Computer Science and Statistics. He also has a masters in Economics from the London School of Economics, and undergraduate degrees in Physics and International Development. Prior to academia, he worked at organizations such as Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory, Bain and Company, the United Nations, the World Bank, and the Canadian Parliament.This joint meeting of the Boston Chapter of the IEEE Computer Society and GBC/ACM will be online only due to the COVID-19 lockdown.Up-to-date information about this and other talks is available online at https://ewh.ieee.org/r1/boston/computer/. You can sign up to receive updated status information about this talk and informational emails about future talks at https://mailman.mit.edu/mailman/listinfo/ieee-cs, our self-administered mailing list.
February 17
From Bits to Atoms
MIT Center for Bits and Atoms
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2023-02-16 19:00:00
2023-02-16 20:00:00
America/New_York
From Bits to Atoms
IEEE Computer Society and GBC/ACMonline 7:00 PM, Thursday, 16 February 2023From Bits to AtomsProf. Neil GershenfeldMIT Center for Bits and Atomshttps://ng.cba.mit.eduRegister in advance for this webinar at https://acm-org.zoom.us/webinar/register/7616751853142/WN_4ZQWf2gKQRCogEaYBP8GYAAfter registering, you will receive a confirmation email containing information about joining the webinar.Abstract:MIT's Center for Bits and Atoms was created to explore the boundary between computer science and physical science. I will survey what we've found atthat intersection, from origins of quantum computing and the Internet of Things, to aligning the representations of hardware and software, to theconvergence of digital communication and computation with fabrication, and I'll explore their commercial and social impacts.Bio:Prof. Neil Gershenfeld is the Director of MIT's Center for Bits and Atoms, where his unique laboratory is breaking down boundaries between the digitaland physical worlds, from pioneering quantum computing to digital fabrication to the Internet of Things. Technology from his lab has been seen and used in settings including New York's Museum of Modern Art and rural Indian villages, the White House and the World Economic Forum, inner-city community centers and automobile safety systems, Las Vegas shows and Sami herds. He is the author of numerous technical publications, patents, and books including Designing Reality, Fab, When Things Start To Think, The Nature of Mathematical Modeling, and The Physics of Information Technology, and has been featured in media such as The New York Times, The Economist, NPR, CNN, and PBS. He is a Fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Science and the American Physical Society, has been named one of Scientific American's 50 leaders in science and technology, as one of 40 Modern-Day Leonardos by the Museum of Science and Industry, one of Popular Mechanic's 25 Makers, has been selected as a CNN/Time/Fortune Principal Voice, and by Prospect/Foreign Policy as one of the top 100 public intellectuals. He's been called the intellectual father of the maker movement, founding a growing global network of over two thousand fab labs in 125 countries that provide widespread access to prototype tools for personal fabrication, directing the Fab Academy for distributed research and education in the principles and practices of digital fabrication, and chairing the Fab Foundation. He is a co-founder of the Interspecies Internet and of the Science and Entertainment Exchange. Dr. Gershenfeld has a BA in Physics with High Honors from Swarthmore College, a Ph.D. in Applied Physics from Cornell University, honorary doctorates from Swarthmore College, Strathclyde University and the University of Antwerp, was a Junior Fellow of the Harvard University Society of Fellows, and a member of the research staff at Bell Labs.This joint meeting of the Boston Chapter of the IEEE Computer Society and GBC/ACM will be online only due to the COVID-19 lockdown.
zoom
January 20
Using Outcomes as a Spark for UX
Jared Spool
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2023-01-19 19:00:00
2023-01-19 20:30:00
America/New_York
Using Outcomes as a Spark for UX
IEEE Computer Society, GBC/ACM and BostonCHI Using Outcomes as a Spark for UX Jared M. Spool, Maker of Awesomeness at Center Centre - UIE Thursday, January 19, 2023 at 7 PM EST (UTC -5) online only this year via Zoom Admission is free, but you must register at https://www.eventbrite.com/e/jared-spool-using-outcomes-as-a-spark-for-ux-tickets-480799874367?aff=ieee What if you could generate excitement about delivering great user experiences without having to explain what UX is? Imagine this: you're talking with your development and product partners about UX outcomes and they understand the value in starting with the end-in-mind. Not only do they understand, they are excited about what will happen in your users' and customers' lives because you've delivered a great UX - together. In this session, you'll uncover the proven secrets behind sparking enthusiasm for delivering great UX. You'll discover how an outcome-driven approach is a game changer for UX leaders like yourself. You'll explore how to: ... Identify the outcomes that best spark excitement amongst the developers, product managers, and stakeholders you work with every day. ... Scope your outcomes to push your team to take on challenges they've resisted in the past. ... Show what it means to be ready-to-ship through the lens of great user experiences. About Jared Spool Jared M. Spool is a Maker of Awesomeness at Center Centre - UIE. Center Centre is the school he started with Leslie Jensen-Inman to create industry-ready User Experience Designers. UIE is Center Centre's professional development arm, dedicated to understanding what it takes for organizations to produce competitively great products and services. In the 43 years he's been in the tech field, Jared has worked with hundreds of organizations, written two books, published hundreds of articles and podcasts, and tours the world speaking to audiences everywhere. When he can, he does his laundry in Andover, Massachusetts. For 23 years, Jared was the conference chair and keynote speaker at the now retired annual UI Conferences and UX Immersion Conferences; Jared still manages to squeeze in a fair amount of writing time. He is a co-author of Web Usability: A Designer's Guide and Web Anatomy: Interaction Design Frameworks that Work. You'll find Jared's writing at uie.com. You can also follow his adventures on Twitter at @jmspool, where he tweets daily about UX design, design strategy, design education, and the wondrous customer service habits of the airline industry. This is a joint event of GBC/ACM, the Boston Chapter of the IEEE Computer Society, and BostonCHI. This meeting will be held online only due to the ongoing pandemic. Up-to-date information about this and other talks is available online at https://ewh.ieee.org/r1/boston/computer/. You can sign up to receive updated status information about this talk and informational emails about future talks at https://mailman.mit.edu/mailman/listinfo/ieee-cs, our self-administered mailing list. For more information contact Peter Mager (p.mager at computer.org)
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