"A Journey Towards Human-centered AI" is presented by Ahmed Abbasi, the Joe and Jane Giovanini Professor of IT, Analytics, and Operations at the Mendoza College of Business. Ahmed's lecture is part of the University Chair Public Lecture Series that was launched in fall 2023 to recognize the importance of the research contributions of Mendoza's faculty. The series features Mendoza faculty who have been designated as University chairs — Notre Dame’s highest recognition of the impact of a faculty member’s research. The event is an opportunity to hear about their work and career, and to celebrate together how we are growing the good in business to contribute to human flourishing. Ahmed is the co-director of the Human-centered Analytics Lab (HAL), which seeks to better understand the human condition in the context of digital lives. He also serves as the academic director of the Ph.D. Program in Analytics. His research interests are related to text and predictive analytics, and include subjects such as the ethical use of generative AI. A prolific researcher with more than 9,300 citations, he has published more than 100 articles in journals and conferences, including over 40 articles in top-tier outlets such as MIS Quarterly, Information Systems Research, Journal of Marketing, IEEE Transactions on Knowledge and Data Engineering, and ACM Transactions on Information Systems. Ahmed’s research has received over a dozen individual and best paper awards. Recent research themes include analytics for social good, the role of AI in supporting public health, and the use of fair machine learning to better understand the human condition for enhanced decision making and policy outcomes. Ahmed also has generously served the profession in his roles as senior or associate editor for top journals such as INFORMS, ACM, IEEE, and AIS, having authored over 350 editorial reports and guest-edited special issues on various AI-related topics such as the role of the institutional press in the digital age, disaster response management, healthcare analytics, and trustworthy AI. His work has been funded by more than 15 grants from the National Science Foundation and industry partners such as Microsoft, eBay, Deloitte, and Oracle. Ahmed is a recipient of the IEEE Technical Achievement Award, INFORMS Design Science Award, and IBM Faculty Award. He also served as chair of the INFORMS College on AI. The lecture and reception are free and open to the public in Jordan Auditorium at the Mendoza College of Business. The event begins at 3pm. No registration required.

The half-day Midwest Imaging & Microanalysis Workshop will include lectures from leading microscopists, scientists, and university affiliates. New microscopy trends and analysis tools will be featured through various lectures provided by stakeholders of the NDIIF as well as a discussion of future directions of Imaging Capabilities at the University of Notre Dame. An Imaging Award session with cash prizes will be held as well. Participation is free, but a reservation is requested. Register to attend here. Download 2024 Midwest Microscopy and Microanalysis Workshop Agenda [PDF, 783k] Originally published at imaging.nd.edu.

Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering Reilly Lectureship RecipientREILLY LECTURESHIP RECIPIENT Peptide surfactants (PEPS) for the Green Separation of Rare Earth Elements We have been developing functional peptide surfactant (PEPS) to meet an urgent societal need. Rare earth elements (REEs) are crucial to modern technologies. (Read more...)          

Join the Department of Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering for the Reilly Award Seminar Lecture, featuring Kathleen J. Stebe, the Richer & Elizabeth Goodwin Professor of Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering and Mechanical Engineering and Applied Mechanics in the School of Engineering and Applied Sciences at the University of Pennsylvania. AbstractNematic liquid crystals (NLCs) are highly non-linear fluids that have elastic responses that resist nematogen rearrangement and high-energy defect sites at which nematogen order is lost. Generally, the field of nematic colloids seeks to develop control over these elastic responses and defect structures to tailor colloidal interactions. We have been studying ferromagnetic disk colloids rotated by an in-plane magnetic field in nematic liquid crystals. The disk diameter and rotation rate are sufficiently slow that colloid inertia is negligible. In Newtonian fluids, these colloids rotate without translation. However, in NLC, the colloids’ anisotropic defect structure and the NLC’s elastic response generate broken symmetries that propel colloid translation. For patchy, rough colloids, a defect loop which forms on the disk undergoes periodic defect pinning, release, and contraction.This periodic defect motion generates a swim stroke that powers colloidal swimming. Changes in defect configuration with rotation rate provide a steering mechanism. In addition to this swimming motion, colloid shape and surface chemistry generate long-ranged emergent interactions with neighboring passive colloids in quasi-static settings. Furthermore, the non-linear response of the nematic fluid host allows pair interactions among rotating disks that differ strikingly in range and form from their static counterparts. These interactions provide a rich toolkit for reconfigurable materials assembly and open important fundamental questions regarding swimming at low Reynolds number in NLC. Biography Kathleen J. Stebe is the Richer & Elizabeth Goodwin Professor of Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering and Mechanical Engineering and Applied Mechanics in the School of Engineering and Applied Sciences at the University of Pennsylvania. Educated at the City College of New York, she received a B.A. in economics and a Ph.D. in chemical engineering at the Levich Institute advised by Charles Maldarelli. After a post-doctoral year in Compiegne, France under the guidance of Dominique Barthes-Biesel, she joined the Department of Chemical Engineering at Johns Hopkins University, where she became professor and served as the department chair. Thereafter, she joined the University of Pennsylvania, where she served in various administrative capacities including department chair and deputy dean. She has been recognized by the National Academy of Engineering, the American Academy of Arts and Sciences, the Johns Hopkins Society of Scholars, and as a Fellow of the American Physical Society and of the Radcliffe Institute. Kathleen is active in APS Division of Soft Matter Physics, and the ACS Division of Colloids and Surfaces, as well as the AIChE. Her research focuses on directed assembly in soft matter and at fluid interfaces, with an emphasis on confinement, geometry, and emergent structures in far from equilibrium settings for novel functional materials.   Originally published at energy.nd.edu.

The Notre Dame Keeping the Republic Conference brings together a group of both prominent senior researchers and early-career scholars dedicated to a broad revitalization of American democracy—not just in the sense of self-government—but rather as a societal commitment to the equal dignity and inclusion of each person and social institutions that encourage broad and open participation. This conference creates an interdisciplinary community of scholars devoted to studying and advancing the democratization of American culture and institutions across political, legal, civic, commercial, social, religious, and educational life. This conference is not open to the public and is by invitation only. Originally published at rooneycenter.nd.edu.

Register to attend via Zoom The Kroc Institute’s eighth comprehensive report, covering the period from December 2022 through November 2023, provides a quantitative and qualitative overview of the status of peace accord implementation; presents an international comparative analysis to enrich dialogue around this process; highlights milestones achieved and obstacles faced during the seventh year of implementation; and identifies key opportunities for continuing to advance toward comprehensive peace accord implementation. The Colombian Peace Accord gives the Kroc Institute primary responsibility for technical support and monitoring of accord implementation through the Peace Accords Matrix’s (PAM) Barometer Initiative. Understanding the Accord as an integral and comprehensive text, the Kroc Institute has monitored the implementation of 578 stipulations since 2016, with special attention to the implementation of intersectional approaches. Get a first look at the latest report and its independent, impartial, and academically-rigorous information by joining us for an interactive launch event highlighting the findings from this latest report. Register to attend via Zoom Originally published at kroc.nd.edu.