“Get good education and move to a bad neighborhood” was a constant advice I received from my advisor over the last six years that I spent at the Florida Institute of Technology (FIT) as a Fulbright scholar for my MS and PhD programs in Computer Science. Read the rest of this entry »
From Florida to Topi: A Returning Fulbright Scholar’s Search for an Academic Position
February 21, 2010
STEP Lecture Series: Wireless Electricity
February 20, 2010
The third talk of the STEP Lecture Series will be given by Dr. Aristeidis Karalis on Thursday, February 25, 2010 at 6:00pm PST. The talk has been organized in collaboration with Air University, FAST-NU Islamabad, LUMS Department of Computer Science, MCS, and NUST School of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science (SEECS), and will be streamed live. A brief Q&A session will follow the talk. Undergraduate and graduate students with non-engineering backgrounds are also encouraged to attend.
Title: Wireless Electricity
Where:
Air University
FAST-NU Islamabad
LUMS Department of Computer Science (Room 10-404 SSE),
MCS
NUST SEECS
When: February 25, 2010, at 6:00 pm Pakistan Standard Time (8:00am EST)
Abstract:
Consider the plethora of modern devices which vitally depend on short-lived, environmentally unfriendly, costly batteries or whose performance and mobility are restricted by their attachment to a cord. Imagine now a world where these apparati can instead receive their power wirelessly. We have developed a technology, based on STRONGLY-COUPLED resonant induction, enabling power (from mW to KW) to be transmitted across medium-range distances (from cm to m) very efficiently (typically from 20% to 95%). The exact achievable distance depends on the size of the device, the targeted efficiency (maximum tolerated wasted power) and, in general, the particular application. Moreover, far-field radiation interference can be employed to further increase the achievable efficiency or reduce the produced radiation. Our power transmission technology utilizes low frequencies and the harmless magnetic field, thus it can comply with international safety regulations. This technology has been implemented into real-world electronic devices by WiTricity Corporation, and relevant pre-recorded demos will be shown.
Bio:
Aristeidis Karalis is a founder of WiTricity Corp. (2007), and was a member of the MIT research team that developed both the theoretical basis and experimental validation of this novel method for wireless energy transfer. Aristeidis is a Post-Doctoral Associate in the Research Laboratory of Electronics at MIT. He received his Sc.D. in Electrical Engineering and Computer Science from MIT in 2008. He received his M.Sc. in Electrical Engineering and Computer Science from MIT and his B.Sc. in Electrical and Computer Engineering from the National Technical University of Athens, Greece. Aristeidis is a co-author of nine scientific articles and six patents. He was awarded the Paris Kanellakis Fellowship and the Ioannis S. Latsis Fellowship as a student at MIT.
Acknowledgments: STEP is very grateful to Dr. Shahab Baqai at LUMS for his continued support and help in organizing the lecture series. Special thanks to Higher Education Commission of Pakistan (HEC) for facilitating the video broadcast of this talk.
STEP Talks @ IEEE Week
February 4, 2010
In collaboration with IEEE-LUMS and IEEE-NUCES as part of IEEE-week, STEP has organized talks by Saad Fazil and Kellee Santiago on February 7th, 2010. The talks will be streamed live and a brief Q&A session will follow each talk.
The talks will be aimed at a general audience. Undergraduate and graduate students with non-engineering backgrounds are also encouraged to attend.
Title: Technology Blogging and Entrepreneurship
Where: LUMS Department of Computer Science, Saeed Saigol Auditorium .
When: Sunday, February 7, 8:00am Pakistan Standard Time
Abstract:
Whether you want to blog as a professional, grow in your current job, start a technology company, or even influence policy — effective blogging and know-how about blogosphere can play a critical role in your success. This talk will primarily look at blogging as a career and blogging as a means to entrepreneurship. I will discuss what you need to do to be a successful technology blogger and how you can use blogging to start and sell your business
Bio:
Saad Fazil does freelance writing for VentureBeat, where he focuses on deep analysis of emerging trends in the industry. He is the founder of Whizner Consulting, a technology strategy consulting firm. Prior to consulting, he held business analyst, product management, and sales consultant positions at Kayak.com, Oracle, and Alcatel. He received his MBA from MIT Sloan School of Management. He blogs at IT Valley and tweets at @sfrocks.
Title: Design Your Passion
Where: LUMS Department of Computer Science, Saeed Saigol Auditorium.
When: Sunday, February 7, 9:00am Pakistan Standard Time
Abstract: 
Games will be the most prevalent medium of the 21st Century – more than radio, film, and television combined in the 20th. So as leaders in this medium, what do you hope to accomplish, and how can you get there? In this talk, Kellee Santiago (President & Co-Founder) will discuss thatgamecompany’s approach to developing innovative games, and will explain why they hope that all of you will join them in doing so. She will walk through TGC’s process from first approaching a concept through prototyping and execution, taking examples from their previous PSN release, “Flower.”
Bio:
Kellee Santiago is President and Co-Founder of thatgamecompany (TGC). TGC’s goal is to make video games that communicate different emotional experiences, and expand the communicative possibilities of games. Kellee graduated from the MFA Interactive Media program at the University of Southern California School of Cinematic Arts where her research focused on game design, interactive narrative, and physical and gestural interfaces for digital media. While at USC she teamed up with fellow student Jenova Chen to develop the student-created game, “Cloud.” The game went on to become critically acclaimed, after which the two decided to found their own studio, thatgamecompany, and landed a three game deal with Sony Computer Entertainment America, Inc. to develop downloadable games for Playstation Network. Their first two commercial releases, “flOw”, and “Flower,” went on to become award-winning and two of the top downloaded games on PSN.
Kellee is also a TED2010 Fellow.
