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Department Events

Events

• Oct

  24

  TAM Seminar- Machine Learning Enabled Inverse and Forward Problems for Polymer-Bonded Energetic Materials- WaiChing Sun

  McCormick - Civil and Environmental Engineering (CEE)

  11:00 AM A230, Technological Institute

  EVENT DETAILS

  Abstract: Energetic materials are solids that can release significant energy upon stimuli. They can constitute propellants, explosives, fuels, and pyrotechnics used in aerospace, mining, and defense industries. To reduce the sensitivity of the materials and enhance safety, energy materials are often manufactured as two-phase composites, with a softer binder as the host matrix that holds the explosive crystals, such as HMX (High-melting Explosive) in place. This design, referred to as Polymer-bonded explosives (PBX), enables the molding, shaping, and uniformity of the materials, leading to improved predictable performance. Nevertheless, the characterization of the energy localization often requires a material model capable of handling extremely large deformation of phase transformation. This talk reports recent progress on forward and inverse problems for modeling the HMX and PBX enabled by machine learning. For the forward modeling problems, we attempt to create mathematical models of HMX expressed in symbolic form. To avoid the difficulty of training the Kolmogorov-Arnold network, we introduce an alternative technique to learn neural additive basis in projected feature space to control the expressivity-speed trade-off. For the inverse problem, we introduce a generative AI that enables us to create highly realistic PBX microstructures as well as the granular microstructures of crystals by separately handling the generation of grain geometry and topology of the granular structures via conditional latent diffusion and graph recurrent neural network. Benchmark numerical examples of material point simulations for shock loading in b-HMX are performed to assess the practicality of using the discovered machine learning models for high-fidelity simulations.

  Bio: Dr. Sun has been an associate professor at Columbia University since 2020. He obtained his BS from UC Davis (2005), MS in civil engineering (geomechanics) from Stanford (2007), MA (Civil Engineering) from Princeton (2008), and Ph.D. in theoretical and applied mechanics from Northwestern (2011). Sun’s research focuses on theoretical, computational, and data-driven mechanics for porous and energetic materials. He is the recipient of a few awards, including the Walter Huber Civil Engineering Research Prize (2023), the IACM John Argyris Award (2020), the EMI Leonardo da Vinci Award (2018), the Zienkiewicz Numerical Methods Engineering Prize (2017), and early career awards from NSF, AFOSR, and ARO.

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  TIME Thursday, October 24, 2024 at 11:00 AM - 12:00 PM

  LOCATION A230, Technological Institute    map it

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  CONTACT Andrew Liguori    andrew.liguori@northwestern.edu EMAIL

  CALENDAR McCormick - Civil and Environmental Engineering (CEE)

• Nov

  1

  EES Seminar- Environmental Engineers Are the Circular Carbon Engineers- Jason Ren

  McCormick - Civil and Environmental Engineering (CEE)

  2:00 PM A230, Technological Institute

  EVENT DETAILS

  Abstract: Achieving carbon circularity and net zero emissions requires a comprehensive understanding of emissions and re-valorization of waste carbon, while keeping fossil carbon underground. Environmental engineers are uniquely positioned to lead sustainable carbon management as the “circular carbon engineers”. For example, modern wastewater treatment is evolving from “removal-centered” to a “recovery-oriented” approach, and the increasing availability of low-cost renewable electricity presents new opportunities to convert "electrons to molecules". This presentation will highlight recent efforts to address knowledge gaps in the complex GHG emission profiles of the wastewater sector, utilizing both field studies and data science methods. It will also discuss technologies for electrifying treatment processes, co-valorizing wastewater and CO2, performing electrolysis of impaired water, and producing commodity chemicals using electroactive membranes.

  Bio: Dr. Zhiyong Jason Ren (https://ren.princeton.edu) is a professor in the department of Civil and Environmental Engineering and the Andlinger Center for Energy and the Environment at Princeton University. He leads the Princeton Water & Energy Technologies (WET) Lab with research focusing on water sector decarbonization and digitalization. His group uses electrochemistry, microbiology, and data science tools to gain insights into the fundamental determining factors, and they develop models and technologies for resource recovery during environmental and chemical processes. Dr. Ren has received numerous recognitions including the Walter J. Weber, Jr. AEESP Frontier in Research Award (2024), the Paul L. Busch Award (2021), and Walter L. Huber Research Prize (2020). He is a Fellow of Royal Society of Chemistry and International Water Association. He is an Associate Editor for Environmental Science & Technology (ES&T) and ES&T Letters. Ren received his Ph.D. in environmental engineering from Penn State University.

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  TIME Friday, November 1, 2024 at 2:00 PM - 3:00 PM

  LOCATION A230, Technological Institute    map it

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  CONTACT Andrew Liguori    andrew.liguori@northwestern.edu EMAIL

  CALENDAR McCormick - Civil and Environmental Engineering (CEE)

• Nov

  8

  EES Seminar- Microbial Community Engineering for Clean Water, Bioenergy Generation, and Resource Recovery- George Wells

  McCormick - Civil and Environmental Engineering (CEE)

  2:00 PM A230, Technological Institute

  EVENT DETAILS

  TBA

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  TIME Friday, November 8, 2024 at 2:00 PM - 3:00 PM

  LOCATION A230, Technological Institute    map it

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  CONTACT Andrew Liguori    andrew.liguori@northwestern.edu EMAIL

  CALENDAR McCormick - Civil and Environmental Engineering (CEE)

• Nov

  13

  Osterberg Lecture- Angelo Amorosi

  McCormick - Civil and Environmental Engineering (CEE)

  11:00 AM A230, Technological Institute

  EVENT DETAILS

  TBA

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  TIME Wednesday, November 13, 2024 at 11:00 AM - 12:00 PM

  LOCATION A230, Technological Institute    map it

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  CONTACT Andrew Liguori    andrew.liguori@northwestern.edu EMAIL

  CALENDAR McCormick - Civil and Environmental Engineering (CEE)

• Nov

  15

  EES Seminar- Unraveling the Role of Biological and Mineral Catalysts in Natures Towards Innovating Sustainable Solutions- Ludmilla Aristilde

  McCormick - Civil and Environmental Engineering (CEE)

  2:00 PM A230, Technological Institute

  EVENT DETAILS

  TBA

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  TIME Friday, November 15, 2024 at 2:00 PM - 3:00 PM

  LOCATION A230, Technological Institute    map it

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  CONTACT Andrew Liguori    andrew.liguori@northwestern.edu EMAIL

  CALENDAR McCormick - Civil and Environmental Engineering (CEE)

• Dec

  4

  SPREE Seminar- Doug Jerolmack

  McCormick - Civil and Environmental Engineering (CEE)

  11:00 AM 230, Technological Institute

  EVENT DETAILS

  TBA

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  TIME Wednesday, December 4, 2024 at 11:00 AM - 12:00 PM

  LOCATION 230, Technological Institute    map it

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  CONTACT Andrew Liguori    andrew.liguori@northwestern.edu EMAIL

  CALENDAR McCormick - Civil and Environmental Engineering (CEE)

• Dec

  7

  Fall classes end

  University Academic Calendar

  All Day

  EVENT DETAILS

  Fall classes end

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  TIME Saturday, December 7, 2024

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  CONTACT Office of the Registrar    nu-registrar@northwestern.edu EMAIL

  CALENDAR University Academic Calendar

• Dec

  14

  Northwestern Engineering PhD Hooding and Master's Recognition Ceremony

  McCormick School of Engineering and Applied Science

  4:00 PM Pick-Staiger Concert Hall

  EVENT DETAILS

  The ceremony will take place on Saturday, December 14 in Pick-Staiger Concert Hall, 50 Arts Circle Drive.

  *No tickets required

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  TIME Saturday, December 14, 2024 at 4:00 PM - 6:00 PM

  LOCATION Pick-Staiger Concert Hall    map it

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  CONTACT Andi Joppie    andi.joppie@northwestern.edu EMAIL

  CALENDAR McCormick School of Engineering and Applied Science