Avraham Shtub -Technion

Seminar: Distinguished Lecture Series | April 30 | 3:30-5 p.m. | 3108 Etcheverry Hall

Speaker/Performer: Avraham Shtub, Technion

Sponsor: Industrial Engineering & Operations Research

Professor Avraham Shtub holds the Stephen and Sharon Seiden Chair in Project Management. He was a faculty member of the department of Industrial Engineering at Tel Aviv University from 1984 to 1998 where he also served as a chairman of the department (1993-1996)...   More >

BLISS Seminar: Learning with Low Approximate Regret with Partial Feedback

Seminar | May 7 | 3-4 p.m. | 540 Cory Hall

Speaker/Performer: Eva Tardos

Sponsor: Electrical Engineering and Computer Sciences (EECS)

We consider the adversarial multi-armed bandit problem with partial feedback, minimizing a non-negative loss function using the graph based feedback framework introduced by Mannor and Shamir in 2011. We offer algorithms that attain small loss bounds, as well as low approximate regret against a shifting comparator.

Classical learning algorithms add a low level of uniform noise to the...   More >

Let's be Flexible: Soft Haptics and Soft Robotics

Seminar | June 15 | 1-2 p.m. | 540AB Cory Hall

Speaker/Performer: Allison Okamura, Stanford University

Sponsor: Electrical Engineering and Computer Sciences (EECS)

While traditional robotic manipulators are constructed from rigid links and localized joints, a new generation of robotic devices are soft, using flexible, deformable materials. In this talk, I will describe several new systems that leverage softness to achieve novel shape control, provide a compliant interface to the human body, and access hard-to-reach locations...   More >

Seminar 217, Risk Management: A Term Structure Model for Dividends and Interest Rates

Seminar | July 31 | 2-3:30 p.m. | 1011 Evans Hall

Featured Speaker: Speaker: Damir Filipović, Ecole Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne

Sponsor: Consortium for Data Analytics in Risk

Over the last decade, dividends have become a standalone asset class instead of a mere side product of an equity investment. We introduce a framework based on polynomial jump-diffusions to jointly price the term structures of dividends and interest rates. Prices for dividend futures, bonds, and the dividend paying stock are given in closed form.

Seminar 217, Risk Management: Is motor insurance ratemaking going to change with telematics and semi-autonomous vehicles?

Seminar | August 28 | 11 a.m.-12:30 p.m. | 1011 Evans Hall

Featured Speaker: Speaker: Montserrat Guillen, University of Barcelona

Sponsor: Consortium for Data Analytics in Risk

Many automobile insurance companies offer the possibility to monitor driving habits and distance driven by means of telematics devices installed in the vehicles. This provides a novel source of data that can be analysed to calculate personalised tariffs. For instance, drivers who accumulate a lot of miles should be charged more for their insurance coverage than those who make little use of their...   More >

Seminar 217, Risk Management: On Optimal Options Book Execution Strategies with Market Impact

Seminar | September 4 | 11 a.m.-12:30 p.m. | 1011 Evans Hall

Featured Speaker: Speaker: Saad Mouti, UC Berkeley

Sponsor: Consortium for Data Analytics in Risk

We consider the optimal execution of a book of options when market impact is a driver of the option price. We aim at minimizing the mean-variance risk criterion for a given market impact function. First, we develop a framework to justify the choice of our market impact function. Our model is inspired from Leland’s option replication with transaction costs where the market impact is directly part...   More >

Seminar 217, Risk Management: Capacity constraints in earning, and asset prices before earnings announcements

Seminar | September 11 | 11 a.m.-12:30 p.m. | 1011 Evans Hall

Featured Speaker: Speaker: Tamas Batyi, UC Berkeley

Sponsor: Consortium for Data Analytics in Risk

This paper proposes an asset pricing model with endogenous allocation of constrained learning capacity, that provides an explanation for abnormal returns before the scheduled release of information about firms, such as quarterly earnings announcements. In equilibrium investors endogenously focus their learning capacity and acquire information about stocks with upcoming announcements, resulting in...   More >

Science Lecture - Artificial Intelligence and the long-term future of humanity

Lecture | September 15 | 11 a.m.-12:30 p.m. | 100 Genetics & Plant Biology Building

Speaker/Performer: Stuart Russell, Department of Electrical Engineering and Computer Sciences

Sponsor: Science@Cal

The news media in recent years have been full of dire warnings about the risk that AI poses to the human race, coming from well-known figures such as Stephen Hawking and Elon Musk. Should we be concerned? If so, what can we do about it? While some in the mainstream AI community dismiss these concerns, Professor Russell will argue instead that a fundamental reorientation of the field is required...   More >

Target audiences: All Audiences, Alumni, Faculty, Friends of the University, General Public, Staff, Students - Graduate, Students - Prospective, Students - Undergraduate, Cal Parents

Open to audiences: All Audiences, Alumni, Faculty, Friends of the University, General Public, Staff, Students - Graduate, Students - Prospective, Students - Undergraduate, Cal Parents

Seminar 217, Risk Management: Nonstandard Analysis and its Application to Markov Processes

Seminar | September 18 | 11 a.m.-12:30 p.m. | 1011 Evans Hall

Featured Speaker: Speaker: Haosui Duanmu, UC Berkeley

Sponsor: Consortium for Data Analytics in Risk

Nonstandard analysis, a powerful machinery derived from mathematical logic, has had many applications in probability theory as well as stochastic processes. Nonstandard analysis allows construction of a single object - a hyperfinite probability space - which satisfies all the first order logical properties of a finite probability space, but which can be simultaneously viewed as a...   More >

Seminar 217, Risk Management: A Deep Learning Investigation of One-Month Momentum

Seminar | September 25 | 11 a.m.-12:30 p.m. | 1011 Evans Hall

Featured Speaker: Speaker: Ben Gum, AXA Rosenberg

Sponsor: Consortium for Data Analytics in Risk

The one-month return reversal in equity prices was first documented by Jedadeesh (1990), who found that there was a highly significant negative serial correlation in the monthly return series of stocks. This is in contrast to the positive serial correlation of the annual stock returns. Explanations for this effect differ, but the general consensus has been that the trailing one-month return...   More >

Seminar 217, Risk Management: Predicting Portfolio Return Volatility at Median Horizons

Seminar | October 2 | 11 a.m.-12:30 p.m. | 1011 Evans Hall

Featured Speaker: Speaker: Dangxing Chen, UC Berkeley

Sponsor: Consortium for Data Analytics in Risk

Commercially available factor models provide good predictions of short-horizon (e.g. one day or one week) portfolio volatility, based on estimated portfolio factor loadings and responsive estimates of factor volatility. These predictions are of significant value to certain short-term investors, such as hedge funds. However, they provide limited guidance to long-term investors, such as Defined...   More >

Seminar 217, Risk Management: Robust Learning: Information Theory and Algorithms

Seminar | October 9 | 11 a.m.-12:30 p.m. | 1011 Evans Hall

Featured Speaker: Speaker: Jacob Steinhardt, Stanford

Sponsor: Consortium for Data Analytics in Risk

This talk will provide an overview of recent results in high-dimensional robust estimation. The key question is the following: given a dataset, some fraction of which consists of arbitrary outliers, what can be learned about the non-outlying points? This is a classical question going back at least to Tukey (1960). However, this question has recently received renewed interest for a combination of...   More >

Seminar 217, Risk Management: Asymptotic Spectral Analysis of Markov Chains with Rare Transitions: A Graph-Algorithmic Approach

Seminar | October 16 | 11 a.m.-12:30 p.m. | 1011 Evans Hall

Featured Speaker: Speaker: Tingyue Gan, UC Berkeley

Sponsor: Consortium for Data Analytics in Risk

Parameter-dependent Markov chains with exponentially small transition rates arise in modeling complex systems in physics, chemistry, and biology. Such processes often manifest metastability, and the spectral properties of the generators largely govern their long-term dynamics. In this work, we propose a constructive graph-algorithmic approach to computing the asymptotic estimates of eigenvalues...   More >

Seminar 217, Risk Management: Proliferation of Anomalies and Zoo of Factors – What does the Hansen–Jagannathan Distance Tell Us?

Seminar | October 23 | 11 a.m.-12:30 p.m. | 1011 Evans Hall

Featured Speaker: Speaker: Xiang Zhang, SWUFE

Sponsor: Consortium for Data Analytics in Risk

Recent research finds that prominent asset pricing models have mixed success in evaluating the cross-section of anomalies, which highlights proliferation of anomalies and zoo of factors. In this paper, I investigate that how is the relative pricing performance of these models to explain anomalies, when comparing their misspecification errors– the Hansen–Jagannathan (HJ) distance measure. I find...   More >

Seminar 217, Risk Management: Putting the 'I' in IPO

Seminar | November 13 | 11 a.m.-12:30 p.m. | 1011 Evans Hall

Featured Speaker: Speakers: Chi Zhang, Kamyar Kaviani, Nikita Vemuri, and Simon Walter, UC Berkeley

Sponsor: Consortium for Data Analytics in Risk

As an alternative to traditional loans, young people could issue securities that pay dividends that depend on their future financial success in life. This type of a personal IPO is especially desirable for young people, who for example may need money for a college education, because it allows them to shift the risk of repayment to investors who bet on their future success, unlike in a traditional...   More >

Seminar 217, Risk Management: Bankruptcy Claim Dischargeability and Public Externalities: Evidence from a Natural Experiment

Seminar | November 27 | 11 a.m.-12:30 p.m. | 1011 Evans Hall

Featured Speaker: Speaker: Michael Ohlrogge, Stanford

Sponsor: Consortium for Data Analytics in Risk

In 2009, the Seventh Circuit ruled in U.S. v. Apex Oil that certain types of injunctions requiring firms to clean up previously released toxic chemicals were not dischargeable in bankruptcy. This was widely perceived to represent a split with Sixth Circuit precedent, although Supreme Court cert was denied. Numerous legal commentators wrote of the significance of this decision in strengthening...   More >

Collider Cup III

Special Event | December 5 | 10 a.m.-3 p.m. | 310 Jacobs Hall

Sponsor: Sutardja Center for Entrepreneurship & Technology

The Collider Cup is SCET's all-star showcase of the best student teams from this Fall 2018 semester. Come watch teams pitch to panels of professors, investors and industry experts as they vie to win the grand prize, the Collider Cup!

New this semester, the top three teams from the event will receive automatic final round meetings with Arrow Capital for the potential to receive $15K to $50K in...   More >

Peter Zhang - Dynamic optimization on networks: designing biodefense supply chain

Seminar | January 22 | 3:30-5 p.m. | 306 Soda Hall

Speaker/Performer: Peter Zhang, Massachusetts Institute of Technology

Sponsor: Industrial Engineering & Operations Research

Abstract: Bioattacks, i.e., the intentional release of pathogens or biotoxins against humans to cause serious illness and death, pose a significant threat to public health and safety due to the availability of pathogens worldwide, scale of impact, and short treatment time window. I model the defender’s static antibiotic inventory prepositioning decision and dispensing capacity installation...   More >

Ozge Yapar - Bayesian Sequential Learning for Clinical Trials of Multiple Correlated Medical Interventions

Seminar | January 28 | 1-2:30 p.m. | Haas School of Business, Chou Hall N370

Speaker/Performer: Ozge Yapar, University of Pennsylvania

Sponsor: Industrial Engineering & Operations Research

Abstract: We integrate emerging trends intended to improve clinical trial design: design for cost-effectiveness, which ensures health-economic improvement of a new intervention over the current standard intervention; adaptive design, which dynamically adjusts the sample size and allocation of patients to different interventions; and multi-arm trial design, which compares multiple interventions...   More >

Paul Glasserman - Does Unusual News Forecast Market Stress?

Seminar | January 28 | 3:30-4:30 p.m. | 1174 Etcheverry Hall

Speaker/Performer: Paul Glasserman, Columbia University

Sponsor: Industrial Engineering & Operations Research

Abstract: Applying sentiment analysis to news articles on large financial companies, we find that an increase in “unusual” negative news predicts an increase in stock market volatility and thus potential market stress. Similarly, unusual positive news forecasts lower volatility. Our analysis is based on more than 360,000 articles on 50 large financial companies, published in 1996–2014....   More >

Raga Gopalakrishnan - Integrating Behavior, Economics, and Operations in Urban Mobility: Ridesharing and Multi-Modal Travel

Seminar | February 1 | 3:30-4:30 p.m. | 1174 Etcheverry Hall

Speaker/Performer: Raga Gopalakrishnan, Cornell University

Sponsor: Industrial Engineering & Operations Research

Abstract: In today’s urban mobility marketplaces, both operational policies (e.g., matching, routing) and economic mechanisms (e.g., pricing, incentives) affect perceptions of Quality of Service (QoS) and users’ mobility choices. These, in turn, affect both operational objectives (e.g., utilization, vehicle-miles travelled) and economic objectives (e.g., profit, welfare). We study these complex...   More >

Sébastien Martin - From School Buses To Start Times: Driving Policy With Optimization

Seminar | February 8 | 3:30-4:30 p.m. |  Etcheverry Hall

Speaker/Performer: Sébastien Martin, Massachusetts Institute of Technology

Sponsor: Industrial Engineering & Operations Research

Abstract: Maintaining a fleet of buses to transport students to school is a major expense for U.S. school districts. In order to reduce costs by reusing buses between schools, many districts spread start times across the morning. However, assigning each school a time involves estimating the impact on transportation costs and reconciling additional competing objectives. Facing this intricate...   More >

Daniel Lacker - Beyond Mean Field Limits: Local Dynamics For Large Sparse Networks Of Interacting Diffusions

Seminar | February 11 | 2-3 p.m. | 1174 Etcheverry Hall

Speaker/Performer: Daniel Lacker, Columbia University

Sponsor: Industrial Engineering & Operations Research

Abstract: We study large systems of stochastic processes (particles) in which each particle is associated with a vertex in a graph and interacts only with its neighbors. When the graph is complete and the numbers of particles grows to infinity, the system is well-described by a McKean-Vlasov equation, which describes the behavior of one typical particle. For general (sparse) graphs, the system is...   More >

Chiwei Yan - Transportation Optimization: Data-enabled Advances in a Sharing Economy

Seminar | February 11 | 3:30-4:30 p.m. | 1174 Etcheverry Hall

Speaker/Performer: Chiwei Yan, Massachusetts Institute of Technology

Sponsor: Industrial Engineering & Operations Research

Abstract: The transportation and logistics industries are undergoing a round of revolutionary innovation. This innovation is fueled by two key drivers: (1) the growing availability of data, and (2) new operational paradigms in a sharing economy. This talk focuses on showcasing how new models, enabled by the prevalence of data, can lead to significant value in operational decision-making.

We...   More >

The Future of Foods - Alt.Meat

Special Event | February 14 | 4-6 p.m. | 306 Soda Hall

Panelist/Discussant: Kim Juelg, Flavorist, Givaudan

Moderator: Scott May, Head, MISTA

Speakers/Performers: Danny Rubenstein, Strategic Advisor, Mista; Matt Spears, Associate Account Manager, Givaudan; Julie Emsing Mann, Global Protein Program Manager, Ingredion; Kora Kukic, Senior Plant Protein Specialist, Nestle; Joe Light, Vice President, Ingredion

Sponsor: Industrial Engineering & Operations Research

The event will feature a panel of industry experts in the growing landscape of food engineering, flavoring, and meat alternatives. What is the future of meat alternatives? How will humans eat in the future? How will our relationship with food change?

Beste Basciftci - Value of Optimization under Uncertainty and Integration of Data in Energy Supply Chains

Seminar | February 15 | 3:30-4:30 p.m. | 1174 Etcheverry Hall

Speaker/Performer: Beste Basciftci, Georgia Institute of Technology

Sponsor: Industrial Engineering & Operations Research

Abstract: Most of the real-life problems involve uncertainty, which need to be delicately integrated into the decision-making processes. In this talk, we present various stochastic optimization techniques motivated by maintenance, operations and capacity expansion planning problems in energy systems. In the first part of the talk, our aim is to effectively model and solve the integrated...   More >

Alper Atamturk – Sparse Estimation: Closing the Gap Between L0 and L1 Models

Seminar | March 11 | 3:30-4:30 p.m. | 1174 Etcheverry Hall

Speaker/Performer: Alper Atamturk, University of California, Berkeley

Sponsor: Industrial Engineering & Operations Research

Sparse statistical estimators are increasingly prevalent due to their ease of interpretability and superior out-of-sample performance. However, sparse estimation problems with an L0 constraint, restricting the support of the estimators, are challenging (typically NP-hard, but not always) non-convex optimization problems. Consequently, academicians and practitioners commonly turn to convex L1...   More >

Jeffrey Linderoth – Perspectives on Integer Programming in Sparse Optimization

Seminar | March 18 | 3:30-4:30 p.m. | 1174 Etcheverry Hall

Speaker/Performer: Jeffrey Linderoth, University of Wisconsin - Madison

Sponsor: Industrial Engineering & Operations Research

Abstract: Algorithms to solve mixed integer linear programs have made incredible progress in the past 20 years. Key to these advances has been a mathematical analysis of the structure of the set of feasible solutions. We argue that a similar analysis is required in the case of mixed integer quadratic programs, like those that arise in sparse optimization in machine learning. One such analysis...   More >

Zeyu Zheng - Non-stationary Markov processes: Approximations, simulation, and decision-making

Seminar | April 1 | 3:30-4:30 p.m. | 1174 Etcheverry Hall

Speaker/Performer: Zeyu Zheng, University of California, Berkeley

Sponsor: Industrial Engineering & Operations Research

In many Markov modeling contexts, the system under consideration exhibits strong time-of-day effects, day-of-week effects, or seasonality effects. In fact, most real-world systems that are modeled as Markov processes exhibit such non-stationarities. Nevertheless, the great majority of the academic literature focuses on modeling and theory for Markov processes with stationary transition...   More >