CS Seminars

"Robots and Opioids: Understanding How Communities Want to Deploy Technologies for their Safety"

Abstract

In this talk, I will share two qualitative analyses focused on community perspectives of technological innovations designed for their safety. The first project is a photo elicitation study, in which we interviewed people about their perceptions of and attitudes toward security robots. We learned about what people expect these robots can do, how they would want them to be used, and fears about potential risks and consequences of their use. In the second project, we developed a location-based app to facilitate layperson response to opioid overdoses. In a yearlong field trial within one Philadelphia neighborhood, 112 participants signaled over 200 suspected overdoses, and administered the overdose reversal drug naloxone 74 times. Qualitative findings indicate that a lack of trust in professional response services, and experiences of marginalization, fueled participation in a community-based effort to help one another. Moreover, shared experiences of loss and trauma around the opioid crisis motivated app use that was markedly prosocial. Across both of these projects, I discuss the role of technologies in helping people feel safe in their communities, and critical ways in which community input can shape how we design and deploy them.

Biography

Gabriela Marcu is an Assistant Professor in the School of Information at the University of Michigan. Her research focuses on designing and evaluating use of systems for health and wellbeing, especially among marginalized populations. She works to understand uses and impacts of technology through qualitative methods, participatory design, community-based approaches, and deployment studies. She also champions undergraduate research, and has been the recipient of undergraduate research mentoring awards from the National Center for Women and IT, and the Council on Undergraduate Research. She holds a Ph.D. in Human-Computer Interaction from Carnegie Mellon University, and a B.S. in Informatics from the University of California, Irvine.

Zoom Link: https://northwestern.zoom.us/j/94222305728?pwd=Wld0NTZNaXUvMnYzVCsvOU9pMU9TZz09

Panopto Link: https://northwestern.hosted.panopto.com/Panopto/Pages/Viewer.aspx?id=6a4bca53-82c6-4581-b911-b08f01392e05

"Human Autonomy through Robotics Autonomy

Abstract

As need increases, access decreases. It is a paradox that as motor impairment becomes more severe, so does the need for assistance become more acute, and yet assistive machines also become less and less accessible to operate with independence. My lab addresses this paradox by incorporating robotics autonomy and intelligence into machines that enable mobility and manipulation: leveraging robotics autonomy, to advance human autonomy. Achieving the correct allocation of control between the human and the autonomy is essential, and critical for adoption. The allocation must be responsive to individual abilities and preferences, that moreover can be changing over time, and robust to human-machine information flow that is filtered and masked by motor impairment and control interface. In this talk, I will discuss these challenges, overview a sampling of ongoing projects and studies within my lab, and highlight our recent development of interface-aware robotic intelligence.

Biography

Brenna Argall is an associate professor of Mechanical Engineering, Computer Science, and Physical Medicine & Rehabilitation at Northwestern University. She is founder and director of the assisve & rehabilitation robotics laboratory (argallab) at the Shirley Ryan AbilityLab (formerly the Rehabilitation Institute of Chicago), the #1-ranked rehabilitation hospital in the United States. The mission of the argallab is to advance human ability by leveraging robotics autonomy. Argall is a Fellow of the American Institute for Medical and Biological Engineering (2023), a recipient of the NSF CAREER award (2016), and was named one of the 40 under 40 by Crain’s Chicago Business (2016). Her Ph.D. in Robotics (2009) was received from the Robotics Institute at Carnegie Mellon University, as well as her B.S. in Mathematics (2002). Prior to joining Northwestern and RIC, she was a postdoctoral fellow (2009-2011) at the École Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne (EPFL) and prior to graduate school she held a Computational Biology position at the National Institutes of Health (NIH). More recently (2019), she was a visiting Research Fellow at the Wyss Center for Bio and Neuroengineering in Geneva, Switzerland.

Zoom Link: https://northwestern.zoom.us/j/92156474703

"Towards Exploitability Assessment"

Abstract

The development of static and dynamic analysis tools significantly improves security analysts' capability in finding software bugs. However, security analysts lack effective, efficient methods to determine the exploitability for the identified bugs. Today, security analysts heavily rely upon their own expertise and experience in exploitability assessment. As a result, the bugs not yet demonstrated exploitability may not result from their unexploitability. Our past research indicates that determining exploitability requires tackling three critical technical challenges – (1) tracking down useful exploitation primitives, (2) bypassing exploit mitigation and protection commonly deployed, and (3) preventing unexpected program termination. In this talk, I will discuss a series of technical approaches to ease the development of working exploits and escalate the capability of a security analyst in assessing exploitability for vulnerabilities.

Biography

Xinyu Xing is an Associate Professor at Northwestern University and co-founder of Sec3. His research interest includes exploring, designing, and developing new techniques to assess and robustify software. In addition, he is also interested in exploring AI techniques to facilitate and empower cybersecurity analysis. His past research has been featured by many mainstream media, such as Technology Review, New Scientists, and NYTimes, etc. His research is supported by NSF, DARAP, ONR, NAS, and several industry partners. He is a recipient of the NSF CAREER Award , Amazon Research Award, ACM CCS Outstanding Paper Award, and ACSAC best paper award.

Zoom Link: https://northwestern.zoom.us/j/91291397191?pwd=NSsyUjdOLzdEdjRmeGU5dWZEMnNkdz09

Panopto: https://northwestern.hosted.panopto.com/Panopto/Pages/Viewer.aspx?id=d1e5b1ea-d6e4-47a9-a080-b093011135b9

CS Department Events

CSPAC Tuesday Student Seminars

CSPAC is launching a student seminar series within the CS department. It will run on Tuesdays (12-1pm in 3514 with lunch, like the other seminars).  

The goal is to showcase student research in the department, and to give students an opportunity to give broad audience talks. You can find an overview of the format and goals here.

If you are a PhD student and you are interested in presenting, please reach out to (Vaidehi Srinivas, vaidehi@u.northwestern.edu) directly, and we can schedule a week that works for you.  A tentative schedule can be found here.

While the presenters will be PhD students, everyone in the CS department community (faculty, postdocs, students of all levels, etc.) are invited to attend!

What is CSPAC?

We are the CS PhD Advisory Council.  We are a PhD student-led organization, and our mandate is to interface between PhD students and faculty on academic issues.  Some examples of what we do include: identifying issues in the PhD program and providing input to faculty, and organizing events like the CS Open House and this student seminar series.  (Not to be confused with CSSI– the CS Social Initiative, another student-led organization that organizes social events for the department.)

We want to advocate for PhD students in the department, so if there is some way we can support you, please come talk to us.  We welcome PhD students to our weekly meetings on Tuesdays, 5-5:30pm, Mudd 3501 and/or zoom.  We also welcome anonymous concerns/feedback at any time via this form.  Anyone in the community can reach us at cspac@u.northwestern.edu.

Trustworthiness in the Presence of Adversaries and Strategic Agents in ML

Other Events & Opportunities

Unbound: Latinx/e Multimedia Club | MSA

This time around we are so excited to announce we'll be focusing on *Latinx photography* by looking at the virtual exhibition, "You Belong Here" curated by Pilar Tompkins Rivas.

You can view the virtual exhibition here prior to the discussion on Oct 11th.

In addition, the first ten students to both RSVP and attend the discussion will receive a gorgeous copy of Latinx Aperture 245 magazine that inspired the exhibition, which we will be also be exploring and discussing. Make sure to RSVP by Sept 29th.

Conference on AI & National Security

The Land We Learn On: Refusing Invisibility & Erasure of Indigenous Communities Led by Aaron Golding and Jasmine Gurneau

Evening with Employers

CS News

NU News