CS Colloquium
Fall 2024
Presented by the Computer Science Department
Mondays 12:00 - 12:50pm, Stevenson Hall 1301
All lectures are free and open to the public
Call for Participation Join the Mailing List Colloquium Archive
Distributed Deep Learning Optimizations
![Ms. Geeta Chauhan Picture of Ms. Geeta Chauhan](/sites/cs/files/styles/max_height_300/public/2024-07/chauhan_11309.jpg?itok=XfluB8AL)
Ms. Geeta Chauhan
Silicon Valley Software Group, AI Practice Head / CTO
Stevenson 1301
Monday, September 9, 2024
This talk will cover how to build and deploy distributed deep learning models at scale. You will learn how to parallelize your models, and techniques for optimizing your cluster for faster performance for both model training and inference. The talk will also cover use cases from different verticals like FinTech, Medical Diagnostics, Automotive sector.
Source Slides: http://bit.ly/2rvqall
An ACM Distinguished Speaker
Generative AI and Mental Imagery
![Ron Chrisley Photo of Ron Chrisley](/sites/cs/files/styles/max_height_300/public/2024-07/unnamed.jpg?itok=bogQHMpe)
Ron Chrisley
University of Sussex, Director of the Centre for Cognitive Science
Stevenson 1400
Monday, September 16, 2024
To what extent can artificial cognitive systems model, or even truly be said to possess, mental imagery?
One study, (Cabrita 2024), drawing on (Yampolskiy 2017), proposes susceptibility to optical illusions as a sufficient condition for experiencing mental imagery, and evaluates GPT4-o accordingly.
I argue that this criterion is too weak, and instead propose that for an agent to be credited with mental imagery it should demonstrate the capacity to perform not just image processing (i.e., pattern sensitivity), but imagistic reasoning. Accordingly, I propose two necessary criteria for the ascription of mental imagery: explanatory need, and (human-level) reasoning performance.
To assess the extent to which a given AI system meets these criteria, the paradigm in the classic study of imagistic reasoning by Finke, Pinker and Farah (1989) is used. This paradigm asks human subjects to imagine familiar objects and shapes, asks them to transform these shapes “internally” or “mentally”, and then asks the subjects to answer questions about the resulting imagined shapes. Other paradigms (e.g. the Mental Rotation Test from (Shepard and Metzler 1971)) are also considered.
Two kinds AI systems, multi-modal models, and chained models, are assessed with respect to the imagistic reasoning tasks. Proposals for how their limitations might be overcome are offered.
The talk closes by considering a chess problem that (Penrose 2017) puts forward as requiring imagistic reasoning that (he claims) AI cannot perform.
Note: This is a joint event with the Forum in Ethics, Law, and Society (PHIL 205) and the CS Colloquium series (CS 390).
Distance and Domination in Graphs
![Oleksiy Al-saadi Headshot of Oleksiy Al-saadi](/sites/cs/files/styles/max_height_300/public/2024-06/IMG_3064.jpg?itok=hhPmIork)
Dr. Oleksiy Al-Saadi
Sonoma State University
Stevenson 1301
Monday, September 30, 2024
State of Cloud Security
![Nielet D'mello Headshot of Nielet D'mello](/sites/cs/files/styles/max_height_300/public/2024-07/nielet.jpg?itok=lez8_sil)
Nielet D'mello
Datadog Security
Stevenson 1301
Monday, October 7, 2024
In this lecture, we will discuss:
1. The concept of shared responsibility model for Cloud
2. Key areas of concern (ex. Data Protection, Identity and Access Management, Compliance & Regulatory challenges, etc)
3. Misconfiguration exploits in cloud environments
4. Security Design for cloud environments
Attendees will gain solid high-level grasp on cloud security principles, an understanding of current challenges faced by the industry, and knowledge of emerging trends that will shape the future of secure cloud computing.
Running IT and Cybersecurity Operations in a Government Regulated Environment
![Victor Ramensky headshot of Victor Ramensky](/sites/cs/files/styles/max_height_300/public/2024-07/ramensky.jpeg?itok=yunUwJUX)
Victor Ramensky
Senior Board Member ISC2 North Bay Chapter
Stevenson 1301
Monday, October 14, 2024
There are great challenges working in IT and Cybersecurity, making sure operations run smoothly and the company's electronic assets are safe. Then there are the challenges of doing this under the watchful eyes of government regulators. I will share my positive experiences and challenges with both the FDIC (Banking) and FDA (Pharma) when it comes to running IT and Cybersecurity. This can help you consider the pros and cons of working in a regulated industry!
One of our Oct is CyberSecurity Awareness Month talks.
Comparison & Recommendation for IT Security Standards
![Computer Science](/sites/cs/files/styles/max_height_300/public/2024-06/default-image-cs.png?itok=jeXarzEw)
Robert Lee
Stevenson 1301
Monday, October 21, 2024
NIST Cybersecurity Framework (CSF) vs CIS Critical Security Controls(CSC). There are several standard and frameworks to learn in the cybersecurity industry. Which one makes sense ? Rob will present both the CSF and CSC frameworks and comparisons on both.
One of our Oct is CyberSecurity Awareness Month talks.
Trust and Privacy Vulnerabilities of Today’s Online Social Networks
![Dr. Yuhong Liu Picture of Yuhong Liu](/sites/cs/files/styles/max_height_300/public/2024-07/Yuhong-Liu.jpeg?itok=qjwPfD1g)
Dr. Yuhong Liu
Santa Clara University
Stevenson 1301
Monday, October 28, 2024
As we move further into the big data era, people are motivated in numerous ways to proactively generate, share and exchange diverse digital contents online every day. While the increasing amount of information greatly facilitates people’s decision makings, it also brings great challenges. For example, driven by the huge profits behind the big data economy, malicious attacks are emerging rapidly to mislead normal users’ decision-making process by providing carefully crafted false information. In addition, retrieving tremendous amount of user private information has become a popular attack target. This talk will discuss the security, trust and privacy issues in online social networks, the trend and challenges, particularly focusing on several sample attacks.
One of our Oct is CyberSecurity Awareness Month talks.
Advise-a-palooza
Dept Event
TBD
Monday, November 4, 2024
CS students, join us for Advise-a-palooza for Spring 2025 registration.
Research Opportunities in Human-Robot Interaction
Dr. Roya Salek Shahrezaie
Sonoma State University
Stevenson 1301
Monday, November 18, 2024
Fall 2024 Short Presentations of Student Research and Awards
Dept Event
Stevenson 1301
Monday, November 25, 2024
Short presentations of research carried out by Sonoma State Computer Science Students, and CS awards.
Fall 2024 Presentations of Student Capstone Projects
Dept Event
Stevenson 1301
Monday, December 2, 2024
Short presentations of capstone projects carried out by Sonoma State Computer Science Students