Speaker:

Emma Alexander, Assistant Professor of Computer Science, McCormick School of Engineering, Northwestern University

Title:

Constrained Information Optimization in the Visual Cortex

Abstract:

Animal brains represent information to complete a variety of tasks under systematically-changing conditions. The Bio-Inspired Vision Lab at Northwestern is developing tools to identify signatures of optimality in neural population codes, so that we can interpret the computational goals of visual neurons from cell measurements. Results include evidence of hierarchical visual processing in primate stereo vision and a biophysically-grounded model of metabolic stress in calorie-restricted mice.

Speaker Bio:

Emma Alexander is an assistant professor of computer science at Northwestern. Her training in physics (BS Yale), computer science (BS Yale, MS PhD Harvard), and vision science (postdoc, UC Berkeley) support her interest in low-level, physics-based, bio-inspired artificial vision.

Location:

In person: Chambers Hall, 600 Foster Street, Lower Level
Remote option: https://northwestern.zoom.us/j/96896691081
Passcode: NICO25

About the Speaker Series:

Wednesdays@NICO is a vibrant weekly seminar series focusing broadly on the topics of complex systems, data science and network science. It brings together attendees ranging from graduate students to senior faculty who span all of the schools across Northwestern, from applied math to sociology to biology and every discipline in-between. Please visit: https://bit.ly/WedatNICO for information on future speakers.

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Speaker:

Sébastien Martin, Associate Professor of Operations, Kellogg School of Management, Northwestern University

Title:

When Algorithms Meet Policy - Changing the School Bus System of Boston and San Francisco

Abstract:

I collaborated with Boston Public Schools and the San Francisco Unified School District to apply advanced optimization algorithms to the redesign of school bus routes and the adjustment of school schedules. These challenges were not only algorithmically complex—where even computers struggle to find good solutions—but also politically and socially contested, with stakeholders often disagreeing on what the algorithms should prioritize. Our work produced both notable successes and important setbacks. In this talk, I will share our journey of building effective collaborations between researchers and policymakers, highlighting lessons on large-scale optimization, human-in-the-loop algorithms, and the emerging role of AI agents.

Speaker Bio:

Sébastien Martin is an Associate Professor of Operations at Kellogg. His research focuses on the intersection of large-scale optimization and operations management, using methods from optimization, machine learning, and applied probability to model and tackle real-world problems. Applications include transportation systems and school operations. Professor Martin received his Ph.D. in operations research from MIT and an M.Sc. in applied mathematics at Ecole Polytechnique. Before joining Kellogg, he was a postdoctoral research fellow at the ridesharing company Lyft.

Location:

In person: Chambers Hall, 600 Foster Street, Lower Level
Remote option: https://northwestern.zoom.us/j/97448138640
Passcode: NICO25

About the Speaker Series:

Wednesdays@NICO is a vibrant weekly seminar series focusing broadly on the topics of complex systems, data science and network science. It brings together attendees ranging from graduate students to senior faculty who span all of the schools across Northwestern, from applied math to sociology to biology and every discipline in-between. Please visit: https://bit.ly/WedatNICO for information on future speakers.

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Speaker:

Tomer Ullman, Morris Kahn Associate Professor of Psychology, Department of Psychology, Harvard University

Title:

Good Enough: Approximations in Mental Simulation and Intuitive Physics

Abstract:

TBA

Speaker Bio:

Tomer Ullman is a cognitive scientist interested in common-sense reasoning, and building computational models for explaining high-level cognitive processes and the acquisition of new knowledge by children and adults. In particular, he is focused on how children and adults come to form intuitive theories of agents and objects, and providing both a functional and algorithmic account of how these theories are learned. Such an account would go a long way towards explaining the basics cogs and springs of human intelligence, and support the building of more human-like artificial intelligence. Dr. Ullman received in B.Sc in Cognitive Science and Physics from Hebrew University in 2008, and his Ph.D. in Brain and Cognitive Sciences from MIT in 2015.

Location:

In person: Chambers Hall, 600 Foster Street, Lower Level
Remote option: https://northwestern.zoom.us/j/98274795986
Passcode: NICO25

About the Speaker Series:

Wednesdays@NICO is a vibrant weekly seminar series focusing broadly on the topics of complex systems, data science and network science. It brings together attendees ranging from graduate students to senior faculty who span all of the schools across Northwestern, from applied math to sociology to biology and every discipline in-between. Please visit: https://bit.ly/WedatNICO for information on future speakers.

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Speaker:

Patrick Park, Assistant Professor, School of Computer Science, Carnegie Mellon University

Title:

Back to ‘Data’ Science in the Age of AI

Abstract:

Unconventional uses of data can stimulate creativity and innovation at scales that dwarf the creativity and innovation unlocked by unconventional applications of established knowledge. In this talk, I will present three studies, each motivated by separate questions of human behavior in social networks, yet collectively shed light on the benefits and challenges of unconventional uses of data. Using Twitter communication and tweet deletion data, the first study develops and tests a novel network mechanism through which network brokers’ individual decisions to self-censor can collectively lead to online opinion polarization. The second study applies sociological theory of interaction rituals to operationalize higher-order group interactions in a simplicial complex representation of communication among Twitter users. Analysis reveals that users who interact in a shared context tend to exhibit ritualistic aspects of offline group interaction, such as markedly higher communication frequency, focus on the collective, and stronger affect, which would not have been discernible in conventional graph-based representations. The final study attempts to explain the puzzle of scientific disruption, disproportionately produced by small teams in the age of big science. Analysis of scholarly acknowledgements in sociology journal publications suggests that small teams, perhaps by necessity, may produce disruptive knowledge in the course of seeking intellectual resources from informal academic ties positioned in distant niches in knowledge space. The talk will briefly reflect on the challenges of repurposing and/or combining data in unconventional ways, including construct validity, generalizability, survivorship bias, and research ethics, then conclude with potential implications for AI research.

Speaker Bio:

Patrick Park is a computational social scientist with research interests in the structure and evolution of large-scale social networks. His research focuses on how people form and maintain social ties at decade-long time scales and how the broader social, technological environment shape this process. Using population-scale online interaction data and computational models, his research addresses questions on the formation of rarely observed socially distant ties, social contagion, opinion dynamics, and signatures of higher-order group interactions that transcend dyadic representations of groups and appeared in interdisciplinary venues including Science, Social Networks, PLoS One, Lecture Notes in Computer Science, and Big Data and Society. He is currently assistant professor in the Software and Societal Systems Department (S3D) at Carnegie Mellon University School of Computer Science. Before joining CMU, He was postdoctoral fellow at the University of Michigan and Northwestern University after receiving his doctoral degree in sociology at Cornell University.

Location:

In person: Chambers Hall, 600 Foster Street, Lower Level
Remote option: https://northwestern.zoom.us/j/95844553871
Passcode: NICO25

About the Speaker Series:

Wednesdays@NICO is a vibrant weekly seminar series focusing broadly on the topics of complex systems, data science and network science. It brings together attendees ranging from graduate students to senior faculty who span all of the schools across Northwestern, from applied math to sociology to biology and every discipline in-between. Please visit: https://bit.ly/WedatNICO for information on future speakers.

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Speaker:

Max Kreminski, Research Scientist, Midjourney

Title:

Tracing and Shaping Paths in Design Space

Abstract:

It’s notoriously difficulty to evaluate interfaces intended to support creative work – but as software creative tools proliferate, the importance of understanding whether and how these tools support user creativity continues to grow. In this talk, I discuss several related approaches to making sense of user interactions with creativity support tools. I focus in particular on how AI-supported evaluation methods can help us illuminate a design tool’s expressive range; trace user trajectories through design space; and potentially even intervene to shape these trajectories while the interaction is still unfolding.

Speaker Bio:

Max Kreminski is a human-computer interaction researcher focused on designing expressive and approachable computational systems to support creative work and play. Their research has been featured in outlets such as The New Yorker, New Scientist, and The Verge; published and exhibited at top HCI and AI conferences, including CHI, UIST, and NeurIPS; and honored with a variety of awards, including the Best Paper award at the ACM Conference on Creativity & Cognition. Max currently directs the Storytelling Lab at Midjourney and previously served as an assistant professor at Santa Clara University.

Location:

In person: Chambers Hall, 600 Foster Street, Lower Level
Remote option: https://northwestern.zoom.us/j/99929737866
Passcode: NICO25

About the Speaker Series:

Wednesdays@NICO is a vibrant weekly seminar series focusing broadly on the topics of complex systems, data science and network science. It brings together attendees ranging from graduate students to senior faculty who span all of the schools across Northwestern, from applied math to sociology to biology and every discipline in-between. Please visit: https://bit.ly/WedatNICO for information on future speakers.

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Speaker:

Elizabeth Gerber, Professor of Mechanical Engineering and Communication Studies, Northwestern University

Title:

Richer Together: Human–AI Systems That Amplify Human Connection at Work

Abstract:

AI in the workplace is often framed as a story of replacement. This talk flips that narrative. Drawing on research-informed, human-centered design, I present hybrid human–AI systems that scaffold—not supplant—our most distinctively human capacities: connection, reflection, and meaning-making. These systems are built on empirical insights into how people collaborate and learn, and it demonstrate how AI can be designed to increase metacognition and better prepare for more intentional, higher-quality human interactions. Rather than stripping work of its human core, AI—when designed in context and with care —can help make our work more relational, more effective, and more deeply human.

Speaker Bio:

Liz Gerber is a Professor in the Department of Mechanical Engineering and Communication at Northwestern University and creates sociotechnical platforms that make innovation accessible to everyone. Her research explores how new technologies can support the innovation process, particularly “collective innovation,” which taps into often unused human, social, and economic resources to discover, assess, and implement ideas. Through the Center for Human-Computer Interaction + Design, Delta Lab, and Design for America, her team develops collaborative networks that address complex issues—from healthcare access to climate resilience—promoting entrepreneurship and strengthening the link between engineering and society. She earned her PhD in Management Science & Engineering at Stanford.

Location:

In person: Chambers Hall, 600 Foster Street, Lower Level
Remote option: https://northwestern.zoom.us/j/94056849008
Passcode: NICO25

About the Speaker Series:

Wednesdays@NICO is a vibrant weekly seminar series focusing broadly on the topics of complex systems, data science and network science. It brings together attendees ranging from graduate students to senior faculty who span all of the schools across Northwestern, from applied math to sociology to biology and every discipline in-between. Please visit: https://bit.ly/WedatNICO for information on future speakers.

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Speaker:

Julio Ottino, Walter P. Murphy Professor of Chemical and Biological Engineering, McCormick School of Engineering, Northwestern University

Title:

From Clocks to Clouds: The Complexity Revolution: How Scientific Breakthroughs Reshaped Reality and Our Place Within It

Abstract:

For three centuries, Western thought was guided by a Newtonian worldview: the universe as a vast clock, predictable and controllable. That vision has unraveled. Scientific revolutions—from relativity and quantum mechanics to evolution, game theory, and complexity science—have revealed a world of uncertainty, emergence, and creative interconnection. We now inhabit a “cloud world,” where relationships matter more than parts, and uncertainty is not ignorance but potential. This talk traces the transformation from clocks to complexity, showing how these revolutions reshape our understanding of reality and what it means to navigate knowledge, organizations, and society in turbulent times.

Speaker Bio:

Julio M. Ottino is an engineering scientist recognized for his work in fluid dynamics, chaos and nonlinear dynamics, complex systems, and especially mixing. He was born in La Plata, Argentina and grew up with twin interests in the physical sciences and visual arts. He obtained his first degree at the University of La Plata, in Argentina, before receiving a PhD in chemical engineering from the University of Minnesota. He is currently at the McCormick School of Engineering and Applied Science in Northwestern University where he holds the titles of Robert R. McCormick Institute Professor and Walter P. Murphy Professor of Chemical and Biological Engineering. He is also a professor of Management and Organizations at Kellogg School of Management. He was the co-founder and director of the Northwestern Institute on Complex Systems (NICO) and the author of the Kinematics of Mixing: Stretching, Chaos, and Transport (Cambridge University Press 1989) and The Nexus, Augmented Thinking for a Complex World, with Bruce Mau (MIT Press, 2022).

Location:

In person: Chambers Hall, 600 Foster Street, Lower Level
Remote option: https://northwestern.zoom.us/j/99053647199
Passcode: NICO25

About the Speaker Series:

Wednesdays@NICO is a vibrant weekly seminar series focusing broadly on the topics of complex systems, data science and network science. It brings together attendees ranging from graduate students to senior faculty who span all of the schools across Northwestern, from applied math to sociology to biology and every discipline in-between. Please visit: https://bit.ly/WedatNICO for information on future speakers.

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Speaker:

Blaise Agüera y Arcas, VP/Fellow, CTO of Technology & Society, Google

Title:

Symbiogenesis, Computational Parallelism, and Complexity in Evolution

Abstract:

Symbiogenesis-- the fusion of formerly independent self-replicating entities into a larger self-replicating entity-- is proposed as the driving force behind evolution's "arrow of time" toward ever-increasing complexity. We'll explore an Artificial Life system as a minimal motivating example, then discuss the implications for biological evolution beyond the "standard" accounts of Major Evolutionary Transitions and "intelligence explosions" in brainy species. Energetic and computational implications will also be addressed.

Speaker Bio:

Blaise Agüera y Arcas is a VP and Fellow at Google, where he is the CTO of Technology & Society and founder of Paradigms of Intelligence (Pi). Pi is an organization working on fundamental research in AI and related fields, especially the foundations of neural computing, active inference, sociality, evolution, and Artificial Life.

In 2008, Blaise was awarded MIT’s TR35 prize. During his tenure at Google, Blaise has innovated on-device machine learning for Android and Pixel; invented Federated Learning, an approach to decentralized model training that avoids sharing private data; and founded the Artists + Machine Intelligence program.

An External Professor at Santa Fe Institute and a frequent public speaker, Blaise has given multiple TED talks and keynoted NeurIPS. He has also authored numerous papers, essays, op-eds, and chapters, as well as two previous books, Who Are We Now? and Ubi Sunt. His most recent book, What Is Life?, is part 1 of the larger book What Is Intelligence?, forthcoming from Antikythera and MIT Press in September 2025.

Location:

In person: Chambers Hall, 600 Foster Street, Lower Level
Remote option: https://northwestern.zoom.us/j/98741396308
Passcode: NICO25

About the Speaker Series:

Wednesdays@NICO is a vibrant weekly seminar series focusing broadly on the topics of complex systems, data science and network science. It brings together attendees ranging from graduate students to senior faculty who span all of the schools across Northwestern, from applied math to sociology to biology and every discipline in-between. Please visit: https://bit.ly/WedatNICO for information on future speakers.

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