[AI Seminar Series] REMINDER: Seminar by Prof. Francesco Bullo (UC Santa Barbara), Tomorrow THURSDAY Feb.26th, 11am-12pm, WCH 205-206

[Vassilis Tsotras]

Reminder about the AI seminar tomorrow in WCH 205-206 at 11am.
V. Tsotras

--------------------------

On Sun, Feb 22, 2026 at 11:36 AM Vassilis Tsotras <vassilis.tsotras at ucr.edu>
wrote:

> The next AI Seminar will be on THURSDAY February 26th, 11am-12pm at the
> Winston Chung Hall (WCH) 205-206.
> PLEASE NOTE the change in day, time and place (just for this seminar).
>
> *** Pizza and refreshments will be provided ****
>
> To keep track of the number of attendees, please *register* at:
> https://www.eventbrite.com/e/ai-seminar-series-tickets-1983726471276
>
> The talk will be given by *Prof. Francesco Bullo*, Distinguished
> Professor, Department of Mechanical Engineering, UC Santa Barbara
>
> This talk is in collaboration with the Department of Mechanical Engineering
>
> TITLE: Biologically Plausible Computing: Navigating Energy Landscapes
>
> ABSTRACT:
> Deep learning models, despite their power, lag behind the biological brain
> in interpretability, energy efficiency, and physical plausibility. This
> presentation explores the mathematical design principles of biological
> neural circuits -- building upon the classic concept that neural activity
> is fundamentally driven by cost minimization and energy landscapes.
>
> We demonstrate a direct mathematical equivalence between the firing
> dynamics of recurrent neural networks and "proximal gradient descent, "a
> novel dynamical system used to solve optimization problems. This framework
> provides a top-down explanation for how biological networks process
> information, illustrated through examples such as sparse signal
> reconstruction in the visual cortex and decision-making via the free energy
> principle. Finally, we extend these concepts to complex
> excitatory-inhibitory circuits, modeling neurons as players in a
> mathematical game. We conclude by briefly discussing how these biological
> insights can inspire next-generation analog and neuromorphic computing.
>
>
> Bio:
> Francesco Bullo is a Distinguished Professor and Mosher Chair of
> Mechanical Engineering at the University of California, Santa Barbara. He
> was previously with the University of Padova (Laurea degree, Italy), the
> California Institute of Technology (Ph.D. degree), and the University of
> Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. His research interests include contraction
> theory, mathematical neuroscience, and neural networks. He is the author or
> coauthor of Geometric Control of Mechanical Systems (Springer, 2004),
> Distributed Control of Robotic Networks (Princeton, 2009), Lectures on
> Network Systems (KDP, 2024), and Contraction Theory for Dynamical Systems
> (KDP, 2026). He served as IEEE CSS President and SIAG CST Chair. He is a
> Fellow of ASME, IEEE, IFAC, NetSci, and SIAM.
>
> ------------------------------------
> Sponsored by the RAISE at UCR Institute, the AI Seminar Series presents
> speakers working on cutting edge Foundational AI or applying AI in their
> research. The goal of these seminars is to inform the UCR community about
> current trends in AI research and promote collaborations between faculty
> in this emerging field. These seminars are open to interested faculty and
> graduate/undergraduate students. Please forward this email to other
> colleagues or students in your lab that may be interested. After the
> seminar a discussion will follow for questions, open problems, ideas for
> possible collaborations etc.
>
> Sincerely,
> Vassilis Tsotras
> Professor, CSE Department
> co-Director, RAISE at UCR Institute
>
> Amit Roy-Chowdhury
> Professor, ECE Department
> co-Director, RAISE at UCR Institute
>
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