SONIC Speaker Series Presents: Charles Macal

SONIC Lab is proud to welcome Charles Macal who will present a talk on Tuesday, February 23rd, 2016 at 10:00 AM in Frances Searle Building, Room 1-483. All are welcome to attend. To schedule a one-on-one meeting with Dr. Chau please schedule a time HERE. Please contact Meghan McCarter with any questions or comments.

31212D Charles M. Macal, (GSS) Director, Center for Complex Adaptive Agent Sys

Simulating Chicago (and Everyone in It)

Abstract

chiSIM, the Chicago Social Interaction Model, is an agent-based model of people and places in Chicago along with the daily activities in which residents engage. To support planning and policy making, chiSIM models the behaviors and social interactions of all Chicago residents, represented in the model at the individual level. Places consist of geo-located parcels in the city, such as households, schools, workplaces, hospitals, and general quarters, such as nursing homes, dormitories, jails, etc. During the course of a simulated day, agents move from place to place, hour by hour, engaging in social activities and interactions with co-located agents. Examples of applications for this model include forecasting socially mediated processes, such as the spread of infectious diseases and the adoption of new technologies; measuring the potential effectiveness of public health and social programs and interventions; and assessing population-wide energy usage.

Biography 

Charles Macal, PhD, PE, is Senior Systems Engineer, Argonne Distinguished Fellow, and Group Leader of the Social & Behavioral Systems Group within the Global Security Sciences Division of Argonne National Laboratory. Dr. Macal is recognized globally as a leader in the field of agent-based modeling and simulation and has led interdisciplinary research teams in developing innovative computer simulation models in application areas including global and regional energy markets, critical materials, electric power, healthcare and infectious diseases, environment and sustainability, and technology adoption. Dr. Macal holds Senior Fellow appointments at the Computation Institute (CI) of the University of Chicago and the Northwestern-Argonne Institute for Science and Engineering (NAISE). He received a Ph.D. in Industrial Engineering & Management Sciences from Northwestern University and holds an M.S. in Industrial Engineering and a B.S. in Engineering Sciences from Purdue University.