SCD events
Quarterly Meeting of OPTEC WG 1 on Dynamic and Embedded Optimization
12/01/2012
9:30 - 12:15
ESAT 00.62
Agenda
09:30 Introduction
09:45 Mattia Vallerio: "Towards enhanced weight selection for (N)MPC via multi-objective optimisation".
10:15 Coffee Break
10:45 Joel Andersson: "Dynamic optimization of a combined cycle power plant".
11:30 Discussion
12:15 End
K.U. Leuven Seminars on Optimization in Engineering - Mélodie Mouffe
12/01/2012
16:00 - 17:00
ESAT 00.62
Mélodie Mouffe
Derivative-free optimization is a growing field of optimization, in particular because of the interest of industry where there are many applications with no gradient information available. After an introduction to model-based derivative-free optimization, the challenges of the bound-constrained case will be detailed. Finally, the steps towards a globally convergent bound-constrained algorithm will be presented.
slides
COSIC seminar - CANAuth - A Simple, Backward Compatible Broadcast Authentication Protocol for CAN bus - Anthony Van Herrewege (K.U. Leuven)
13/01/2012
14:00 - 15:00
ESAT 00.62
In this paper, we investigate the problems associated with implementing a backward compatible message authentication protocol on the CAN bus. We show which constraints such a protocol has to meet and why this eliminates, to the best of our knowledge, all the authentication protocols published so far.
Furthermore, we present a message authentication protocol, CANAuth, that meets all of the requirements set forth and does not violate any constraint of the CAN bus.
WG3 Seminar - Kris De Brabanter
16/01/2012
10:00 - 11:00
CIT 91.45
Presentation of Special Interest Group on "Mathematical Statistics in
Optimization" by Kris De Brabanter
Theme: How to detect correlation?
SISTA Seminar - Newcomers introduction
23/01/2012
14:00
ESAT 00.62
COSIC seminar - On the Right Track? Technical Policy Issues in Location Privacy - Tara Whalen (Office of the Privacy Commissioner of Canada)
23/01/2012
14:30 - 15:30
ESAT 01.60
Speaker Bio:
Tara Whalen joined the Office of the Privacy Commissioner of Canada (OPC) in 2009, where she works as an IT Research Analyst. Prior to joining the OPC, she conducted post-doctoral research in computer security at Carleton University, where she is now an adjunct research professor. Tara has over 15 years of experience in the information security and privacy fields, including roles in research labs, academia, federal government institutions, and the private sector. As an IT Research Analyst, Tara investigates a wide variety of issues. Currently, her focus is on the technical aspects of privacy, including app privacy, confidentiality of wireless communications, location privacy, lawful intercept (wiretapping), surveillance, social network privacy, and human factor issues.
K.U. Leuven Seminars on Optimization in Engineering - WG2 SIGs
24/01/2012
14:00 - 15:00
ESAT 00.62
Presentation of OPTEC-WG2 related special interest groups:
14:00 Mathematical Statistics in Optimization (De Brabanter J., De Brabanter K.)
14:30 Tensors (De Lathauwer L., Van Barel M.)
Recent advances in applied model predictive control - Alberto Bemporad
27/01/2012
13:30 - 15:30
FMTC, Celestijnenlaan 300D, 3001 Heverlee
Alberto Bemporad,
Professor of Control Systems at the IMT Institute for Advanced Studies Lucca, Italy
This talk is part of a workshop of the Lecopro project of IWT,
http://www.lecopro.org/midterm_workshop.html
The talk is particularly recommended to OPTEC members in WG1.
Please confirm your presence by sending an e-mail to info@fmtc.be.
K.U. Leuven Seminars on Optimization in Engineering - Andreas Potschka
31/01/2012
16:00 - 17:00
ESAT 00.62
Andreas Potschka
Interdisciplinary Center for Scientific Computing (IWR)Heidelberg University
Optimization problems with time-periodic parabolic PDE constraints arise in important application areas, e.g., in chemical engineering. The resulting nonlinear dynamical optimization problems are difficult, especially because they feature free initial values. We present a novel direct numerical optimization method based on inexact Sequential Quadratic Programming (SQP) with a two-grid Newton-Picard preconditioned Linear Iterative Splitting Approach (LISA) for the quadratic subproblems (QPs). The method features fast linear convergence that is independent of the degrees of freedom for the fine spatial discretization grid. We demonstrate how the arising large-scale QPs can be solved efficiently via intelligent structure exploitation. Moreover, we address issues of affine-invariant globalization of convergence and discuss local convergence of LISA-SQP in the framework of Bock's kappa-Theory. We present how novel a-posteriori kappa-estimators can be used to control the local rate of convergence by adaptively choosing the coarse grid from a given hierarchy of grid levels. Finally, we illustrate the performance of the method by numerical results for three application problems ranging from an academic model problem to a real-world periodic adsorption process.
OPTEC MANET Workshop on Tensors and Large Scale Optimization
7/02/2012
14:00 - 18:00
ESAT 00.62
This internal workshop brings together OPTEC professors, postdocs, and a few PhD students that are interested in Tensors and in Large Scale Optimization Algorithms. Each of the present professors gives a 10 minute statement on large scale optimization problems and algorithms in his/her group.
The workshop is related to OPTEC's Special Interest Groups on "Tensors and Optimization" (coordinated by Lieven De Lathauwer) and "Distributed and Parallel Methods for Optimization" (coordinated by Toon van Waterschoot), as well as to the GOA project MANET. The workshop will reserve 50% of its time for discussions. Aim is to find synergies between the groups.
Program so far:
12:00 Joint Alma lunch for all who like to join
14:00 Start and introduction
14:10 Lieven De Lathauwer: Tensor Optimization Problems
14:20 Discussion
14:30 Johan Suykens: Large Scale Optimization in Machine Learning
14:40 Discussion
14:50 Moritz Diehl: Distributed Optimization Algorithms
15:00 Discussion
15:10 Toon van Waterschoot: Distributed Optimization Problems in Signal Processing
15:20 Discussion
15:30 Coffee break
16:00 Sabine Van Huffel: Tensor Optimization in Biomedical Applications
16:10 Discussion
16:20 Alexander Bertrand: Consensus-based Distributed Total Least Squares Estimation in Ad-hoc Networks
16:35 Laurent Sorber: Efficient Algorithms for Tensor Decompositions
16:50 Sam Weckx: Distributed Optimization in Smart Grid Applications
17:05 Marco Signoretto: Learning Tensor-based Models with Structure-inducing Penalties
17:20 future planning of cooperations and wrap up
18:00 end
Workshop Organizers: Lieven De Lathauwer, Toon van Waterschoot, Moritz Diehl
K.U. Leuven Seminars on Optimization in Engineering - Tobias Lindstrøm Jensen
7/02/2012
11:00 - 12:00
ESAT 00.62
Tobias Lindstrøm Jensen
Deparment of Electronic Systems at Aalborg University
The l1-regularized least-squares problem have received broad attention the last couple of years. The result is numerous approaches for reliable large-scale solvers which combines both well known methods and recently developed techniques for efficient computations. We define a class of algorithms which is not as restrictive as classic black-box algorithms and hence includes most of the recently proposed methods. We show how to obtain a worst-case convergence rate for all these methods.
COSIC seminar - Moving PUFs out of the lab - Patrick Schaumont (Virginia Tech)
8/02/2012
14:30 - 15:30
ESAT 00.62
A key challenge is quality-control of a PUF design. A PUF is not just a circuit. Instead, it's a probabilistic device, in the same realm as true random number generators and random oracles. A PUF designer is interested in the behavior of an entire population of unique chips, not just in the behavior of a single chip. This requires quality metrics, a way to distinguish good designs from bad designs. The talk will show how we defined PUF quality metrics by measuring and analyzing a large amount of Field Programmable Gate Array chips.
A second aspect of quality-control is the behavior of degraded, old PUFs. The aging process causes irreversible changes in a PUF which affect its performance and reliability as a device-unique function. The talk demonstrates of we experimentally evaluated and quantified the effect of PUF aging.
We will conclude by discussing some of the present and future application domains for PUFs, and demonstrate our efforts in this area.
Speaker Bio:
Patrick Schaumont is Associate Professor in the Bradley Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering at Virginia Tech. He obtained the PhD degree in Electrical Engineering from UCLA in 2004, and the MS degree in Computer Science from Ghent University, Belgium in 1990. His research interests are in design methods and design of secure embedded systems, resource-constrained devices that require trustworthy behavior. His research is supported through NSF and NIST. He has served on the TPC of international conferences in this field including CHES, DATE, DAC, IEEE HOST. He has served as guest editor for IEEE D&T, ACM TRETS, IEEE TCAD, and he is serving as associate editor for the Journal of Cryptographic Engineering. He wrote a textbook on hardware-software codesign, is listed as inventor on 4 patents, and he co-authored over 100 peer-reviewed articles.
Simon Stevin Lecture - John Betts
8/02/2012
16:00 - 17:30
Dept. of Computer Science, Celestijnenlaan 200A, 00.225
22nd Simon Stevin Lecture on Optimization in Engineering
"Algorithmic Choices When Solving an Optimal Control Problem"
John Betts
poster,flyer
Abstract
When designing a computational algorithm for solving an optimal control problem
there are often many alternatives. Is it better to use an indirect or direct
formulation? Is an interior point algorithm better than a sequential quadratic
programming approach? This talk will discuss the many choices that must be made
when constructing an algorithm that is robust, efficient, and accurate.
Biographical Information
John T. Betts received a B.A. degree from Grinnell College in 1965 with a major in physics and minor in mathematics. He attended graduate school at Purdue University and in 1967 received an M.S. in Astronautics with a major in orbit mechanics. He received a Ph.D. in aeronautical engineering from Purdue in 1970, specializing in optimal control theory. He joined The Aerospace Corporation in 1970 as a Member of the Technical Staff, and from 1977-1987 was manager of the Optimization Techniques Section of the Performance Analysis Department. He joined the Boeing Company, serving as manager of the Operations Research Group of Boeing Computer Services from 1987-1989. He served as a Technical Fellow in the Mathematics and Computing Technology Division, until his retirement in 2009, during which time he provided technical support to all areas of the Boeing Co. Dr. Betts is a member of AIAA and SIAM with active research in nonlinear programming and optimal control theory. In 2004, he was granted an "outstanding aerospace engineer award" by Purdue University and in 2011 was named a SIAM fellow. He has over 50 technical publications, and is the author of two books on optimal control methods.
About the Lecture Series:
The "Simon Stevin Lecture Series on Optimization in Engineering" is set up in order to promote optimization in engineering. For this aim, every quarter of the year an outstanding international scholar is invited to report on latest progress in the development of optimization algorithms and their applications in engineering.
Simon Stevin (1548-1620) was a Flemish mathematician and engineer. Among other, he helped to advance the use of decimal fractions, was the first to explain the tides by the attraction of the moon, and discovered the hydrostatic paradox. He made numerous inventions, among them a wind propelled carriage with sails, the "land yacht", which once impressed Prince Maurice of Orange as it moved faster than horses, in around 1600 on the beach between Scheveningen and Petten. Simon Stevin was fond of promoting the use of science in daily life and in craftmanship, and translated various mathematical terms into dutch. Among other, he introduced the dutch word for mathematics, "wiskunde".
OPTEC short course - John Betts
8/02/2012
- 9/02/2012
9:00 - 12:00
Auditorium of the Arenberg Castle 01.07
John Betts
Abstract:
Part 1: Nonlinear Programming (Feb 8, 9-12)
An overview of the methods for solving a finite dimensional
optimization problem with constraints will be presented. A brief review of
fundamentals suitable for small problems will be given. Then a description of
what changes when the problem becomes "large" and the underlying
matrices are "sparse". Details of a large sparse sequential quadratic
programming (SQP) method and a large sparse primal-dual interior point
(barrier) algorithm will then be presented.
Part 2: Optimal Control (Feb 9, 9-12)
Abstract: Methods for "transcription" or
conversion of a problem formulated in terms of differential and/or
differential-algebraic equations will be described. A brief review of methods
for numerical solution of dynamic systems, will be followed by a discussion of
the optimal control problem. Various alternatives for discretization will be
described, as well as a technique for mesh refinement. Extensions of the
paradigm to parameter estimation or "inverse problems" will also be
covered.
SISTA Seminar - Kris De Brabanter
9/02/2012
14:00
ESAT 00.62
Kris De Brabanter (K.U. Leuven, ESAT-SCD)
In this talk we illustrate some properties of a large class of modeling techniques called linear smoothers. Examples of linear smoothers include Nadaraya-Watson kernel regression, local polynomial regression, LS-SVM, splines, wavelets, orthogonal series,... In case of linear smoothers it is relatively easy to study basic properties such as bias, variance and mean squared error. As a direct consequence confidence and prediction intervals can be easily constructed for regression and classification. In a second part of this talk we will focus the attention on recent asymptotic results regarding this class of smoothers. We develop conditions for asymptotic normality and asymptotic negligibility of linear smoothers. Further, we give uniform and local Berry-Esseen bounds for linear smoothers and establish rates of convergence for the kernel regression estimator. Finally, we establish exponential bounds on the tail distribution and present a variant of the weak and strong law of large numbers for linear smoothers.
COSIC seminar - Huff Curves and Applications to Cryptography - Marc Joye (Technicolor)
9/02/2012
11:00 - 12:00
ESAT 00.62
(Joint work with Julien Devigne, Mehdi Tibouchi, and Damien Vergnaud)
K.U. Leuven Seminars on Optimization in Engineering – John Betts
9/02/2012
15:00 - 16:00
Dept. of Computer Science, Celestijnenlaan 200A, 00.225
"Optimal Control of Partial Differential Equations with
Delay "
John Betts
Abstract
The direct transcription method has proven valuable for solving optimal control problems described by ordinary differential equations. This presentation describes how the method can be extended to partial differential equations with delayed arguments. In addition to presenting results for this new class of applications, a number of generic algorithm performance issues are discussed.
K.U. Leuven Seminars on Optimization in Engineering – John Betts
9/02/2012
16:00 - 17:00
Dept. of Computer Science, Celestijnenlaan 200A, 00.225
"Discretize Then Optimize"
John Betts
Abstract
Computational techniques for solving optimal control
problems typically require combining a discretization technique with an
optimization method. One possibility is to "Discretize Then
Optimize", that is first discretize the differential equations and then
apply an optimization algorithm to solve the resulting finite dimensional
problem. Conversely one can "Optimize Then Discretize", that is write
the continuous optimality conditions first and then discretize them. The goal
of this paper is to compare the two alternatives and assess the relative merits.
COSIC seminar - Techniques for Estimating the Data Complexity of Statistical Cryptanalyses: a Brief Overview - Benoît Gérard (UCL)
10/02/2012
11:00 - 12:00
ESAT 00.62
Ph.D. course on convex optimization
15/02/2012
- 24/05/2012
10:30 - 12:30
ESAT
Goele Pipeleers and Quoc Tran Dinh
Course Summary:
This course concentrates on recognizing and solving convex optimization problems that arise in engineering, and covers the following topics:
- Convex sets, functions, and optimization problems.
- Optimality conditions, duality theory, theorems of alternative, and applications.
- Interior-point methods.
- Applications to signal processing, control, digital and analog circuit design, computational geometry, statistics, and mechanical engineering.
More info can be found in the attached pdf file or on the following link.
K.U. Leuven Seminars on Optimization in Engineering - Martin Mönnigmann
15/02/2012
16:30 - 17:30
ESAT 00.62
M. Mönnigmann
Automatic Control and Systems Theory, Ruhr-Universität Bochum, Germany
Model predictive control (MPC) is an established method for the control of constrained multivariable systems. New theoretical insights, improved and tailored optimization algorithms, and the ever growing performance of hardware have helped MPC advance to higher and higher sampling frequencies. For linear systems and sampling times below a millisecond, explicit MPC (EMPC) methods are an interesting alternative. In EMPC it is no longer necessary to solve a receding horizon optimal control problem online. Instead, an analytical expression for the MPC control law can be found by solving a parametric optimization problem offline. EMPC can, however, still only be applied to very simple problems with short horizons for two reasons: The parametric optimization problem is more complex than its non-parametric receding horizon counterpart. Secondly, the expression for the explicit control law u(x) may grow so large that a naive online evaluation of u(x) takes as much time as solving the receding horizon optimal control problem online. The talk summarizes recent progress with respect to both obstacles, the offline calculation of explicit control laws, and their fast online evaluation. Specifically, a simple new approaches to the fast evaluation of EMPC control laws results in online evaluation times on the order of 10ns. This approach does not require a CPU, but it can be implemented on low-cost, compact hardware with low power consumption such as programmable gate arrays. Progress in the fast evaluation of EMPC control laws has triggered the development of new approaches to solving the offline optimization problem. To this end, a new approach is suggested that avoids the state space exploration common to most existing methods.
Workshop and Franqui Lecture of Yurii Nesterov
17/02/2012
9:30 - 17:00
Liège
February, 17 2012
9:30-17:00, Salle académique, Liège
9:30 - 12:30:
• Etienne de Klerk (Tilburg University)
• Alexandre d'Aspremont (École Polytechnique, Paris)
• Michel Baes (ETH Zürich)
15:00
Yurii Nesterov: Algorithmic Challenges in Optimization
Mathematical Point of View
Register at:
http://www.montefiore.ulg.ac.be/~francqui/
Franqui main course by Y. Nesterov:
February, 24 2012 - March, 23 2012, 10:30 - 12:30
Institut Montefiore, building B28, room R7
• 24/02: Intrinsic complexity of Black-Box Optimization
• 02/03: Looking into the Black Box (Structural Optimization)
• 09/03: Huge-scale optimization problems
• 16/03: Nonlinear analysis of combinatorial problems
• 23/03: Algorithmic models of human behavior
COSIC seminar - Security implications in Kerberos by the introduction of smart cards - Nikos Mavrogiannopoulos (K.U.Leuven)
17/02/2012
17:00 - 18:00
ESAT 01.57
Mathematics of PDE constrained optimization
20/02/2012
- 29/02/2012
9:00 - 12:30
ESAT
Lecturer : Michael Hinze (Department of Mathematics, University of Hamburg)
Dates : February 20, 22, 24, 27, 28, 29, 2012
Schedule : 9:00 - 12:30
The courses will take place at at K.U.Leuven
ESAT, Kasteelpark Arenberg 10
B-3001 Heverlee (Leuven)
room 00.62 except on February 20 : room ESAT 02.58
Web : http://sites.uclouvain.be/socn/Courses/Courses2011-3
SISTA Seminar - Stefan Schneider
27/02/2012
14:00 - 15:00
ESAT 00.62
"Neurocognitive enhancement through exercise. Current approaches and applications"
Stefan Schneider (German Sport University Cologne).
The definition for health raised by the World Health Organization (WHO) includes physical and mental health. Today exercise science holds extensive knowledge about the adaptation of peripheral physiological systems to exercise (e.g. the hormonal, cardiovascular and musculoskeletal system).
Although the impact of exercise on mental fitness, cognitive performance and overall well-being has been extensively described in the recent decade, comparatively little is know about the underlying neurophysiological processes. This is mainly due to missing imaging possibilities as standardized imaging procedures, as positron emission tomography (PET) or functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) are hardly applicable to health-orientated exercise settings. Nevertheless a deeper insight in the underlying neurophysiological parameters of exercise and their implications for neurocognition and emotional well-being are of utterly importance to a holistic understanding on how exercise promotes health.
The aim of this lecture is three folded: (1) to give an overview of current theories concerning the relationship between exercise and neuro-cognitive function, (2) to display methodological approaches in the area of exercise neuroscience and (3) to verify this theoretical background with two current studies from extreme environments: Space and school.Opinno Teaching Modules - Module 2: The importance of innovation and entrepreneurship in the biotech sector
7/03/2012
Antwerp
OPINNO – open innovation for successful entrepreneurship – aims to bridge the gap between life sciences education and industry, and stimulate entrepreneurship among students. OPINNO organizes teaching modules with life sciences entrepreneurs that share their industry experience with students.
More info? www.opinno.be
Quarterly Meeting of OPTEC WG 3
15/03/2012
9:00 - 11:00
CIT 91.45
Preliminary agenda:
- Presentation by Joost Lauwers on his research.
- ...
Quarterly Meeting of OPTEC WG 1 on Dynamic and Embedded Optimization
16/05/2012
9:30 - 12:15
ESAT 00.62
"Quarterly Meeting of OPTEC Working Group 1 on Dynamic
and Embedded Optimization"
Agenda
09:30 Introduction
10:15 Coffee Break
10:45 Julia Sternberg
11:30 Discussion
12:15 End
Opinno Teaching Modules - Module 3: Listen to young Biotech entrepreneurs
24/05/2012
Ghent
Will take place during the convention 'Knowledge for Growth'.
OPINNO – open innovation for successful entrepreneurship – aims to bridge the gap between life sciences education and industry, and stimulate entrepreneurship among students. OPINNO organizes teaching modules with life sciences entrepreneurs that share their industry experience with students.
More info? www.opinno.be
OPTEC Workshop on Moving Horizon Estimation and System Identification
29/08/2012
9:00 - 17:00
Leuven
OPTEC Workshop on Moving Horizon Estimation
and System Identification
August 29-30, 2012
Leuven, Belgium
The aim of this two day workshop is to bring together researchers from the fields of optimization based estimation and system identification. It spans from theory to applications, and topics of interest include:
- moving horizon estimation formulations
- linear and nonlinear models
- constrained estimation and identification
- use of L1 vs L2 vs Huber penalties
- robust estimation and regularization
- fault and outlier detection
- Kalman smoothing and filtering
- efficient numerical methods
- sparsity exploiting linear algebra
- single shooting vs. multiple shooting vs. collocation
- embedded optimization and code generation
- applications in aerospace, process systems, mechatronics, robotics
- open source and commercial software tools
For more info http://www.kuleuven.be/optec/mheworkshop2012
