Message of the Coordinator

On November 29, we will have the last study day of our current IAP network. It is organized by the two KUL teams and will be chaired by Dirk Roose and Joos Vandewalle. The preliminary programme can be found here.

On this special day we hope also that some of the Belspo representatives will be there. With the renewal of our IAP support pending, I am therefore urging you all to participate in this meeting in order to stress the coherence of our network.

Let me also draw your attention to the graduate level course offerings of our network : the next SOCN graduate school course of Michiels and Niculescu and the summer school organized by the VUB team. You will find more details about both these events in this newsletter.

Paul Van Dooren
DYSCO coordinator

Staff Movements and Visitors

UGent-SYSTeMS
  • Alain Sarlette has moved from U.Liège (systmod) to join the SYSTeMS group as a lecturer since 1 October 2011. His research considers multi-agent and quantum systems, with a broad interest for problems involving geometric tools. His teaching focuses on mechatronics and robotics.
  • Jasper De Bock, doctoral student, started his mandate at SYSTeMS research group the first of october 2011 under guidance of his promotor Gert de Cooman. He will be working on imprecise probabilities, focussing on algorithms for reasoning in credal trees The aim is to develop theory and efficient algorithms for inferences in credal trees, with emphasis on imprecise hidden Markov models (iHMM). These represent a system's uncertain evolution through states, where we can only observe the states imperfectly, through uncertain outputs. Some of the problems that will be addressed are learning an iHMM model from sequences of observations, dealing with missing data and extending results to general credal trees.
VUB-ELEC
  • Jan Goos, PhD student, promotor: Rik Pintelon

Visitors :

  • Amjad Hisham Abu-Rmileh, Universitat de Girona, Spain (17/10/2011 – 23/12/2011 and 4/1/2012 – 30/1/2012)
  • Sandor Kolumban, Budapest University of Technology, Hungary (06/11/2011 – 06/12/2011)
  • Hin Kwan Wong, University of Warwick, UK (7/11/2011 – 23/12/2011)
  • Ivan Markowsky, University of Southampton (8/11/2011 – 11/11/2011)
KUL 2
  • The KUL2 team welcomes Albert-Jan Yzelman and Pawan Kumar (postdocs, working with D.Roose and K.Meerbergen).
  • Elias Jarlebring has left the team.

Seminars

UCL
  • November 7, 2011 - 14:00 - Euler seminar room
    Eric KOLACZYK (Boston university), Multi-Attribute Networks and the Impact of Partial Information on Inference and Characterization.
  • November 8, 2011 - 14:00 - Euler seminar room
    Alexandre MAUROY (Université de Liège), Dichotomic collective behaviors in networks of pulse-coupled oscillators.
  • November 15, 2011 - 14:00 - Euler seminar room
    Vincent BLONDEL (UCL), Should Belgium be split? A perspective from complex networks, mobile phone data and privacy.
  • November 22, 2011 - 14:00 - Euler seminar room
    Brian D.O. ANDERSON (Australian National University), Morse Theory and Formation Control.
  • December 2, 2011 - 11:00 - Euler seminar room
    Ernesto ESTRADA (University of Strathclyde), Communicability in complex networks.
  • December 6, 2011 - 14:00 - Euler seminar room
    Alessandro D'INNOCENZO (University of L'Aquila), Modeling, analysis and design of multi-hop control networks.
KUL 1
  • November 29, 2011 - 9:00 - Auditorium of the Arenberg Castle, Kasteelpark Arenberg 1, 3001 Heverlee
    Symposium on Magnetic Resonance Spectroscopy and public PhD defenses of Maria Isabel Osorio Garcia and Anca Croitor Sava.
    More information here : http://www.esat.kuleuven.be/scd/eventdocs/ev_1434.pdf
ULg-SYST

Systmod weekly seminars normally take place on each Friday, 11am. They are announced on this webpage.

  • Friday 4/11/2011 - 11:00 am - Room R7, Montefiore Institute (B28) : Georgi Nalbantov, Maastricht University, Data integration based on similarity matrices.
  • Friday 18/11/2011 - 11:00 am - Room R7, Montefiore Institute (B28) : Christophe Geuzaine, ULg, Partial Differential Equations and Meshing.
  • Friday 25/11/2011 - 11:00 am - Room R7, Montefiore Institute (B28) : Wolfgang Eberle, Cell Interfacing Technology, IMEC, Microsystem- and nanotechnology for brain implants and cellular pharmacology.

Theses defenses

KUL 1
  • Peter Van Erdeghem, Model-based optimization of jacketed tubular reactors for the production of Low Density Polyethylene. Promoters : Prof Jan Van Impe and Dr. Filip Logist. Date : November 17th, 2011, 17:00. Location : Justius Lipsiuszaal (Blijde-Inkomststraat 21, 3000 Leuven).
  • Bart Peeters, Effect of activated sludge composition on its dewaterability and sticky phase. Promoters : Ilse Smets, Raf De Wil, Jan Van Impe. Date : November 21st, 2011, 17:30. Location: Arenberg Castle Auditorium (Kasteelpark Arenberg 1, 3001 Heverlee).

Papers produced by the IAP Network

UCL

Cirilli L., de Timary P., Lefèvre P., Missal M., Individual differences in impulsivity predict anticipatory eye movements, PLos ONE, in press, 2011.

Nicolas Gillis, François Glineur, Low-Rank Matrix Approximation with Weights or Missing Data is NP-hard, accepted in Siam Journal on Matrix Analysis and Applications.

Nicolas Gillis, François Glineur, Accelerated Multiplicative Updates and Hierarchical ALS Algorithms for Nonnegative Matrix Factorization, accepted in Neural Computation.

Nicolas Gillis, François Glineur, A Multilevel Approach for Nonnegative Matrix Factorization, accepted in Journal of Computational and Applied Mathematics.

Paschalis Tsiaflakis, François Glineur, A Novel Class of Iterative Approximation Methods for DSL Spectrum Optimization, submitted for presentation at the IEEE International Conference on Communications (ICC 2012), June 10/15, 2012, Ottawa, Canada.

Emile Simon, Optimal static output feedback design through direct search, 50th IEEE Conference on Decision and Control and European Control Conference, Orlando, USA, December 12-15, 2011.

P.-A. Absil, Jérôme Malick, Projection-like retractions on matrix manifolds, SIAM Journal on Optimization, 2011, in press.

KUL 1

C. Verhelst, F. Logist, J. Van Impe and L. Helsen, Study of the optimal control problem formulation for air-to-water heat pump systems, Energy and Buildings (accepted), 2011.

J. Bonilla, F. Logist, J. Degreve, B. De Moor and J. Van Impe, A reduced order rate based model for distillation in packed columns: dynamic simulation and the differentiation index problem, Chemical Engineering Science (accepted for publication), 2011.

E. Van Derlinden and J. F. Van Impe, Impact of experiment design on the modeling of microbial kinetics as a function of temperature: identification of the growth/inactivation interface, Journal of Food Engineering 108 (1): 201-210, 2012.

Astrid M. Cappuyns, Linde J. Debor, Ilse Y. Smets, Dirk Springael, Leen Bastiaens and Jan F. Van Impe, Modelling methyl tertiary butyl ether and tertiary butyl alcohol biodegradation by a bacterial consortium, Mathematical and Computer Modelling of Dynamical Systems, 17 (5): 491-500, 2011.

A. Vermeulen, A.M. Cappuyns, J. Beckers, A. De Loy-Hendrickx, H. Paelinck, M. Uyttendaele, J.F. Van Impe and F. Devlieghere, Predictive models to support companies of processed meat in their compliance with EU regulation 2073/2005, In: E. Cummins, J.M. Frias and V.P. Valdramidis (Eds.), Proceedings of the 7th International Conference on Predictive Modelling of Food Quality and Safety, Dublin (Ireland), September 12-15, 2011, pp. 118-121.

A.M. Cappuyns, A. Vermeulen, H. Paelinck, F. Devlieghere and J.F. Van Impe, Accurate assessment of microbial safety in food industry: adapting predictive models for specific food products, In: E. Cummins, J.M. Frias and V.P. Valdramidis (Eds.), Proceedings of the 7th International Conference on Predictive Modelling of Food Quality and Safety, Dublin (Ireland), September 12-15, 2011, pp. 363-366.

E. Van Derlinden, Brecht Herckens, and J.F. Van Impe, Performance evaluation of models describing the growth rate as a function of temperature: focus on the suboptimal temperature range, In: E. Cummins, J.M. Frias and V.P. Valdramidis (Eds.), Proceedings of the 7th International Conference on Predictive Modelling of Food Quality and Safety, Dublin (Ireland), September 12-15, 2011, pp. 304-307.

Maria Baka, Eva Van Derlinden, Kathleen Boons, Jan F. Van Impe, On the evaluation of the gamma hypothesis: the effect of pH on the cardinal temperatures, In: E. Cummins, J.M. Frias and V.P. Valdramidis (Eds.), Proceedings of 7th International Conference of Predictive Modelling of Food Quality and Safety, Dublin (Ireland), September 12-15, 2011, pp. 25-28.

D. Vercammen, E. Van Derlinden and J.F. Van Impe, Flux balance analysis of E. coli K12 growth dynamics: a balance between model complexity and flux measurements, In: E. Cummins, J.M. Frias and V.P. Valdramidis (Eds.), Proceedings of the 7th International Conference on Predictive Modelling of Food Quality and Safety, Dublin (Ireland), September 12-15, 2011, pp. 247-250.

K. Boons, E. Van Derlinden, L. Mertens, J.F. Van Impe, Assessing the effect of a gelified environment on the heterogeneous heat response of E. coli K12 at temperatures close to Tmax, In: E. Cummins, J.M. Frias and V.P. Valdramidis (Eds.), Proceedings of the 7th international conference on predictive modelling of food quality and safety, Dublin (Ireland), September 12-15, 2011, pp. 280-283.

A. Vermeulen, A. Cappuyns, J. Beckers, A. De Loy-Hendrickx, H. Paelinck, M. Uyttendaele, J. Van Impe & F. Devlieghere, The use of predictive models for Listeria monocytogenes in the meat industry to support compliance with EU regulation 2073/2005 for Ready-to-eat products, Proceedings of the 57th International Congress of Meat Science and Technology (ICOMST), Ghent, 7-12 August 2011, p. 234.

R. Van den Broeck, P. Krzeminski, J. Van Dierdonck, G. Gins, M. Lousada-Ferreira, J.F.M. Van Impe, J.H.J.M van der Graaf, I.Y. Smets and J.B. van Lier, Activated Sludge Filterability Versus Sludge Characteristics in Membrane Bioreactors, In: J. Pinnekamp, M. Wessling and T. Melin (Eds.), Proceedings of the 6th IWA Specialist Conference on Membrane Technology for Water and Wastewater Treatment, Aachen (Germany), October 4-7, 2011, pp. 31-32.

Defraene B., Ngo K., van Waterschoot T., Diehl M., Moonen M., A psychoacoustically motivated speech distortion weighted multi-channel Wiener filter for noise reduction, Internal Report 11-172, ESAT-SISTA, K.U.Leuven (Leuven, Belgium), 2011.

Stegeman A., De Lathauwer L., Are Diverging CP Components Always Nearly Proportional?, Internal Report 11-174, ESAT-SISTA, K.U.Leuven (Leuven, Belgium), 2011.

Haverbeke N., Efficient numerical methods for moving horizon estimation, PhD thesis, Faculty of Engineering, K.U.Leuven (Leuven, Belgium), Sep. 2011, 264 p.

Gligorijevic I., De Vos M., Blok J.H., Mijovic B., van Dijk J.P., Van Huffel S., Automated way to obtain motor units' signatures and estimate their firing patterns during voluntary contractions using HD-sEMG, in Proc. of the 33rd Annual International Conference of the IEEE Engineering in Medicine and Biology Society (IEEE EMBS Boston), Boston, Massachusetts, Aug. 2011, pp. 4090-4093.

Widjaja D., Varon C., Caicedo Dorado A., Suykens J.A.K., Van Huffel S., Application of Kernel Principal Component Analysis for Single Lead ECG-Derived Respiration, Internal Report 11-183, ESAT-SISTA, K.U.Leuven (Leuven, Belgium), 2011.

Eykens H., Widjaja D., Vanderperren K., Taelman J., Braeken M.A.K.A., Otte R.A., Van den Bergh B.R.H., Van Huffel S., Phase-Rectified Signal Averaging for the Quantification of the Influence of Prenatal Anxiety on Heart Rate Variability of Babies, Internal Report 11-184, ESAT-SISTA, K.U.Leuven (Leuven, Belgium), 2011.

Langone R., Alzate C. and Suykens J. A. K., Kernel spectral clustering for community detection in complex networks, Internal Report 11-186, ESAT-SISTA, K.U.Leuven (Leuven, Belgium), 2011.

Mehrkahnoon S., Falck T., Suykens J.A.K., Parameter Estimation for Time Varying Dynamical Systems using Least Squares Support Vector Machines, Internal Report 11-187, ESAT-SISTA, K.U.Leuven (Leuven, Belgium), 2011.

Alzate C., Suykens J.A.K., Hierarchical Kernel Spectral Clustering, Internal Report 11-188, ESAT-SISTA, K.U.Leuven (Leuven, Belgium), 2011.

De Ridder F., Diehl M., Mulder G., Desmedt J., Van Bael J., An optimal control algorithm for borehole thermal energy storage systems, Energy and Buildings, vol. 43, 2011, pp. 2918-2925.

UGent-SYSTeMS

Jasper De Bock, Gert de Cooman, State sequence prediction in imprecise hidden Markov models, ISIPTA'11 – Proceedings of the Seventh International Symposium on Imprecise Probability: Theories and Applications, Innsbruck, Austria, 2011.

A.Dutta, R.De Keyser, Y.Zhong, B.Wyns, G.Pinte, J.Stoev, Robust predictive control of a wet-clutch using evolutionary algorithm optimized engagement profile, In 15th International Conference on System Theory, Control and Computing, Sinaia, Romania, 2011.

G.Pinte, J.Stoev, W.Symens, A.Dutta, Y.Zhong, B.Wyns, R.De Keyser, B.Depraetere, J.Swevers, M.Gagliolo, A.Nowe, Learning strategies for wet clutch control, In 15th International Conference on System Theory, Control and Computing, Sinaia, Romania, 2011.

VUB-ELEC

Mattias Thorsell, Kristoffer Andersson, Guillaume Pailloney, Yves Rolain, Extending the Best Linear Approximation to Characterize the Nonlinear Distortion in GaN HEMTs, IEEE Transactions on MTT: accepted for publication.

Kurt Barbé, Johan Schoukens and Rik Pintelon, The Use of Nonparametric Noise Models Extracted From Overlapping Subrecords for System Identification, IEEE Transactions on Signal Processing, Vol. 59, No. 10, October 2011, pp. 4635-4647.

Maite Bauwens, Henrik Ohlsson, Kurt Barbé, Veerle Beelaerts, Frank Dehairs, Johan Schoukens, On climate reconstruction using bivalves: Three methods to interpret the chemical signature of a shell, Computer Methods and Programs in Biomedicine, Vol. 104, No. 2, November 2011, pp. 104-111.

Charles Nader, Wendy Van Moer, Kurt Barbé, Niclas Björsell, Peter Händel and Zhiyang Zhao, Evolved Harmonic sampling: a tool to reduce the digital bandwidth requirement of RF receivers, RFMTC11, third biennial Conference on RF Measurement Technology for State of the Art Production and Design, Radio Center Gävle, Sweden, October 4-5, 2011.

Per Landin, Charles Nader, Wendy Van Moer, Niclas Björsell, Magnus Isaksson and Peter Händel, Overview of Synergetic OFDM Crest Factor Reduction and Digital Pre-Distortion for RF Pas, RFMTC11, third biennial Conference on RF Measurement Technology for State of the Art Production and Design, Radio Center Gävle, Sweden, October 4-5, 2011.

Kevin Voet, Wendy Van Moer, Niclas Björsell and Peter Händel, Nonlinear measurement instruments - A comparative study, RFMTC11, third biennial Conference on RF Measurement Technology for State of the Art Production and Design, Radio Center Gävle, Sweden, October 4-5, 2011.

KUL 2

Giannelli, Carlotta; Jüttler, Bert; Speleers, Hendrik, Truncated B-splines, Third Annual Fall School on Shapes, Geometry, and Algebra, Vilnius, Lithuania, 27-30 September 2011.

Le, Thanh Hieu; Van Barel, Marc, A convex optimization method to solve a filter design problem, TW Reports, volume TW599, 19 pages, Department of Computer Science, K.U.Leuven, Leuven, Belgium, August 2011.

Norsett, Syvert P.; Asheim, Andreas, Regarding the absolute stability of Störmer-Cowell methods, TW Reports, volume TW601, 14 pages, Department of Computer Science, K.U.Leuven, Leuven, Belgium, October 2011.

Rama Rao, Mallele; Moens, David; Vandewalle, Stefan, A Comparative Study of the Effect of Variability of Wind Loads on Structural Response, De Roeck, Guido; Degrande, Geert; Lombaert, Geert; Müller, Gerhard (eds.), EURODYN, Leuven, 4-6 July 2011, Proceedings of the 8th International Conference on Structural Dynamics, pages 3037-3042.

Rosseel, Eveline; Wells, Garth N., Optimal control with stochastic PDE constraints and uncertain controls, Computer Methods in Applied Mechanics and Engineering, 2011 (Submitted).

Saadvandi, Maryam; Meerbergen, Karl; Jarlebring, Elias, On Dominant poles and model reduction of second order time-delay systems, Applied Numerical Mathematics, 2011.

Speleers, Hendrik, On multivariate polynomials in Bernstein-Bézier form and tensor algebra, Journal of Computational and Applied Mathematics, volume 236, issue 4, pages 589-599, 2011.

Speleers, Hendrik, Construction of normalized B-splines for a family of smooth spline spaces over Powell-Sabin triangulations, TW Reports, volume TW600, 27 pages, Department of Computer Science, K.U.Leuven, Leuven, Belgium, August 2011.

Speleers, Hendrik, Convex polynomials and splines, Informatik-Sonderkolloquium, Karlsruher Institut für Technologie, Karlsruhe, Germany, 13 October 2011.

Van Houtte, Paul; Gawad, Jerzy; Eyckens, Philip; Van Bael, Bert; Samaey, Giovanni; Roose, Dirk, A Full-field Strategy to Take Texture induced Anisotropy into Account during FE Simulations of Metal Forming Processes, JOM: the Journal of the Minerals, Metals and Materials Society, volume 63, issue 11, pages 37-43, 2011.

Yue, Yao; Meerbergen, Karl, Using Krylov-Pade Model Order Reduction for Accelerating Design Optimization of Structures and Vibrations in the Frequency Domain, International Journal for Numerical Methods in Engineering, 2011 (Accepted).

ULB

Alexandre Haye, Jaroslav Albert, Marianne Rooman, Robust non-linear differential equation models of gene expression evolution across Drosophila development, submitted (2011).

R. Razavi-Far, M. Kinnaert, Incremental design of a decision system for residual evaluation: a wind turbine application, submitted to IFAC SAFEPROCESS 2012, August 29-21, 2012, Mexico City, Mexico.

B. Boulkroune, M. Galvez, M. Kinnaert, Additive and multiplicative fault diagnosis for a doubly-fed induction generator, Proceedings of the IEEE International Conference on Control Applications 2011, September 28-30, Denver (Colorado), USA, pp 1302-1308.

M.M. Nicotra, A. Buttafuoco, M. Kinnaert, Hybrid model for haptic lung palpation, submitted to SYSID 2012, July 11-13, 2012, Brussels, Belgium.

UMONS

A. Donoso-Bravo, J. Mailier, A. Vande Wouwer, Optimal design of anaerobic batch tests for kinetic parameter determination through global sensitivity analysis, X Latin American Workshop and Symposium on Anaerobic Digestion (DAAL) 23 - 27th October, 2011, Ouro Preto, Brazil.

A. Donoso-Bravo, S. Perez-Elvira, A. Vande Wouwer, F. Fdz-Polanco, Evolution of the hydrolytic capacity in long-term operation of a thermophilic anaerobic digester, X Latin American Workshop and Symposium on Anaerobic Digestion (DAAL) 23 - 27th October, 2011, Ouro Preto, Brazil.

Graduate School in Systems, Optimization, Control and Networks

The SOCN Graduate School 2011-2012 programme is available on-line : http://sites.uclouvain.be/socn/

The next course is entitled Stability and control of time-delay systems. It will be given by Wim Michiels (K.U.Leuven) and Silviu-Iulian Niculescu (Laboratoire des Signaux et Systèmes (L2S), Ecole Nationale Supérieure d'Electricité (CNRS - Supélec), France) on November 21, 23, 25, 28, 30 and December 2, 2011 (9:00-12:30) at K.U.Leuven (ESAT, Kasteelpark Arenberg 10, B-3001 Heverlee (Leuven) - room 00.62).

More information about this course : http://sites.uclouvain.be/socn/Courses/Courses2011-2

On-line registrations are welcome via this form.

Study Days, Workshops and Summer Schools

ELEC Spring School

Within the department ELEC of the VUB (http://wwwtw.vub.ac.be/elec/), we organize the 5th edition of a 4-week Spring school (from Monday 21st of May 2012 till Friday the 15th of June 2012) to give an intensive training on advanced modelling and simulation techniques of (non)linear dynamic systems, starting from experimental data. Besides classical courses and exercises, we also provide hands-on experience by working on experimental data that you will measure yourself. The participants should have a good basic knowledge in system theory and signal processing. The course covers the following topics:

  • A basic introduction to system identification,
  • Measuring dynamic systems
  • Identification of dynamic systems,
  • Measuring and modeling of nonlinear systems,
  • Simulation tools for nonlinear systems,
  • Nonlinear distortion analysis in microwave and integrated circuits and systems.

A general introduction and more detailed information is available here.

The maximum number of participants will be restricted to 15 researchers.

Participation to this workshop offers a number of advantages. Besides the training, it can also be the start of a collaboration. To some of the participants we can offer a one year grant to start a research collaboration, or even a full four years grant for a (joint) PhD.

Interested candidates are invited to send their curriculum vitae, together with a short motivation why they would like to follow this course, and this before the 16th of January 2012. They can also express their interest in the possibility for a longer cooperation. Please do not hesitate to contact us if you would like to have more information: dolivaur@vub.ac.be or johan.schoukens@vub.ac.be

20th International Symposium on Mathematical Theory of Networks and Systems - MTNS2012

The 20th International Symposium on Mathematical Theory of Networks and Systems MTNS2012 will be held 9-13 July 2012 at the University of Melbourne, Australia.

The MTNS2012 program includes

  • plenary and semi-plenary lectures
  • mini-courses
  • invited sessions
  • contributed talks (either as an extended abstract or a full paper)

MTNS 2012 is a prime conference in the general area of mathematical system theory. The symposium is interdisciplinary and attracts mathematicians, engineers and researchers working in any aspect of system theory and its applications. A prime objective is to explore and present the mathematical structures that underpin our understanding of networks and systems.

The scientific programme of the conference is defined by approximately 80 themes, listed on the web-page of the conference, and grouped into the following 12 main areas: Biological Systems, Communication Systems, Computing, Control and Systems Theory, Cooperative Systems, Economics and Systems Theory, Hybrid Systems, Mechanical Systems, Networked Control, Signal Processing, Stochastic Systems, Systems Inspired Mathematics.

Important Dates:
Online Submission closes: 1 February 2012
Acceptance Notification: 15th March 2012
Final submission: 30 April 2012

For detailed up-to-date information, please visit the conference website at: http://www.mtns2012.com.au

IAP Contact Persons

UCL-INMAIsabelle Hisette
KUL 1Ida Tassens, Kristel Bernaerts
UGent-SYSTeMSMargot Roels
VUB-ELECAnn Pintelon
KUL 2Wim Michiels, Jan Swevers
ULg-SYSTRodolphe Sepulchre
ULBMichel Kinnaert
UMONSAlain Vande Wouwer

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