Social Events

Opening Reception and Talk

FEATURED OPENING PLENARY TALK AND RECEPTION
ACC 2016 is proud to present a Special Opening Lecture by Jack Little, cofounder and president of MathWorks. The lecture will be immediately followed by the Opening Reception, generously sponsored by MathWorks.

Accelerating the Pace Toward Smarter Controlled Systems
Jack Little, MathWorks, USA
Tuesday, July 5, 6:00 - 7:00 pm
Location: Salon E

Thirty years ago, computer-aided control system design involved an exclusive community of engineers, typically in top research labs or large companies, running esoteric codes on timeshared minicomputers to design and analyze control algorithms, often for expensive systems produced in low volumes. Today, computer-aided control system design has grown into Model-Based Design, encompassing not only system analysis and algorithm design, but also implementation through code generation, plus verification and validation on both models and embedded code. It is used in every industry that creates today’s smart systems – aerospace, automotive, industrial automation, medical devices, robotics, energy, and many more – not only for the controls but integrating computer vision, communication, and machine learning. In this talk, Jack Little reviews the evolution of control design tools, and the corresponding changes in controls education and research. Jack then looks forward to the future of Model-Based Design and how it is addressing the next generation of control engineers: researchers and developers working on challenges such as cyber-physical systems and distributed systems, but also students and makers taking advantage of easy-to-use software with low-cost hardware – everyone building the smarter controlled systems of the future.

Jack Little is president and cofounder of MathWorks. He was a coauthor and principal architect of early versions of the company's flagship MATLAB product as well as Signal Processing Toolbox and Control System Toolbox. Jack holds a B.S. degree in electrical engineering and computer science from MIT (1978) and an M.S.E.E. degree from Stanford University (1980). A Fellow of the IEEE and Trustee of the Massachusetts Technology Leadership Council, he writes and speaks about technical computing, Model-Based Design, entrepreneurship, and software industry issues.
 

RECEPTION
Tuesday, July 5, 7 pm–9 pm
Location: Salon F and G

Public Lecture

Mathematical Optimization in Everyday Life: The Growing Role of Hidden Algorithms in Smart Products and Systems
Stephen Boyd
Stanford University, USA
Wednesday, July 6, 6:30 pm - 7:30 pm, Salon E

Many current products and systems employ sophisticated mathematical algorithms to automatically make complex decisions, or take action, in real-time. Examples include recommendation engines, search engines, spam filters, on-line advertising systems, fraud detection systems, automated trading engines, revenue management systems, supply chain systems, electricity generator scheduling, flight management systems, and advanced engine controls.
I'll cover the basic ideas behind these and other applications, emphasizing the central role of mathematical optimization and the associated areas of machine learning and automatic control. The talk will be nontechnical, but the focus will be on understanding the central issues that come up across many applications, such as the development or learning of mathematical models, the role of uncertainty, the idea of feedback or recourse, and computational complexity.

Stephen Boyd is the Samsung Professor of Engineering, and Professor of Electrical Engineering in the Information Systems Laboratory at Stanford University. He received the A.B. degree in Mathematics from Harvard University in 1980, and the Ph.D. in Electrical Engineering and Computer Science from the University of California, Berkeley, in 1985, and then joined the faculty at Stanford. His current research focus is on convex optimization applications in control, signal processing, and circuit design. Professor Boyd is the author of many research articles and three books: Convex Optimization (with Lieven Vandenberghe, 2004), Linear Matrix Inequalities in System and Control Theory (with L. El Ghaoui, E. Feron, and V. Balakrishnan, 1994), and Linear Controller Design: Limits of Performance (with Craig Barratt, 1991). His group has produced several open source tools, including CVX (with Michael Grant), a widely used parser-solver for convex optimization.

Professor Boyd has received many awards and honors for his research in control systems engineering and optimization, including an ONR Young Investigator Award, a Presidential Young Investigator Award, and the AACC Donald P. Eckman Award, given annually for the greatest contribution to the field of control engineering by someone under the age of 35. In 2013, he received the IEEE Control Systems Award, given for outstanding contributions to control systems engineering, science, or technology. In 2012, Michael Grant and he were given the Mathematical Optimization Society's Beale-Orchard-Hays Award, given every three years for excellence in computational mathematical programming. He is a Fellow of the IEEE and SIAM, a Distinguished Lecturer of the IEEE Control Systems Society, and a member of the National Academy of Engineering. He has been invited to deliver more than 60 plenary and keynote lectures at major conferences in control, optimization, and machine learning.
 

Awards Ceremony

Thursday, July 7, 11:30am–12:20am, Salon E
All conference attendees are encouraged to attend the announcements of the annual AACC and ACC awards. Come celebrate accomplishments in our field!

Coffee Breaks

Coffee breaks will be held:

9:00 a.m. – 9:30 a.m. and 3:30 p.m. – 4:00 p.m. on Wednesday
9:00 a.m. – 9:20 a.m. and 3:30 p.m. – 4:00 p.m. on Thursday
9:30 a.m. – 10:00 a.m. and 3:30 p.m. – 4:00 p.m. on Friday

Coffee will be in exhibits (3rd floor) area and 4th floor registration area (foyer), and snacks will in the exhibits area (3rd floor).

Conference Banquet

Thursday, July 7, 7 pm –10 pm, New England Aquarium (NEA), http://www.neaq.org.  Notes: Transport to and from NEA will be with tickets for T.

Closing Reception

Friday, July 8, 7 pm–9 pm, Salons E, F
The ACC closing reception will be held in Salon E, F. Please come celebrate, with your friends and colleagues, the closing of the ACC.