Wednesday, April 29, 2015  |  2:00 PM CDT

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Abstract

In this seminar, Dr. Mesbahi will explore a system theoretic framework for the synthesis of networks that are resistive to external influence or promote control from certain boundary nodes. This framework is then explored in the context of embedding distributed adaptive mechanisms on networks or synthesis of composite networks from atomic networks. Along the way, we explore connections between limits of influence on diffusion-type networks, network symmetries, graph products, effective resistance, and distributed online optimization.

Biography

Mehran Mesbahi received his Ph.D. in electrical engineering from USC in 1996. He was a member of the Guidance, Navigation, and Analysis group at JPL from 1996-2000 and an Assistant Professor of Aerospace Engineering and Mechanics at the University of Minnesota from 2000-2002. He is currently a Professor of Aeronautics and Astronautics, Adjunct Professor of Mathematics, and Executive Director of Joint Center for Aerospace Technology Innovation at the University of Washington. He is a Fellow of IEEE, recipient of the NSF CAREER Award, NASA Space Act Award, UW Distinguished Teaching Award, and UW College of Engineering Innovator Award. His research interest is autonomous aerospace systems, and control and optimization on dynamic networks.