The 5th Annual A.V. 'Bal' Balakrishnan Award Honoring Research Award Recipient Dr. Irena M. Lasiecka (RSVP attached)

Speaker: Dr. Irena M. Lasiecka, Distinguished University Professor, Department of Mathematical Science University Of Memphis / Commonwealth professor of Mathematics Emerita, University of Virginia

Talk Title: Control Of Gas-Structure Interactiontion: Mathematical Theory and AI Perspective

Abstract: Gas flowing over a deformable structure may induce, through the resulting interaction, a highly unstable dynamical system. Due to the nonlinearity of the structure, this results in sustained oscillations, often referred to as “flutter”. Fluttering behavior exhibits itself in periodic oscillations, limit cycles, and even- tually chaotic behavior. Such e!ects may lead to structural damages, including catastrophic consequences such as breakage of the structures. The goal is to understand the dynamics and to advance control designs in order to counteract the negative physical phenomena. From the mathematical stand-point, a flow-gas interaction system arises from multiphysics modeling when one linearizes the Euler Equation around an unstable equilibrium coupled at the interface with the nonlinear system of dynamic elasticity. The mathematical analysis provides a rigorous foundation for incorporating AI into the control design. Once the long-time dynamics are shown to be confined to a finite-dimensional attracting set, data-driven methods can be used to study reduced-order mod- els, identify e!ective feedback laws, and optimize the number and placement of actuators. The interest in this problem was sparked by the pioneering work of Bal in the continuum theory of aeroelasticity. His brilliant intuition, vision, and perseverance laid the foundations to research by the next generation of younger scholars, where the establishment of mathematical principles has led eventually to “verifiable” AI algorithms guiding control processes and designs.

Biography: Dr. Lasiecka’s research interests are in the general area of control theory for systems governed by partial di!erential equations, particularly with unbounded actuators such as boundary or point control. Her research covers calculus of variations, control of dynamical systems and, more recently, control and stabi- lization of structures with an interface arising in multi-physics modeling. After a postdoc at UCLA, she went rapidly through all the ranks at the University of Florida’s Math Department, and later at the University of Virginia, where she had the endowed chair of Commonwealth Professor of Mathematics. More recently, she joined the University of Memphis as a Distinguished University Professor and Faudree University Professor. She has authored-coauthored over 300 research papers, and several research monographs. She was awarded several prestigious awards, including: the AACC Richard Bellman Control Heritage Award; the SIAM W.T. Reid Award; the Hugo Steinhaus Award. She is a lifetime fellow of AAAS, SIAM, AMS, IEEE and IFIP.

Host: MHI/ ECE, USC Viterbi / USC Stevens

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