Seminars

Formal verification and synthesis of piecewise affine systems with applications to gene networks (PDF file)
Calin Belta, Boston University

06/03/2011, 1.30pm, GHC-6501

Abstract

Discrete-time piecewise affine systems (PWA) are a particular class of hybrid systems that evolve along different affine dynamics in different polyhedral regions of the continuous state space. Such models are very popular because they can approximate nonlinear systems with arbitrary accuracy and because of the existence of algorithms for the identification of such systems from experimental data. In this talk, I will show how the particular structure of PWA systems can be exploited to develop computationally efficient algorithms for their verification and for synthesis of parameters and control strategies. I will show how such tools can be used for analysis and synthesis of synthetic gene networks. 

Biography

Calin Belta received B.S. and M.Sc. degrees in Control and Computer Science from the Technical University of Iasi, an M.Sc. in Electrical Engineering from Louisiana State University, and M.Sc. and Ph.D. in Mechanical Engineering from the University of Pennsylvania. He is currently an Assistant Professor at Boston University. His research interests include dynamics and control, motion planning, robotics, and systems biology.

Calin Belta is a member of the IEEE and an Associate Editor for the SIAM Journal on Control and Optimization (SICON) and for the RAS and CSS Conference Editorial Boards. He received the AFOSR Young Investigator Award in 2008 and the NSF CAREER Award in 2005.