E-LETTER on Systems, Control, and Signal Processing ISSUE No. 20, 6 March 1989 Editors: Bradley W. Dickinson Dept. of Electrical Engineering Princeton University Princeton, NJ 08544 bradley@princeton.edu or bradley@pucc.bitnet Eduardo D. Sontag Dept. of Mathematics Rutgers University New Brunswick, NJ 08903 sontag@fermat.rutgers.edu (arpanet) or sontag@pisces (bitnet) Welcome. We remind you that items for posting can be emailed to either of the editors. PLEASE SEND CONTRIBUTIONS, since the eletter can only be useful if everyone participates. Selected back issues of the newsletter, as well as the complete mailing list (currently about 600 names) can be requested from Sontag at either of the above addresses. NOTE: if you are using an editor to read this mailing and if at any point you wish to skip to the next article, you can accomplish this by searching for the string: *.** Contents Changes to mailing list IEEE Control Systems Society News Conference news: American Control Conference (ACC), June 1989 Nominations sought for awards Conferences: Bremen Conference in June -- Submission Deadline MARCH 15 ! 3rd Annual Conference on Aerospace Computational Control 1989 IEEE International Symposium on Circuits and Systems BIRA Seminar on Neural Networks Journals: IEEE Trans. on Automatic Control: Contents - April 1989 SIAM Student Best Paper Competition Robotics positions at Carnegie Mellon Recent SYCON Technical Reports *.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.** Contributed by the Editors: Changes/Additions to mailing list. Corrections: ----------- automatic@nimbus.ethz.ch (Karl Heinz Kienitz, ETH, Zurich, Switzerland) Changes: ------- danny%hpldya@hplabs.hp.com (Danny Abramovitch, Hewlett-Packard, Palo Alto, CA) mar23aa@technion.bitnet (Danny Hershkowitz, Technion, Haifa, Israel) UMATF108@DBIUNI11.BITNET (Volker Mehrmann, Universitaet Bielefeld, FRG) susan@symult.com (Susan Phillips, Symult Systems Corp., Monrovia, CA) vaza@eleca.ele.toronto.edu (Anthony Vaz, Univ. of Toronto, Canada) woods@pawl.rpi.edu (John Woods, Rennselaer Polytechnic Inst.) Additions: --------- geering@ethz.ch (Hans Geering, ETH, Zurich, Switzerland) demoor@patience.stanford.edu (Bart De Moor, Stanford Univ.) acwpd@ttacs.bitnet (W. Dayawansa, Texas Tech, Lubbock, TX) fd@bgerug51.bitnet (Frits Dumortier, Univ. of Ghent, Belgium) autoctrl@bgerug51.bitnet (A. Van Cauwenberghe, Univ. of Ghent, Belgium) AMM@SLACVM.bitnet (Anne Mason, Stanford Linear Accelerator Center, CA) eslami@uicbert.eecs.uic.edu (Mansour Eslami, Univ. of Illinois at Chicago) chaleyat@frcirp71.bitnet (Mireille Chaleyat-Maurel, Univ. of Paris VI) gursoy@elbereth.rutgers.edu (Melike Gursoy, Industrial and Systems Engr.) ming@h8001.cae.wisc.edu (Ming De Tan, Univ. of Wisconsin, Madison) zeitouni@techsel.bitnet (Ofer Zeitouni, Technion, Haifa, Israel) hollot@umaecs.bitnet (Chris Hollot, Univ of Massachusetts, Amherst) yee@ee.ucla.edu (John Yee, Univ. of California, Los Angeles) jamesv%hplsla@hplabs.hp.com (James Vasil, Hewlett-Packard, Palo Alto, CA) sestim@ibm.com (Tim Salcudean, IBM T.J. Watson Rsch. Lab, Yorktown Hgts., NY) yao@harvard.harvard.edu (David Yao, Harvard Univ.) schillin@sun.soe.clarkson.edu (Robert Schilling, Clarkson Univ., Potsdam, NY) Michael_Polis%Wayne-MTS@um.cc.umich.edu (Wayne State Univ., Detroit, MI) sala@cacse.src.umd.edu (Lahcen Saydy, Univ. of Maryland, College Park) daery%squid@hub.ucsb.edu (Dae Ryook Yang, Univ. of California, Santa Barbara) young@icdc.llnl.gov (K. David Young, Lawerence Livermore National Lab, CA) *.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.** Contributed to the ELETTER by Peter Ramadge IEEE CONTROL SYSTEMS SOCIETY NEWS Conference news: 1989 AMERICAN CONTROL CONFERENCE ACC AUTHORS KITS ACC authors should receive their author's kits by March 15th. Papers are due back to the printer by APRIL 21st; but the printer would like to receive them well before then if possible. If do not receive your author's kit by the 15th of March please send email to: ramadge@ivy.princeton.edu ADVANCE PROGRAM The Advance Program for the 1989 ACC will be mailed the week of March 6th. The Conference and Hotel Registration form is included in the program. A copy of the Conference and Hotel Registration form also appeared in the February issue of the Control Systems Society Magazine (page 56). PROGRAM A wide spectrum of topics in control theory and applications will be presented in 80 sessions. Plenary lectures will be delivered by two leading control researchers and educators: Professor Henry Paynter of the Departments of Mechanical Engineering at MIT and the University of Texas; and Prof. Vadim Utkin of the Institute for Control Science of the USSR Academy of Sciences in Moscow. Other features include: four tutorial workshops prior to the Conference; numerous invited sessions and exhibits; and tours of the Robotics Institute at Carnegie-Mellon University and of Westinghouse Automation Division. A welcoming reception will be held at the Hilton on Tuesday evening. On Thursday evening there will be a river cruise and cocktail party, and on Friday evening there will a closing reception. CONFERENCE REGISTRATION Registration fees for the 1989 ACC may be paid in advance in US currency by check, money order, or credit card using the registration form (centerfold in Advance program). Attendees may also register at the ACC Registration Desk. The fee schedule is as follows: Registration Postmarked by 5/15 after 5/15 Society Member $190 $220 Non-Member $215 $245 Students & Retirees $ 40 $ 50 (with proceedings) $ 75 $ 85 HOTEL RESERVATIONS The Conference Hotel is the Pittsburgh Hilton and Towers Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania Special rates are available for the 1989 ACC: $85 per night (single) $95 per night (double) plus tax (subject to availability). The hotel will honor the special convention rates for stays up to three days prior to and one day after the Conference. Reservations should be made by May 29 in order to qualify for the ACC discounts. More information may be obtained directly from the hotel by calling (412) 391-4600 or the toll free number of (800) 445-8667. Be sure to mention the 1989 ACC in order to qualify for the group rates. OFFICIAL TRAVEL AGENT For the Workshops and the June 1989 American Control Conference, the AACC has appointed Hunter Travel as the official agency and U.S. Air/Piedmont as the official carrier. One phone call to Hunter Travel (1-800-525-7888) can reserve your room at the Pittsburgh Hilton, and arrange for discounted air travel. The discount is 35% off regular coach fare or 5% off lowest applicable fare, whichever is less. For attendees traveling from Canada there is 30% discount with no minimum stay or 35% with two-night minimum stay requirement. These special fares must be purchased 7 days in advance. ------------- Nominations sought for awards George S. Axelby Outstanding Paper Award Every year the Control Systems Society awards up to three outstanding paper awards to authors of papers published in the IEEE Transactions on Automatic Control during the two preceding calendar years. Since last year the Award is named after George S. Axelby, the founding editor of the Transactions. We are now soliciting nominations for this year's Award, from papers published in the Transactions on Automatic Control from January 1987 through December 1988 (volumes 32 and 33). This is an open invitation to readers of the ELETTER to nominate papers for consideration for this Award. Nominations should be sent to Professor Tamer Basar, Axelby Award Chairman Coordinated Science Laboratory University of Illinois 1101 W. Springfield Avenue Urbana, IL 61801 / USA Tel: (217) 333-3607 e-mail: tbasar@uicsl.csl.uiuc.edu The deadline for nominations is MAY 15, 1989. +++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ 1989 Control Systems Technology Award Nominations are open for the new Control Systems Technology Award which will be awarded for the first time this year. This Award is to be given for outstanding contributions to control systems technology, either in design and implementation or in project management. It may be conferred on either an individual or on a team. Please send nominations together with supporting documentation to the Chairman of the CSS Technology Award Committee: Prof. William R. Perkins Coordinated Science Laboratory 1101 W. Springfield Ave. University of Illinois Urbana, IL 61801 (217) 333-0283 email: perkins@uicsl.csl.uiuc.edu Deadline for nominations is April 30, 1989. +++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ 1990 Bode Lecture Prize Nominations are open for the new Control Systems Society Bode Lecture Prize which will be awarded for the first time this year. This Award is to be given to an individual who has made distinguished contributions to control and systems science or engineering. The recipient gives a plenary lecture at the CDC following his/her selection which surveys and evaluates a significant contribution to control science or engineering or their applications and is asked to write a similar article for the Transactions. This Award is open to all. Send nominations to: Jane Cullum IBM Research Division Yorktown Heights, NY 10598 email CULLUMJ@YKTVMT.BITNET Deadline for submission is April 30th. *.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.** Contributed by: bengt@mathematik.uni-bremen.de (Bengt Martensson) INTERNATIONAL WORKSHOP: CONTROL OF UNCERTAIN SYSTEMS * University of Bremen, F.R.G. June 12-15, 1989 Aim of the Workshop The aim of the workshop is to provide a forum for the exchange of ideas and research in the field of Control of Uncertain Systems. It is intended for mathematicians and engineers, with the slant towards theory rather than applications. Emphasis will be placed on the areas of robust control and adaptive control, in particular: Robust Stability of Polynomials Modelling of Uncertain Systems Robustness of State Space Systems A Priori Information for Adaptive Control Robustness Optimization Robust "Universal Stabilizers" H-infinity methods Adaptive Tracking Riccati Equations Adaptive Control Algorithms Computational Aspects Adaptive Control of Nonlinear and Infinite Dimensional Systems Invited Speakers J. Ackermann (FRG) D. J. N. Limebeer (England) B. R. Barmish (USA) J. Lunze (GDR) (not confirmed) S. P. Bhattacharyya (USA) M. Milanese (Italy) S. Bialas (Poland) N. K. Nichols (England) J. Bontsema (The Netherlands) R. Ober (England) E. J. Davison (Canada) A. W. Olbrot (USA) J. Demmel (USA) D. H. Owens (Scotland) A. Fam (USA) V. Peterka ( CSSR) B. A. Francis (Canada) J. W. Polderman (The Netherlands) G. C. Goodwin (Australia) D. Pratzel-Wolters (FRG) M. J. L. Hautus (The Netherlands) E. P. Ryan (England) C. V. Hollot (USA) R. Tempo (Italy) P. P. Khargonekar (USA) S. Townley (England) H. Kiendl (FRG) H. Unbehauen (FRG) P. Kumar (USA) J. C. Willems (The Netherlands) H. Kwakernaak (The Netherlands) N. J. Young (England) Scientific committee R. F. Curtain D. Hinrichsen A. J. Pritchard University of Groningen University of Bremen University of Warwick Contributed Papers Besides the invited talks there is a possibility of a limited number of short contributions. Prospective authors should submit a 300-word abstract before March 15. Notification of acceptance will be mailed before April 15. Proceedings It is planned to publish the proceedings of the workshop. Contributions will be reviewed. The deadline for submission of papers is September 1, 1989. Programme The workshop starts on Monday June 12 at 9 a.m. and ends on Thursday June 15 at 5 p.m. The final programme will be mailed to the participants before May 15. On Wednesday afternoon a visit to Worpswede, an artist colony 25 km from Bremen, will be arranged, with a conference dinner in the evening. On the Friday following the workshop informal sessions may be organized according to the interests of participants. These sessions may be used e.g. to discuss numerical problems and demonstrate relevant software. Interested participants are invited to contact the local organizers. Registration The number of participants is limited to 60. Applications should be sent by April 15 to the address below. Local Organizing committee D. Hinrichsen Institut fur Dynamische Systeme B. Martensson Universitat Bremen Postfach 330 440 cus@mathematik.uni-Bremen.de D-2800 Bremen 33 g09e@dhbrrz41.bitnet F.R. Germany ------------ * The workshop is funded by a grant from the Commission of the European Communities to the universities of Bremen (DE), Groningen (NL), Warwick (GB). *.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.** Contributed by Alan J. Laub ANNOUNCEMENT AND CALL FOR PAPERS 3RD ANNUAL CONFERENCE ON AEROSPACE COMPUTATIONAL CONTROL RADISSON SUITE HOTEL AUGUST 28-30, 1989 OXNARD, CALIFORNIA This conference is a sequel to the effort begun at the 1987 Workshop on Multibody Simulation, and continued at the 1988 Workshop on Computational Aspects in the Control of Flexible Sys- tems. It is intended to bring together researchers, developers, and users of computational tools for aerospace control systems modeling, design, and simulation. There has been an explosion of new computational hardware and software technologies in recent years. These advances have the potential to improve greatly the performance of computational control software tools. Current computational control tools are marginal for some of today's ap- plications and will not be able to support many future NASA and DoD missions. As a consequence, the control and dynamics commun- ities have become active in exploring these possibilities. The Conference will: 1) provide a window into current computa- tional control research and development, 2) allow researchers to exchange ideas and experience on the correctness, efficiency, and usability of current computational tools, and 3) identify impor- tant unsolved problems and technology gaps which can be dealt with by Government, Industry, and University combined efforts. Conference organizing committee: Dr. G.K. Man (NASA/JPL), Dr. Larry Taylor (NASA/LaRC), Mr. John DiBattista (NASA HQ), Dr. Elbert Marsh (NSF), and Major Terry Hinnericks (DoD) TOPICS Papers are being accepted on all aspects of computational control tools and methods: Tool Requirements (requirements for future tools in the areas of spacecraft, space robotics, aircraft, and space transportation systems) Multibody Simulation Formulation (recursive algorithms, symbolic manipulation, closed topology and constraints) Articulated Multibody Component Representation (system model reduction, component model reduction, modal synthesis, damping) Parallel Computation (coarse-grain parallelization, fine-grain parallelization, hardware, software) Real-Time Simulation (hardware-in-the-loop, human-in-the-loop, hardware/software interface) Control Software (analysis software, synthesis software, algo- rithms for large-order systems, numerical properties, model reduction) User Interface (database management, visualization techniques, integration) Applications (spacecraft, space robotics, aircraft, space tran- sportation systems) Testing and Verification (reference test cases, ground experi- ments, flight experiments) PRE-REGISTRATION All attendees are required to register in advance. To pre- register, please request a registration form from: Jet Propulsion Laboratory Attn: Ray Miller, M/S 198-326 4800 Oak Grove Pasadena, CA 91109 phone: (818) 354-4734 The registration fee of $150.00 will cover a set of Proceedings, paper abstracts, refreshments, and a buffet banquet the evening of 29 August. A $75.00 registration fee is available to full- time students (fee does not include banquet). ACCOMMODATIONS Blocks of rooms have been reserved for the conference at the fol- lowing hotels: Radisson Suite Hotel ((805) 988-0130) Studio Suite: $67.00 single/double 2 Story Loft Suite: $77.00 single/double Casa Sirena ((805) 985-6311) $65.00 single/double (approximately 5 miles from conference site) Oxnard Hilton ((800) 445-8667) $57.00 single/double (approximately 3 miles from conference site) Camarillo Motel 6 ((805) 388-3467) $28.29 single, $35.92 double (15 minute drive from conference site) The cutoff date for reservations at these hotels is 11 June, 1989. After that date, rooms will be on an "as available" basis. All participants are responsible for their own lodging reserva- tions, and should contact their hotel of choice directly. TRANSPORTATION The Oxnard area is served by four airports: Los Angeles Interna- tional (LAX), Burbank, Oxnard, and Santa Barbara. Various forms of ground transportation are available from these airports. Further information will be sent with registration. DEADLINES AND ABSTRACT INSTRUCTIONS Conference attendance will be limited; therefore, all "registra- tion forms" are due no later than 15 April, 1989. All abstracts are due no later than 15 April, 1989. Abstracts should be between 100 and 150 words in length. Accepted papers must be provided in vugraph and facing text format no later than 1 August, 1989. A package detailing specifics on paper prepara- tion will be forwarded to authors whose papers are selected. INQUIRIES Questions concerning registration or general administrative de- tails should be addressed to Mr. Ray Miller, (818) 354-4734. Questions concerning technical sessions and papers should be ad- dressed to Dr. G.K. Man, (818) 354-7142. E-mail inquiries can be directed to Prof. Alan J. Laub ( laub%lanczos@hub.ucsb.edu ). *.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.** Contributed by: Tran Thong 1989 IEEE International Symposium on Circuits and Systems The 1989 IEEE International Symposium on Circuits and Systems will be held at the Portland Hilton hotel in Portland, Oregon on May 9-11, 1989. In addition to the main Symposium, we have a number of special activities on Sunday and Monday preceding the conference. We have our International event on Sunday (5/7) and Monday (5/8). This includes a trip to Timberline Lodge located at the 6000' level of the majestic Mt Hood. There will be talks that evening with Carver Mead and Mac Van Valkenburg. The next day there will be an excursion of the Columbia Gorge, a national scenic area. This event is opened to anybody on a first come first serve due to space limitation. On Monday we will have a number of pre-conference workshops. Carver Mead will lead the Analog VLSI Neural Systems workshop. S.S. Venkata will lead the Computer Based Distribution System Planning and Automation workshop. Marek Perkowski will lead the Modern Trends in Digital System Design and Design Automation workshop. On Tuesday night we will have a panel session on "Future Directions of Circuits and Systems" Following are the sessions titles in the Symposium: Tuesday AM: Image Processing I VLSI Design I Analog Circuitry for Neural Network I Digital Architectures for Neural Networks Operational Transconductance Amplifier Circuits and Applications VLSI Applications A/D and D/A conversion Digital Signal Processing I FIR Digital Filter Tuesday PM VLSI Fault Analysis and Testing Kalman and Median Filters VLSI Design Methodlogies for Signal Processing Architectures Optronic Implementation of Neural Networks Application of Artificail Neural Networks to Power Systems Systems (Power, Linear, Nonlinear) Application Specific Digital Signal Processors Analog IC Design General Circuit Analysis IIR Digital Filters Wednesday AM Integration of Logic Synthesis and High Level Synthesis into Design Automation Neural Networks I Recent Advances in Symbolic Network Analysis - Theory and Applications Nonlinear Circuits in the Context of Chaotic Phenomena, Neural Nets and VLsI VLSI Analysis and Design Nonlinear Imager Processing Signal and Image Processing in Medicine Digital Signal Processing II Analog Filters Multidimensional Filters and Systems Analog Cell Synthesis Wednesday PM IC Modelling and Simulation Systolic Algorithm and Architecture Analog Signal Processing for Neural Microelectronics Mixed Domain Signal Processing Signal and Image Processing VLSI Implementation for Digital Image and Video Processing Applications Super Signal Processing Nonlinear Circuits Switched Capacitor Filters Multidimensional Signal Processing Thursday AM Image Processing II DSP Architectures and Implementations I Current Mode Analog Signal Processing New Perspectives in Robust Nonlinear Systems Nonlinear Systems: Theory and Applications Filters (Analog, Digital, Switched Capacitors, Adaptive) Adaptive Algorithms System Analysis Communication Circuits and Systems Power Electronics Power Systems Thursday PM VLSI Design II DSP Architectures and Implementations II Benchmarks for Sequential Test Generation Computational and Algorithm Issues in Power Systems Power System Dynamics Analog Circuits and Networks Adaptive Systems and Applications Nonlinear Systems Neural Networks II Microwave Circuits If you are not a member of the IEEE Circuits and Systems (our primary mailing list) and would like to receive a copy of the Advanced Program, please send a request to Tran Thong Tektronix Laboratories Tektronix Inc. P.O. Box 500, MS 50-370 Beaverton, Oregon 97077 e-mail: trant@tekgvs.LABS.TEK.COM Tel: 503-627-6109. *.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.** Contributed by: Rob A. Vingerhoeds (ROB@BGERUG51.BITNET) BIRA SEMINAR ON NEURAL NETWORKS 25 APRIL 1989 International Congress Centre Ghent BELGIUM BIRA (Belgian Institute for Control Engineering and Automation) is organising a seminar on the state of the art in Neural Networks. The central theme will be "When and how will neural networks become applicable for industry". To be able to give a good and reliable verdict to this theme, some of the most important and leading scientists in this fasci- nating area have been invited to present a lecture at the seminar and take part in a panel discussion. The following schedule is foreseen: 8.30 - 9.00 Registration 9.00 - 9.15 Opening on behalf of BIRA Prof. L. Boullart Ghent State University 9.15 - 10.00 Introduction to the domain Prof. Fogelman Soulie Universite de Paris V 10.00 - 10.30 coffee 10.30 - 11.30 Theoretical Backgrounds and Mathematical Models Prof. B. Kosko University of Southern California 11.30 - 12.00 Special dedicated hardware (probably the French representative of Hecht-Nielsen Neurocomputers) 12.00 - 14.00 lunch / exhibition 14.00 - 15.00 Application in Robotics Dr. David Handelman Princeton 15.00 - 16.00 Application in Image Processing and Pattern Recognition (Neocognitron) Dr. S. Miyake ATR 16.00 - 16.30 tea 16.30 - 17.15 panel discussion over the central theme 17.15 - 17.30 closing and conclusions The seminar will be held in the same period as the famous Flanders Technology International (F.T.I.) exhibition is held. This exhibition is for both representatives from industry and for other interested people very interesting and going to both the seminar and the exhibition is double interesting. It is possible to obtain a ticket for F.T.I. at a reduced price, when attending the seminar. Please indicate, whether you would like to get a ticket, when sending in a letter or an e-mail message. Prices: members of BIRA : 12.500 BEF others : 15.000 BEF universities : 7.500 BEF If you intent to attent our seminar, you can either send a letter to the BIRA coordinator (adress follows) or an e-mail message to one of us. We will fill you in on the details as soon as possible. Rob Vingerhoeds Leo Vercauteren BIRA Coordinator: L. Pauwels BIRA-secretariaat Het Ingenieurshuis Desguinlei 214 2018 Antwerpen Belgium telefax: +32-3-216-06-89 (attn. BIRA L. Pauwels) *.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.** Contributed by N.H. McClamroch IEEE TRANSACTIONS ON AUTOMATIC CONTROL Table of Contents - Volume 34, Number 4, April 1989 A Control-Oriented Model for Cylinder K.P. Dudek, M.K. Sain Pressure in Internal Combustion Engines Kinematics and Control of Multifingered A.B.A. Cole, J.E. Hauser Hands with Rolling Contact S. S. Sastry Adaptive Regulation of Nonlinear Systems D. G. Taylor, P. V. Kokotovic with Unmodeled Dynamics R. Marino, I. Kanellakopoulos Decentralized Adaptive Control: D. T. Gavel, D. D. Siljak Structural Conditions for Stability Frequency Response Algorithms for H-infinity J. W. Helton, A. Sideris Optimization with Time Domain Constraints Smooth Stabilization Implies Coprime E. D. Sontag Factorization *.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.** Contributed by: A. Bogardo, SIAM SIAM Student Best Paper Competition The following announcement appeared in the January issue of SIAM News, and this is a reminder: The student authors of the three best papers in applied and computational mathematics submitted to SIAM will be invited by SIAM to attend its annual meeting in San Diego, July 17-21, 1989. Each winner will receive up to $750 to offset expenses and will be recognized at the meeting. Papers must be singly authored to be eligible for consideration. Winners must present their papers at the meeting to receive the awards. In submitting their work for publication, authors are asked to consider the SIAM journals. To qualify, authors must be students in good standing who have not received their PhDs at the time of submission. Submissions must be received by SIAM on or before April 1, 1989. Submissions can be sent by regular mail or FAX. Each submission must include (1) an extended abstract (3-4 pages), double- spaced, in English; (2) the signature of the author on the submission; (3) a statement by the student's faculty advisor (also on the submission) that the paper has been prepared by the author indicated and that the author is a student in good standing; and (4) a short biography of the student. Each submission must also include a letter of recommendation from the student's advisor or department chair. Submissions will be judged on the basis of originality, applicability, and clarity of exposition. The winners will be notified by May 15, 1989. Submissions and questions about this competition should be sent to: A. Bogardo c/o San Diego Competition SIAM 1400 Architects Building 117 South 17th Street Philadelphia, PA 19103-5052 e-mail to siam@wharton.upenn.edu FAX to (215) 564-4174 *.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.** Contributed by: Pradeep.Khosla@fas.ri.cmu.edu (Pradeep Khosla) Faculty Positions in Robotics Carnegie Mellon University Robotics Ph.D. Program Applications are invited for tenure-track faculty positions in the Robotics Ph.D. Program at Carnegie Mellon University. The program is interdisciplinary with participation from the Robotics Institute, School of Computer Science, Carnegie Institute of Technology (the engineering college), and Graduate School of Industrial Administration. Appointees are expected to play major roles in education and research in the program. The appointments may be made at either assistant, associate, or full professor levels, and in general will be joint positions between the Robotics Institute and an academic department or school, depending on the qualifications and backgrounds of the applicants. If so desired, a non- tenure-track research faculty position at the Robotics Institute can also be considered. Applicants for tenured positions must have strong records of achievements in research and education in robotics and have demonstrated leadership in formulating and performing advanced research projects. Applicants for junior tenure-track positions must have a Ph.D. in a related discipline and have demonstrated competence in one or several areas of Robotics research together with potential for excellent teaching. Outstanding candidates in all areas of Robotics are invited, including, but not limited to, mechanism, manipulation, control, locomotion, vision, design, planning, knowledge-based systems, simulation, graphics, micro-electronics, parallel computing, manufacturing, and management. Applicants should send their applications with curriculum vitae and names of at least four references to: Professor Takeo Kanade, Director of the Robotics Ph.D. Program, The Robotics Institute, Carnegie Mellon University, Pittsburgh, PA 15213. Carnegie Mellon is an Equal Opportunity/Affirmative Action employer. *.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.** Contributed by: E.Sontag RECENT TECHNICAL REPORTS SYCON -- Rutgers Center for Systems and Control [89-03] A ``universal'' construction of Artstein's theorem on nonlinear stabilization, Eduardo D. Sontag, Feb 89. (12 pages) [89-04] Limitations on the stabilizability of globally minimum phase systems, Hector J. Sussmann, Feb 89. (10 pages) Electronic abstracts and/or hardcopy of reports can be requested from sycon@fermat.rutgers.edu *.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.** End of ELETTER 20.