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Bryan Van Scoy
Assistant Professor
Electrical and Computer Engineering

Bryan Van Scoy, Ph.D.

Contact Info

513-529-0276
Garland Hall 260

Education

  • Ph.D., Electrical Engineering and Computer Science, Northwestern University, Evanston, IL, 2012–2017
  • B.S.E, Electrical Engineering, University of Akron, Akron, OH, 2007–2012
  • B.S./M.S., Applied Mathematics, University of Akron, Akron, OH, 2007–2012

Research Interests

  • robust control
  • convex optimization
  • large-scale interconnected systems

Academic Appointment

  • Postdoctoral Researcher
    Wisconsin Institute for Discovery, University of Wisconsin-Madison
    Madison, WI
    2017–Present

Extra Funding Experience

Participated in writing the following grant:

  • A control-theoretic approach to distributed optimization
    National Science Foundation (ENG/EECS/EPCN). PI: Laurent Lessard. Award Number 1936648.
    Amount: $380,003. Sept. 2019–Aug. 2022.

Teaching Experience

  • Guest Lecturer
    University of Wisconsin-Madison
    Lectured in a graduate-level course in Linear Systems
    2017–2018
  • Teaching Assistant
    Northwestern University
    Laboratory instructor for Introduction to Feedback Systems (2 semesters)
    2012–2013
  • Teaching Assistant
    University of Akron
    • Primary instructor for Intermediate Algebra (2 semesters)
    • Teaching assistant for College Algebra (2 semesters)
    2010–2012

Internships

  • Electrical Engineering Intern
    BGI, LLC
    Akron, OH
    Tasks included coding in C++ and JavaScript, and testing and verifying program functionality.
    2011
  • Electrical Engineering Intern
    The Will-Burt Company
    Orrville, OH
    Tasks included testing system functionality and writing system requirements documents.
    2009–2010

Awards

  • 2017—Best Electrical Engineering Ph.D. Dissertation, Northwestern University
  • 2016—Terminal Year Fellowship, Northwestern University (2 quarters)
  • 2014—First place in the Electrical Engineering Division, Student Poster Fair, Northwestern University
  • 2012—RoboGames: Third place in Best of Show (FoosBot)
  • 2011—BGI Engineering Employee of the of the Quarter
  • 2010 Alberta M. and William C. King Scholarship, University of Akron Dept. of Mathematics

Forthcoming Publications

  • Akhil Sundararajan, Bryan Van Scoy, and Laurent Lessard. "Analysis and design of first-order distributed optimization algorithms over time-varying graphs". arxiv.org:1907.05448 (submitted to the IEEE Transactions on Control of Network Systems). 2019.

Journal Publications

  • Solmaz S. Kia, Bryan Van Scoy, Jorge Cortés, Randy A. Freeman, Kevin M. Lynch, and Sonia Martínez. "Tutorial on dynamic average consensus: The problem, its applications, and the algorithms". IEEE Control Systems Magazine39.3 (2019), pp. 40 72.
  • Bryan Van Scoy, Randy A. Freeman, and Kevin M. Lynch. "The fastest known globally convergent first-order method for minimizing strongly convex functions". IEEE Control Systems Letters 2.1 (2018), pp. 49-54.

Refereed Conference Proceedings

  • Bryan Van Scoy and Laurent Lessard. "Integral quadratic constraints: Exact convergence rates and worst-case trajectories". arxiv.org:1903.07668 (to appear at the IEEE Conference on Decision and Control). 2019.
  • Bryan Van Scoy and Laurent Lessard. "A distributed optimization algorithm over time-varying graphs with efficient gradient evaluations". arxiv.org:1905.11982 (to appear at the IFAC Workshop on Distributed Estimation and Control in Networked Systems). 2019
  • Akhil Sundararajan, Bryan Van Scoy, and Laurent Lessard. "A canonical form for first-order distributed optimization algorithms". American Control Conference. 2019
  • Adrien Taylor*, Bryan Van Scoy*, and Laurent Lessard*. "Lyapunov functions for first-order methods: Tight automated convergence guarantees". International Conference on Machine Learning (ICML). 2018. (* denotes equal contribution).
  • Saman Cyrus, Bin Hu, Bryan Van Scoy, and Laurent Lessard. "A robust accelerated optimization algorithm for strongly convex functions". American Control Conference. 2018
  • Bryan Van Scoy, Randy A. Freeman, and Kevin M. Lynch. "Feedforward estimators for the distributed average tracking of bandlimited signals in discrete time with switching graph topology". IEEE Conference on Decision and Control. 2016.
  • Bryan Van Scoy, Randy A. Freeman, and Kevin M. Lynch. "Design of a robust dynamic average consensus eliminators". IEEE Conference on Decision and Control. 2015.
  • Bryan Van Scoy, Randy A. Freeman, and Kevin M. Lynch. "A Fast Robust Nonlinear Dynamic Average Consensus Estimator in Discrete Time". IFAC Workshop on Distributed Estimation and Control in Networked Systems. 2015
  • Bryan Van Scoy, Randy A. Freeman, and Kevin M. Lynch. "Exploiting Memory in Average Consensus". Allerton Conference on Communication, Control, and Computing. 2015
  • Bryan Van Scoy, Randy A. Freeman, and Kevin M. Lynch. "Optimal worst-case dynamic average consensus". American Control Conference. 2015.
  • Bryan Van Scoy, Randy A. Freeman, and Kevin M. Lynch. "Asymptotic mean ergodicity of average consensus estimators". American Control Conference. 2014.

Presentations

  • Sept. 2019— IFAC Workshop on Distributed Estimation and Control in Networked SystemsA distributed optimization algorithm over time-varying graphs with efficient gradient evaluations (poster)
  • July 2019— SILO seminar, University of Wisconsin-Madison, Nonconvex distributed optimization
  • May 2019— Institute for Foundations of Data Science, University of Wisconsin-Madison, Nonconvex distributed optimization
  • July 2018— International Conference on Machine Learning (ICML), Lyapunov functions for first-order methods: Tight automated convergence guarantees
  • Dec. 2017— IEEE Conference on Decision and Control, The fastest known globally convergent first-order method for minimizing strongly convex functions
  • Nov. 2017— SILO seminar, University of Wisconsin-Madison, First-order optimization methods: Analysis and design
  • Dec. 2016— IEEE Conference on Decision and Control, Feedforward estimators for the edistributed average tracking of bandlimited signals in discrete time with switching graph topology
  • Dec. 2015— IEEE Conference on Decision and Control, Design of robust dynamic average consensus estimators
  • Sept. 2015— IFAC Workshop on Distributed Estimation and Control in Networked Systems, A fast robust nonlinear dynamic average consensus estimator in discrete time (poster)
  • July 2015— American Control Conference, Optimal worst-case dynamic average consensus
  • June 2014— American Control Conference, Asymptotic mean ergodicity of average consensus estimators

Professional Activities

  • Reviewer for the following journals/conferences
    • SIAM Journal on Optimization
    • International Journal of Control
    • IEEE Transactions on Automatic Control
    • IEEE Transactions on Control of Networked Systems
    • IEEE Transactions on Cybernetics
    • IEEE Conference on Decision and Control
    • American Control Conference
    • IFAC Workshop on Distributed Estimation and Control in Networked Systems
  • Member of the IEEE