Otto Hahn Medal for Dr. Matthias Voigt

Award by the Max Planck Society is given for the research on a new and closed theory and the related calculus for the analysis and optimal control of descriptor systems

June 21, 2017


Dr. Matthias Voigt, 31, alumnus of the Max Planck Institute for Dynamcis of Complex Technical Systems Magdeburg, has been awarded the Otto Hahn Medal for junior scientists of the Max Planck Society for outstanding scientific achievements. The award was presented during the general meeting of the Max Planck Society on 21 June 2017 in Weimar. The prize is given for the research on a new and closed theory and the related calculus for the analysis and optimal control of descriptor systems and comes with a monetary sum of 7500 euros as recognition.

The research of Matthias Voigt focuses on the control of differential-algebraic equations which occur during the modelling of many processes in engineering sciences. For these, new theoretical and numerical methods are necessesary to treat the algebraic constraints that are hidden in the equations.

Descriptor systems are dynamical systems with trajectories constrained to a (hidden) manifold. The (implicit) algebraic equations defining this manifold of constraints complicate the analysis, optimization and control of such systems significantly as compared to standard (unconstrained) systems. Due to their central importance for modeling of mechanical systems, electronic circuits (VLSI/ULSI design), micro-/nano-electronic-mechanical systems (MEMS/NEMS), etc., descriptor systems have been a central object of research in systems and control theory for at least 30 years.

"World-wide, there were numerous insufficient attempts to find a closed theory for their optimal control. By using novel dissipation inequalities and the associated calculus, Matthias Voigt is the first to have developed an approach to optimal control of descriptor systems requiring only generic controllability and observability assumptions and being independent of index concepts (i.e., the distance to standard systems). Furthermore, he has developed numerical algorithms for realizing the new concepts in computer-aided control and implemented these in mathematical software." states Prof. Dr. Peter Benner in his letter of recommendation to the Max Planck Society.

 

Dr. rer. nat. Matthias Voigt

Matthias Voigt was born in 1986 in Erlabrunn, Saxony. From 2004 until 2010 he studied mathematics at the Technical University Chemnitz. Afterwards he worked as a research assistant at the Max Planck Institute for Dynamics of Complex Technical Systems in Magdeburg, including a research stay at the Courant Institute of Mathematical Sciences in New York, USA. From January 2011 until May 2015 he was a member of the International Max Planck Research School Magdeburg. He conducted his Ph.D. thesis at the Max Planck Institute Magdeburg in the research group 
Computational Methods in Systems and Control Theory headed by Prof. Peter Benner, in cooperation with the Faculty of Mathematics at Otto von Guericke University Magdeburg. He obtained his Ph.D. degree in May 2015. Matthias Voigt is currently a research assistant at the Institute of Mathematics at the Technical University Berlin.

About the Otto Hahn Medal

The Max Planck Society has honoured up to 30 young scientists and researchers each year with the Otto Hahn Medal for outstanding scientific achievements since 1978.
The award comes with a monetary sum of 7500 euros as recognition. The prize is intended to motivate especially gifted junior scientists and researchers to pursue a future university or research career.
Since 1978, more than 910 scientists and researchers have been awarded the Otto Hahn Medal. The award is presented during the general meeting in the following year.

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