We welcome you to the 16th Mathematical Theory of Networks and Systems Conference (better known as MTNS2004). The scientific program includes five plenary, fifteen semi-plenary presentations (or should we say “ternary-plenary”), and ninety sessions (in ten parallel tracks) with each between four and seven presentations. We can surely say that a very broad spectrum of the Networks and Systems field is covered during the conference, including bio-informatics topics. At the moment of writing, over 500 scientists have registered, so we can already call this conference a success!
This year’s conference is organized in the centre of the small but cozy city of Leuven. Normally Leuven is overloaded with students, but at the time of the conference, the examination period is just finished, deliberations have taken place, and the students are either celebrating or “licking their wounds”. Now the city is returned to the “natives” for two months, but during the summer months a lot of activities are organized in the town. On the last day of the conference, there will be the second of four “Beleuvenissen” evenings. During “Beleuvenissen” several concerts related to a certain music style are scheduled throughout the city centre. This second evening is all about “folk music”. Leuven also has a whole bunch of pubs, restaurants, and terraces, to make your stay even more pleasant.
Thank you and enjoy!
Bart De Moor
Bart Motmans
Jan Willems
Paul Van Dooren
Vincent Blondel
Editors
©Katholieke Universiteit Leuven - Departement Elektrotechniek (ESAT)
Kasteelpark Arenberg 10, B-3001 Heverlee (Belgium)
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ISBN 90-5682-517-8
D/2004/7515/54
MTNS is a prime conference in the general area of mathematical systems theory. The symposium is interdisciplinary and attracts mathematicians, engineers and researchers working in any aspect of the broad field of systems theory.
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MTNS 2004 is organized in the “Oude Valk” and “Nieuwe Valk” (Old and New Falcon, Tiensestraat 41, 3000 Leuven) of the Faculty of Law of the K.U.Leuven in the city center of Leuven, July 5-9, 2004. The symposium program includes (semi-)plenary lectures, mini-symposia, and contributed papers. MTNS is usually organized every two years and traditionally covers areas involving a wide range of research directions in mathematical systems, networks and control theory. |
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MTNS 2006 will be organized in Kyoto International Conference Hall, Japan from July 24 till July 28, 2006. Their preliminary web site can be found at: http://www-ics.acs.i.kyoto-u.ac.jp/~mtns06/ . |
For more information: see http://www.leuven.be/showpage.asp?iPageID=2721 or the brochure in your conference package.
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| (text courtesy of Vincent Blondel) |
The century old catholic university was founded by the pope in 1425 in the Flemish town of Louvain (in Flemish, Leuven). The university is one of the oldest universities in Europe. Those attending the university in the XVIth century include the theologian and humanist Erasmus, the geographer Mercator, and the father of modern anatomy Vesalius.
Courses at the university were initially taught in French but Flemish gradually entered lecture rooms. In 1968, the university was split in two distinct universities: the Flemish speaking "Katholieke Universiteit Leuven (K.U.Leuven)" remained in Leuven, and the French speaking "Université catholique de Louvain (UCL)" moved 20 km south of Brussels in the newly constructed town of Louvain-la-Neuve in the French speaking Wallonia region (except for the Faculty of Medicine that moved to Brussels). The name of the two universities should not be translated into English if you want to avoid confusion…
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At the time of the splitting the tension was very high. According to history, the century old university library was split in two, with even-numbered volumes on one side and odd-numbered volumes on the other. Currently, the two sister universities do however collaborate intensively both on education and research and the rectors have regular joint strategic meetings.
The K.U.Leuven and UCL are today the largest universities in their respective communities; they jointly award one out of every three university degrees in Belgium.
Of the program chairs, Bart De Moor and Jan Willems are from the K.U.Leuven and Paul Van Dooren and Vincent Blondel are from UCL.
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City Walks On Tuesday and Wednesday, it is possible to join a (free) guided walk through Leuven (approx. 2 hrs), starting at 19:00 hrs in front of the City Hall. You can register for these walks at the conference secretariat (each day 5 groups of 25 persons). |
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Coffeebreaks Coffeebreaks will be held in two locations: entrance hall "Nieuwe Valk", and entrance hall "Oude Valk". |
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Conference Dinner The Conference Dinner will take place on Thursday evening (July 8, at 19:30 hrs) at the Faculty Club (see map), which is part of the Great Beguinage, a unique clustering of 16th and 17th century houses. Weather permitting, the aperitif will be served on the square in front of the restaurant. |
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Lunch/Dinner In the close neighborhood of the conference location (the Falcon/De Valk), several sandwich bars, small restaurants, pubs with snacks, … are at your disposal. Approximately 200 meters from De Valk (on the Tiensestraat, direction Tiensepoort), you'll find the ALMA 1, a recent student restaurant. |
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You can also go to the “Oude Markt” (Old Market Square), known as “the longest bar of the world”. |
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Reception All MTNS2004 attendees are invited to the Conference Reception on Monday evening (July 5, 2004, from 18:00 - 20:30 hrs), with Belgian beers offered by Interbrew Belgium NV. The reception will be on the square in the Pope College (if weather allows) (see map), otherwise in the famous fourteenth century University Hall ("Jubileumzaal"). During the reception, the Dixie band, conducted by Prof. Bart Preneel, will entertain you. |
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Registration Desk/Conference Secretariat The Registration desk/conference secretariat will be situated in the entrance hall of the "Nieuwe Valk" (also called Valk 3) ("New Falcon"). Service hours are: Sunday: 17:00 - 20:00 Monday - Friday: 8:30 - 16:30 For urgent problems, you can always contact Ms. Ida Tassens: Mobile: +32-(0)495-437995 Ir. Bart Motmans: Mobile: +32-(0)485-169130 |
Travel
To return to Brussels Airport (www.brusselsairport.be), or Leuven Railway Station, you can obtain information about the train schedule, taxi, … at the conference secretariat.
Buses travel frequently from the "Maarschalk Fochplein" (5 minutes walking distance from the Valk) to Leuven Railway Station (the trip takes approximately 10 minutes). On foot, it's a 10 to 15 minute walk from the railway station to the conference venue. Trains from Leuven to the airport leave at xx:38 hrs and xx:00 hrs (from 9:38 hrs until 22:00 hrs), and the trip takes approximately 50 minutes.
A taxi from Leuven to the airport will cost approximately 50 euro (one-way).
Presentations
Presentations will take (a multiple) of twenty minutes. Beamers and overhead projectors will be available, but you need to bring your own computer.
Leuven: http://www.leuven.be/showpage.asp?iPageID=2721 or http://www.leuven.com/index_en.html
Restaurants (general): http://www.resto.be
Weather Info: http://www.meteo.be
Train: http://www.b-rail.be/main/E/
Bus Information: http://www.delijn.be (unfortunately only in Dutch)
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Bart De Moor, chair; Katholieke Universiteit Leuven www.esat.kuleuven.ac.be/~demoor bart.demoor@esat.kuleuven.ac.be |
Vincent Blondel Université Catholique de Louvain www.inma.ucl.ac.be/~blondel blondel@inma.ucl.ac.be |
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Paul Van Dooren Université Catholique de Louvain www.auto.ucl.ac.be/~vdooren/ vdooren@csam.ucl.ac.be |
Jan Willems Katholieke Universiteit Leuven www.esat.kuleuven.ac.be/~jwillems/ jan.willems@esat.kuleuven.ac.be |
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V. Blondel C. Byrnes R. Curtain B. Datta P. Dewilde B. De Moor (Chair 2004-2006) H. Dym A. El Jay M. Fliess P. Fuhrmann D. Gilliam U. Helmke W. Helton A. Isidori R. Kaashoek H. Kimura |
A. Kurzhansky A. Lindquist C. Martin G. Picci A. Ran A. Rantzer J. Rosenthal (Chair 2002-2004) J. van Schuppen P. Van Dooren Y. Yamamoto Honorary Members: C. Desoer I. Gohberg R. Newcomb A. Zemanian |
The International Program Committee is chaired by Paul Van Dooren (UCL).
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Peter Bauer Rene Boel Xavier Bombois Michael Branicky Alessandro Chiuso Heike Fassbender Avraham Feintuch Art Frazho Krzysztof Galkowski Tryphon Georgiou Bijoy Ghosh Bill Helton |
Diederich Hinrichsen Knut Hueper Rien Kaashoek Francoise Lamnabhi-Lagarrigue Alexander Megretski Yoshito Ohta Paolo Rapisarda Paula Rocha Hans Schumacher Gerard Scorletti Michael Sebek Johan Suykens |
Roberto Tempo Patrick Thiran Arjan van der Schaft Sabine Van Huffel Jan van Schuppen Erik Verriest Victor Vinnikov M. Vydiasagar Joseph Winkin Sandro Zampieri Hans Zwart |
This conference was only possible with the commitment of a lot of people. We especially thank Ida Tassens (secretary), Ilse Pardon (finances), Péla Noé (catering/social), Steven van Vooren, Raf Van de Plas, Emil Muresan, Anneleen Vergult (website, proceedings), Siep Weiland (T.U.Eindhoven, organizational web page), Sven Maerivoet (technical coordinator), Katrijn Demin (public relations), Lambert Leijssen, Wim Verschooten (Pope College), the Technical Services of the K.U.Leuven, PhD students of our group (ESAT-SCD), and all the others whom we might have forgotten to mention.
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1 : Conference Location: De Valk (Falcon), Tiensestraat 41, Leuven 2 : Reception (Good weather): Pauscollege (Pope College), Hogeschoolplein 3, Leuven 3 : Reception (Bad weather): Jubileumzaal, Hallen, Naamsestraat 22, Leuven (the "Oude Markt" is right behind the Hallen) 4 : Dinner: Faculty Club, Groot Begijnhof 14, Leuven 5 : Plenary talks: Aula Pieter De Somer, Deberiotstraat 24, Leuven All locations are within walking distance from each other. Locations 1, 2 and 5 are easily reachable through the open square in front of the Valk. |
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The following pictures show the floor plans of the "Old and New Falcon". Track x: all sessions ending on x (MAx, MPx, TAx, …, FAx).
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