Assistant Professor
Electrical and Computer EngineeringMiami University, Oxford, Ohio
Contact Information
bvanscoy@miamioh.eduRecent Presentations
- Midwest Workshop on Control and Game Theory (MWCGT), Northwestern University, 2024 (slides)
- SIAM Conference on Optimization, 2023 (slides)
- Towards a Systems Theory for Optimization Algorithms (CDC Workshop), 2021 (slides)
- IEEE Conference on Decision and Control (CDC), 2020 (slides, video)
Research Interests
- robust control
- convex optimization
- multi-agent systems
Education and Experience
- Postdoc at the Wisconsin Institute for Discovery
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University of Wisconsin—Madison, 2017–2020
Supervisor: Laurent Lessard
- PhD in Electrical Engineering and Computer Science
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Northwestern University, 2012–2017
Advisor: Randy Freeman - MS in Applied Mathematics
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University of Akron, 2007–2012
Advisor: Gerald Young - BS in Applied Mathematics
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University of Akron, 2007–2012
- BS in Electrical Engineering
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University of Akron, 2007–2012
Forthcoming Publications
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Cole Hengstebeck, Peter Jamieson, and B. Van Scoy, “Extending Boids for safety-critical search and rescue,” 2023.
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B. Van Scoy, John W. Simpson-Porco, and L. Lessard, “Automated Lyapunov analysis of primal-dual optimization algorithms: An interpolation approach,” IEEE Conference on Decision and Control, 2023.
[PDF] [BibTeX] [URL]@inproceedings{cdc23pd, author = {Van Scoy, Bryan and Simpson-Porco, John W. and Lessard, Laurent}, title = {Automated {L}yapunov analysis of primal-dual optimization algorithms: {A}n interpolation approach}, booktitle = {IEEE Conference on Decision and Control}, year = {2023}, url = {https://arxiv.org/abs/2309.11365}, doi = {} }
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B. Van Scoy and L. Lessard, “A tutorial on the structure of distributed optimization algorithms,” IEEE Conference on Decision and Control, 2023.
[PDF] [BibTeX] [URL]@inproceedings{cdc23optcon, author = {Van Scoy, Bryan and Lessard, Laurent}, title = {A tutorial on the structure of distributed optimization algorithms}, booktitle = {IEEE Conference on Decision and Control}, year = {2023}, url = {https://arxiv.org/abs/2309.11393}, doi = {} }
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B. Van Scoy and L. Lessard, “A tutorial on a Lyapunov-based approach to the analysis of iterative optimization algorithms,” IEEE Conference on Decision and Control, 2023.
[PDF] [BibTeX] [URL]@inproceedings{cdc23lyaplift, author = {Van Scoy, Bryan and Lessard, Laurent}, title = {A tutorial on a {L}yapunov-based approach to the analysis of iterative optimization algorithms}, booktitle = {IEEE Conference on Decision and Control}, year = {2023}, url = {https://arxiv.org/abs/2309.11377}, doi = {} }
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B. Van Scoy and L. Lessard, “The speed–robustness trade-off for first-order methods with additive gradient noise,” arXiv:2109.05059, 2021.
[PDF] [BibTeX] [URL]@inproceedings{vanscoy2021speedrobustness, author = {Van Scoy, Bryan and Lessard, Laurent}, title = {The speed--robustness trade-off for first-order methods with additive gradient noise}, booktitle = {arxiv.org:2109.05059}, year = {2021}, url = {https://arxiv.org/abs/2109.05059} }
Journal Publications
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B. Van Scoy, and L. Lessard, “A universal decomposition for distributed optimization algorithms,” IEEE Control Systems Letters, vol. 6, pp. 2044–3049, 2022.
[PDF] [BibTeX] [URL] [Slides] [Video]@article{vanscoy2022universal, author = {Van Scoy, Bryan and Lessard, Laurent}, title = {A Universal Decomposition for Distributed Optimization Algorithms}, journal = {IEEE Control Systems Letters}, year = {2022}, volume = {6}, number = {}, pages = {3044--3049}, url = {http://ieeexplore.ieee.org/document/9794703/}, doi = {http://dx.doi.org/10.1109/LCSYS.2022.3182640} }
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A. Sundararajan, B. Van Scoy, and L. Lessard, “Analysis and design of first-order distributed optimization algorithms over time-varying graphs,” IEEE Transactions on Control of Network Systems, vol. 7, no. 4, pp. 1597–1608, 2020.
[PDF] [BibTeX] [URL]@article{sundararajan2020analysis, author = {Sundararajan, Akhil and Van Scoy, Bryan and Lessard, Laurent}, title = {Analysis and Design of First-Order Distributed Optimization Algorithms Over Time-Varying Graphs}, journal = {IEEE Transactions on Control of Network Systems}, year = {2020}, volume = {7}, number = {4}, pages = {1597--1608}, url = {https://ieeexplore.ieee.org/document/9069430}, doi = {10.1109/TCNS.2020.2988009}, }
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S. S. Kia, B. Van Scoy, J. Cortés, R. A. Freeman, K. M. Lynch, and S. Martínez, “Tutorial on dynamic average consensus: The problem, its applications, and the algorithms,” IEEE Control Systems Magazine, vol. 39, no. 3, pp. 40–72, 2019.
[PDF] [BibTeX] [URL]@inproceedings{kia2019tutorial, author = {Kia, Solmaz S. and Van Scoy, Bryan and Cort\'{e}s, J. and Freeman, Randy A. and Lynch, Kevin M. and Mart\'{i}nez, S.}, title = {Tutorial on Dynamic Average Consensus: {T}he problem, Its Applications, and the Algorithms}, journal = {IEEE Control Systems Magazine}, year = {2019}, volume = {39}, number = {3}, pages = {40--72}, url = {https://ieeexplore.ieee.org/document/8716798}, doi = {10.1109/MCS.2019.2900783} }
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B. Van Scoy, R. A. Freeman, and K. M. Lynch, “The fastest known globally convergent first-order method for minimizing strongly convex functions,” IEEE Control Systems Letters, vol. 2, no. 1, pp. 49–54, 2018.
[PDF] [BibTeX] [URL] [Slides]@article{vanscoy2017fastest, author = {Van Scoy, Bryan and Freeman, Randy A. and Lynch, Kevin M.}, title = {The Fastest Known Globally Convergent First-Order Method for Minimizing Strongly Convex Functions}, journal = {IEEE Control Systems Letters}, year = {2018}, volume = {2}, number = {1}, pages = {49--54}, url = {http://ieeexplore.ieee.org/document/7967721/}, doi = {http://dx.doi.org/10.1109/LCSYS.2017.2722406} }
Peer-Reviewed Conference Proceedings
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B. Van Scoy, Tra Yen Nhu Phan, Lam Ha, and Peter Jamieson, “Low-cost distance sensor characterization of ultrasonic and infrared to evaluate the ‘reality gap’ in robot system simulation,” International Conference of Control Systems and Robotics, 2023.
[PDF] [BibTeX] [URL] [Poster]@inproceedings{cdsr23, author = {Van Scoy, Bryan and Phan, Tra Yen Nhu and Ha, Lam and Jamieson, Peter}, title = {Low-cost distance sensor characterization of ultrasonic and infrared to evaluate the ``reality gap'' in robot system simulation}, booktitle = {Proceedings of the 10\textsuperscript{th} International Conference of Control Systems and Robotics}, year = {2023}, url = {https://avestia.com/CDSR2023_Proceedings/files/paper/CDSR_202.pdf}, doi = {10.11159/cdsr23.202} }
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B. Van Scoy and L. Lessard, “Absolute stability via lifting and interpolation,” IEEE Conference on Decision and Control, 2022.
[PDF] [BibTeX] [URL] [Slides]@inproceedings{vanscoy2022absolute, author = {Van Scoy, Bryan and Lessard, Laurent}, title = {Absolute stability via lifting and interpolation}, booktitle = {IEEE Conference on Decision and Control}, year = {2022}, url = {https://arxiv.org/abs/2209.06412}, doi = {} }
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B. Van Scoy and L. Lessard, “Systematic analysis of distributed optimization algorithms over jointly-connected networks,” IEEE Conference on Decision and Control, 2020.
[PDF] [BibTeX] [URL] [Slides] [Video] [Code]@inproceedings{vanscoy2020systematic, author = {Van Scoy, Bryan and Lessard, Laurent}, title = {Systematic analysis of distributed optimization algorithms over jointly-connected networks}, booktitle = {IEEE Conference on Decision and Control}, year = {2020}, url = {https://ieeexplore.ieee.org/document/9303998}, doi = {10.1109/CDC42340.2020.9303998} }
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B. Van Scoy and L. Lessard, “Integral quadratic constraints: Exact convergence rates and worst-case trajectories,” IEEE Conference on Decision and Control, 2019.
[PDF] [BibTeX] [URL] [Slides]@inproceedings{vanscoy2019iqc, author = {Van Scoy, Bryan and Lessard, Laurent}, title = {Integral quadratic constraints: {E}xact convergence rates and worst-case trajectories}, booktitle = {IEEE Conference on Decision and Control}, year = {2019}, url = {https://arxiv.org/abs/1903.07668} }
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B. Van Scoy and L. Lessard, “A distributed optimization algorithm over time-varying graphs with efficient gradient evaluations,” IFAC Workshop on Distributed Estimation and Control in Networked Systems, 2019.
[PDF] [BibTeX] [URL] [Poster]@inproceedings{vanscoy2019distributed, author = {Van Scoy, Bryan and Lessard, Laurent}, title = {A distributed optimization algorithm over time-varying graphs with efficient gradient evaluations}, booktitle = {IFAC Workshop on Distributed Estimation and Control in Networked Systems}, year = {2019}, url = {https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ifacol.2019.12.181} }
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A. Sundararajan, B. Van Scoy, and L. Lessard, “A canonical form for first-order distributed optimization algorithms,” American Control Conference, 2019.
[PDF] [BibTeX] [URL] [Slides]@inproceedings{sundararajan2019canonical, author = {Sundararajan, Akhil and Van Scoy, Bryan and Lessard, Laurent}, title = {A canonical form for first-order distributed optimization algorithms}, booktitle = {American Control Conference}, year = {2019}, url = {https://doi.org/10.23919/ACC.2019.8814838} }
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A. Taylor*, B. Van Scoy*, and L. Lessard*, “Lyapunov functions for first-order methods: Tight automated convergence guarantees,” International Conference on Machine Learning 2018 (* denotes equal contribution).
[PDF] [BibTeX] [URL] [Slides] [Code]@inproceedings{taylor2018lyapunov, author = {Taylor, Adrien and Van Scoy, Bryan and Lessard, Laurent}, title = {Lyapunov functions for first-order methods: {T}ight automated convergence guarantees}, booktitle = {International Conference on Machine Learning}, pages = {4897--4906}, year = {2018}, volume = {80}, series = {Proceedings of Machine Learning Research}, address = {Stockholmsmässan, Stockholm Sweden}, month = {Jul}, publisher = {PMLR}, pdf = {http://proceedings.mlr.press/v80/taylor18a/taylor18a.pdf}, url = {http://proceedings.mlr.press/v80/taylor18a.html}, }
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S. Cyrus, B. Hu, B. Van Scoy, and L. Lessard, “A robust accelerated optimization algorithm for strongly convex functions,” American Control Conference, 2018.
[PDF] [BibTeX] [URL] [Slides]@inproceedings{cyrus2018robust, author = {Cyrus, Saman and Hu, Bin and Van Scoy, Bryan and Lessard, Laurent}, title = {A robust accelerated optimization algorithm for strongly convex functions}, booktitle = {American Control Conference}, year = {2018}, url = {https://ieeexplore.ieee.org/document/8430824/} }
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B. Van Scoy, R. A. Freeman, and K. 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.
[PDF] [BibTeX] [URL] [Slides]@inproceedings{vanscoy2016feedforward, author = {Van Scoy, Bryan and Freeman, Randy A. and Lynch, Kevin M.}, title = {Feedforward estimators for the distributed average tracking of bandlimited signals in discrete time with switching graph topology}, booktitle = {IEEE Conference on Decision and Control}, year = {2016}, url = {http://ieeexplore.ieee.org/document/7798918/} }
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B. Van Scoy, R. A. Freeman, and K. M. Lynch, “Design of robust dynamic average consensus estimators,” IEEE Conference on Decision and Control, 2015.
[PDF] [BibTeX] [URL]@inproceedings{vanscoy2015design, author = {Van Scoy, Bryan and Freeman, Randy A. and Lynch, Kevin M.}, title = {Design of robust dynamic average consensus estimators}, booktitle = {IEEE Conference on Decision and Control}, year = {2015}, url = {http://ieeexplore.ieee.org/document/7403206/} }
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B. Van Scoy, R. A. Freeman, and K. M. Lynch, “Exploiting memory in average consensus,” Allerton Conference on Communication, Control, and Computing, 2015.
[PDF] [BibTeX] [URL]@inproceedings{vanscoy2015exploiting, author = {Van Scoy, Bryan and Freeman, Randy A. and Lynch, Kevin M.}, title = {Exploiting memory in average consensus}, booktitle = {Allerton Conference on Communication, Control, and Computing}, year = {2015}, url = {http://ieeexplore.ieee.org/document/7447013/} }
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B. Van Scoy, R. A. Freeman, and K. M. Lynch, “A fast robust nonlinear dynamic average consensus estimator in discrete time,” IFAC Workshop on Distributed Estimation and Control in Networked Systems, 2015.
[PDF] [BibTeX] [URL] [Poster]@inproceedings{vanscoy2015fast, author = {Van Scoy, Bryan and Freeman, Randy A. and Lynch, Kevin M.}, title = {A fast robust nonlinear dynamic average consensus estimator in discrete time}, booktitle = {IFAC Workshop on Distributed Estimation and Control in Networked Systems}, year = {2015}, url = {https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ifacol.2015.10.329} }
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B. Van Scoy, R. A. Freeman, and K. M. Lynch, “Optimal worst-case dynamic average consensus,” American Control Conference, 2015.
[PDF] [BibTeX] [URL] [Slides]@inproceedings{vanscoy2015optimal, author = {Van Scoy, Bryan and Freeman, Randy A. and Lynch, Kevin M.}, title = {Optimal worst-case dynamic average consensus}, booktitle = {American Control Conference}, year = {2015}, url = {http://ieeexplore.ieee.org/document/7172171/} }
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B. Van Scoy, R. A. Freeman, and K. M. Lynch, “Asymptotic mean ergodicity of average consensus estimators,” American Control Conference, 2014.
[PDF] [BibTeX] [URL] [Slides]@inproceedings{vanscoy2014asymptotic, author = {Van Scoy, Bryan and Freeman, Randy A. and Lynch, Kevin M.}, title = {Asymptotic mean ergodicity of average consensus estimators}, booktitle = {American Control Conference}, year = {2014}, url = {http://ieeexplore.ieee.org/document/6859059/} }
Doctoral Dissertation
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B. Van Scoy, Analysis and Design of Algorithms for Dynamic Average Consensus and Convex Optimization. PhD thesis, Northwestern University, 2017.
[PDF] [BibTeX] [URL] [Slides]@phdthesis{vanscoy2017dissertation, author = {Van Scoy, Bryan}, title = {Analysis and Design of Algorithms for Dynamic Average Consensus and Convex Optimization}, journal = {ProQuest Dissertations and Theses}, school = {Northwestern University}, year = {2017}, pages = {227}, url = {http://turing.library.northwestern.edu/login?url=http://search.proquest.com.turing.library.northwestern.edu/docview/1911315018?accountid=12861} }
Master's Thesis
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B. Van Scoy, “A Mathematical Model for Hydrogen Production from a Proton Exchange Membrane Photoelectrochemical Cell,” 2012.
[PDF] [BibTeX] [URL] [Slides]@mastersthesis{vanscoy2012thesis, author = {Van Scoy, Bryan}, title = {A Mathematical Model for Hydrogen Production from a Proton Exchange Membrane Photoelectrochemical Cell}, school = {University of Akron}, year = {2012}, url = {http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=akron1326217817} }
Research Overview
My research uses optimization and control to study large-scale systems consisting of many complex interconnected components. I develop systematic tools for characterizing properties of the system, as well as design new algorithms to optimize the overall system performance while being robust to disturbances and uncertainties. [more]
Large-scale cyber-physical systems are becoming more prevalent in today’s society. The smart grid, for example, consists of numerous dynamic renewable energy sources such as wind and solar, where controllers regulate the frequency while minimizing consumer costs. Transportation is moving towards a future where autonomous vehicles will coordinate with each other to optimize travel times and improve safety. While building the sensors and actuators for such systems is a difficult task, their ultimate success relies not on our ability to build such systems, but on our ability to control them.
The fields of optimization and control complement each other in the analysis of the algorithms used to control large-scale interconnected systems. While optimization algorithms are well-suited for finding the best solution to complex problems that remain fixed in time, control theory uses feedback to naturally adapt to dynamic uncertainties and disturbances while maintaining stability. Both fields are crucial to the analysis and design of complex interconnected systems that make efficient use of the resources available and are robust to dynamic environments and unknown operating conditions.
The world is becoming more interconnected, and the algorithms we develop must be capable of controlling these highly complex systems. Interconnected systems of the future must adapt to dynamic operating conditions, combat against cyber attacks, be robust to disturbances, guarantee consumer safety, learn from data, and optimize efficiency. My research aims to make such systems a reality.
First-order algorithms for convex optimization
Optimization is the cornerstone for solving a multitude of problems in machine learning, finance, control, and engineering. When these problems depend on high-dimensional data, first-order algorithms are typically used due to their low memory and computation requirements. Using tools from robust control, we were able to design the fastest known algorithm for minimizing smooth strongly convex objectives. [more]
Multi-agent systems
Coordinating agents can interact with each other and their environment in order to solve complex problems that are difficult or impossible to solve individually. Swarms of flying robots, for example, can explore and map unknown environments, and smart cars can communicate with each other to strategically plan routes and minimize travel times. Using semidefinite programming, we have developed a systematic approach to the analysis of algorithms for distributed optimization, and then used this to design an algorithm with the fastest worst-case convergence rate that is also robust to changes in the communication network. [more]
Robust stability of interconnected systems
Practical systems often contain components that are uncertain, noisy, and/or nonlinear. Examples include saturation and friction in physical systems, fluctuations in wind and solar renewable energy sources in the smart grid, and activation functions in a neural network. Using integral quadratic constraints from robust control, we have developed a systematic characterization of the rate of convergence of such systems, and we used semidefinite programming duality to construct the most destabilizing problem instances. [more]