Abstract
The Professor Roger W.H. Sargent Lecture is an annual event the Centre for Process Systems Engineering inaugurated as a tribute to Professor Sargent's vision, leadership, singnificant technical contributions and his legacy in the field of Process Systems Engineering.
Professor Ydstie from Carnegie Mellon University, will speak about how accumulation and flow of inventory in supply chains, chemical plants and information systems (natural and artificial) are modeled using networks of distributed devices analogous to complex electrical circuits. Networks of this kind are called process networks. The conservation laws play the role of Kirchoff's current law. Concavity of the entropy function provides the basis for an analogue to the voltage law. Nonlinear systems theory furthermore says that strictly passive feedback when applied to a passive circuit automatically gives a current distribution which stabilizes so that the dissipation of heat is minimized. By making analogies amongst process control, network thermodynamics and business decision making it shows that distributed inventory and flow control leads to feedback systems that are agile and able to adapt as technologies develop and markets change. The supply chain for solar grade silicon production provides the benchmark illustration in this presentation.
Date and Location
The lecture will be held at the
Lecture Theatre 1 (Room 250, Chemical Engineering Department, Ace Extension Building, South Kensington, Thursday 7 December 2006 from
17.30 to 18.30.
Contact
Monica Nestor
[
Imperial College London]
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