Olaf Bochmann - Résumé

Professional Objective

Current research primarily concerns the investigation, development and application of normative and computational theories of reasoning, planning and decision-making in multi-agent systems. In particular, the main interest is in both qualitative and quantitative representations of reasoning and decision-making under uncertainty using emergent behavior, combinatorial optimization, metaheuristics, ant colony optimization, computational mechanics, stochastic processes, time-series prediction, and pattern recognition.

Academic Skills

Machine Learning: reinforcement learning - metaheuristics for combinatorial optimization with ant colony optimization, ant systems, pattern recognition, computational mechanics - pattern discovery.

Probabilistic Methods: stochastic processes, cellular automata - random fields, statistical tests - design of experiments, Monte Carlo simulation, Bayesian analysis, Bayesian networks, influence diagrams.

Data Engineering and Simulation: agent-based modelling and multi-agent systems, emergence and self-organization, complexity, information theory, discrete simulation of manufacturing systems - scheduling.

Organizational Skills: management of research projects, organizing meetings, seminars, workshops, etc., writing research proposals.

Technical Skills: object oriented programming language such as C++ and Java, Unix operating systems (Mac OS X, Linux) and also Windows, scripting language such as Perl, Shell Script, Apple Script and Java Script, relational database (MySQL) and XML data models, high level programming for tools like R and Matlab/Octave and Arena, Emacs, LaTeX, Xcode and other productivity tools.

Language Skills: German, English, Dutch (Flemish) and, to a lesser extent, French, Spanish, Italian, Japanese and Russian, however of less practical use recently.

Computer Skills

Programming Languages and APIs: C++ (sockets, RPC, COBRA), Java (JFC/Swing, IDL, RMI, JDBC), Octave/Matlab (statistics, optimization, BNT, TSA), Shell Script, Apple Script, Java Script, R (mcmc, tseriesChaos), Perl (DBI, XML), Python (Scipy).

Programming Tools: Eclipse, Xcode, svn/cvs, emacs.

Operating Systems: Mac OS X, Linux, Windows.

Office Suites: OpenDocument/OpenOffice, Microsoft Office, LaTeX.

Databases and XML: MySQL, DTD/Schema/DSD, XML Parsing - XSTL, XHTML/SVG, DOM/SAX.

Employment History

Postdoctoral Researcher
Department of Ecology, Evolution and Organismal Biology, Iowa State University ( Ames, IA, USA )
January 2007 - Present

Projects:

Evolution of Genome Structure: investigating the structure and robustness in genetic networks using mathematical, computational and bioinformatic tools.
Santa Fe Institute, CSSS07: Computational Mechanics in Food Webs.

Postdoctoral Researcher and Associate
Faculty of Engineering, division PMA, Katholieke Universiteit Leuven ( Leuven, Belgium )
July 2005 - September 2006

Projects:

Dissemination Activities: publication of research results in international journals.
Career Development: scientific training, improving personal and professional skills; participation in professional societies, academic reviews and committees, teaching and formal coursework.

Achievements:

Publication in IEEE TASE: Quantitative Analysis of Emergence and Self-Organization in Multi-Agent Manufacturing Systems (work in progress).
Lecture Notes: Modelling of stochastic processes , teaching in the community.

Research Assistant
Faculty of Engineering, division PMA, Katholieke Universiteit Leuven ( Leuven, Belgium )
July 1999 - June 2005

Work on research projects and dissertation; Supervision: Dr. ir. Paul Valckenaers, Prof. dr. ir. Hendrik Van Brussel.

Projects:

GOA AgCO2: Grand holder in the Concerted Action on Agents for Coordination and Control project. Contributed the theoretic foundation of emergence to the family of so-called coordination and control applications and introduced the -machine model to overcome the limitation of static problem representation. Reconstructed the model from data of a manufacturing system using a general purpose algorithm.
IMS-NoE: The aim of the Network of Excellence on Intelligent Manufacturing Systems was to establish a coordinated and effective support infrastructure in order to develop cooperation links, coordinate current and future research, facilitate knowledge transfer and dissemination of project results and stimulate the launch of new projects. In the effort to establish a benchmarking service for emergent control systems, a universal benchmarking measure called "excess entropy" was introduced.
HMS HANDS: was a work package of the Holonic Manufacturing Systems project on assembly systems. A digital mock-up of a real PCB-assembling facility of ALCATEL in Gent (Belgium) was implemented in ARENA. In collaboration with ATOS in Torino (Italy) the simulation was combined with a multi-agent control system. As a result, the specification of a new type of discrete simulation software was contributed that serves the needs of both real time simulation and expeditious simulation. This has since been applied in other projects, such as GROWTH/GIRD MPA and MaBE.

Achievements:

Ph.D in Engineering: Probabilistic Approaches in Multi-Agent Systems for Manufacturing Coordination and Control;
various publications at conferences, workshops, in international journals and books;
software for simulation of manufacturing systems, implementation of a multi-agent system for pattern discovery in stochastic processes.

Research Engineer
CASA GmbH ( Berlin, Germany )
October 1998 - June 1999

Projects:

IDS: Grand holder in the Intelligent Diagnosis Systems project. Feasibility study for the application of data mining in the diagnosis of industrial facilities. Research Project at CASA GmbH and in collaboration with EAB, Berlin (Germany).

Research Engineer
Nippon Shooter LTD ( Sendai, Japan )
January 1996 - December 1997

Projects:

MODCON: Development of a distributed and modular electronic control system which allows the integration of various conveying units including conveyor belts and elevators. Industrial research and development at Nippon Shooter, Sendai (Japan).

Software Engineer and Editor
Optimal Systems GmbH ( Berlin, Germany )
January 1995 - December 1995

System Administrator and Project Engineer
AHS electronic GmbH ( Berlin, Germany )
February 1994 - January 1995

Education

Ph.D. in Engineering, June 2005. Dissertation title: Probabilistic Approaches in Multi-Agent Systems for Manufacturing Coordination and Control
Katholieke Universiteit Leuven ( Leuven, Belgium )
Subjects: Agent Systems, Design of Experiments, Monte Carlo Simulation, Algorithmic Data Analysis.
Master (Diplomingenieur) in Electrical Engineering, November 1993. Thesis title: Programmtechnische Realisierung eines Fuzzy-Reglers
Technische Universität Dresden ( Dresden, Germany )
Subjects: System Theory, Modeling and Simulation, Real-Time Programming, Parallel Algorithms, Automata and Petrinet-Technology.

Publications

Olaf Bochmann, Joseph Lizier, John Mahoney, Gregor Obernosterer, Juergen Pahle. " Computational mechanics and information measures in food webs ". Proceedings of the Santa Fe Institute Complex Systems Summer School. Santa Fe Institute. August 2007.
Olaf Bochmann. " Modelling of stochastic processes ". Lecture notes. Katholieke Universiteit Leuven, Department of Mechanical Engineering, Leuven, Belgium. June 2006.
Olaf Bochmann. " Probabilistic Approaches in Multi-Agent Systems for Manufacturing Coordination and Control ". PhD thesis. Katholieke Universiteit Leuven, Department of Mechanical Engineering, Leuven, Belgium. June 2005.
Olaf Bochmann, Paul Valckenaers, Hendrik Van Brussel. " Micro- and macro-level interactions in multi-agent manufacturing systems ". Proceedings of the CIRP ISMS, Saarbrücken, Germany. March 2003.
Paul Valckenaers, Hendrik Van Brussel, Hadeli, Olaf Bochmann, B. S. Germain, C. Zamfirescu. " On the design of emergent systems: an investigation of integration and interoperability issues ". Engineering Applications of Artificial Intelligence. Elsevier. 2003. 16(4):377-393.
Paul Valckenaers, Hendrik Van Brussel, Olaf Bochmann, Hadeli, Martin Kollingbaum. " On the design of complex emergent systems ". Preprints of the 15. IFAC World Congress, Barcelona, Spain. Elsevier Science Ltd. July 2002. 16(4):377-393.
Paul Valckenaers, Hendrik Van Brussel, Olaf Bochmann, Hadeli, Martin Kollingbaum. "Multi-agent Manufacturing Control Using Stigmergy". Preprints of the 15. IFAC World Congress, Barcelona, Spain. Elsevier Science Ltd. July 2002.
Paul Valckenaers, Martin KOLLINGBAUM, Hendrik Van Brussel, Olaf Bochmann, Hadeli. " Stigmergy in holonic manufacturing systems ". Journal of Integrated Computer-Aided Engineering. 2002. 9(3):281-289.
Paul Valckenaers, Martin Kollingbaum, Hendrik Van Brussel, Olaf Bochmann. " Short-term forecasting based on intentions in multi-agent control ". Proc. of the IEEE Systems Man and Cybernetics Conference. October 2001. 1618-1623.
Olaf Bochmann, Paul Valckenaers, Hendrik Van Brussel. " Multi-agent manufacturing control with Bayesian networks ". In Proceedings of the INCOM'01 Conference, Vienna, Austria. September 2001.
Paul Valckenaers, Martin Kollingbaum, Hendrik Van Brussel, Olaf Bochmann, Constantin Zamfirescu. "The Design of Multi-Agent Coordination and Control Systems Using Stigmergy". Proceedings of the 3rd International Workshop on Emergent Synthesis Iwes'01. Laboratory Of Control And Manufacturing Systems, Faculty Of Mechanical Engineering, University Of Ljubljana, Slovenia, ISBN: 961-6238-49-3. March 2001.
Paul Valckenaers, Hendrik Van Brussel, Martin Kollingbaum, Olaf Bochmann. " Multi-agent coordination and control using stigmergy applied to manufacturing control. ". In Michael Luck, Vladimír Marík, Olga Stepánková, and Robert Trappl, editors, EASSS, volume 2086 of Lecture Notes in Computer Science. Springer-Verlag New York. 2001. 317-334.
Olaf Bochmann, Paul Valckenaers, Hendrik Van Brussel. " Negotiation-based manufacturing control in holonic manufacturing systems ". Proceedings of the ASI'2000 Conference. Sept. 2000. 206-214.

References

Available upon request.

Academic and Professional Societies

IEEE, the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers
2006
BNAIC, the Belgian-Dutch Association for Artificial Intelligence
2002

Last modified September 2007 .