Professor Michal Kočvara MSc PhD DrSc

School of Mathematics
Professor in Mathematical Optimisation

Contact details

Telephone: +44 (0) 121 414 6598
Email: m.kocvara@bham.ac.uk

Address: School of Mathematics
Watson Building
University of Birmingham
Edgbaston
Birmingham
B15 2TT
UK

Professor Michal Kočvara's research interests include non-linear and semi-definite optimisation, optimisation of elastic structures, and optimisation with equilibrium constraints. Before joining the academic sphere, he worked for several years in the industry. He is particularly skilled to create a bridge between academic research and the practical needs of the industry.

Before joining the University of Birmingham in January 2007, he was with the Academy of Sciences of the Czech Republic and, simultaneously, working on research projects at the Universities in Bayreuth and Erlangen, Germany.

His recent work has been supported by Horizon 2020 (ITN) and EPSRC (Bridging-the-Gap), and involves several academic and industrial partners across Europe. Michal is a (co-)author of a monograph and over 50 journal articles on various aspects of mathematical optimisation and optimisation of mechanical structures. He developed or co-developed several computer programs for non-linear optimisation and optimisation of elastic structures, some of them routinely used in academia and industry. He was a long-term visitor at the Institute of Mathematics and its Applications, University of Minnesota (2003), the Technical University of Denmark (2007) and the Institute for Pure and Applied Mathematics, UCLA (2010).

Personal webpage.

Qualifications

DrSc in Numerical Analysis, Charles University, Prague 2001
PhD in Numerical Analysis, Academy of Sciences, Prague, 1991
MSc in Applied Mathematics, Charles University, Prague, 1981

Biography

Michal held positions at two industrial research institutes before he joined the Czechoslovak Academy of Sciences. He held long term research positions at the Universities of Bayreuth and Erlangen, Germany.

Before coming to the University of Birmingham, he was a senior researcher at the Institute of Information Theory and Automation of the Academy of Sciences of the Czech Republic.

Teaching

Semester 1

LH/LM Integer Programming and Combinatorial Optimisation

LH/LM Nonlinear Programming I and Heuristic Optimisation

Research

Research Themes

Non-linear and semidefinite optimisation
Optimisation of elastic structures
Optimisation with equilibrium constraints

Other activities

Associate Editor of:

Optimisation Methods and Software
Mathematical Programming Computation

Publications

Selected: (complete publication list)

J. Outrata, M. Kočvara and J. Zowe. Nonsmooth Approach to Optimization Problems with Equilibrium Constraints: Theory, Applications and Numerical Results. Kluwer Academic Publishers, Dordrecht, 1998.

J. Haslinger, M. Kočvara, G. Leugering , and M. Stingl. Multidisciplinary Free Material Optimization. SIAM J. Appl. Math. 70(7):2709-2728, 2010.

M. Stingl, M. Kočvara and G. Leugering. A Sequential Convex Semidefinite Programming Algorithm for Multiple-Load Free Material Optimization. SIAM J. Optimization, 20(1):130-155, 2009.

W. Achtziger and M. Kočvara. Structural Topology Optimization with Eigenvalues. SIAM J. Optimization 18(4): 1129-1164, 2007.

M. Kočvara and M. Stingl. On the solution of large-scale SDP problems by the modified barrier method using iterative solvers. Mathematical Programming, Series B, 109(2-3):413-444, 2007.

M. Kočvara and J. Outrata. Optimization Problems with Equilibrium Constraints and their Numerical Solution. Mathematical Programming B 101(1):119-150, 2004.

P. Beremlijski, J. Haslinger, M. Kočvara, and J. Outrata. Shape Optimization in Contact Problems with Coulomb Friction. SIAM J. Optimization 13(2):561-587, 2002.

M. Kočvara. On the modelling and solving of the truss design problem with global stability constraints. structural and Multidisciplinary Optimization 23(3):189-203, 2002.

M. Kočvara, J. Zowe, and A. Nemirovski. Cascading - An Approach to Robust Material Optimization. Computers & Structures 76: 431-442, 2000. 76: 431-442, 2000.

A. Ben-Tal, M. Kočvara, A. Nemirovski and J. Zowe. Free material optimization via semidefinite programming: the multiload case with contact conditions. SIAM J. Optimization 9(4): 813-832, 1999 and SIAM Review, 42(4): 695-715, 2000.

J. Zowe, M. Kočvara and M. Bendsoe. Free material optimization via mathematical programming. Mathematical Programming, Series B, 79:445-466, 1997., 79:445-466, 1997.

M. Kočvara. An algebraic study of a local multigrid method for variational problems. Applied Mathematics and Computation, 51:17-41, 1992.

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