WELCOME

Professor Adjunct Professor

Department of Applied Mathematics Department of Applied Mathematics

Naval Postgraduate School Baskin School of Engineering

Monterey, CA 93943, USA University of California Santa Cruz

e-mail: wkang@nps.edu Santa Cruz, CA 95064

phone: (831) 656-2207

fax: (831) 656-2355

Education

1991      Ph.D in Mathematics, University of California at Davis

1985      M.Sc. in Mathematics, Nankai University, Tianjin, China

1982      B.Sc. in Mathematics, Nankai University, Tianjin, China

Academic Positions

1994 - present   Assistant, Associate, and Full Professor of Applied Mathematics, Naval Postgraduate School

2021 – Present  Adjunct Professor, Department of Applied Mathematics, University of California, Santa Cruz

2018 - 2021 Chair, Department of Applied Mathematics

2008 - 2011  Director of International and Business Collaborations, American Institute of Mathematics.

1991 - 1994  Visiting Assistant Professor of Systems Science and Mathematics, Washington University in St Louis.

2011 - 2012  Consultant, Electric and Power Research Institute (EPRI). 

2005       Visiting Scientist, Intel Corporation.

Has held visiting positions at: University of California at Davis, AFRL at Wright Patterson AFB, Intel Corporation, Nankai University, and Université de Reims.

Research Interests

Computational nonlinear control, deep learning, data assimilation, normal forms and bifurcations of control systems, engineering and industrial applications.

Awards and honors

• Fellow, SIAM (2025).

• Best Paper Award, 17th IEEE International Conference on Control & Automation, Naples, Italy, June 27-30, 2022.

• Fellow, IEEE (2008).

• Carl E. and Jessie W. Menneken Faculty Award, NPS Foundation, 2003.

• Best Paper Award, 6th International Conference on Control, Automation, Robotics and Vision, Singapore, December 6-8, 2000.

• Department of Mathematics recipient of the NPS Outstanding Research Achievement Award, 1996 and 2000.

• Department of Mathematics recipient of the UC Davis Graduate Student Scholarship, 1990-1991.

Professional Service and Activities

• Vice Chair, SIAM Activity Group on Control and Systems Theory, 2020-2021.

• Co-Chair, Organizing Committee, 2013 and 2017 SIAM Conference on Control and Its Applications.

• Chair, International Program Committee, 10th IFAC Symposium on Nonlinear Control Systems (NOLCOS) 2016. 

• Program director, SIAM Activity Group on Control and Systems Theory, 2016-2017.

• Associate Editors, IEEE Transactions on Automatic Control, 2001-2004. Automatica, 2005-2008; Journal of Control Theory and Applications, 2004-2013.

• Guest Editor, special issue on Advances in Theoretical and Computational Nonlinear Control – Dedicated to the 80th Birthday of Professor Arthur J. Krener, Systems & Control Letters, 2023.

• Guest Editor, Special Issue on Applied Mathematics and Interdisciplinary Research, J. DCDS-B, 2007.

• IFAC Technical Committee on Non-Linear Control Systems, since 2006.

Selected Presentations

• Plenary speaker, Deep Learning Meets System Theory – A Collaborative Frontier in Control Engineering and Data Science, 2025 SIAM Conference on Control and Its Applications, July 28 - August 1, 2025, Montreal, Canada. 

• Keynote Lecturer, 17th IEEE International Conference on Control & Automation, June 27-30, 2022, Naples, Italy.

• Semi-plenary speaker, IFAC NOLCOS, September 1-3, 2010, Bologna, Italy.

• Plenary speaker, 2007 SIAM Conference on Control and Its Applications, June 29-July1, 2007, San Francisco, California.

• Plenary speaker, IFAC 1st Conference on Analysis and Control of Chaotic Systems, June 28-30, 2006, Reims, France.

• Invited Speaker, Intel High Volume Manufacturing Research Committee Speaker Series, October 21, 2004, and April 22, 2005.

• Invited Speaker, Intel Knowledge Connection Speaker Series, January 31, 2004.

Selected Papers

W. Kang, On the structure of Weyl groups of real semi-simple Lie algebras, Annual  Math. (Chinese), 4 ( 1988 ), 397 - 408.

Z. Hou and W. Kang, On the structure of the Cartan groups of real semi-simple Lie algebras, SEA Bull. Math., 15 (1991), 25-32.

W. Kang and A. J. Krener, The observation of a rigid body from measurements of a principle axis, J. of Mathematical Systems, Estimation and Control, 2 (1991), 197-207.

W. Kang and A. J. Krener, Extended quadratic controller normal form and dynamic state feedback linearization of nonlinear systems, SIAM J.  Control and Optimization, 30 (1992), 1319-1337.

W. Kang, Approximate Linearization of Nonlinear Control Systems, Systems and Control Letters, 23 (1994), 43-52.

A. Isidori and W. Kang, H-infinity control via measurement feedback for general nonlinear systems, IEEE Trans. Automat. Contr., 40 (1995), 466-472.

W. Kang, Nonlinear H-infinity control and its application to rigid spacecraft, IEEE Trans. Automat. Contr., 40 (1995), 1281-1285.

W. Kang, Extended controller form and invariants of nonlinear control systems with a single input, J. of Mathematical Systems, Estimation and Control, 6 (1996), 27-51.

C.I.Byrnes, F.Delli Priscoli, A.Isidori, W.Kang, Structurally stable output regulation of nonlinear systems, Automatica, 33 (1997), 369-385.

W. Kang and J. Huang, Calculation of the minimal dimension kth-order robust servo-regulator, IEEE Trans. Automat. Contr.,  42 (1997), 382-386.

W. Kang, Bifurcation and normal form of nonlinear control systems -- part I, SIAM J. Control and Optimization, 36, (1998), 193-212.

W. Kang, Bifurcation and normal form of nonlinear control systems -- part II, SIAM J. Control and Optimization, 36, (1998), 213-232.

W. Kang, G. Gu, A. Sparks and S. Banda, Bifurcation test functions and surge control for axial flow compressors, Automatica, 35, (1999), 229-239.

W. Kang, Bifurcation control via state feedback for systems with a single uncontrollable mode, SIAM J. Control and Optimization, 38, (2000), 1428-1452.

W. Kang, A. Sparks, S. Banda, Coordinated Control of Multi-Satellite Systems, AIAA J. of Guidance, Control, & Dynamics, Vol. 24, No. 2, (2001), 360-368.

I. Kaminer, W. Kang, O. Yakimenko, A. M. Pascoal, Application of nonlinear filtering to navigation system design using passive sensors, IEEE trans. on Aerospace and Electronic Systems, Vol. 37, (2001), 158-172.

W. Kang and F. A. Papoulias, Bifurcation and Control of Submersible Vehicles with Dive Plane Reversal, Latin American Applied Research-An International Journal, Vol. 31, (2001), 141-148.

W. Kang and H. -H. Yeh, Coordinated Attitude Control of Multi-Satellite Systems, International Journal of Robust and Nonlinear Control, Vol. 12, (2002), 185-205.

B. Hamzi and W. Kang, Resonant Terms and Bifurcations of Nonlinear Control Systems with One Uncontrollable Mode, Systems and Control Letters, Vol. 49 (4), 2003, pp. 267-278

W. Kang, M. Xiao, and I. Tall, Controllability and Local Accessibility - A Normal Form Approach, IEEE Trans. on Automat. Contr., Vol. 48, No. 10, (2003), pp1724-1736.

A. J. Krener and W. Kang, Locally Convergent Nonlinear Observers, SIAM J. on Control and Optimization, SIAM J. Control Optim., Vol. 42, No. 1, pp. 155-177, 2003.

B. Hamzi, W. Kang and J.-P. Barbot, Analysis and Control of Hopf Bifurcations, SIAM J. on Control and Optimization, Vol. 42, No. 6, pp. 2200-2220, 2004.

A. J. Krener, W. Kang and D. Chang, Control Bifurcations, IEEE Trans. on Automat. Contr., Vol. 49, pp1231-1246, 2004.

W. Kang, N. Xi, J. Tan and Y. Wang, Formation Control of Multiple Autonomous Robots: Theory and Experimentation, Intelligent Automation And Soft Computing, Volume 10. No. 2, 2004, pp. 1-17.

B. Hamzi, W. Kang and A. J. Krener, The Controlled Center Dynamics, SIAM J. Multiscale Modeling & Simulation, Vol. 3, No. 4, 2005, pp838-852.

W. Kang, M. Song, and N. Xi, Bifurcation Control, Manufacturing Planning, and Formation Control, ACTA Automatica SINICA, Vol. 31, No. 1, 2005, pp. 84-91,

W. Kang, N. Xi, J. Tan, Y. Zhao, and Y. Wang, Coordinated Formation Control of Multiple Nonlinear Systems, J. Control Theory and Applications, Vol. 3, No. 1, pp. 1-19, 2005.

W. Kang, Moving Horizon Numerical Observers of Nonlinear Control Systems, IEEE Trans. on Automat. Contr., Vol. 51, No. 2, pp. 344-350, 2006..

Q. Gong, W. Kang and I. M. Ross, A Pseudospectral Method for the Optimal Control of Constrained Feedback Linearizable Systems, IEEE Transactions on Automatic Control, Vol. 51, No. 7, pp. 1115-1129, 2006.

B. Hamzi, A. J. Krener, W. Kang, The Controlled Center Dynamics of Discrete Time Control Bifurcations, Systems & Control Letters, Vol. 55, No. 7, 585-596, 2006.

W. Kang, Q. Gong, and I. M. Ross, On the Convergence of Nonlinear Optimal Control using Pseudospectral Methods for Feedback Linearizable Systems, International Journal of Robust and Nonlinear Control, Vol. 17, 1251-1277, online publication, 3 January, 2007.

Q. Gong, M. Ross, W. Kang, F. Fahroo, Connections Between the Covector Mapping Theorem and Convergence of Pseudospectral Methods for Optimal Control, Computational Optimization and Applications, online publication, October, 2007.

J. Mao and W. Kang, Benchmark Study of Run-to-Run Controllers for the Lithographic Control of the Critical Dimension, J. Micro/Nanolith. MEMS MOEMS 6(2), 023001 _Apr–Jun 2007.

W. Kang, and N. Bedrossian, Pseudospectral Optimal Control Theory Makes Debut Flight - Saves NASA $1M in under 3 hrs, SIAM News, September, 2007.

H. Zhou, W. Kang, A. J. Krener, H. Wang, Homogeneous flow filed effect on the control of Maxwell materials, J. Non-Newtonian Fluid Mech., 150, 104-115, 2008.

J. Mao and W. Kang, A three tier cooperative control architecture for multi-step semiconductor manufacturing process, Journal of Process Control, online publication June 18, 2008.

W. Kang, I. M. Ross, K. Pham, Q. Gong, Autonomous observability of networked multi-satellite systems, AIAA J. of Guidance, Control, & Dynamics, Vol. 32, No. 3, 869-877, 2009.

N. Bedrossian, S. Bhatt, W. Kang, I. M. Ross, Zero-propellant maneuver guidance: rotating the international space station with computational dynamic optimization, Control Systems Magazine, Vol. 29, No. 5, 53-73, 2009.

W. Kang, Rate of convergence for a Lengendre Pseudospectral optimal control of feedback linearizable systems, J. of Control Theory and Applications, Vol 8(4), 391-405, 2010.

H. Zhou, W. Kang, A.J. Krener, and H. Wang, Observability of viscoelastic fluids, J. of Non-Newtonian Fluid Mechanics, Vol. 165, 425-434, 2010.

W. Kang and L. Xu, Optimal placement of mobile sensors for data assimilations, Tellus A, 64, 17133,  2012.

W. Kang and L. Xu, Partial Observability for Some Distributed Parameter Systems, International Journal of Dynamics and Control, 2(4), 587-596, 2014.

J. Qi, K. Sun, and W. Kang, Optimal PMU Placement for Power System Dynamic State Estimation by Using Empirical Observability Gramian, IEEE Trans. Power Systems, 30(4), 2041-2054, 2015.

J. Qi, W. Huang, K. Sun, and W. Kang, Optimal placement of dynamic var sources by using empirical controllability covariance, IEEE Trans. on Power Systems, 32(1), 240-249, 2017.

W. Kang and L. Wilcox, Solving 1D conservation laws using pontryagin’s minimum principle, Journal of Scientific Computing, 71(1), 144-165, 2017.

W. Kang and L. C. Wilcox, Mitigating the curse of dimensionality: sparse grid characteristic method for optimal feedback control and HJB equations, Comput. Optim. Appl., 68(2), 289-315, 2017.

B. Wang, K. Sun, W. Kang, Nonlinear modal decoupling of multi-oscillator systems with applications to power systems, IEEE Access, Vol. 6, 2018, pp. 9201-9217.

Hamidreza Modares, Frank L. Lewis, Wei Kang, Ali Davoudi, Optimal synchronization of heterogeneous nonlinear systems with unknown dynamics, IEEE Transactions on Automatic Control, Vol. 63, No. 1, 2018.

Q. Gong, W. Kang, C. Walton, I. Kaminer, H. Park, Partial observability analysis of an adversarial swarm model, AIAA J. Guidance, Control, and Dynamics, published online: 28 Nov 2019, Vol. 43, No. 2, 2020.

W. Kang and L. Xu, Some quantitative characteristics of error covariance for Kalman filters, Tellus A: Dynamic Meteorology and Oceanography, 73(1), 1-19, 2021. 

T. Nakamura-Zimmerer, Q. Gong, W. Kang, QRnet: optimal regulator design with LQR-augmented neural networks, IEEE Control Systems Letters, Vol. 5, No. 4, 2021.

T. Nakamura-Zimmerer, Q. Gong, W. Kang, Adaptive Deep Learning for High-Dimensional Hamilton-Jacobi-Bellman Equations, SIAM J. Scientific Computing, 43:2, 1221-1247, 2021.

W. Kang, Q. Gong, T. Nakamura-Zimmerer, F. Fahroo, Algorithms of data generation for deep learning and feedback design: A survey, Physica D: Nonlinear Phenomena, Vol. 425, 2021.

W. Kang, Q. Gong, Feedforward neural networks and compositional functions with applications to dynamical systems, SIAM J. on Control and Optimization, Vol. 60, No. 2, 786-813, 2022.

Q. Gong, W. Kang and F. Fahroo, Approximation of Compositional Functions With ReLU Neural Networks, Systems & Control Letters, 175, 105508, 2023.

A. Srivastava, W. Kang and D. M. Tartakovsky, Feature-Informed Data Assimilation, Journal of Computational Physics, Vol. 494, 2023. 

W. Kang, K. Sun and L. Xu, Data-driven computational methods for the domain of attraction and Zubov’s equation, IEEE Transactions on Automatic Control, 69(3), 1600-1611, 2024. 

W. Kang, L. Xu and H. Zhou, Observability and effective region of partial differential equations with application to data assimilation, SIAM Journal on Scientific Computing, 46(3), 249-271, 2024.