Scott B. Lindstrom

Optimisation, Experimental Mathematics, Variational Analysis

Centre for Optimisation and Decision Science

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Postdoctoral Fellow at The Hong Kong Polytechnic University department of Applied Mathematics: 2018 - 2021.

Host: Ting Kei Pong

Doctor of Philosophy in Mathematics, University of Newcastle, Australia, January 2019.

Advisers: Jonathan M. Borwein (principal), Heinz H. Bauschke, Brailey Sims, Bishnu P. Lamichhane

Dissertation: Proximal Point Algorithms, Dynamical Systems, and Associated Operators: Modern Perspectives From Experimental Mathematics (pdf at Nova)

Master of Science in Mathematics, Portland State University, U.S.A., June 2015.

Adviser: Nguyen Mau Nam

Bachelor of Arts  in Psychology, Central Washington University, U.S.A., June 2008.

International Student Exchange Program at Stellenbosch University, South Africa, 2007.

TEACHING APPOINTMENTS

Lecturer at Curtin University: 2021-present.

Instructor/PhD candidate at University of Newcastle department of Mathematics: 2018.

Instructor/Graduate Fellow at Fariborz Maseeh Department of Mathematics and Statistics. Portland State University: 2014-2015.

RESEARCH

My publications are available on the research page. 

My main area of research is optimisation. I design algorithmic frameworks for handling the large problems we see in operations research, machine learning, signal recovery, and data science. I am particularly interested in operator splitting, and in the study of error bounds for conic-linear programming. Other areas I have published in - or am presently working in - include differential equations, number theory, special functions, differential geometry, and experimental mathematics. The unifying theme of my research is my approach; I employ geometry and computational tools to build new frameworks and alternative models that reveal paths to solutions. Whenever possible, I try to report these underlying models in the final publications. 

AWARDS AND DISTINCTIONS

Sponsorships

• Each year, ANZIAM selects one AMSI Summer School subject to sponsor. In 2023, they selected Mathematical Optimization and Modern Applications with Python.

Grants and Fellowships

1. MATRIX-Simons-Young Scholar (2025).

2. MATRIX Institute: full room and board for 20 persons for international summit MATRIX Workshop: Splitting Algorithms - Advances, Challenges, and Opportunities (2025).

3. AMSI-AustMS Workshop Grant for international summit MATRIX Workshop: Splitting Algorithms - Advances, Challenges, and Opportunities (2025).

   1. Australian Mathematical Sciences Institute (AMSI) will support international keynote travel

   2. Australian Mathematical Society (AustMS) will support student travel

4. MoCaO grant to support student participation at the international summit MATRIX Workshop: Splitting Algorithms - Advances, Challenges, and Opportunities (2025).

5. MATRIX-Simons Grant to support the international summit MATRIX Workshop: Splitting Algorithms - Advances, Challenges, and Opportunities (2025).

6. Curtin University Grant Success Oversight Panel award (2024).

7. Australian Mathematical Society Kovalevskaya Grant awarded April 2022 to participate in ICM2022 Down Under, the Australian satellite meeting for the global online quinquennial International Congress of Mathematicians.

8. Alf van der Poorten Travelling Fellowship, awarded July 2019 to fund the project, "Convex Duality as a Projective Duality." 

9. Australian Mathematical Society Lift-Off Fellowship, awarded February 2019 to fund the project “The Fitzpatrick Distance.”

Academic Scholarships

1. 2015 The University of Newcastle International Postgraduate Research Scholarship (UNIPRS) awarded to fully fund my doctoral studies.

2. 2015 The University of Newcastle Postgraduate Research Scholarship Central (UNRSC) awarded to fully fund my living costs during my doctoral studies.

Other Academic awards of 1000AUD or more

1. University of Newcastle Faculty of Science Higher Degree by Research Excellence Award for 2018, March 2019.

2. University of Newcastle Faculty of Science Best Higher Degree by Research (HDR) Engagement Award, November 2018.

3. Higher Degree by Research International Conference Scholarship, 2017 (to visit and give a seminar at COCANA research centre at University of British Columbia Okanagan, speak at West Coast Optimization Meeting at Simon Fraser University, and speak at Splitting Algorithms, Modern Operator Theory and Applications at Casa Matematica Oaxaca).

Mathematical Art Prizes

1. Winning image, Australian Mathematical Society special interest group Mathematics of Computation and Optimization (MoCaO) poster competition, July 2016 (image from "The Douglas-Rachford Method for Ellipses and p-Spheres").

2. Most popular image at "A Night of MAPS and Art," University of Newcastle, 2017 (image from "Phase Portraits of Hyperbolic Geometry").

3. Featured images at Bridges Math Art conference in Stockholm Sweden in 2018 (images from "The Douglas-Rachford Method for Ellipses and p-Spheres" and "Computing Intersections of Implicity Specified Plane Curves")

4. Three prizes in maths art category--- First Place ("Three rotations of hyperbolic space"), Judges choice ("Three rotations of hyperbolic space"), and Judges choice ("A very Riemannian Situation: the function that bears his name plotted on the sphere that bears his name") CARMA Art/Poster Competition open to all of AustMS, 2020 (both images from "The Art of Modern Homo Habilis Mathematicus, or: What Would Jon Do?")

Other distinctions

1. Honourable mention for BH Neumann prize for best student talk at 2016 meeting of Australian Mathematical Society ("The Douglas-Rachford Method for Ellipses and p-Spheres").

2. AMSI Travel Grant for attending AMSI Optimise, 2018.

3. Selected to attend and showcase research at 8th Heidelberg Laureate Forum.

4. Invited participant in MATRIX Program: Algebraic Geometry, Approximation and optimisation, Creswick, Australia, 5-18 February 2018.

5. Finalist for Curtin STEM ECR award 2021.

Invitations

1. Invited visit for two months at University of Western Ontario, May and June, 2016.

2. A list of short-term fully funded invitations is available on request. 

SERVICE AND ADMIN

With Students

• I serve a three year term on the AustMS student support committee, and as chair in 2024.

• I launched and served as faculty adviser to the Mathematical Sciences Club at Curtin University (2022-2024).

• I created and organized Borwein Meetings for Research Higher Degree Students and Postdocs, at University of Newcastle, 2018.

Editorial Work

• I serve on the editorial board for the Handbook of Visual, Experimental and Computational Mathematics (estimated 2027).

• I serve as Associate Editor for the journal Maple Transactions.

• I serve as Associate Editor for the journal Fixed Point Theory and Algorithms for Sciences and Engineering (formerly Fixed Point Theory and Applications).

• I write for Math Reviews and frequently referee articles in my field. A breakdown of the journals I have refereed for is available at my ORCiD page.

Organization

• I am organizing the 2025 Matrix workshop Splitting Algorithms – Advances, Challenges, and Opportunities .

• I serve on the program committee of the 2024 joint annual meeting of Australian Mathematical Society, New Zealand Mathematical Society, and American Mathematical Society.

• I organized WOMBAT 2022, Australia's annual optimisation conference.

• I organized the Optimization special session for the 65th annual meeting of Australian Mathematical Society in 2021.

• I organized AVOCADO: Analysis of Variations, Optimal Control, and Applications to Design and Operations, at University of Newcastle, September 25-26, 2018.

• Tour committee for Splitting Algorithms, Modern Operator Theory, and Applications: Oaxaca, Mexico, 18-22 September, 2017.

• I assisted with registration, technical support, and excursion for 12th International Conference on Fixed Point Theory and its Applications: Newcastle, Australia, 24-28 July, 2017.

Executive Service

• I serve as Secretary for the AustMS special interest group Mathematics of Computation and Optimisation (2023--).

PROFESSIONAL SOCIETIES AND SPECIAL INTEREST GROUPS

Groups in which I am regularly active (e.g. event organizer, invited guest, research/image contributor) are listed; all other memberships are omitted.

• Computer Assisted Research Mathematics and its Applications (CARMA)

• Mathematics of Computation and Optimization (MoCaO)

• Australian Mathematical Society (AustMS)

TALKS AND PRESENTATIONS

See the talks page.

SUPERVISION

See the supervision page.

OTHER PROFESSIONAL EXPERIENCE

I taught and trained instructors for American Red Cross from 2008 to 2013. Other jobs I've worked include life saver/trainer for various pools, kitchen staff, crop tester, deposit clerk, and musician.

FURTHER INFORMATION

Languages:  English and Spanish.

Extra-Academic Interests:  Composition (literary and music), mountaineering, surfing, wilderness rescue, emergency medicine.

Nationality:  I am a citizen of the United States and a permanent resident of Australia.