Physics of the artificial and its beauty

Valedictory lecture prof. dr. Ton de Kok. In his valedictory lecture, Ton de Kok looks back on 40 years of practice-driven research on the design and control of operational processes. The research and its applications cover production systems, service systems, supply chains and transportation systems. These artificial systems are designed to meet the requirements of users and consumers for products and services. A particular feature of artificial systems is the high level of uncertainty they have to deal with. A supermarket offers its assortment without knowing exactly which customers come to visit the store and what items they will buy. This implies balancing the objective to satisfy the needs of the unknown customer with the objective to limit the investment in items on the shelf. This balancing of conflicting objectives under uncertainty is at the heart of the design and management of artificial systems. Mathematical analysis of artificial systems under uncertainty may reveal surprisingly simple causal relationships, design laws and optimal control mechanisms. The fact that the outcomes may be counterintuitive is even more reason to spend time on the beauty of the physics of the artificial.ts in the International Space Station, carried out by the Dutch astronaut André Kuipers. The entire lecture will be illustrated with live demonstrations.