Bio: Tony Nolan is a data mathematician, futurist, profiler, inventor, musician, artist, and author. He also works with horses, plays several sports, believes in God, and supports his local communities. Tony scored a perfect score on an IQ test, and received an Order of Australia Medal for serviced to the Australian Community, a fellow in the Institute of Analytics Profession Australia, and a Horary Fellowship from the Teachers Guild of NSW. Tony has a mixed race background, which includes Australian, British, Dalmatian, French, Irish, Persian, and Scandinavian. Tony also has ADHD, Asperger’s, and Dyslexia. Tony’s research and invention focuses on the areas of Artificial Life, Astronomy, Cognition, Data Science, Decision Sciences, Fuzzy Logic, Gamification, Information Science, Interval Math, Gap Analysis, Mathematics, Non-Binary Computing, Predictive Modelling, Quazi Fractals, Profiling, Relativity, Risk Analysis, System of Systems, Sentient Analysis, Symbiotic Relativity, Text Analysis, Time, and Writing. Tony has invented: Nolan’s Mathematics, an axis offset which allows the properties of binary to be applied to interval and ratio numbers, a digital hash (Discrete Cosine Transformation), a text message obscuration system, a Universe Interconnection of Things model, CogKnowlogy, Hyperpanometrics, Deep Fuzzy Logic (formally 3d Fuzzy Logic), System of System Gap Relativity, and a Relative Fuzzy Logic Time Series Forecasting Tool. Tony’s latest innovations are in new ways to map risk (PreSystemNation), Predictive Fuzzy Moving Averages, and the base unit for all data & decision modelling (the Energy Brick).

Abstract: Strategic information transmission refers to a variation (and a substantial one) of the standard paradigm of information transmission in communication (design of an encoder and a decoder in unison to minimize some distortion measure), where now the encoder and the decoder have (intentionally) misaligned objectives. This leads to a non-cooperative game with a dynamic (non-classical) information structure, where one can adopt as a solution concept either the Nash or the Stackelberg equilibrium. The talk will introduce this class of problems, which have been of interest to multiple communities, including economics, information theory, communication, signal processing, networking, and control, having picked up considerable steam very recently. As an overview of the topic, both old and new results will be presented, with one of the highlights (and perhaps a surprising element) being that there appears to be a major difference between the structures of the solutions under Nash and Stackelberg equilibria, even when the channel is Gaussian and the (misaligned) distortion measures are quadratic. Strategic information transmission is an important underlying feature of deception games, which will be highlighted in the talk, along with non-trivial extensions to multi-stage scenarios, covering sensor networks, cyber-physical systems, and multi-agent systems, with adversarial intrusion and elements of deception.

Abstract: As a brand-new doctoral graduate looking for a teaching and research position at a university in the 80s, like many of you, I intended to join a major American university to solely focus on teaching and research and intentionally leave the "dirty" job of administration to the unwises. So I often said that I never wanted to be an administrator at a university. Never say "never"! In this speech I will share with you how I managed to expand my knowledge in linear time-varying multivariable control systems, which you could guess stemmed from my doctoral dissertation to obtain my first grant as a small purchase from NASA to investigate closed-kinematic chain mechanism (CKCM) for potential development of robot manipulators for space applications. This initial grant enabled me to ultimately receive a multi-million dollar grant from NASA to develop one of the first CKCM robot end-effectors for high-precision assembly and maintenance of the International Space Station (ISS). Along the way, we solved a number of issues of CKCM manipulators including dynamics, kinematics and intelligent control of these robots. I will also share how I as a very passionately administration-resisting person became a department chair and then a four-term dean of an engineering college totalling 20 years of administration. Key characteristics for a successful academic leader will be presented. Along with the discussion of the dos and don'ts of an administrative job, the stark difference between a manager and a leader will be reviewed. The notion of avoidable and unavoidable enemies in administration will be discussed. Finally I will demonstrate the usefulness of fuzzy logic in successful administration.