A Fields-CQAM Public Lecture
Multiscale modeling of polymer networks for conservation of old oil paintings
Old oil paintings are a precious but vulnerable
part of our cultural heritage. Paint binders, such as
linseed oil, were used by the old masters to help
keep paint pigments in place. However years of
environmental stressors and restoration treatments
have caused the chemical interactions of the
binding polymers with the metal pigments in the
paint to degrade, threatening the integrity of these
paintings.
In this talk, Piet will dive into the use of polymer
network models at different scales - from atomistic
to microscopic - to understand the chemistry and
migration of products caused by degradation
processes in such paintings, and the use of these
models in modern art conservation.
Piet Iedema is a Professor of Chemistry at the
Universiteit van Amsterdam, working in the area
of polymer modeling and oil paint degradation,
where he has authored over one hundred papers.
For more than ten years he has collaborated with
the Rijksmuseum in Amsterdam on various projects
concerning cultural heritage.
12:00 PM Tuesday 12 March 2019
The Fields Institute, 222 College Street
Interested? Register here:
h t t p s : / / w w w. e v e n t b r i t e . c a / e / f i e l d s - c q a m -
interdisciplinary-thematic-program-
tickets-51212616314
Through the graduate course on Decomposition
Based Global Optimization and Its Application to
Energy Systems Engineering, Professor Xiang Li
lectured on the optimization of large-scale energy
networks and showed that these networks often
result in large, extremely complex, non-convex
optimization problems. Li then demonstrated
how to simplify non-convex problems, but
noted that such simplifications often result in
sub-optimal solutions. To address this issue, Li
discussed recent advances in decomposition-
based global optimization, which represent a
more practical means of solving non-convex
problems. Attended by a multidisciplinary group
of mathematics and engineering students from
several of Fields' principal sponsoring universities,
he provided examples how of his methods can be
applied to industrial energy network problems.
The second Workshop on Robust Geometric
Algorithms for Computational Fabrication, a
follow-up to a 2018 workshop, was once again a
great success. It brought together mathematicians,
computer scientists, engineers, architects, and
artists. The diverse set of technical backgrounds
was matched by diverse participant demographics,
attracting women, early-career researchers and
participants form industry leaders like Adobe
Systems and MESH Consultants Inc. On a technical
level, the workshop provided a much needed
forum for computer scientists to introduce
advanced geometric algorithms to researchers
who might use them in real-world applications.
One interesting example came from Jesse Louis-
Rosenberg of Nervous System, a company that
specializes in computational fabrication for making
what they like to call “weird art”. He described
how they use laser cutting and 3D printing to
create complex puzzles and intricate jewelry.
A theme developed over the course of the
workshop: how best to transition algorithms and
contributions from computer graphics to the more
physical fields of engineering and architecture.
The five-day Workshop on Frontier Areas in
Financial Analytics included day-long sessions
on financial analytics for property and casualty
insurance, optimal contracting for data analytics
in finance and insurance, robust finance
and model uncertainty, financial analytics of
high frequency trading and emerging topics
in financial analytics. 25% of all workshop
participants were industry professionals,
underscoring its relevance to the sector.
The Program concluded with the Fields CQAM
Industrial Problem Solving Workshop, which
tackled important challenges in energy, healthcare
and manufacturing while providing new training
opportunities for graduate students and post-
doctoral fellows. Attended by 112 researchers,
participants had
five days to solve
Industrial
problems proposed
PROBLEM SOLVING
by industry leaders
WORKSHOP
Imperial Oil, Sanofi
Pasteur, and tecsis.
MAY 6 - 10, 2019
Responses to the
solutions presented
were positive
problems
and researchers’
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5
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6
recommendations are
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currently being tested
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in industry settings.
Oil Paintings, Pieter Iedema described the
modeling approaches his research group has
employed to map the chemical reactions present
in Renaissance oil paintings. He discussed his
approach for modelling polymer-based paints that
focuses on linseed
oil based binding
Math AND THE
mediums. Much
Dutch Masters
of his presentation
focused on the
works of Rembrandt
van Rijn and other
Dutch masters whose
paintings continue
to degrade due to
12. 03. 2019
Piet Iedema
polymer interactions
with metals. He
also presented
on the challenges
of modelling
modern art, which often involves the mapping
of polyacrylate and photocuring reactions.
The objective of the IPSW is to connect industries with faculty, postdocs, and graduate students who have expertise in
industrial case-studies. This interaction is fostered in the specific context of a problem-solving session over 5 days. The
interaction between industries or laboratories and academia has many potential benefits for both. Academics learn about
interesting potential research problems and find application for their existing tools. Industries and labs get access to
experienced and talented mathematical modellers and problem-solvers.
Dynamic Model Conditioning Call Centre Diarization Software
Sketch to 3D Mathematical Methods to Estimate Burden
of Influenza-Attributable Complications
Imperial Oil
IMC Business Architecture
Autodesk
Gas Turbine Performance Evaluation:
Prediction of Long-Term Degradation Pattern
Tecsis
Web Archives and Big Data for the
Humanities and Social Sciences
University of Toronto Libraries
Sanofi-Pasteur
ORGANIZERS
Matt Davison - WESTERN
James Green - CARLETON
Huaxiong Huang - FIELDS
Kim McAuley- QUEENS
Shirley Mills - CARLETON
Tyler Wilson - FIELDS
Jianhong Wu - YORK
To register, please visit: http://www.fields.utoronto.ca/activities/18-19/fields-cqam-ipsw
The Fields institute for research in mathematical sciences
222 College Street, Toronto, Ontario, M5T 3J1 • www.fields.utoronto.ca • 416-348-9710
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