Hi, I am Lisa Kusch and I joined CASA on January 15th as an assistant professor in the Computational Illumination Optics group. I was born in Aachen, Germany and studied Computational Engineering Science at RWTH Aachen University, where I focused on mathematics and fluid mechanics. I did my PhD and my PostDoc phase in mathematics (Scientific Computing Group) at the University of Kaiserslautern located in the Palatinate Forest in Germany.
My research is about optimization with PDEs, shape optimization, optimization under uncertainties and optimization with multiple objectives. I am specifically interested in introducing new robust design formulations for problems with multiple objectives involving uncertainties, and the development of numerical methods to solve them. Numerical optimization methods that I have been developing and analyzing in the past include one-shot methods for constrained optimization problems, hybridizing gradient-free and gradient-based search methods, and stochastic optimization methods. So far, I have worked with applications from fluid mechanics, structural mechanics and medical imaging. I am looking forward to learn about problems from optics and apply and develop strategies for optimization in this field of application.
In my free time I enjoy making music, also together with my partner Matthias. I play the clarinet in a symphonic wind orchestra and in a clarinet quartet. I like painting and handcrafting. I also take care of my small herd of guinea pigs living together with me in Someren.