Art Krener, professor of mathematics at the University of California, Davis, has been awarded a Guggenheim fellowship for his work on "Normal forms and bifurcation of control systems." Control systems are widespread in the modern world, for example allowing us to steer cars, fly airplanes, and run factory assembly lines. Bifurcations are "forks in the road" where a system suddenly changes from one state to another, such as an engine stalling when the fuel supply is reduced. "Art is one of the giants of the field," said Alan Laub, former dean of engineering at UC Davis. Krener's groundbreaking research had brought this technology to the point where it could be used by design engineers, Laub said. The Guggenheim Foundation's fellowship program provides recipients with the opportunity to pursue their work in the manner they choose for six to 12 months. Krener will use the award for travel and to begin work on a new theory to explain bifurcation in complex control systems. The idea grew out of a research project on jet engines sponsored by the U.S. Air Force and involving collaborators at several campuses and institutes. "I realized that this work had wider applicability, and that we needed a general theory," said Krener. He expects to spend several years working out the new theory. Krener has worked at UC Davis since 1971, after completing his Ph.D. at UC Berkeley. He has been a visiting scientist at NASA's Ames Research Center and at UC Berkeley. He is a Fellow of the Institute of Electronic and Electrical Engineers, and a member of the Society for Industrial and Applied Mathematics and of the American Mathematics Society. More information: .