Top researchers in optimization and control from around the world gathered in Detroit for the 18th annual IFIP TC7 Conference on Systems Modelling and Optimization held in July 1997. The papers offered in this volume were selected from among the 250 plenary, invited, and contributed works presented at the conference. The editors chose these papers to represent the myriad and diverse range of topics within the field -in theory and applications-and to disseminate important new results.The editors have organized the book into seven sections: Distributed Parameter Systems Modelling Optimal Control and Nonsmoooth Analysis Automotive Optimization and Operations Research Applications Reliability Each section contains important advances in theoretical development of optimization and control, new results, and discussions of applications. Treatment of numerous and wide- ranging applications-from turbulent flows, European option pricing, and storage location, to wear processes, passive fire protection, and robotics-make this resource important for academic and industrial researchers working in a variety of areas in systems engineering and applied mathematics.