Doing More with Less: Communicating Only What Matters to Achieve Your Goal

During his PhD studies, Valdemar Tang Evans researched ways to reduce communication for systems operating at the intersection between the physical and cyber domain. Efficient communication strategies are important as they ensure better utilization of resources which can improve performance in highly constrained scenarios and can help improve system sustainability. In his research, Valdemar explored how to reduce the amount of communication needed in three different situations. Two were specific - target detection and system monitoring during execution, while the third was a more general approach involving the use of runtime output of formally described properties to guide communication behavior.

The research helped advance the field of goal-oriented communication and on several occasions brought together ideas from fields with little or no previous connection.

The PhD study was completed in the Communication, Control & Automation section at the Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering, Faculty of Technical Sciences, Aarhus University.

This summary was prepared by the PhD student. 

Time: Monday, 19 October 2026 at 9:30.
Place: Building 5123, room 313, Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering, Aarhus University, Helsingforsgade 10, 8200 Aarhus N, Denmark
Title of PhD thesis: Methods for Efficient Communication in Cyber-Physical Systems
Contact information: Valdemar Tang Evans, valdemar-tang@hotmail.com, tel.: +45 60 57 60 19
Members of the assessment committee:
Professor Ana Cavalcanti, Department of Computer Science, University of York, United Kingdom
Professor Lars Dittmann, Department of Electrical and Photonics Engineering, Technical University of Denmark, Kongens Lyngby, Denmark
Professor Rune Hylsberg Jacobsen (chair), Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering, Aarhus University, Denmark
Main supervisor: Professor Daniel Enrique Lucani Rötter, Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering, Aarhus University, Denmark
Co-supervisor: Associate Professor Cláudio Ângelo Gonçalves Gomes, Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering, Aarhus University, Denmark
Language: The PhD dissertation will be defended in English. 

The defence is public.
The PhD thesis is available for reading at the Graduate School of Technical Sciences/GSTS, Ny Munkegade 120, building 1521, 8000 Aarhus C.