The Latin American Workshop on Optimization and Control is organized on a biennial basis with the main goal of boosting the development and interaction between these two scientific disciplines in Latin America, by gathering together outstanding senior and junior researchers, postdoctoral fellows and graduate students working in these fields.

The first edition of this event was held in Quito, Ecuador, in July 2008, based on an initiative of researchers working at the Escuela Politécnica Nacional de Ecuador and the Universidad Nacional de Rosario. The second edition was held in 2010 in Rosario, Argentina, with the same organizers. Subsequently, a third edition took place in 2012 in Valparaíso, Chile; the fourth edition in 2014 in Lima, Peru; a fifth edition was held in 2016 in Tandil, Argentina; the sixth edition in 2018 in Quito, Ecuador; the seventh edition in 2023 in Rancagua, Chile and the past one, in 2024 in Córdoba, Argentina.

An additional goal of the workshop is to increase the visibility of Optimization and Control among advanced undergraduate students (in Mathematics, Computer Science, Engineering, Physics, Economics, and others), as well as within the different companies and institutions of the society.