April 14, 2017

The Past, Present and Future of Control

Abstract: Rapidly increasing computational resources have affected our approach to dealing with uncertainty in feedback control. This lecture will be illustrated by examples from process control and other application areas like automotive and power systems.

Bio: Manfred Morari was head of the Department of Information Technology and Electrical Engineering at ETH Zurich from 2009 to 2012, and head of the Automatic Control Laboratory from 1994 to 2008. Prior to his time at ETH Zurich, he was the McCollum-Corcoran Professor of Chemical Engineering and Executive Officer for Control and Dynamical Systems at the California Institute of Technology. From 1977 to 1983, Morari was on the faculty of the University of Wisconsin. He obtained a diploma from ETH Zurich and a doctoral degree from the University of Minnesota, both in chemical engineering.

Morari's interests are in constrained and robust control, and his research is internationally recognized. The analysis techniques and software developed in his group are used in universities and industry throughout the world. He has received numerous awards, including the Eckman Award, Ragazzini Award and Bellman Control Heritage Award from the American Automatic Control Council; the Colburn Award, Professional Progress Award and CAST Division Award from the American Institute of Chemical Engineers; and the Control Systems Technical Field Award and the Bode Lecture Prize from IEEE. He is a Fellow of IEEE, AIChE and IFAC. In 1993 he was elected to the U.S. National Academy of Engineering, and in 2015 to the UK Royal Academy of Engineering.Morari has also served on the technical advisory boards of several major corporations.