The 15th UKACC International Conference on Control (CONTROL 2026) brought together researchers, industry representatives and students in Newcastle upon Tyne from 23–25 June 2026 for three days of discussion, collaboration and exploration of the future of automatic control engineering.

Hosted at Newcastle University’s Frederick Douglass Centre, the conference was jointly organised by the United Kingdom Automatic Control Council (UKACC) and the Automatic Control Engineering (ACE) Network, marking the first time ACE has co-hosted the UKACC Control Conference.

As the ACE Network enters the final months of its current funding period, which runs until the end of 2026, we are launching two community consultations to help shape the future of the UK automation and control engineering community.

The UK Automatic Control Engineering (ACE) Network has published a new Position Paper making the case for Automatic Control Engineering as a critical national capability for the UK’s prosperity, security and sustainable growth.

The ACE Clean Growth committee focuses on harnessing the power of Automatic Control Engineering to drive sustainable innovation, tackle complex climate and energy challenges, and support the UK’s Net-Zero ambitions through smart, efficient systems across energy, manufacturing, and agriculture. This event served as a collaborative platform for experts from academia, industry, and policy to engage in meaningful discussion about the essential challenges of achieving a low-carbon future.

The ACE Sandpit Workshop, held on 8 September 2025 at the University of Sheffield, focused on exploring the role of automatic control in the rapidly evolving field of future mobility. The event sought to address key challenges within the domain of automatic control engineering and its application in mobility systems.