Post-Event Blog: Industry Workshop on the Role of Automatic Control in Future Mobility
Post-Event Blog: Industry Workshop on the Role of Automatic Control in Future Mobility
Author: Dr Wasif Naeem (Queen’s University Belfast)
On 7 May 2025, Cranfield University played host to a high-impact dynamic gathering of minds at the Industry Workshop on the Role of Automatic Control in Future Mobility, organised by the ACE Network’s Future Mobility Subgroup. The event brought together a vibrant mix of industry leaders, policymakers, academic researchers, and innovators to explore how automatic control is shaping the future of transport across air, road, rail, and marine sectors. This included industry representatives from GBRX, MAHLE Powertrain, Wayve, UKAEA, BMT, Delkia, NOC as well as universities from UK wide such as Imperial College London, University of Birmingham, Queen’s University Belfast, Lancaster University, University of Sheffield University among others.
Lead Organisers: The event was organised by the ACE Network’s Future Mobility Subgroup led by Eric Kerrigan (Imperial College London) and members including Daniel Auger (Cranfield University), Roger Dixon (University of Birmingham), Allahyar Montazeri (Lancaster University), Yuanbo Nie (The University of Sheffield), Raúl Arribas (Airbus), Marko Bacic (Rolls-Royce), Alexander Popov (Airbus) and Wasif Naeem (Queen’s University Belfast).
Exploring the Future of Mobility
The workshop opened with a compelling overview of the challenges and opportunities in future mobility, particularly in the context of system integration, autonomy, electrification, AI-driven decision-making, and safety-critical applications. These themes set the stage for a day of rich dialogue and collaboration.
Industry Insights & Academic Excellence
Attendees heard from a diverse lineup of speakers representing major industry players, pioneering startups, and transport infrastructure providers. Their insights highlighted the critical role of automatic control in enabling sustainable, efficient, and safe mobility systems.
Key Themes and Discussion Highlights
Interactive breakout sessions allowed participants to dive deeper into key research priorities, fostering cross-sector collaboration and helping shape a shared roadmap for the future of mobility. These sessions were instrumental in aligning academic research with real-world industry needs. Key themes of the workshop included discussions on industry challenges and research priorities, bridging the industry-academia divide and building the future mobility roadmap.
During the breakout sessions, participants were divided into smaller groups of 6-8 individuals with a bank of relevant questions divided between the groups to be discussed. Some of the highlights included discussions on the transportation landscape that is rapidly evolving with the advent of autonomous and connected vehicles and where new and complex control challenges are emerging. It was generally agreed that these challenges are unique from those faced in traditional systems, thus requiring innovative approaches tailored to the dynamic and complex nature of modern mobility networks.
Another topical area was Artificial intelligence and Machine Learning which offers promising solutions for enhancing control strategies, potentially enabling more adaptive, predictive, and resilient systems. Integrating these technologies into safety-critical applications, however, introduces significant hurdles such as the safety, verification, and reliability demanding rigorous validation frameworks and robust design methodologies.
Bridging the industry-academia divide was also one of the key considerations. There was a general consensus on more collaborative efforts, clearer communication of theoretical insights, and the development of tools that translate academic advances into practical solutions. On the flip side, it was also deemed vital for the industry to identify any emerging control challenges that have not yet received sufficient attention from the academic community. Addressing these gaps are considered be crucial to ensuring that control systems remain at the forefront of innovation in the mobility sector.
A Vision for Sustainable Transport
The workshop reinforced the importance of automatic control engineering in achieving net-zero emissions, improving operational efficiency, and ensuring safety across increasingly complex transport systems. It also underscored the ACE Network’s commitment to fostering innovation through collaboration between academia and industry.
Thank you to everyone who attended and contributed to the success of this event! Stay tuned for upcoming initiatives from the ACE Network’s Future Mobility Subgroup as we continue to drive forward the conversation on sustainable, intelligent transport systems.
