Post Event Report: Control 2026
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.
A key theme throughout CONTROL 2026 was the evolving relationship between control engineering and artificial intelligence (AI). As AI continues to transform engineering systems, the conference highlighted the essential role of control theory in enabling safe, reliable and intelligent autonomous technologies.
Where Control Meets AI
The conference opened with the ACE Forum, bringing together the ACE community to discuss the future direction of automation and control engineering and how research can be translated into real-world impact.
The opening keynote, “Control meets AI: Automation, Autonomy, and Intelligent Machines” by Prof Pramod Khargonekar, explored the growing intersection between control, machine learning and cyber-physical systems. The talk highlighted how the combination of AI and control can support the development of intelligent machines capable of operating safely and effectively in complex environments.
Further keynote sessions continued this focus:
- Prof Miroslav Krstić explored the future of nonlinear control through “Feedback Linearization in Infinite Dimension: From Exact to Machine-Learned”, examining how machine learning approaches can support advanced control methodologies.
- Prof Naira Hovakimyan presented “Ontological Robustness for Certification of Autonomous Systems”, addressing the important challenge of ensuring trust, robustness and verification in AI-enabled autonomous technologies.
From Research Challenges to Real-World Impact
A central discussion at CONTROL 2026 focused on how the control community can help address major technological and societal challenges through collaboration between academia, industry and policymakers.
The ACE Forum panel, “From Research Challenges to Real-World Impact”, explored key questions around:
- How control engineering can support the development of trustworthy AI and autonomous systems
- The challenges of translating research advances into deployable technologies
- Building the skills and expertise needed for the next generation of engineers
- Strengthening collaboration between academic research and industrial applications
The panel was chaired by Prof Antonis Papachristodoulou (University of Oxford) and included:
- Prof Alf Isaksson (ABB)
- Prof Pramod Khargonekar (University of California, Irvine)
- Prof Francesca Boem (University College London)
- Dr Fulvio Forni (University of Cambridge)
- Prof Daniel Coca (Newcastle University)
Industry Perspectives on Future Challenges
The ACE NetworkPlus Missions Session included contributions from industry representatives, providing perspectives on key challenges and opportunities across a range of application areas. Chaired by Prof Nabil Aouf (City St George’s, University of London), the session explored how control engineering and AI-enabled technologies can support future innovation and address real-world challenges.
Industry contributors included:
- Ben Daubney (MBDA) – National Security, Defence and Space
- Xu Zhou (Jaguar Land Rover) – Trusted Autonomous Systems
- Matt Greenhalgh (Siemens) – Clean and Secure Growth
- Prof Michael Chappell (University of Warwick)– Health and Life Sciences
- Kamil Faltynowski (Department for Transport) – Resilient Mobility and Infrastructure
The session highlighted the importance of collaboration between academia and industry to develop robust, trustworthy and deployable solutions across sectors.
Research Highlights and Technical Sessions
The second and third days of CONTROL 2026 featured the main UKACC conference programme, showcasing the breadth of current research across automatic control engineering.
The technical sessions brought together researchers, early-career academics and students to present their latest work through oral presentations and poster sessions. Contributions covered a wide range of topics, reflecting the evolving role of control engineering in addressing complex challenges across science, engineering and society.
The abstract presentations were organised around four key themes:
- Fundamental Advances in Control, Optimisation, and Learning-Based Control Methods – exploring new theoretical developments and emerging approaches in modern control systems.
- AI, Robotics and Autonomous Decision-Making – examining the growing integration of artificial intelligence, machine learning and autonomous technologies.
- Applications of Control in Engineering Systems – highlighting real-world applications of control across engineering domains.
- Control in Education – discussing approaches to developing the next generation of control engineers and supporting skills development.
Alongside the technical presentations, the conference featured contributions from industry and invited speakers, including sessions exploring AI-enabled automation, software-defined control, data-driven identification and the skills required for future control engineers.
The high quality and diversity of the presentations demonstrated the strength of the UK and international control community, highlighting both fundamental research advances and the practical impact of control engineering across sectors.
Celebrating Excellence Across the Community
CONTROL 2026 showcased outstanding contributions from researchers at all career stages, with awards recognising excellence in presentations, posters and impact.
Congratulations to the CONTROL 2026 award winners:
- Best Student Presentation (Joint): Daniel Hobson and Lucy Hodgins
- Best Early-Career Researcher Presentation: Anton Selivanov
- Best Poster: Sary Yehia
- ACE Impact Award: William Rohde
- Wiley Poster Prize: Dave Mansfield
The quality of presentations and posters throughout the conference was exceptionally high, and the awards recognised the strength of research, communication and innovation across the control engineering community.
Bringing Together the Control Community
Across three days, CONTROL 2026 showcased the breadth of modern control engineering, from fundamental theory and optimisation methods to applications in robotics, energy systems, autonomous technologies and engineering education.
The conference provided an opportunity for researchers, practitioners and students to exchange ideas, build collaborations and consider how control engineering will continue to evolve alongside advances in AI and digital technologies.
As intelligent systems become increasingly embedded across society, the role of control engineering remains critical — providing the foundations for systems that are not only autonomous, but also reliable, safe and trustworthy.
Looking Ahead
CONTROL 2026 demonstrated the strength and ambition of the UK control community and reinforced the importance of collaboration across disciplines. By bringing together expertise in control, AI, automation and engineering applications, the conference highlighted the opportunities ahead for developing the next generation of intelligent systems.
The ACE Network would like to thank all speakers, contributors, organisers and participants who helped make CONTROL 2026 a successful and engaging event.
Explore CONTROL 2026
For those who would like to revisit the conference, a range of resources are now available, including the conference proceedings booklet, event photographs and a special episode of the Coffee and Control podcast.
Conference proceedings
- View the CONTROL 2026 Proceedings Booklet
Photo album
- Explore highlights from the conference via the photo album
CONTROL 2026 featured on the Coffee and Control podcast
Hosted by Lucy Hodgins (University of Southampton), this special episode reflects on the discussions and research showcased at CONTROL 2026. Lucy spoke with Professor Daniel Coca and Professor Francesca Boem about the work supporting the UK control community, alongside exploring the research contributions from students and academics across the conference.
Listen here:
- Spotify: https://lnkd.in/e7F7QEqi
- Apple Podcasts: https://lnkd.in/ehjfkHUB
- YouTube: https://lnkd.in/eiYfXhzZ