Clean Growth Archives - ACE - Automatic Control Engineering Network

Bilal A. Mubdir

Clean Growth Committee Member

Bilal A. Mubdir is a Lecturer in Electrical and Control Engineering at Sulaimani Polytechnic University and a PhD researcher in Aerospace Control Engineering at the University of Leicester. His doctoral work focuses on energy optimization and control strategies for rotary-wing UAVs, emphasizing efficient trajectory generation and advanced control techniques.

With a robust background in control systems and embedded solutions, Bilal combines academic rigour with hands-on expertise. He heads the Training and Research Department at UrukTech Electronics, a private company specializing in innovative embedded systems solutions. In this role, he fosters the integration of cutting-edge control methodologies into industrial applications, training the next generation of engineers and bridging the gap between theoretical knowledge and practical implementation.

Bilal’s research interests span Model Predictive Control (MPC), energy-efficient system design, and optimal trajectory generation, reflecting his commitment to advancing both the science and application of modern control systems.

Min Pan

Clean Growth Committee Member

Min Pan is a Professor and a UKRI Future Leaders Fellow in the Department of Mechanical Engineering. She joined the department as a Lecturer in 2016. She was awarded her PhD from the University of Bath in June 2012 for research into fluid-borne noise control in digital hydraulic systems. After graduation, she continued at Bath as a postdoctoral researcher working on the efficient fluid power control project in the Centre for Power Transmission and Motion Control. She worked as an Assistant Professor in the School of Mechanical Engineering at Zhejiang University in 2014 and 2015. Prof Pan has been awarded prestigious Fellowships from the Royal Academy of Engineering (2019-2021), The Leverhulme Trust (2020-2022) and the UKRI.

Pan’s main research interests include intelligent machine systems, numerical modelling of dynamic systems, control and robotics. In 2014, she was awarded the prestigious IMechE Donald Julius Groen Prize for outstanding achievements in the areas of mechatronics, informatics and control. Her work has been featured on the Front Covers for a variety of world-leading journals, including Advanced Science, Advanced Energy Materials, Advanced Materials Technologies, Advanced Intelligent Systems, iSceince (Cell) and Soft Matter. Min is collaborating with academics and industrial partners.

Her research encompasses fundamental analysis, complex modelling, novel design and innovative applications. Her research has been widely funded by the UKRI, Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council (EPSRC), the Royal Academy of Engineering, the Royal Society, the Leverhulme Trust and the Innovate UK. Total research fund over £4.2m.

Giuliano Punzo

Clean Growth Committee Member

Giuliano Punzo is a Lecturer in the School of Electrical and Electronic Engineering at the University of Sheffield. He earned his PhD at the University of Strathclyde, Glasgow, and held postdoctoral appointments, at the University of Glasgow, Strathclyde and Sheffield.

An aerospace engineer by training, after leaving the industry, Giuliano’s interests grew in the broad area of control theory and complex systems. His current research aims at understanding complex dynamics at the interface between social and technical systems. These include the use of public services such as transportation or water systems, how these impact the demographic and the resilience of both the infrastructure and the community they serve.

Research interests include network theory, control theory, consensus, complexity, socio-technical systems and game theory.

Giuliano is the director of the Sheffield Urban Flows Observatory and a Strategy Board member of the STFC Data Analytics Facility for National Infrastructure (DAFNI).

Constantinos (Kostas) Theodoropoulos

Co-Chair of the Clean Growth Challenge Research Committee

Constantinos (Kostas) is Professor of Chemical and Biochemical Systems Engineering, in the Department of Chemical Engineering (CE).

He received his BSc in Mathematics from the Aristotle University of Thessaloniki in Greece and his MSc and PhD in Chemical Engineering from the State University of New York at Buffalo, USA. He then worked as a post-doctoral associate in the Department of Chemical Engineering at Princeton University.

He sustains a world-leading group in the interdisciplinary area of industrial biotechnology and multi-scale process dynamics of biochemical systems. I integrate advanced detailed computational modelling, optimisation, experimental design and control along with innovative experiments at a range of scales for process and product design. The focus is on the innovative bioproduction of added value products from sustainable biomass resources.

His research contributions in the area of Industrial biotechnology have been recognised by the 2011 IChemE Innovation and Excellence Award for bioprocessing. His research group develops state-of-the-art computational algorithms for the dynamics, optimisation and controller design of complex large- and multi-scale (bio)chemical systems and follows this through to implementation for the experimental bioconversion of biorefinery byproducts to added value chemicals. He has over 150 publications, in high quality scientific journals and indexed book chapters as well as a US patent granted. He has secured and led a number of research grants from EPSRC, BBSRC, InnovateUK, Royal Society, and EU and sustains successful collaborations with the industry. He has also given plenary, keynote, and invited lectures/seminars at large international conferences, prestigious workshops, and research-intensive universities around the world.

Mehmet Mercangoz

Clean Growth Committee Member

Mehmet Mercangöz is the ABB Reader in Autonomous Industrial Systems within the Department of Chemical Engineering at Imperial College London. He earned his PhD from the University of California, Santa Barbara, in 2007, focusing on distributed model predictive control and real-time optimization of process systems. Following his graduate studies, Mehmet joined ABB Corporate Research in Switzerland, where he held key positions, including Senior Principal Scientist, Group Leader for Control and Optimization, and Technology Manager for Artificial Intelligence. During his tenure at ABB, he led initiatives in energy systems optimization, the development of electro-thermal energy storage concepts, and advanced automation technologies for industrial applications. Since 2021, Mehmet has led the Autonomous Industrial Systems Lab at Imperial College London, which focuses on developing intelligent systems to enhance the safety, reliability, and productivity of industrial processes.

His research integrates process modelling, model predictive control, optimization, and machine learning to address challenges across various industries, including gas compression, power generation, pulp and paper production, thermal energy storage, and heat pumps. A significant aspect of his work is advancing decarbonization and enabling zero-emission industrial operations. In addition to his academic and research work, Mehmet serves on the board of the ABB Jürgen Dormann Foundation for Engineering Education, which supports engineering and science students worldwide with scholarships. The foundation collaborates with partner universities in multiple countries, fostering the development of future leaders in engineering and science.

Alessandra Parisio

Chair of the Clean Growth Challenge Research Committee

Alessandra Parisio is a Professor of Control of Sustainable Energy Networks, in the Department of Electrical and Electronic Engineering (EEE) at the University of Manchester, where she is PGT Director for the department. She has been principal or co-investigator on research projects supported by UKRI, European Commission, and industrial partners in the areas of building climate control and distributed optimisation and control for flexibility service and grid support provision, totalling nearly £7 million as University of Manchester share.

Prof. Parisio is IEEE senior member, co-chair of the IEEE RAS Technical Committee on Smart Buildings and vice-Chair for Education of the IFAC Technical Committee 9.3. Control for Smart Cities. She has been in the program committees of several international conferences and has served/serves as editor of journals within the control and power system areas, currently of the IEEE Transactions on Control of Network Systems, European Journal of Control and Applied Energy.

Prof. Parisio received the IEEE PES Outstanding Engineer Award in January 2021 and the Energy and Buildings Best Paper Award for (for a ten-year period between 2008-2017) in January 2019.

Her main research interests span the areas of control engineering, in particular Model Predictive Control, distributed optimisation, stochastic constrained control, and power systems, in particular energy management systems under uncertainty, optimisation and control of multi-energy networks and distributed flexibility.

Ross Drummond

ECR and Clean Growth Committee Member

Ross Drummond is Lecturer in Control and Systems Engineering at the University of Sheffield. He completed his MEng degree from Imperial College London and his DPhil from the University of Oxford.

His research aims to improve our understanding of systems described by feedback loops. A particular focus is on applications to lithium-ion battery technology where he has developed methods to improve manufacturing, modelling, and pack-level performance. Besides batteries, another main application is on improving the robustness of neural networks using control theory techniques.