Fostering discussion of research related to control systems, like those used to operate Mars rover vehicles, is the reason behind Missouri S&T’s new Control Systems Forum.

Starting in April, a new online forum designed to connect researchers and students interested in control systems – the automated, computerized control of machines and other systems — will launch online through an effort by Missouri University of Science and Technology.

The Missouri S&T Control Systems Forum will bring researchers the latest information about control systems via web-based live seminars, research papers, online discussions and other services.

The online forum is “dedicated to the dissemination and discussion of new research results, perspectives and applications of automatic control, decision-making and dynamical systems,” says Control Systems Forum director Dr. Tansel Yucelen, an assistant professor of mechanical engineering at Missouri S&T. It will allow students, researchers and others in academia, government and industry “to follow the state-of-the-art approaches from experts in control systems.”

Dr. Tansel Yucelen, director of the Control Systems Forum

The forum is part of Missouri S&T’s Advanced Systems Research Laboratory, which Yucelen also directs.

Already, Yucelen has lined up four experts to present web-based seminars through the Control Systems Forum. The first webinar, “Robust Control in Engineering Modern Cyber Physical Systems,” features Dr. Kevin Wise, a senior technical fellow with Boeing Phantom Works. That webinar will be held at 2 p.m. CDT Friday, April 25.

Other upcoming webinars are as follows:

• “Aircraft Loss of Control: Future Research and Technology Directions,” presented by Dr. Christine Belcastro, a research engineer at NASA’s Langley Research Center, at 2 p.m. CDT Wednesday, May 21.
• “Autocoding Control and Optimization Systems with Code-Level Guarantees,” presented by Dr. Eric Feron, the Dutton/Ducoffe Professor of Aerospace Software Engineering at Georgia Institute of Technology, at 2 p.m. CDT Tuesday, June 10.
• “Game Theory and Distributed Control,” presented by Dr. Jeff Shamma, Julian T. Hightower Chair in Systems and Control at Georgia Institute of Technology.

The one-hour webinars are free but registration is required. To register, visit the Control Systems Forum website .

The idea for the Control Systems Forum came to Yucelen because of missed opportunities.

“There are many conferences on control systems that I would like to attend, but I cannot possibly attend them all,” he says. “I thought it would be nice to offer similar plenary talks online for my group and for the controls community. I came up with the idea of a virtual plenary talk, and the forum grew from that concept.”

Yucelen shared the idea with other organizations. “All loved this new initiative” and encouraged its development, he says.

With assistance from Missouri S&T’s distance and continuing education department, Yucelen established the online forum. Already, he has more than 150 people registered for the first presentation and more than 125 registered for the other sessions.

Yucelen hopes to expand the concept by creating an educational component for high school students.

“The field of control systems is very dynamic and constantly growing,” he says. “It affects everything from robotics and unmanned vehicles to cyber security. It will continue to grow in scope and importance, and I would like to get more students interested in this field.”