UPCOMING EVENTS

14th IFAC Symposium on Dynamics and Control of Process Systems, including Biosystems (DYCOPS) 2025

Plenary Speakers:
Cleo Kontoravdi (Imperial College London)
Jay H. Lee (University of Southern California)
Daniel Abramovitch (Agilent Technologies)

Date: June 24-27, 2025

Location: Bratislava, Slovakia

Organized by: STUBA

Important deadlines:

Invited sessions deadline: October 14, 2024

Submission of papers: October 21, 2024

25th International Conference on Process Control

Date: June 3-6, 2025

Location: Štrbské Pleso, Slovakia

Organized by: STUBA and Czech Technical University in Prague

The objective of the 25th International Conference on Process Control is to bring together theory experts and control systems practitioners, to evaluate the new avenues for techniques, design procedures and instruments in process control. The conference will feature plenary and keynotes lectures, standard parallel sessions, a poster session, a dedicated workshop, and a rich social program. Contributions are invited to range from theoretically rigorous research works to industrial applications.

Paper submission is open until January 19, 2025 and the early registration deadline is March 30, 2025.

CONSORTIUM MEETINGS AND PROJECT EVENTS

At the ADCHEM conference in Toronto in July 2024, the partners of the FrontSeat project had the opportunity to meet with the project's Advisory Board. During the General Assembly meeting, we reviewed the project's progress and discussed preparations for upcoming activities.

On April 8-11, 2024, the University of Pisa (Italy) welcomed Slovak colleagues Andrea Biskupičová and Alžbeta Lapšanská from the Slovak University of Technology in Bratislava. Job shadowing in EC funding has been the focus of the mission.

From May 12th to 14th, 2024, Francesca Ceron from the University of Pisa organized a 3-day event at the Slovak University of Technology in Bratislava (STUBA) as part of the FrontSeat project. The event featured presentations on various funding schemes, including the MSCA Postdoctoral Fellowships, where Radoslav Paulen shared his experiences and tips for securing funding. The sessions also included hands-on workshops, allowing participants to review applications and discuss evaluation results.

On the second and third day, attendees explored the MSCA Doctoral Network and simulated a panel evaluation process, followed by a presentation of the ERC scheme with insights from Gianluca Fiori. This was the final event in the series held at STUBA by colleagues from the UNIPI Research Services Office, who were thanked for their continuous support in helping researchers and project managers to enhance their skills in project preparation.

We are thrilled to share that FrontSeat has been recognized as the Project of the Month by the Centre of European Projects. This prestigious recognition highlights the innovative and impactful work that has been dedicated over the past 24 months by the project consortium consisting of STUBA, RUB (Germany), and UNIPI (Italy).

FRONTSEAT'S PROGRESS

We invite you to watch a short video highlighting FrontSeat's recent progress. The video provides an overview of key statistics and achievements, showcasing the work we've accomplished so far.

UPCOMING EVENTS

The 2024 FrontSeat Summer School, conducted in alignment with the objectives of the FrontSeat project, was held from September 9-13 at the Department of Civil and Industrial Engineering, University of Pisa, Italy, under the supervision of Prof. Gabriele Pannocchia. The organization team was completed by the two researchers Dr. Riccardo Bacci di Capaci and Dr. Marco Vaccari.

The second iteration of the FrontSeat Summer School focused on Optimization-Based Control, providing participants with in-depth theoretical foundations and practical applications of advanced methods for optimal-based control. The program attracted experts, researchers, and students, with twenty-two PhD students from eight European countries attending. Over the course of five days, attendees engaged in theoretical lectures, hands-on workshops, and collaborative discussions aimed at deepening their understanding of optimization-based control methods. Social activities were also incorporated to foster networking and interdisciplinary exchange.

ACADEMIA MEETS INDUSTRY

Academia Meets Industry comprises a series of seminars meticulously crafted to cultivate substantive dialogues between academia and industry pioneers. Our overarching objective is to facilitate the alignment of academic research trajectories with the pressing needs and dynamic challenges of the industrial landscape.

The companies (associated with the Academia Meets Industry) proposed more than 40 assignments for the students final works (master theses), which could be offered to the students supervised by the university partners of the industrial council.

On September 5th, members of FrontSeat's Industry Council for Cybernetics gathered at a ceremony held at STUBA to celebrate the 60th anniversary of the Institute of Automatization, Informatization, and Measurement (UAIM) at the Faculty of Mechanical Engineering. After presentations and speeches by faculty and university representatives, Assoc. Prof. Martin Juhás, head of UAIM, awarded alumni and key collaborators from academia and industry, including several companies involved in the FrontSeat project. Industrial partners such as Micro-Epsilon Inspection, SCHUNK Intec, Siemens, and others received commemorative plaques. Representatives from other FrontSeat partners, including Garrett Motion Slovakia and ABB, were also in attendance.

Following the ceremony, guests were given guided tours of UAIM laboratories, showcasing projects supported by FrontSeat and its Industry Council members. The event concluded with a networking banquet, fostering discussions and potential new collaborations. Preceding the ceremony, UAIM STUBA hosted a two-day symposium for automation, cybernetics, and informatics institutes from the Czech and Slovak Republics, where representatives shared research insights and Prof. Miroslav Fikar presented the achievements of the FrontSeat project.

EXCELLENCE IN SCIENCE

German chancellor Olaf Scholz visited the labs at the Research Centre for the Engineering of Smart Product Service Systems (ZESS) at Ruhr-Universität Bochum (RUB) in August, 2024.

We want to thank the members of our team, David Müller, Nora Lindner, Julian Otte, Raphael Dyrska, Jonas Euringer, and Ali Mjalled, for their support in preparing for the visit. Many thanks also to our partners Annette Kluge and Olga Vogel of AOW@RUB, as well as Aydin Sezgin and Kevin Weinberger of DKS@RUB.

The 12th IFAC Symposium on Advanced Control of Chemical Processes (ADCHEM 2024) was held in Toronto from July 14 to 17, 2024. The International Program Committee has prepared an exciting scientific program that explores recent advances in the control of chemical, biochemical, and related process systems. Both academic and industrial control engineers had the opportunity to present their work and exchange research ideas with colleagues from all around the world.

ADCHEM provided a perfect opportunity for the FrontSeat team to keep in touch with the recent developments in the field of automatic control.

We had the opportunity to engage with peers, present our latest research, and explore potential collaborations for future projects, and much more. We presented four research papers, highlighting our latest findings covering a range of topics within process engineering which were well-received by the international audience.

The 12th IFAC Symposium on Fault Detection, Supervision, and Safety for Technical Processes, held from June 4 to 7, 2024, in Ferrara, Italy, brought together industry and academic leaders to discuss key topics such as energy solutions, cybersecurity, water systems management, and autonomous vehicle technologies. The event also provided a platform for young researchers to present innovative ideas, including STUBA's PhD student Diana Dzurková, who shared her collaborative research on "Privacy Preserving Approximated Optimal Control of Pasteurization Unit Using Homomorphic Encryption." We engaged with peers, explored potential collaborations, and showcased our latest research.

The 8th IFAC Conference on Nonlinear Model Predictive Control (NMPC 2024), held every three years, is one of the flagship events of the International Federation of Automatic Control (IFAC). This year’s conference took place in Kyoto, Japan, from August 21 to 24, 2024. The International Program Committee curated an exciting technical program focused on advancements in model predictive control, including the management of complex nonlinear systems, robust control, and intelligent control strategies. This global conference provided an excellent opportunity to share our research findings and exchange ideas with colleagues from around the world.

From December 13-15, 2023, Frontseat attended the 62nd IEEE Conference on Decision and Control (CDC 2023) in Marina Bay Sands, Singapore, where we presented four research papers:

• Kristína Fedorová – Yuning Jiang – Juraj Oravec – Colin N. Jones – Michal Kvasnica: A Generalized Stopping Criterion for Real-Time MPC with Guaranteed Stability (presented by Ing. Kristína Fedorová)
• Juraj Holaza – Lenka Galčíková – Juraj Oravec – Michal Kvasnica: A software package for MPC design and tuning: MPT+ (presented by Ing. Lenka Galčíková)
• Michaela Horváthová – Lenka Galčíková – Martin Klaučo – Juraj Oravec: Real-Time Optimisation-Based Robust Control: Heat Exchanger Comparative Analysis (presented by doc. Ing. Martin Klaučo, PhD.)
• Roman Kohút – Erika Pavlovičová – Kristína Fedorová – Juraj Oravec – Michal Kvasnica: Real-Time Deep-Learning-Driven Parallel MPC (presented by Ing. Roman Kohút).

VISITS AND COOPERATION

• Prof. Gabriele Pannocchia Visited STUBA
• Lecture from the Industry: Technical Means of Automation II
• From Data to Alarms: Data-driven Anomaly Detection Techniques in Industrial Settings
• RUB Visited STU to Work on a Joint Scientific Paper

PHD STUDENT RESEARCH EXCHANGES AT PARTNER UNIVERSITIES

RESEARCH SEMINAR ON SMART CYBERNETICS

The Research Seminar on Smart Cybernetics is held as a discussion seminar among the students and researchers from the research groups of the FrontSeat project partners, their networks, and the general public.

The following are some of the presenters and the seminars they held since April 2024:

• Marián Gall (Slovak University of Technology in Bratislava, Slovakia): Using Neural Networks for Prediction of Properties of Molecules
• Mehmet Arici (Slovak University of Technology in Bratislava, Slovakia; Gaziantep University, Turkey): Adaptive Control for Fault Tolerance
• Sigurd Skogestad (Norwegian University of Science and Technology, Norway): Putting Optimization into Process Control
• Juraj Holaza (Slovak University of Technology in Bratislava, Slovakia): Revisiting Reachability-Driven Explicit MPC for Embedded Control
• Nora Lindner (Ruhr University Bochum, Germany): Quadcopter Modelling and Further Research
• David Müller (Ruhr University Bochum, Germany): Creating a Consistent Framework for Research on Drones

OPEN DOORS DAYS

Our Open Doors events give visitors the chance to connect with our faculty, researchers, and students, offering insight into STUBA's commitment to excellence and inspiring future scientists and engineers.

One such event was the CHEMSHOW 2024, hosted on June 26, 2024 by the Faculty of Chemical and Food Technology (STUBA) with participation of the Institute of Information Engineering, Automation, and Mathematics.

High school students explored AI in preventing industrial disasters through a lecture by Assoc. Prof. Martin Klaučo, PhD. Visitors also engaged in hands-on control demonstrations and toured our laboratories, including the intelligent greenhouse VESNA and the industrial automation lab. We thank all participants for their enthusiasm.

FRONTSEAT IN THE MEDIA

FrontSeat, along with our project colleagues, has been featured in various Slovak media articles and podcasts. Here are some recent features with accompanying links:

• Prof. František Duchoň (STUBA) and Martin Morháč, the Chairman of the board of SOVA Digital, were the guests in the new episode of the podcast series: “A Sense of Industry Vol.5 (in Slovak: “Zmysel pre priemysel”) produced by ATP JOURNAL.
• Country-wide professional journal ATP JOURNAL published an interesting interview (in Slovak) with Marek Čorňák, a PhD student at the Slovak University of Technology in Bratislava about his research journey and his vision of the science in Slovakia.

Follow FrontSeat on LinkedIn for regular updates on our progress, publications, and discussions. We appreciate your support and look forward to connecting with you.

FrontSeat publications are accessible to everyone.