Dear DISC members,
Summer is coming soon, and we tasted from summer already during the yearly DISC Summer School 2025!
At the beginning of this month, the 2025 DISC Summer School took place at the NH Noordwijk Conference Centre Leeuwenhorst in Noordwijkerhout. Despite disruptions to public transport on the final day due to a nationwide train strike, the summer school was successfully organised. We would like to thank the organizers, Michelle Chong, Sasha Pogromsky, Kanat Camlibel, and Henk van Waarde, for their excellent coordination. A detailed report on the summer school can be found in this newsletter.
As we look ahead to the 2025–2026 academic year, preparations are underway for the new DISC course program and the DISC Winter Course. More announcements will follow in the coming months. Toward the end of this year, DISC will also take part in an accreditation process in collaboration with the Department of Mechanical Engineering at TU Delft. This important process will allow us to reflect on DISC’s past strategies, set future directions, and shape upcoming initiatives. From our recent self-assessment, it is clear that DISC has achieved a great deal including navigating the challenging COVID-19 period. Its outlook is promising, especially with the IFAC World Congress 2029 on the horizon.
We are also pleased to announce that the DISC board’s
ad-hoc committee has completed the selection process for a new chair. Prof. Bart De Schutter has been elected as the new chair of DISC board for the upcoming term. We warmly congratulate Prof. De Schutter on his appointment.
Please keep an eye on upcoming announcements about the DISC course program Course program – general information – DISC, the DISC Winter School, and the celebration of DISC’s 30th anniversary. Don’t forget to enrol and actively participate in DISC activities!
This was the last DISC Newsletter of this academic year. We wish you success with ‘the last miles’ of study year 2024-2025 and we wish you a very pleasant and relaxing summertime!
DISC Office
Bayu Jayawardhana
Maaike Kraeger-Holland
The DISC office received a large response to the call for DISC courses 2025-2026. We also asked for input from Unit DISC, the counsil of research students. In this way we try to offer you an attractive new course programme. After approval of the DISC Board and finetuning with the lecturers concerned, the new DISC course programme will be published on the DISC website. Registration is possible as from then via the course platform on the website.
When the organizers of the DISC summer school 2025 first conceived of the idea, we wanted a 3.5 day course on fundamentals and advances in the estimation and control of control systems today. Eventually, we narrowed it down to addressing two of the most important aspects in recent years: (i) communication constraints and vulnerabilities; and (ii) poor model knowledge. Thus, this year’s edition of the DISC summer school was born, with the title “Estimation and Control under Coarse Information”. We have the privilege and pleasure of engaging leading experts in addressing both aspects on the following topics:
Emulation-based control and estimation
Minimum data rates
Data informativity
Neural networks
Through lectures and exercises, 18 participants from Dutch universities and abroad were exposed to the fundamentals and cutting-edge research in the aforementioned topics. We also got to know each other’s work better as participants were encouraged to bring a poster on their work, which provided a basis for discussion throughout the duration of the school and dedicated poster interactive sessions.
As organizers of the 2025 edition of the DISC summer school, we are truly thankful to DISC for their generous support, to the external speakers for their commitment and boundless enthusiasm, and to the participants for their dedication. We are also grateful to Maaike, the DISC secretary who has been relentless in supporting us in the organization of the school. We had tremendous fun putting together the program and teaching at the school. Concurrently, we have also learnt a lot from each other. We look forward to continuing the discussions and friendships beyond the summer school.
Regards,
The organizers of the 2025 DISC Summer School:
Michelle Chong, Sasha Pogromsky, Henk van Waarde and Kanat Camlibel
The teaching team of the DISC Summer School 2025 on ‘Estimation and Control with Coarse Information’. (From left to right) Henk van Waarde, Girish Nair, Bahman Gharesifard, Michelle Chong, Dragan Nesic, Daniel Liberzon, Kanat Camlibel, Sasha Pogromsky.
The attendees of the DISC Summer School 2025 on ‘Estimation and Control under Coarse Information’.
Poster interactive session.
The DISC Winter School will focus on new research directions in the incremental analysis and synthesis of nonlinear systems. The program includes lectures by leading researchers on contraction theory and incremental input-output techniques, team-based challenge problems, and an interactive final session where teams will present their results. Participants will engage with recent theoretical developments and work on real-world case studies with industrial relevance.
The course will be scheduled for early 2026 – More information will be available soon!
Sebastiaan van den Eijnden (TU/e)
Amritam Das (TU/e)
Name: Shiyuan Piao
Starting: April, 2025
Function: Doctoral Candidate
Email: s.piao@tue.nl
University and Department/Group: Control Systems (CS) Group of the Department of Electrical Engineering, Eindhoven University of Technology
Supervisor: Roland Toth and Amritam Das
Project: “PATTERN – European Doctoral Network Enabling Artificial Intelligence for Electromagnetic Compatibility”
Short introduction:
I’m a Doctoral Candidate at the Control Systems Group at the Department of Electrical Engineering. My current research is on the topic of Physics-guided model for learning and control for EMC as part of the PATTERN project, under the supervision of Assistant Professor Amritam Das and Full Professor Roland Tóth.
Name: Dario Meroni
Starting: 05-05-2025
Function: PhD
Email: D.Meroni@tue.nl
University and Department/Group: TU/e Faculty ME Dynamics & Control
Supervisor: Idoia Cortes Garcia
Project: zie introduction
Short introduction:
My name is Dario Meroni and I recently graduated in Mechanical Engineering from the Polytechnic University of Milan. I am thrilled to join the Dynamics & Control section as a PhD candidate under the supervision of Prof. I. Cortes Garcia. My research focuses on developing a framework for the fast and efficient simulation of complex engineering systems, leveraging data-based surrogate modelling to address challenges in stability, accuracy and computational efficiency for coupled dynamical systems with kinematic constraints, governed by Differential-Algebraic Equations (DAEs).
Name: Zeyad Manaa
Starting: 15-05-2025
Function: PhD
E-mail:z.manaa@tue.nl
University and Department/Group: TU/e Faculty ME Dynamics & Control
Supervisor: Nathan van de Wouw
Project: zie introduction
Short introduction:
Zeyad Manaa is an incoming Doctoral Researcher at the Dynamics and Control group within the Mechanical Engineering Department at Eindhoven University of Technology (TU/e). He is expected to conduct research into the secure estimation and control of cyber-physical systems. In this work, Zeyad is supervised by Michelle Chong (TU/e), and Nathan van de Wouw (TU/e).
His broader research interests are in control and systems theory, data-based control and identification of dynamical systems, as well as optimization and secure control.
Academic Background
Zeyad received his B.Sc.-degree and M.Sc.-degree in Aerospace Engineering from the University of Science and Technology at Zewail City, Egypt, in 2022, and King Fahd University of Petroleum and Minerals (KFUPM), Dhahran, SA, in 2024, respectively. Throughout his M.Sc.-degree studies, his research focused on data-driven techniques for modeling, and control of dynamical systems with a special emphasis for flight systems. He also served as a teaching and research assistant in the Aerospace Engineering Department at KFUPM where he conducted research on swarm intelligence, focusing on developing strategies for drone interception.
Name: Rik Keppel
Starting: 01-05-2025
Function: PhD Candidate
Email: t.h.keppel@rug.nl
University: University of Groningen
Department/Group: Systems, Control and Optimization & Department of Economics, Econometrics and Finance
Supervisor: prof. dr. Stephan Trenn, prof. dr. Marco Haan & dr. Orest Iftime
Project: Optimal dynamic energy pricing policies under economic and network constraints
Short introduction:
Hi all, my name is Rik Keppel. I hold a BSc and MSc in Industrial Engineering & Management from the University of Groningen. My master’s track, Smart Systems in Control and Automation, allowed me to apply my knowledge across diverse, multidisciplinary topics—ranging from opinion dynamics and polarization in the climate debate to optimizing maintenance scheduling through hybrid modelling. My current PhD project continues this interdisciplinary approach, bridging control theory and economics to develop dynamic pricing strategies for stabilizing and controlling the power grid.
In my free time, I enjoy reading books, listening to podcasts, meeting up with friends, and playing squash. I’m looking forward to the upcoming time and I look forward meeting you!
Name: Bogoljub Terzin
Starting: 01.05.2025
Function: PhD Candidate
Email: b.terzin@tue.nl
University and Department/Group: TU/e, Control Systems Group/EE
Supervisor: prof. Siep Weiland and dr. Anja Bieberle
Project: Microkinetic modeling for water splitting
Short introduction:
I’m from Serbia and recently completed my Master’s at TU/e, with a thesis on model reduction of LPV systems using tensorial decompositions. I’m now pursuing a PhD in collaboration between TU/e and DIFFER. My research focuses on modeling complex electrochemical processes in water splitting, with the goal of advancing the design of photoelectrochemical cells for green hydrogen production. I am particularly interested in applying techniques from system identification, optimization, model reduction, and machine learning to better understand these processes. Outside of research, I’m passionate about exploring new ideas and experiences, mostly through art, films, and music, and I enjoy staying active through running and bouldering.
Name: Alessandro Casu
Starting: 15/05/2025
Function: doctoral candidate
E-mail: a.casu@tue.nl
University and Department/ Group: TU Eindhoven, Electrical Engineering Department, Control Systems group
Supervisor: Giulia De Pasquale
Project: Algorithmic Fairness for Data-Driven Decision Making
Short introduction: Hi everyone! My name is Alessandro, and I come from Sardinia, Italy. I completed both my Bachelor’s in engineering physics and my Master’s in mathematical engineering at Politecnico di Torino, and during my studies I also had the opportunity to spend a short period at KAIST in South Korea. I’m excited to start my doctoral journey at TU Eindhoven in the Control Systems group, and I’m looking forward to meeting and working with you all!
Name: Chun-Peng, Chang
Start date: 01.06.2025
Job title: PhD (Foundation Models for Autonomous Vehicle Perception)
E-mail: Chang-2@tudelft.nl
Section: Intelligent Vehicles Group
Supervisor: Holger Caesar
Short introduction : Hi! I’m Chun-Peng Chang from Taiwan, and I’m excited to be joining TU Delft as a PhD student working on Foundation Models for Autonomous Vehicle Perception, supervised by Dr. Holger Caesar. I’m into bouldering and movies, feel free to reach out anytime! 🙂
Six new MSCA fellow to start at TU/e this year:
Claudiu Savulescu,
Chiara Tramontano,
Sajjad Afrakhteh,
Qingqing Gu,
César Gómez Pérez,
Dominic Lauzon.
Please find more information on Six new MSCA fellows to start at TU/e this year
Please be informed that the graduate course on Physical Modelling for Design and Control and the accompanying workshop on “Physical Computation” scheduled for June 3-6, 2025 has to be postponed.
The course has been rescheduled to take place on Sep 1-5, 2025 and the workshop on Sep 3-4, 2025.
Lecturer: Arjan van der Schaft (Bernoulli Institute and Jan C. Willems Center for Systems and Control, University of Groningen)
The course will take place at KU Leuven
Registration is open via our On-line form Registration | SOCN Graduate School
Do not hesitate to circulate this information to colleagues who might be interested in the course.
We apologize for any inconvenience and thank you for your understanding.
Best regards,
Pascale Premereur
Gestionnaire administrative (bureau A104)
Pôle en ingénierie mathématique (INMA)
SST/ICTEAM
Av. G. Lemaître, 4 bte L4.05.01 B-1348 Louvain-la-Neuve
pascale.premereur@uclouvain.be
Tél. 32 (0)10 47 80 36
Présente lundi, mardi, mercredi matin et jeudi
http://www.uclouvain.be/icteam
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Please find more information on the European Control Conference 2025 held from 24-27 June 2025 in Thessaloniki (Greece) here: Home – ECC25
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As members of the SOCN community, you are cordially invited to the SOCN Study Day that will take place in Mons on Friday 26 September 2025.
A preliminary program is available, featuring plenary talks by Carlos Bordons (Universidad de Sevilla), Francesco Tudisco (University of Edinburgh), and Alexandre Mauroy (Université de Namur), as well as several interactive activities.
Please register as soon as possible, and by 5 September 2025 at the latest, indicating your intention to submit a pitch+poster presentation or a software/hardware demonstration. Registration is free but mandatory.
We look forward to seeing you there.
Best regards,
PA Absil
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We are pleased to announce the 11th Workshop on Matrix Equations and Tensor Techniques (METT XI), which will take place from January 7–9, 2026, at KU Leuven, Belgium.
As in previous editions, the workshop will focus on recent advances in the theory, computation, and applications of linear and nonlinear matrix and tensor equations. Participants are invited to present their work either as a talk or a poster. There is no conference fee, but registration is mandatory.
Invited speakers are Markus Bachmayr (RWTH Aachen), Gianluca Ceruti (Univ. Innsbruck), Mariya Ishteva (KU Leuven) and Jens Saak (MPI for Dynamics of Complex Technical Systems, Magdeburg).
Further information is available at: https://homes.esat.kuleuven.be/~mettxi/index.html
Candidate: Pascal de Koster
University and Department/Group: TU Delft ME-DCSC
Thesis title:
Promotor: Dr. M. Kok, prof.dr.ing. S. Wahls
Date: 2-6-2025
Location: TU Delft, Aula Senaatszaal
Time: 12.30
Candidate: Athina Ilioudi
University and Department/Group: TU Delft ME-DCSC
Thesis title:
Promotor: Prof.dr.ir. B. De Schutter, Dr. A. Dabiri
Date: 4-6-2025
Location: TU Delft, Aula Senaatszaal
Time: 17.30
Candidate: Bram Seinhorst
University and Department/Group: University of Twente, ET-MS3-Precision Engineering / Control and Mechatronics
Date: 6-6-2025
More information to be found on:
Promotie Bram Seinhorst | Active Damping of Flexure Mechanisms | Modelling, Design and Control for Large Deflections
Website in English: PhD Defence Bram Seinhorst | Active Damping of Flexure Mechanisms | Modelling, Design and Control for Large Deflections
Due to technical issues there is a delay in issuing certificates of attendance of DISC courses. We do our utmost to solve the problem but this may take some time. Apologies for the inconvenience caused!
The DISC office is closed from 18 July till 17 August 2025.
