NCCR Automation

Poster to advertise a talk on ethics in automation, on Nov 6th, 12pm (Quebec time) - remote access here https://www.ciusss-ouestmtl.gouv.qc.ca/installations/centres-de-recherche/centre-de-recherche-de-st-mary/evenements#c14431

Did you know that we also do research into the ethics of automation? If you want to learn more about it then you can join this lecture over teams using the link in the QR code (or in person if you're lucky enough to be in Montréal 😉 )

Do you need high-quality traffic data but your only source of information is a distorted drone video?
Learn more about how Robert Fonod solved this problem with Geo-trax, a toolbox that lets you extract the information you need! www.real-lab.ch/geo-trax

"Prediction is very difficult, especially if it's about the future." [Niels Bohr]
Zheyu Wu knows what to do in times of uncertainty! Learn more: www.real-lab.ch/distribution...

How do you come up with the perfect (control) recipe? Learn more about what Salma Elfeki has been cooking up during her master's project! www.real-lab.ch/the-recipe-f...

❓ Did you know that you cannot just turn off run-of-river power plants when there is an overproduction of electric power?

🌊 Yannick Schüpbach explains what you can do instead. www.real-lab.ch/when-water-m...

❓ Why do you prefer one brand over another? 💡 Learn more about opinion dynamics from Michelle Egger's explainer!
www.real-lab.ch/the-coke-vs-...

💡 How can you make sure the lights stay on and react early on to problems in your power grid?
Ioannis Papadopoulos explains how in our latest REAL text: www.real-lab.ch/know-thy-vol...

🤔 Can your heat pump stabilise the electricity grid?

Find out more from Boxuan Yao's text! www.real-lab.ch/flex-your-he...

🔭 Physical models explain the world in great detail but may be too complex to be useful.

💻 Data-driven models are simpler but do not consider the underlying physics.

🪢 Let's combine the best of both worlds! Muhammad Zakwan explains how.

www.real-lab.ch/simba

A Game Plan for Electricity — Real Lab Our world relies on electricity. And we rely on the power grid, to deliver this electricity to us. As the world moves toward cleaner electricity, the complexity of this network grows as the number of ...

Is stabilising the electricity grid just a game? Jonas Matt's research investigates what a fair rule-book could look like. www.real-lab.ch/a-game-plan-...

ep35 - Cosimo Della Santina: From Dexterous Manipulation to Soft Robotics and Embodied Intelligence - inControl Outline 00:00 – Intro 01:19 – Early steps: PhD journey & robotic hands 15:42 – What is a soft robot?23:35 – MIT years & models of soft robots 30:01 – Discretization & underactuation 37:21 ...

New episode of the @incontrolpodcast.bsky.social! Cosimo Della Santina takes us inside soft robotics — a young, daring field where compliance replaces rigidity, intelligence emerges from shape, and underactuation is a feature, not a flaw.

www.incontrolpodcast.com/1632769/epis...

“You can’t cheat physics”: Artur Ekert explains why only quantum cryptography can ensure security ETH Zurich Automatic Control Laboratory

Last month, when Artur Ekert came to speak at the John von Neumann lecture, we jumped at the chance to sit down with him. Read about what he had to say about privacy in an increasingly online world, and why wandering around can be great for science.

bit.ly/4eznW8e

Florian Dörfler awarded this year’s Rössler Prize ETH Zurich Automatic Control Laboratory

Congratulations to @dorfler.bsky.social who has been given this year's Rössler prize in recognition of his pioneering contributions to the fields of energy and control engineering.

@ethz.ch @ethfoundation.bsky.social

nccr-automation.ch/news/2025/fl...

How to win the Olypics — Real Lab

Would you like to win the Olympics? Learn how at www.real-lab.ch/optimal-curl...

Flyer showing that you can apply by 30.06.2025 to receive a stipend to cover the increased living costs of living in Switzerland, max. 6 months to be completed by 31.07.2026, participation in research and social activities and supervision and mentoring in your host lab.

Are you an early stage researcher looking to broaden your network and CV with a research stay in Switzerland? You have until 30th June to submit your application.

More details and application: bit.ly/4lkWwp0

Did you know that the Swiss railways are not 100% electrified yet? But they soon will be, also thanks to the help of Seraina Wurster's work: www.real-lab.ch/battery-elec...

🎙️ New episode! Mathukumalli Vidyasagar walks us through five decades of asking (and answering) the right questions in control, learning, and applied math — from feedback systems to statistical learning, HMMs, compressed sensing, and non-convex optimization. Unmissable! 🚀🧠

Flyer for the Swiss CLOCK Summit. 2-5th September 2025 in Engelberg, switzerland. A four day workshop bring together experts from the fields of computation, learning, optimization and control with invited speakers, posters, social activities, workshops and group events.

Coming to the Swiss CLOCK Summit? Don't miss out on the chance to present your poster. The deadline for poster abstract submissions is on Sunday 15th June. You only have a short time, so get writing! ✍

More info: www.swissclocksummit.com

Last week our researchers enjoyed soft skills week, where they were invited to three specially designed workshops to help them to navigate their work life outside of their academic goals.

Thank you to our workshop leaders @vicentbotellasoler.bsky.social, Benjamin Sawicki and Ning Wang

Diversity, Outreach, and Development in the CSS [President’s Message]

Congratulations to Silvia Mastellone who has been made Chair of the IEEE CSS Outreach task force as a recognition of all her hard work and success in founding and establishing the task force.

ieeexplore.ieee.org/abstract/doc...

@spectrum.ieee.org @fhnw.ch

Stromnetz unter Druck: Warum die Energiewende neue Anforderungen an das Stromnetz stellt Bisher haben Kohle-, Gas- oder Atomkraftwerke das Netz stabil gehalten. Das ändert sich, wenn mehr Wind- und Solarkraft eingespeist wird. ETH-Ingenieur Florian Dörfler über die Probleme der Energiewen...

One for the German speakers in our followers - @dorfler.bsky.social was recently interviewed about the blackouts in Spain by @nzz.ch

www.nzz.ch/wissenschaft...

How nuorail powers up energy savings ETH Zurich Automatic Control Laboratory

Sometimes making a big difference is more a case of making lots of small differences that add up. What if you could use control theory to make travelling by train even more energy efficient? Check out what Dimitris Kouzoupis and team are doing with their startup nuorail.

bit.ly/42WgEax

Flyer shows schedule including location (UZH BLU 003) and timetable: 16:15-17:00 Keith Moffat speaking on Electricity Markets and Zero Marginal Costs. 17:00-17:45 Kai Zhang speaking on Proactive Electricity Markets. 18:00-19:30 social gathering at the Linde Oberstrass

Come along to the Market Design & Energy Markets Workshop on May 19th 16:15-17:45 at University of Zurich. Featuring talks by NCCR Automation members Keith Moffat and Kai Zhang.

nccr-automation.ch/events/2025/...

Flyer for the lecture showing time and location

It's nearly time for the 2025 John von Neumann Lecture! Join us as Artur Ekert guides us through "Privacy for the paranoid ones - the ultimate limits of secrecy"

Tuesday 27th May, 16:00-17:15, ETH Zürich room HG F30 (Audi Max)

bit.ly/4lVYWLH

CLOCK 2025 - Young researchers Workshop More information to come soon.

The application portal for the travel grants for the Swiss CLOCK Summit are now open! If you come from an area that is underrepresented in the controls and optimization community then apply for your chance to be sponsored to attend.

www.swissclocksummit.com/young-resear...

ep31 - Miroslav Krstić: nonlinear adaptive control, PDEs, delays, extremum seeking, safety, neural operators for control - inControl Outline00:00 - Intro01:07 - Early steps02:47 - Why control?05:20 - The move to the US07:40 - The first journal paper13:30 - What is backstepping?17:08 - Grad school25:10 - Stochastic stabilization29:5...

Start your day the right way - a new episode of the inControl podcast is out! This time host Alberto Padoan is talking to Miroslav Krstic about nonlinear adaptive control, PDEs, delays, extremum seeking, safety and neural operators for control.

www.incontrolpodcast.com/1632769/epis...

University of Applied Sciences and Arts Northwestern Switzerland FHNW hiring Postdoctoral Researcher in Control for Reliability of Electromobility Systems in Brugg, Aargau, Switzerland | LinkedIn Posted 12:35:56 PM. Company DescriptionFHNW is one of Switzerland’s leading universities of applied sciences and arts…See this and similar jobs on LinkedIn.

Work with us! A postdoc position on Control for Reliability of Electromobility Systems is open at @fhnw.ch

www.linkedin.com/jobs/view/42...

YouTube video by EPFL MT180 Pengbo Zhu, MT180 Finale EPFL 2025

How do you boil down years of work to a three minute talk? Watch Pengbo Zhu summarise her thesis in 180 seconds and see how she is hoping to make your taxi rides better.

www.youtube.com/watch?v=9RUb...

Flyer for the NCCR Automation fellowship programme. Apply by 30.06.2025. The fellowship includes a stipend covering a six month research stay in one of our affiliated research labs.

Applications for our fellowship programme are now open! If you are an early stage researcher in a field related to automation and control theory then please apply to come and spend six months working with us.

More details and application: bit.ly/43Iuydv

Need more inspiration? bit.ly/4dKZeQL

Stop overplanning — Real Lab

Do you tend to over-plan things and then have no time left to actually do them? We may be able to help you out!

www.real-lab.ch/stop-overpla...