Eric Kerrigan

My main area of research is the development of theory and methods for model predictive control (MPC) to handle nonlinearities and uncertainties in a systematic fashion. MPC is the most widely implemented advanced control technique in industry, because it deals with constraints, nonlinearities and uncertainties in a systematic and optimal manner. In MPC, a sequence of optimal control and estimation problems need to be solved in real-time – this requires orders of magnitude more computational resources than most other control methods. My interest is in the development of novel structure-exploiting numerical optimization methods and computer architectures for solving nonlinear optimal control and estimation problems with uncertainties in real-time. This allows engineers to solve new problems that are beyond the reach of current methods and computers.

I am also interested in developing new multi-objective optimization methods for the co-design of the overall closed-loop system. If one includes the parameters of the computer and physical system as part of the design variables, then it is possible to achieve significantly better performance than by just concentrating on the controller design. Mathematical optimization allows one to take a systematic approach to co-design in order to reduce design time and cost. I am therefore also interested in the development of novel multi-objective optimization methods for exploring how the parameters of an optimization-based control algorithm, computer architecture and physical design need to be traded off to satisfy performance specifications.

I have a joint appointment in the Department of Electrical & Electronic Engineering and the Department of Aeronautics. My theoretical research is therefore motivated by a wide variety of problems in the design of aerospace, renewable energy and information systems. Applications include scheduling of computation and communication in aerial robotic networks, aerodynamic drag reduction, gust and load alleviation in wind turbine blades and space launch and re-entry vehicles.

Background

• 2006-present: Department of Aeronautics and Department of Electrical and Electronic Engineering, Imperial College London
• 2014: Sabbatical Visitor, Department of Electrical and Electronic Engineering, University of Melbourne
• 2002-2007: Royal Academy of Engineering Research Fellow, University of Cambridge and Imperial College London
• 2001-2005: Research Fellow, Wolfson College and Department of Engineering, University of Cambridge
• 2001-2002: Research Associate, Department of Engineering, University of Cambridge
• 1997-2001: PhD in Control Engineering, St John's College and Department of Engineering, University of Cambridge
• 1997: Electromechanical Engineer, Council for Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR), South Africa
• 1993-1996: BSc(Eng) in Electrical Engineering, University of Cape Town