International Workshop on Hybrid and Predict Control for Nonlinear Industrial Applications

The International Workshop on Hybrid and Predictive Control for Nonlinear Industrial Applications was held on 28th-30th April 2009 in Glasgow. This workshop was organised by the Industrial Control Centre in the University of Strathclyde. The aim of running this workshop is to expand a sequence of nonlinear control workshops that were held at the University of Strathclyde into a more international event and one which provides an opportunity for research students to both learn and contribute. The most recent developments in nonlinear predictive control, control of hybrid systems and distributed control systems are well covered during the 3-day workshop. Problems in the implementation of advanced control and signal processing methods are considered and their use in embedded systems for applications such as wind turbine control and networked systems control are also discussed. The level of the presentations suits research students in the broad area of nonlinear control and applications. There are demonstrations of hardware and software tools for both real time control and for control systems design from National Instrument and Quanser Inc.

This is the fourth workshop on the subject of Nonlinear Control for Real Applications. The first three were held in Strathclyde University in 2004, 2006 and 2007, respectively. With the increased international reputation of the workshop, this year's workshop attracted 60 international speakers and delegates from different parts of the world including Canada, France, Italy, Spain, Denmark, China, Algeria, USA and UK. We have invited world-leading experts in this area giving inspiring presentations at the workshop, which enables a precious perspective obtained in the world wide advances in nonlinear systems both in theory and applications. Contributions from European Union HYCON, National Instruments and Quanser enrich the discussions on new and challenging topics in nonlinear control and applications. The education value of this event has been proved through the tutorial nature of most talks and also from well-prepared demonstrations.