Irish Control Systems Colloquium 2026

An IFACx event hosted by ATU SLigo on behalf of: The Irish Systems and Control Committee.

This is an IFACx (Ireland) event to bring together researchers from across Ireland to showcase current advances in systems and control engineering and to promote collaboration in advancement of the field. Join us in Sligo on the evening of Thursday April 23rd for an informal social event with finger food with the technical programme on Friday 24th April at ATU Sligo.

Hear from, and discuss with, some of the leaders in Irish control systems research, applications, and industry, and participate in a lively discussion forum! Confirmed speakers include: Dr. Pantelis Sopasakis (QUB), Dr. Marion McAfee (ATU), Dr. Edin Odmerdic (UL), Dr. Aidan O’Dwyer (TU Dublin), Prof. John Ringwood (Maynooth U), Patrick Lawless (ABB), Dr. Mark Ng (Ulster U), Dr. Panpan Zhou (UoG), Dr. Siyuan Zhan (TCD), and Prof. Vikram Pakrashi (UCD).

The registration fee is €55 to include the Thursday evening social event or €35 for the Friday only to cover lunch and coffee breaks. (Please note Eventbrite add a small fee to these prices.) To register for the event please click here to go to Eventbrite.

Research Poster Presentation

Present your research at the colloquium in the form of a poster and discuss your work with leaders in control systems from Irish academia and industry.

If you would like to submit an abstract for a Poster Presentation use this link to submit. Please submit a Poster Title and a 50 word abstract by Friday 27th March. Acceptance will be confirmed by Friday 3rd April.

Note that accepted posters should be A1 in size. Presenters must print their own poster and bring it with them to the event. There will be awards for the best poster presentations.

Programme

Recommended Hotels

B&B rates (Single Occupancy) for 23rd-24th April:

– The Glasshouse Hotel €139 (City centre – venue for evening reception on 23rd, 20min walk to ATU)
– The Address €125 (City centre, 20min walk to ATU)

— The Riverside Hotel €123 (City centre, 20min walk to ATU)

– The Clayton Hotel €119 (Closest to ATU but a 20min walk to the city centre)

Please book directly with the hotel. You may need to quote the ATU event to secure these rates. Room only rates may also be available.

Confirmed Speakers

Dr Pantelis Sopasakis

Dr Pantelis Sopasakis is a Lecturer in the School of Electronics, Electrical Engineering and Computer Science at Queens University Belfast. His research focuses on the development of efficient numerical optimisation algorithms that can run on embedded devices and parallelised on GPUs and the development of model predictive control methodologies for uncertain systems with emphasis on autonomous vehicles, smart infrastructure networks, same and optimal drug administration, and advanced intelligent manufacturing.

Dr Marion McAfee

Dr Marion McAfee is a Senior Lecturer in Mechatronic Engineering and co-Director of the Centre for Mathematical Modelling and Intelligent Systems for Health and Environment (MISHE) at ATU. Her research interests are in sensing, modelling and control with a focus on applications in materials processing for smart medical device and drug delivery systems. Current projects include development of Reduced Order Modelling and Sensor Fusion strategies for process Digital Twins. She is a Funded Investigator in I-Form, the Research Ireland Centre for Advanced Manufacturing and Assoc. Director of the Research Ireland ARC Hub in HealthTech.

Prof. John Ringwood

John Ringwood is a Professor at Maynooth University and Director of the Centre for Ocean Energy Research, known for major contributions in modelling, identification, and feedback control with flagship applications in wave energy systems (and work in physiology). A Strathclyde PhD (1985), he is a Fellow of IEEE and IFAC (the first IFAC Fellow in Ireland), has authored 500+ peer-reviewed papers, holds 2 patents, and has supervised 50 PhD graduates.

Dr Vikram Pakrashi

Dr. Vikram Pakrashi (BEng, PhD, CEng. MIEI, MASCE) is Associate Professor in Mechanical Engineering and Director of Dynamical Systems and Risk Laboratory (DSRL) in UCD. Vikram is a Chartered Engineer and has served both industry and academia working on numerical and experimental applications of dynamics and risk/probabilistic analysis on traditional (roads, bridges) and bourgeoning (wind/wave energy devices and platforms) sectors of built infrastructure. Several of his projects are partly funded by the industrial sector. His recent research activities involve structural health monitoring, analysis of dynamic systems, vibration control, experimental methods in dynamics, damage detection algorithms and the use of new technologies for such applications. Vikram has supervised and mentored several doctoral and postdoctoral researchers and has received multiple awards for his research and leadership activities. He currently works with a dynamic and motivated team in DSRL close to industrial needs.

Dr. Mark Ng

Dr. Mark Ng, Reader in Mechatronics Engineering and Control at the School of Engineering, Ulster University, where he is attached to the Engineering Research Institute and leads the Multi-Agent and Advanced Robotics Centre (MAvRiC). His work spans fault diagnosis and control, mathematical modelling, and digital-twin technologies for anomaly detection and classification.

Dr. Aidan O'Dwyer

Dr Aidan O’Dwyer is a Lecturer in the School of Electrical and Electronic Engineering at Technological University Dublin. His recent research interests focus on the examination of PI and PID controller tuning rules for processes with time delay.

Dr. Edin Omerdic

Dr. Edin Omerdic is a Senior Research Fellow at the MMRRC, University of Limerick. Edin works at the intersection of modelling and real-time simulation of complex marine systems, with a strong focus on guidance, navigation and control for underwater platforms and robotics.

Patrick Lawless

Patrick Lawless (BEng, MSc) is a Senior R&D Control Engineer working for ABB in the global R&D center for the pulp and paper industry in Dundalk. He has been working in the paper industry for over 25 years focusing on a wide range of areas in the Quality Control Systems (QCS) business. His areas of interest include Measurement Signal Processing, PI and PID Control Optimization, Internal Model Control (IMC) and Model Predictive Control (MPC) development in both the Machine Direction (MD) and Cross Direction (CD) for flat sheet processes with long and varying process dynamics. Patrick also teaches several control optimization courses including MD, CD and Colour Control Optimisation.

Dr. Panpan Zhou

Dr. Panpan Zhou, a Lecturer at the University of Galway. Her research focuses on the control, game theory, optimization, decision-making, and applications to robots and autonomous systems.

Dr. Siyuan Zhan

Dr. Siyuan Zhan is an Assistant Professor in Control Engineering at Trinity College Dublin, where his research explores how advanced control, optimisation, and learning algorithms can improve the performance, reliability, and sustainability of complex engineering systems. His work spans model predictive control, reinforcement learning for control, data-driven and adaptive modelling, and distributed control. He is particularly interested in applications that address global challenges ” including renewable and ocean energy, low-carbon mobility, autonomous systems, and intelligent transportation. he enjoys working with students and collaborators on interdisciplinary, real-world problems.

If you have any queries relating to the colloquium please contact: ramen.ghosh@atu.ie