News from our group

• Natasha J. Chrisandina, Aovi A. Deshpande, Fahad M. Al-Fadhli, Eleftherios Iakovou, Efstratios N. Pistikopoulos, Mahmoud M. El-Halwagi. "Resilience-aware Design of Co-located Water and Power Systems".
• Harsh Birenkumar Shah, Rahul Kakodkar, Dustin Kenefake and Efstratios N. Pistikopoulos. "Robust Scheduling of Energy Systems Under Forecasting Uncertainty-A Multiparametric Optimization Approach".
• Dustin Kenefake, Rahul Kakodkar, Moustafa Ali, Efstratios N. Pistikopoulos. "A Multiparametric Programming Approach to Accelerate Neural Network based Model Predictive Control".
• Catherine E. Nkoutche, Shivam Vedant, Swaminathan Sundar, Natasha J. Chrisandina, Eleftherios Iakovou, Efstratios N. Pistikopoulos. "Resilience Metrics Quantification for the Resilience & Sustainability Nexus in Energy Supply Chains Networks".
• Shivam Vedant, Natasha J. Chrisandina, Catherine Nkoutche, Funda Iseri, Halil Iseri, Mohamed Abdelhady, Mahmoud M. El-Halwagi, Eleftherios Iakovou, Efstratios N. Pistikopoulos. "A Two-Stage Stochastic Modeling and Optimization Framework for Resilient Supply Chain Network Design and Operations".
• Betsie Montano Flores, Marco De Sousa, Rahul Kakodkar, Shayan S. Niknezhad, Efstratios N. Pistikopoulos. "The Energy and Materials Transition Nexus- A Multiscale Modeling and Optimization Framework for Sustainable Energy Systems".
• Marco De Sousa, Saatvi Suresh, Rahul Kakodkar, Betsie Montano Flores, Iosif Pappas, Xiao Fu, C. Doga Demirhan, Mete Mutlu, Brianna Ruggiero, Efstratios N. Pistikopoulos. "Optimizing Hybrid Hydrogen Production: A Comprehensive Emission-Driven Approach for Integrated Systems Scheduling".
• Rahul Kakodkar, Marco De Sousa, Efstratios N. Pistikopoulos. "Decision-making in a Competitive Energy Landscape".
• Sahithi Srijana Akundi, Yuanxing Liu, Austin Braniff, Beatriz Dantas, Shayan S. Niknezhad, Faisal Khan, Yuhe Tian, Efstratios N. Pistikopoulos. "Integrated dynamic risk and control framework for safety and operational efficiency".
• Swaminathan Sundar, Rahul Kakodkar, Efstratios N. Pistikopoulos. "A Framework for the Multiscale Modeling and Technoeconomic Assessment Of the Algae-based CCUS System".

• We are delighted to announce that Prof. Pistikopoulos was named the Director of the Texas A&M Energy Institute.
• We are pround to announce that a journal article by Prof. Fani Boukouvala and Prof. Christodoulos A. Floudas was awarded the 2017 Best Paper Award in Optimization Letters. Their article, ARGONAUT: AlgoRithms for Global Optimization of coNstrAined grey-box compUTational problems presents an algorithmic framework for the optimization of general constrained grey-box problems.
• Prof. Pistikopoulos has delivered a plenary presentation entitled "Multi-Scale Energy Systems Engineering" at the 2nd International Conference on Functional Materials and Chemical Engineering (ICFMCE 2018), held in Khalifa University in Abu Dhabi, UAE, on November 20-22, 2018.
More details about the conference schedule can be found here.
• Our group will participate at the Superfund Research Program 2018 Annual Meeting held in Sacramento, CA, on November 28 - 30, 2018 with the following poster presentations:
• Melis Onel, Burcu Beykal, Kyle Ferguson, Fabian A. Grimm, John House, Thomas J. McDonald, Rajib Mukherjee, Lan Zhou, Fred A. Wright, Ivan Rusyn, Efstratios N. Pistikopoulos, "Grouping Complex Chemicals and Mixtures using Exposomics and In Vitro Toxicity Data".
• Burcu Beykal, Melis Onel, Krisa M. Camargo, Yina Liu, Rajib Mukherjee, Terry L. Wade, Anthony H. Knap, Efstratios N. Pistikopoulos, "Understanding Contaminant Characteristics and Redistribution in Post-Harvey Soil Samples Through Data Visualization and Clustering Analysis".
• Our group has participated at the 2018 AIChE Annual Meeting held in Pittsburgh, PA, on October 28 - November 2, 2018 with the following presentations:
• Yaling Nie, Styliani Avraamidou, Jie Li, Xin Xiao, Efstratios N. Pistikopoulos, "Towards a Two-Level Superstructure Optimization Framework for Land Use Based on Food-Energy-Water Nexus".
• Efstratios N. Pistikopoulos, Richard Allen, Yaling Nie, Styliani Avraamidou, "Food-Energy-Water Nexus Systems Engineering". Invited Talk.
• Justin Katz, Baris Burnak, Efstratios N. Pistikopoulos, "A Novel Geometric Based Algorithm to Solve Multiparametric Programming Problems". Invited Talk.
• Burcu Beykal, Melis Onel, Onur Onel, Efstratios N. Pistikopoulos, "Data-Driven Optimization with Implicit Constraints: Application to an Ethane Steam Cracking Process".
• Rajib Mukherjee, Melis Onel, Burcu Beykal, Anthony H. Knap, Timothy D. Phillips, Ivan Rusyn, MIchael A. Mancini, Lan Zhou, Fred A. Wright and Efstratios N. Pistikopoulos, "Development of the Texas A&M Superfund Research Program Computational Platform for Data Integration, Visualization, and Analysis". Poster Presentation.
• Efstratios N. Pistikopoulos, David Sholl, "RAPID Focus Area: Modeling & Simulation". Invited Talk.
• Cory Allen, Yaling Nie, Styliani Avraamidou, Efstratios N. Pistikopoulos, Xin Xiao, "A Multi-Objective Energy-Water Nexus Planning Model: A Case Study of the Power Systems in Texas Edwards Aquifer".
• Nikolaos A. Diangelakis, Iosif S. Pappas, Efstratios N. Pistikopoulos, "On Multiparametric/Explicit NMPC for Quadratically Constrained Problems".
• William W. Tso, C. Doga Demirhan, Haneol Song, Seungyeon Lee, Joseph B. Powell, Efstratios N. Pistikopoulos, "Toward Supply Chain Optimization of Renewable Energy Carriers".
• C. Doga Demirhan, Fani Boukouvala, William W. Tso, Kyungwon Kim, Hyeju Song, Efstratios N. Pistikopoulos. "An Integrated Data-Driven Modeling & Global Optimization Approach for Production Planning Under Uncertainty".
• Ioana Nascu, Nikolaos A. Diangelakis, Salvador Garcia-Muñoz, Efstratios N. Pistikopoulos, "Advanced, Material-Aware Model Predictive Control Strategies for Evaporation Processes in the Pharmaceutical Industries".
• Melis Onel, Baris Burnak, Efstratios N. Pistikopoulos, "Integrated Data-Driven Monitoring & Explicit Fault-Aware Control of Chemical Processes: An Adaptive Approach for Smart Operation".
• Nikolaos A. Diangelakis, Richard Oberdieck, Iosif S. Pappas, Efstratios N. Pistikopoulos, "Robust Explicit Optimization and Control within the Paroc Framework".
• Maria M. Papathanasiou, Nilay Shah, Efstratios N. Pistikopoulos, "The Role of Software Tools in Quality By Design: A Case Study on Monoclonal Antibody Production".
• Yuhe Tian, M. Sam Mannan, Efstratios N. Pistikopoulos, "Towards a Systematic Process Intensification Framework for Advanced Distillation Systems".
• Melis Onel, Efstratios N. Pistikopoulos, "Multi-Class Classification of Process Faults Using Nonlinear Support Vector Machine Based Feature Selection Algorithm".
• Baris Burnak, Efstratios N. Pistikopoulos, "A Multiparametric Programming Based Approach to Integrate Design, Scheduling, and Control of a Batch Process".
• C. Doga Demirhan, William W. Tso, Joseph B. Powell, Efstratios N. Pistikopoulos, "Sustainable Ammonia Production through Process Synthesis and Optimization".
• Prerna Jain, Efstratios N. Pistikopoulos, M. Sam Mannan, "A Process Resilience Analysis Framework (PRAF) Application for Recoverability Assessment Model of Offshore Oil and Gas Platforms".
• Efstratios N. Pistikopoulos, Gerald S.Ogumerem, "Application of Paroc in the Optimization and Control of PEM Water Electrolysis Process".
More details about the schedule of our group can be found here.
• Our group has participated at the Texas A&M Energy Conference 2018 held in College Station, TX, on September 24-26, 2018 with the following presentations:
• Yuhe Tian, M. Sam Mannan, Efstratios N. Pistikopoulos. "Towards a Systematic Process Intensification Framework for Advanced Distillation Systems".
• Denis Su-Feher, Bin Zhang, Efstratios N. Pistikopoulos, M. Sam Mannan. "Dynamic Inherent Safety Assessment of a Distillation Column".
• Justin Katz, Baris Burnak, Efstratios N. Pistikopoulos. "A Novel Geometric Based Algorithm to Solve Multiparametric Programming Problems: Application to Energy Systems".
• Prerna Jain, Efstratios N. Pistikopoulos, M. Sam Mannan. "A Process Resilience Analysis Framework (PRAF) application for recoverability assessment model of offshore oil and gas platforms".
• Iosif S. Pappas, Nikolaos A. Diangelakis, Efstratios N. Pistikopoulos. "Multiparametric/explicit NMPC for Quadratically Constrained Problems".
• Baris Burnak, Efstratios N. Pistikopoulos. "A Multiparametric Programming Based Approach to Integrate Design, Scheduling, and Control of a Batch Process".
• Richard Allen, Yaling Nie, Styliani Avraamidou, Efstratios N. Pistikopoulos, Xin Xiao. "A Multi-Scale Energy-Water Nexus Model: A Case Study of the Power Systems in Texas Edwards Aquifer".
• Yingqian Yang, Chengcheng J. Fei, Bruce A. McCarl, Richard C. Allen, Yaling Nie, Efstratios N. Pistikopoulos. "Climate Change and the Comparative Cost of Conserved Water via Electrical Cooling Options: A FEW Nexus Case Study in South Central Texas".
• Gerald Ogumerem, Efstratios N. Pistikopoulos. "Optimization and Explicit Control of a PEM Water Electrolysis Process".
• C. Doga Demirhan, William W. Tso, Joseph B. Powell, Efstratios N. Pistikopoulos. "Sustainable Ammonia Production Through Process Synthesis and Global Optimization".
• Burcu Beykal, Melis Onel, Onur Onel, Efstratios N. Pistikopoulos. "Data-Driven Optimization with Implicit Constraints: Application to an Ethane Steam Cracking Process".
• William W. Tso, C. Doga Demirhan, Haneol Song, Seungyeon Lee, Joseph B. Powell, Efstratios N. Pistikopoulos. "Toward Supply Chain Optimization of Renewable Energy Carriers".
• Melis Onel, Baris Burnak, Efstratios N. Pistikopoulos. "Integrated Data-driven Monitoring & Explicit Fault-Aware Control of Chemical Processes: An Adaptive Approach for Smart Operation".
• Prof. Pistikopoulos has delivered an invited lecture on "Optimization under Uncertainty" as part of the Centre for Process Systems Engineering Summer School 2018 at Imperial College London, UK, on September 3-7, 2018.
• Dr. Nikolaos Diangelakis and Iosif Pappas have participated in the 6th IFAC Conference on Nonlinear Model Predictive Control, held in Madison, WI, on 19-22, 2018 with the following poster presentation:
  • Diangelakis, N. A.; Pappas, I. S.; Pistikopoulos, E. N., "On multiparametric/explicit NMPC for Quadratically Constrained Problems"
• Prof. Pistikopoulos has delivered an invited talk at the 2018 Natural Gas Utilization Workshop held on August 12-14, 2018 at the Memorial Student Center at Texas A&M University, College Station, TX.
• We are proud to announce that Burcu Beykal has been selected to participate in the BASF Research Forum 2018, held in Iselin, NJ, on August 27-29, 2018.
• The following members of group will be on an internship during Summer 2018
• Melis Onel, at ExxonMobil
• Gerald Ogumerem, at ExxonMobil
• William Tso, at Emerson Electric
• Our group participated at the Process Systems Engineering, PSE 2018, San Diego, CA on July 1-5, 2018 with the following presentations.
• Avraamidou, S.; Beykal, B.; Pistikopoulos, I.; Pistikopoulos, E. N. "A hierarchical Food-Energy-Water Nexus (FEW-N) Decision-making Approach for Land Use Optimization"
• Nie, Y.; Avraamidou, S.; Li, J.; Xiao, X.; Pistikopoulos, E. N. "Land use modeling and optimization based on food-energy-water nexus: a case study on crop-livestock systems"
• Onel, M.; Kieslich, C. A.; Guzman, Y. A.; Floudas, C. A.; Pistikopoulos, E. N. "Simultaneous Fault Detection and Diagnosis of Continuous Processes via Nonlinear Support Vector Machine-based Feature Selection"
• Tian, Y.; Mannan, M. S.; Pistikopoulos, E. N. "Towards a systematic framework for the synthesis of operable process intensification systems"
• Katz, J.; Diangelakis, N. A.; Pistikopoulos, E. N. "Model Approximation in Multiparametric Optimization and Control - A Computational Study"
• Burnak, B.; Katz, J.; Diangelakis, N. A.; Pistikopoulos, E. N. "Integration of Design, Scheduling, and Control of Combined Heat and Power Systems: A Multiparametric Programming Based Approach"
• Tso, W. W.; Demirhan, C. D.; Powell, J. B; Pistikopoulos, E. N. "Toward Optimal Synthesis of Renewable Ammonia and Methanol Processes (RAMP)"
• Our group participated at the 28th European Symposium on Computer-Aided Process Engineering (ESCAPE-28), held in Graz, Austria on June 10-13, 2018 with the following presentations.
• Avraamidou, S.; Milhorn, A.; Sarwar, O.; Pistikopoulos, E. N. "Towards a quantitative Food-Energy-Water Nexus metric to facilitate decision making in process systems: A case study on a dairy production plant'
• Onel, M.; Beykal, B.; Wang, M.; Grimm, F. A.; Zhou, L.; Wright, F. A.; D., P. T; Rusyn, I.; Pistikopoulos, E. N. "Optimal Chemical Grouping and Sorbent Material Design by Data Analysis, Modeling and Dimensionality Reduction Techniques"
• Tian, Y.; Mannan, M. S.; Kravanja, Z.; Pistikopoulos, E. N. "Towards the synthesis of modular process intensification systems with safety and operability considerations - application to heat exchanger network"
• Prof. Pistikopoulos delivered a plenary presentation entitled "Multi-Parametric Optimization in Smart Manufacturing & Process Intensification" at the 28th European Symposium on Computer-Aided Process Engineering (ESCAPE-28), and a joint plenary presentation entitled "Multi-scale modeling and optimization challenges in modular process intensification" at the Process Systems Engineering, PSE 2018 with Prof. Vlachos from University of Delaware.
• We are proud to announce that Burcu Beykal is selected for a PSE 2018 Young Researcher Award.
• Logan Matthews defended his Ph.D. thesis on May 2, Wednesday at Princeton University. We congratulate Dr. Matthews, and wish him good luck in his future endeavors.
• Prof. Pistikopoulos has delivered an invited talk at Ezra's Round Table Seminar series on May 4, 2018 at Cornell University, Ithaca, NY.
• Prof. Pistikopoulos participated at the AIChE 2018 Spring Meeting and 14th Global Congress on Process Safety, held in Orlando, FL, on April 22-26, 2017. He delivered a presentation entitled "Integration of Smart Manufacturing in the Advancement of Polymer Processing" Smart Manufacturing session.
• We are happy to announce that the first prototype of the PAROC framework is available online for the interested users. Please see here for a detailed description of the PAROC framework, or follow this link to download the App.
• Prof. Pistikopoulos will deliver two lectures on the recent advances on Multi-parametric Optimization & Control as part of the D²C² chalk-talk series at Pennsylvania State University on March 29, 2018.
• We are happy to welcome Prof. Rafiqul Gani as a Visiting Professor in the Artie McFerrin Department of Chemical Engineering.
• Burcu Beykal and Justin Katz won the Best Oral Presentation Award at the 5th Annual ChEGSA Research Symposium.
• CEP Magazine has announced Prof. Pistikopoulos' Fellowship in AIChE.
• Prof. Pistikopoulos delivered an invited course at Celaya, Mexico, on January 8-12, 2018.
• Prof. Pistikopoulos delivered an invited talk entitled "Multi-parametric Optimization and Control" at the 10th Annual QAFCO - Texas A&M University at Qatar Conference on "Emerging Frontiers in Chemistry and Chemical Engineering", held in Qatar on February 15, 2018.

2017

• Melis Onel participated at the 2017 Superfund Annual Meeting in Philadelphia, PA on December 6-8, 2017, and preseted a poster entitled "Optimization of Clustering Algorithms for Grouping of Complex Chemical Substances based on Chemical and Biological Characteristics", co-authored by Burcu Beykal, Fabian A. Grimm, Lan Zhou, Fred A. Wright, Ivan Rusyn, Efstratios N. Pistikopoulos.
• Prof. Pistikopoulos will deliver a presentation entitled "Multi-level Optimization by multi-parametric programming & its use for the solution of Mixed Integer Adjustable Robust Optimization Problems" as part of the Centre for Process Systems Engineering Seminar Series at Imperial College London, UK on November 14, 2017.
• Our group has been accepted for three presentations in 2017 INFORMS Annual Meeting, with the following titles.
• Styliani Avraamidou, Chao Ning, Fengqi You, Efstratios N. Pistikopoulos, "Generalized Affine Decision Rules For Mixed Integer Linear, Quadratic And Nonlinear Adjustable Robust Optimization Problems By Multiparametric Programming".
• Styliani Avraamidou, Nikolaos A. Diangelakis, Efstratios N. Pistikopoulos, "B-POP: A Multi-parametric Programming Based Toolbox For The Global Solution Of Bi-level Mixed-integer Linear And Quadratic Programming".
• Melis Onel, Chris A. Kieslich, Yannis A. Guzman, Christodoulos A. Floudas, Efstratios N. Pistikopoulos, "Application Of A Novel Nonlinear Support Vector Machine Based Feature Selection Algorithm For Fault Detection & Diagnosis".
• Prof. Jay H. Lee from Korea Advanced Institute of Science and Technology (KAIST) delivered a presentation on "Recent Progress in Machine Learning and Implications for the Process and Energy Systems Engineering Fields" as part of Texas A&M Energy Institute Lecture Series. He also taught the course ICPE 604: Energy Systems Engineering I as part of the Master of Science in Energy and Certificate in Energy programs.
• Prof. Pistikopoulos, Dr. Nikolaos Diangelakis, and Styliani Avraamidou participated at the 27th European Symposium on Computer-Aided Process Engineering (ESCAPE-27) held in Barcelona, Spain on October 1-5, 2017 with the following presentations respectively:
• "Model-based multi-parametric programming strategies towards the integration of design, control and operational optimization"
• "Multi-parametric programming based algorithms for the global solution of bi-level mixed-integer linear and quadratic programming problems"
• "A multi-parametric bi-level optimization strategy for hierarchical model predictive control"
More information can be found on the conference website.
• Our group participated at the 2017 AIChE Annual Meeting held in Minneapolis, MN, on October 29 - November 3, 2017 with the following presentations:
• Efstratios N. Pistikopoulos, Prodromos Daoutidis, "Overview of CAST Activities and Programming".
• Gerald S. Ogumerem, Efstratios N. Pistikopoulos, Iordanis Kesisoglou, "Dynamic Modeling and Explicit Model Predictive Control of Absorption of Hydrogen in a LaNi5 Bed".
• David Sholl, Efstratios N. Pistikopoulos, "Modeling and Simulation, a Key Component in Enabling Process Intensification".
• Efstratios N. Pistikopoulos, David Sholl, M. M. Faruque Hasan, Salih E. Demirel, Yuhe Tian, "Modeling and Simulation Challenges for Process Intensification".
• Styliani Avraamidou, Nikolaos A. Diangelakis, Efstratios N. Pistikopoulos, "A Multi-Parametric Bi-Level Optimization Strategy for Hierarchical Model Predictive Control". Poster Presentation.
• Burcu Beykal, Onur Onel, Efstratios N. Pistikopoulos, "Data-Driven Modeling and Optimization of an Ethane Steam Cracker". Poster Presentation.
• Justin Katz, Baris Burnak, Nikolaos A. Diangelakis, Efstratios N. Pistikopoulos, "Model Reduction and Approximation for Simultaneous Design, Control, and Scheduling".
• Styliani Avraamidou, Chao Ning, Fengqi You, Efstratios N. Pistikopoulos, "Derivation of Generalized Affine Decision Rules for Mixed Integer Linear, Quadratic and Nonlinear Adjustable Robust Optimization Problems By Multi-Parametric Programming".
• Melis Onel, Chris A. Kieslich, Yannis A. Guzman, Christodoulos A. Floudas, Efstratios N. Pistikopoulos. "Fault Detection and Diagnosis of Continuous Processes Via Non-Linear Support Vector Machine Based Feature Selection".
• Prerna Jain, Efstratios N. Pistikopoulos, M. Sam Mannan, "Maintenance Optimization-Based Survival Analysis for Optimal and Safer Operation: Cooling Tower Case Study".
• Melis Onel, Chris A. Kieslich, Yannis A. Guzman, Efstratios N. Pistikopoulos, "Big Data Approach to Fault Detection, Diagnosis and Maintenance Optimization in Batch Processes".
• Gerald S. Ogumerem, William W. Tso, C. Doga Demirhan, Changkyu Kim, Efstratios N. Pistikopoulos, "Robust Multi-Period and Multi-Objective Strategic Planning of Hydrogen Networks".
• Baris Burnak, Justin Katz, Nikolaos A. Diangelakis, Efstratios N. Pistikopoulos, "Integration of Design, Scheduling and Control Under Uncertainty Via Model Based Multi-Parametric Programming".
• William W. Tso, C. Doga Demirhan, Alexander M. Niziolek, Onur Onel, Christodoulos A. Floudas, Efstratios N. Pistikopoulos, "Advancing the Production of Olefins and Aromatics from Natural Gas Via Methanol: Chemical Looping for Syngas Generation".
• C. Doga Demirhan, William W. Tso, Efstratios N. Pistikopoulos, "Process Synthesis and Global Optimization of Novel Ammonia Production Processes".
More details about the schedule of our group and the two sessions dedicated to Prof. Floudas can be found here.
• Our group has participated at the 2017 Texas A&M Conference on Energy held in College Station, TX, on September 25-27, 2017 with the following presentations:
• Gerald Ogumerem: "Dynamic Modeling and Control of Absorption of Hydrogen in a LaNi5 bed"
• Melis Onel: "Fault Detection and Diagnosis of Continuous Processes via Nonlinear Support Vector Machine based Feature Selection"
• Justin Katz: "Model Reduction and Approximation for Simultaneous Design, Control, and Scheduling"
• Baris Burnak: "Integration of Design, Scheduling and Control under Uncertainty via Model Based Multi-Parametric Programming"
• Burcu Beykal: "Data-Driven Modeling and Optimization of Constrained Grey-Box Computational Problems Using ARGONAUT"
• Doga Demirhan: "Process Synthesis and Global Optimization of Novel Ammonia Production Processes"
• William Tso: "Advancing the Production of Olefins and Aromatics from Natural Gas via Methanol: Chemical Looping for Syngas Generation"
• Yuhe Tian: "An Integrated Framework for Process Intensification with Operability, Control and Safety"
• Yaling Nie: "The application of a Food-Energy-Water (FEW) Nexus approach on land use optimization"
More information can be found on the conference website.
• Late Prof. Christodoulos A. Floudas was remembered with a memorial symposium as a tribute to his monumental scientific and educational legacy.
• Alex Niziolek and Onur Onel defended their theses entitled "Global Optimization Frameworks for the Process Synthesis and Supply Chain of Liquid Fuels and Aromatics Processes" and "Advances in Modeling, Synthesis, and Global Optimization of Hybrid Energy Systems Toward the Production of Liquid Fuels and Olefins". Alex and Onur will join the Exxon Mobil Corporation, and we wish them good luck for the rest of their careers.
• Prof. Pistikopoulos participated in the event for George Stephanopoulos' 70th Birthday and Retirement from MIT, with the theme "2040 Visions of Process Systems Engineering". He delivered a presentation entitled "Real-time Decision-making under Uncertainty: An Adventure in Big Data Analytics or an Opportunity for Mathematical Programming?".
• Prof. Pistikopoulos was on an extended trip to China visiting Shanghai and Beijing. In Shanghai, he visited East China University of Science and Technology [ECUST] and participated in the Workshop on 'Smart Process Manufacturing' (supported by the Chinese Academy of Engineering, China and the Royal Academy of Engineering, UK], where he delivered an invited lecture entitled 'Smart manufacturing opportunities via multi-parametric programming and control'. He also gave a seminar at the School of Information Science and Engineering. In Beijing, he visited the Tsinghua-BP Clean Energy Centre and the Department of Thermal Engineering and delivered his inaugural Distinguished Visiting Professorship Lecture there on Tuesday April 25th. He also gave seminars at Tsinghua's Chemical Engineering department and at the Institute of Process Engineering of the Chinese Academy of Engineering.
• Prof. Pistikopoulos will deliver a presentation entitled "Towards the grand unification of model-based design, control and scheduling" as part of the Centre for Process Systems Engineering 2017 Seminar Series at Imperial College London, UK.
• Prof. Pistikopoulos will participate at the IFAC 2017 World Congress held in Toulouse, France on July 9-14, 2017 with the following presentations:
• "A Multiparametric Mixed-integer Bi-level Optimization Strategy for Supply Chain Planning Under Demand Uncertainty"
• "Robust Multi-Parametric Control of Continuous-Time Linear Dynamic Systems"
More information can be found on the conference website.
• Styliani Avraamidou will participate at the 15th EUROPT Workshop on Advances in Continuous Optimization held in Montréal, Canada on July 9-14, 2017 with her presentation entitled "Multi-parametric programming based algorithms for the global solution of bi-level programming problems". More information can be found on the conference website.
• Our group participated at the Global Optimization Conference (GOC) 2017 located in College Station, TX, which has been organized by Prof. Pistikopoulos and Prof. Sergiy Butenko. The event is dedicated in memory of Prof. Christodoulos A. Floudas. The following group members have presented their studies:
• Styliani Avraamidou: "Multi-Parametric Programming Based Algorithms for the Exact and Global Solution of Multi-Level Mixed-Integer Linear and Quadratic Programming Problems"
• Burcu Beykal: "Constrained Grey-Box Multi-Objective Optimization Framework for Optimal Design of Energy Systems"
• Melis Onel: "Opportunities for Global Optimization in Big Data Analytics"
More information can be found on the conference website, including the final program.
• Our group participated at the AIChE 2017 Spring Meeting and 13th Global Congress on Process Safety held in San Antonio, TX:
• Burcu Beykal: "Constrained Grey-Box Multi-Objective Optimization Framework for Optimal Design of Energy Systems"
• Baris Burnak: "A Model Based Multiparametric Programming Strategy for the Integration of Design and Control Under Uncertainty"
• Melis Onel: "Big Data Approach to Fault Detection and Diagnosis in Batch Processes Using Nonlinear SVM-Based Feature Selection"
More information can be found on the conference website, including the final program.
• Our post-doc scholar Dr. Ioana Nascu has been seconded to Eli Lilly and Company. She has been relocated to their headquarters in Indianapolis, IN.
• The group has had a kickoff meeting with Shell on March 21. This kickoff meeting is the beginning of a collaboration with our group and Shell.
• Prof. Pistikopoulos chaired the session "Computers in Design and Operations: Energy Applications I" at the AIChE 2017 Spring Meeting.
• Prof. Christodoulos A. Floudas has been posthumoustly awarded the prestigious Sargent Medal. This medal has been awarded to Professor Floudas for his pioneering work in computer-aided product and process engineering.
• Prof. Pistikopoulos was elected Fellow of the American Institute of Chemical Engineers (AIChE). This honor is bestowed upon individuals in recognition of significant professional accomplishments and contributions in engineering.
• Prof. Pistikopoulos attended the RAPID Process Intensification kickoff meeting held in San Antonio, TX.
• Prof. Pistikopoulos attended CESMII Smart Manufacturing kickoff meeting, Los Angeles, CA.
• Prof. Pistikopoulos delivered an invited presentation as part of Texas A&M University Systems Control Robotics Seminar Series.
• Prof. Pistikopoulos delivered an invited lecture at Lamar University, Beaumont, TX.
• Prof. Pistikopoulos delivered four presentations as part of PSE State of the Art Workshop held in Cox's Bazaar, Bangladesh.

2016

• The annual Foundations of Computer Aided Process Operations / Chemical Process Control (FOCAPO/CPC) meeting will be held through January 8-12, 2017 at Tucson, Arizona. Professor Pistikopoulos will be presenting in the Emerging Application Areas (Smart Manufacturing and Energy Systems) session on January 9th, 4:00 pm - 6:30 pm. The following group members: Styliani Avraamidou, Nikolaos Diangelakis, Alex Niziolek, and Onur Onel will be presenting posters on Tuesday, January 10th. More information can be found on the presentation schedule, and the poster sessions.
• A celebration of life was held for Professor Floudas on October 9, 2016 at All Faiths Chapel. Father Christopoher Xanthos provided a blessing and was followed by remarks from George Khouri, a former student, Ismini Flouda, Professor Floudas' daughter, and Professor Pistikopoulos, a dear friend. Professor Pistikopoulos' remarks are available to read here.
• 2016 AIChE Annual Meeting will be attended by many of Professor Floudas' and Professor Pistikopoulos' students. The presentation order for Professor Floudas' students can be found here and for Professor Pistikopoulos' students can be found here.
• Ioana Nascu has attended the SMC 2016 IEEE International Conference on Systems, Man, and Cybernetics. She presented her research regarding multiparametric model predictive control strategies of the hypnotic component in intravenous anesthesia.
• Prof. Floudas remembered: we are all still in shock from the tragic passing away of Prof. Floudas, an amazing person, researcher and supervisor, who has been a true giant upon whom future generations will stand. It has been an honor to work alongside such a great man for all of us, and he will be missed at every turn. May he rest in peace. Please also see the article from the Energy Institute and the website of Prof. Floudas.
• We have released version 2.0 of our POP toolbox, which is now capable to plot in 3-D, connects with the software YALMIP, and supports a new option feature. For more information, please visit the PAROC homepage and our YouTube Channel 'POP Toolbox'
• The Texas A&M Energy Institute and the Texas A& M Engineering Experiment Station (TEES) will lead the new Gulf Coast Regional Manufacturing Center, one of five regional centers located across the country. For more information, see here.
• Prof. Pistikopoulos has been named a Distinguished Visiting Professor at Tsinghua University, Beijing, China.
• Our group participated at the American Control Conference (ACC) held in Boston, MA:
  • Prof. Pistikopoulos: "Explicit MPC in Real-World Applications: The PAROC Framework"
  • Maria M. Papathanasiou: "Development of Advanced Control Strategies for Periodic Systems: An Application to Chromatographic Separation Processes"
  More information can be found on the conference website, including the final program.
• As part of the Foundations of Computer Aided Process Operations/Chemical Process Control Conference 2017, to be held in Tucson, Arizona from January 8th to 12th 2017, Professor Pistikopoulos will deliver a plenary lecture. The conference website can be found here.
• We are happy to welcome Dr. Saša V. Raković as a Visiting Research Scholar at the Energy Institute.
• Our group partecipated at the ESCAPE-26 Conference held in Portoroz, Slovenia:
  • Richard Oberdieck: "Parallel Multi-parametric Programming"
  • Maria M. Papathanasiou: "Computational tools for the advanced control of periodic processes - Application to a chromatographic separation"
  • Ioana Nascu: "A framework for Simultaneous State Estimation and Robust Hybrid Model Predictive Control in Intravenous Anaesthesia"
  • Maria M. Papathanasiou: "Development of advanced computational tools for the intensification of monoclonal antibody production"
  More information can be found on the conference website, including the final program.
• Our group partecipated at the IEEE International Conference on Automation, Quality and Testing, Robotics (AQTR):
  • Ioana Nascu: "Multiparametric Model Predictive Control and State Estimation of the Hypnotic Component in Anesthesia"
  • Maria M. Papathanasiou: "Advanced control strategies for a periodic, two-column chromatographic process"
  More information can be found on the conference website, including the final program.
• Our research group is happy to welcome Mario E. Villanueva as a new post-doctoral researcher to our group. Mario did his PhD at Imperial College in London with Dr. Chachuat in the area of robust optimization and nonlinear control.
• As part of the 4th International Conference on Sustainable Chemical Product and Process Engineering (SCPPE) 2016, held in Nanjing, China from May 31st to June 3rd, Professor Pistikopoulos delivered a plenary lecture. More information on the conference can be found here.
• On May 16th 2016, Richard Oberdieck delivered an invited lecture at the ICRA Workshop 2016 on Robust Optimization-Based Control and Planning for Legged Robots entitled "Multi-parametric Optimization and Control - Where do we stand?". More information can be found here.
• As part of the 10th European Workshop on Food Engineering and Technology, held in Uzwil, Switzerland from April 28th to 29th, Maria Papathanasiou delivered a presentation entitled "From batch to continuous operation: through the prism of computational tools". More information about the conference can be found here. A newspaper article on the workshop is also available here.
• On April 15th 2016, Amit Manthanwar delivered a lecture entitled "Envisioning Hydrogen Economy: Vision and Goals of Multi-Scale Fuel Cell Energy Systems Engineering Laboratory" as part of the Texas A&M Chemical Engineering Seminar Series organized by Professor Joseph Kwon.
• On April 11th 2016, Amit Manthanwar presented at the 2016 AIChE Spring Meeting & 12th Global Congress on Process Safety in Houston, Texas on "Smart Manufacturing Framework for the Production of Hydrogen Energy". More information including the abstract of his talk can be found here.
• On April 8th 2016, Nikos Diangelakis delivered a lecture entitled "Simultaneous design, control and scheduling of a residential scale CHP system" as part of the Texas A&M Chemical Engineering Seminar Series organized by Professor Joseph Kwon.
• On April 4th 2016, Professor Pistikopoulos co-hosted the inaugural Texas Optimization Day and delivered a presentation entitled Multi-parametric Optimization & Model-based Control". More information about the event can be found here and a press release from the Texas A& M Energy Institute can be found here.
• On March 1st 2016, Nikos Diangelakis delivered an invited lecture entitled "A multi-scale energy systems engineering approach to the cogeneration of heat and power" as part of the Distinguished Junior Researchers Seminar Series at Northwestern University. The full schedule is available here.
• On February 5th 2016, Ioana Nascu delivered a lecture entitled "Advanced Multiparametric Optimization and Control Studies for Anaesthesia" as part of the Texas A&M Chemical Engineering Seminar Series organized by Professor Joseph Kwon.
• On January 1st 2016 Professor Stratos Pistikopoulos became the new Editor-in-Chief of Computers & Chemical Engineering. See the full story here.

2015

• Our research group released Version 1.0 of POP, the Parametric OPtimization toolbox in MATLAB. It features state-of-the-art solvers for multi-parametric continuous and mixed-integer programming problems as well as a comprehensive problem library and a novel problem generator capable of generating problems of arbitrary size. The software is available here and several tutorial videos are also available on YouTube. For questions, we have established the email addressed pop.toolbox@gmail.com.
• From November 9-13, our research group participated in the AIChE Annual Meeting with the following presentations:
  • Prof. Pistikopoulos: "Multi-parametric dynamic programming: Recent advantages and future challenges"
  • Richard Oberdieck: "POP - the Parametric Optimization Toolbox"
  • Nikolaos A. Diangelakis: "PAROC - a Unified Framework Towards the Optimal Design, Operational Operation and Model-Based Control of Process Systems"
  • Amit Manthanwar: "Novel in Situ Experimental Technique to Understand Inner Workings of a Polymer Electrolyte Membrane Fuel Cell"
  • Maria M. Papathanasiou: "A Centralized/Decentralized Control Approach for the Multicolumn Countercurrent Solvent Gradient Purification (MCSGP) Process"
  • Ioana Nascu: "Simultaneous Multi-Parametric Hybrid Model Predictive Control and Estimation with Application to the Intravenous Anaesthesia"
  • Amit Manthanwar: "A Generic Framework for the Robust Control of Fuel Cell Energy System"
  • Amit Manthanwar: "Deployment of Explicit Model Predictive Controller Onboard a Mini Fuel Cell Vehicle"
  • Maria M. Papathanasiou: "Advanced Control Strategies Towards the Intensification of Monoclonal Antibody Production"
  • Richard Oberdieck: "The Exact Solution of Multiparametric Mixed-Integer Quadratic Programming Problems"
  • Maria M. Papathanasiou: "Prediction of Double Substrate Microbial Growth Kinetics through Transcriptional Regulation: An Integrated Experimental/Modelling Approach on Pseudomonas Putida Mt-2"
  • Nikolaos A. Diangelakis: "Simultaneous Design, Control and Operational Optimisation of a Domestic CHP System"
  Additionally, Dr. Ziogou from CERTH in Thessaloniki, Greece presented a work performed in collaboration with Prof. Pistikopoulos entitled "Deployment of a Search Space Reduction Algorithm to an NMPC Problem - Comparative Experimental Analysis to a Fuel Cell System"
• Our research group is happy to introduce three new members: Gerald Ogumerem, Justin Katz and Baris Burnak.
• At the 65th Canadian Chemical Engineering Conference, Professor Pistikopoulos delivered a keynote lecture on systems and control. The conference took place from October 4-7, 2015 in Calgary, AB, Canada. More information can be found here.
• At a ceremony on June 19 2015, Professor Pistikopoulos was awarded a Doctor Honoris Causa from the University of Pannonia, Hungary. This is the highest scientific recognition bestowed by the university, which was founded in 1949. More information can be found here.
• On October 8, Professor Pistikopoulos delivered a lecture entitled "Multi-Scale Energy Systems Engineering" at the University of Calgary, Canada. This is part of the Zandmer Distinguished Lecture Series from the Department of Chemical and Petroleum Engineering.
• Professor Pistikopoulos held an invited lecture at Purdue University on October 15 on "Multi-Parametric Model-Based Optimization and Control".
• On October 26, Professor Pistikopoulos delivered an invited lecture at Tufts University.
• Professor Pistikopoulos held a departmental seminar at the McCormick Department of Chemical & Biological Engineering at Northwestern University on May 7th, 2015.
• Professor Pistikopoulos held a keynote lecture at the PSE/ESCAPE conference in Copenhagen, Denmark, on Monday, June 1st, 2015, entitled "Integration of Process Design, Process Control and Operations - are we getting closer?"
• Professor Pistikopoulos has been appointed an external examiner for the MSc in Energy Technologies, School of Engineering, University of Cambridge for 2015.
• In February 2015, Professor Pistikopoulos gave a short course on multi-parametric optimization and control.

2014

• In December 2014, Professor Pistikopoulos delivered the 21st Roger W. H. Sargent lecture at the Department of Chemical Engineering at Imperial College London. The Roger W. H. Sargent lecture is a tribute to Roger Sargent's excellence and his legacy in the field of Process Systems Engineering.
• In September 2014, Professor Pistikopoulos has been awarded a Doctor Honoris Causa from the University of Polytehnic University of Buharest, Romania.
• In July 2014, Professor Pistikopoulos, Nikolaos Diangelakis, Maria Papathanasiou and Ioana Nascu gave a short course on multi-parametric optimization and control.
• On September 26th 2014, Professor Pistikopoulos delivered a plenary lecture at the Clean Energy Forum of Tsinghua University in Beijing, China.

2013

• Professor Pistikopoulos was elected a Fellow of the Royal Academy of Engineering, U.K.
• At PSE Asia 2013, Professor Pistikopoulos delivered a Plenary Lecture entitled "Process Systems Engineering - current status & future directions: a global perspective"

2012

• In November 2012, Professor Pistikopoulos was the recipient of the Computing in Chemical Engineering Award from the Computing And Systems Technology (CAST) Division of the American Institute of Chemical Engineers (AIChE).