Special Sessions

Time: 10:00am – 11:45am.

Location: Terrace (Tower Building).

Session Description: The automotive industry is at a pivotal moment, facing challenges in sustainability, safety, and technological innovation. This panel brings together industry leaders, researchers, and policymakers to discuss key obstacles and solutions for advancing smarter, greener, and safer automotive solutions. Topics include the transition to electric and hybrid vehicles, the integration of advanced driver-assistance systems (ADAS), and the development of smarter infrastructure. Panelists will explore emerging technologies like electrified powertrains, connected vehicles, and autonomous driving, emphasizing regulatory compliance, supplier collaboration, and R&D investment. The session will feature short presentations on challenges and solutions, followed by a Q&A, aiming to inspire collective action and partnerships for a sustainable and resilient automotive future.

Panelist: Dr. Chris Atkinson (OSU), Dr. Ibrahim Haskara (GM), Dr. Mrdjan Jankovic (SwRI), Dr. Ali Borhan (Cummins)

Organizers: Shobhit Gupta (GM) and Shreshta Rajakumar Deshpande (SwRI).

Time: 12:00pm – 1:30pm.

Location: Majestic Ballroom (Tower Building).

Session Description: The Women in Control Committee (WiC) is dedicated to empowering and promoting gender diversity in the Control Systems Society (CSS) by facilitating the development of mentoring and programs to promote the retention, recruitment, and growth of women CSS members. The WiC luncheon at ACC 2025 in Denver, CO provides the opportunity to network, discuss women's roles in CSS, inspire the next generation of female leaders, and foster collaborations to advance women's leadership. This special session will provide female researchers and professionals with the invaluable opportunity to network, seek guidance, and engage with senior faculty members and industry leaders.

Organizers: Afef Fekih (University of Louisiana at Lafayette) and Dennice Gayme (Johns Hopkins University).

Time: 12:00pm – 1:30pm.

Location: Terrace (Tower Building).

Session Description: Mitsubishi Electric Research Laboratories (MERL) is a leading research organization that conducts fundamental research for industrially motivated problems. MERL is a subsidiary of Mitsubishi Electric Corporation, a global manufacturer of a wide range of products including robots, automotive, HVAC, factory automation, electrical systems, and space systems. MERL researchers collaborate with corporate laboratories and academic partners from around the world to develop novel solutions to challenging problems.

In this talk we present an overview of control-related research activities at MERL. We discuss fundamental research including model predictive control and control of constrained systems, estimation and motion planning for autonomous systems, real-time optimization and integration of learning and control. Then, we describe how these fundamental research areas have impacted real world applications and products such as automated vehicles, drones, spacecraft, and mobile robots.

Organizers: Stefano Di Cairano (MERL).

Presenters: Stefano Di Cairano, Avishai Weiss, Abraham P. Vinod, Jordan Leung, and Purnanand Elango (MERL).

Time: 1:30pm – 3:00pm.

Location: Terrace (Tower Building).

Session Description: The National Science Foundation (NSF) offers multiple funding opportunities for investigators working in the field of controls, both within disciplinary programs in Engineering and other directorates, and through foundation-wide cross-cutting initiatives. This presentation will describe opportunities that are relevant to the robotics, dynamics and controls communities from basic research to translation to society. The presentation will also describe programs targeted toward junior investigators and entrepreneurial innovators, as well as guidelines for proposal preparation and NSF’s Intellectual Merit and Broader Impacts criteria. A question-and-answer session will follow the presentation.

Organizers: Jordan M. Berg (National Science Foundation), Marcello Canova (National Science Foundation), and Yue Wang (National Science Foundation). 

Time: 3:00pm – 4:00pm.

Location: Terrace (Tower Building).

Session Description: Developing a successful grant proposal is a time consuming and cumbersome process with many steps, hidden corners and uncertainties. Those uncertainties are further amplified in the USA given the changing climate around federal funding opportunities. Having a partner that understands funding mechanisms and knows how to navigate the various steps of submitting a successful grant proposal is a valuable asset more than ever. Especially if such assistance is provided at no cost! In this session we present Quanser's approach to securing funding for academic faculty and how a partnership with Quanser can help you increase the chances of your proposal's success and accessing the tools you need to conduct the proposed work. We will look at examples of previous awarded applications and some of the best practices that were deployed to make them successful. We will also present a few relevant current and upcoming funding opportunities across North America, UK and Europe for your review and consideration. 

Attendees will be invited to play in a contest during this session with exciting prizes.

Organizers: Amirpasha Javid (Quanser).

Time: 10:00am – 11:00am (Part 1) and 11:00am – 12:00pm (Part 2). 

Location: Terrace (Tower Building).

Session Description: This is a two-part session focused on conveying aspects of control engineering and quantum physics via stories!

Part 1 is a family-friendly session, in which attendees will be able to participate in helping characters accomplish their goals in stories, through games that occur at intervals throughout the narrative of the characters' adventures!  The age range being targeted will be preschool/pre-K to early elementary age range, though older audiences are also welcome and may enjoy the events! Parents or guardians are required to be present and supervise their children at all times, and to sign a waiver accepting responsibility for overseeing their child's participation in the session.

Part 2 is intended for teenagers and above (parents are again required to accompany anyone who is not an adult and sign a waiver), and focuses on the process of creating a film that includes STEM plot points.  Dr. Durand will discuss her work on her first full-length film, Independence, a science fiction adventure film where a number of plot points are based on control and quantum mechanics.  Dr. Durand will discuss progress on the film and the process of developing a film that includes scientific concepts, in addition to screening aspects of progress made to date.

"Independence" is a science fiction adventure. Dr. Jackson Browning, history's most acclaimed scientist and a role model for his generation, is finding himself increasingly at ethical odds with the research premises of the mysterious author known as "L" in their publications.  After his son is kidnapped, but saved through the efforts of an individual coerced into working for the kidnappers, he devotes himself to rescuing his son's protector.  He is repeatedly thwarted by Javier Fuertes, a student in his physics class.  Jackson and Javier, faced with L's experiments with morality, must define their positions on what is right and wrong, making their way through the perils of a past and future intertwined via entanglement, interference, superposition, decoherence, and quantum magic/simulability, and model predictive control applied to manipulating the body and soul.

Organizers: Helen Durand (Wayne State University)

Time: 1:30pm – 3:00pm.

Location: Terrace (Tower Building).

Session Description: So, you think you have a great research idea, now how do you get funding from the National Science Foundation (NSF) to do the work? A well-scoped and written proposal is instrumental to successful submission. This session targets junior faculty and researchers who might be new to NSF and describes detailed guidelines and practical advice for proposal preparation. The presenter will go over NSF review process and Intellectual Merit and Broader Impacts criteria, as well as share most common mistakes made by the Primary Investigators when submitting a proposal. Question-and-answer session will follow the presentation.

Organizers: Jordan M. Berg (National Science Foundation), Marcello Canova (National Science Foundation), and Yue Wang (National Science Foundation). 

Time: 3:00pm – 4:00pm.

Location: Terrace (Tower Building).

Session Description: At Lockheed Martin (LM) we tackle complex problems across all possible environments. At the Space Advanced Technology Center (ATC), innovation extends beyond incremental change. We push for first-of-a-kind capability with enduring impact. Whatever the application, our charter is to create game-changing technologies. We are the research labs for Lockheed Martin Space. The ATC creates foundational technologies that inspire, protect, and connect our world. Our history goes back to 1956, founded in Palo Alto, California, helping seed what would become Silicon Valley. Today, we still carry on the legacy that started our labs, like the very beginnings of solar science and rocket technology (even underwater). We continue to evolve and lead the way in new realms, like lasers, nanomaterials, and informatics. At the ATC, we are driving change in our endless pursuit of what’s next. The future of aerospace is being shaped by the infusion of knowledge into our algorithms—knowledge comprised of fundamental physics and mathematics, engineering ingenuity, advanced computing techniques, and experience. At LM Aeronautics Skunks Works® the notion that, “what we don’t know can’t hurt us”, does not apply to what we do in aerospace design and control.  Knowledge, whether acquired directly or indirectly, a priori or on-the-fly, is critical to the decision-making process.  Inflight adjustments are a vital part of meeting aircraft stability and performance requirements for both manned and unmanned vehicles in the presence of disturbances and/or parametric uncertainty/ The Advanced Technology Laboratories (ATL) is the research and development center for scientific advancement for LM in the areas of autonomy, robotics, artificial intelligence, command & control, human-machine symbiosis, spectrum operations, hypersonics, and cyber. ATL engineers and scientists develop and apply leading edge technologies to our customers’ most difficult problems and needs, redefining global security and transforming emerging ideas into solutions.

In this session we will present ongoing research across LM and make the case that “what we don’t know can hurt us”. We encourage students and researchers interested in collaborating with LM to attend this session and inquire of opportunities.

Organizers: Kingsley Fregene (Lockheed Martin).

Presenters: Kingsley Fregene, Alberto Speranzon,  Andrzej Banaszuk, James Ramsey,  Daniel Kwon

Time: 10:00am – 12:00pm.

Location: Majestic Ballroom (Tower Building).

Session Description: The Student Networking Special Session at ACC 2025 is designed to help graduate students explore diverse career paths, understand roles and responsibilities across industries, and build connections with established professionals. During the event, small groups of students will engage in brief 5-10 minute networking rounds with experts from industry, academia, national labs, and government. This interactive format will provide valuable insights into various career opportunities and foster meaningful professional relationships. The session is open to the first 100 students who register via the Google form which will be shared 2 months prior to the event. Students are encouraged to bring a few printed copies of their resumes.

This event is open to the first 100 students, registered using the following link: https://forms.office.com/r/DFgrg7DL7z. A few week before the conference, an email will be sent out to all registered students with updated final information. 

Organizers: Jackson Fogelquist (University of California, Davis), Hao Tu (University of Kansas), Ruiting Wang (University of California, Berkeley), Jorge Espin (University of Oklahoma), Shobhit Gupta (General Motors Global Research and Development, Shreshta Rajakumar Deshpande (Southwest Research Institute), Brian Block (The Ohio State University), and Jake Ward (Auburn University).

Time: 12:00pm – 1:30pm.

Location: Terrace (Tower Building).

Session Description: In this session, Dr. Cescon from the University of Houston will discuss the educational materials developed for a graduate-level engineering course in learning-based control, using MATLAB Live Scripts for interactive learning, Simulink and Simscape for dynamic modeling and simulation, and MATLAB Onramps for self-paced online learning. The course provides foundational theory and methodological approaches for obtaining models and designing control laws directly from inputoutput data measured from a system during operation, integrating system identification, machine learning and adaptive control. The course aims to give the students fundamental knowledge of learning-based control systems, explore their real-life applications, and critically assess their benefits and limitations. 

Feedback from students, collected through questionnaires, will be presented to investigate the impact of the educational activities on students’ experiences, engagement, and content knowledge. The session attempts to provide educators with up-to-date resources to increase their teaching impact on topics related to learning-based control.

Organizers: Melda Ulusoy (MathWorks) and Marzia Cescon (University of Houston).