(LULEÅ UNIVERSITY OF TECHNOLOGY)

Ph.D in Control Engineering Awarded Research Prize

Miguel Castaño at the research group for Control Engineering is rewarded The Norrbotten Research Council Honorary Award in Memory of Curt Boström for the best technical dissertation of 2012 at Luleå University of Technology.

Miguel Castano defended his doctoral thesis in November 2012, and his work was the result of collaboration with two of Sweden's most significant companies in production of packaging goods and led to more robust methods for the structural optimization of production processes.

The reward, a scholarship of 50 000 SEK, is shared by either one or several winners and was awarded to Miguel’s thesis “Practical tools for the configuration of control structures “. The prize was handed out during Luleå University of Technology’s official promotions and installation ceremony.

- An award is an objective evaluation of your research work. To receive such recognition is very rewarding, Miguel said.

The official motivation for the reward read: "Miguel Castaño Arranz has developed methods for industrial applications of large and complex control functions in the process industry. In his thesis new methods are describef for analysis of industrial processes. One example is the paper industry where the development of a software tool to visualize correlation between operator and process makes it easier to understand these complex events.”

- I developed mathematical tools that allow visualizing production processes and create graphs which describe the impact of the actuators on measurement points in the process. Using these diagrams to design control strategies would maximize the optimal use of the actuators and minimize unwanted side effects on production targets, said Miguel Castaño.

One result of the thesis was also the development of an open source software tool that is transferring the research results to industry application, as well as the startup of the company OProvAT EF that is associated with the software.

- Together with the process industry we are applying for funding for new projects with the open source tool and the related research. We believe that continuing the research within process optimization can be very beneficial for Norrbotten due to the existence of process industries with high-energy demands like pulp and paper, mining, and steel industry, says Miguel Castaño.