9315537 Morari This award of $200,000 is for curriculum development in control systems. Traditional introductory undergraduate courses in control theory do not capture the recent developments in research and still tend to be a collection of tricks without a coherent theme. Moreover, control theory has become very interdisciplinary and now has no natural home within the traditional engineering disciplines. Yet because of the increasingly important role that the design of control into engineered devices and processes that modern advances in computers and communications is making possible, it is now very important to introduce modern control theory and techniques to undergraduates. This proposal will develop modular curricula for two control courses at the senior level, involving both theory and experimentation. Two experiments that can be run remotely will be developed for the courses, control in buildings and control of a ducted fan engine.
