Manfred Morari

Biography

Dr. Manfred Morari, Professor and Head of the Automatic Control Laboratory at the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology in Zurich, has developed several groundbreaking theoretical techniques for the design of automatic control systems. These techniques and his innovative insights have profoundly affected industrial practice and control research directions over the last 25 years. They have improved the quality control in chemical production facilities and have reduced the energy requirements and emissions in refineries.

Dr. Morari's current research focuses on hybrid systems, where the behavior can switch between different modes.The tools his group developed for controller design and analysis for hybrid systems have dramatically reduced engineering effort and on-line computation requirements. As a result, these automation systems have been implemented on a wide range of applications, including traction control for automobiles, torque control for electrical drives and energy management for cement mills. An IEEE Fellow, Dr. Morari is a member of the U.S. National Academy of Engineering.