Oral-History:Karl Astrom: Difference between revisions

Revision as of 21:24, 26 February 2009

About Karl Aström

Dr. Karl Aström was born in Sweden in 1934. He attended graduate school at the Royal Institute of Technology in Stockholm, where he received his masters degree in engineering physics in 1957 and his Ph.D. in mathematics and control in 1960. His research was on guidance control for military purposes, and he worked as a consultant for the Swedish defense department. Aström worked with accelerometers, gyroscopes, and the uses of feedback in navigation control. In 1961 he joined IBM Sweden, where he focused on using digital computers for industrial process control. For a year and a half he studied IBM control groups in the United States, and worked on stochastic control problems at the San Jose laboratories. Upon returning to Sweden, Aström worked on process control computers for use in a paper mill. In 1965 he joined Lund University's engineering faculty and created a curriculum for process control. He wrote a seminal textbook, Control Theory, which was published in 1968. Together with fellow faculty members and graduate students, Aström has made many practical applications of control theory, including work with artificial intelligence, ship steering, water treatment plants, and heating and air conditioning systems. He is the recipient of the Callender Silver Medal from the Institute of Measurement and Control in London, and is a Fellow of the IEEE.

The interview spans Astrom's career, focusing on his work with IBM and as a professor specializing in control theory. Aström discusses his education in Sweden, his work with the Swedish defense ministry, and his subsequent work with IBM and the Lund University. He describes his research in industrial process control, particularly his work with digital computers and stochastic control problems. Aström recalls his work with process controls for paper manufacturing, naval guidance systems, and other practical applications. He evaluates colleagues in the field, the development and impact of control theory, the relative merits of digital and analog computers, IEEE contributions to the control field, and new uses for control theory and feedback. He lists many peers, publications, and control theory centers which have decisively shaped the control field.

About the Interview

KARL ASTRÖM: An Interview Conducted by Frederik Nebeker, IEEE History Center, 6 September 1994

Interview # 228 for the IEEE History Center, The Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers, Inc., and
Rutgers, The State University of New Jersey

Copyright Statement

This manuscript is being made available for research purposes only. All literary rights in the manuscript, including the right to publish, are reserved to the IEEE History Center. No part of the manuscript may be quoted for publication without the written permission of the Director of IEEE History Center.

Request for permission to quote for publication should be addressed to the IEEE History Center Oral History Program, Rutgers - the State University, 39 Union Street, New Brunswick, NJ 08901-8538 USA. It should include identification of the specific passages to be quoted, anticipated use of the passages, and identification of the user.

It is recommended that this oral history be cited as follows:
Karl Aström, an oral history conducted in 1994 by Frederik Nebeker, IEEE History Center, Rutgers University, New Brunswick, NJ, USA.

Interview

INTERVIEWEE: Karl Åström
INTERVIEWER: Frederik Nebeker
DATE: 6 September 1994
PLACE: Lund University, Lund, Sweden

@@ Line 1: / Line 1: @@
-== About Karl Aström ==
+== About Karl Aström  ==
-Dr. Karl Aström was born in Sweden in 1934. He attended graduate school at the Royal Institute of Technology in Stockholm, where he received his masters degree in engineering physics in 1957 and his Ph.D. in mathematics and control in 1960. His research was on guidance control for military purposes, and he worked as a consultant for the Swedish defense department. Aström worked with accelerometers, gyroscopes, and the uses of feedback in navigation control. In 1961 he joined IBM Sweden, where he focused on using digital computers for industrial process control. For a year and a half he studied IBM control groups in the United States, and worked on stochastic control problems at the San Jose laboratories. Upon returning to Sweden, Aström worked on process control computers for use in a paper mill. In 1965 he joined Lund University's engineering faculty and created a curriculum for process control. He wrote a seminal textbook, Control Theory, which was published in 1968. Together with fellow faculty members and graduate students, Aström has made many practical applications of control theory, including work with artificial intelligence, ship steering, water treatment plants, and heating and air conditioning systems. He is the recipient of the Callender Silver Medal from the Institute of Measurement and Control in London, and is a Fellow of the IEEE.<br> <br>
+Dr. Karl Aström was born in Sweden in 1934. He attended graduate school at the Royal Institute of Technology in Stockholm, where he received his masters degree in engineering physics in 1957 and his Ph.D. in mathematics and control in 1960. His research was on guidance control for military purposes, and he worked as a consultant for the Swedish defense department. Aström worked with accelerometers, gyroscopes, and the uses of feedback in navigation control. In 1961 he joined IBM Sweden, where he focused on using digital computers for industrial process control. For a year and a half he studied IBM control groups in the United States, and worked on stochastic control problems at the San Jose laboratories. Upon returning to Sweden, Aström worked on process control computers for use in a paper mill. In 1965 he joined Lund University's engineering faculty and created a curriculum for process control. He wrote a seminal textbook, ''Control Theory'', which was published in 1968. Together with fellow faculty members and graduate students, Aström has made many practical applications of control theory, including work with artificial intelligence, ship steering, water treatment plants, and heating and air conditioning systems. He is the recipient of the Callender Silver Medal from the Institute of Measurement and Control in London, and is a Fellow of the IEEE.<br> <br>
 <br>
 The interview spans Astrom's career, focusing on his work with IBM and as a professor specializing in control theory. Aström discusses his education in Sweden, his work with the Swedish defense ministry, and his subsequent work with IBM and the Lund University. He describes his research in industrial process control, particularly his work with digital computers and stochastic control problems. Aström recalls his work with process controls for paper manufacturing, naval guidance systems, and other practical applications. He evaluates colleagues in the field, the development and impact of control theory, the relative merits of digital and analog computers, IEEE contributions to the control field, and new uses for control theory and feedback. He lists many peers, publications, and control theory centers which have decisively shaped the control field.