Sanjay Lall

Claire J. Tomlin

Stanford's control courses are primarily categorized in General Engineering (E), with good reason. Sanjay Lall, Assistant Professor of Aeronautics and Astronautics, says, "This is a field that's used practically, not only in Chemical, Electrical and Mechanical Engineering, but also in some of the new research fronts." He and Claire Tomlin, also Assistant Professor of Aeronautics and Astronautics, teach several of these control courses to industry students. In discussing their research and classroom experiences, both point out that theoretical and practical knowledge from these courses applies to a growing number of emerging fields, including: artificial intelligence, biosciences and bioengineering, and network engineering.

"I think control courses are essential," says Tomlin. "Even the introductory courses give you a sense of how to build models of all different kinds of systems; how to analyze and ultimately manipulate those systems to do what you want them to do."

"It's an advantage for students to be comfortable with models outside of their home area," continues Tomlin. "I'm getting students from the medical school who are taking my controls course. In fact, I'm learning more and more about how people who have nothing to do with AA controls can apply control techniques to their work."

Tomlin's research reflects this diversity, from her award-winning work in the development of automated air traffic control systems, to the application of numerical analysis and modeling techniques to protein circuits. "Understanding biological systems does involve different processes," Tomlin explains, "but they can be represented as sequences of nested controls problems. In learning how control loops work, students can still understand what's going on in a given process. "

Lall sees interdisciplinary collaboration as healthy and exciting "The flow goes both ways," he says. "One of the things I've learned from talking to biologists is that they have a deep understanding of the feedback processes that regulate the levels, even within individual cells. Once you translate the language, you realize we are talking about the same issues. Bioengineering is an area where some of the most exciting changes and collaborations are likely to occur. In fact, any time you can form a collaborative connection among disciplines, it's a good thing."

"Information systems is also important for the whole AA department — including areas such as Global Positioning Systems," says Lall. This is an area of innovation at Stanford — in autonomous aerospace systems, air traffic control systems, and control systems for autonomous vehicles. "My work is on the mathematics of systems and developing algorithms to control them," he continues. "The computer research involved has a different flavor. There is a very physical consequence, and the work is much more safety critical than for many areas — you must be 100 % sure of the outcomes. When computers interact with physical systems, there are new, significant challenges."

Stanford's control courses reflect these new challenges, generating unique opportunities for industry students.

"Stanford's industry partnerships are important, too," says Tomlin. "I have very strong links to industry and government-it's necessary for my work. Students appreciate taking the courses from those who do the current research, and discussing what the implications will be. Sometimes the questions that come from industry students are related to problems I haven't even considered, and that make me go back and think."

"Students have closer interaction with our faculty than they might otherwise," Lall says. "The sense of history here matters to our students — it's enlightening to be with people who were here for the development of significant technologies. It can put an industry student's work in the context of how it was actually developed."

Lall and Tomlin also understand the many challenges facing industry students. They post all their notes online, before class, so that remote students can more easily follow classes. Chiara Kruse, a control engineer for Lockheed Martin Corporation, appreciates this. While her background is in the field, she has found value in all her control courses at Stanford. She says, "Professor Tomlin presents real life examples as she goes through the class, which is helpful. She did an outstanding job explaining things, and in sending out clarifications to the class when there were questions. Professor Lall's revamped control design courses are very clear and thorough. Stanford has a lot of depth in the control areas, and the advanced courses are directly applicable to my work. "

Direct application across industries, experienced faculty who understand your needs, the chance to study with world leaders in AA research, SCPD award-winning technologies and support-four reasons to take Stanford AA control courses for your own professional educational development.

For more information about AA, visit and bookmark http://scpd.stanford.edu/scpd/courses/contentView/aa/.