Eugenio Schuster


Email: schuster@lehigh.edu
Phone: (610) 758-5253
Fax:  (610) 758-6224

Assistant Professor
Department of Mechanical Engineering and Mechanics

Appointed to Lehigh Faculty:  2004

Personal Web Page

Research Lab:
Laboratory for Control of Complex Physical Systems

Teaching Lab:
Interdisciplinary Automatic Controls Laboratory Web Page

Education:
Ph.D., Mechanical & Aerospace Engineering, University of California San Diego (UCSD), 2004.
M.Sc., Mechanical & Aerospace Engineering, University of California San Diego (UCSD), 2000.
Engineer (6-yr program), Nuclear Engineering, Balseiro Institute, Argentina, 1998
Engineer (6-yr program), Electrical Engineering,University of Buenos Aires, Argentina, 1993.

Related experience - teaching, industrial, etc.: 
Assistant Professor, Mechanical Engineering and Mechanics, Lehigh University, 2004-present.
Director, Laboratory for Control of Complex Physical Systems, Lehigh University, 2004-present.
Lecturer, Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering, University of California San Diego (UCSD), 2003.
Graduate Intern, SDCC (System Dynamics, Characterization and Control) . RASCAL Lab, Sun Microsystems, 2003-2004
Research Intern, General Atomics, Fusion Group, Summers 2002 & 2003.
Consultant in Industrial Automation and Control, 1994-1999.
Assistant Professor, Control Engineering, National University of Quilmes, Argentina, 1998-1999.
Control Engineer, Automation Group, Schneider Electric Argentina, 1992-1994.
Lecturer, University of Buenos Aires, Argentina, 1990-1992.

Research interests:
Interdisciplinary research at the boundary of Control Systems and Energy Systems with emphasis on Nuclear Fusion and Fission. Control Theory with a focus on Nonlinear Control, Distributed Parameter Systems Control, System Modeling and Identification, Fault Detection. Advanced computational fluid and plasma dynamics.  Current efforts focus on the application of advanced control techniques to complex energy systems, such as nuclear fusion reactors (control of plasmas and magnetohydrodynamic flows), coal-based power plants, residential heating/cooling systems and alternative energy systems. Other research interests include control of particle accelerators, control of mechanical systems, autonomous and cooperative control of robots/vehicles, and control of aerospace systems.

Scientific and professional societies of which a member:
Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE).
American Society of Mechanical Engineers (ASME).
American Nuclear Society (ANS).
American Physical Society (APS). 

Honors and awards:
First and Second Place, National Academy of Engineering Grand Challenges Poster Competition, 2009.
Finalist, Best Student Paper Award, American Control Conference, 2008.
National Science Foundation CAREER Award, 2007.
Phi Beta Delta Honor Society for International Scholars, 2005.
Best Poster Award, School of Engineering Research Review, UCSD, 2004.
Best Presentation Award, American Control Conference, 2003.
Outstanding Teaching Assistant Award, UCSD, 2000-2001.
Doctoral Studies Fellowship Offer, Fulbright Association, 1999.
Graduate Fellowship Offer, Organization of American States (OAS), 1999.
Specialization Fellowship Offer, Argentine National Commission of Atomic Energy, 1998-2000.
Nuclear Engineering Fellowship, Argentine National Commission of Atomic Energy, 1994-1998.
Honor Diploma Award, University of Buenos Aires, 1993.
Academic Performance Award, Fortabat Foundation, 1992.
Academic Excellence Fellowship, Stock Exchange Foundation, 1991-1993.

Recent PhD Dissertations supervised: 
(contact department for copy)

2010 – Yongsheng Ou, PhD Dissertation, “Optimal Control of a Class of Nonlinear Parabolic PDE Systems Arising in Fusion Plasma Current Profile Dynamics” 

Recent MSc Theses supervised: 
(contact department for copy)

2009 – William Wehner, MSc Thesis, “Extremum-Seeking Stabilization of Neoclassical Tearing Modes in Tokamak Fusion Plasmas”
2009 – Patrick Boyle, MSc Thesis, “Simultaneous Control of Electron Density and Effective Atomic Number in Tokamak Plasmas”
2009 – Shuowei Yang, MSc Thesis, “Model Validation and Robust Stabilization Strategies for Tokamak Resistive Wall Modes”
2008 - Jennifer Woodby, MSc Thesis, "Model for Current Drive Stabilization of Neoclassical Tearing Modes"
2007 – Joseph Dalessio, MSc Thesis, “Robust Stabilization of Resistive Wall Modes in Tokamak Plasmas via μ-synthesis,”
2007 – Nicholas Lynch, MSc Thesis, “A Strategy for Controlled Micromanipulation Using an Atomic Force Microscope Probe”
2006 - Joseph Blair, MSc Thesis, "Comparison of Potential Approaches for Resistive Wall Mode Stabilization in Fusion Reactors Based on a Plasma Eigenmode Model"
2006 - Miles Pekala, MSc Thesis, "Dynamic Optimization of an irregular swarm of robots using Ant Colony Optimization (ACO) and other methods"
2006 - Lixiang Luo, MSc Thesis, "Direct Numerical Simulation of Mixing Control by Boundary Feedback in 2D Magnetohydrodynamic Channel Flow"
2006 - Graham Schill, MS Thesis, "Rollover Recoverability of a Hexapod Walker"

Recent Journal Papers: 

  • Y. Ou, C. Xu and E. Schuster, “Robust Control Design for the Poloidal Magnetic Flux Profile Evolution in the Presence of Model Uncertainties,” IEEE Transactions on Plasma Science, in press.

  • C. Xu, Y. Ou and E. Schuster, “Transport Parameter Estimations of Plasma Transport Dynamics using the Extended Kalman Filter,” IEEE Transactions on Plasma Science, in press.

  • Y. Ou, C. Xu, E. Schuster, T. C. Luce, J. R. Ferron, M. L. Walker and D. A. Humphreys, “Optimal Tracking Control of Current Profile in Tokamaks,” IEEE Transactions on Control Systems, in press.

  • C. Xu, J. Dalessio, Y. Ou, E. Schuster, T.C. Luce, J.R. Ferron, M.L. Walker and D.A. Humphreys, “Ramp-Up Phase Current Profile Control of Tokamak Plasmas via Nonlinear Programming,” IEEE Transactions on Plasma Science, vol. 38, no 2, pp. 163-173.

  • R. Vazquez, E. Schuster and M. Krstic, “A Closed-Form Full-State Feedback Controller for Stabilization of 3D Magnetohydrodynamic Channel Flow,” ASME Journal of Dynamic Systems, Measurement and Control, 131, 041001 (2009).

  • J. Dalessio, E. Schuster, D.A. Humphreys, M.L. Walker, Y. In, J-S. Kim, “Model-based Control of the Resistive Wall Mode in DIII-D: A Comparison Study,” Fusion Engineering and Design 84 (2009) 641-645.

  • F. Si, C.E. Romero, Z. Yao, E. Schuster, Z. Xu, R.L. Morey, B.N. Liebowitz, “Optimization of Coal-fired Boiler SCRs Based on Modified Support Vector Machine Models and Genetic Algorithms,” Fuel 88 (2009) 806–816.

  • J. Dalessio, E. Schuster, D.A. Humphreys, M.L.Walker, Y. In, J.S. Kim, “Model-based Robust Control of Resistive Wall Modes via μ-synthesis,” Fusion Science and Technology, v55, n2, February, 2009, p 163-179.

  • J. Woodby, E. Schuster, G. Bateman, A. Kritz, “Model for Current Drive Stabilization of Neoclassical Tearing Modes,” Physics of Plasmas 15, 092504 (2008).

  • Y. Ou, C. Xu, E. Schuster, T.C. Luce, J.R. Ferron, M.L. Walker and D.A. Humphreys, “Design and simulation of extremum-seeking open-loop optimal control of current profile in the DIII-D tokamak,” Plasma Physics and Controlled Fusion, 50 (2008) 115001.

  • N.A. Lynch, C. Onal, E. Schuster, and M. Sitti, “Vision-Based Feedback Strategy for Controlled Pushing of Microparticles,” Journal of Micro-Nano Mechatronics, 4 (2008) 73-83.

  • R. Vazquez, E. Schuster and M. Krstic, “Magnetohydrodynamic state estimation with boundary sensors,” Automatica 44 (2008) 2517–2527.

  • E. Schuster, L. Luo, and M. Krstic, “MHD channel flow control in 2D: Mixing enhancement by boundary feedback,” Automatica 44 (2008) 2498–2507.

  • C. Xu, E. Schuster, R. Vazquez, M. Krstic, “Stabilization of Linearized 2D Magnetohydrodynamic Channel Flow by Backstepping Boundary Control,” Systems & Control Letters 57 (2008) 805–812.

  • D.A. Humphreys, J.R. Ferron, M. Bakhtiari, J.A. Blair, Y. In, G.L. Jackson, H. Jhang, R.D. Johnson, J.S. Kim, R.J. La Haye, J.A. Leuer, B.G. Penaflor, E. Schuster, M.L. Walker, H. Wang, A.S. Welander, D.G. Whyte, “Development of ITER-Relevant Plasma Control Solutions at DIII-D,” Nuclear Fusion, v 47, n 8, Aug 1, 2007, p 943-951.

  • E. Schuster, C. Xu, N. Torres, E. Morinaga, C. Allen and M. Krstic, “Beam matching adaptive control via extremum seeking,” Nuclear Instruments and Methods in Physics Research A 581 (2007) 799–815.

  • Y. Ou, M.L. Walker, E. Schuster and J.R. Ferron, “Equilibrium Reconstruction Improvement via Kalman-filter-based Vessel Current Estimation at DIII-D,” Fusion Engineering and Design 82 (2007) 1144–1152.

  • Y. Ou, T.C. Luce, E. Schuster, J.R. Ferron, M.L. Walker, C. Xu, and D.A. Humphreys, “Towards Model-based Current Profile Control at DIII-D,” Fusion Engineering and Design 82 (2007) 1153–1160.

  • M.L. Walker, D.A. Humphreys, D. Mazon, D. Moreau, M. Okabayashi, T. Osborne, E. Schuster, “Emerging Applications in Tokamak Plasma Control: Control solutions for next generation tokamaks,” IEEE Control System Magazine (Special Issue on Tokamak Plasma Control), vol. 26, no. 2, pp. 35-63, 2006.

  • E. Schuster, M. L. Walker, D. A. Humphreys, and M. Krstic, “Plasma Vertical Stabilization with Actuation Constraints in the DIII-D Tokamak,” Automatica, 41, pp. 1173-1179, 2005.

  • M. L. Walker, J.R. Ferron, D. A. Humphreys, R. D. Johnson, J. A. Leuer, B. G. Penaflor, D. A. Piglowski, A. Pironti, M. Ariola and E. Schuster, “Next-Generation Plasma Control in the DIII-D Tokamak”, Fusion Engineering and Design, 66-68, pp.749-753, Sept. 2003.

  • E. Schuster and M. Krstic, “Control of a Nonlinear PDE System Arising from Non-Burning Tokamak Plasma Transport Dynamics,” International Journal of Control, vol.76, no.11, pp. 1116-1124, July 2003.

  • E. Schuster, M. Krstic and G. Tynan, “Burn Control in Fusion Reactors via Nonlinear Stabilization Techniques,” Fusion Science and Technology, vol. 43, no. 1, Jan. 2003.

  • E. Schuster, M. Krstic and G. Tynan, “Nonlinear Lyapunov-Based Burn Control in Fusion Reactors,” Fusion Engineering and Design, 63-64, pp. 569-575, 2002.