ICON conference gives students opportunity to present research
A conference held by the Institute for Control, Optimization and Networks (ICON) at Purdue University recently brought outstanding students together to share their most recent research on a wide variety of topics, such as complex networks, multi-agent system optimization data science for autonomy and control, human-autonomy interaction, and much more. ICON, co-directed by Shaoshuai Mou, Elmer Bruhn Associate Professor in Purdue’s School of Aeronautics and Astronautics, and Shreyas Sundaram, Marie Gordon Professor in the Elmore Family School of Electrical and Computer Engineering, carries the mission of enhancing research collaboration, educational coordination and external engagement at Purdue to address fundamental challenges in autonomous, intelligent and robotics systems
The student-run ICON Student Research Conference, is one major event of ICON’s educational activities. It gave participants the opportunity to network with faculty members and keynote speakers to explore new research avenues and interdisciplinary partnerships.
The conference included two keynote speakers, Andrea Serrani, Professor of Electrical and Computer Engineering from Ohio State University, and Necmiye Ozay, Chen-Luan Family Faculty Development Professor of Electrical and Computer Engineering from the University of Michigan. Serrani delivered a talk entitled “Dynamic Control Allocation: from Theory to Applications through Geometric and Adaptive Control.” Ozay’s talk was called “Formal Methods for Cyber-Physical Systems: State of the Art and Future Challenges.”
ICON also included presentation and poster sessions. The conference served as an invaluable platform for graduate and undergraduate engineering students, offering them the opportunity to gain insights from distinguished academics and connect with peers. This facilitated exposure to cutting-edge developments in the field while fostering valuable networking opportunities.
This was the second ICON Student Research Conference. Student organizers plan to continue it as an annual event. Philip E. Paré, Rita Lane and Norma Fries Assistant Professor of Electrical and Computer Engineering, is the ICON SRC Faculty Advisor,
"The growth between the inaugural ICON Student Research Conference and the second was remarkable,” says Paré. “The whole event was so smooth and well run. I am excited to see how the conference continues to grow in years to come."
The conference is an excellent example of cross-disciplinary collaboration, having been organized entirely by graduate students from across the College of Engineering within ICON:
Ian Walter: ECE, 4th year PhD, General co-chair and Logistics co-chair.
Alex Shi: AAE, 3rd year PhD, General co-chair and Presentation co-chair.
Madeleine Yuh: ME, 4th year PhD, Team Coordinator and Poster co-chair.
Antonio Valdivia: ME, 3rd year PhD, Logistics co-chair.
Pranoy Das: ECE, 2nd year PhD, Logistics co-chair.
Sheeraz Athar: IE, 3rd year PhD, Presentation co-chair.
Sibibalan Jeevanandam: ME, 2nd year PhD, Presentation co-chair.
Ritika Sachdeva: ECE, 1st year MS, Poster co-chair.
Shaurya Shrivastava: AAE, 2nd year PhD, Poster co-chair
Pandu Dewanatha: ME, 2nd year MS, Photographer.