The academic community of the ETSi pays tribute to Professor Eduardo Fernández Camacho

The Department of Systems Engineering and Automation of the Higher Technical School of Engineering of the University of Seville is holding a workshop on the 21st and 22nd entitled “Adventures and Challenges in Predictive Control. Tribute to Professor Eduardo Fernández Camacho”.

This event, dedicated to paying a well-deserved tribute to one of its most distinguished professors, Eduardo Fernández Camacho, will also be a unique opportunity to reflect on the exceptional dedication and contributions he has made throughout his remarkable career. His influence has not only left an indelible mark on the academic world but has also inspired generations of students and colleagues.

The event program consists of two plenary lectures and a round table discussion. The first lecture, titled “Applications of Predictive Control to Solar Power Generation Plants,” will be given by Professor Manuel Berenguel Soria, Chair of the University of Almería. The second lecture, “Predictive Control Applied to COVID Control,” will be presented by Professor Julio Nomey Rico of the Federal University of Santa Catarina, Brazil.

The conference topics cover two of the main areas where Professor Fernández Camacho has been a pioneer: Predictive Control and concentrated solar power plants. His legacy has paved the way for several generations of researchers. Both speakers completed their doctoral theses under Eduardo Fernández Camacho and have established important research groups at the universities where they currently work.

The round table aims to review the different stages of the honoree's academic career, for which the professors Javier Aracil Santonja and Francisco Rodríguez Rubio from the University of Seville, Sebastián Dormido Bencomo from the UNED and César de Prada Moraga from the University of Valladolid will meet.

A fruitful and extensive career

Professor Fernández Camacho holds a PhD in Industrial Engineering and is Professor Emeritus at the University of Seville. He is a pioneer of the methodology known as Predictive Control and has written several books, including "Model Predictive Control," and numerous articles in prestigious journals.

He was President of EUCA (European Union Control Association) and chaired the International Affairs Committee of the IEEE (Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers) CSS (Control Systems Society). He was also a member of the IEEE CSS Board and the IFAC (International Federation of Automatic Control) Council. He is an Honorary Fellow of both IFAC and IEEE.

In 2018, he received one of the prestigious and coveted ERC (European Research Council) Advanced Grants to work on the optimal control of concentrated solar power (CSP) systems. Throughout his extensive career, he has supervised 37 doctoral theses and has been the principal investigator on numerous projects funded by regional, national, and European governments. He has also carried out numerous technology transfer projects for companies, primarily in the fields of solar energy and industrial processes.

He has been awarded numerous prizes, including the National Automatic Control Award, given by CEA (Spanish Committee of Automatic Control), the Fama Prize from the University of Seville, and the Javier Benjumea Puigcerver Prize from the Focus Foundation.