Congratulations to Texas ChE alum and Professor of Practice Thomas A. Badgwell (Ph.D. '92) on receiving the Babatunde A. Ogunnaike Control Practice Award from the American Automatic Control Council (AACC).
The Ogunnaike Award is given to one individual for significant contribution to the advancement of control practice. Badgwell is recognized, "For lifetime achievement in the development and application of Model Predictive Control technology, and for leadership in the international process control community."
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From left: Richard Murray (American Automatic Control Council Awards Chair), Tom Badgwell and Robert Judd (AACC President).
Founded in 1957, the AACC aims “to promote cooperation among the various segments of the automatic control profession within the US, and to represent the US in international activities." Rather than individual members, members include professional engineering societies that have an interest in automatic control. Current members are American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics (AIAA), American Institute of Chemical Engineers (AIChE), Applied Probability Society (APM, a subdivision of INFORMS), American Society of Civil Engineers (ASCE), American Society of Mechanical Engineers (ASME), Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE), International Society of Automation (ISA), Society for Modeling & Simulation International (SCS), and Society for Industrial and Applied Mathematics (SIAM).
Also recognized was Texas ChE alum John Hedengren (Ph.D. '05) who received the John R. Ragazzini Education Award for contributions to control education with the Arduino-based Temperature Control Lab, Gekko Optimization Suite software, interactive online resources, videos, and open-source APMonitor online courses for programming, control and optimization.
![American Automatic Control Council (AACC) Conference](/images/news/07.24_UT%20ACC%20winners.jpg)
(L-R): B. Wayne Bequette (Ph.D. '86), Jim Rawlings (B.S. '79), John Hedengren (Ph.D. '05) and Thomas A. Badgwell (Ph.D. '92).
Texas ChE-necctions
Pictured: Wayne Bequette (Ph.D. '86) professor of chemical engineering at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, Jim Rawlings (B.S. '79) Mellichamp Process Control Chair at UC Santa Barbara, John Hedengren (Ph.D. '05) professor of chemical engieering at Brigham Young University and Thomas A. Badgwell. Bequette, Hedengren and Badgwell are all former Ph.D. students of Professor Emeritus Tom Edgar, and Rawlings is a former faculty member.
Congratulations to both Thomas Badgwell and John Hendengren.