Research projects

Ongoing

  • H2-TWIN: Model Reduction for the Development of Digital Twins of Fuel Cell Systems (PI)
    ANR JCJC funding

  • RELIEF: model REduction based on Loewner Interpolation For low-frequency electromagnetism (co-PI)
    GDR SEEDS funding
    In collaboration with Stéphane Clénet, Thomas Henneron and Wei Chen (L2EP)

  • IAPUCA: AI for power electronics automated design
    I co-lead with Thierry Meynard a working group that meets monthly in a hackathon format, with one research engineer dedicated half-time to this project.
    Preliminary results were presented at PowerAlps (slides)
    Group members: Guillaume Fontes, Guillaume Gateau, Maurice Fadel, Jérémi Régnier, Grégroire Le Goff, Ana Llor, Frédéric Messine (professors at ENSEEIHT), David Bonnafous and Régis Ruelland (research engineers at LAPLACE), and Eric Monmasson (Prof at CY Cergy Paris University).

  • Participant in the IRN Maxwell on multi-scale methods for modelling and design of electrical systems (International Research Network, France-Brazil, see here for more details)

  • Open Power Tuesdays
    Objective: develop an open-source, automated testbench for switching loss characterization. First results are available in this paper (SGE2025), repository and dataset.
    The working group, led by Nicolas Rouger (LAPLACE) and Luiz Villa (LAAS), meets monthly in a hackathon format.

    • Past

  • I-REVE: Charging islands for electric vehicles (participant)
    ADEME funding
    Consortium: SIREA, LAPLACE, RETROFLEET
    See here

  • ECH2: Control strategies for a modular fuel cell system under ageing constraints (participant)
    ADEME funding
    Consortium: VITESCO Technologies, LAPLACE,SIEMENS, Helion, IFP Energies Nouvelles
    See here

  • MOR-H2: Model Order Reduction for physics-informed data-driven fuel cell models (scientific leader)
    Exploratory project, funding from INP Toulouse
    Collaborators: Jérémi Régnier and Antoine Picot

    • Supervision

    PhD candidates

    • Since Oct. 2024: Marwan Soliman, PhD student at LAPLACE
      Topic: Model order reduction of hybrid systems and application to power electronics
      Co-supervised (70%) with Zohra Kader.
    • Since Sept. 2024: Luc Derrien, PhD student at LAPLACE and Airbus
      Topic: Control laws for hybrid aircraft propulsion
      Co-supervised (30%) with Maurice Fadel and Mohamed Khaled Kahalerras in collaboration with Airbus.
    • Since Sept. 2024: Valentin Burgaud, PhD student at LAPLACE
      Topic: Data-driven approaches for resilient microgrids
      Co-supervised (30%) with Maurice Fadel and Grégoire Le Goff.
    • Since Jan. 2023 : Yuqi Liu, PhD student at LS2N
      Topic: Constrained learning and optimized control based on multi-physics and neural modeling - Application to multi-energy systems
      Co-supervised (30%) with Philippe Chevrel and Fabien Claveau (LS2N)
    • Feb 2022 - July 2025 : Noé Rivier, PhD student at LAPLACE
      Topic: Optimal control of consumption and ageing of a battery hybridised multi-stack fuel cell system for a heavy mobility application
      Co-supervised (30%) with Christophe Turpin, Amine Jaafar, Jérémi Régnier and in collaboration with Schaeffler, part of the ECH2 project funded by ADEME
    • Jan. 2020 - Jan. 2025 : Felix Agner, PhD student in the Automatic Control Department at Lund University
      Topic: Scalable Control of Interconnected Systems
      Co-supervised with Anders Rantzer and Richard Pates

    Postdocs

    • Jan. 2024 - June 2024 : Ryan Pitanga, Postdoc at LAPLACE
      In collaboration with Zohra Kader, Stéphane Caux, Nicolas Roux and Eric Bru, part of the I-REVE project funded by ADEME
    • May 2022- Nov. 2023: Saif Ahmad, Postdoc at LAPLACE
      Topic: Robust multi-objective control of electrical vehicles charging islands
      In collaboration with Zohra Kader, Stéphane Caux, Nicolas Roux and Eric Bru, part of the I-REVE project funded by ADEME

    Master thesis and internships

    • 2026 Zainab Iqbal (master student University of Lille)
      Topic: Model order reduction of MQS and EQS problems, in collaboration with Thomas Henneron, Stéphane Clénet and Wei Chen
    • 2025 Federico Mattiuz (master student Politecnico di Milano)
      Topic: Sizing of EV charging microgrids with a smart EMS, in collaboration with Xavier Roboam, Bruno Sareni and Evelise Antunes
    • 2024 - 2025 Catalina Maluenda (master student Universitat Politecnica de Catalunya)
      Topic: Sizing of microgrids for supplying electrolysers with renewable energy, in collaboration with Ana Llor
    • 2024 Nivetha Srinavasan (master student ISAE Supaero)
      Topic: Model Order Reduction for physics-informed fuel cell models, in collaboration with Jérémi Régnier and Thomas Jarry
    • 2024 Valentin Burgaud (master student ENS Rennes/ENSEEIHT)
      Topic: Data-driven approaches for resilient microgrids, in collaboration with Maurice Fadel
    • 2024 Luc Derrien (master student ENS Cachan/ENSEEIHT)
      Topic: Control laws for hybrid aircraft propulsion, in collaboration with Maurice Fadel and Airbus.
    • 2024 Marwan Soliman (master student at Politecnico di Torino)
      Topic Data-driven control of power converters, in collaboration with Zohra Kader.
    • 2023 Jochem Baltussem (master student at Eindhoven University of Technology)
      Topic: Data-driven prediction of user behaviour for electrical vehicle charging
    • 2022 Henrik Lidstrom and Emil Sundström (master students at Lund University)
      Topic: Physics-enhanced machine learning of energy systems, in collaboration with Carrier
    • 2021 Lisa Korsell and Tuva Yden (master students at Lund University)
      Topic: Control Design for Energy-Sharing Module of Next-Generation Thermal Energy System ectogrid, in collaboration with E.ON
    • 2019 Basile Bouteau (master student from KTH and Ecole Centrale de Lyon)
      Topic: Optimization-based closed-loop stability enforcement for direct data-driven control

    Research visits

    • KTH, Division of Decision and Control Systems, July to August 2026, hosted by Alexandre Proutière, funding from Digital Futures
    • INRIA Sophia Antipolis, January to March 2019, invited by Martine Olivi in the FACTAS team (Functional Analysis for ConcepTion and Assessment of Systems)
    • Politecnico di Milano, Dipartimento di Elettronica, Informazione e Bioingegneria, from August to November 2018, hosted by Simone Formentin, grant from Toulouse University (3K€)

    Publications

    Journal papers

    • Reinforcement learning vs. model-based control in electric vehicle charging microgrids, V. Burgaud, G. Le Goff, P. Kergus, M. Fadel, Control Engineering Practice, special issue The 23rd IFAC World Congress: Smart Systems for Power, Energy and Sustainability, 2026, ScienceDirect
    • Building thermal control: Hierarchical design from limited data using grey-box or black-box internal models for model predictive control, Y. Liu, P. Kergus, F. Claveau, P. Chevrel, B. Lacarrière, Journal of Building Engineering, 2025, Elsevier and HAL Open Science
    • Estimation-based Robust Switching Control of a DC-DC Boost Converter
      S. Ahmad, R. P. C. de Souza, P. Kergus, Z. Kader and S. Caux, IEEE Transactions on Industry Applications, 2024, IEEEXplore and HAL Open Science
    • Decentralized PI-control and Anti-windup in Resource Sharing Networks
      F. Agner, J. Hansson, P. Kergus, A. Rantzer, S. Tarbouriech, L. Zaccarian, European Journol of Control, 2024, ScienceDirect and arXiv
    • Anti-windup coordination strategy around a fair equilibrium in resource sharing networks
      F Agner, P Kergus, A Rantzer, S. Tarbouriech and L. Zaccarian IEEE Control Systems Letters, 2023, IEEEXplore and arXiv
    • Combating district heating bottlenecks using load control
      F Agner, P Kergus, R Pates, A Rantzer, Smart Energy, 2022, ScienceDirect and arXiv
    • Learning-based hierarchical control of water reservoir systems
      P. Kergus, S. Formentin, M. Giuliani and A. Castelletti, IFAC Journal of Systems and Control, 2022, ScienceDirect and arXiv
    • Interpolatory-based data-driven pulsed fluidic actuator control design and experimental validation
      C. Poussot-Vassal, P. Kergus, F. Kerhervé, D. Sipp and L. Cordier, Transactions on Control Systems Technology, 2021, IEEEXplore and arXiv
    • Data-driven control of infinite dimensional systems: Application to a continuous crystallizer
      P. Kergus, IEEE Control Systems Letters, 2020, + accepted for presentation at the American Control Conference 2021\, IEEEXplore and arXiv
    • From reference model selection to controller validation: Application to Loewner Data-Driven Control
      P. Kergus, M. Olivi, C. Poussot-Vassal, and F. Demourant, IEEE Control Systems Letters, 2019, + accepted for presentation at the IEEE Conference on Decision and Control 2019, Nice, France, IEEEXplore and HAL Open Science
    • Identification of parametric models in the frequency-domain through the subspace framework under LMI constraints
      P. Kergus, F. Demourant and C. Poussot-Vassal, International Journal of Control, 2018, TaF-Online and HAL Open Science

    Conference papers

    • Data-Driven Subspace Identification and Reduction for Switched Affine System: Application to Power Converter Control, M. Soliman, P. Kergus, Z. Kader, 23rd IFAC World Congress, 2026, HAL Open Science
    • Constant Power Load Stabilization with Passivity Based Controller for More Electrical Aircraft, L. Derrien, P. Kergus, M. Fadel, M.K. Kahalerras, 34th Mediterranean Conference on Control and Automation (MED), 2026, IEEEXplore
    • Hierarchical Model Predictive Control for Building Thermal Management : A Mixed Model-Based and Data-Based Approach, Y. Liu, P. Kergus, F. Claveau, P.Chevrel, CoDIT 2025, HAL Open Science
    • Data-Driven Control Of Power Converters, M. Soliman, P. Kergus, D. Regruto, L. Villa, Z. Kader, SGE 2025 (arXiv:2510.09304)
    • Science ouverte et collaborative pour l’élaboration d’un banc automatisé de caractérisation de pertes en commutation par oppositionNicolas Rouger, Luiz Villa, Matthieu Masson, Pauline Kergus, Joseph Kemdeng,Lorenzo Leijnen, Jean Alinei, Adrien Colomb, Ayoub Farah-Hassan, Arnauld Biganzoli, SGE 2025 (arXiv:2510.09725)
    • Étude de la stabilité par analyse d’impédance d’un micro-réseau DC pour les avions plus électriques, L. Derrien, P. Kergus, M. Fadel, M. K. Kahalerras, SGE 2025
    • Reinforcement Learning for Optimizing Battery Operation in Electric Vehicle Charging Microgrids, V. Burgaud, G. Le Goff, P. Kergus, M. Fadel, SGE 2025
    • Model predictive control applied to hybridised modular fuel cell systems
      N. Rivier, P. Kergus, J. Regnier, A. Jaafar, C. Turpin and M. Tognan, IEEE ESARS 2024 (International Transportation Electrification Conference), 2024, IEEEXplore and HAL Open Science
    • Optimal instantaneous power dispatch in hybridised modular fuel cell systems
      N. Rivier, P. Kergus, J. Regnier, A. Jaafar, C. Turpin and M. Tognan, CCTA 2024 (Conference on Control Technology and Applications (CCTA) 2024, IEEEXplore and HAL Open Science
    • Loewner functions for bilinear systems
      P Kergus, I.V. Gosea, M. Petreczky, IFAC Conference on Analysis and Control of Nonlinear Dynamics and Chaos, 2024, IFAC-PapersOnline and arXiv
    • Decentralized PI-control and Anti-windup in Resource Sharing Networks
      F. Agner, J. Hansson, P. Kergus, A. Rantzer, S. Tarbouriech, L. Zaccarian, Accepted, European Control Conference, 2024, published in European Journal of Control, ScienceDirect and arXiv
    • A Two-Layers Predictive Algorithm for Workplace EV Charging
      S Ahmad, J Baltussen, P Kergus, Z Kader, S Caux, IECON, 2023, IEEEXplore and arXiv
    • Hydraulic Parameter Estimation in District Heating Networks
      F Agner, P Kergus, R Pates, A Rantzer, IFAC World Congress, 2023, IFAC-PapersOnline and arXiv
    • Robust Switching Control of DC-DC Boost Converter for EV Charging Stations
      S. Ahmad, R. P.C. de Souza, P. Kergus, Z. Kader, S. Caux, Texas Power and Energy Conference (TPEC), 2023, IEEEXplore and arXiv
    • Data-driven approximation and reduction from noisy data in matrix pencil frameworks
      P. Kergus, I.V. Gosea, 25th International Symposium on Mathematical Theory of Networks and Systems (MTNS), , Bayreuth, Germany, 2022, IFAC-PapersOnline and arXiv
    • Loewner-based Data-driven Iterative Structured Control Design
      B. Bouteau, P. Kergus, P.Vuillemin, European Control Conference, 2021, IEEEXplore and arXiv
    • Hybrid Loewner Data Driven Control
      P. Vuillemin, P. Kergus and C. Poussot-Vassal, IFAC World Congress, Berlin, 2020, IFAC-PapersOnline and arXiv
    • Data-driven control design in the Loewner framework: Dealing with stability and noise
      P. Kergus, S. Formentin, C. Poussot-Vassal and F. Demourant, European Control Conference, Limassol, 2018, IEEEXplore and HAL Open Science
    • Identification of parametric models in the frequency-domain through the subspace framework under LMI constraints
      P. Kergus, F. Demourant and C. Poussot-Vassal, uropean Control Conference, Limassol, 2018, IEEEXplore
    • Frequency-domain data-driven control design in the Loewner framework
      P. Kergus, C. Poussot-Vassal, F. Demourant and S. Formentin, IFAC World Congress, Toulouse, 2017, IFAC-PapersOnline andHAL Open Science

    Invited book chapter

    • Interpolation-based infinite dimensional model control design and stability analysis
      C. Poussot-Vassal, P. Kergus, P. Vuillemin
      In Realization and Model Reduction of Dynamical Systems, Springer, 2022

      Available: the book, the chapter, and on arXiv

    Talks

    International conferences

    • Model order reduction using the Loewner framework for MQS and EQS problems, IEEE Conference on Electromagnetic Field Computation (IEEE CEFC 2026), Thessaloniki, Greece
    • Data-driven multivariate surrogate modelling in the Loewner framework : numerical and practical issues
      European Conference on Numerical Mathematics and Advanced Applications, ENUMATHS 2025, Heidelberg, Germany (slides)
    • Loewner functions for bilinear systems
      7th IFAC Conference on Analysis and Control of Nonlinear Dynamics and Chaos, ACNDC 2024, London (UK)
    • Data-driven approximation and reduction from noisy data in matrix pencils frameworks
      25th International Symposium on Mathematical Theory of Networks and Systems (MTNS 2022), Bayreuth, Germany
    • Rational interpolation and model order reduction for data-driven controller design
      8th European Congress of Mathematics (2021) in the minisymposium Rational approximation for data-driven modeling and complexity reduction of linear and nonlinear dynamical systems
    • From reference model selection to controller validation: Application to Loewner Data-Driven Control
      IEEE Conference on Decision and Control 2019, Nice, France
    • Data-driven control design in the Loewner framework: Dealing with stability and noise
      European Control Conference 2018, Limassol, Cyprus
    • Identification of parametric models in the frequency-domain through the subspace framework under LMI constraints
      European Control Conference 2018, Limassol, Cyprus
    • Frequency-domain data-driven control design in the Loewner framework
      IFAC World Congress 2017, Toulouse, France

    Seminars and workshops

    • Data-driven model order reduction: Overview, research trends and applications, Seminar at the Division of Decision and Control Systems at KTH, Stockholm, August 2026.
    • Reinforcement learning for management of distributed energy resources, Seminar durint the workshop organized by the GDR SEEDS technical committee on complex and heterogeneous systems, Paris, March 2026.
    • Towards gender equality in STEM, Seminar (slides), Federal University of Santa Catarina, Florianópolis, December 2025.
    • Data-driven approaches for modelling, control and design in power electronics, Seminar at GRUCAD, Federal University of Santa Catarina, Florianópolis, December 2025.
    • Energy management in microgrids - exploring control architectures and data incorporation levels, Seminar at InnovaPower, Power Systems Innovation Hub of University of São Paulo, December 2025.
    • An overview of data-driven model reference control techniques, Plenary talk at Grand Séminaire MACS, Paris, October 2025.
    • Leveraging data-driven approaches in power electronics, Seminar at Lund University, Division of Industrial Electrical Engineering and Automation (IEA), October 2025.
    • Data-driven controller design in the Loewner framework, Workshop action MACS, Toulouse, September 2025.
    • AI for design in power electronics, Journées de clôture du CDP PowerAlps, Grenoble, September 2025 (slides).
    • Fuel cell system modeling in Matlab/Simulink and data-driven control
      4ème réunion plénière de la Fédération Hydrogène (FRH2), La Grande Motte, October 2024.
    • Modélisation à partir de données physiques : commande, simulation et optimisation
      Conseil Scientifique du LAPLACE, June 2024.
    • Loewner-based moment matching for bilinear systems
      Journées de la SAGIP, Lyon, June 2024.
    • Stratégies de contrôle sous contrainte vieillissement d'un système pile à combustible modulaire, Séminaire ASTD "Intégration et efficacité énergétique", LAPLACE, November 2023
    • Activités de l'équipe CODIASE et commande de microréseaux, Workshop SEMA, NXP Technologies, Toulouse, November 2023
    • Réduction de modèles de systèmes dynamiques par l'interpolation de Loewner - Méthode, Applications et Perspectives
      GT Modélisation et Calcul Scientifique, GDR SEEDS, February 2023
    • Robust multi-objective control of electrical vehicles charging islands Symposium on Control in Power Electronics, Electric Drives, Renewable Energy Sources and Smart Grids, organized by the Polish Academy of Sciences in Paris, October 2022
    • Data-driven approximation and reduction from noisy data in matrix pencils frameworks
      Department of Automatic Control, Lund University, August 2022
    • Data-driven model order reduction for modelling and control
      ANR Workshop HANDY on "Hybrid and Networked Dynamical Systems", Toulouse, June 2022.
    • Data-driven strategies for modeling and control - Application to building thermal modeling
      OASYS team, University of Malaga, May 2022.
    • Learning-based hierarchical control of water reservoir systems
      LS2N, IMT Atlantique, May 2022.
    • Stratégies basées-données pour la modélisation et la commande - Exemple de modélisation thermique de bâtiment
      Laboratoire Ampère, INSA Lyon, April 2022.
    • Physics-informed learning for identification of a residential building's thermal behavior
      AI Lund lunch seminar, December 2021
    • Hybrid Loewner Data-Driven Control
      Journées Automatique de la SAGIP, November 2021.
    • Physics-informed learning for identification of a residential building's thermal behavior
      European Research Network on System Identification (ERNSI) Workshop, September 2021
    • Learning-based hierarchical control of water reservoir systems
      Joint workshop CNRS-CNES on AI \& Control, June 2021
    • Exploring flexibility in district heating networks through demand-side management
      Advanced Network Science Initiative, Los Alamos National Laboratory, May 2021
    • Contrôle et analyse de stabilité de systèmes de dimension infinie - Approches directes et indirectes par l'interpolation de Loewner
      Journées Nationales d'Automatique de la SAGIP, 2020
    • Data-driven stability analysis and enforcement for Loewner Data-Driven Control
      Poster at the IPAM Workshop on Intersections between Learning, Control and Optimization, 2020, in Los Angeles
    • Contrôle direct par approche fréquentielle
      Interactive session at Journées nationales du GdR MACS, 2019, in Bordeaux
    • Data-driven control in the frequency-domain: From reference model selection to controller validation
      Poster at the European Research Network on System Identification (ERNSI) Workshop, 2019, in Maastricht
    • A control application to matching theory: Sensitivity minimization
      Poster at the European Research Network on System Identification (ERNSI) Workshop, 2018, in Cambridge