Process control and automation
The group led by Prof. Francesco Corona and Prof. Iiro Harjunkoski is a trans-disciplinary research team that builds up on chemical engineering, applied mathematics and computer science. Our research is at the interface of automatic control, machine learning, and optimisation, we emphasise the computational and inferential thinking of process systems.

We develop fundamental methodologies and concrete tools of process control and process systems engineering that are capable of sensing, learning, reasoning, and actuating on chemical and physical systems based on observational data and domain knowledge.
The research develops on four foundational pillars:
- Data
- Phenomenological and probabilistic modelling
- Statistical inference/learning
- Optimal control/decision
The formal framework for modelling and control is given as a model of the system in which the uncertainties associated with our knowledge and the measuring process are clearly stated. An important objective in our research is the design and control of models that capture complex dynamics.
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Research team members:
Related content:
Professorship strengthens the cooperation of ABB and Aalto in Industrial Internet solutions
Dr. Iiro Harjunkoski has been appointed Adjunt Professor at the School of Chemical Engineering.

Latest publications:
Teemu J. Ikonen, Boeun Kim, Christos T. Maravelias, Iiro Harjunkoski
2025
Industrial and Engineering Chemistry Research
Otacilio B.L. Neto, Michela Mulas, Francesco Corona
2025
IEEE Transactions on Automatic Control
D. Aguado, J. Alferes, F. Arteaga, L. Belia, J. B. Copp, L. Corominas, F. Corona, A. Ferrer, H. Haimi, P. Kazemi, Q. H. Le, I. Miletic, M. Mulas, A. Robles, M. V. Ruano, S. Russo, O. Samuelsson, J. P. Steyer, K. Villez, E. I.P. Volcke, M. J. Wade, J. Zambrano
2024
Metadata Collection and Organization in Wastewater Treatment and Wastewater Resource Recovery Systems
OtacÃlio B.L. Neto, Michela Mulas, Francesco Corona
2024
Chemical Engineering Journal
José Augusto F. Magalhães, Otacilio B. L. Neto, Francesco Corona
2023
IFAC-PapersOnLine
Teemu Ikonen, Samuli Bergman, Francesco Corona
2023
Chemometrics and Intelligent Laboratory Systems
Teemu J. Ikonen, Francesco Corona, Iiro Harjunkoski
2023
IEEE Transactions on Reliability
Anni Juvakoski, Henrik Rantanen, Michela Mulas, Francesco Corona, Riku Vahala, Olli Varis, Ilkka Mellin
2023
Water Research
Daniel Aguado GarcÃa, Henri Haimi, Michela Mulas, Francesco Corona
2022
2nd International Joint Conference on Water Distribution Systems Analysis & Computing and Control in the Water Industry
Eduardo Fernandes Montesuma, Michela Mulas, Francesco Corona, Fred Maurice Ngole Mboula
2022
IFAC-PapersOnLine
More information on our research in the Aalto research portal.