Justin Koeln

Justin Koeln is an Assistant Professor of Mechanical Engineering at The University of Texas at Dallas, affiliated with the Erik Jonsson School of Engineering and Computer Science. He leads the Energy Systems Control Laboratory, focusing on dynamic modeling, control theory, and energy systems. His research emphasizes thermal management, hierarchical control, and model predictive control.

Education:

• PhD, Mechanical Engineering, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign (2016)
• MS, Mechanical Engineering, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign (2013)
• BS, Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering, Utah State University (2011)

Research Interests: Dynamic systems and control, energy systems, distributed and hierarchical control, thermal management, and graph-based modeling. His work integrates control theory with energy systems to enhance efficiency and performance in mobile and industrial applications.

Recent Contributions: Koeln’s research spans experimental validation of hierarchical control frameworks, robust model predictive control, and thermal energy storage systems. His publications address challenges in multi-domain power flow systems and hybrid zonotopes for reachability analysis.

Awards:

• Air Force Research Laboratory Summer Faculty Fellowship (2018)
• UIUC’s List of Excellent Teachers (2016)
• NSF Graduate Research Fellowship (2011)
• Barry M. Goldwater Scholar (2010)

Labs/Teams: The Energy Systems Control Laboratory develops advanced control strategies for complex energy systems, including thermal-fluid power flow and aircraft electro-thermal systems. Research focuses on scalability and practical implementation of control theories.