Frank Willems

Frank Willems is a Full Professor of Systems and Control Technology and Chair of Integrated Powertrain Control at Eindhoven University of Technology (TU/e), holding a part-time position realized with support from TNO. He is affiliated with the Control Systems Technology group within the Department of Mechanical Engineering, and also contributes to EIRES and EAISI research initiatives.

Dr. Willems obtained his MSc (1995) and PhD (2000) in Mechanical Engineering from Eindhoven University of Technology (TU/e). His academic journey continued with a position at TNO Automotive, where he currently serves as a principal scientist in powertrain control.

Professor Willems' research focuses on developing optimal and robust control methods for automotive powertrain systems. His work addresses the critical challenge of integrating energy and emission management strategies at the powertrain system level, which is essential as traditional methods become infeasible due to increasingly strict environmental regulations. Key research areas include control-oriented modeling of internal combustion engines, cylinder pressure-based combustion control, and integrated energy and emission management. His research aims to minimize development time and costs through model-based control methods, with the ultimate goal of achieving auto-calibration where powertrain energy efficiency is optimized online using smart sensors and route information.

Dr. Willems serves as an Associate Editor for Control Engineering Practice and is an active member of the IFAC Technical Committee Automotive Control. He has participated in numerous international program committees for conferences including the IFAC Conference on 'Engine and Powertrain Control, Simulation and Modeling (E-CoSM)', IFAC Symposium 'Advances in Automotive Control (AAC)', and 'Symposium for Combustion Control (SCC)'. His research has been supported by organizations including the Dutch Technology Foundation (STW) and DENSO Japan.

At TU/e, Professor Willems teaches courses on 'Optimal control and reinforcement learning' and 'Advanced control for future heavy-duty powertrains.' His research group, part of the Control Systems Technology group, focuses on developing self-learning powertrain control systems to address the complexity and diversity of future ultra-clean and efficient vehicles.