Dr Yuanbo Nie

School of Electrical and Electronic Engineering

Lecturer in Control and Systems Engineering

Employability Lead - Global Engineering Challenge

y.nie@sheffield.ac.uk

Amy Johnson Building

Full contact details

Dr Yuanbo Nie
School of Electrical and Electronic Engineering
Amy Johnson Building
Portobello Street
Sheffield
S1 3JD

Profile: I am currently a Lecturer in Control and Systems Engineering at School of EEE, University of Sheffield. I received an MSc degree in Aerospace Engineering from the Delft University of Technology, and MSc degree in Advanced Computational Methods from Imperial College London, and a Ph.D. degree in Aeronautics from Imperial College London (Thesis: Numerical Optimal Control with Applications in Aerospace) in 2021.

Between 2012 and 2013, I was with the Institute of System Dynamics and Control, German Aerospace Center (DLR), and between 2021 and 2022, I was a postdoctoral research associate with the Rolls-Royce Control, Monitoring and Systems Engineering University Technology Centre.

Research interests

Numerical Methods for Dynamic Optimization:

Development of direct transcription methods (specifically integrated residual methods)
Creation of next-generation optimization software toolboxes for infinite-dimensional problems
Formulation of Dynamic Optimization Problems (DOPs) based on mission specifications

Optimization-based Control:

Design of control frameworks (e.g, Model Predictive Control) formulated directly from original problem specifications.
Ensuring solution guarantees and feasibility for real-world implementation in nonlinear or uncertain systems.

Aerospace Systems Control & Simulation:

Flight Management Systems: Automated tool-chains for trajectory optimization considering aerodynamics, propulsion, and air traffic restrictions.
Sustainable Aviation: Optimal energy management for electric, hydrogen, and hybrid aircraft concepts.
Multi-disciplinary Design: Optimal sizing/placement of control surfaces and integration of distributed propulsion.
Upset Recovery: Guidance and automatic control systems for safe recovery from extreme conditions (e.g., stall and spin).
Flight Simulation: Development of next-generation simulators for advanced pilot training.

Publications

Ramesh N, Drummond R, Monasterios PRB & Nie Y (2025) Singular Arcs in Optimal Control: Closed-Loop Implementations without Workarounds. 2025 IEEE 64th Conference on Decision and Control (CDC) (pp 905-910), 9 December 2025 - 12 December 2025.
Faro LH, Nie Y & Trodden P (2025) NISE-PE Constraint: Data-Driven Predictive Control with Persistence of Excitation. 2025 IEEE 64th Conference on Decision and Control (CDC) (pp 2274-2280), 9 December 2025 - 12 December 2025.
Nie Y, Ko P & Drummond R (2024) Optimal flight trajectories of hybrid electric aircraft with in-flight charging. 2024 European Control Conference (ECC) Proceedings (pp 218-223). Stockholm, Sweden, 25 June 2024 - 25 June 2024. View this article in WRRO
Neuenhofen MP, Kerrigan EC & Nie Y (2024) Numerical comparison of collocation vs quadrature penalty methods. 2023 IEEE 62st Conference on Decision and Control (CDC) (pp 4285-4290). Marina Bay Sands, Singapore, 13 December 2023 - 13 December 2023. View this article in WRRO

Jones M, Nie Y & Peet MM (2024) Model Predictive Bang-Bang Controller Synthesis via Approximate Value Functions.

Teaching activities

Professional activities and memberships

Member of IEEE
Member of the Optimal Control technical committee of IFAC
Member of Future Mobility Grand Challenge Committee of the EPSRC Automatic Control Engineering Network

School of Electrical and Electronic Engineering