Meet the Fellow: Dr. Philipp Braun
Simultaneous target set stabilization and obstacle avoidance and corresponding Lyapunov-like characterizations
Automation and Control, Robotics and Mechatronics are they key words describing the research field in which by our Junior Fellow from the Australian National University, Dr Philipp Braun, is working in. He especially enjoyed his time in Bayreuth because it permitted him to escape the meetings at his home institution and to have a concentrated research period without interruptions.
Dr. Philipp Braun and Prof. Dr. Stefan Leible, President of the University of Bayreuth
Was there a special moment in your life that made you decide for your research focus?
Philipp Braun: Surprisingly, I don't think there was a specific moment that led me to were I am now in terms of my research focus nor with respect to where I am now in life. Rather, I am looking back at a serious of opportunities presenting themselves at the right moment in time. While writing my master thesis in a company, I asked myself if this is what I wanted to do for the next 40 years. Thus, when I was asked if I wanted to do a PhD, I simply took the opportunity. Similarly, at the end of my PhD I was asked if I would consider to go to Australia for a one year postdoc position. Eight years later, I am still in Australia and I don't regret my decisions.
What is in your opinion the future of your field(s)? In what way can research in your field(s)contribute to meeting the urgent challenges of our time?
PB: I am currently working in an environment where people identify themselves with Automation and Control, Robotics and Mechatronics. These multidisciplinary fields require a strong background in Mechanical, Electrical, Control and Computer Engineering, which provide solutions in a wide range of applications that might be hidden at first glance. Current applications and research streams can be found in the energy transition, in demand management systems or smart homes, for example, or in autonomous drones and self-driving cars. While the applications are changing, I think there will always be a demand for people with fundamental knowledge on Mechanical, Electrical, Control and Computer Engineering.
What does international research mobility in today's world mean to you?
PB: While the last couple of years have shown us that many things can be done via online meetings, discussing new ideas with colleagues around the world in front of a white board is still an invaluable experience that has started most of my research streams. At my home institution, I can always spend more time on teaching, in administrative meetings and on service roles. New ideas and the exploration of new fields of research usually starts with research trips, conference talks and workshops.
What were your expectations when you applied for the Fellowship?
PB: While I understand that it is important to have as many publications as possible in our current research environment, I intend to have one additional long term project to work on, to explore a new topic and to get a good overview over a new field. The research visit in Bayreuth allowed me to sort my notes, clear my thoughts and to start my next book project. I am happy to return from Bayreuth with an initial book draft with a clear outline of what is missing and what needs to be completed during this year and with several chapters close to be finished. I am grateful for the opportunity to escape the meetings at my home institution ANU for a while, allowing me to have a concentrated research period without interruptions.
If you could choose a famous researcher or scientist to have dinner with, who would it be?
PB: A name that pops up in almost all of my publications is Aleksandr Lyapunov, who published his PhD thesis on "The general problem of the stability of motion" more than 130 years ago. Functions, nowadays known as Lyapunov functions, have been and still are the main tool to verify stability and convergence properties of systems evolving over time. While I am not sure if I would be able to impress him with my work building on his fundamental results, being given the chance to talk to the person most influential to my work over the past 10 years, would be an incredible experience.
At the Australian National University, I am lucky enough to have my office next to Brian Anderson. Being able to discuss on a daily basis with a researcher who pioneered fields in Control Theory and who was involved in shaping the Control Community over the past 50 years is an experience I don't want to miss and I am grateful to currently have.
The Fellow
Philipp Braun is currently a Senior Lecturer at the Australian National University, Canberra, Australia, in the School of Engineering. His research interests include stability analysis of and controller designs for nonlinear dynamical systems, where he has co-authored two books and several journal and conference publications. Additional research interests include (distributed) optimization and differential games.
Philipp Braun is an IEEE Senior Member; he is currently an associate editor for Automatica, IEEE Control Systems Letters and the European Journal of Control.