A message from the ECHORD coordinator Alois Knoll

Professor Hongnian Yu has held academic positions at Yanshan University in China, the Universities of Sussex, Liverpool John Moor, Exeter, Bradford and Staffordshire in the UK. He is currently Professor of Computer Science and the director of the Mobile Fusion Applied Research Centre at Staffordshire University. He has extensive research experience in modelling and control of robots and mechatronics, neural networks, mobile computing, modelling, scheduling, planning, and simulations of large discrete event dynamic systems with applications to manufacturing systems, supply chains, transportation networks and computer networks. He has published over 160 journal and conference research papers. He has held several research grants from the UK Engineering and Physical Science Research Council (EPSRC), the Royal Society, and the European Union (EU), Advantage West Midlands (AWM), as well as from industry. Currently he is principal investigator on a recently-funded EPSRC UK-Japan network grant on Human Adaptive Mechatronics (http://epsrcham.org.uk/) and holds two EU funded projects. Recently, Prof Yu leaded a team from Staffordshire University with a UK based excavator developer (JCB) and presented a physical demonstration in an exhibition hosted by a UK based nuclear decommissioning company (Sellafield). The demonstration system made by his team involved a dummy excavator and an observer robot being controlled over a Mobile Ad-hoc Network. Prof Yu was awarded the F.C. William Premium for his paper on adaptive and robust control of robot manipulators by the IEE Council.

Prof Yu is a member of the EPSRC Peer Review College. As a member of the Editorial Board, he has served the International Journal of Modelling, Identification and Control, International Journal of Agile Systems and Management, and International Journal of Modelling, Identification and Control. He is guest editor of Special Issue on: “Human Adaptive Mechatronics”, International Journal of Modelling, Identification and Control, 2008; “Agile Supply Chains: Modelling, Simulation and Optimisation in the Internet Age”, International Journal of Agile Systems and Management, 2006; guest editor of Special Issue on: “Robotics and Intelligent Machines”, International Journal of Automation and Computing, 2006. He was General co-chair of the IEEE International Conference on Networking, Sensing and Control, Okayama, Japan, March, 2009; General chair UK EPSRC Postgraduate Workshop on Human Adaptive Mechatronics, Stafford, UK, 15-16 January, 2009; IPC co-chair of the UKACC, Manchester, UK, 2-4 September, 2008; Advisor to the International Conference on Software, Knowledge, Information Management and Applications, Nepal, Kathmandu, Nepal, 18-21 March, 2008; General Chair of the 13th International Conference on Automation and Computing, Staffordshire University, Stafford, UK, 15 September 2007; IPC chair of 2007 IEEE International Conference on Networking, Sensing and Control, London UK, 15-17 April, 2007; General Chair of International Conference on Software, Knowledge, Information Management and Applications, Chiang Mai, Thailand, 12-15 December 2006; Workshop co-chair on The TDU COE-UK EPSRC Workshop on Human Adaptive Mechatronics, Tokyo Denki University (TDU), Hatoyama-machi, Hiki-gun, Saitama 350-0394, Japan, 25 July, 2005. Prof Yu has strong research collaboration with partners from China, France, Italy and Japan.