MACC ANNUAL MEETING 2026

The McMaster Advanced Control Consortium (MACC) hosted its 2026 Annual Research Review Meeting and Workshop at McMaster University, bringing together MACC researchers, industry partners, alumni, and invited guests for two days of research exchange and discussion.

The event highlighted advances in process systems engineering, including advanced control, optimization, machine learning, digitalization, sustainable process systems, and industrial decision-making. MACC research presentations showcased the breadth of ongoing work across the consortium, while industry speakers shared perspectives on the opportunities shaping the future of industrial practice.

MACC was also honoured to welcome Prof. Jay H. Lee from the University of Southern California as a distinguished guest speaker. His presentation contributed to broader discussions on model predictive control, reinforcement learning, and next-generation approaches to advanced process control.

A key theme emerging from the meeting was that the future of process systems engineering lies at the nexus of first-principles modelling and machine-learning-based frameworks. While each approach has its own strengths and limitations, their thoughtful integration offers powerful opportunities to build solutions that are more reliable, adaptive, interpretable, and practical for industrial deployment. Discussions throughout the event reinforced the growing industry confidence that hybrid modelling and intelligent decision-support tools can help redefine how complex process systems are designed, operated, and optimized.

Through research presentations, industry engagement, poster discussions, and networking, the meeting reaffirmed MACC’s role as a bridge between academic innovation and real-world industrial needs, while continuing to help shape the next generation of process systems engineering leaders.