Theory and applications of control engineering are equally important aspects, whose interactions can be difficult to coordinate: sometimes new methodologies seem to lack connections to real-world problems, and practical solutions seem to overlook the relevant theoretical guidelines. Drawing from recent results pertaining to both aspects, the talk will elaborate on the possible links between theory and applications, and suggest that the value of theoretical developments, for the sake of real-world problems, goes beyond their direct application. The mentioned topics include stochastic and economic model predictive control, direct data-driven control design, and applications in the energy generation and distribution domains. Along the way, considerations on the need for a control engineer to be a "toolbox engineer", as discussed in a relatively recent editorial (R.D. Braatz, Contr. Sys. Mag. 34-3, pp. 6-7, 2014), will be drawn, too. A brief description of the speaker's prospective research topics will conclude the talk.

Lorenzo Fagiano received the M.Sc. in Automotive Engineering in 2004 and the Ph.D. in Information and Systems Engineering in 2009 from Politecnico di Torino, Italy. In 2005 he was with Fiat Research Centre, Torino, Italy. From 2009 to 2013 he held positions at the Politecnico di Torino, the University of California at Santa Barbara, and ETH Zurich. From 2013 to 2016 he was a senior scientist at ABB Switzerland, Corporate Research.
Lorenzo Fagiano is currently associate professor at the Politecnico di Milano, Italy. His current research interests include constrained estimation and control and energy systems. He serves as associate editor of the IEEE Transactions of Control Systems Technology since 2015. He is recipient of the 2011 IEEE Transactions on Systems Technology Outstanding Paper Award, of the 2010 ENI award "Debut in Research" prize, of the Maffezzoni prize 2009 and of a Marie Curie International Outgoing Fellowship for the years 2011-2013.