Sponsored by the Department of Chemical and Materials Engineering, University of Alberta, Suncor Energy Foundation and Shell Canada Limited. Administered by the CIC’s Chemical Education Fund.
The D. G. Fisher Award is presented to an individual who has made significant contributions to the field of systems and control engineering while a resident of Canada.
View the Terms of Reference and list of Past Winners
The 2023 winner of the D. G. Fisher Award is:
Vinay Prasad, MCIC
University of Alberta
Vinay Prasad is the Jaffer Professor in Process Systems and Control Engineering in the Department of Chemical and Materials Engineering at the University of Alberta. He has degrees from the Indian Institute of Technology (IIT) Bombay, Kansas State University and Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, all in chemical engineering. He has academic and industrial experience in three countries (India, the USA and Canada) across two continents that spans a variety of institutions.
His research has been characterized by a combination of theoretical innovations and real-world application. His research interests are in the application of hybrid and interpretable machine learning and first-principles approaches for discovery, modeling, estimation, monitoring, control and optimization. Significant research contributions include the development of data fusion methods and network determination for complex reacting systems, constrained estimation and soft sensing methods, and hybrid and interpretable machine learning for complex chemical processes. The real-world impact of this work has been seen in diverse areas such as modeling and optimization of carbon capture and storage systems, chemoinformatics-based discovery and monitoring of biomass conversion, monitoring and optimization of reservoirs, and soft sensing, estimation and control of mineral processing systems.