Learning, Designing and Measuring in Networks

📍 23rd IFAC World Congress, Busan, South Korea
📅 Workshop Date: Sunday, August 23, 2026

Overview

Large-scale networked systems such as power grids, water and gas distribution networks, and biological networks are governed by physical laws, constrained by limited sensing and actuation, and increasingly supported by data.

This workshop focuses on the intersection of learning, measurement, control, and design in networks, bringing together tools from control theory, graph theory, optimization, and machine learning.

🎯 Why Attend?

Unified perspective across learning, control, and optimization

Methods grounded in physical network structure

Insights into observability, controllability, and identifiability

Applications to power, water, gas, and biological systems

🗓️ Workshop Schedule

Time	Topic	Speaker(s)
08:30 – 09:00	Introduction to Networks: Learning, Measurements & Control	Dr. Nirav Pravinbhai Bhatt (IIT Madras, India) Dr. Om Prakash (IIT Delhi, India) Dr. Nabil Magbool Jan (IIT Tirupati, India)
09:00 – 10:20	Learning Networks from Data	Dr. Nirav Pravinbhai Bhatt IIT Madras, India
10:20 – 10:40	IFAC Coffee Break
10:40 – 12:00	Sensor Placement in Networks – Fault Diagnosis	Prof. Mani Bhushan IIT Bombay, India Dr. Om Prakash IIT Delhi, India
12:00 – 13:30	Lunch Break
13:30 – 14:30	Sensor Placement in Networks – Value-based Approaches	Prof. Sridharakumar Narasimhan IIT Madras, India Dr. Nabil Magbool Jan IIT Tirupati, India
14:30 – 15:20	Control in Networks	Prof. Sridharakumar Narasimhan IIT Madras, India
15:20 – 15:40	IFAC Coffee Break
15:40 – 16:40	Network Design for Control	Prof. Ramkrishna Pasumarthy IIT Madras, India
16:40 – 17:00	Concluding Remarks & Discussion	All Speakers

👥 Organizers

Dr. Nirav Pravinbhai Bhatt
Associate Professor, Department of Data Science and AI, IIT Madras,
MTech Chair (DSAI) at the IIT Madras Zanzibar Campus, Tanzania

Prof. Sridharakumar Narasimhan
Professor, Department of Data Science and AI, IIT Madras,

Prof. Mani Bhushan
Professor, Department of Chemical Engineering, IIT Bombay,
Associate Faculty, Centre for Machine Intelligence and Data Science, IIT Bombay

Prof. Ramkrishna Pasumarthy
Professor, Department of Electrical Engineering, IIT Madras

Dr. Nabil Magbool Jan
Associate Professor, Department of Chemical Engineering, IIT Tirupati

Dr. Om Prakash
Assistant Professor, Department of Chemical Engineering, IIT Delhi

Audience & Prerequisites

Graduate students, researchers, and practitioners in machine learning, control systems, optimization, and network science.

Basic knowledge of linear systems, control, and optimization is expected. Familiarity with graphs is helpful but not required.

⚠️ Seats are limited. Early registration is encouraged to ensure participation.

🔗 Conference Information

Registration link: IFAC 2026 Registration Guideline

More details about the main conference:
👉 https://ifac2026.org/fairDash.do

Contact

Om Prakash
Email: omprakash@iitd.ac.in