Christopher R. Laughman

- Phone: 617-621-7545
- Email:
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Position:
Research / Technical Staff
Senior Principal Research Scientist,
Senior Team Leader -
Education:
Ph.D., Massachusetts Institute of Technology, 2008 -
Research Areas:
- Multi-Physical Modeling
- Optimization
- Control
- Machine Learning
- Data Analytics
- Dynamical Systems
- Human-Computer Interaction
External Links:
Chris' Quick Links
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Biography
Christopher's interests lie in the intersection of the modeling of physical systems and the experimental construction and testing of these systems, including simulation, numerical methods, and fault detection. He has worked on a variety of multi-physical systems, such as thermo-fluid systems and electromechanical energy conversion systems.
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Recent News & Events
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NEWS MERL researchers present 10 papers at the American Control Conference (ACC) Date: May 31, 2023 - June 2, 2023
Where: San Diego, CA
MERL Contacts: Karl Berntorp; Ankush Chakrabarty; Vedang M. Deshpande; Stefano Di Cairano; Marcus Greiff; Devesh K. Jha; Christopher R. Laughman; Marcel Menner; Rien Quirynen; Arvind Raghunathan; Diego Romeres; Abraham P. Vinod; Yebin Wang; Avishai Weiss
Research Areas: Control, Machine Learning, OptimizationBrief- MERL will present 10 papers at the American Control Conference (ACC) in San Diego, CA, with topics including autonomous-vehicle decision making and control, physics-informed machine learning, motion planning, control subject to nonconvex chance constraints, and optimal power management. Two talks are part of tutorial sessions.
MERL will also be present at the conference as a sponsor, with a booth for discussing with researchers and students, and hosting a special session at lunch with highlights of MERL research and work philosophy.
- MERL will present 10 papers at the American Control Conference (ACC) in San Diego, CA, with topics including autonomous-vehicle decision making and control, physics-informed machine learning, motion planning, control subject to nonconvex chance constraints, and optimal power management. Two talks are part of tutorial sessions.
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NEWS Chris Laughman delivered two seminar talks for at the School of Engineering at Penn State Date: February 16, 2023 - February 17, 2023
Where: Pennsylvania State University
MERL Contact: Christopher R. Laughman
Research Areas: Control, Machine Learning, Multi-Physical ModelingBrief- On February 16 and 17, Chris Laughman, Senior Team Leader of the Multiphysical Systems Team, presented lectures for the Systems, Robotics, and Controls Seminar Series in the School of Engineering, and for the Distinguished Speaker Series in Architectural Engineering. His talk was titled "Architectural Thermofluid Systems: Next-Generation Challenges and Opportunities," and described characteristics of these systems that require specific attention in model-based system engineering processes, as well as MERL research to address these challenges.
See All News & Events for Chris -
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Internships with Chris
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MS1851: Dynamic Modeling and Control for Grid-Interactive Buildings
MERL is looking for a highly motivated and qualified candidate to work on modeling for smart sustainable buildings. The ideal candidate will have a strong understanding of modeling renewable energy sources, grid-interactive buildings, occupant behavior, and dynamical systems with expertise demonstrated via, e.g., peer-reviewed publications. Hands-on programming experience with Modelica is preferred. The minimum duration of the internship is 12 weeks; start time is flexible. This internship is preferred to be onsite at MERL, but may be done remotely where you live if the COVID pandemic makes it necessary.
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MS1958: Simulation, Control, and Optimization of Large-Scale Systems
MERL is seeking a motivated graduate student to research numerical methods pertaining to the simulation, control, and optimization of large-scale systems. Representative applications include large vapor-compression cycles and other multiphysical systems for energy conversion that couple thermodynamic, fluid, and electrical domains. The ideal candidate would have a solid background in numerical methods, control, and optimization; strong programming skills and experience with Julia/Python/Matlab are also expected. Knowledge of the fundamental physics of thermofluid flows (e.g., thermodynamics, heat transfer, and fluid mechanics), nonlinear dynamics, or equation-oriented languages (Modelica, gPROMS) is a plus. The expected duration of this internship is 3 months.
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MERL Publications
- "LSR-BO: Local Search Region Constrained Bayesian Optimization for Performance Optimization of Vapor Compression Systems", American Control Conference (ACC), May 2023.BibTeX TR2023-057 PDF
- @inproceedings{Paulson2023may,
- author = {Paulson, Joel A. and Sorouifar, Farshud and Laughman, Christopher R. and Chakrabarty, Ankush},
- title = {LSR-BO: Local Search Region Constrained Bayesian Optimization for Performance Optimization of Vapor Compression Systems},
- booktitle = {American Control Conference (ACC)},
- year = 2023,
- month = may,
- url = {https://www.merl.com/publications/TR2023-057}
- }
, - "Learning Residual Dynamics via Physics-Augmented Neural Networks: Application to Vapor Compression Cycles", American Control Conference (ACC), May 2023.BibTeX TR2023-051 PDF
- @inproceedings{Chinchilla2023may,
- author = {Chinchilla, Raphael and Deshpande, Vedang M. and Chakrabarty, Ankush and Laughman, Christopher R.},
- title = {Learning Residual Dynamics via Physics-Augmented Neural Networks: Application to Vapor Compression Cycles},
- booktitle = {American Control Conference (ACC)},
- year = 2023,
- month = may,
- url = {https://www.merl.com/publications/TR2023-051}
- }
, - "https://iwww.merl.com/TR/camready-4505.pdf", Modeling, Estimation and Control Conference, DOI: 10.1016/j.ifacol.2022.11.168, December 2022, pp. 99-106.BibTeX TR2022-170 PDF
- @inproceedings{Bhattacharya2022dec,
- author = {Bhattacharya, Chandrachur and Chakrabarty, Ankush and Laughman, Christopher R. and Qiao, Hongtao},
- title = {https://iwww.merl.com/TR/camready-4505.pdf},
- booktitle = {Modeling, Estimation and Control Conference},
- year = 2022,
- pages = {99--106},
- month = dec,
- doi = {10.1016/j.ifacol.2022.11.168},
- url = {https://www.merl.com/publications/TR2022-170}
- }
, - "Simulation Failure Robust Bayesian Optimization for Data-Driven Parameter Estimation", IEEE Transactions on Systems, Man, and Cybernetics: Systems, DOI: 10.1109/TSMC.2022.3216790, December 2022.BibTeX TR2022-168 PDF
- @article{Chakrabarty2022dec2,
- author = {Chakrabarty, Ankush and Bortoff, Scott A. and Laughman, Christopher R.},
- title = {Simulation Failure Robust Bayesian Optimization for Data-Driven Parameter Estimation},
- journal = {IEEE Transactions on Systems, Man, and Cybernetics: Systems},
- year = 2022,
- month = dec,
- doi = {10.1109/TSMC.2022.3216790},
- url = {https://www.merl.com/publications/TR2022-168}
- }
, - "Meta-Learning of Neural State-Space Models Using Data From Similar Systems", arXiv, November 2022. ,
- "LSR-BO: Local Search Region Constrained Bayesian Optimization for Performance Optimization of Vapor Compression Systems", American Control Conference (ACC), May 2023.
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Videos
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MERL Issued Patents
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Title: "Controlling Vapor Compression System Using Probabilistic Surrogate Model"
Inventors: Chakrabarty, Ankush; Laughman, Christopher; Bortoff, Scott A.
Patent No.: 11,573,023
Issue Date: Feb 7, 2023 -
Title: "Extremum Seeking Control with Stochastic Gradient Estimation"
Inventors: Chakrabarty, Ankush; Danielson, Claus; Bortoff, Scott A.; Laughman, Christopher
Patent No.: 11,467,544
Issue Date: Oct 11, 2022 -
Title: "System and Method for Power Optimizing Control of Multi-Zone Heat Pumps"
Inventors: Bortoff, Scott A.; Burns, Daniel J; Laughman, Christopher; Qiao, Hongtao
Patent No.: 10,895,412
Issue Date: Jan 19, 2021 -
Title: "System and Method for Controlling Refrigerant in Vapor Compression System"
Inventors: Laughman, Christopher; Qiao, Hongtao; Burns, Daniel J; Bortoff, Scott A.
Patent No.: 10,830,515
Issue Date: Nov 10, 2020 -
Title: "System and Method for Thermal Comfort Control"
Inventors: Bortoff, Scott A.; Laughman, Christopher
Patent No.: 10,767,887
Issue Date: Sep 8, 2020 -
Title: "System and Method for Controlling Vapor Compression Systems"
Inventors: Burns, Daniel J; Laughman, Christopher; Bortoff, Scott A.
Patent No.: 10,495,364
Issue Date: Dec 3, 2019 -
Title: "Coordinated Operation of Multiple Space-Conditioning Systems"
Inventors: Laughman, Christopher; Qiao, Hongtao; Burns, Daniel J; Bortoff, Scott A.
Patent No.: 10,234,158
Issue Date: Mar 19, 2019 -
Title: "System and Method for Controlling Multi-Zone Vapor Compression Systems"
Inventors: Burns, Daniel J; Di Cairano, Stefano; Bortoff, Scott A.; Laughman, Christopher
Patent No.: 10,174,957
Issue Date: Jan 8, 2019 -
Title: "System and Method for Controlling of Vapor Compression System"
Inventors: Burns, Dan; Jain, Neera; Laughman, Christopher; Di Cairano, Stefano; Bortoff, Scott A.
Patent No.: 9,625,196
Issue Date: Apr 18, 2017 -
Title: "Method For Reconstructing 3D Scenes From 2D Images"
Inventors: Ramalingam, Srikumar; Taguchi, Yuichi; Pillai, Jaishanker K; Burns, Dan; Laughman, Christopher
Patent No.: 9,595,134
Issue Date: Mar 14, 2017 -
Title: "System and Method for Controlling Vapor Compression Systems"
Inventors: Burns, Dan; Laughman, Christopher; Bortoff, Scott A.
Patent No.: 9,534,820
Issue Date: Jan 3, 2017 -
Title: "System and Method for Controlling Temperature and Humidity in Multiple Spaces using Liquid Desiccant"
Inventors: Laughman, Christopher; Burns, Daniel J; Bortoff, Scott A.; Waters, Richard C.
Patent No.: 9,518,765
Issue Date: Dec 13, 2016 -
Title: "Adaptive Control of Vapor Compression System"
Inventors: Burns, Dan J; Laughman, Christopher
Patent No.: 9,182,154
Issue Date: Nov 10, 2015 -
Title: "Controlling Operation of Vapor Compression System"
Inventors: Nikovski, Daniel N.; Laughman, Christopher; Burns, Dan J
Patent No.: 8,793,003
Issue Date: Jul 29, 2014 -
Title: "System and Method for Controlling Operations of Vapor Compression"
Inventors: Bortoff, Scott A.; Burns, Dan J; Laughman, Christopher
Patent No.: 8,694,131
Issue Date: Apr 8, 2014
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Title: "Controlling Vapor Compression System Using Probabilistic Surrogate Model"