Professor James Taylor PhD, FIET
Professor of Control EngineeringProfile
James Taylor holds a Personal Chair in Control Engineering at Lancaster University. He is Impact Champion for the School of Engineering and Director of the Nuclear Science and Engineering Research Group. He was Deputy Head of Engineering from 2015-2018, having previously held Director of Teaching roles from 2005-2014. His interdisciplinary research on statistical modelling and control of uncertain systems in the natural sciences and engineering, involves applications spanning robotics, transport, energy, health, and the environment. He supervises projects in these areas for students across a spectrum of mechanical, electronic, nuclear and chemical engineering disciplines.
Professor Taylor is Co-investigator for Autonomous Inspection for Responsive and Sustainable Nuclear Fuel Manufacture (EP/V051059), Advancing Location Accuracy via Collimated Nuclear Assay for Decommissioning Robotic Applications (EP/V026941/1) and Novel High Performance Wave Energy Converters (EP/V040561/1). He has been Principal investigator for seven projects funded by the Nuclear Decommissioning Authority, the National Nuclear Laboratory and Sellafield Ltd, with a focus on mobile robotic systems for remote handling and nuclear decommissioning. He was the Lead at Lancaster University for the National Centre for Nuclear Robotics (EPSRC: EP/R02572X/1) and Adaptive (Medical) Treatment and Robust Control (EP/M015637/1). He was Co-investigator for Technology Development to Evaluate Dose Rate Distribution and to Search for Fuel Debris Submerged in Water (EP/N017749/1) and Developing an Automated Microphenotyping Platform to Unlock the Potential of Chemical Biology in Plants (BBSRC: BB/M004260/1). Earlier in his career, he was Principal investigator for Control of Nonlinear Systems Identified using Scheduled, Adaptive and State Dependent Parameter Models (GR/R94442/01).
He is a Fellow of the Institution of Engineering & Technology (IET), a member of the IET Academic Accreditation Committee and from 2017-2020 chaired the IET Control & Automation Network. He is external examiner at the University of Southampton (MSc Systems, Comms), and has previously held program examiner roles at Bath University (MEng Integrated Mechanical & Electrical Engineering), Coventry University (MSc Systems, Control) and Loughborough University (BEng/MEng EEE). He sits on the Editorial Boards for three Elsevier Journals, Environmental Modelling & Software, Biosystems Engineering and Progress in Nuclear Energy. He is a member of the UK Automatic Control Council (UKACC) Executive Committee and four International Federation of Automatic Control (IFAC) Technical Committees.
He is the author of over 150 peer reviewed Journal and International Conference articles. His co-authored book on True Digital Control: Statistical Modelling and Non-Minimal State Space Design was published by Wiley. He co-develops the CAPTAIN Toolbox (MATLAB) for system identification, time series analysis, forecasting and control. The toolbox is used worldwide in disciplines as diverse as e.g. hydrological modelling, electricity demand forecasting and the study of infectious diseases.
Professor Taylor first arrived at Lancaster University as an undergraduate student of Biological Sciences in 1989, but graduated with BSc (Hons) (1992) and PhD (1996) degrees in Environmental Science, the latter in the area of control system design, supervised by Professor Peter Young and Dr Arun Chotai. He was Research Associate in Environmental Science for six years, before his appointment to an academic position in the Engineering Department, now School, in 2000.
Professor Taylor's personal web page has more information about the above, including links to download the CAPTAIN Toolbox.
PhD Supervision Interests
Control Engineering
Selected Publications
Robust Data Driven Analysis for Electricity Theft Attack-Resilient Power Grid
Khan, I.U., Javaid, N., Taylor, C.J., Ma, X. 31/01/2023 In: IEEE Transactions on Power Systems. 38, 1, p. 537-548. 12 p.
Journal article
Improved localization of radioactivity with a normalized sinc transform
Tsitsimpelis, I., Alton, T., West, A., Taylor, C.J., Livens, F.R., Lennox, B., Joyce, M. 14/09/2022 In: Frontiers in Nuclear Engineering. 1, 11 p.
Journal article
Adaptive treatment and robust control
Clairon, Q., Henderson, R., Young, N., Wilson, E., Taylor, C.J. 30/03/2021 In: Biometrics. 77, 1, p. 223-236. 14 p.
Journal article
Robust and adaptive anticoagulant control
Avery, P., Clairon, Q., Henderson, R., Taylor, C.J., Wilson, E. 1/06/2020 In: Journal of the Royal Statistical Society: Series C (Applied Statistics). 69, 3, p. 503-524. 22 p.
Journal article
Robustness evaluation and robust design for Proportional-Integral-Plus control
Wilson, E.D., Clairon, Q., Henderson, R., Taylor, C.J. 1/09/2019 In: International Journal of Control. 92, 12, p. 2939-2951. 13 p.
Journal article
Dealing with observational data in control
Wilson, E.D., Clairon, Q., Henderson, R., Taylor, C.J. 29/05/2018 In: Annual Reviews in Control. 46, p. 94-106. 13 p.
Journal article
The Microphenotron: a robotic miniaturized plant phenotyping platform with diverse applications in chemical biology
Burrell, T.I., Fozard, S., Holroyd, G.H., French, A.P., Pound, M.P., Bigley, C., Taylor, C.J., Forde, B.G. 1/03/2017 In: Plant Methods. 13, 20 p.
Journal article
Development of a grow-cell test facility for research into sustainable controlled-environment agriculture
Tsitsimpelis, I., Wolfenden, I., Taylor, C.J. 10/2016 In: Biosystems Engineering. 150, p. 40-53. 14 p.
Journal article
All Publications
Autonomous Inspection for Responsive and Sustainable Nuclear Fuel Manufacture (AIRS-NFM)
06/09/2021 → 05/05/2025
Research
Novel High Performance Wave Energy Converters with advanced control, reliability and survivability systems through machine-learning forecasting (NHP-WEC)
01/08/2021 → 31/07/2024
Research
Advancing Location Accuracy via Collimated Nuclear Assay for Decommissioning Robotic Applications
08/04/2021 → 31/03/2025
Research
Motion Planning and Trajectory Generation for a Robot Assisted Laser Cutting Manipulator
01/10/2019 → 30/09/2021
Research
Mobile Sensor Network for Deployment and Characterisation of the Environment in Nuclear Sites.
01/10/2018 → 31/03/2023
Research
National Centre for Nuclear Robotics (NCNR)
02/10/2017 → 31/03/2022
Research
Fluorescence spectra of alpha emitting isotopes for stand-off detector development
01/08/2017 → 18/10/2017
Research
FST CASE studentship: Development of a Coded-aperture Neutron Imager for Nuclear Decommissioning Applications
01/09/2016 → 31/03/2019
Research
In situ measurement and analysis of sludge using robotic platform
01/08/2016 → 31/08/2021
Research
GPR Integrated Mixed-field Imaging
01/04/2016 → 30/03/2020
Research
Adaptive Treatment and Robust Control
01/11/2015 → 31/01/2019
Research
Industrial Case Account 2015
01/11/2015 → 30/10/2020
Research
Alpha-induced Air Fluorescence even under daylight conditions
01/10/2015 → 30/04/2020
Research
Autonomous Mobile Robotic Systems for Remote Handling and Decomissioning
01/10/2015 → 30/09/2018
Research
The Microphenotron: Developing an Automated Microphenotyping Platform to Unlock the Potential of Chemical Biology in Plants
01/10/2014 → 30/03/2016
Research
Fast, smooth and co-ordinated control of a dual-arm manipulator used for nuclear decommissioning
01/01/2010 → 31/12/2012
Research
IPC, 7th IFAC Conference on Sensing, Control and Automation Technologies for Agriculture (AGRICONTROL 2022)
Participation in conference - Academic
IPC, 16th IFAC Symposium on Control in Transportation Systems
Participation in conference -Mixed Audience
Biosystems Engineering (Journal)
Editorial activity
Sensors (Journal)
Editorial activity
External PhD Examiner, Coventry University
Examination
IET Academic Accreditation Committee (External organisation)
Membership of committee
Chair, Academic Programme Accreditation Panel, IET (External organisation)
Member of Advisory Panel
Co-Chair, IET Conference: Telemetry: Sharing Cross-Industry Experiences
Participation in workshop, seminar, course
Chair, Academic Programme Accreditation Panel, IET (External organisation)
Member of Advisory Panel
Chair, Academic Programme Accreditation Panel, IET (External organisation)
Member of Advisory Panel
Academic Appointment Committee, KU Leuven
Visiting an external academic institution
IET Executive Committee, Design & Manufacturing Sector (External organisation)
Membership of committee
External PhD Examiner, Cambridge University
Examination
External PhD Examiner, Birmingham University
Examination
Invited Keynote Speaker, 13th IFAC Workshop on Adaptive & Learning
Control Systems (ALCOS)
Participation in workshop, seminar, course
Academic Programme Accreditation Panel, IET (External organisation)
Member of Advisory Panel
Engineering Accreditation Board (External organisation)
Membership of board
Academic Programme Accreditation Panel, IET (External organisation)
Member of Advisory Panel
External PhD Examiner, Southampton University
Examination
IPC, 6th IFAC Symposium on Nonlinear Model Predictive Control, Madison, United States
Participation in conference -Mixed Audience
IPC, 15th IFAC Symposium on Control in Transportation Systems, Genova, Italy
Participation in conference -Mixed Audience
IPC, 12th UKACC International Conference on Control, Sheffield
Participation in conference -Mixed Audience
Invited Speaker, Research Seminar, Electronics and Computer Science, University of Southampton
Participation in workshop, seminar, course
External PhD Examiner, Universidad de Castilla-La Mancha, Spain
Examination
External PhD Examiner, Sheffield University
Examination
External Program Examiner, BEng/MEng Integrated Mechanical & Electrical Engineering, University of Bath
Examination
IPC, 12th IFAC Symposium on Robot Control (SYROCO-2018)
Participation in conference -Mixed Audience
Invited Speaker, Research Seminar, Department of Automatic Control and Systems Engineering, University of Sheffield
Participation in workshop, seminar, course
External PhD Examiner, Bath University
Examination
External PhD Examiner, Sheffield University
Examination
IPC, 3rd International Conference on Vehicle Technology and Intelligent Transport Systems, Porto, Portugal
Participation in conference -Mixed Audience
EPSRC College (External organisation)
Other Membership
Chair, IET Control and Automation Technical and Professional Network (External organisation)
Membership of network
Academic Programme Accreditation Panel, IET (External organisation)
Member of Advisory Panel
Chair, Judging panel, IET Control and Automation Doctoral Prize (External organisation)
Member of Advisory Panel
Academic Programme Accreditation Panel, IET (External organisation)
Member of Advisory Panel
Academic Programme Accreditation Panel, IET (External organisation)
Member of Advisory Panel
Academic Programme Accreditation Panel, IET (External organisation)
Member of Advisory Panel
Chair, IET Mini Symposium on Applications of Biomedical Modelling and Control
Participation in conference -Mixed Audience
Invited speaker, Workshop on Current and Future avenues between Control, Ecology and Epidemiology, University of Bath
Participation in workshop, seminar, course
IPC, 2nd International Conference on Vehicle Technology and Intelligent Transport Systems, Rome
Participation in conference -Mixed Audience
IPC, 14th IFAC Symposium on Large Scale Complex Systems: Theory and Applications, Riverside, USA
Participation in conference -Mixed Audience
IPC, 14th IFAC Symposium on Control in Transportation Systems, Istanbul
Participation in conference -Mixed Audience
IPC, 11th UKACC International Control Conference
Participation in conference -Mixed Audience
Vice-Chair, IET Control and Automation Technical and Professional Network (External organisation)
Membership of network
CINDe Steering Board, NNL and Sellafield Ltd (External organisation)
Membership of board
Local Organising Committee, Intelligent Robotic and Autonomous Systems Conference
Participation in workshop, seminar, course
Chair, The 2015 Tustin Lecture
Participation in workshop, seminar, course
IPC, 24th International Conference on Systems Engineering
Participation in conference -Mixed Audience
IPC, 11th IFAC Symposium on Robot Control, Salvador
Participation in conference -Mixed Audience
Engineering Accreditation Board (External organisation)
Membership of board
External PhD Examiner, KU Leuven, Belgium
Examination
Environmental Modelling and Software (Journal)
Editorial activity
Chair, IET Mini-Symposium on Monitoring and Control of Poorly-Defined and Uncertain Systems
Participation in conference -Mixed Audience
Chair, Pre-Conference Workshop, 10th UKACC Control Conference
Participation in conference -Mixed Audience
Invited speaker, IEEE Workshop on Robotics and Control, Bristol Robotics Laboratory
Participation in workshop, seminar, course
Invited speaker, IBPSA Symposium on Greenhouse Energy Simulation, Cambridge University
Participation in workshop, seminar, course
Invited speaker, IAgrE Annual Conference: Reimagining agriculture: engineering as the strategic enabler, Cranfield University
Participation in conference -Mixed Audience
IPC, 10th UKACC International Control Conference
Participation in conference -Mixed Audience
IFAC Technical Committee on Robotics (External organisation)
Membership of committee
Academic Programme Accreditation Panel, IET (External organisation)
Member of Advisory Panel
External Examiner, MSc Control Programs, Coventry University
Examination
IPC, IET Control and Automation Conference
Participation in conference -Mixed Audience
Progress in Nuclear Energy (Journal)
Editorial activity
IPC, IFAC Workshop on Advances in Control and Automation Theory for Transportation Applications, Istanbul
Participation in workshop, seminar, course
External PhD Examiner, Bath University
Examination
External PhD Examiner, Coventry University
Examination
Academic Programme Accreditation Panel, IET (External organisation)
Member of Advisory Panel
Academic Programme Accreditation Panel, IET (External organisation)
Member of Advisory Panel
Academic Programme Accreditation Panel, IET (External organisation)
Member of Advisory Panel
IPC, 9th UKACC International Control Conference
Participation in conference -Mixed Audience
Invited Speaker, Industrial Control Centre, University of Strathclyde
Participation in workshop, seminar, course
Invited speaker, Time for Causality Workshop, School of Mathematics, University of Bristol
Participation in workshop, seminar, course
IFAC Technical Committee on Control in Agriculture (External organisation)
Membership of committee
IFAC Technical Committee on Modelling and Control of Environmental Systems (External organisation)
Membership of committee
Executive Committee, IET Control and Automation Technical and Professional Network (External organisation)
Membership of network
Invited speaker, National Cheng Kung University, Tainan
Participation in workshop, seminar, course
Invited speaker, Graduate Institute of Electronics Engineering, NTU
Participation in workshop, seminar, course
Invited speaker, Department of Biosystems, Katholieke University of Leuven
Participation in workshop, seminar, course
Visiting Associate Professor, NTU
Visiting an external academic institution
External Masters By Research Examiner, MMU University, Malaysia
Examination
IPC, 8th UKACC International Control Conference
Participation in conference -Mixed Audience
Chair, InstMC Mini–Symposium on Challenges in Oil & Gas Subsea Production
Participation in conference -Mixed Audience
Invited speaker, Joint Warwick & Coventry University Seminar Series on Control
Participation in workshop, seminar, course
External PhD Examiner, Loughborough University
Examination
IPC, 12th IFAC Symposium on Control in Transportation Systems
Participation in conference -Mixed Audience
Invited speaker, Mathematics for Biomedical Engineering Summer School, University of Warwick
Participation in workshop, seminar, course
IFAC Technical Committee on Transportation and Vehicle Systems (External organisation)
Membership of committee
Systems & Control Technology Panel, Institute of Measurement and Control (External organisation)
Membership of committee
Executive Committee, UK Automatic Control Council (UKACC) (External organisation)
Membership of committee
External PhD Examiner, Sheffield University
Examination
Invited speaker, Industrial Control Centre, University of Strathclyde
Participation in workshop, seminar, course
Invited speaker, Workshop on Ramp Metering in Europe: The EURAMP Project, Paris
Participation in workshop, seminar, course
External Masters by Research Examiner, RMIT University, Australia
Examination
External Program Examiner, BEng/MEng Electronic & Electrical Engineering, Loughborough University
Examination
External PhD Examiner, Sunderland University
Examination
External Program Examiner, MSc by Research, Coventry University
Examination
External PhD Examiner, Universidad de Castilla-La Mancha, Spain
Examination
External PhD Examiner, Glasgow University
Examination
External PhD Examiner, Coventry University
Examination
- Doctorate Centre in Nuclear Engineering
- DSI - Foundations
- Energy Lancaster
- Lancaster Intelligent, Robotic and Autonomous Systems Centre
- LIRA - Environmental Modelling
- LIRA - Extreme Environments
- LIRA - Fundamentals
- Nuclear