Christopher R. Laughman

Christopher R. Laughman
  • 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.

  • Recent News & Events


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  • Internships with Chris

    • 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.

    • 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

    •  Qiao, H., Kobayashi, T., Laughman, C.R., Bortoff, S.A., "On the Characteristics of One-Dimensional Compressible Flow", International Modelica Conference, Dirk Müller, Antonello Monti, and Andrea Benigni, Eds., DOI: 10.3384/​ecp204327, December 2023, pp. 327-336.
      BibTeX TR2024-001 PDF
      • @inproceedings{Qiao2023dec,
      • author = {Qiao, Hongtao and Kobayashi, Takashi and Laughman, Christopher R. and Bortoff, Scott A.},
      • title = {On the Characteristics of One-Dimensional Compressible Flow},
      • booktitle = {Proceedings of the 15th International Modelica Conference 2023},
      • year = 2023,
      • editor = {Dirk Müller, Antonello Monti, and Andrea Benigni},
      • pages = {327--336},
      • month = dec,
      • doi = {10.3384/ecp204327},
      • isbn = {978-91-8075-505-4},
      • url = {https://www.merl.com/publications/TR2024-001}
      • }
    •  Deshpande, V.M., Chakrabarty, A., Vinod, A.P., Laughman, C.R., "Physics-Constrained Deep Autoencoded Kalman Filters for Estimating Vapor Compression System States", IEEE Control Systems Letters, DOI: 10.1109/​LCSYS.2023.3334959, November 2023.
      BibTeX TR2023-138 PDF
      • @article{Deshpande2023nov,
      • author = {Deshpande, Vedang M. and Chakrabarty, Ankush and Vinod, Abraham P. and Laughman, Christopher R.},
      • title = {Physics-Constrained Deep Autoencoded Kalman Filters for Estimating Vapor Compression System States},
      • journal = {IEEE Control Systems Letters},
      • year = 2023,
      • month = nov,
      • doi = {10.1109/LCSYS.2023.3334959},
      • url = {https://www.merl.com/publications/TR2023-138}
      • }
    •  Qiao, H., Laughman, C.R., "Theoretical analysis of cycling losses in air source heat pump systems", International Congress of Refrigeration (ICR), DOI: 10.18462/​iir.icr.2023.0765, September 2023.
      BibTeX TR2023-127 PDF
      • @inproceedings{Qiao2023sep,
      • author = {Qiao, Hongtao and Laughman, Christopher R.},
      • title = {Theoretical analysis of cycling losses in air source heat pump systems},
      • booktitle = {International Congress of Refrigeration (ICR)},
      • year = 2023,
      • month = sep,
      • publisher = {INTERNATIONAL INSTITUTE OF REFRIGERATION},
      • doi = {10.18462/iir.icr.2023.0765},
      • issn = {0151-1637},
      • isbn = {978-2-36215-055-5},
      • url = {https://www.merl.com/publications/TR2023-127}
      • }
    •  Paulson, J.A., Sorouifar, F., Laughman, C.R., Chakrabarty, A., "Self-optimizing vapor compression cycles online with Bayesian optimization under local search region constraints", ASME Journal of Dynamic Systems, Measurements, and Control, DOI: 10.1115/​1.4064027, September 2023.
      BibTeX TR2023-122 PDF
      • @article{Paulson2023sep,
      • author = {Paulson, Joel A. and Sorouifar, Farshud and Laughman, Christopher R. and Chakrabarty, Ankush},
      • title = {Self-optimizing vapor compression cycles online with Bayesian optimization under local search region constraints},
      • journal = {ASME Journal of Dynamic Systems, Measurements, and Control},
      • year = 2023,
      • month = sep,
      • doi = {10.1115/1.4064027},
      • url = {https://www.merl.com/publications/TR2023-122}
      • }
    •  Zhan, S., Chakrabarty, A., Laughman, C.R., Chong, A., "A Virtual Testbed for Robust and Reproducible Calibration of Building Energy Simulation Models", 18th IBPSA International Conference and Exhibition Building Simulation, DOI: 10.26868/​25222708.2023.1482, September 2023.
      BibTeX TR2023-114 PDF
      • @inproceedings{Zhan2023sep,
      • author = {Zhan, Sicheng and Chakrabarty, Ankush and Laughman, Christopher R. and Chong, Adrian},
      • title = {A Virtual Testbed for Robust and Reproducible Calibration of Building Energy Simulation Models},
      • booktitle = {18th IBPSA International Conference and Exhibition Building Simulation},
      • year = 2023,
      • month = sep,
      • doi = {10.26868/25222708.2023.1482},
      • url = {https://www.merl.com/publications/TR2023-114}
      • }
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  • Videos

  • MERL Issued Patents

    • Title: "System and Method for Calculation of Thermofluid Properties using Saturation Curve-Aligned Coordinates"
      Inventors: Laughman, Christopher; Bortoff, Scott A.; Qiao, Hongtao
      Patent No.: 11,739,996
      Issue Date: Aug 29, 2023
    • Title: "Method and System for Circuiting in Heat Exchangers"
      Inventors: Raghunathan, Arvind U; Laughman, Christopher
      Patent No.: 11,704,447
      Issue Date: Jul 18, 2023
    • 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
    See All Patents for MERL