MERL - Mitsubishi Electric Research Laboratories

Share:

Christopher Laughman

Christopher Laughman
Chris' Quick Links

  • 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

    •  NEWS   MERL researchers presented more than 8 papers in European Control Conference, ECC 2019
      Date: June 25, 2019 - June 28, 2019
      Where: Naples, Italy
      MERL Contacts: Karl Berntorp; Scott Bortoff; Ankush Chakrabarty; Claus Danielson; Stefano Di Cairano; Devesh Jha; Christopher Laughman; Daniel Nikovski; Rien Quirynen; Diego Romeres; William Yerazunis
      Research Areas: Control, Machine Learning, Optimization
      Brief
      • The European Control Conference is the premier control conference in Europe. This year MERL was well represented with papers on control for HVAC, machine learning for estimation and control, robot assembly, and optimization methods for control.
    •  
    •  NEWS   MERL collaborates with MIT on heat management in compact fusion reactors
      Date: October 11, 2018
      MERL Contact: Christopher Laughman
      Research Area: Multi-Physical Modeling
      Brief
      • A new approach to heat management in compact fusion reactors that emerged from a class at MIT, developed by graduate student Adam Kuang and 14 other MIT students, engineers from Commonwealth Fusion Systems as well as Piyush Grover and Chris Laughman from MERL, and Professor Dennis Whyte, was recently published in Fusion Engineering and Design. This solution was made possible by an innovative approach to compact fusion reactors, using high-temperature superconducting magnets. This method formed the basis for a massive new research program launched this year at MIT and the creation of an independent startup company to develop the concept. The new design, unlike that of typical fusion plants, would make it possible to open the device's internal chamber and replace critical components; this capability is essential for the newly proposed heat-draining mechanism.

        In the one-semester graduate class 22.63 (Principles of Fusion Engineering), students were divided into teams to address different aspects of the heat rejection challenge. These teams evaluated alternate concepts and subjected candidate designs to detailed calculations and simulations based, in part, on data from decades of research on research fusion devices such as MIT's Alcator C-Mod, which was retired two years ago. C-Mod scientist Brian LaBombard also shared insights on new kinds of divertors, and two engineers from MERL worked with the team as well. Several of the students continued working on the project after the class ended, ultimately leading to the solution described in this new paper.
    •  

    See All News & Events for Chris

  • Internships with Chris

    • MP1384: Estimation and Optimization for Large-Scale Systems

      MERL is seeking a motivated graduate student to research methods for state and parameter estimation and optimization of large-scale systems for process applications. 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 control and estimation, numerical methods, 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.

    See All Internships at MERL

  • MERL Publications

    •  Laughman, C.R., Mackey, C., Bortoff, S.A., Qiao, H., "Modeling and Control of Radiant, Convective, and Ventilation Systems for Multizone Residences", Building Simulation, September 2019.
      BibTeX Download PDFAbout TR2019-093
      • @article{Laughman2019sep,
      • author = {Laughman, Christopher R. and Mackey, Chris and Bortoff, Scott A. and Qiao, Hongtao},
      • title = {Modeling and Control of Radiant, Convective, and Ventilation Systems for Multizone Residences},
      • journal = {Building Simulation},
      • year = 2019,
      • month = sep,
      • url = {https://www.merl.com/publications/TR2019-093}
      • }
    •  Qiao, H., Nabi, S., Laughman, C.R., "Performance Evaluation of HVAC Systems via Coupled Simulation between Modelica and OpenFOAM", International Conference on Compressor and Refrigeration, July 2019.
      BibTeX Download PDFAbout TR2019-073
      • @inproceedings{Hongtao2019jul,
      • author = {Qiao, Hongtao and Nabi, Saleh and Laughman, Christopher R.},
      • title = {Performance Evaluation of HVAC Systems via Coupled Simulation between Modelica and OpenFOAM},
      • booktitle = {International Conference on Compressor and Refrigeration},
      • year = 2019,
      • month = jul,
      • url = {https://www.merl.com/publications/TR2019-073}
      • }
    •  Krupa, P., Danielson, C., Laughman, C.R., Bortoff, S.A., Burns, D.J., Di Cairano, S., Limon, D., "Modelica Implementation of Centralized MPC Controller for a Multi-Zone Heat Pump", European Control Conference (ECC), June 2019.
      BibTeX Download PDFAbout TR2019-056
      • @inproceedings{Krupa2019jun,
      • author = {Krupa, Pablo and Danielson, Claus and Laughman, Christopher R. and Bortoff, Scott A. and Burns, Daniel J. and Di Cairano, Stefano and Limon, Daniel},
      • title = {Modelica Implementation of Centralized MPC Controller for a Multi-Zone Heat Pump},
      • booktitle = {European Control Conference (ECC)},
      • year = 2019,
      • month = jun,
      • url = {https://www.merl.com/publications/TR2019-056}
      • }
    •  Ploskas, N., Laughman, C.R., Raghunathan, A., Sahinidis, N.V., "Heat Exchanger Circuitry Design by Decision Diagrams", International Conference on the Integration of Constraint Programming, Artificial Intelligence, and Operations Research, DOI: 10.1007/978-3-030-19212-9_30, June 2019, vol. 11494, pp. 467-471.
      BibTeX Download PDFAbout TR2019-038
      • @inproceedings{Ploskas2019jun,
      • author = {Ploskas, Nikolaos and Laughman, Christopher R. and Raghunathan, Arvind and Sahinidis, Nikolaos V.},
      • title = {Heat Exchanger Circuitry Design by Decision Diagrams},
      • booktitle = {International Conference on the Integration of Constraint Programming, Artificial Intelligence, and Operations Research},
      • year = 2019,
      • volume = 11494,
      • pages = {467--471},
      • month = jun,
      • doi = {10.1007/978-3-030-19212-9_30},
      • url = {https://www.merl.com/publications/TR2019-038}
      • }
    •  Qiao, H., Nabi, S., Han, X., Laughman, C.R., "Coupled Simulation of a Room Air-conditioner with CFD Models for Indoor Environment", International Modelica Conference, March 2019.
      BibTeX Download PDFAbout TR2018-211
      • @inproceedings{Hongtao2019mar,
      • author = {Qiao, Hongtao and Nabi, Saleh and Han, Xu and Laughman, Christopher R.},
      • title = {Coupled Simulation of a Room Air-conditioner with CFD Models for Indoor Environment},
      • booktitle = {International Modelica Conference},
      • year = 2019,
      • month = mar,
      • url = {https://www.merl.com/publications/TR2018-211}
      • }
    See All Publications for Chris

  • Videos

  • MERL Issued Patents

    • Title: "System and Method for Controlling Vapor Compression Systems"
      Inventors: Burns, Dan 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, Dan 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, Dan 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 J; 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 J; Laughman, Christopher
      Patent No.: 9,595,134
      Issue Date: Mar 14, 2017
    • Title: "System and Method for Controlling Vapor Compression Systems"
      Inventors: Burns, Dan J; 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, Dan 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