Staff
Professor Zoltan K. Nagy BSc MSc PhD AMIChemE MIEEE

Professor of Process Systems Engineering
- +44 (0)1509 222516
- z.k.nagy@lboro.ac.uk
- S2.053
- Research publications
- View Google Scholar profile
Background:
Zoltan K Nagy received his BSc in Chemical Engineering (1993) an MSc in Catalysis and Biocatalysis (1994) and a PhD in Chemical Engineering (2001) from the "Babes-Bolyai" University of Cluj, Romania. From 1995 to 2005 he held Assistant and Associate Professor positions at the same university. In 1996 he was Visiting Research Scientist and Visiting Lecturer at the University of the South, Sewanee, TN, SUA. In 1997 he was honorary research assistant (Tempus Fellow) in the CTI (Computers in Teaching Initiative) Centre for Chemistry, University of Liverpool, UK.
From 1998 to 2001 he held several Visiting Researcher positions at ETH Zurich, Switzerland (1999), the University of Stuttgart and University of Heidelberg, Germany (2000), and University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, USA (2000). From 2001 to 2002 he was NSF-NATO Research Fellow, and from 2002 to 2003 visiting lecturer at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. From 2003 to 2005, Dr Nagy worked as a senior research associate at the University of Stuttgart, Germany, where he worked in collaboration with BASF and ABB on industrial projects. Dr Nagy joined Loughborough University in August 2005 was promoted to Senior Lecturer in February 2007 and to Professor in July 2010.
Key awards:
- 2011-2016 - European Research Council (ERC) Research Fellow
- 2010 – Runner up (and third place in 2011) for the “The innovator of the year award” of the 2010 IChemE Awards for Innovations and Excellence.
- “Most Highly Cited Paper in Journal of Process Control in the period 2005-2010”, (2010)
- “Chemical Research Collaboration Success Award”, Council for Chemical Research, USA, (2009)
- “Journal of Process Control Best Paper Award”, (2008)
- “Control Engineering Practice Best Paper Award”, (2008)
- “ESCAPE18 Best Paper Award”, 18th European Symposium on Computer Aided Process Engineering, Lyon, France, (2008)
- “Tudor Tanasescu Award of the Romanian Academy of Science”, (2008)
- “Royal Academy of Engineering and ExxonMobile Excellence in Teaching Award”, (2007)
- “IEEE Transactions on Control Systems Technology Outstanding Paper Award“, (2005)
- “Best Application Paper award”, honorary mention, IFAC World Congress, Prague, (2005)
- “Highly cited paper in Journal of Process Control in the period 2002-2005”, (2005)
- Automatica Outstanding Reviewer Award, (2003)
- Best paper award, 6th World Multiconference on Systemics, Cybernetics and Informatics, Orlando, USA, (2002)
- NATO-NSF Award for postdoctoral fellowship (1 year) at the Univ. of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, USA, (2001)
Outline of main research interests:
- Pharmaceutical and Crystallisation Systems Engineering
- Mathematical modelling, monitoring and control of crystallization systems
- Process analytical technologies and chemometrics
- Population balance modelling and computation fluid dynamics
- Nonlinear model predictive control and estimation, Robust optimal control, Batch process control
- Sensitivity and uncertainty analysis of chemical, biomedical and biological systems
- Mathematical modelling for optimization and control of chemical processes and plant-wide control
- Applications of artificial intelligence techniques in chemical process modelling, analysis and control
- Virtual instrumentation, E-learning and Telelaboratory in Chemical Engineering Education
Szilagyi, B., Nagy, Z.K. (2019) Model-based analysis and quality-by-design framework for high aspect ratio crystals in crystallizer-wet mill systems using GPU acceleration enabled optimization. Computers and Chemical Engineering, 126. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.compchemeng.2019.04.025
Fysikopoulos, D., Benyahia, B., Borsos, A., Nagy, Z.K., Rielly, C.D. (2019) A framework for model reliability and estimability analysis of crystallization processes with multi-impurity multi-dimensional population balance models. Computers and Chemical Engineering, 122. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.compchemeng.2018.09.007
Onyemelukwe, I.I., Benyahia, B., Reis, N.M., Nagy, Z.K., Rielly, C.D. (2018) The heat transfer characteristics of a mesoscale continuous oscillatory flow crystalliser with smooth periodic constrictions. International Journal of Heat and Mass Transfer, 123. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ijheatmasstransfer.2018.03.015
Su, Q., Rielly, C.D., Powell, K.A., Nagy, Z.K. (2017) Mathematical modelling and experimental validation of a novel periodic flow crystallization using MSMPR crystallizers. AIChE Journal, 63(4). https://doi.org/10.1002/aic.15510
Szilágyi, B., Nagy, Z.K. (2016) Graphical processing unit (GPU) acceleration for numerical solution of population balance models using high resolution finite volume algorithm. Computers and Chemical Engineering, 91. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.compchemeng.2016.03.023
Su, Q., Nagy, Z.K., Rielly, C.D. (2015) Pharmaceutical crystallisation processes from batch to continuous operation using MSMPR stages: Modelling, design, and control. Chemical Engineering and Processing: Process Intensification, 89. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cep.2015.01.001
Powell, K.A., Bartolini, G., Wittering, K.E., Saleemi, A.N., Wilson, C.C., Rielly, C.D., Nagy, Z.K. (2015) Toward Continuous Crystallization of Urea-Barbituric Acid: A Polymorphic Co-Crystal System. Crystal Growth and Design, 15(10). https://doi.org/10.1021/acs.cgd.5b00599
Professional affiliations:
- Associate member of IChemE
- Member of the British Association for Crystal Growth (BACG)
- Executive Committee member of BACG (2007 – 2008)
- Member of Institute of Electronic and Electrical Engineers (IEEE)
- Member of IEEE Control Systems Society
- Member of the IEEE Technical Committee on Industrial Process Control
- Committee member of the IChemE Process Management and Control subject group (2011 – date)
External appointments:
- Member of the awards committee and Chair of the Young Author Prize Selection Committee, for the International Federation of Automatic Control (IFAC) (2011-2014)
- Elected UK representative for the European Federation of Chemical Engineering (EFChE) Crystallisation Working Party (2010-date).
- Elected member of the Steering Committee of the American Association for Crystallization Technology (2012 - date)
- Associate Editor, Optimal Control Applications and Methods (2014-date)
- Guest Editor (with Mohd Rushdi Abu Bakar and Hazrina Ab Hadi) of the Special issue on Green Industrial Pharmacy for Chemical Engineering Research and Design (2014).
- Guest Editor (with Richard Braatz) of the Special Issue on Advanced Control of Chemical Processes (ADCHEM) for Journal of Process Control. (2013-2014)
- Subject Editor (Pharmaceutical Engineering) and Member of the Editorial Board of Chemical Engineering Research and Design
- Associate Editor for Control Engineering Practice
- Guest Editor for Special Issue on Pharmaceutical Engineering, Chemical Engineering Research and Design (2007)
- Guest Editor for Special Issue on Computer Aided Process Design, Asia-Pacific Journal of Chemical Engineering (2008)
- Affiliate member of the Research School of Systems Engineering, Loughborough University
- External Examiner for the Process Systems Engineering MSc programme in the School of Engineering, at Cranfield University, U.K.
- External PhD examiner: Imperial College London, University of Sheffield, Delft University of Technology, Indian Institute of Technology, National University of Singapore, University College Dublin, University of Strathclyde, Nanyang Technological University, University of Bradford, Heriot-Watt University, etc.
Selected invited and keynote lectures:
- ZK Nagy, Recent Advances in the Integrated Process Analytical Technology Based Control of Crystallization Systems, Particulate Systems Analysis 2014, Manchester, UK, September, 2014 (plenary lecture)
- ZK Nagy, Process analytical technology based control approaches for the greener production of pharmaceutical solids, International Conference on Industrial Pharmacy 2014, Kuantan, Pahang, Malaysia, August 20-21, 2014 (Keynote lecture).
- ZK Nagy, Monitoring, modelling and control of polymorphic crystallization processes, Polymorphism Masterclass, Mumbai, India, 18-19 November, 2013 (Plenary panel lecture)
- ZK Nagy, Advanced control of pharmaceutical manufacturing processes, Lilly-Purdue Technology Day, Eli Lilly, Indianapolis, IN, USA, September 30, 2013 (Plenary lecture).
- ZK Nagy, Advanced Process Control in Pharmaceutical Manufacturing, The Future of Pharmaceutical Manufacturing, NIPTE Research Conference, The University at Shady Grove, Rockville, MD, USA, June 19, 2013 (Invited talk).
- ZK Nagy, Recent advances in the model-based and model-free control of crystallization systems, AbbVie, Chicago, USA, June 5, 2013 (Invited talk)
- ZK Nagy, Rapid Development of Robust Crystallization Processes using Automated Direct Nucleation Control, Mettler-Toledo Info Day: Chemical and Crystallization Research & Development, Chicago, USA, May 23, 2013 (Plenary talk)
- ZK Nagy, Recent advances in process analytical technology based crystallisation process monitoring and control, BASF Schweiz AG Schweizerhalle (Muttenz), Switzerland, April 10, 2013 (invited talk).
- ZK Nagy, Novel feedback control-based Quality by Design approaches for crystallisation processes using composite PAT-array and a Crystallisation Process Informatics System, Quality by Design Conference, London, U.K., January 23-24, 2013 (Featured Invited talk).
- ZK Nagy, Applications of Process Analytical Technologies for the monitoring, optimisation and control of pharmaceutical crystallisation processes, Workshop of the Crystallization and Pharmaceutical Formulation Subject Group of the Hungarian Chemical Society, Budapest, Hungary, October 26, 2012 (Opening plenary talk).
- ZK Nagy, Recent advances in the model-based and model-free control of crystallisation processes, University of Szeged, Szeged, Hungary, October 25, 2012 (invited talk)
- ZK Nagy, Rapid Development of Robust Crystallization Processes using Automated Direct Nucleation Control, 18th Larson Workshop of the Association for Crystallisation Technology, Fess Parker’s Doubletree Hilton, Santa Barbara, CA, USA, October 9-10, 2012 (Invited talk).
- ZK Nagy, Robust control of crystallization systems for pharmaceutical product design, Technical University of Delft, The Netherlands, June 8, 2012.
- ZK Nagy, Recent advances in the model-based and model-free control of crystallisation processes, Institute for Chemical and Bioengineering, ETH Zurich, Switzerland, March 28, 2012.
- ZK Nagy, Design of Crystallisation for Targeted Drug Dissolution, Discovery Chemistry Congress 2012: Formulation and Solubility, Munich, Germany, March 13-14, 2012 (Invited talk as Distinguished Speaker).
- ZK Nagy, PAT Based Automated Design, Control and Scale Up of Crystallisation Processes Using a Crystallisation Process Informatics System, conference invited lecture for the Polymorphism and Crystallisation 2012 conference, Amsterdam, The Netherlands, February 28, 2012.
- ZK Nagy, Recent advances in the model-based and model-free control of crystallisation processes, Department of Chemical Engineering, Heriot-Watt University, Edinburgh, U.K., November 23, 2011.
- ZK Nagy, Recent advances in the model-based and model-free control of crystallisation systems, GlaxoSmithKline, Stevenege, U.K., November 2, 2011.
- ZK Nagy, Supersaturation and direct nucleation control of an industrial pharmaceutical crystallisation process using a crystallisation process informatics system, The 18th International Symposium on Industrial Crystallization (ISIC 18), Zurich, Switzerland, September 16, 2011 (Invited talk in Plenary Session).
- ZK Nagy, Process analytical technology based automated design, control and scale-up of crystallisation processes, The 3rd Indian Process Development Conference organized by Mettler-Toledo, Le Meridian, Jaipur, India, August 24, 2011 (Opening Plenary talk).
- ZK Nagy, Robust control of crystallization systems for pharmaceutical product design, Division of Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering, Nanyang Technological University, Singapore, June 27, 2011.
- ZK Nagy, Recent advances in the model-based and model-free control of crystallisation systems, Invited talk for the Symposium in Industrial Crystallization within the 6th Biennial International Conference on Materials for Advanced Technologies (ICMAT 2011) organized by the Materials Research Society of Singapore, Singapore, June 28, 2011.
- Design of drug dissolution through distribution shaping and polymorphic control, invited and featured conference talk for the Solubility Enhancement in Drug Development Conference, Renaissance Zurich Hotel, Zurich, Switzerland, 1 December, 2010, (/www.informa-ls.com/solubility)
- Closing the distance – Constructivist Laboratory Education using the TriLab Laboratory Model, 2nd Annual International Conference on Technology for Education, IIT Bombay, Mumbai, India, July 3, 2010, invited lecture
- Predictive model based control of crystal size and shape using a population balance modelling framework to effectively use technology for process optimisation during drug production and development, invited conference talk for the Polymorphism and Crystallisation 2010 Pre-Conference Focus Day, London, U.K., March 15, 2010
- Pharmaceutical and Biomedical Systems Engineering - An integrated approach for drug dosage design, invited talk for the IChemE Computer Aided Process Engineering Subject Group meeting on “Systems Biology with Industrial Focus”, Imperial College, London, U.K., June 26, 2008
- Mathematical modelling, monitoring and control of pharmaceutical crystallization systems, invited talk for the IChemE Fluid Mixing Processes and Pharma Subject Group meeting, GlaxoSmithKline R&D, Stevenage, U.K., April 3, 2008
- Recent advances in the modelling and control of cooling and antisolvent crystallization of pharmaceuticals, 8th International Symposium on Dynamics and Control of Process Systems (DYCOPS 2007), Cancun, Mexico, June 7, 2007, keynote lecture
- More than 50 invited lectures, seminars, at universities (e.g. ETH, Zurich; McMaster, Canada; Univ. Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, USA; Otto-von-Guericke University of Magdeburg, Germany; National Autonomous University of Mexico (UNAM), Mexico; Memorial University, Canada; University of Alberta, Canada; EPFL, Switzerland; University of Heidelberg, Germany; University of Stuttgart, Germany; University of the South, USA; Veszprem University, Hungary; Imperial College London; Cambridge University; Heriot-Watt University; Cranfield University; University of Strathclyde; University of Reading; The University of Manchester; The University of Sheffield; Newcastle University; University of Surrey, etc.) and companies (AstraZeneca, U.K.; ABB, Germany; BASF, Germany; Vertex, USA, etc.)
Organising / scientific committee of international conferences:
- International Program Area co-chair (Batch process modelling), International Symposium on Advanced Control of Chemical Processes (ADCHEM 2015), July, 2015, Canada (2015).
- Member of the Program Committee, American Control Conference (ACC), July 1-3, 2015 Chicago, IL, USA (2015).
- Member of the International Programming Committee, PSE-2015/ESCAPE25, May 31- June 4, 2015, Copenhagen, Denmark (2015).
- Member of the International Scientific Committee, 12th Particulate Systems Analysis 2014, September, U.K. (2014)
- Member of Programme Committee, 11th International Conference on Informatics in Control, Automation and Robotics (ICINCO 2014), 1-3 September, Vienna, Austria (2014).
- Member of International Scientific Committee, 5th International Conference on Population Balance Modelling (PBM 2013), September 11-13, Bangalore, India (2013)
- Member of the Scientific Committee and Section Organizer and Chair for the section on Continuous Crystallization 19th ACT Larson Workshop on Crystallization Technologies, October 6-9, Indianapolis, IN, USA (2013).
- Member of International Programme Committee, IEEE Multi-Conference on Systems and Control (MSC), Symposium on Computer-Aided Control System Design and Systems with Uncertainty (CACSD-SU), August 27-30, Hyderabad, India (2013).
- International Program Area co-chair (batch process modelling and control), International Symposium on Advanced Control of Chemical Processes (ADCHEM 2012), July, 2012, Singapore (2012).
- International Program Area co-chair, International Symposium on Advanced Control of Chemical Processes (ADCHEM 2012), July, Singapore, (2012)
- Organizer and chair of the IChemE Worksop, Advanced Control of Pharmaceutical Processes, Loughborough, 18 November, 2011.
- Member of Scientific Committee, 18th International Symposium on Industrial Crystallization (ISIC18), 13-16 September, Zurich, Switzerland, (2011)
- International Programme Committee Member, IEEE Multi-Conference on Systems and Control, 8-10 September, Yokohoma, Japan, (2010)
- Organizer (with RD Braatz) of the invited session on “Uncertainty Analysis and Robust Model Based Control”, within the International Symposium on Computer-Aided Control Systems Design (CACSD), at the 2010 IEEE Multi-Conference on Systems and Control, Yokohama, Japan, September 8-10, (2010)
- Section Chair, Dynamics and Control of Process Systems, (DYCOPS 2010), 4-7 July, Leuven, Belgium, (2010)
- Member of the International Programming Committee (IPC), Dynamics and Control of Process Systems, (DYCOPS 2010), 4-7 July, Leuven, Belgium, (2010)
- Section Chair, 16th International Workshop on Industrial Crystallization, (BIWIC 2009), 9-10 September, Lappeenranta, Finland, (2009)
- Section Chair, section Analysis and Control of Crystallization Processes, International Symposium on Advanced Control of Chemical Processes (ADCHEM 2009), 12-15 July, Istanbul, Turkey, (2009)
- Section Chair, section Process Control, Industrial Simulation Conference, 1-3 June, Loughborough, U.K., (2009)
- Section Chair, section Modeling and Design of Crystallization Processes, 15th International Workshop on Industrial Crystallization, (BIWIC 2008), 10-12 September, Magdeburg, Germany, (2008)
- Section Chair, section Nonlinear Predictive Control, IFAC World Congress, Seoul, Korea, July 5-11, (2008)
- Organizer and Conference Chair, British Association for Crystal Growth Annual Meeting, Loughborough, U.K., September 7-9, (2008)
- Organizer (with M Abdulwahed, RE Blanchard, E Read, E Lindsay) of the workshop on “The impact of remote and virtual laboratories in engineering education: A Workshop”, within Engineering Education 2008, Loughborough, U.K., July 15, (2008)
- Section Chair, sections Identification and Control, and Modeling and Control, 8th International IFAC Symposium on Dynamics and Control of Process Systems (DYCOPS), 6-8 June, Cancun, Mexico, (2007)
- Member of the International Scientific Committee – European Symposium on Computer Aided Process Engineering, (Escape-17), 27-30 May, Bucharest, Romania, (2007)
- Organizer and Conference Chair of the International Workshop on Nonlinear Model Based Control – Software and Applications (NMPC-SOFAP), Loughborough, U.K., April 19-20, (2007)
- Member of the International Advisory Committee – Control of Particulate Processes VII, October 29 - November 2, Canada, (2006)
- Section Chair, International Workshop on Assessment and Future Directions of Nonlinear Model Predictive Control, September, Freudenstadt-Lauterbad, Germany, (2005)
- Section Chair, Control of Complex Processes section, 16th IFAC World Congress, June, Prague, Check Republic, (2005)
- Organizer of the one-day workshop (with R. Findeisen, M. Diehl, F. Allgöwer, L. Magni), “Nonlinear Model Predictive Control: Introduction and Current Topics”, within the 16th IFAC World Congress, Prague, Check Republic, July 2, (2005)
- Organizer of the mini-course (with R. Findeisen, M. Diehl, F. Allgöwer, L. Magni), “Introduction to and Current Issues in Nonlinear Model Predictive Control”, within the NOLCOS conference, Stuttgart, Germany, August 31, (2004)
- Section Chair, Process Control Section, The 6th World Multiconference on Systemics, Cybernetics and Informatics, June, Orlando, USA (2002)