Summary
I have a PhD in Control Engineering from the University of Manchester and a PhD in Aerospace Engineering from Harbin Institute of Technology.
I joined Sheffield Hallam University in 2007 and am currently a Principal Lecturer in Control Systems, and the Subject Group Leader of the Power, Electrical and Control Engineering Subject Group in the Department of Engineering and Mathematics.
I am a Chartered Engineer (CEng) and a Fellow of the Higher Education Academy (FHEA). My main teaching areas are in industrial automation and control engineering.
I am also a keen researcher in the field of advanced control and condition monitoring of complex processes, industrial automation, multivariate statistical process control, model predictive control and artificial intelligence.
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About
I graduated with a First Class BEng degree in Automatic Control (1993), an MSc in Control Engineering (1996) and PhD in Aerospace Engineering (1999) all from Harbin Institute of Technology.
While working as a Research Associate at the University of Manchester (2001-2003), I completed my second Ph.D. in the field of Advanced Process Control and Condition Monitoring in 2004 from the School of Engineering.
Before joining Sheffield Hallam University in 2007, I worked as a Lecturer in Control Engineering at North East Wales Institute, University of Wales (now Glyndŵr University) (2003-2006).My role at Sheffield Hallam University involves working as the Subject Group Leader of Power, Electrical and Control Engineering, which consists of 16 permanent academic staff. My main responsibility is to provide academic and management leadership to the subject group. He is also responsible for encouraging innovation, research, and continuous quality enhancement in the group.
Before that, I worked as Subject Group Leader of the Electrical, Electronic and Control Engineering Group (2014-2017) and Automation and Operations Engineering Group (2009-2014).
I have been leading and delivering many MSc, MEng and BEng modules relevant to Automation and Control Engineering. I have supervised many BEng final year projects, MSc Project and Dissertations and have co-supervised 9 MPhil and PhD students to completion to date.
Areas of Interest- Process Control
- Condition Monitoring
- Industrial Automation
- Industry 4.0
- Artificial Intelligence
Areas of Interest:
- Process Control;
- Condition Monitoring;
- Industrial Automation;
- Artificial Intelligence. -
Teaching
Department of Engineering and Mathematics
Business, Technology and Enterprise
Department of Engineering and Mathematics
Science, Technology and Arts
Subject Area/Group: Power, Electrical and Control Engineering Subject Group- Control Systems and Their Applications (Level 6 MEng/BEng Electrical and Electronic Engineering)
- Process Dynamics and Control (Level 6, MEng/BEng Food Engineering)
- Industrial Automation (Level 7, MSc Automation, Control and Robotics, MEng Mechanical Engineering and MEng Electrical and Electronic Engineering)
I also teach part of the following module:
- Control of Linear Systems (Level 7, MSc Automation, Control and Robotics)
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Research
National Centre of Excellence for Food Engineering
Centre for Automation and Robotics Research
Materials and Engineering Research Institute
My research has benefited from significant input from industry and has attracted funding and support from government and companies in the UK and China for many projects.
Current Projects:SUSFOOD2 - A Horizon 2020 ERA-NET Cofund on Sustainable Food Production and Consumption, 2018 – 2021, Co-Investigator. ‘Improving sustainability in food processing using Moderate Electric Fields (MEC) for process intensification and smart processing. Project ID: MEFPROC, €1.353M in total working with University College Dublin and 5 other European partners.
• KTP project with World Feeds Ltd, 2016 – 2018, Academic Supervisor. 'Development of embedded bespoke manufacturing processes to produce high volumes of high value advanced food products', £133K.
Recently Completed Projects:• Innovate UK project, 2015 – 2017, Co-I. ‘Effective milk processing with variable composition’, approx. £700K in total working with Nestle, Foss and First Milk.
• Consultancy Project with SSG Insight in Leeds - Publication of a White Paper
'Harnessing Brexit, Technology and Insight - British manufacturers maintaining a competitive edge in an age of uncertainty & opportunity' (Web Link: http://www.ssginsight.com/brexit-tech-insight). £3.5K
Sponsors and Partners:• Innovate UK
• Nestlé UK & Ireland
• FOSS
• First Milk
• World Feeds Ltd
• Penso Power Limited
• Limejump Limited
• C-Tech Innovation
• United Utilities
• Festo Didactic
• SSG InsightSponsors and Partners:
• Innovate UK
• Nestlé UK & Ireland
• FOSS
• First Milk
• World Feeds Ltd
• JWEPANDA Limited
• Bilin Power Technology Limited
• C-Tech Innovation
• United Utilities
• Festo Didactic -
Publications
Key Publications
Zhang, H., & Lennox, B. (2004). Integrated condition monitoring and control of fed-batch fermentation processes. Journal of Process Control, 14 (1), 41-50. http://doi.org/10.1016/S0959-1524(03)00044-1
Zhang, H., & Lennox, B. (2003). Multi-way optimal control of a benchmark fed-batch fermentation process. Transactions of the Institute of Measurement and Control, 25 (5), 403-417. http://doi.org/10.1191/0142331203tm0100oa
Zhang, H., Lennox, B., Goulding, P.R., & Leung, A.Y.T. (2000). A float-encoded genetic algorithm technique for integrated optimization of piezoelectric actuator and sensor placement and feedback gains. Smart Materials and Structures, 9 (4), 552-557. http://doi.org/10.1088/0964-1726/9/4/319
Journal articles
Zhang, H., Mohamed, A., Breikin, T., & Howarth, M. (2021). Modelling and Simulation of an Ohmic Heating Process. Open Journal of Modelling and Simulation, 9 (1), 26-42. http://doi.org/10.4236/ojmsi.2021.91002
Saleh, I., Ali, R., & Zhang, H. (2018). Experimental testing and validation of the mathematical model for a self-humidifying PEM fuel cell. Journal of Materials Science and Chemical Engineering, 6 (4), 202-218. http://doi.org/10.4236/msce.2018.64019
Saleh, I.M., Ali, R., & Zhang, H. (2018). Environmental Impact of High Altitudes on the Operation of PEM Fuel Cell Based UAS. Energy and Power Engineering, 10 (03), 87-105. http://doi.org/10.4236/epe.2018.103007
Ding, Y., Zhu, C., & Zhang, H. (2017). A type of distribution control method for nonlinear stochastic systems. Paiguan Jixie Gongcheng Xuebao/Journal of Drainage and Irrigation Machinery Engineering, 35 (9), 774-779. http://doi.org/10.3969/j.issn.1674-8530.17.0063
Saleh, I.M.M., Ali, R., & Zhang, H. (2016). Simplified mathematical model of proton exchange membrane fuel cell based on horizon fuel cell stack. Journal of Modern Power Systems and Clean Energy, 4 (4), 668-679. http://doi.org/10.1007/s40565-016-0196-5
Zhang, H. (2009). Software Sensors and Their Applications in Bioprocess. . http://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-642-01888-6_2
Zhang, H. (2008). Optimal control of a fed-batch yeast fermentation process based on Least Square Support Vector Machine. International Journal of Engineering Systems Modelling and Simulation, 1 (1), 63-68. http://doi.org/10.1504/IJESMS.2008.018850
Zhang, H., Klaveness, B., & Vagapov, Y. (2006). Least square support vector machine based soft-sensing for fed-batch yeast fermentation - A comparative study. World Journal of Engineering, 3 (4), 1-8.
Zhang, H., Lian, Z., Yan, K., Sun, Y., Yuan, J., & Zhang, Z. (2006). Decision support for choice optimal power generation projects: Fuzzy comprehensive evaluation model based on the electricity market. Energy Policy, 34 (17), 3359-3364. http://doi.org/10.1016/j.enpol.2005.06.021
Lennox, B., Zhang, H., Lovett, D., & Sandoz, D. (2004). An integrated approach to advanced process control and condition monitoring. Computing and Control Engineering Journal, 15 (1), 32-37.
Conference papers
Meng, Q., Zhang, H., & Howarth, M. (2019). Performances Comparison between Real-Time Auto-Tuning PID and Conventional PID Controller for a Dairy Industrial Evaporation Process Control. 2019 International Conference on Artificial Intelligence, Control and Automation Engineering (AICAE 2019). http://doi.org/10.12783/dtcse/aicae2019/31462
Haire, M., Xu, X., Alboul, L., Penders, J., & Zhang, H. (2019). Ship Hull Repair Using A Swarm Of Autonomous Underwater Robots: A Self-Assembly Algorithm. ECMR 2019 (European Conference on Mobile Robotics). http://doi.org/10.1109/ECMR.2019.8870910
Haire, M., Xu, X., Alboul, L., Penders, J., & Zhang, H. (2019). Ship hull inspection using a swarm of autonomous underwater robots: a Search algorithm. 2019 IEEE International Symposium on Safety, Security, and Rescue Robotics (SSRR). http://doi.org/10.1109/SSRR.2019.8848963
Kalashnikov, A., Zhang, H., & Abramiuk, M. (2018). Automated recording and processing of lecture attendance data using RFID student cards. PROCEEDINGS OF THE VI INTERNATIONAL SCIENTIFIC CONFERENCE ADVANCED INFORMATION SYSTEMS AND TECHNOLOGIES AIST-2018, 81-84.
Kalashnikov, A., Zhang, H., Jennings, J., & Abramriuk, M.-.M. (2017). Remote laboratory: using Internet-of-Things (IoT) for E-learning. In Comparison of the responsiveness of ultrasonic oscillating temperature sensors (UOTSes) and conventional sensors to temperature inflection points, (pp. 43-46). Springer: http://aist.sumdu.edu.ua/main/
Butler, D., & Zhang, H. (2012). Intelligent software sensors and process prediction for glass container forming processes based on multivariate statistical process control techniques. In Proceedings of 2012 UKACC International Conference on Control, (pp. 281-285). IEEE: http://doi.org/10.1109/CONTROL.2012.6334643
Zhang, H., Zhang, Z., & Lan, L.H. (2010). Evolutionary optimization of a fed-batch penicillin fermentation process. In 2010 International Symposium on Computer, Communication, Control and Automation, Tainan, 5 May 2010 - 7 May 2010 (pp. 403). http://doi.org/10.1109/3CA.2010.5533789
Lan, L.H., & Zhang, H. (2010). Frequency domain criteria for lp-robust stability of systems with fuzzy parameters. In 2010 International Symposium on Computer, Communication, Control and Automation, 3CA 2010, Tainan, 5 May 2010 - 7 May 2010 (pp. 318). http://doi.org/10.1109/3CA.2010.5533820
Zhang, H., & Vagapov, Y. (2006). LS-SVM Based Software Sensor for Fed-batch Yeast Fermentation and Comparative Studies. In 2006 IEEE International Conference on Electro/Information Technology, (pp. 564-568). IEEE: http://doi.org/10.1109/EIT.2006.252204
Belloc, C., Zhang, H., Vagapov, Y., & Moreno, P. (2006). A Step Voltage Response Method for Identification of Induction Motor Parameters at Stand Still. In 2006 IEEE International Conference on Electro/Information Technology, (pp. 109-112). IEEE: http://doi.org/10.1109/EIT.2006.252171
Katawaluwa, M., Zhang, H., Vagapov, Y., & Evans, J. (2006). Simulation of Wind Heat Generator. In 2006 IEEE International Conference on Electro/Information Technology, (pp. 479-482). IEEE: http://doi.org/10.1109/EIT.2006.252138
Zhang, H., Zouaoui, Z., & Lennox, B. (2005). A COMPARATIVE STUDY OF SOFT-SENSING METHODS FOR FED-BATCH FERMENTATION PROCESSES. IFAC Proceedings Volumes, 38 (1), 55-60. http://doi.org/10.3182/20050703-6-CZ-1902.02213
Zhang, H., & Lennox, B. (2003). Fault detection and isolation in a FED-batch penicillin fermentation process. European Control Conference, ECC 2003, 1670-1675. http://doi.org/10.23919/ecc.2003.7085204
Zhang, H., Lennox, B., Goulding, P.R., & Wang, Y. (2002). Adaptive information sharing factors in federated Kalman filtering. IFAC Proceedings Volumes (IFAC-PapersOnline), 15 (1), 79-84. http://doi.org/10.3182/20020721-6-es-1901.00666
Book chapters
Zhang, H. (2008). Intelligent software sensors for fed-batch fermentation processes. In Proceedings of the UKACC International Conference on Control 2008. University of Manchester: https://ukacc.group.shef.ac.uk/proceedings/control2008/Proceedings.html
Xu, X., Zhang, H., & Carbone, G. (n.d.). Case studies on nonlinear control theory of the inverted pendulum. In Boubake, O., & Iriarte, R. (Eds.) Inverted pendulum: from theory to new innovations in control and robotics. IET
Reports
Zhang, H., Saad, S., & Jon, M. (2018). Harnessing Brexit, Technology and Insight - British manufacturers; maintaining a competitive edge in an age of uncertainty & opportunity. Sheffield Hallam University and SSG Insight.
Theses / Dissertations
Salah, I.M.M. (2015). Modelling, simulation and performance evaluation: PEM fuel cells for high altitude UAS. (Doctoral thesis). Supervised by Ali, R., & Zhang, H.
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Other activities
I am currently acting as an external examiner for the MSc Electrical and Electronic Engineering programmes at Glyndŵr University. Previously, I worked as external examiners at The University of South Wales and The University of Ulster.
I have also externally examined several MPhil and PhD students at Glyndŵr University and the University of Manchester.
I am working in the Editorial Board of International Journal of Engineering Systems Modelling and Simulation and have been serving as a referee for many international journals and publishers.
I am the President of China-Britain Technology and Trade Association (CBTTA) which is a charity registered in England and Wales. -
Postgraduate supervision
Current Projects:
- Mr. Qingbo Meng (PhD student). Advanced Process Control and Condition Monitoring with Applications in the Food Industry.
- A new PhD student is being recruited for the ‘Improving sustainability in food processing using Moderate Electric Fields (MEC) for process intensification and smart processing' project.