The Institute

The Automatic Control Laboratory (Institut für Automatik, IfA) is a part of the Department of Information Technology and Electrical Engineering (D-ITET) at the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology (ETH) in Zurich, Switzerland. We are located in the central campus, close to the city centre.

The focus of the laboratory is research and teaching in the field of automatic control systems. The lab has three faculty: John Lygeros (head), Florian Dörfler and Roy Smith, and two Emeriti Professors: Adolf Glattfelder and Manfred Morari. In addition we have approximately 10 postdoctoral students and over 30 PhD students.

The laboratory has an extensive research record in both the theory and application of control technology. Our research interests are loosely divided into five categories: theory, computation; energy; applications; and "team projects." The computational aspects of our work often result in software for control system analysis and design.  

We are responsible for the teaching of a variety of control systems courses at the Bachelors, Masters and PhD levels. These courses are typically taken by D-ITET undergraduates as well as Masters students in Electrical Engineering; Mechanical Engineering; and Robotics, Systems and Control. Students from other disciplines with an interest in feedback systems are also welcome.