2025 IEEE IES Italy Chapter Ph.D. Thesis Award
Francesco Simonetti, a DISIM student specialising in computer and automation engineering, and holder of a PhD in Information and Communication Technologies, has been honoured by the IEEE Industrial Electronics Society, Italy Chapter. He was recognised for his PhD thesis, which was published in Italy in 2024 and is considered the best in the field of industrial electronics and computer science.
Entitled “Direct Model Predictive Control of Cascaded H-Bridge Inverters”, his PhD thesis summarises his excellent doctoral programme, overseen by Professors Carlo Cecati and Alessandro D’Innocenzo. Through experimentation, it proposes and demonstrates the use of machine learning and artificial intelligence techniques in controlling power electronic converters, particularly multilevel converters. Simonetti first developed a “digital twin” of the system under study directly on an FPGA (field-programmable gate array). Next, the predictive control algorithms using neural networks were implemented in real time on a multilevel converter provided by the innovative SME DigiPower in L’Aquila. This experiment verified the system’s effectiveness.
As a specific case study, he implemented a STATCOM, which is a fully electronic system capable of stabilising electrical networks. The topicality and relevance of this issue is beyond doubt, as large-scale adoption of such systems would prevent the kind of disastrous blackout that occurred in Spain last May. The methodological approach and tools used mean that the results can be extended to other areas, such as renewable energy, electric vehicle propulsion systems, and high-power industrial drives.
Francesco Simonetti’s research during his PhD is documented in five articles published in the most prestigious international journals in the field: IEEE Transactions on Industrial Electronics, IEEE Transactions on Industrial Informatics, IEEE Journal of Emerging and Selected Topics in Power Electronics, and IEEE Transactions on Industry Applications, as well as seven articles published in the proceedings of numerous international conferences.
At the end of his studies, he worked as a postdoctoral researcher at Aalborg University in Denmark for over a year, before being hired as a senior R&D engineer at the research center of the multinational company Schneider Electric, also in Denmark.
Founded in New York in 1884, the IEEE (Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers) is a non-for-profit organization whose motto is “Advancing Technology for Humanity” and which currently has over 500,000 members, organized into 36 societies, including the IEEE Industrial Electronics Society, whose Italian chapter has decided to award Dr. Francesco Simonetti.
