Laurent Praly honored by IFAC for his major contributions to nonlinear control

Essential contributions to the control of dynamical systems

A graduate of Mines Paris in 1976, Laurent Praly joined the Centre Automatique et Systèmes (CAS) in 1980 after gaining experience in industry. His research focuses on nonlinear control, a branch of automatic control that aims to understand and manage complex systems—such as satellites or chemical reactors—whose behavior does not follow simple linear laws.

He has made key contributions to the stabilization of dynamical systems, the design of Lyapunov functions for assessing system stability, and the development of robust control methods capable of handling real-world uncertainties.

These achievements have played a decisive role in shaping the field of nonlinear control, at the crossroads of mathematics, modeling, and engineering, and have fostered numerous international collaborations within the scientific community. His work notably culminated in the publication of a comprehensive two-volume reference on the stability and stabilization of dynamical systems.

One of the field’s most prestigious distinctions

Established in 2007, the IFAC TC Award on Nonlinear Control Systems is presented by the International Federation of Automatic Control in honor of Alberto Isidori, a founding figure of the discipline. It recognizes researchers whose work has profoundly advanced the understanding, modeling, and stabilization of complex dynamical systems—from mechanical and aerospace systems to energy networks. Laurent Praly now joins a distinguished lineage of laureates, including Arthur Krener, Arjan van der Schaft, Andrew Teel, Miroslav Krstic and Eduardo Sontag.

The award ceremony was held on November 7, 2025, in the Salle des Colonnes of Mines Paris – PSL’s Paris campus. The trophy was presented to Laurent Praly by Jean-Michel Coron, Emeritus Professor at the Laboratoire Jacques-Louis Lions and member of the Académie des sciences, a leading figure in nonlinear control and long-time collaborator of the Centre Automatique et Systèmes (CAS).

Many members of Mines Paris – PSL and the CAS attended the event to celebrate this honor, including Paolo Stringari, Director of Research at Mines Paris – PSL, Florent Di Meglio, Director of the CAS, Nicolas Petit, recipient of the Prix Michel Monpetit – Inria de l’Académie des sciences, and Delphine Bresch-Pietri, Associate Professor at the CAS. The event paid tribute to a remarkable career marked by scientific rigor and excellence.

Further reading:

Laurent Praly, Delphine Bresch-Pietri, Fonctions de Lyapunov, stabilité, stabilisation et atténuation de perturbations, Part. 1 et 2, Spartacus IDH, 2022.