Opening

Two fully funded Ph.D. student positions are available for Spring/Fall 2026 intake. The students will support ongoing research projects with anticipated skills below:

1. (DOE) 1Model-free control of next-generation heat pumps — This is a collaborative project with Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory where the Purdue team will be responsible for development and experimental validation of model-free algorithms for heat pump optimal control. The algorithms will be devised based on online convex optimization and learning-based control techniques, so strong numerical or math background is required.
2. Data-driven supervisory control for commercial buildings – – This project applies data-driven techniques, such as data-driven model predictive control and reinforcement learning, for automated control synthesis in commercial buildings. Candidates comfortable working with math and thermal systems are preferred.

For those interested, please email Dr. Jie Cai at cai40@purdue.edu.