Professor Mahdi Mahfouf

Ing.Dipl. (Hons), MPhil, PhD, FIMA, CEng, CMath, FIET, FInstMC

Department of Automatic Control and Systems Engineering

Head of the Intelligent Systems Research Laboratory


+44 114 222 5607
Amy Johnson Building

Full contact details

Professor Mahdi Mahfouf
Department of Automatic Control and Systems Engineering
Amy Johnson Building
Portobello Street
Sheffield
S1 3JD
Profile

Professor Mahfouf Obtained the MPhil (1988) and PhD (1991) Degrees from the University of Sheffield (UK), all in Control Systems. He worked as a PDRA from 1992 until 1996 on two Leverhulme sponsored research projects in the areas of Model-Predictive Control and Fuzzy Logic based Systems. In February 1997, he was appointed Lecturer in Control Systems at the School of Engineering, The University of Manchester. In October 1997, he took up the post of a Lecturer in the Department of Automatic Control and Systems Engineering, The University of Sheffield, promoted to Senior Lecturer in 2000 (Top of the List), Reader in 2002, and Professor in 2005. Professor Mahfouf is the Recipient of Several Paper Prizes and Awards, including the Institute of Electrical Engineers (IEE) Hartree Premium Award for a Paper on Predictive Control published in 1992, and the MEDIPEX Innovation Award for successfully integrating Fuzzy Logic Technology in a Decision-Support System implemented in Cardiac Intensive Care Units. He is the author of more than 370 Papers, 130 or so of these being Journal Papers.

Research interests

Fundamental Research

  • Fuzzy Logic, Fuzzy Sets, and Fuzzy Systems: modelling and Control (Decision Support Systems)
  • Artificial Intelligence
  • Self-Organising Fuzzy Logic Control
  • Neural-Fuzzy Systems
  • Machine Learning & Big Data
  • Model-Based Predictive Control: Algorithms and Applications
  • Evolutionary Based Optimisation- Single and Multi-Objective

Application Areas

  • Manufacturing: Materials, Surface Metrology, & Pharmaceuticals (in collaboration with Professor A.D. Salman from the Sheffield University Department of CBE)
  • Human-Machine Interface (HMI) or Brain-Computer Interface (BCI), Operator Breakdown
  • Transportation Systems
  • Aerospace Systems
  • Biomedicine: ICU, CICU, Neonates

Recent Key Publications

Wafa’ H. AlAlaweena, B. Khorsheedb, M. Mahfouf, G.K. Reynolds and A.D. Salman, 2020. An Interpretable Fuzzy Logic Based Data-Driven Model for the Twin Screw Granulation Process, Powder Technology, In Press.   

O. Obajemu, M. Mahfouf, 2019. A Dirichlet Process based Type-1 and Type-2 Fuzzy Modelling for Systematic Confidence Band Predictions. IEEE transactions on fuzzy systems, 27(9), pp. 1853-1865.

M. Papananias, T.E. McLeay, M. Mahfouf, and V. Kadirkamanathan, 2019. A Bayesian framework to estimate part quality and associated uncertainties in multistage manufacturing, Computers in Industry, 105, pp. 35-47. 

O. Obajemu, M. Mahfouf, and J.W. Catto, 2018. A New Fuzzy Modeling Framework for Integrated Risk Prognosis and Therapy of Bladder Cancer Patients. IEEE Transactions on Fuzzy Systems, 26(3), pp.1565-1577. 

He, Changjiang, M. Mahfouf, and Luis Alberto Torres Salomao, 2018. Thermal Imaging for Psychophysiological State Detection in the Human-Machine Interface (HMI) Control System, Lecture Notes in Electrical Engineering, Springer Verlag.

Grants

Professor Mahfouf was and is the PI/CI of several Research Grants mainly from the UK-EPSRC, the EU and the Royal Academy of Engineering. Particularly, he was the ACSE Departmental Lead on 3 major EPSRC-sponsored Grants in 2002 (£3.9M), 2008 (£4.5M), a Platform Grant in 2008 (£870K). He is currently the PI on TRANSIT, an EPSRC sponsored Research Grant investigating Efficient Aircraft Taxiing at Airports (£234K), and CI on an EPSRC sponsored Hub in Manufacturing (£10M), which focuses on Data Informatics, including Machine Learning, for Surface Metrology (in Manufacturing). 

Teaching activities

PhD Supervision

Since 1998, Professor Mahfouf has successfully supervised 28 students who went on to obtain their PhD Degrees. He currently supervises 5 PhD students. 

Professional activities and memberships
  • 2014 REF Recognition - Professor Mahfouf submitted an Impact Case Study to REF, which was recognised by the REF Panel as having demonstrated considerable impact.
  • Member of the International Federation of Automatic Control (IFAC) Technical Committee on Mining, Mineral, and Metal Processing (MMM).
  • Member of the International Federation of Automatic Control (IFAC) Technical Committee on Biomedical Engineering.
  • Member of the EPSRC College System For 'General Engineering' (2003-).
  • Member of the Editorial Board of the International Journal of Simulation Systems Science and Technology.
  • External Examiner for UK and overseas PhD, MPhil Degrees; BSc (BEng), and MSc Courses.
  • Member of several Conference IPC's.
  • Advisor to UK and overseas Institutions on Senior Academic Appointments and Promotions.