The International Federation of Automatic Control (IFAC), founded in September 1957, is a multinational federation of 49 national member organizations (NMO), each one representing the

engineering Engineering is the use of scientific principles to design and build machines, structures, and other items, including bridges, tunnels, roads, vehicles, and buildings. The discipline of engineering encompasses a broad range of more speciali ...

and

scientific Science is a systematic endeavor that builds and organizes knowledge in the form of testable explanations and predictions about the universe. Science may be as old as the human species, and some of the earliest archeological evidence for ...

societies concerned with

automatic control Automation describes a wide range of technologies that reduce human intervention in processes, namely by predetermining decision criteria, subprocess relationships, and related actions, as well as embodying those predeterminations in machines ...

in its own country. The aim of the Federation is to promote the science and technology of control in the broadest sense in all systems, whether, for example,

, physical, biological,

social Social organisms, including human(s), live collectively in interacting populations. This interaction is considered social whether they are aware of it or not, and whether the exchange is voluntary or not. Etymology The word "social" derives from ...

economic An economy is an area of the production, distribution and trade, as well as consumption of goods and services. In general, it is defined as a social domain that emphasize the practices, discourses, and material expressions associated with the ...

, in both

theory A theory is a rational type of abstract thinking about a phenomenon, or the results of such thinking. The process of contemplative and rational thinking is often associated with such processes as observational study or research. Theories may be ...

and application. IFAC is also concerned with the impact of control technology on society. IFAC pursues its purpose by organizing technical meetings, by publications, and by any other means consistent with its

constitution A constitution is the aggregate of fundamental principles or established precedents that constitute the legal basis of a polity, organisation or other type of entity and commonly determine how that entity is to be governed. When these princ ...

and which will enhance the interchange and circulation of information on automatic control activities. International World Congresses are held every three years. Between congresses, IFAC sponsors many symposia, conferences and workshops covering particular aspects of automatic control. The official journals of IFAC are ''Automatica'', ''Control Engineering Practice'', ''Annual Reviews in Control'', ''Journal of Process Control'', ''Engineering Applications of Artificial Intelligence'', the ''Journal of Mechatronics, Nonlinear Analysis: Hybrid Systems'', and the ''IFAC Journal of Systems and Control''.

Awards

IFAC Fellows Major Medals *

Giorgio Quazza Medal The Giorgio Quazza Medal is an award given by the International Federation of Automatic Control (IFAC) to a distinguished control engineer, presented at each IFAC Triennial International World Congress. It was established in 1979, as a memorial to t ...

* Nathaniel B. Nichols Medal * Industrial Achievement Award * Manfred Thoma Medal High Impact Paper Award * Automatica Prize Paper Award * Control Engineering Practice Prize Paper Award * Journal of Process Control Prize Paper Award * Engineering Applications of Artificial Intelligence Prize Paper Award * Mechatronics Journal Prize Paper Award * Congress Applications Paper Prize * IFAC Congress Young Author Prize * Control Engineering Textbook Prize * Congress Poster Paper Prize Outstanding Service Award

External links

Elsevier publishers
{{Authority control Engineering organizations Control engineering Supraorganizations

Awards

See also

External links