Professional Profile

1. Fellow of the Higher Education Academy (FHEA), Research Associate at the School of Computing, Newcastle University, an early career researcher and a promising academic. Experienced university teacher and examiner in Computer Programming and Chemical Engineering Process Dynamics and Control; Process Modelling, Simulation, Monitoring and Optimisation; Advanced Process Control; and Fault Tolerant Control Systems (FTCS).

2. Software development enthusiast, experienced data scientist and automation test analyst

3. Member of faculty board of examiners

4. Postgraduate and undergraduate project supervisor

5. Academic adviser

Qualifications

B. Tech, Ladoke Akintola University of Technology, Ogbomoso, Nigeria, 2003.

MSc, Newcastle University, UK, 2006.

MBA, University of Sunderland, UK, 2009.

PhD, Newcastle University, UK, 2018.

Honours and Awards

• Awarded funds by the Chemical Engineering, School of Engineering, Newcastle University to make a presentation at the CPACT Research Day in Glasgow. (September 2016)
• Won third best presentation at the 2016 Newcastle University Chemical Engineering Annual Postgraduate Research Conference. (July 2016)
• Awarded Partial PhD Scholarship (£26k) by the Petroleum Technology Development Fund (PTDF) for my PhD at Newcastle University, UK. (July 2016)
• Awarded funds by the Chemical Engineering, School of Engineering, Newcastle University to attend an annual CPACT Conference, APACT 16 Conference in Chester, UK. (April 2016)
• Awarded PhD Scholarship (approx. £71k) for 3 years by the University of Lagos, Nigeria and TETFUND for my PhD in Chemical Engineering at Newcastle University (June 2014).
• Awarded Teaching Assistant Scholarship (£6.5k per year) for 3 years during my PhD by the Chemical Engineering, School of Engineering, Newcastle University (January 2014).

Reviewer

• 20th IFAC World Congress - IFAC WC 2017 (Jan 2017)
• IEEE Access – Actuator and Sensor Fault Tolerant Control (Since Nov 2018)
• IEEE Transactions on Systems, Man and Cybernetics: Systems (Since Dec 2018)
• IEEE Transactions on Industrial Informatics (Since Dec 2018)

Research

My research interest covers the following areas:

Medical Software Development, Chemical Engineering Process Dynamics and Control, Advanced Process Control, Process Monitoring and Optimisation, Fault Detection and Diagnosis, Fault Tolerant Control Systems, Intelligent Control Systems, Machine Learning.

Research Project

1. Research Associate in Deep Learning Web Based Portal for Medical Data Analysis at the School of Computing, Newcastle University. Working on the development of algorithms for determining medical markers based on movement data accumulated through stroke rehabilitation interventions. The role focuses on medical software development and associated research activities that will enable extraction of value, appropriate medical markers, from already gathered data. Since 2020

2. Research Fellowship in Pharmaceutical Process Characterisation and Data Analysis, University of Leeds. Worked on resolving issues of sticking in the manufacture of pharmaceutical tablet through Big Data Analysis using several machine learning algorithms. It was a collaboration between the University of Leeds and Pfizer Global Research Sandwich, and part of Advanced Digital Design of Pharmaceutical Therapeutics (ADDoPT) project involving select UK universities, SMEs and the UK pharmaceutical industry. 2019

3. Doctoral Research on Fault Tolerant Control Systems Design and Newcastle University where I conducted research on the state-of-the-art data-based fault monitoring techniques and fault tolerant control strategies for processes in the oil and gas industry, particularly for distillation processes. Successfully designed four FTCS approaches which were implemented through simulation on three distillation processes with varying complexities, including an interactive dynamic crude distillation unit (CDU) using MATLAB and HYSYS. Also investigated control system availability, reliability and performance in the presence of control system component faults. 2014 – 2018

4. Research/consultancy work for the Research & Knowledge Exchange Services of the University of Strathclyde where I worked on Multi Sensor Technology (Muse-Tech) Project, funded under the Seventh Framework Programme of the European Community for Research, Technological Development and Demonstration Activities to develop multi-block chemometric calibration models for multi-sensors suitable for use in the food processing industry. 2016

Teaching

Undergraduate

Module Leader: Programming for Games - CSC3221 (SAgE Computing)

Chemical Engineering Analysis (CHG407)

Chemical Engineering Process Dynamics and Control (CHG501)

Process Optimisation (CHG502)

Chemical Engineering Research Projects I & II (CHG 507 & 508)

Chemical Engineering Entrepreneurship (CHG509)

Postgraduate

Advanced Process Control (CHG802)

Publications

• Lawal, S. A. and Jie Zhang (2020). 'Actuator Fault Tolerant Control System for Distillation Processes' in Hutton J. M. (ed) A Closer Look at Fault-Tolerant Control. New York: Nova Science Publisher.
• Lawal, S. A. (2018) “Fault Tolerant Control System Design for Distillation Processes”, in Chemical Engineering, Newcastle University: Newcastle upon Tyne.
• Lawal, S. A. and Zhang J. (2017) ‘Actuator fault monitoring and fault tolerant control in distillation columns’, International Journal of Automation and Computing. 14(1), 80–92.
• Lawal, S. A. and Zhang J. (2017) ‘Actuator and sensor fault tolerant control of a crude distillation unit’ , in Espuna, A., Graells, M. and Puigianer, L. (eds.) Computer Aided Process Engineering. Elsevier, pp. 1705–1710.
• Lawal, S. A. and Zhang J. (2016) ‘Fault monitoring and fault tolerant control in distillation columns’, Proceedings of the 21st International Conference on Methods and Models in Automation and Robotics (MMAR), pp. 865–870.
• Lawal, S. A. and Zhang J. (2016) ‘Sensor Fault Detection and Fault Tolerant Control of a Crude Distillation Unit’ , in Kravanja, Z. and Bogataj, M. (eds.) 26th European Symposium on Computer Aided Process Engineering. Amsterdam: Elsevier Science Bv, pp. 2091–2096.
• Lawal, S. A. and Zhang J. (2015) "Actuator fault monitoring and fault tolerant control in distillation columns,” IEEE 21st International Conference on Automation and Computing (ICAC), pp. 329–334.
• Okwananke, A., Adeboye, Y. B., and Lawal, S. A. (2011). ‘Evaluation and Performance of Natural Gas Storage in Depleted Gas Reservoir’, Petroleum and Coal, Vol. 53, No. 4, pp 301 – 308.

Other Expertise

Process Systems Engineering

Experienced Process Systems Engineer, an associate member of IChemE and a member of the Process Management and Control Special Interest Group at IChemE. An associate member of the Chartered Institute for IT, a registered Chemical Engineer by the Council for the Regulation of Engineering in Nigeria (COREN) and a professional member of IEEE with memberships of Control System, Instrumentation and Measurement, Robotics and Automation Societies. I have a wide range of experience and expertise in Advanced Process Control and Automation, Process Engineering Calculations and Design, Chemical Process Dynamics and Control, Optimization, System Modelling and Simulation, Plant and Control System Design, Fault Detection and Diagnosis, Instrumentation and Measurements, Management of Automation Project, Data Analytics/Science and Fault Tolerant Control Systems. See more ...

Software Development and Testing

Software development enthusiast with programming skills in python, JavaScript and C++. Experienced result oriented ISTQB Certified Test Analyst with expertise in software development life cycle, software testing life cycle, quality assurance testing, products assessment, Waterfall, V-model and Agile methodologies. A Scrum Fundamentals Certified, motivated and dedicated professional with broad capability in test phases implementation, integration testing, system testing and user acceptance testing on web based, client/server, windows and cloud-based software packages. Dynamically cerebral certified test analyst seeking challenging role in the software development and testing industry with opportunity for further professional development. See more ...

Front-end Web Development

Professional Web Developer See more ...

Data Science

Experienced Data Scientist and an associate member of the Chartered Institute for IT with strong background in Machine Learning, Big Data Analysis, Process System Engineering, Automation and Advanced Process Control, Fault Tolerant Control Systems, Business Administration and Finance. An experienced University teacher in Chemical Engineering and a Fellow of the Higher Education Academy (FHEA). See more ...