Biography

I am currently a Senior Teaching Fellow in the School of Engineering, University of Warwick, Coventry University, UK.

I obtained my PhD degree in Electronics & Electrical Engineering from the Department of Electrical and Electronics Engineering, The University of Melbourne, Australia, Melbourne, Australia in 2012, under the supervision of Prof. Erik Weyer, where I worked modelling and control design of river systems.

Prior joining University of Warwick, I was an Assistant Professor at the School of Mechanical, Aerospace and Automotive Engineering, Coventry University, UK from 2018-2021, I was a Research Fellow in Warwick Integrative Synthetic Biology Centre (WISB), School of Engineering, University of Warwick, UK, in the research group of Prof. Declan Bates. from 2015-2018. I was a Postdoctoral Fellow in Asia Pacific Center for Theoretical Physics (APCTP) in Pohang, South Korea from 2012-2015, in the research group of Dr. Pan-Jun Kim, where I worked on deciphering the core genetic architecture of plant circadian system.

Research Interests

My primary research interests are dynamical systems modelling and control of biological system. I have mostly studied on plant gene regulatory network and my research mainly focuses on application of engineering design principles for synthetic biology application to improve crop productivity.

News

• 1 Oct 2021: Our work on road classification using limited data for suspension design has been accepted for publication in Journal of Sound and Vibration. This work is the collaboration with Multimedia University (Malaysia).
• 23 Sep 2021: Our work about mode switching control for autonomous driving has been accepted for publication in Transportation Research Record. This work is the collaboration between IFTC, Coventry University.
• 9 Sep 2021: Excited to get started on our new project with colleagues in Multimedia University (Malaysia) on input signal design for system identification on cyber-physical system funded FRGS Malaysia.
• 10 Aug 2021: Our work about using synthetic RNA components to construct IFFL circuit has been published in Biomolecules. This work is the collaboration with POSTECH (South Korea) and Louisiana State University (USA).
• 6 Aug 2021: Ikenna's paper has been accepted for publication in IEEE Access. Well done Ikenna!

Teaching

Postgraduate Level

• ES4A3 Automobile Systems, Dynamics and Control

• ES97J Computational Synthetic and Systems Biology

Undergraduate Level

• ES3C8 Systems Modelling and Control
• ES3J1 Advanced Systems and Software Engineering

• ES2C6 Electromechanical System Design

• ES2C1 Introduction to Biomedical and Clinical Engineering

Selected Publications (latest 3 years)

Submitted

• M.L. Pay, D.W. Kim, D.E. Somers, J.K. Kim, M. Foo, "Modeling of plant circadian clock for characterizing hypocotyl growth under different light quality conditions" submitted.

• J. Pereira, A.M. Mouazen, M. Foo, H. Ahmed, "A framework of artificial light management for optimal plant development for smart greenhouse application" submitted.

• I. Kioutsoukis, M. Foo, A.H. Tan, "Application of multi-input uncorrelated periodic signals for identification of active suspension system" submitted.

• N.M.G. Paulino, M. Foo, T.F.A. de Greef, J. Kim, D.G. Bates, "A framework for first experimental implementation of nucleic acid feedback control systems" submitted.

• M. Foo, O.E. Akman, D.G. Bates, "A modeling and design framework for synthetic control of circadian systems" submitted

• H. Kim, S. Jung, P.-J. Kim, M. Foo, S. Hong, H.G. Nam, "Programmed disruption of circadian resonance enhances senescence-related symptoms in aged leave" submitted.

Published

1. A.H. Tan, M. Foo, D.S. Ong (2021), "Road classification using built-in self-scaling method of Bayesian regression", Journal of Sound and Vibration, 516, 116523.

2. N. Horri, O. Haas, S. Wang, M. Foo, M.S Fernandez (2021), "Mode switching control using lane keeping assist and waypoints tracking for autonomous driving in a city environment", to appear in Transportation Research Record.

3. I. Enebuse, M. Foo, B. Ibrahim, H. Ahmed, F. Supmak, O.S. Eyobu (2021), "A comparative review of hand-eye calibration techniques for vision guided robots", IEEE Access, 9, pp 113143-113155.

4. S. Hong, D. Jung, J. Ryan, M. Foo, X. Tang, J. Kim (2021), "Design and evaluation of synthetic RNA-based incoherent feed-forward loop circuits" Biomolecules, 11, No. 8, 1182.

5. N.M.G. Paulino, M. Foo, T.F.A de Greef, J. Kim, D.G. Bates (2020), "Minimally complex nucleic acid feedback control systems for first experimental implementations" Proceedings of IFAC World Congress, 11-17 July, Berlin, Germany, pp. 16745-16752.

6. N.M.G. Paulino, M. Foo, J. Kim, D.G. Bates (2020), "On the stability nucleic acid feedback control system" Automatica, 16, 109103.

7. M. Foo, D.G. Bates, O.E. Akman (2020), "A simplified modelling framework facilitates more complex representations of plant circadian clocks" PLoS Computational Biology, 16, No. 3, e1007671.

8. N.M.G. Paulino, M. Foo, J. Kim, D.G. Bates (2019), "PID and state feedback controllers using DNA strand displacement reactions" IEEE Control Systems Letters, 7, pp. 805-810. (presented at IEEE CDC, Nice, France)

9. N.M.G. Paulino, M.Foo, J.Kim, D.G. Bates (2019), "Robustness analysis of a nucleic acid controller for a dynamic biomolecular process using structured singular value" Journal of Process Control, 78, pp. 34-44.

Projects (on-going)

• Development of optimal lighting system to improve crop productivity

  • Collaborators: Miao Lin Pay (Coventry), Prof. Jaekyoung Kim (KAIST), Dr. Daewook Kim (UMich), Prof. David Somers (OSU).

• Design and evaluation of synthetic RNA-based Incoherent Feed-forward Loop circuit

  • Collaborators: Prof. Jongmin Kim (POSTECH), Seongho Hong (POSTECH), Dohyun Jung (POSTECH), Prof. Xun Tang (LSU), Jordan Ryan (LSU).

• Modelling and control of diesel engine test cell exhaust pipe pressure

  • Collaborators: Colin McGurk (Coventry), Dr. Hafiz Ahmed (Bangor), Dr. Dina Laila (UTB).

• Hand-eye calibration for vision based robotic guidance

  • Collaborators: Ikenna Enebuse (Coventry), Dr. Hafiz Ahmed (Bangor), Fhon Supmak (OVST)

Grants (Active)

• £14.5k, Ministry of Higher Education Malaysia, Fundamental Research Grant Scheme (FRGS), [Co-I] "Real-time input design method with machine learning for cyber-physical system identification" (with Dr. Ai Hui Tan (PI), Prof. Duu Sheng Ong and Dr. Chin Leei Cham, Multimedia University), 2021-2023.

• £1.05M, Future Leaders Fellowship, [Co-I] "Developing a synthetic signalling system capable of the precise spatial and temporal control of protein function in living cells" (with Dr. Byron Carpenter (PI), SLS, University of Warwick), 2020-2023.

• £9.7k, MRC-KHIDI UK Korea Partnering Award [PI], "A framework for robust design of ribocomputing systems in probiotic strains for treating gastrointestinal disease" (with Dr. Jongmin Kim, POSTECH), 2019-2022.

Student Supervision

Current

• Miao Lin Pay, PhD at Coventry university (2020-present)

• Colin McGirk, PhD at Coventry University (2020-present)

• Ikenna Enebuse, PhD at Coventry University (2020-present)

Alumni

• Nuno Paulino, PhD, University of Warwick

• Aleksandra Oswiecinska, PhD, Coventry University

• Iulia Gherman, PhD, University of Warwick

• Rucha Sawlekar, PhD, University of Warwick

• Seunghyeon Kim, PhD, POSTECH

• Hee Young Yoo, PhD, POSTECH