Rate My Professor Efstathios Velenis

Professor Efstathios Velenis, FHEA, EUR ING, holds the position of Professor of Vehicle Dynamics and Control at the Advanced Vehicle Engineering Centre within the School of Aerospace at Cranfield University. He obtained his Mechanical Engineering Diploma from the Mechanical Engineering Department at the National Technical University of Athens in 1999. He then pursued advanced studies at the Georgia Institute of Technology in the USA, earning an MSc from the School of Aerospace Engineering in 2000 and a PhD from the same school in 2006. His PhD dissertation earned him the Luther Long Award for the best doctoral work in Engineering Mechanics at Georgia Tech. Following his doctorate, Velenis served as a postdoctoral researcher at Georgia Tech and as a visiting researcher at Ford Motor Company in Michigan, USA, before joining Cranfield University, where he has progressed through academic ranks to his current professorial role.

Velenis's research interests center on vehicle dynamics and control, encompassing optimal, nonlinear, and model predictive control; active chassis control; control of autonomous vehicles; vehicle limit handling; and modelling of expert driving techniques. He has made substantial contributions to the field through high-impact publications. Notable works include 'A real-time nonlinear model predictive control strategy for stabilisation of an electric vehicle at the limits of handling' (Siampis, Velenis et al., 2018, IEEE Transactions on Control Systems Technology); 'Wheel slip control with torque blending using linear and nonlinear model predictive control' (Basrah, Siampis, Velenis et al., 2017, Vehicle System Dynamics); 'Skyhook control strategy for vehicle suspensions based on the distribution of the operational conditions' (Papaioannou, Koulocheris & Velenis, 2021, Proceedings of the Institution of Mechanical Engineers, Part D); 'Predictive path-tracking control of an autonomous electric vehicle with various multi-actuation topologies' (Lin, Li, Siampis, Longo & Velenis, 2024, Sensors); and 'Path-tracking control at the limits of handling of a prototype over-actuated autonomous vehicle' (Lin, Siampis & Velenis, 2025, Vehicle System Dynamics). His scholarship is evidenced by over 6,300 citations, underscoring his influence in advancing vehicle control systems and autonomous driving technologies.