Welcome to the Process Systems Engineering Laboratory

The MIT Process Systems Engineering Laboratory combines the academic and industrial experience of three principal investigators. A broad program of research is conducted on the analysis, modeling, simulation, optimization, design, control, and operation of process systems. Applications are primarily to chemical, petrochemical, electrochemical, pharmaceutical, biochemical, and biomedical systems spanning length scales from the molecular to the nano- and micro-scales to very large-scale production facilities and even complete supply chains.

The three research groups are led by


pib [at] mit [dot] edu (Paul I. Barton) braatz [at] mit [dot] edu (Richard D. Braatz) geosteph [at] mit [dot] edu (George Stephanopoulos)
Paul I. Barton Richard D. Braatz George Stephanopoulos
Barton Lab Braatz Lab Stephanopoulos Lab

PSEL in the News

Ernesto Jimenez admitted to AMGEN Scholars Program

Submitted by Achim Wechsung on Fri, 03/22/2013 - 16:35

Ernesto Jimenez, a UROP student working in the Barton Lab under Dr. Kai Hoeffner, was recently admitted to the AMGEN Scholars Program. The program will support Ernesto in continuing his research over the summer on Building a Dynamic Biomass Maximization Model in Interactive Metabolic Systems. In July, he will attend a Research Symposium at UCLA where he will present his research.

Journal of Global Optimization Best Paper Award

Submitted by Achim Wechsung on Wed, 01/30/2013 - 15:26

Joseph K. Scott, Matthew D. Stuber and Paul I. Barton win the Journal of Global Optimization Best Paper Award for 2012 for their paper titled “Generalized McCormick Relaxations”. The authors are cited for examining "the McCormick relaxations from a new vantage point, unveiling new unexplored horizons for their applicability."

Richard Braatz won 2011 IEEE Control Systems Society Transition to Practice Award

Submitted by Achim Wechsung on Wed, 10/05/2011 - 14:00

Richard D. Braatz is the recipient of the 2011 IEEE Control Systems Society Transition to Practice Award, which recognizes "outstanding university-industry collaboration that enables the transition of control and systems theory to practical industrial or commercial systems." The citation for this award is "for significant contribution to the control of crystallization processes in the pharmaceutical industry."

Paul Barton won 2011 CAST "Computing in Chemical Engineering Award"

Submitted by Achim Wechsung on Tue, 06/21/2011 - 12:17

Paul Barton has won the 2011 Computing in Chemical Engineering Award of AIChE's CAST Division. Paul is recognized for his pioneering research contributions in theory, numerical methods, software technologies for modeling, simulation, optimization of chemical engineering systems; and development of the field, "energy systems engineering."

The CAST Computing in Chemical Engineering Award recognizes outstanding contributions in the application of computing and systems technology to chemical engineering, and is sponsored by The Dow Chemical Company. The award will be presented to Paul at the CAST Division dinner, which will be held at the AIChE Annual Meeting this fall in Minneapolis, where Paul will also deliver the after dinner lecture associated with this award.

Paul Barton appointed as associate editor of JOTA

Submitted by Achim Wechsung on Tue, 06/21/2011 - 12:12

Paul Barton was appointed as associate editor of the Journal of Optimization Theory and Applications.

Older stories can be accessed in the Archive.