Mikael Manngård leads the Automation and Maritime Simulations team at Novia University of Applied Sciences, bringing extensive research experience in automatic control and simulation-based design and testing.
He earned his M.Sc. (Tech.) (diplomingenjör) in Process and Systems Engineering at Åbo Akademi University, specializing in process control and estimation. His doctoral research focused on the development of virtual sensing and system identification methods. Virtual sensors are computational tools that estimate quantities which cannot be measured directly with physical sensors, while system identification concerns learning the behaviour of dynamical systems from available data.
In 2022, Mikael joined Novia University of Applied Sciences as a project manager, where he has led projects on autonomous shipping and coordinated virtual commissioning projects in collaboration with the Finnish shipbuilding industry.
Looking ahead, he envisions maritime technology being increasingly shaped by digitalization, with shipbuilding processes becoming more interconnected and automated. By combining artificial intelligence with intelligent simulation methods, he sees potential to streamline engineering workflows to enhance efficiency across all stages of the project lifecycle.
On-going projects
Mikael is currently coordinating the Business Finland–funded Virtual Sea Trial project. The project aims to develop virtual commissioning methods that help reduce the risk of delays, additional costs, and emissions in shipbuilding by enabling system functionalities to be tested months or even years earlier than with traditional commissioning.
Areas of expertise
Mikael’s areas of expertise include:
- Model-based Design & Hardware/Software-in-the-loop testing
- Virtual Sensing
- System Identification
- Intelligent Simulations
- Applied Artificial Intelligence
Research interests
Mikael’s research focuses on applications and problems at the intersection of automation & control, simulation, and applied artificial intelligence.
He is open to collaboration with industry partners to address real-world challenges through innovative research.
Publications
Mikael Manngård
Project Leader
