Ilyas Seckin

I am a doctoral researcher at the Automatic Control Laboratory (IfA), ETH Zürich, working at the intersection of intelligent additive manufacturing, control systems, robotics, sensing, and machine learning. My current research aims to improve the reliability of non-planar material-extrusion 3D printing through physical modelling, force-based process monitoring, data-driven system identification, and closed-loop control. I work in the Control and Automation group of Dr. Efe C. Balta, a joint effort between IfA and inspire AG, under the supervision of Prof. John Lygeros.

I hold Bachelor’s and Master’s degrees in Mechanical Engineering from ETH Zürich, with a specialization in Robotics, Systems and Control. My earlier work spans machine-learning-based anomaly detection for ex vivo organ perfusion, nonlinear model predictive control for autonomous racing, the design of a quad-thruster water robot, industrial rate-control optimization at Mettler Toledo, and software for electric public-transport systems.

Alongside research, I have led multidisciplinary engineering teams, including as Head of Engineering at Swissloop Tunneling and as perception lead for an autonomous racing drone at the ETH Robotics Club. My technical background covers control and estimation, robotics, embedded systems, ROS/ROS2, Python, C++, machine learning, computer vision, and experimental system development.

Outside the lab, I am a musician (a conservatory graduate in clarinet and music theory) and an avid astrophotographer.