Contact Dr Toufik Souanef
- Tel: +44 (0) 1234 758380
- Email: Toufik.Souanef@cranfield.ac.uk
- ORCID
Areas of expertise
- Aeronautical Systems
- Autonomous Systems
Background
Dr. Toufik Souanef obtained his Master's degree in Systems and Control from the Polytechnic School of Algeria in 2006, followed by a PhD from the Aerospace and Geodesy Faculty at the University of Stuttgart, Germany in 2019.
Prior to joining Cranfield University as a Research Fellow in Unmanned Aerial Vehicles Traffic Management (UTM) in 2019, he gained extensive experience in the field of research and teaching. From 2007 to 2011, he worked as Research Assistant with the Algerian Government Research Institution, and from 2011 to 2015, he held the position of Research Associate with the Flight Mechanics and Control Laboratory at the University of Stuttgart, Germany. From 2015 to 2019, he served as a Postgraduate Teaching Assistant of Control Engineering with the Higher School of Aeronautical Techniques, the University of Sciences and Technology of Algiers, and the Polytechnic School of Oran, Algeria.
As of March 2023, Dr. Souanef has taken on the role of Lecturer in Avionics, which will allow him to continue his passion for contributing to the field of aviation education and research.
Research opportunities
I would be delighted to consider self-funded MSC by research and PhD candidates who are interested in working on the following topics: Guidance, Navigation, and Control of aerial systems, robust and adaptive control theory, and Unmanned Traffic Management.
Current activities
The key responsibilities include:
Developing and delivering lectures for MSc avionics students, such as avionics integration design and navigation systems, including the creation of new courses and preparation of materials
Supervising MSc and PhD research students
Administering education, including the organization of courses and modules
Developing and delivering short courses for the aerospace industry
Growing a network of industrial collaborators to support and exploit the avionics research capabilities
Liaising with industry and research clients
Project management and administration associated with the research
Clients
European Global Navigation Satellite Systems Agency (GSA)
UK Research and Innovation's (UKRI)
Publications
Articles In Journals
- Doran S, Souanef T & Whidborne JF. (2025). Autonomous parafoil flaring control system for eVTOL aircraft. Aerospace, 12(2)
- Bekhiti A, Souanef T, Toubakh H, Horri N, Kafi MR, .... (2025). Adaptive UAV control with sensor and actuator faults recovery. Aerospace, 12(3)
- Bagati D, Souanef T & Whidborne JF. (2024). Design and implementation of an L1 adaptive proportional output feedback controller. Actuators, 13(5)
- Souanef T, Whidborne J & Liu SQ. (2024). L1 adaptive fault-tolerant control of stratospheric airships. CEAS Aeronautical Journal, 15(2)
- Souanef T, Whidborne J & Qian Liu S. (2024). Erratum: ℒ1 Adaptive Path-Following of Airships in Wind. Unmanned Systems, 12(05)
- Schneider L, Souanef T & Whidborne JF. (2024). Cascaded incremental nonlinear dynamic inversion trajectory following for a stratospheric airship in wind. Unmanned Systems, 13(04)
- Boubakir A, Souanef T, Labiod S & Whidborne JF. (2024). A robust adaptive PID-like controller for quadrotor unmanned aerial vehicle systems. Aerospace, 11(12)
- Souanef T, Whidborne JF & Liu SQ. (2023). ℒ1 adaptive path-following of airships in wind. Unmanned Systems, 12(5)
- Souanef T, Whidborne JF & Boubakir A. (2023). ℒ1 adaptive control of quadrotor UAVs in case of inversion of the torque direction. Drones and Autonomous Vehicles, 1(1)
- Souanef T, Al-Rubaye S, Tsourdos A, Ayo S & Panagiotakopoulos D. (2023). Digital twin development for the airspace of the future. Drones, 7(7)
- Souanef T. (2023). Multiple model L1 adaptive fault-tolerant control of small unmanned aerial vehicles. Journal of Aerospace Engineering, 37(1)
- Souanef T. (2022). ℒ1 adaptive path-following of small fixed-wing unmanned aerial vehicles in wind. IEEE Transactions on Aerospace and Electronic Systems, 58(4)
- Souanef T. (2022). ℒ1 adaptive output feedback control of small unmanned aerial vehicles. Unmanned Systems, 11(03)
- Boubakir A, Souanef T, Labiod S, Plestan F & Boudjema F. (2016). An ℒ1 fuzzy adaptive controller for a class of SISO nonaffine nonlinear systems: application to the control of an electropneumatic actuator. Proceedings of the Institution of Mechanical Engineers, Part I: Journal of Systems and Control Engineering, 230(8)
- Souanef T & Fichter W. (2013). Adaptive Altitude Hold of a Small UAV with Switching Adaptation Laws. IFAC Proceedings Volumes, 46(19)