There are lots of celebrations in LARES as we have another PhD in a short time. On December 19, 2025, LARES researcher Filip Vrbanc successfully defended his doctoral dissertation and received a PhD degree in Electrical Engineering. Filip's thesis, "Coordinated distributed model predictive control of zones and energy storage units in a building", contributes with a combination of distributed and hierarchical model predictive control algorithms to tackle complex topologies of building zones and microgrids with thermal energy storage and a heterogeneous set of battery storage systems, examined and tested on case studies of real office and cultural heritage buildings in Zagreb, Zabok, Lendava and Barcelona. Our congratulations to Doctor Filip Vrbanc!

The 9th International Energy Forum INTERENEF 2025 , titled “New Energy Order – Challenges and Opportunities”, was held in Zagreb on 14 October 2025, organized by the Institute for European and Globalization Studies and the Atlantic Council of Croatia, under the auspices of the Ministry of Economy of the Republic of Croatia. Head of our laboratory, Prof. Dr. Mario Vašak participated in a high-level panel discussion on Artificial Intelligence in the Energy Sector, addressing the transformative role of digital innovation in modern energy systems. Prof. Vašak emphasized that AI should go beyond prediction and actively support decision-making in dynamic environments. “AI must be coupled with strong decision frameworks. Human expertise remains essential,” he noted. Alongside Prof. Vašak, the panel featured Prof. Andrej Pustišek, Dr. Marat Terterov, Assoc. Prof. Tomislav Capuder, and Davor Aničić, who discussed the importance of reliable data, clear regulation, and effective management in advancing AI-driven energy solutions. The session concluded that while AI offers immense potential for the energy transition, human expertise and sound decision frameworks remain its essential foundation.

On the 1st International Colloquium Power generation and electromechanical energy conversion (ICPGEEC 2025) held in Dubrovnik from October 12-15 2025, Mr. Luka Majić from company Vertiv and Prof. Mario Vašak from FER presented the paper "Hydrogen-based backup power solution for datacenters", a joint work of company Vertiv and FER team from LARES that outlines the build up and prototype testing of the automation and control system for the new Vertiv green back-up power supply product for datacenters -- Vertiv™ Power Module H2 . Alongside Prof. Vašak and Mr. Luka Majić, Dr. Mateja Car and Prof. Željko Ban from FER together with Mr. Branislav Radanović and Mr. Hrvoje Stančin from Vertiv contributed to this innovative development . The participation of FER on the conference was supported by the European Union via the I3 NACHIP project that deals with innovative solutions for integration of green hydrogen in value chains of North Adriatic region covering Croatia, Slovenia and region Friuli-Venezia-Giulia of Italy.

LARES hosted a series of lectures as part of the "International Workshop on Cooperative Control Systems" held on September 17, 2025, as the final workshop of the DECIDE project and a workshop of projects Dodola and MLBattProt. We were honored to host visiting scientists to provide invited talks: "Data-driven risk-aware coordination of boundedly rational agents", Filiberto Fele , University of Seville, Spain "Detecting cyber attacks in cyber-physical systems", Alexander J. Gallo , Politecnico di Milano, Italy "Some applications of control theory to lithium-ion batteries", Ross Drummond , University of Sheffield, UK "Distributed power system coordination via parametric optimization and ADMM", Branimir Novoselnik , FER In addition, a number of researchers presented the acomplished results of projects: DECIDE - Distributed Control for Dynamic Energy Management of Complex Systems in Smart Cities, PI Vinko Lešić, https://www.fer.unizg.hr/decide DODOLA - Research on predictive control for efficient and flexible operation of water supply systems, PI Mario Vašak MLBatProt - Model starenja baterijskog članka zasnovan na strojnom učenju korišten u računalnoj geometriji za on-line zaštitu integriteta baterijskog paketa, PI Mario Vašak Details on speakers and biographies available here .

LARES members Vinko Lešić and Hrvoje Novak had the pleasure of participating in the International Conference on Alpine Meteorology (ICAM 2025), held in Poreč, Croatia. Their presentation on machine learning applications in nowcasting and forecast post-processing reflects several years of LARES research at the intersection of meteorology and end-user weather forecasting. We take this opportunity to thank the Croatian Meteorological and Hydrological Service (DHMZ) for their continuous and long-standing support over the past decade. The strong feedback at ICAM confirms that the time for merging meteorological and machine learning expertise has truly arrived.

Our member Vinko Lešić was a speaker at the leading UN Platform on AI - AI for Good GlobalSummit 2025 , Geneva, Switzerland! Vinko participated in the panel "Open Source Generative AI for Public Services Innovation" announcing the upcoming IEEE–ITU GenAI for Good Challenge . Kicking-off after Summer and with the prize of $25,000, the challenge is setting the stage for global AI collaboration on key public service domains, utilizing the newest open source GenieAI platform for digital public services. The challenge is brought by IEEE Humanitarian Technologies and International Telecommunication Union where Vinko is one of the team contributors.  AI for Good summit is identifying innovative AI applications, building skills and standards, and advancing partnerships to solve global challenges. It is organized by ITU in partnership with over 40 UN sister agencies.  

2025 American Control Conference (ACC) took place on July 7-10 2025 in Denver, Colorado. Our member Dorijan Leko presented our paper published in IEEE Control Systems Letters—while Mario Vasak had the honour of co-chairing the presentation session. The work introduces new methodology that supports our Sequential Linear Programming approaches for battery management systems and the urban water cycle. Beyond the presentation, the full LARES crew in Denver— Branimir Novoselnik , Nikola Hure, Dorijan Leko , Luka Prlenda , and Mario Vasak —gained valuable insights to enhance performance in our EU-funded projects Dodola and MLBattProt, carried out in partnership with Končar Digital and Rimac Technology.

From 24 to 27 June 2025, the European Control Conference (ECC) brought together the international control community in Thessaloniki, Greece. Our member Prof. Mato Baotić took part in the Workshop on "System Theory of Optimization, Learning and Control Algorithms", which focused on current developments and emerging challenges in real-time control and decision-making. The event also offered an opportunity to reconnect with colleagues and collaborators from across the field.  

From May 12–16, 2025, the Faculty of Electrical Engineering, University of Ljubljana hosted the first SynGRID Summer School , an intensive, international program focused on the role of flexibility in Europe’s energy transition. With over 20 participants from Slovenia, Croatia, Serbia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, North Macedonia, Kosovo, Greece, Portugal, and Norway, the week offered a dynamic mix of academic expertise, industry insight, and real-world applications. Our LARES researchers Ivan Grabić , Filip Rukavina and Antonio Karneluti were among the selected participants. Organized by the Institute for Innovation and Development of the University of Ljubljana and the Laboratory of Energy Policy , the summer school provided a platform for young researchers and professionals to explore key topics in power systems: battery storage, demand-side flexibility, smart grids, energy communities, and regulatory frameworks shaping Europe’s energy future. The program combined lectures with field visits to ELES , Slovenia’s national transmission and distribution operator, and NGEN , a pioneer in energy storage and grid services. These visits brought theory to life and showed how flexibility mechanisms are already supporting grid resilience and renewable integration. A big thank you to the organisers and speakers for hosting us in Ljubljana!

LARES team members, as part of the Faculty of Electrical Engineering and Computing (FER) team, proudly represented Croatia at the EXPO 2025 World Exhibition, held in Osaka, Japan . Within the Croatia’s official participation, a team of researchers delivered a two-day presentation (13.-14.05.), highlighting the latest scientific and technological breakthroughs in the fields of artificial intelligence, robotics, and sustainable technologies to an international audience. Within the exhibition, LARES team members Vinko Lešić , and Hrvoje Novak demonstrated the laboratory's long-standing research efforts in the area of artificial intelligence implementation in climate forecasting and its impact on energy, agriculture, and sustainable development. The events were personally attended by the Croatian Minister of Science, Education and Youth, Prof. Dr. Radovan Fuchs, who expressed strong support for Croatia’s scientific and academic community on the global stage. We are proud to have had the opportunity to present LARES and FER, our research projects, and our vision for the future on such a prestigious platform. We extend our gratitude to the Ministry of Science, Education and Youth , the Ministry of Foreign and European Affairs , and the Ministry of Economy for their support and collaboration, which enabled a successful presentation of Croatia and FER at EXPO.