Prof. Patience Ebehiremen Orukpe

University of Benin

Fall 2013

Prof. Patience Ebehiremen Orukpe is a Full Professor in the Department of Electrical and Electronic Engineering at the University of Benin (UNIBEN). An MIT-ETT Fellow, she is one of Nigeria’s leading experts in Control Systems and Instrumentation. She has served as the Head of Department, where she was instrumental in modernizing the engineering curriculum to align with global standards. Her research specializes in Model Predictive Control (MPC) and Robust Control strategies. She applies these advanced mathematical frameworks to solve complex problems in Renewable Energy (specifically optimizing the stability of solar and wind power connected to the national grid) and Process Control for industrial automation. More recently, she has expanded her research into Visible Light Communication (VLC), exploring how indoor lighting can be used for high-speed data transmission in the oil and gas industry to improve safety and connectivity. Prof. Orukpe holds a Ph.D. from Imperial College London, one of the world’s top engineering institutions. Her doctoral research on “Mixed H2/H-infinity Control” is widely cited in the control engineering community. Her time at MIT reinforced her commitment to “Active Learning”; she is known for her rigorous teaching style that challenges students to derive mathematical proofs from first principles while also building practical prototypes. She is a registered engineer with COREN and a corporate member of the Nigerian Society of Engineers (NSE). Prof. Orukpe is also a passionate mentor for women in engineering, frequently organizing workshops to encourage female students to pursue careers in control systems and robotics, fields traditionally dominated by men.