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I am a Master’s student in Mechanical Engineering at The University of Texas at Austin, specializing in Dynamic Systems and Control. I am co-advised by Dr. Eric van Oort and Dr. Dongmei Chen, and currently serve as a Research Assistant in the RAPID Group, focusing on well hydraulics, thermodynamics, and intelligent control systems for drilling operations.

My research bridges control theory, computational fluid dynamics, and scientific machine learning, with a particular emphasis on:

• Multiphase flow modeling and numerical simulation using the Finite Volume Method (FVM),
• Model Predictive Control (MPC) and Iterative Learning Control (ILC) for complex nonlinear processes,
• Physics-informed flow matching and trajectory-optimized density control inspired by Optimal Transport (OT) and Schrödinger Bridge (SB) theory.

I am passionate about developing physics-grounded, data-driven algorithms that unify model-based reasoning and machine learning for dynamic system optimization.

🔬 Research Highlights

• Trajectory-Optimized Density Control with Flow Matching
  Developed a novel trajectory-optimized flow-matching framework that unifies OT and SB principles for multi-agent density control. Demonstrated collision-free transport and computational efficiency comparable to standard flow-matching algorithms.
  arXiv:2510.06666

• Model Predictive Control for Geothermal Drilling (NOV Collaboration)
  Designed a physics-based MPC framework integrating thermodynamics and reduced-order modeling via SINDy, achieving stable control of bottomhole pressure and temperature in HPHT and geothermal environments.

• Sequential Quadratic Programming Iterative Learning Control (SQP-ILC)
  Proposed an SQP-based ILC scheme for nonlinear roll-to-roll manufacturing, rigorously handling input constraints and nonlinear peeling dynamics. Experimentally validated on a graphene dry-transfer testbed.
  DOI:10.1115/1.4069342

• Hydraulic Forces Induced by Drillstring Whirling and Rotation Dynamics
  Conducted CFD simulations using the Finite Volume Method to quantify coupled fluid–structure interactions in drilling systems, improving understanding of dynamic stability under whirling motion.
  DOI:10.1115/OMAE2025-156410

📚 Publications

1. X. Duan, D. Chen (2025). Trajectory-Optimized Density Control with Flow Matching. arXiv preprint. arXiv:2510.06666
2. X. Duan, Y. Zhang, P. Ashok, D. Chen, E. van Oort (2025). Integration of MPD with Managed Temperature Drilling (MTD) for Geothermal and HPHT Drilling. SPE/IADC MPD Conference. DOI:10.2118/SPE-228390-MS
3. X. Duan, Y. Zhang, P. Ashok, D. Chen, E. van Oort (2025). Hydraulic Forces Induced by Drillstring Whirling and Rotation Dynamics. 44th OMAE Conference. DOI:10.1115/OMAE2025-156410
4. X. Duan, Y. Zhang, P. Ashok, D. Chen, E. van Oort (2025). Coupled Managed Pressure and Temperature Drilling in Geothermal and HPHT Wells. 50th Stanford Geothermal Workshop.

🎓 Education

• M.S. in Mechanical Engineering, The University of Texas at Austin (Expected Dec 2025)
  Dynamic Systems and Control Area; Co-advised by Dr. van Oort & Dr. Chen

• B.E. in Mechanical Engineering, Shanghai Jiao Tong University, 2023
  Graduated with honors; Focus on Computational Mechanics and Control Theory

💡 Technical Skills

Programming: Python, C/C++, MATLAB, Linux
Numerical Methods: Finite Volume Method (FVM), Finite Element Method (FEM), Runge–Kutta, MUSCL, deal.II
Control: MPC, ILC, PID, SINDy, Reduced-Order Modeling
Other Interests: Scientific Machine Learning, Optimal Transport, Stochastic Processes, Tensor Methods

“Bridging physics, computation, and control to engineer intelligent dynamic systems.”