Contributed papers are solicited for a special section in the Journal of
Process Control on the control of micro- and nano-scale assembly.  

The control of a large number of small particles into ordered structures can
enable novel optical, mechanical, and electronic properties, but the
practical difficulties of real-time sensing, actuation, and dynamic modeling
limit current practice.  For example:

- Typically, nano- and micro-scale assembly systems have many fewer
actuators than particles, limiting the controllability of the system. 
However, when the particles are indistinguishable, it may still be possible
to drive the system toward a desired structure.  

- Sensing is also challenging, due to the slow speed and invasive nature of
scanning probe imaging methods and the limited information provided by
noninvasive optical methods.  

- The system dynamics are typically nonlinear and stochastic, as well as
high-dimensional;  this makes model generation and validation more
difficult, and also limits the applicability of many existing controller
design techniques.

Original research contributions are invited, as well as tutorial or review
papers.

Papers are due by November 1, 2013, and should be submitted online:
http://www.journals.elsevier.com/journal-of-process-control/