Yingjie Ma

Suzhou, Jiangsu Province, China

yingjie.ma@nju.edu.cn

I am an Assistant Professor in the School of Robotics & Automation at Nanjing University. From 2022 to 2025, I was a Postdoctoral Associate at Massachusetts Institute of Technology, where I worked with Prof. Richard Braatz. Prior to that, I earned my PhD in 2022 from The University of Manchester under the supervision of Dr. Jie Li.

My research interest lies at the intersection of learning, optimization, and control, with applications in engineering systems, which, more specifically, include:

Nonlinear and nonconvex optimization, e.g., nonlinear programming, dynamic optimization, and mixed-integer nonlinear programming
Model predictive control, particularly nonlinear model predictive control (NMPC)
System identification and machine learning (AI for science)
Optimization and control under uncertainty
The engineering applications of above theory and algorithms.

Currently, we focus on chemical/biological manufacturing, but most of our algorithms are general, and we are also interested in other engineering systems involving intractable optimization problems.

I’m actively recruiting PhD students. If you already hold—or will soon hold—a master’s degree and have a background in process systems engineering, applied mathematics, optimization, control or machine learning, feel free to contact me.

news

Jan 06, 2026	Our paper Adaptive nonlinear model predictive control of monoclonal antibody glycosylation in CHO cell culture is published on Control Engineering Practice!
Jan 03, 2026	Our paper GlycoPy: An equation-oriented and object-oriented software for hierarchical modeling, optimization, and control in python is on arXiv now!
Aug 01, 2025	Excited to share that I’ve joined Nanjing University as an Assistant Professor!

selected publications

AIChE J

Homotopy continuation enhanced branch and bound algorithms for strongly nonconvex mixed-integer nonlinear optimization

Yingjie Ma and Jie Li

AIChE Journal, 2022

DOI Bib

@article{ma2022homotopy,
  title = {Homotopy continuation enhanced branch and bound algorithms for strongly nonconvex mixed-integer nonlinear optimization},
  author = {Ma, Yingjie and Li, Jie},
  journal = {AIChE Journal},
  volume = {68},
  number = {6},
  pages = {e17629},
  year = {2022},
  doi = {https://doi.org/10.1002/aic.17629},
  publisher = {John Wiley \& Sons, Inc. Hoboken, USA}
}

Control Eng. Prac.

Adaptive nonlinear model predictive control of monoclonal antibody glycosylation in CHO cell culture

Yingjie Ma, Jing Guo, Alexis B. Dubs, Krystian Ganko, and Richard D. Braatz

Control Engineering Practice, 2026

DOI Bib

@article{MA2026106731,
  title = {Adaptive nonlinear model predictive control of monoclonal antibody glycosylation in CHO cell culture},
  author = {Ma, Yingjie and Guo, Jing and Dubs, Alexis B. and Ganko, Krystian and Braatz, Richard D.},
  journal = {Control Engineering Practice},
  volume = {169},
  pages = {106731},
  year = {2026},
  issn = {0967-0661},
  doi = {https://doi.org/10.1016/j.conengprac.2025.106731},
  url = {https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0967066125004927},
  publisher = {Elsevier},
}

CCE

Improved SQP and SLSQP algorithms for feasible path-based process optimisation

Yingjie Ma, Xi Gao, Chao Liu, and Jie Li

Computers & Chemical Engineering, 2024

DOI Bib

@article{ma2024improved,
  title = {Improved SQP and SLSQP algorithms for feasible path-based process optimisation},
  author = {Ma, Yingjie and Gao, Xi and Liu, Chao and Li, Jie},
  journal = {Computers \& Chemical Engineering},
  volume = {188},
  pages = {108751},
  year = {2024},
  doi = {https://doi.org/10.1016/j.compchemeng.2024.108751},
}

CCE

Novel feasible path optimisation algorithms using steady-state and/or pseudo-transient simulations

Yingjie Ma, Matthew McLaughlan, Nan Zhang, and Jie Li

Computers & Chemical Engineering, 2020

DOI Bib

@article{ma2020novel,
  title = {Novel feasible path optimisation algorithms using steady-state and/or pseudo-transient simulations},
  author = {Ma, Yingjie and McLaughlan, Matthew and Zhang, Nan and Li, Jie},
  journal = {Computers \& Chemical Engineering},
  volume = {143},
  pages = {107058},
  year = {2020},
  doi = {https://doi.org/10.1016/j.compchemeng.2020.107058},
  publisher = {Elsevier},
}

CES

Quasi-steady-state approach for efficient multiscale simulation and optimization of mAb glycosylation in CHO cell culture

Yingjie Ma, Jing Guo, Andrew J Maloney, and Richard D Braatz

Chemical Engineering Science, 2025

DOI Bib

@article{ma2025quasi,
  title = {Quasi-steady-state approach for efficient multiscale simulation and optimization of mAb glycosylation in CHO cell culture},
  author = {Ma, Yingjie and Guo, Jing and Maloney, Andrew J and Braatz, Richard D},
  journal = {Chemical Engineering Science},
  volume = {318},
  pages = {122162},
  year = {2025},
  doi = {https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ces.2025.122162},
  publisher = {Pergamon}
}

arXiv

GlycoPy: An equation-oriented and object-oriented software for hierarchical modeling, optimization, and control in python

Yingjie Ma, Jing Guo, and Richard D Braatz

arXiv preprint arXiv:2601.01413, 2026

DOI Bib

@article{ma2026GlycoPy,
  title = {GlycoPy: An equation-oriented and object-oriented software for hierarchical modeling, optimization, and control in python},
  author = {Ma, Yingjie and Guo, Jing and Braatz, Richard D},
  journal = {arXiv preprint arXiv:2601.01413},
  year = {2026},
  doi = {https://doi.org/10.48550/arXiv.2601.01413},
}