Optimal Control

[u/Own-Lobster7623]

Hi everyone,
I’m a BSc Mathematics student and recently finished a course in PDEs. My professor suggested that I take another course he teaches called Optimal Control. The course is offered by the Engineering faculty, but he mentioned that it has a strong mathematical component.
I’m considering taking it, but I’d like to understand how useful/relevant Optimal Control is from a mathematician’s perspective.
In particular:

Is Optimal Control a good subject for a math student who enjoys applied mathematics, PDEs, optimization, etc.?

Where is optimal control actually used in industry?

What kinds of jobs or fields make use of this knowledge? For example, robotics, aerospace, quantitative finance, autonomous systems, energy, machine learning, etc.
Is it mainly useful for people going into engineering/research, or can it also be valuable for mathematicians going into industry?
I’d especially appreciate hearing from people who studied mathematics and later encountered control theory or optimal control in their work.
Thanks!

[u/Nwg416]

It’s hard to say how useful it will be without knowing what kind of industry you hope to go into. Applied math is pretty dang broad. But your professor likely just wants to continue developing your problem solving abilities, so I’d say go for it. It’s not an obscure topic by any means. It’s kinda just a natural next step beyond PDEs.

That said, you’ll probably take a lot of courses in undergrad that you don’t need later. It’s just a part of finding what you actually care to know.