This article provides an interview with the Key Laboratory of Systems and Control (LSC) at the Chinese Academy of Sciences (CAS), the first modern control theory research institution established in China, located in Beijing, a city that seamlessly merges ancient charm with modernity. With over 60 years of history, the laboratory has maintained a steadfast commitment to research in systems and control theory along with its practical applications. The laboratory has pioneered new research directions, solved longstanding theoretical problems, hosted flagship academic conferences, and actively organized and participated in international academic organizations and conferences. Today, we step into the LSC together.

In this issue of <italic xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" xmlns:xlink="http://www.w3.org/1999/xlink">IEEE Control Systems</i>, we speak with Gioele Zardini, who recently completed his dissertation, titled “Co-Design of Complex Systems: From Autonomy to Future Mobility,” at ETH Zurich under the supervision of Emilio Frazzoli; and Armin Nurkanović, who recently completed his dissertation, titled “Numerical Methods for Optimal Control of Nonsmooth Dynamical Systems,” at the University of Freiburg under the supervision of Moritz Diehl.

This <italic xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" xmlns:xlink="http://www.w3.org/1999/xlink">IEEE Control Systems Magazine</i> issue is devoted to the recently published IEEE Control Systems Society (CSS) Road Map 2030 titled “Control for Societal-Scale Challenges” <xref ref-type="bibr" rid="ref1" xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" xmlns:xlink="http://www.w3.org/1999/xlink">[1]</xref> . Anu Annaswamy, Kalle Johansson, and George Pappas, the leading authors of the initiative, provide an executive summary of the report <xref ref-type="list-item" rid="list-itemA1" xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" xmlns:xlink="http://www.w3.org/1999/xlink">[A1]</xref> .

The TC conducts regular meetings to discuss critical matters and initiatives. The last TC meeting took place in person at the 2022 CDC and witnessed the participation of approximately 15 attendees. These meetings provide a platform for sharing insights and fostering collaboration among experts in the field of system security and privacy.

In this issue, “25 Years Ago” revisits the article “Posture Control of a Cockroach-Like Robot” by Gabriel Nelson and Roger Quinn, in <italic xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" xmlns:xlink="http://www.w3.org/1999/xlink">IEEE Control Systems Magazine</i>, vol. 19, no. 2, pp. 9–14. Below is an excerpt from the article.

In this issue of <italic xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" xmlns:xlink="http://www.w3.org/1999/xlink">IEEE Control Systems</i>, we speak with Saurabh Amin [who is a professor of civil and environmental engineering (CEE) and member of the Laboratory for Information and Decision Systems (LIDS) at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT)] and Adilson E. Motter (who is the Charles E. and Emma H. Morrison Professor at Northwestern University).