  We demonstrate the effectiveness of quantum optimal control techniques in
harnessing irreversibility generated by non-equilibrium processes, implemented
in unitarily evolving quantum many-body systems. We address the dynamics of a
finite-size quantum Ising model subjected to finite-time transformations, which
unavoidably generate irreversibility. We show that work can be generated
through such transformation by means of optimal controlled quenches, while
quenching the degree of irreversibility to very low values, thus boosting the
efficiency of the process and paving the way to a fully controllable
non-equilibrium thermodynamics of quantum processes.
