Log in
Effective industrial design and simulation require efficient and versatile computing systems. As a result of research performed by our team experienced in High Performance Computing (HPC), novel software structures and aligned hardware architectures have led to significant benefits to the energy supply industry and to microprocessor manufacturers.
As a result of our research with supercomputing, simulation times for electric field patterns in power components have reduced more than 30-fold, with accurate complex 3-D outputs for an increased range of configurations, thereby enabling our partner company to achieve results not possible with commercial software and to reduce product development costs by $0.5M - $5M p.a.
Our research has been incorporated by Intel into their numerical libraries and now made available to the general public supported by their latest processor architectures. Intel now has a 82% share of processors, according to the November 2013 Top500 list.
The development of unique computer simulation tools has profoundly influenced the design and manufacture of silicon chips fuelling the $300 billion per year semiconductor industry. A pioneer of statistical variability research, Professor Asen Asenov developed understanding and awareness of statistical variability in the nanoscale transistors which make up all silicon chips. Gold Standard Simulations (GSS) was created in 2010 and by 2012-13 had grown revenue from services and licensing to $1million. GSS tools are currently used in foundries providing 75% of all semiconductor production for fabless design companies globally. For example, working with GSS and their simulation tools has reduced the development time for IBM's next generation of CMOS technology by 1 year, representing significant savings in the 3-5 year technology development cycle.
The research has enabled industrial simulation users to investigate and develop larger scale systems faster and cheaper and thus to explore a wider variety of cost-saving options with more precision, and industrial simulation providers to offer new high-performance simulation (HPS) products and services. As a direct result of this work: Ford has made £150,000 cost savings in consultancy and significant process improvements to engine manufacture globally; Saker Solutions (UK SME) has created the first ever HPS system for production and logistics; Sellafield PLC has used this system to make significant process improvements and savings in the management of nuclear waste reprocessing of around £200,000 per year; and Whole Systems Partnership (a UK SME) used a spin-off from this research to generate a £200,000 per year revenue stream from interoperable healthcare decision support systems. Globally, several other companies are adopting the standardisation efforts and other outcomes of the research as the foundation for future innovation.
The University of Hull has pioneered a novel method and tool for dependability analysis and optimisation of critical engineering systems known as Hierarchically Performed Hazard Origin and Propagation Studies (HiP-HOPS).
a) HiP-HOPS (http:\\hip-hops.eu) has been successfully commercialised in conjunction with software houses ITI GmbH (Germany) and ALL4TEC (France). Over 30 licences for the tool have been sold since 2011 with total income for all partners estimated at £300,000.
b) The method and tool have been taken up by large organisations including Volvo, Toyota, Honda, Fiat, Continental, Germanischer Lloyd, Embraer and Honeywell.
c) HiP-HOPS has contributed to the specification of EAST-ADL, an emerging design language developed as an automotive industry standard, confirming industrial reach and acceptability.
d) The Dependable Systems research group is pursuing impact on the new automotive safety standard ISO-262626 and have contributed to setting up the new IFAC DCDS workshop a key forum for disseminating research on dependability to industry.
Our flow modelling and process optimisation research has improved significantly the scientific understanding of key industrial coating, printing and droplet flow systems. We have implemented our research findings in software tools for staff training and process optimisation which have enabled: (i) the worldwide coating industry to improve the productivity and sustainability of their manufacturing processes; (ii) [text removed for publication]; (iii) a major automotive supply company to develop an award-winning droplet filtration system for diesel engines. [text removed for publication].
The Leeds unit's MoD-funded research programme in hypervelocity impact dynamics has: saved the MoD two years in ballistic development and £1.5m-£2m in costs; guaranteed robustness and reliability of MoD computations; enabled the MoD to deliver advanced research output cost- effectively under severe budgetary pressures; continued to underpin a £4m annual income for the MoD's War Technology consultants QinetiQ; provided the MoD with a world-leading explosion- simulation capability. MoD codes underpinned by the Leeds research have, during the REF period, led to a reduction in front-line casualties of British Forces in Afghanistan and Iraq, and enabled government agencies to make quantifiable assessments of threats to transport and public-building infrastructure, e.g. in the planning of the 2012 Olympic Games. QinetiQ have used the codes with industry to develop a new explosive perforator for oil extraction that has: "halved the R&D process, time-to-market and cost of oil-well exploitation"; improved oil flows by 30-40% in tests undertaken by oil companies, and; yielded substantial (but confidential, see §4e) recurrent licensing royalties.
Many organisations rely on increasingly large and complex datasets to inform operational decision- making. To assist decision-makers when decisions are data-driven, computational tools are needed that present reliable summary information and suggest options allied to the key objectives of decision-making. Research at RGU has developed novel learning and optimisation algorithms driven by multifactorial data and implemented this in commercial decision-support software. The research has had economic impact by providing products to be sold: drilling rig selection tool (ODS-Petrodata Ltd.) and subsea hydraulics diagnostic tool (Viper Subsea Ltd.). Further economic impact comes from operations management software developed for British Telecom.
Publically and industrially funded research at Loughborough University into the simulation, monitoring and control of electronics soldering has had significant impact in the development of new software and hardware technologies, which have delivered substantial commercial and economic benefits, with examples cited for at least two leading companies. One key commercial product is a modelling tool that optimizes reflow oven settings quickly, easily and accurately. It optimises oven settings each time a new product or solder paste is introduced, reducing set up times and scrap levels. More than 700 systems per year continue to be sold, with 90% exported.
Novel numerical limit analysis methods developed in the Department of Civil and Structural Engineering have been embedded in commercial software developed by spin-out company LimitState (http://www.limitstate.com). The software is now used by over 100 industrial organisations in more than 30 countries.
The software can model real-world problems far more quickly (up to 50 times faster) than was previously possible, bringing significant productivity and economic benefits to practitioners and their clients, e.g.:
Work undertaken at the Applied DSP and VLSI Research Group since the early/mid nineties, has led to a number of significant contributions underpinning the development and commercial exploitation by industry of power efficient and complexity reduced integrated Digital Signal Processing (DSP) systems and products. These developments have paved the way for a new paradigm in the design of complexity reduced electronic systems aiding the emergence of numerous new commercial application areas and products in a diversity of fields. Indeed, these developments continue their currency and applicability in today's electronic products sector and thus shall be at the core of this case study.