Mathematics at the heart of driving innovation in Irish Smart Manufacturing Research Centre

ECMI Special Interest Groups (SIG) exist to promote collaborative research on specific topics in Mathematics for Industry within Europe. The Math for the Digital Factory SIG brings together university mathematicians working in modelling, simulation and optimisation related to manufacturing with practitioners from manufacturing industry

The University of Limerick is currently hosting the Math for the Digital Factory workshop. This event is organised by MACSI and Confirm, University of Limerick, Limerick, Weierstrass Institute for Applied Analysis  and Stochastics, Berlin, Fraunhofer Institute for Industrial Mathematics, Kaiserslautern and COST Action Mi Net and will promote the use of mathematical modelling as an underlying discipline for promoting the development of new and innovative production technologies.

Math for the Digital Factory will highlight the importance of developing an in-depth understanding of the underlying physical mechanisms of manufacturing processes and maximising manufacturing data. There will be contributed sessions on topics such as; Math for virtual product development, Modelling Simulation and Optimisation (MSO) of production systems, MSO for material flow problems, Data analysis and modelling, Artificial Intelligence and Manufacturing and Robotics and production machinery. The event will feature talks from European Factories of the Future Research Association (EFFRA), Fraunhofer Chalmers Centre for Industrial Mathematics, Siemens AG, and Rusal Aughinish Alumina. The event will also feature a public discussion on the position of mathematics within the future of digital manufacturing.

CONFIRM led by University of Limerick (UL), represents a large-scale investment of the Irish Government and Irish Industry of €47 million. The CONFIRM centre for smart manufacturing seeks to add intelligence to production systems, creating the factories of the future, where products can be fully customised and adaptable.

The Centre benefits from the expertise across 8 core research-performing organisations in Ireland and 16 international collaborations. Confirm has 42 Industry partners across multinational and Small and Medium Enterprise sectors including; Johnson & Johnson, Analog Devices, Action Point, Modular Automation, SL Controls, United Technologies Research Centre Ireland, KUKA, Medtronic and many others.

This investment in research centres by the Irish government through Science Foundation Ireland (SFI) supports cutting-edge basic and applied research with strong industry engagement, driving economic benefits and positive societal impact.

 Led by MACSI Co-Director Professor James Gleeson, Mathematical Sciences and MACSI is a central part of CONFIRM’s goal to transform Ireland’s manufacturing industry to become a world-leader in smart manufacturing.

In the Centre, mathematicians and statisticians will work in collaboration with computer, data, and material scientists and experts in decision support systems, supply chain modelling, and multi-scale modelling to develop novel modelling, analytics, optimisation, and visualisation techniques for smart manufacturing.

MACSI and CONFIRM researchers will develop a framework for fusing mathematical modelling and data analytics that will enable industry to intelligently exploit data storage and digitisation. This centre will empower industry to move from scheduled maintenance by informing decisions using data through the development of predictive maintenance algorithms.

Professor McCarthy, Director of SFI Research Centre CONFIRM, said: “CONFIRM truly is a game-changer for Irish manufacturing competitiveness. The establishment of this SFI research centre, will position Ireland to play a leading role in the global smart manufacturing revolution, whereby products, machines, production systems and supply chains are digitally connected and making smart decisions. This innovation will enable consumer-driven mass customisation, where future Irish products will be tailored to individual needs, and delivered directly to them just hours after placing orders.”

The novel technologies and methodologies developed in CONFIRM will impact the manufacturing sector by reducing time to market, improving equipment utilisation, increasing in productivity, improving  process yield, and reducing inventory.

MACSI is currently recruiting for a PhD position for a project involving mathematical modelling of contact lens moulding. More information is available here

If you are interested in collaborating with Confirm and/or MACSI on manufacturing related projects please contact macsi@ul.ie