UWE Bristol with Synoptix Ltd have been successful in securing grant funding from UKRI Regional Innovation Fund (RIF) to form a new 3.5-month project.
Synoptix is a Systems Engineering Consultancy business, deploying multi-disciplinary systems engineering teams and professional services in order to define and deliver projects.
This project aims to improve comprehension and reduce complexity of data problems through the leveraging of Industry 4.0 visualisation techniques for cross-sector systems engineering. This will enhance stakeholder engagement and comprehension during the design process thus reducing cost, time and increasing the quality of an engineered system.
The Project’s innovation involves the development of an Extended Reality (XR) visualisation tool tailored for Model Based Systems Engineering (MBSE). The tool aims to simplify complex engineering models by providing a visually intuitive representation. As part of the MBSE approach a large data set of linked information is created and defined views are created to show this information, however the approach lacks an easy way to visualise and interact with the information (other than the defined views) and can require a large amount of cognitive overload to remember information between views. The driving need behind this innovation is the demand for improved comprehension of the system and in decision-making. With the rising complexity in engineering projects, timely and accurate decisions are crucial.
UWE Bristol academics Dr Zeyad Al-Shibaany, and Dr Marianthi Leon will be joining the project from the School of Engineering. Dr Al-Shibaany will lead on the project and is an Associate Professor in Digital Manufacturing, Associate Director for Digital and Intelligent Systems, Chartered Engineer, and Fellow of the Chartered Management Institute. He has more than 15 years of experience in applying AI in industrial applications. Dr Leon currently leads the Smart & Sustainable Infrastructures (Civil Engineering) within the UWE Engineering department. Her expertise is focused on facilitating collaborations through digital innovations, with a particular emphasis on Digital Twins.
Yaser Al-Obaidi and Daniel M. D. Bellamy will join as associates on the project. Mr Al-Obaidi is a post graduate researcher at the School of Engineering at UWE Bristol, with experience of Industry 4.0 and Digital Twin technologies, and Mr. Bellamy is a graduate tutor and PhD student at UWE with 5 years of experience researching automation.
Alex Somers, Dan Allen and Pete Douglas from Synoptix, will be providing industry insight and knowledge throughout the duration of the project. Mr. Allen is an Incorporated Engineering (IEng) has two years of experience in applications of MBSE in industry, and Mr. Somers has experience developing concepts for Digital Twins alongside applications of MBSE. Mr. Douglas is the MBSE Champion for Synoptix and is a Chartered Engineer (CEng) with 20+ years of industry experience in applications of MBSE, systems thinking, systems architecture and requirement management for various roles, namely Rolls Royce.
The Regional Innovation Fund (RIF) is a program designed to support universities in developing innovative projects that have the potential to positively impact their local communities or regions. These funds are allocated by regional or national governments to encourage research, development and collaboration between universities and local industries to spur economic growth and innovation.
