The 1st Conference on Transfer between Mathematics & Industry [CTMI 2019] aimed at the promotion and dissemination of the mathematical tools of Statistics & Big Data and MSO (Modelling, Simulation and Optimization) and its industrial applications, the promotion of new research lines oriented to the needs of the industry and in the society in general, the renewal of curricula in this field and at all educational levels and the industry-academia collaboration internationalization.

This 1st edition of CTMI 2019 was held in Santiago de Compostela on 22nd-24th July 2019; in collaboration between the Technological Institute for Industrial Mathematics (ITMATI) and the Spanish Network for Mathematics & Industry (math-in). The European Service Network of Mathematics for Industry and Innovation (EU-MATHS-IN) is a collaborator of this international event and supports this initiative. This Conference was a satellite meeting of ICIAM 2019 that was held the previous week at Valencia, Spain.

CTMI 2019 received support from the Strategic Network in Mathematics (REM) and the Thematic Network of Mathematics & Industry, both founded by the State Investigation Agency; from Universities of A Coruña, Santiago de Compostela and Vigo; from the European Network Enterprise (the main network that provides internationalization and innovation to companies in Europe); the Spanish Network for Mathematics & Industry; the Technological Institute for Industrial Mathematics; the Galician Network of Industrial Mathematics funded by the Xunta de Galicia; the Galician Department of Education, Universities and Professional Training, and from the Innovation Galician Agency (GAIN) (both of them from Xunta de Galicia). We would like to thank all of them; their support has contributed to the success of this event. Furthermore, we would like to thank the Faculty of Mathematics, which provided CTMI 2019 with spaces for this conference.

The opening ceremony was attended by the Vice Chancellor for Strategic Planning and Projection, Gumersindo Feijoo; the president of ITMATI, Salvador Naya; the president of math-in and director of ITMATI, Peregrina Quintela; the dean of the Faculty of Mathematics of the University of Santiago, Elena Vázquez; together with the director of GAIN, Patricia Argerey.

Discourse of the President of the Spanish Network for Mathematics & Industry (math-in) and Director of ITMATI, Monday, July 22nd, 2019. (click here to download)

Opening Conference members with Rubén Gayoso, ITMATI manager.

The value of mathematics in the industry

During the CTMI 2019, significant advances were made in the field of Industrial mathematics, mathematical applications that allow the industry to save millions of euros by optimizing processes.

“It is important to recognize the value that mathematics brings to companies,” said Peregrina Quintela, indicating that the contribution of mathematics to the industry is in all sectors, with special emphasis on the energy sector, on the materials sector, in biomedical and telecommunications.

Invited Talks/Conferences
Expert speakers/ leading figures from business, science and academia will address the most recent advances and trend topics in Industrial Mathematics. Take a look at the topics raised by our invited speakers:
o   Ignacio Grossmann. Carnegie Mellon University, USA. (Invited talk 1 by video conference)
o   Volker Mehrmann. Institut f. Mathematik, TU Berlin, Germany. (Opening Conference)
o   Stefan Nickel. Institute of Operations Research, Karlsruhe Institute of Technology (KIT), Germany. (Invited talk 2)
o   Antonio Pita Lozano. LUCA, Telefonica Data Unit, Spain. (Invited talk external auditorium. See the detailed talk here (Dissemination Event)

As detailed below some news that have been published in the media about these contributions:

The screeching of the brakes

In these areas, applications as diverse as the damping of the braking systems were shown to prevent them from squeaking, which were presented by the German expert Volker Mehrmann, professor of the Mathematics Institute of the Technical University of Berlin and president of the European Mathematical Society.

Squeaking is a problem that is present and it is of great importance in industrial braking systems. “It is a resonance phenomenon associated with a flutter instability. To eliminate this screeching it is necessary to carry out a stability analysis and optimize the properties of the damping material”, explains the professor. In this line, it will unveil a new model that has developed and that directly shows the origins of the squeak, while leading to very efficient methods to calculate the radius of stability and optimize the oscillation properties of the brake systems. This is very relevant because instabilities can lead to breakages and system failures.

Volker Mehrmann, Professor of the Mathematics Institute of the Technical University of Berlin, Andrés Prieto, Departamento de Matemáticas, Universidad de A Coruña, and ITMATI, and Mª José Ginzo Departamento de Estadística, Análisis Matemático y Optimización, Universidade de Santiago de Compostela. Photo taken by la Voz de Galicia

The importance of logistics in the health sector

One of the speakers in this congress was Stefan Nickel, professor at the Karlsruhe Institute of Technology (Germany), a logistics expert linked to medical care. The arrival of electronic systems for the continuous collection of patient data, as well as the day-to-day registration of hospitals, allows the hospital logistics to be approached mathematically, optimizing processes. The purpose is to ensure that existing resources are used while the staff is not burned due to work overload. In this way, it is possible to model the logistics of hospital centers to improve efficiency and patient treatment.
"It is important not only to emphasize economic efficiency, but also to take into account the quality of care and patient satisfaction," says the expert. Thus, health care logistics is directed to both hospitals and primary care services and emergency services. Nowadays, particularly hospitals, they look for possibilities to improve their processes. These improvements favor a patient-centered treatment and needs.

In this line, the German professor presented models that include the planning of the location of ambulances, of the attending doctors, the planning of appointments, simulation of the emergency services… Among other aspects of interest.

Recent Advances in Computational Models for the Discrete and Continuous Optimization Models of Industrial Process Systems

In this talk we gave an overview of recent models and algorithms for the discrete and continuous optimization of a variety of challenging applications in Process Systems Engineering, and that have been largely the result of collaborations with industry. We first provided a brief overview of deterministic models based on mixed-integer linear/nonlinear programming (MILP/MINLP) to highlight the progress that has been made. Next, we provided a brief review of global optimization for which the progress is illustrated with the synthesis of integrated water networks, with the design of centralized and distributed manufacturing for biomass, and with the design and planning of infrastructures for shale gas production that involve large scale nonconvex MINLP models. In order to improve the prediction of lower bounds for convex and nonconvex MINLP problems, we described theoretical procedures based on generalized disjunctive programming for strengthening the corresponding continuous relaxations, and for which effective cutting plane methods have been developed as will be shown with numerical results on test problems. Finally, we addressed the handling of uncertainty in discrete/continuous models through approaches that are based on robust optimization and stochastic programming. For the former, we considered affine-adjustable recourse to avoid overly conservative results, and which is illustrated in cryogenic storage in air separation plants that participate in the electricity and operating reserve markets. For the case of stochastic programming, we considered first the development of strategies based on decomposition and that can handle a very large number of scenario; this we illustrate with optimal design of supply chains that are subjected to disruptions in their distribution centers. Finally, we considered multistage stochastic programming models that involve exogenous and endogenous parameters for which effective theoretical and solution methods are proposed. These were applied to the design and planning of offshore facilities with uncertain crude oil prices and reservoir sizes.

Dissemination event: External Conference "Data and mathematics. The promoters of the data driven companies"

Antonio Pita, the lecturer in charge of this talk, points out that in order to extract all the value of the data it is necessary to convert the company in a data-driven or data-driven organization. “For this it is essential establish a plan based on three fundamental pillars: organization and culture, Technology and talent It is not a simple or fast path but it is the path of evolution that every company should continue to not be overtaken by data-driven companies, as is occurring in many sectors, ”he declares. According to Pita, "the data is the new oil." And it affects the fact that the companies that do not make decisions based on data will compete with more agile companies, which They better understand market needs and have cost structures tighter that will allow them to offer products and services either cheaper or with better user experience, so “they will scratch market share, with the sad ending that we can all imagine for companies that do not adapt. This has already happened in many sectors as in the case of video clubs”.

Antonio Pita, Global Head of Consulting & Analytics en LUCA, Telefonica Data Unit

Minisymposiums

Five thematical minisymposiums have been selected and organized based on scientific excellence and industrial relevance: One of them will be of awards, the 1st edition of the math-in awards to distinguish outstanding MSc theses in Industrial Mathematics.
o   MS1: "Mathematics of Logistics: emerging trends in Optimization and Simulation modelling". Coordinator: Dr. Anna Melchiori PhD, Researcher in Optimization and Operational Research, Institute for Application of Calculus “Mauro Picone”, National Research Council of Italy.
o   MS2: "Successful examples of industry-academia collaboration in the energy sector". Coordinator: Elena Núñez Domingo, Senior Scientific in Advanced Mathematics Division at Repsol Technology Lab.
o   MS3: “Industrial Mathematics in action”. Coordinator: Edgie Miglio, Luca Formaggia, Nicola Parolini, Polytechnic University of Milan.
o   MS4: “MSc Awards in Industrial Mathematics”
o   MS5: “Mathematics and Data Analytics”. Coordinator: Ricardo Cao Abad, Instituto Tecnológico de Matematica Industrial (ITMATI) and Universidade de A Coruña(UDC).

As detailed below some news that have been published in the media about these MSs contributions:

Positioning of trains, cars and drones

Jean-François Abadie, from the University of La Sorbonne, works on vehicle positioning. During the course of this international meeting several models and algorithms of great interest that allow obtaining reliable estimates in real time regarding the positions, speeds or accelerations of vehicles, in particular trains, cars or drones were presented.

Jean François Abadie, University of La Sorbonne

The usefulness of mathematics in the field of cardiology

During the course of this congress, a research project developed by a Galician team presented, focused on the application of mathematics to improve the planning of aortic valve replacement by transcatheter. When the aortic heart valve narrows, this narrowing prevents the valve from opening completely, thereby blocking blood flow from the heart to the aorta and then to the rest of the body. Then, the heart must work harder to pump blood to the body. This situation can cause chest pain, fainting, fatigue, swelling of the legs and shortness of breath; and, in the most severe cases, heart failure and sudden cardiac death. To solve this problem, there is a relatively recent procedure that involves replacing the narrowed aortic valve using transcatheter technology. It is an alternative for patients who have an intermediate or high risk of complications in aortic valve replacement surgery or in cases of people who cannot undergo open heart surgery. This research arises from a collaboration between the Department of Applied Mathematics of the University of Vigo and the Galicia Sur Health Research Institute (IISGS). The purpose is to contribute to the field of cardiology with advanced numerical simulation techniques. One of the researchers participating in this project is Marcos Loureiro García. He explains that “the planning of this intervention presents several difficulties such as the selection of the optimal device for each patient and here the numerical simulation is called to play an increasingly important role. We obtain the 3D reconstruction of the patient's organism through the processing of computed tomography images. Through the numerical simulation the adequacy of different valves is simulated to find the best one, since in the market there are numerous brands of devices, of different sizes and shapes”. Thus, this team advances in optimizing the selection of the most suitable device for each patient. The study is being done with real cases of people who have already been implanted with these valves. The next step will be to carry out more validations that allow applying this methodology on a large scale.

Marcos Loureiro-Ga, Instituto de Investigación Sanitaria Galicia Sur and Escola de Enxeñaría de Telecomuncación, Universidade de Vigo, Vigo, Spain

Math-in Awards

In the framework of this Conference, the Math-in Awards were awarded by the Spanish Mathematics-Industry Network and the Technological Institute of Industrial Mathematics to final master projects in the field of Industrial Mathematics. These awards recognize the novelty and contribution of the work in this area of mathematics, the technology generated in them, the development and use of new mathematical tools, as well as the benefits obtained by companies.

The first prize, for a project focused on the energy sector in collaboration with Repsol

The first prize went to Alfredo Ríos, of the Department of Applied Mathematics of the University of Santiago. He has developed a final master project -in the interuniversity master's degree in Industrial Mathematics (M2i)-, linked to the energy sector. He did it within the framework of an R&D project that the Repsol company had with ITMATI from March 2018 to March 2019. Alfredo Ríos was hired at ITMATI as a researcher during the achievement of this project. He explains that electrical energy storage devices are becoming increasingly important to, for example, use them as batteries for mobile phones or for electric vehicles. “Lithium-ion batteries have very good properties, but they need certain control algorithms to make sure they are operating in a safe range. That is, it is necessary that there are mechanisms that are responsible for limiting the use of the battery when the user uses it incorrectly, "he says. The researcher points out that" for example, you have to decide when the mobile battery is very charged or poorly charged, but this type of information is not really available. It is deduced based on other observable and measurable variables, such as voltage. To relate the observable variables to the state of charge of a device, a mathematical model is used "Thus, in order to assess its potential utility for battery control in real time, in his work Alfredo Ríos studied a certain family of physical-mathematical models.

Alfredo Ríos Alborés 1st Award and Alfredo Bermúdez President Scientific Committee. Photo taken by economía en Galicia

A project applied to the automotive sector

The second prize went to Carlos Coroas, from the Departamento de Matemática Aplicada II, E. de Ing. de Telecomunicación, and Departamento de Ingeniería Mecánica, Máquinas y Motores Térmicos y Fluidos, E. de Ing. Industrial, Universidad de Vigo. This mining engineer has focused his final master's work on the modeling and numerical simulation of thermal cooling treatment and its application to industrial cooling, in particular to the automotive sector. In this work, he had analyzed industrial processes that are carried out in the company CIE Galfor (Ourense), dedicated to the manufacture of steel parts for vehicles. The company proposed a problem and the researcher designed a numerical simulation calculation tool to solve it. “The problem is a tempering process of steel parts that are used in automotive, parts that are part of the axle of the trucks and serve as a union between the axle and the wheel. Quenching is a heat treatment of steel parts to give them more surface hardness. The pieces are first heated and then subjected to very rapid cooling, immersing them in a tank with liquid. As a result, they are given greater hardness” he explains. This model allows to analyze the quenching process, since in it many parameters are involved such as the composition of the metal, the temperature at the exit of the furnace, the temperature at the beginning of the tempering process, the temperature of the liquid with which it cools or the speed of agitation of the liquid in the tank, among others. The objective is to study the changes that occur in the industrial process without having to perform many tests to know what the microstructure of the piece will be, estimating the desired hardness. "It is about avoiding or reducing the number of experimental tests that the company has to do to get pieces with certain characteristics, depending on their application or final use," says Coroas. The rapid cooling suffered by the pieces induces transformations in their microstructure, which gives them specific mechanical properties at the end of the process, in particular high hardness. To solve the problems that arise in this process, numerical simulation is used. Thus, this tool allows to obtain results of how the pieces will look.

Both final master projects have been directed by researchers affiliated to ITMATI: the first prize by Jerónimo Rodríguez from the University of Santiago de Compostela and the second prize by Elena Martín from the University of Vigo.

Carlos Coroas, University of Vigo

Communications

At CTMI 2019 there were held two communication sessions on Industrial Mathematics, will be organized with a special focus on the vast potential of applied mathematics. For more information, please click here.

As detailed below some news that have been published in the media about these Communications contributions:

The application of mathematics in the field of telecommunications

Managing the intricate network of servers that allow us to have internet on our mobiles is not easy, and traditionally it has been done manually or semi-automated. Due to the large amount of data at stake, many times the problems accumulate and are not obvious until it is too late. A team of Hungarian researchers, present at this congress, has developed an Artificial Intelligence technology that would allow detecting errors and bottlenecks in these networks early, and respond to them automatically.

The team has presented an anomaly detection method that not only indicates whether the observation is anomalous or not, but also reveals what exactly makes it anomalous. “We demonstrate the effectiveness of the method through a case study, where we analyze a large amount of data extracted from the performance counters of a mobile telecommunication company. These networks are complex systems but with the proposed procedure the hidden problems can be isolated and indicated to the network operator”- they assure-.

Laura del Río, Universidade de A Coruña

The application of mathematics in the automotive sector

Within the framework of this meeting, a project developed by researchers from the Universities of Santiago and A Coruña affiliated to the Technological Institute for Industrial Mathematics -ITMATI-, coordinated by Professor Alfredo Bermúdez de Castro, in which mathematics has been applied to the automotive sector. One of the participants in this project is Andrés Prieto. He explains that it is a contract with a multinational company dedicated to the manufacture of porous materials that go inside the doors of the cars to improve the thermal and acoustic properties inside the cars. The team's job has been to calculate the absorption coefficient of these materials from the acoustic point of view. “When there is a lot of noise coming from outside or even from the car's engine, those porous patches make the environment inside the cabin as comfortable as possible. The company that manufactures them was interested in knowing their acoustic properties, that is, to what extent they will absorb the noise and we have solved it through the numerical calculation of the coefficient of absorption of these materials”

Success stories posters

Consisting of research posters presented by students, academics and industry. For more information, please click here.

As detailed below some news that have been published in the media about these Success stories posters contributions:

Algorithms that predict academic performance

A team of researchers from the University of Technology and Economics in Budapest presented some machine learning algorithms that have been developed to predict academic performance and identify the factors that affect it. Data-based approaches are receiving a lot of attention recently in the field of higher education. Thus, at the University of Technology and Economics in Budapest they have worked with a large amount of data stored in the administrative system of the Hungarian academic institution. Information related to student curriculum, the impact of living on campus on academic achievement has been analyzed ... One of the most relevant problems today in higher education is the high dropout rate among students. In this line, we work to predict this situation, detecting students at risk of academic failure. This model has a very high degree of precision compared to the results of other similar works. It is a web application capable of identifying students at risk, using machine learning algorithms. The application can also be used to make recommendations to students and is also able to suggest to students what skills they need to improve in order to succeed in their university studies.

Marcell Nagy, Budapest University, Hungary

How to retain users of social networks

Nowadays companies must reach the right audience through social networks and retain their users for as long as possible. A team of Russian researchers explained in the framework of this congress how they have advanced in the handling of user data set in order to model their interaction. “There are many solutions in the digital market that provide interactions with the public on social networks. However, the ways of attracting the public are very general and the accuracy of targeting the right people can be very low” said the experts. The purpose is to find the optimal audience, like predict the response of robot-user interaction thanks to the robot they have developed. They propose an analysis that inspects the profile of the potential client, with the purpose of being able to carry out effective actions at the most appropriate time.

Dobroslav Egorov, Mª José Ginzo, Ana Buide, Manuel Novo, Roland Molontay, Marcell Nagy, Alfredo Ríos and Umberto Morelli

B2B matchmaking event

Matchmaking sessions have been organized with the aim of use the full networking potential that this conference offered. A brokerage event is a quick and easy way to meet potential cooperation partners. For more information, please click here.

The matchmaking event of 23^rd of July was co-organised by the Enterprise Europe Network – the biggest European Network that provides internationalisation and innovation support to European businesses.

B2B matchmaking event

Visit Historical Heritage of the USC

In the frame of the CTMI 2019 a visit to the historical heritage of the USC has been made in Santiago de Compostela. It included a visit to the Cathedral, a walk along the history of the University and a tour on the tourist train.

Visit to the Historical Heritage of the USC, CTMI 2019 participants.

PRESS RELEASES:

Expertos internacionales presentarán en Santiago los avances más innovadores de las matemáticas para resolver problemas de la industria y de la sociedad. (07/04/2019)

Matemáticos gallegos avanzan en la optimización del diseño de carreteras y vías férreas, buscando el trazado óptimo y reduciendo costes económicos y ambientales. (07/16/2019)

Cerca de un centenar de expertos mundiales se reúnen en Santiago para resaltar el valor que las matemáticas aportan a la industria. (07/16/2019)

Cerca de un centenar de expertos mundiales se reúnen en Santiago para resaltar el valor que las matemáticas aportan a la industria. [Extended] (07/16/2019)

Los expertos califican los datos de las empresas como "el nuevo petróleo" y aseguran que las firmas que no los exploten desaparecerán, como ocurrió con los videoclubs. (07/17/2019)

Predecir el rendimiento académico, evitar que los frenos chirríen o retener a los usuarios de las redes sociales son algunas de las soluciones que matemáticos de todo el mundo presentarán la próxima semana en Santiago. (07/19/2019)

Investigadores gallegos buscan, a través de las matemáticas, qué dispositivo es el más adecuado para pacientes a los que tienen que reemplazarle una válvula en el corazón. (07/23/2019)

Un investigador de la Universidad de Santiago recibe el primer premio Math-in por su contribución a la mejora de los dispositivos de almacenamiento de energía eléctrica, como las baterías de los móviles o de los vehículos eléctricos. (07/24/2019)

MEDIA MENTIONS

Links of interest

Main conference Agenda available HERE
Specific conference Agenda available : HERE
Press releases and CTMI 2019 in the media: HERE
In the frame of the CTMI 2019 we elaborate a Book of Abstracts. You can see it here

Fecha:

Mié, 2019-07-31

CTMI 2019 summary and media collection

Visit Historical Heritage of the USC

PRESS RELEASES:

MEDIA MENTIONS