For the project start of the KEEN platform “Artificial Intelligence Incubator Laboratory in the Process Industry” over 80 participants met at the end of April in a Kick-Off Meeting, which was held as a web conference.
The innovation platform KEEN belongs to the winners of the innovation competition “Artificial Intelligence (AI)” by the Federal Ministry for Economic Affairs and Energy (BMWi). It connects 20 partners consisting of industrial companies and scientific institutions with the objective to accelerate the application of AI technologies and AI methods in the process industry and to comprehensively evaluate the potential. The process industry, that includes i.e. the chemical and pharmaceutical industry, represents Germany’s third biggest industry sector. The extension of established digital technologies with AI methods can directly contribute to sustainability. It enables a more flexible, environmentally friendly, and economic operation of production plants.
Dr. Klaus Glasmacher (BMWi) highlighted the great potential of the platform and emphasized that it contains of a strong consortium. Prof. Leon Urbas from the Technical University of Dresden, project coordinator of KEEN, provided an introduction into the three superordinate topics: AI-based modelling, AI-based engineering, and AI based optimisation. He described the artificial intelligence as an “extended toolbox”, which shall not only be successfully transferred to application but also to education.
KEEN includes seven subprojects: technology roadmap, common data base, substance data, surrogate models, the extraction of characteristics from process data, AI based smart engineering, and self-optimising plants. Within a “Speed-dating” in several virtual rooms, the old and new project partners exchanged their ideas and identified synergies. Through the active networking of the partners the collaboration will be further established in the future.
Kockmann/TU Dortmund