New partners: Thales and University of Amsterdam
Thales and University of Amsterdam strengthen ESI (TNO) open-innovation ecosystem
Thales and University of Amsterdam strengthen ESI (TNO) open-innovation ecosystem
The complexity of the systems produced by the high-tech industry is increasing. This is partly due to the expanding digitalisation of these systems. The high-tech industry is an important pillar for the competitive position of the Netherlands. In order to maintain this leading position, investment in excellent knowledge and practical application in the efficient engineering of systems is essential.
ESI's ecosystem, based on open innovation, plays an important role in this. Together with universities and partner companies, ESI develops methodologies and tooling that are in line with the vision and needs of the high-tech industry, making use of the latest insights from universities. In an industry-as-a-lab setting, system engineering methodologies are developed, tested and validated on site at and with partners.
ESI has a solid base of loyal industrial and academic partners. From 2021, the University of Amsterdam (UvA) and Thales will also be part of ESI's Partner Board. The new partners thereby underline the importance of systems thinking and the development of methodologies and tooling for the high-tech industry in the Netherlands.
Strengthening cooperation with industry for University of Amsterdam
For the past year, ESI senior researcher Benny Akesson has been a professor by special appointment within the Parallel Computing Systems (PCS) research group at UvA's Faculty of Science, where where he holds the chair 'Design Methodologies for Cyber-Physical Systems'. Prof. Andy Pimentel, chairman of the PCS research group, is very pleased with the UvA's accession to ESI's Partner Board, and sees enormous added value in this collaboration. For example, the PCS group brings in new expertise in the field of (modelling and simulation techniques for) the analysis and optimisation of extra-functional behaviour - such as performance, energy consumption, and reliability - of embedded and cyber-physical systems. Professor Pimentel: “I see many opportunities for cross-fertilisation and cross-learning both within the ESI ecosystem and between the ESI and UvA ecosystems. With this partnership we hope to further strengthen the industrial cooperation of the PCS group.”
Wouter Leibbrandt, ESI Scientific Director, adds: “I welcome the accession of the UvA. This enriches the knowledge base on which ESI can build. It is also a recognition of the important role that ESI plays in enabling university knowledge to benefit the Dutch economy.”
Strengthening the innovation position for Thales Naval
Thales has been involved in ESI before. Participation in ESI is of added value particularly for the development of systems for the navy. Roel Aalbers, Technical Director Systems at Thales Naval: “From Naval we have had excellent collaboration with ESI in several research projects in recent years. With the renewed accession to the partner council, ESI's knowledge, experience and ecosystem will be used to further strengthen our innovative position. I am looking forward to working with the partners and expect a positive effect with regard to possible new research projects.”
Frans Beenker, Business Director ESI: “With the arrival of Thales, most of the leading Dutch players in the high-tech industry are participating in ESI. I am sincerely proud that this form of open innovation is possible in the Netherlands.”
The Parallel Computing Systems group (PCS) of the University of Amsterdam conducts research into the design, programming and run-time management of multi-core and multi-processor computer systems. Modelling, analysis and optimisation of adjacent relevant non-functional aspects of these systems, such as performance, power and energy consumption, reliability and the degree of productivity to design and program these systems are also part of the research programme.
The University of Amsterdam (UvA) is the largest university in the Netherlands, offering the widest range of programmes. It is an intellectual hub with 34,000 students, 6,000 employees and 3,000 PhD students. Connected by a culture of curiosity.
The Faculty of Natural Sciences, Mathematics and Computer Science (FNWI) of the UvA has approximately 7,000 students and 1,600 employees working in education, research or support services.
The mission of the Informatics Institute within the FNWI is to carry out curiosity-driven and usage-inspired fundamental research and to develop talent by providing high quality academic education in broad informatics fields. Research encompasses complex information systems in general, with a focus on collaborative, data-driven, computational and intelligent systems, all with a strong interactive component.
Thales (Euronext Paris: HO) is the global technology leader shaping tomorrow's world, today. Thales offers solutions, products and services to customers in the aerospace, aerospace, transport, defence and digital identity and security sectors. With 83,000 employees in 68 countries, Thales generated revenues of €19 billion (on a pro forma basis, including Gemalto over 12 months) in 2019. In the Netherlands, some 2,200 employees work in Hengelo, Delft, Huizen. Eindhoven, Breda and Rotterdam on the development, production and integration of high-tech systems. Thales Nederland focuses mainly on radar, command & control, communication systems, identification and authentication and cyber security for the defence, transport and security market.