waste, Ange Nzihou

Waste worth its weight in gold

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For Ange Nzihou, waste is a valuable material. For over ten years, this researcher has been working on recovering waste to turn it into an important economic resource. However, his greatest scientific accomplishments have taken place outside the laboratories of IMT Mines Albi. Throughout his career, Ange Nzihou has done more than convert biomass into biofuels or manufacture catalysts using waste and different residues. By creating the global conference WasteEng and a journal dedicated to waste reuse, he has helped bring together an international scientific community with a shared interest in this theme of the future.

 

“I come from a country in Africa where everyone wants to work in the oil industry,” says Ange Nzihou, a researcher at IMT Mines Albi and director of its Rapsodee laboratory. Following this same path, he came to Toulouse in the early 1990s to begin a PhD thesis on the crystallization of gas hydrates—which he successfully completed. Everything was therefore in place for the young process engineering researcher to set out on a career in the oil industry. But research stories are, first and foremost, life stories. And events in Ange Nzihou’s life led him to abruptly reconsider the path he was about to embark on. “Since at that point I had not yet received French nationality I was basically an undocumented immigrant for a period of two years. It was during this difficult time that I developed the research project that I am still pursuing today, by analyzing what I saw around me and wondering what the future would be like.” 

The future, as he imagined it, would be one in which the tons of waste and pollutants produced by humans could be recovered and turned into a valuable resource, at a time when only treatment seemed to interest the scientific community. “For me, it wasn’t so much treatment that was of interest, but rather giving treated products new properties and functions to increase their economic value,” he says. It was at IMT Mines Albi that he started turning this vision into concrete research. Through different projects, he developed processes for recovering a wide range of waste, from sludge from our rivers, to household waste or industrial waste.

A worldwide event

But, Ange Nzihou admits, “my biggest accomplishment is not the patents or publications, but everything we’ve been able to create around this research.” Starting with WasteEng: a biennial international conference launched in 2005. “I thought about a hundred people would come,” recalls the researcher. As it turned out, more than 300 researchers and engineers took part in this first conference on the theme of waste and biomass valorization. “I knew there was a need for this sort of conference, but I underestimated just how great the need was,” he says.

Today, it has become the world’s leading event in this field. Every two years, more than 400 people from 50 different countries attend the event. For WasteEng’s creator, the fact that the community welcomes industry and institutions is one of the conference’s key strengths. “A quarter of the participants come from companies and government institutions, which is crucial since they’re the ones working in the field and really creating value.” Ange Nzihou also invites representatives from the European Commission to each edition of the conference to present trends and connect research to political decisions.

WasteEng, which will next be held in Prague in July 2018, is seen as a trailblazing event in its discipline.  The popularity of the conference reflects emerging concerns of societies around the world. Since waste recovery issues are not identical across the globe, the event’s international dimension is part of what makes it so valuable. “In France, we incinerate plastic that isn’t recyclable, but this simply cannot be done in Africa or other developing countries,” explains the researcher. “In those countries, they have to find a way to recycle it.”

Out of the many different topics covered at the conference, some are especially close to Ange Nzihou’s heart.  One such topic is producing energy from waste. “A lot of solutions today propose using biomass to generate energy. The problem is that this use competes with food and the availability of land to be cultivated. On the other hand, I really like the idea of using waste rather than biomass.”  (See text box 1) Another benefit the researcher cites is that this approach makes it possible to avoid environmental disasters like the one Malaysia experienced with the unchecked production of palm oil for energy purposes on land that could be used to produce food.

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Pyrog: an example of energy recovery from waste

In 2015, the Pyrog project, supported by the ADEME’s Investments of the Future program, (PIA) was launched with the aim of recovering energy using solid recovered fuel (SRF). These residues group together all waste that is currently difficult to recycle. IMT Mines Albi and IMT Atlantique work on the project collaboration with two companies: Séché Environnement and ETIA. Using a pyrolysis process, the synthetic gas produced is used for urban district heating. This project, implemented on the Seché site in Mayenne, demonstrates the potential of recycling waste to produce energy locally, with a lower environmental impact.

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Literature focusing on waste

Following WasteEng, Ange Nzihou went on to found a scientific journal with a review board dedicated to waste reuse issues, “Waste and biomass valorization.”  Launched in 2010 with the editor Springer, the journal was something of a gamble for the researcher. But it paid off, as it quickly became a success with the scientific community. Since 2010, the number of articles submitted to the journal has doubled every year. “It’s the first journal to focus on this theme,” says Ange Nzihou, who is editor-in-chief.

The journal is not the researcher’s only contribution to establishing a literary culture on the topic of waste recovery. He is also editor-in-chief of an encyclopedia being written on this subject. The work is intended to be a reference document for anyone who would like to know how to analyze, study, treat and convert waste and various residues. “We hope that it will be used by students as well as engineers, researchers and players in the economic world,” explains Ange Nzihou. In keeping with the international dimension of this research, he has brought together researchers from 17 countries to create the encyclopedia. It should be published in September 2018 and distributed in universities and libraries worldwide.

In all aspects of his work, Ange Nzihou has pursued his vision of a society that can better use its waste to support its needs. Since the beginning of his career, he has worked to take his questions and proposals outside of the laboratory by bringing together a global community with an increasingly urgent need for alternatives to fossil fuels.

[author title=”Ange Nzihou, a world-class researcher” image=”https://imtech-test.imt.fr/wp-content/uploads/2018/06/Portrait_Ange_Nzihou.jpg”]Since the beginning of this career, Ange Nzihou has always sought to anchor his research in an international context. The eleven PhD students in his team come from ten different countries. For the researcher, being open to exterior approaches is a guarantee of humility and of high-quality work. These different approaches allow him to question his ideas and develop new ones, by looking at how other societies are trying to use their waste. This research vision has led him to become a visiting professor at universities around the world: Princeton University in the USA, University College Dublin in Ireland and Zhejiang University in China. He also received the Progress and Innovation in Research award from the Chinese Academy of Sciences in 2015.

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publicité numérique, digital advertising

Digital Advertising and Algorithms

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Romain Gola, Télécom École de Management – Institut Mines-Télécom

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[dropcap]I[/dropcap]n 2016, for the first time in France, online advertising investment exceeded that of television advertising. Algorithms now play an increasingly significant role in the purchase of advertising space on websites, raising many ethical and legal issues.

Algorithms rise to power

The digital advertising market in France is now estimated at €3.5 billion. Whereas up until now this advertising mainly involved displays on web sites, and the purchase of Google AdWords, the purchase of automated advertising space (called “programmatic buying”) has now emerged. The profiling of internet users is carried out using traces of their web activity, which makes it possible to predict their interest in an ad at any given time. Therefore, thanks to algorithms, it is possible to calculate, in real time, the value of the advertising space on a page the user is viewing.

The use of algorithms has the advantage of displaying banner ads that match our interests, but there are risks involved in their uncontrolled use. The lack of transparency in how these algorithms operate impacts internet users’ behavior without them realizing it. What is more, the algorithms sometimes benefit from exaggerated confidence, yet their results can be discriminatory. This raises the question of algorithms’ neutrality and ethical issues. The study of ethics in this area must be based on an understanding of how we are linked to these new technologies. This involves, on the one hand, how algorithms are covered by law and, on the other hand, the development of the digital advertising ecosystem.

In light of these new challenges, it would be wise to focus on the algorithms themselves, rather than on the data that is processed, by establishing systems capable of testing and controlling them, in order to prevent harmful consequences.

Law and algorithms: reforms in Europe

A new revolution is underway, based on data collection and processing that has reached an unprecedented scale, and stimulates the creation of new products and services. This increase in the amount and diversity of data is explained by the development of connected objects and the empowerment of consumers. Their ability to act has increased with the development of technology: businesses are becoming more and more dependent not only on the data consumers produce, but also on their opinion, and must therefore constantly ensure they maintain a good e-reputation.

In light of this situation, European institutions have begun the process of reforming personal data legislation. The new European General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) will enter into force in all Member States in May 2018. It imposes increased transparency and the accountability of those who process data, based on a policy of compliance with the law, and it provides for severe penalties. Similarly, it affirms the right to data portability, and those in charge of processing personal data must ensure that their operations comply with personal data protection standards, starting at the design stages for a product or service (privacy by design).

The GDPR strives to implicitly regulate the algorithmic processing of data. We see a trend in the advertising sector: in general, all sites, services and products that use algorithms are careful not to refer to them. They hide the crucial role algorithms play, instead referring to “customization”. However, when there is customization, often there is “algorithmization”.

Legislation ill-suited to digital advertising

Laws pertaining to “traditional” advertising are based on the principle of receiving prior informed consent from individuals before processing their data. However, this concept of data protection is less relevant when it comes to digital advertising. Data collected in the context of traditional marketing often involves objective and relatively predictable information such as name, age, gender, address or marital status. Yet the concept of “data” radically changes when it comes to digital marketing. On social networks, the data is not only basic classification information (age, gender, address), but also includes data from everyday life: what I’m doing, what I’m listening to, etc.

digital advertising

Traces of web activity and individuals’ behavior on social networks make it possible to determine their profile. VisualHunt

 

This new situation questions the relevance of the distinction between personal and non-personal data. It also raises questions about the relevance of the principle of prior consent. It is often virtually impossible to use an application without accepting to be tracked. Consent therefore becomes mandatory in order to use the technology, and exactly how the data will be used by the data controller is completely unknown. Therefore, the problem is no longer related to prior consent, rather it is the automatic, predictive deductions made by the companies that collect this data.

Algorithms accentuate this trend by multiplying the collection and use of trivial and decontextualized data, likely to be used for specifically profiling individuals, and creating “knowledge” about them based on probabilities rather than certainties about their personal and intimate inclinations. In this situation, rather than examining the data feeding the algorithms, wouldn’t it be more relevant to examine the algorithms that process them and generate new data?

Legal and ethical challenges of online advertising

Influencing consumer choices, subliminal influence, submission that changes the perception of reality: behavioral targeting carries serious risks. Requirements for the accountability, transparency and verifiability of the actions caused by algorithms have become crucial in preventing potential excesses.

This situation calls into question the relationship between law and ethics, which is unfortunately often confused. Laws are established to regulate behavior—what is allowed, forbidden, or required from a legal perspective—whereas ethics refers more broadly to the distinction between good and bad, independent of and beyond any compliance with the law. Ethics applied to algorithmic processing would need to focus on two major principles: transparency, and the establishment of tests to check the algorithms’ results in order to prevent possible damage.

Transparency and accountability of algorithms

The activities of online platforms are essentially based on the selection and classification of information, as well as on offers for goods or services. They design and activate various algorithms that influence consumption behavior and how users think. This customization is sometimes misleading, since it is based on the machine’s concept of how we think. This concept is not based on who we are, but rather on what we have done and looked at. This observation reveals the need for transparency: the people impacted by an algorithm should first of all be informed of the existence of the algorithmic processing, as well as what it implies, the type of data it uses and its end purpose, so that they may file a claim if needs be.

Tests for algorithms?

In advertising, algorithms can lead to a differentiation in the price of a product or service or can even establish typologies of high-risk policyholders in order to calculate the insurance premium based on criteria that is sometimes illegal, by cross-checking “sensitive” information. Not only is the collection and the processing of this data (racial and ethnic origins, political and religious opinions) generally prohibited, the results of these algorithmic methods can be discriminatory. For example, the results of the first international beauty contest based entirely on algorithms led to the selection of only white candidates.

To avoid this type of abuse, urgent steps must be taken to establish tests for the results produced by algorithms. In addition to the legislation and the role played by the protection authorities (CNIL), codes of conduct are also beginning to appear: advertising professionals belonging to the Digital Advertising Alliance (ACD) have introduced a protocol represented by a visible icon next to a targeted ad that explains how it works.

It is in companies’ interests to adopt more ethical behavior in order to maintain a good reputation, and hence a competitive advantage. Internet users are weary of advertising deemed too intrusive. If the ultimate goal of advertising is to better anticipate our needs to “consume better”, it must occur in an environment that complies with legislation and is responsible and ethical.  This could be a vector for a new industrial revolution that is mindful of fundamental rights and freedoms, in which citizens are invited to take their rightful place and take ownership of their data.

Romain Gola, Professor of Business Law, Télécom École de Management – Institut Mines-Télécom

The original version of this article (in French) was published on The Conversation.

Also read on I’MTech

Personal data: How the GDPR is changing the game in Europe

BART, blockchain

Introducing BART, the Blockchain’s French Scientific Alliance

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Four research institutions, including Télécom ParisTech and Télécom SudParis, are embarking on a joint research initiative focused on the blockchain. Along with INRIA and the Institute for Technological Research (IRT) SystemX, this scientific task force will take on the challenge of integrating the blockchain into industrial processes. The six focus areas of this research initiative called Blockchain Advanced Research & Technologies (BART) are scaling-up, security, data confidentiality, architecture, monitoring and business models. Gérard Memmi, head of the IT & Networks Department at Télécom ParisTech explains the objectives of this initiative, launched on 6 March 2018.

 

Why create a joint research initiative on the blockchain?

Gérard Memmi: The blockchain is often seen as a mature technology. In some ways it is, since it is based on scientific findings that have been known for 20 or 30 years—such as Merkle trees and the Byzantine generals problem. Yet this is not enough to make the blockchain the revolutionary technology that everyone expects it to become. Constant research must be carried out behind the scenes to ensure greater security, to scale the technology up for use by companies, and to make it compatible with current and future information systems. For example, the current proof-of-work system required for maintaining the blocks is incompatible with industrial performance requirements: it requires too many IT resources and too much time and energy. There are real scientific challenges ahead!

What will each of the different partners of the Blockchain Advanced Research & Technologies (BART) contribute?

GM: We expect INRIA to provide research in the areas of formal verification, theoretical computer science, cryptography… What I believe they expect of us is related to applications: connections with telecommunications protocols, the development of IT architectures, cybersecurity, scaling-up… However, I hope there will be a lot of interaction between the researchers of the different disciplines I just mentioned.  Through the involvement of IMT, we will also be able to use the TeraLab platform. SystemX contributes valuable connections with manufacturers and plans to use scientific findings to fuel work situated downstream in companies’ industrialization processes. That is their role as an Institute for Technological Research.

What is the goal of the Blockchain Advanced Research & Technologies (BART) initiative?

GM: In creating BART, we hope to form a multidisciplinary research team that will be a blockchain benchmark in France. We have the means to accomplish this partly because we have been working on this topic for a long time. Three years ago, we launched one of the first theses on the blockchain in France as part of the joint SEIDO laboratory with EDF, at a time when no one was talking about this technology. SystemX launched research projects involving industrial partners as early as 2016, specifically through the Blockchain for Smart Transactions (BST) project. We have therefore been able to begin creating a network of high-level scientific and industrial relationships.

Does this mean BART is anchored in dynamics that already existed?

GM: Yes, we are in the active launch phase. The signing of the framework agreement is not simply a matter of policy, it reflects real concrete actions. Personally, I see the BART initiative as part of a unified whole. For example, one of the PhD students funded by BART will go to Munich Technical University (TUM) to work on their blockchain platform. This cooperation really makes sense, since IMT and TUM have founded the Franco-German Industry of the Future Academy. In addition, as part of this alliance we are developing a Franco-German project called HyBlockArch devoted to blockchain architecture for industry. Although institutional connections do not always exist between these different entities, the work of each one is recognized by the others and contributes to the whole. This is also a great principle of international research: we come together with a common purpose and take advantage of all the possible synergies to make the greatest possible impact on science and society.

Also read on I’MTech: Is blockchain the ultimate technology of trust?

carnot TSN

Researching technological disruptions to prepare for the future

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Belles histoires, Bouton, CarnotFundamental and applied research are often simplistically portrayed as being opposite each other. The Carnot program, run by the Ministry of Higher Education, Research and Innovation, and by the National Research Agency (ANR), challenges this vision. Though its primary objective is to develop virtuous partnerships between public research institutions and companies in order to stimulate technology transfer, it achieves this goal by requiring the institutions it funds to make significant contributions to fundamental research. Far from being paradoxical, this forward-looking strategy focuses on preparing companies for the future, beyond their immediate technological competitiveness. The Télécom & Société Numérique Carnot Institute (Carnot TSN, of which IMT is a member) fulfills this mission through its Futur & Ruptures (Future and Disruptions) program. Its director, Christian Picory-Donné, answers our questions to explain the scientific challenges of this type of program.

 

The Carnot program invites Carnot Institutes to carry out “scientific resourcing.” Can you explain what that is?

Christian Picory-Donné: It means preliminary research with the aim of preparing for the future of industry. What we have learned from the Fraunhofer Institutes in Germany, or other major technological research institutes, is that it is difficult for these organizations to be trailblazers. Their resources are targeted at satisfying nowadays market demands to such an extent that they tend to fail to prepare for the future. The Carnot program strives to address this shortcoming by providing funding well ahead of current industrial problems.

How does the Télécom & Société Numérique Carnot Institute (TSN) achieve this resourcing?

CP: The Futur & Ruptures program serves to fund the equivalent of 60 to 80 years of PhD, post-doctorate theses and sabbaticals every year. Funding for this support comes in part from Fondation Mines-Télécom, and in part from TSN Carnot. For TSN Carnot this initiative represents virtually all of its resourcing activity, or approximately 60% of the annual contribution it receives from the Carnot program. To give some concrete figures, this year TSN Carnot received a contribution of €4 million. This means €2.4 million was allocated to the Futur & Ruptures program to fund PhD and post-doctorate theses at members of TSN Carnot.

carnot TSN

Christian Picory-Donné, Director of TSN Carnot

The Carnot program’s objective is to develop partnership-based research. How does this upstream scientific positioning influence innovation?

CP: One example that comes to mind is the joint SePeMed laboratory between IMT Atlantique and the MEDECOM company, which was launched in 2014. It focuses on problems related to managing and securing medical databases. It all started with work by Gouenou Coatrieux, a researcher at IMT Atlantique, who obtained Carnot funding for his PhD and post-doctoral students through the Futur & Ruptures program. Thanks to the results achieved, he submitted a proposal for a Labcom (joint laboratory) project to the National Research Agency whose funding enabled a strategic partnership with MEDECOM through the creation of this joint laboratory was. There are many other success stories such as this one, and more to come since a great number of theses are funded while the benefits are not always as rapidly materialized or as directly related.

The Futur & Ruptures program is ten years old this year. What is your view of the program? 

CP: A very positive view. First of all, the Carnot program is a virtuous program, since it rewards research conducted by public laboratories in proportion to its effectiveness and the extent to which it fulfills its commitments to expanding partnership-based research. It is also a tool to support IMT’s strategy. Originally focused on research to support economic development, the Carnot program also supports IMT’s development plan. The same is true for the tools supported by the Foundation, so much so that a significant leverage effect can be observed—funding, development of research resources, research results—in keeping with the institute’s strategic priorities.

This reality of partnership-based research contrasts with the stereotype of research activity as a service provided for a company.   

CP: Of course. We consider it to be targeted research since it is attentive to companies’ problems, but that does not mean there is a subordinate relationship. Resourcing may be seen from different perspectives. First of all, there is this noble image of the researcher toiling away in his ivory tower to achieve his vision. This is not our standpoint, because Carnot resourcing is more connected to the vision we may have about long-term industrial needs. It is a very forward-looking position. We know, for example, that data protection and cryptography are a major issue—simply by being attentive to current industry concerns—so we have researchers working on quantum cryptography. But no company has come to ask us to fund such specialized research for use in immediate applications. That would be too risky for companies: industrial needs for quantum cryptography will not become a reality until a number of years from now. This positioning allows us to carry out fundamental research, while looking ahead to the technological obstacles that companies will face in the future.

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The TSN Carnot institute, a guarantee of excellence in partnership-based research since 2006

Having first received the Carnot label in 2006, the Télécom & Société numérique Carnot institute is the first national “Information and Communication Science and Technology” Carnot institute. Home to over 2,000 researchers, it is focused on the technical, economic and social implications of the digital transition. In 2016, the Carnot label was renewed for the second consecutive time, demonstrating the quality of the innovations produced through the collaborations between researchers and companies.

The institute encompasses Télécom ParisTech, IMT Atlantique, Télécom SudParis, Télécom École de Management, Eurecom, Télécom Physique Strasbourg and Télécom Saint-Étienne, École Polytechnique (Lix and CMAP laboratories), Strate École de Design and Femto Engineering. Learn more [/box]

Photomécanique Jean-José Orteu

What is photomechanics?

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How can we measure the deformation of a stratospheric balloon composed only of an envelope a few micrometers thick? It is impossible to attach a sensor to it because this would distort the envelope’s behavior… Photomechanics, which refers to measurement methods using images and computer analysis, makes it possible to measure this deformation or a material’s temperature without making any contact. Jean-José Orteu, a researcher in artificial vision for photomechanics, control and monitoring at IMT Mines Albi, explains the principles behind photomechanical methods, which are used in the aeronautics, automotive and nuclear industries.

 

What is photomechanics?

Jean-José Orteu: We can define photomechanics as the application of optical measurements to experimental mechanics and, more specifically, the study of the behavior of materials and structures. The techniques that have been developed are used to measure materials’ deformation or temperature.

Photomechanics is a relatively young discipline, roughly 30 years old. It is based on around ten different measurement techniques that can be applied to both a nanoscale and the dimensions of an airplane and to both static and dynamic systems. Among these different techniques, two are primarily used: the digital image correlation (DIC) method for measuring deformations, and the infrared thermography method for measuring temperatures.

 

How are these two techniques implemented?

JJO: For the DIC, we position one or several cameras in front of a material: only one for a planar material that undergoes in-plane deformation and several for the measurement of a three-dimensional material. The cameras film the material as it is deformed under the effect of mechanical stress and/or heat. Once the images are taken, the deformation of the material is calculated based on the deformation of the images obtained: if the material is deformed, so is the image.  This deformation is measured using computer processing and is extrapolated to the material.

This is referred to as the white light method because the material is lit by an incoherent light from standard lighting. Other more complex photomechanical techniques require the use of a laser to light the material: these are referred to as interferometric methods.  They are useful for very fine measurements of displacements in the micrometer or nanometer range.

The second most frequently used technique in photomechanics is infrared thermography, which is used to measure temperatures. This uses the same process as the DIC technique, with the initial acquisition of infrared images followed by the computer processing of these images to determine the temperature of the observed material. Calculating a temperature using an image is no easy task. The material’s thermo-optical properties must be taken into account as well as the measuring environment.

With all of these techniques, we can analyze the dynamic evolution of the distortion or temperature. The material is therefore analyzed both spatially and temporally.

photomécanique Jean-José Orteu

photomechanics, Jean-José Orteu

Stereo-DIC measurement of the deformation field of a sheet of metal shaped using incremental forming

 

What type of camera is used for these measurement methods?

JJO: While camera resolution influences the quality and precision of the measurements, a traditional camera can already obtain good results. However, to study very fast phenomena, such as the impact of a bird in flight on an aircraft fuselage, very fast cameras are needed, which can take 10,000, 100,000 or even 1,000,000 images per second! In addition, for temperature measurements, infrared-sensitive cameras must be used.

 

What is the value of optical measurements as compared to other measurement methods?

JJO: Traditionally, a strain gauge is used to measure the deformation of a material. A strain gauge is a sensor that is glued or welded to the surface of the material to provide an isolated indication of its deformation. This gauge must be as nonintrusive as possible and must not alter the object’s behavior. The same problem exists for temperature measurements. Traditional techniques use a thermocouple, a temperature sensor that is also welded to the surface of the material. When the sensors are very small compared to the material, they are nonintrusive and therefore do not pose a problem. Yet for some applications, the use of contact sensors is impossible. For example, at IMT Mines Albi we worked on the deformation of a parachute when it inflates. But the canvas contained a lining only a few micrometers thick. A gauge would have been difficult to glue to it and would have greatly disrupted the material’s behavior. In this type of situation, photomechanics is indispensable, since no contact is required with the object.

Finally, both the gauge and the thermocouple offer only isolated information, only at the spot where the sensor is glued. You won’t get any information concerning a spot only ten centimeters away from the sensor. However, the problem in mechanics is that, most of the time, we do not know exactly where we will need information about deformation or the temperature. The risk is therefore that of not welding or gluing the sensors in the spots where the deformation or temperature measurement is the most relevant. The optical methods also offer field information: a deformation field or temperature field.  We can therefore view the material’s entire surface, including the areas where the deformation or temperature gradient is more significant.

 

Photomécanique Jean-José Orteu

Photomécanique Jean-José Orteu

phtomechanics

Top, a material instrumented with gauges (only 6 measurement points). Middle, the same material to which speckled paint has been added to implement the optical DIC technique. Bottom, the deformation field measured via DIC (hundreds of measurement points).

What are the limitations of photomechanics?

JJO: In the beginning, photomechanical methods based on the use of cameras could not measure surface deformations. But over the last five or six years, an entire segment of photomechanics has begun to focus on deformations within objects.  These new techniques require the use of specific sensors, tomographs. They make it possible to take X-ray images of the materials, which reveal core deformations after computer processing. The large volumes of data this technique generates raise big data issues.

In terms of temperature, the core measurement without contact is more complicated. We recently defended a thesis at IMT Mines Albi on a method that makes it possible to measure the temperature in a material’s core based on the fluorescence phenomenon. The results are very promising, but the research must be continued to obtain industrial applications.

In addition, despite its many advantages, photomechanics has not yet fully replaced strain gauges and thermocouples. In fact, optical measurement techniques have not yet been standardized. Typically, when measuring a deformation with a gauge, the method of measurement is standardized: what type of gauge is it?  How should it be attached to the material? A precise methodology must be followed. In photomechanics, whether in the choice of camera and its calibration and position, or the image processing in the second phase, everything is variable, and everyone creates his or her own method. In terms of certification, some industrial stakeholders therefore remain hesitant about the use of these methods.

There is also still work to be done in assessing measurement uncertainties. The image acquisition chain and processing procedure can be complex, and errors can distort the measurements in any stage. How can we ensure there are as few errors as possible? How can we assess measurement uncertainties? Research in this area is underway. The long-term goal is to be able to systematically provide a measurement field with a range of associated uncertainties. Today, this assessment remains complicated, especially for non-experts.

Nevertheless, despite these difficulties, the major industries that need to define the behavior of materials, such as the automotive, aeronautics and nuclear industries, all use photomechanics. And although progress must be made in assessing measurement uncertainties and establishing standardization, the results these optical methods achieve are often of better quality than those of traditional methods.

 

TeraLab, a European data sanctuary

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Projets européens H2020Over the course of three months, TeraLab was involved in two European H2020 projects on the industry of the future: MIDIH and BOOST 4.0. This confirms the role played by TeraLab—IMT’s big data and artificial intelligence platform—as a trusted third party and facilitator of experimentation. TeraLab created a safe place for these projects, far from competitive markets, where industry stakeholders could accept to share their data.

 

“Data sharing is the key to opening up research in Europe,” says Anne-Sophie Taillandier. According to the director of TeraLab—IMT’s big data and AI platform—a major challenge exists in the sharing of data between industrial players and academics. For SMEs and research institutions, having access to industrial data means working on real economic and professional problems.  This is an excellent opportunity for accelerating prototypes and proofs of concept and removing scientific barriers. Yet for industrial stakeholders, the owners of the data, this sharing must not compromise security. “They want guarantees,” says the Director, who was ranked last February among the top 20 individuals driving AI in France by French business magazine L’Usine Nouvelle.

It is in this perspective of offering guarantees that the TeraLab platform joined the consortia of two European projects from the H2020 program: BOOST 4.0 (January 2018) and MIDIH (October 2017). The first project brought together 50 industrial and academic partners, including 13 pilot plants in Europe. The project is intended to create a replicable model of a smart industry in which data would form the basis for reflections on operational efficiency, user experience and even the creation of a business model. This level of ambition requires significant work on interoperability, security and data sharing. “But it is clear that Volvo and Volkswagen, both members of the Boost 4.0 consortium, will not provide access to their data without first experiencing a certain level of trust,” explains Anne-Sophie Taillandier. A platform like TeraLab allows companies to benefit from technological and legal advantages that make it a safe workspace.

The MIDIH project, on the other hand, seeks to provide companies with the technological, financial and material resources required for developing innovative solutions for the industry of the future through sub-grants. “In practical terms, the H2020 project will finance calls for projects on logistics, predictive maintenance and steel cutting and will offer support to successful applicants,” the TeraLab director explains. The companies selected through these calls for projects will be able to develop proofs of concept for solving industrial problems experienced by SMEs. They use platforms like TeraLab to accomplish this, since they “provide the assurance of the sovereignty and cybersecurity of the data the prototypes will produce.” For these companies, the ability to use an independent platform of this magnitude is truly beneficial in accelerating their projects.

A platform recognized at European level

TeraLab’s involvement in these projects is also due to the recognition it has earned at European level. In 2016, the Big Data Value Association (BDVA) granted TeraLab its Silver i-Space Label. This recognition is far from trivial, since BVDA leads the European private-public partnership on big data. BOOST 4.0 is the result of reflection carried out by this same partnership, which works to advance the major issues that industrial stakeholders have presented to the European Commission. “The context of the European Commission is incredible because many different stakeholders gravitate there, but within a given theme, everyone knows each other,” Anne-Sophie Taillandier admits. “The Silver i-Space Label awarded in 2016 provided both recognition from big data stakeholders and strategic positioning within this environment.”

In Europe, few platforms like TeraLab exist. Only ten hold the Silver i-Space Label—the highest level—held by TeraLab, the only French awardee of this recognition. It therefore represents a valuable gateway to involvement in European projects. “It legitimizes our responses to calls for bids such as these two projects on industry 4.0,” says the Director of the platform. The industry of the future is a topic TeraLab had already worked on before joining the MIDIH and BOOST 4.0 projects. “One of our strengths, which was recognized by both consortia, was our ability to develop a community of researchers and innovators on this subject,” says Anne-Sophie Taillandier. She also reminds us that the industry is not the only theme TeraLab has explored in the context of in-depth projects. This offers good prospects for TeraLab to be involved in other European projects on other specialized areas, such as healthcare.