Simulating Smart eco-Systems

Sustainable Cyber-Physical and Cyber-Cyber Systems for Simulating Smart eco-Systems | School of Computing and Engineering

Dr Colin Venters from the University of Huddersfield has been working with several academic institutions from across the globe to address research challenges presented in creating computer models that imitate or replicate dynamic and diverse smart ecosystems, in order to provide sophisticated features and capabilities in real-time through the Huddersfield Smart House Research Facility.

The Project

Funding from the University of Huddersfield's International Collaborative Fund provided a unique opportunity to bring together a range of expertise from international institutions, laying the groundwork for collaborative research.

The project involved creating digital tools to enhance the research capabilities of the Huddersfield Smart House Research Facility based on the University’s campus that would allow for data collection, analysis and visualisation at different levels of complexity for different stakeholders. Stakeholders, such as energy providers and policymakers, would benefit from better-informed decisions and the ability to facilitate simulations to optimise operations and understand phenomena in closed environments.

The impact of this work opened up new opportunities for innovative investigations, including using Big Data analysis, artificial intelligence (AI) and machine learning (ML) techniques that can be applied virtually and adapted to various fields of application.

Simulating smart ecosystems is not just an advancement in technology, it is the cornerstone of a sustainable future; it's a crucial pivot towards future resilience, which enables us to simulate design solutions that not only predict but also adapt to the dynamic challenges of our world.

Elisa Yumi Nakagawa, University of São Paulo, Brazil.

International Partnerships

Dr Venters recently published a Sustainability in Computing Education: A Systematic Literature Review in collaboration with Anne-Kathrin Peters from KTM Stockholm, alongside collaborating researchers from the Universities of Madrid, Bergen, Amsterdam, Linköping, Lisbon Nova, Porto, Göteborg, Lappeeenranta, and the Roegen Centre for Sustainability.

About the Researcher

Dr Venters is a Reader in Software Engineering at the University of Huddersfield. He is a founding member of the Sustainability Design Alliance and co-author of the Karlskrona Manifesto for Sustainability Design. He is course leader for the Software Engineering programme and the Deputy Director of the newly established Centre of Sustainable Computing. Dr Venters is also a visiting academic associated with ATLAS@CERN and provides software engineering expertise to improve the sustainability of core software systems, e.g., A Common Tracking Software (ACTS) etc. through software quality analysis, architectural reviews and audits, and refactoring of the software architecture.

Find out more about Dr Colin Venters.