Address from Scandinavian Simulation Society (SIMS)

• Prof. Bernt Lie, SIMS President

Virtual SIMS 2020: organisations and program structure

• Adj. prof. Esko Juuso, Conference Chair

The Annual General Meeting with the General Assembly shall be held between the 1st August and 20^th October at a time and location decided by the Board. Normally, the meeting is organized at the Annual SIMS conference in the conference venue. The 2020 General Assembly is a virtual meeting.

Recent information is available about the present activities and future plans of the eldist active simulation society of the world. Find how to join this society of societies?

All participants of the conference are warmly welcome to join the meeting at the Track A of the Zoom meeting. 

Chair: Adj, prof. Jari Ruuska, Control Engineering, Environmental and Chemical Engineering, Faculty of Technology, University of Oulu, Finland

Panelists:

• Prof. Peter Fritzson, Department of Computer and Information Science, Linköping University, Sweden:
• Prof. Sebastien Engell, Process Dynamics and Operations Group, Biochemical and Chemical Engineering Department TU Dortmund, Germany
• Dr. Tuula Ruokonen, Director, Digital Services Solutions in Valmet Technologies Oy, Finland
• Prof. Bernt Lie, SIMS President, Department of Electrical engineering, Information Technology and Cybernetics, Faculty of Technology, Natural Sciences and Maritime Sciences, Porsgrunn, Norway
• Senior prof. Erik Dahlquist, Past SIMS President, School of Business Society and Engineering, Division of Automation in Energy and Environmental Engineering, Västerås, Sweden
• Adj, prof. Esko Juuso, Conference chair, Past EUROSIM President, Control Engineering, Environmental and Chemical Engineering, Faculty of Technology, University of Oulu, Finland 

Abstract

The circular economy aims to close the loop to make economy more sustainable and competitive. We have a broad range of technologies related to recycling, renewable energy, information technology, green transportation, electric motors, green chemistry, lighting, grey water, and more. The environment is restored with pollution removal and avoidance. What can we do in practice? Air has been a focus area in industry, energy and traffic. Water treatment has been developed to remove undesirable chemicals, biological contaminants, suspended solids and gases from contaminated water. In industrial processes, closed water circulation is a goal which is beneficial for the environment. Wastewater treatment is needed for purifying contaminated water before returning it to the nature. Is climate change discussion sufficient? Should we take a wide view on the ecosystem?

Thermal power plants are by far, the most conventional method of generating electric power with reasonably high efficiency. Bioenergy takes an increasing portion of the production? Oil and gas hold a strong position in overall energy usage. Biofuels provide new competing alternatives. CO2 capture has taken a high role in research. Are we going to bioeconomy? Is the thermal power a necessity in our energy balance? Sustainable or renewable energy is considered as a future source of energy: water power is well integrated in the energy system; solar and wind are getting more popular; geothermal, wave and tide energy can be locally very important. Electricity is increasingly popular both in solar and wind power. To what level it is sufficient? Where do we use energy? Industry needs high reliable levels. Is the nuclear power a solution? Adaptation is easier in domestic use, but how to do it? Heating and cooling take the highest part. Solar energy can help but needs storage. Geothermal can be used as storage. What is the potential of buildings as storages? Do we need small scale CHP? District heating systems are good solutions to bring the thermal energy to buildings.

In industry, intelligent systems have been developed for integrating data and expertise to develop smart adaptive applications. Recently, big data, cloud computing and data analysis has been presented as a solution for all kinds of problems. Can we take this as a general solution for automation? Wireless solutions are improving fast: 3G, 4G, 5G. But can we transfer signals to clouds and store the data? Is this too much? Where is the expertise? Obviously, local calculations are needed. Are they based on intelligent systems? Transport systems are analyzed as discrete event systems to find bottlenecks and avoid risks. Urban traffic is becoming an important area. Autonomous driving is a hot topic. What is needed to embed this in the urban traffic? Are there analogies with industrial systems? What are the main differences between industrial systems and transport systems? Can we use similar control solutions? What can we learn from other areas? Can we find analogies? What is common? Where do we have differences? What kind of models do we need?

Highly complicated systems with various interactions are at hand. What researchers within SIMS community can do? Do we have tools and methodologies to help in solving these problems?

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