At Synengco, we are big believers of innovation in business. Research & Development is a major part of our activity, with a variety of ongoing projects across different industries. We feel it is important to help drive innovation through collaboration and partnerships with universities, other research-driven organisations, government and industry bodies.
We are always open to research opportunities, so please get in contact with us if you have a request or require any information in relation to this matter.
Here is some information on previous, current and up and coming research projects we are involved in:
OIIE and FEnEx
Synengco has joined an initiative consisting of various partners, research organisations, government entities and industry bodies known as the Open Industrial Interoperability Ecosystem (OIIE).
A digital ecosystem is a complex network of various components and stakeholders that connect online and interact digitally to create value. Interoperability and strategically minded growth is the key to a digital ecosystem’s success.
The OIIE is a specification developed in a global program led by MIMOSA. They work in collaboration with several other Industry Standards Developing Organizations, particularly those engaged in the OpenO&M Initiative.
Industry participants provide functional requirements framed as OIIE Use Cases, Scenarios, and Events, which are then validated in the MIMOSA-managed OIIE OGI Pilot. Collectively, this provides a framework for multiple stakeholders to collaborate more efficiently and effectively via digital formats. Stakeholders can then focus on developing value-added applications and systems leveraging their own core competencies and areas of interest. At the same time, they collaborate with each other to provide comprehensive solutions composed of their interoperating applications and systems.
The Future Energy Export CRC (FEnEx CRC) is a Cooperative Research Centre for the energy industries sector. It aims to provide industrial-scale innovation, both to ensure Australia’s vital LNG exports remain competitive and to grow Australia’s emerging hydrogen export industry. The work will be based on globally unique facilities for industrial-scale demonstration, deployment of multiple high-value technologies & processes, and concurrent education & training programs for workforce and leadership.
Synengco will be working in this project to assist in accelerating the digital transformation of the energy sector by formulation and piloting a specification for interoperability of digital analytics technologies. Synengco’s own SentientSystem® will be providing its performance monitoring, real-time optimisation, early warning and fault detection capabilities across the energy plants. Most importantly showing how SentientSystem®, an advanced analytical solution, is capable of interoperating with other systems. Partners included in this project are:
FEnEx has 4 themes:
- Efficient LNG Value Chains (core)
- Hydrogen Export and Value Chains (core)
- Digital Technologies and Interoperability (cross-cutting)
- Market and Sector Development (cross-cutting)
The OIIE fits within program 3 (Digital Technology and Interoperability). The following diagram from FEnEx shows how the programs interact.
Find out more about the FEnEx and its various research programs
i-Hub
i-Hub brings together leading universities, researchers, consultants, building owners and equipment manufacturers to create a connected research and development community in Australia. It aims to facilitate the heating, ventilation, air conditioning and refrigeration (HVAC&R) industry’s transition to a low emissions future, stimulate jobs growth, and showcase HVAC&R innovation in buildings
The i-Hub initiative is led by the Australian Institute of Refrigeration, Air Conditioning and Heating (AIRAH). Participants include:
- CSIRO
- Queensland University of Technology (QUT)
- University of Melbourne
- University of Wollongong
- and is supported by the Australian Renewable Energy Agency (ARENA).
Synengco will be applying its Early Warning System (EWS) and Real-Time Optimisation (RTO) systems to two of the i-Hub living labs:
- The Fernhill Residential Aged Care
- The Queensland Children’s Hospital
Our EWS uses machine learning and predictions to detect changes in the buildings expected behaviour. As a result, the building management team and i-Hub participants will receive early warnings of threats that enable them to react instantly to prevent faults, saving time and money.
Synengco will also be applying our RTO system to the Living Laboratories. By looking from a whole-of-system & whole-of-life perspective, the RTO monitors and predicts where the operation is now and where it can go. This will provide decision support for opportunities as well as provide system control to apply optimisation techniques to make and sustain significant improvements in real-time.
Find out more about the i-Hub initiative
Digital twin assisted cybersecurity intrusion detection system
Synengco is currently exploring the potential of applying digital twin technologies to aid in the detection of cyber incidents within critical infrastructure. A project is currently in its conception phase and is being formulated in collaboration with the research team at Griffith University.
This project will enhance the cybersecurity of cyber-physical systems and industrial control systems by using digital twin technology to:
- Monitor and detect anomalies
- Identify the root cause of cyber incidents
- Analyse the impact of incidents and help determine the best response
With more smart systems connecting to open networks such as the internet, assets are becoming vulnerable to cyber-attacks. Adversaries in modern warfare zones are targeting these systems as information-gathering tools and as precursors to kinetic attacks.
Existing cybersecurity incident response and security event and incident management systems are very network protocol and packet focused. Our approach to using digital twin technologies will provide a system engineering approach to cybersecurity.
SmartSat CRC (via Asset Institute)
The SmartSat CRC is a consortium of universities and research organisations, partnered with industry, funded by the Australian Government. It aims to develop know-how and technologies in the following areas:
- Advanced telecommunications
- IoT connectivity
- Intelligent satellite systems
- Earth observation next-generation data services
The impact of this research will be to develop intellectual property and a specialist industry expertise that will spawn new businesses, create export economic value and generate new high-tech jobs for all Australians.
Synengco has joined the CRC with the Asset Institute industry body to aid in the analysis of satellite data. Our offering for the research program is providing actionable insights from processing the massive amounts of data in space and beaming back the more insightful data for further processing.
Sponsored PhDs
Synengco is proud to work with PhD students to develop capabilities and skills and encourage innovation. Two of our own employees have completed their PhDs working in conjunction with Synengco:
- Talara Berry: Decision support systems for Solar Cooling and Thermal Energy Storage.
- Samuel Patterson: Optimising the operational energy efficiency of an open-pit coal mine system