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CORE Group takes on 7 new EU research projects
Author: CORE Innovation Centre
20th November 2023
CORE Group and CORE Innovation Centre are continuing on our trailblazing EU research journey, participating in a total of 7 new Horizon Europe projects. Our new research projects, which focus on the digital and green transitions, will help us put our expertise to good use, always focusing on our four CORE missions; Digital Transformation, Digital Tools, Digital Twins and Green Industry.
The new projects bring our total to over 40 research projects, ongoing or completed, and increase our research budget to over 13 million €. We are very excited for our participation in all these new projects, a preview of which you can get below, and look forward to working with our partners to deliver impactful change through machine learning.
M4ESTRO
M4estro aims to revolutionise manufacturing with its trust-based Manufacturing as a Service (MaaS) platform, offering proactive resilience and disruption readiness. It aims to unite industrial stakeholders for secure service exchange and emphasize workforce development. The platform analyses internal and external factors, aiming for reduced process ramp-up times, enhanced efficiency, lower costs, and job creation, ultimately delivering a significant return on investment for the consortium. M4estro, beyond a research project, can serve as a transformative force for industry resilience and sustainability.
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As part of the project, our team will create an optimisation engine to assess product entry into the value chain, providing ranked paths based on resiliency. The results are going to be displayed on an interactive web application, featuring frontend and backend connections, fetching industrial capacities, visualising optimal paths and calculating efficiency and resiliency scores. Under the M4estro framework, resilience strategies are going to be adjusted for each pilot, addressing multiple level manufacturing processes, value networks, human-centricity, and manufacturing assets by focusing on both the component-level development (vertical) and the process chain implementation (horizontal).
Our team will also drive dissemination and communication activities for the project, establish a strong visual identity, utilise diverse channels, and spearhead Intellectual Property Rights management, exploitation planning, and the development of sustainable business models for the M4estro solution.
METAWAVE
The Metawave consortium’s main goal is to implement advanced microwave-based heating systems in high-temperature heating processes in process industries, to enhance process efficiency, reduce energy consumption and lower greenhouse gas emissions. The project also focuses on integrating renewable energy sources through Virtual Power Plant configurations, accompanied by a smart Energy Management System (EMS), and fostering industrial symbiosis, ultimately achieving significant energy savings, emissions reduction, productivity increase, and economic growth for multiple stakeholders.
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Our research team will lead the development of a smart EMS tailored for industrial microwave furnaces, forecasting the power demand and effectively managing the energy sources and storage components. Furthermore, we aim to utilise data-driven techniques, employing Machine Learning and Artificial Intelligence models, to support the development of a Digital Twin for modelling and optimizing the heating process. The findings of the EMS and the Digital Twin will feed a Decision Support System, accompanied by a friendly User Interface, so users can monitor and control of the heating process.
Additionally, we will define the necessary principles and provide support in the selection of scalable architectures, targeting to make the process industries metaverse-ready. Finally, our team will take charge of the exploitation and innovation management of the project, aiming to develop an exploitation roadmap to launch the Metawave technologies to the market.
CARDIMED
Cardimed is a ground-breaking project which aims to unite efforts for Climate Resilience in the Mediterranean region. As part of Cardimed, a digital framework that will be developed to harmonise Nature Based Solutions (NBS) data by engaging communities through smart tools and a multi-stakeholder strategy. Adopting holistic modelling tools for the Water-Energy-Food-Ecosystems (WEFE) Nexus approach, the consortium will aim to address socio-ecological challenges across 9 demo sites, using 47 distinct NBS for a total 83 interventions across sites. Participating regions and communities will establish the Cardimed Resilience Alliance, which will function as a vehicle for the expanding network, via upscaling existing sites and adding new ones. The project expects to have 28 regions and 70 communities by 2030, creating 8000 NBS sector jobs, leveraging 450 million € in climate investments. With 5 defined replicable use cases and the aim to identify 10 more through the project, Cardimed will lead in building a resilient, sustainable future by transforming aspirations into impactful realities.
Follow CARDIMED on LinkedIn and X (Twitter) to stay in touch with project updates.
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CORE will contribute on the refinement activities of user requirements and will develop a cloud-based orchestration middleware for efficient data handling across diverse sources, ensuring security and scalability. We will also focus our efforts on industrial symbiosis through smart water management in the HALCOR demo site, developing designs for NBS and auxiliary solutions such as Digital Twins. Our innovation team will also contribute to the overall exploitation and wider outreach of the project’s outcomes.
SM4RTENANCE
The Sm4rtenance project is a transformative endeavour focused on improving the manufacturing industry through data-driven predictive maintenance and dynamic asset management services. It encompasses various tasks, from harmonising embryonic data spaces to developing innovative service models such as Manufacturing Asset as a Service (MAaaS). Focusing on technical building blocks, data quality standards, digital twin technologies, and AI model development, the projects aims to revolutionise the way the manufacturing sector works. In addition, the project addresses regulatory compliance and GDPR and promotes a collaborative, cross-sector approach.
You can find out more about the project on its dedicated website, or through following our consortium on LinkedIn and X (Twitter).
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Our team will orchestrate and execute a comprehensive commercial exploitation strategy for the consortium, involving the monitoring and planning of commercial viability through market studies and concrete partner plans, integrating the Sm4rtenance solution into various product lines, technology enhancement, academic research, and knowledge transfer within research centers. We will also be involved in collaborative net-zero operation services for asset energy efficiency & low carbon dioxide footprint, with a focus on innovative data spaces.
TERRAVISION
Terravision aims to revolutionise the critical raw materials value chain with its integrated Earth Observation (EO) Mining Services Platform. Supported by four innovation pillars, the Terravision platform will leverage data from the Copernicus satellite, ground radar, drone, and in-situ sensing for comprehensive monitoring. Our consortium will introduce a novel framework for processing multisensory EO data, creating an open and standardised raw material spectral library. The EO services will cater to the mining industry's critical needs, including mapping of materials, mineral exploration, extraction rates, and hazard mapping for proactive risk management. A Green & Resilience Accountability component will be developed, to ensure sustainability by quantifying environmental and socio-economic impacts throughout mining phases. Demonstrated in the EU and beyond, and validated at 6 mining sites, Terravision can pave the way for impactful systemic innovations with EU-wide significance.
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Our team will lead the UX design and user feedback phase, employing a co-creation approach to craft a user-friendly web development tool. This component will focus on delivering a modern web tool for monitoring and analysing data, incorporating advanced technologies and visualisation techniques.
We will also take on exploitation and innovation management activities of the project, analysing Key Exploitable Results (KERs), exploring exploitation routes, and assessing innovation potential. Intellectual Property Rights (IPRs) considerations, value proposition design, and sustainable business models for market-oriented KERs will be key activities driving our team forward. We will aim to address market uptake challenges for by analysing internal and external market barriers, developing roadmaps for commercializing KERs, and conducting competition and SWOT (strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats) analysis, to understand market dynamics and the competitiveness of the Terravision solution.
ARGUS
The Argus project aims to address challenges in monitoring remote built heritage assets, with a focus on preventive preservation. It aims to create a novel Digital Twin model for heritage, which will assist in the development of advanced digitization strategies, portable measurement systems, and AI-driven threat identification, assisting informed decision-making for the preventative preservation of heritage assets across Europe.
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Our role in the project is to develop the Argus Decision Support System (DSS), a key component of the project that provides real-time actionable insights on risk assessment and mitigation. The DSS will leverage data collected from various sources to monitor damage thresholds and offer rich visual analytics, infused with predictive capabilities. It will also integrate external information on standards, protocols, and mitigation plans to enhance decision-making and safety measures for existing heritage assets.
GLAS-A-FUELS
The GlaS-A-Fuels project will focus on producing advanced biofuels, such as butanol and hydrogen, from non-land and non-food bio-wastes, to address energy security and environmental concerns.
It will employ a holistic approach, combining recyclable catalysts and a unique photonic glass reactor powered by solar energy to maximize the effectiveness of photo-amplified single-atom catalysts. This innovative process aims to achieve high catalytic performance and challenging reaction intermediates. The project leverages expertise in materials science, catalysis, laser technologies, and process control to develop efficient and sustainable production methods for these advanced biofuels, contributing to the EU's climate-neutral goals by 2050.
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CORE Innovation Centre will have a high level of participation in the project, putting our technical, exploitation, communication and dissemination skills to use. Our engineering team will develop an intelligent software control system to explore various control theories, employing actual and virtual sensors. CORE aims to engineer the lab-scale solar reactor, by integrating it with process monitoring sensors and the control system which is embedded in an IoT-based system, leveraging different wireless technologies for high-level control and real-time monitoring.
Our innovation team will play a key role in maximising the project's innovation potential by evaluating the potential for the development of widely marketable solutions, the readiness of the industry for innovation, and innovation management. This includes creating an innovation roadmap and a detailed exploitation plan, as well as establishing suitable Intellectual Property Rights (IPR) protection methods, based on the technologies developed by the consortium.
Our communication team will collaborate with partners to ensure the consortium successfully reaches out to all stakeholders with its solutions and research finding. We will be leading dissemination and communication efforts, creating a distinct visual identity for the project and transmitting information using all relevant communication channels (social media, industry press, brochures, posters, newsletters, etc.). Additionally, we will hold technology transfer seminars, to present project results and facilitate integration of the Glas-A-Fuels solutions into targeted value chains, focusing on industrial trade fairs and scientific conferences.
CORE Group explores the rich history of wine
Author: Mina Tsatsani
November 1st 2023
This week, our team went on a thrilling guided tour of the Oenotria Land Vineyard, organized by our friends over at The Wine Connoisseurs. Our team went on a trip of wine through the ages, got to learn more about how wine is made (and tastes), and got the chance to qualify our very own wine connoisseurs in the process!
CORE’s wine trail started from our offices in the south of Athens, where our team gathered before heading to Kapandriti, in the north of Attica, to visit the Costa Lazaridi Oenotria Land vinery and wine museum. On our way, our guide from the Wine Connoisseurs offered an introduction to the history of wine in Greece, the trail vine cultivation followed starting from Macedonia and Crete, and the way wine has been consumed in the country since ancient times.
At the wine museum
Once we reached Kapandriti, we embarked on a guided tour of the wine museum, which boasts an extensive collection of exhibits dating as far back as the 17th century AD. Our team discovered the history of vine cultivation in an interactive way and got a glimpse into the processes of wine distillation and balsamic vinegar production. Our guide explained the different cultivation and distillation techniques used for various types of wine, the influence of grape-growing latitude, the significance of the region, and the stringent standards that shape the flavor of the wine. We finished off our tour with the aging process of wine and balsamic vinegar.
Wine tasting
Following our tour, we jumped straight into the highlight of our visit; wine tasting, accompanied by charcuterie. Our team tried out a wide variety of Lazaridi wines, identifying the distinct aromas of each one – and munching on the snacks offered by the Lazaridi team.
The making of a sommelier
We closed the day off with a competition. Our people split in different teams depending on their designated CORE mission and the types of projects they're working on! We split into four teams, Digital Transformation, Digital Twins, Digital Tools, and Green Industry. Each team was given one of the wines we all tried out during the tasting, and we had to guess the aromas, which wine we were given and answer questions on the history of wine. The winning team, Digital Twins, was given bottles of wine and certificates, qualifying them as our CORE wine connoisseurs. If you ever need a sommelier, CORE now has you covered!
Till next time
We headed home with our bellies and hearts full, and big smiles on our faces – nothing to do with our day drinking. It was a lovely day of bonding for our growing CORE team. A big thank you to Domaine Costa Lazaridi and the tour organizers, The Wine Connoisseurs.
CORE Group at the Thessaloniki International Fair
Author: Alexandros Patrikios
September 22nd 2023
CORE Group participated at the 87th Thessaloniki International Fair that took place in Helexpo last week. Our team joined the expo with a custom booth, presenting CORE Innovation Centre, our research and innovation powerhouse, and COREbeat, our all-in-one predictive maintenance platform.
For the first time in its history, CORE Group was there at the 87th Thessaloniki International Fair with its core products, to meet new partners and collaborators and introduce them to our unique company culture, focusing on our four missions; digital transformation, digital tools, digital twins, and the green industry. The spotlight was on CORE Innovation Centre, our non-profit research organisation, and our signature predictive maintenance product, COREbeat. Nikos Kyriakoulis and Stefanos Kokkorikos, co-founders and managing partners of CORE Group, were there to greet attendees over the first weekend.
Our research powerhouse
CORE Innovation Center is your one-stop shop for Industry 4.0 and Energy & Resource Efficiency R&D. With an ever-growing network of strategic partners across the EU, Core IC is a leader in funding activities and technology development. Amongst the 40+ research projects CORE IC has been involved in across many sectors, we chose to spend some time on one of our key projects, Twin4Twin. Twin4Twin is an EU Horizon Widening project which aims to build an industrial ecosystem around the core principles of Industry 4.0, while elevating the research profile of CORE IC and its staff.
You can find out more about the project here.
Our signature product
While there, we also presented COREbeat, our all-in-one AI-infused Predictive Maintenance platform. COREbeat is the only predictive maintenance solution to provide with sensors and computation on the edge of your machine, with a box the size of a credit card. The product comes with backend and cloud computing capabilities, machine and deep learning, and an intuitive user interface to visualize sensor data with AI results. The product has already been validated in more than 18 use cases in different industries, and it only takes two hours to set up.
You can find out more about the product here and request a demo directly.
Lovely faces
It was a pleasure to spend the full week at HELEXPO, greet old partners and discuss on potential new collaborations with our expanding network. We got to share our CORE vision with over 300 attendees who stopped by our booth for some chitchat. We look forward to next year’s fair, with even more to share with all of you!
CORE wins in EYDAP competition | Predictive maintenance against water waste
CORE wins in EYDAP competition
Predictive maintenance against water waste
Author: Eleni Natsi
January 18th 2023
At CORE, we pride ourselves on adopting a different mindset with innovation ingrained deep in our DNA. Therefore, we are more than excited that we were selected among 150 ideas from Greece and won the second prize in the EYDAP InnoChallenge competition for our predictive maintenance solution that detects and ranks defective utility water meters.
The InnoChallenge competition was organized by EYDAP, the largest water supply and sewerage company in Greece in collaboration with MIT Enterprise Forum Greece and with the support of the Hellenic Corporation of Assets and Participations S.A. (HCAP).
The competition, which attracted great interest from private sector companies, startups and groups of researchers and scientists, is part of the HCAP Innovation Challenge series. The HCAP Innovation Challenge series was designed by the members of the HCAP Innovation Network (public corporations operating in critical sectors of the Greek economy) in collaboration with MITEF Greece to facilitate HCAP portfolio companies to develop, post and run their competitions with incentive prizes for challenges they find worth addressing.
The challenges published on the HCAP Innovation Challenge platform are primarily data-driven and require a combination of skills, knowledge and hard teamwork to solve. Through them, portfolio companies are looking for innovative solutions that are difficult to specify and therefore difficult to price but can bring great value and efficiency to their operations. In addition, the HCAP Innovation Challenge can serve as a national testing ground for the development of innovative, data-driven applications developed by local and international teams using technologies ranging from Big Data and machine learning to IoT and 5G networks.
Teamwork makes the dream work
Having a solid background in predictive maintenance, acquired after years of involvement in relevant EU-funded projects and with the development of COREbeat, our predictive maintenance platform, the challenge we undertook was to detect the possible faulty utility consumption hydrometers that currently exist in the water supply system of EYDAP, by using raw data from the field.
Our great team of engineers, Apostolos Chondronasios, Ioannis Meintanis, Ioannis Livieris, Manthos Kampourakis and Spyridon Fourakis rolled up their sleeves and developed a predictive AI algorithm that detects and ranks defective utility water meters.
Our prediction algorithm had the second-best performance in the competition category “Algorithm for predicting faulty utility consumption hydrometers in the water supply system of EYDAP” and our team received the prize in an awards ceremony held on the 24th of March in Athens.
We are honoured to have participated in this incentive prize competition with our innovative solution that can contribute substantially to the timely and efficient detection of faults and, consequently, to the reduction of water waste.
The EYDAP Innovation Challenge was an excellent opportunity for us to put our knowledge and experience to good use and to challenge ourselves with a significant real-life problem.
The prize we took is a strong incentive to continue the hard work, towards the delivery of sustainable solutions for the digital transformation of various industries, with the common good in mind.
A Day Spent Differently
30th November 2022
We at CORE Innovation have always put forth an effort to help people and organisations realise their full potential. This pursuit comes with the realization that for many individuals among us, this journey starts with a disadvantage, one that can be difficult to overcome. That’s why we recognise that advocating for the transformation of industries and organisations alone is not always enough, and in the spirit of offering, we decided to dedicate some of our time in the service of another cause, to help, to offer some comfort and relief.
On the 30th of November, we spent the day at the facilities of the social initiative ‘O Allos Anthropos’, a social kitchen active in Athens, Greece, that offers free food for those in need. We helped prepare and distribute food, as well as clean the kitchen for the next day’s work. The initiative, which has been widely awarded and recognised, was established in 2011 by Konstantinos Polychronopoulos. It has responded to some of the worst crises offering free food and has been steadily setting up a Day Centre in Keramikos district in Athens, offering a wide range of support services (from childcare support to hygiene facilities for the homeless) as an open space.
You can support the initiative by donating food, money, or volunteering work.
CORE brings in 6 new landmark projects under the Horizon Europe framework (2021-2027)
Under the Horizon Europe framework (2021-2027)
CORE brings in 6 new landmark projects
Author: Mike Mantzavinos
20th July 2022
CORE brings in 6 new landmark projects under the Horizon Europe framework (2021-2027).
2022 has seen CORE so far participating in 6 project launches under the new Horizon Europe framework. After joining the 6th kick-off meeting for this year, the team takes a moment to reflect on the significance of this new phase of EU’s strategic funding as well as what it means for the CORE team.
The new projects, most of which involve green and digital transition, mark a phase of maturity and recognition for our team. CORE’s experience -counting 19 projects in EU's Horizon 2020 framework programme (2014-2020)- has cemented the company’s footing as a research and technology partner, a reliable collaborator in innovation management, as well as an expert partner in communication and dissemination work for such projects.
What is Horizon Europe?
Horizon Europe, the EU’s Key funding programme which runs from 2021 to 2027, sets new goals, procedures, and principles, aiming to tackle both European issues and global challenges. Energy transition, resilient industries and cities as well as health and societal transformation feature high on the agenda of this new phase of EU R&I funding. The fund’s new direction includes reinforcing and extending the leading position of the Union’s science base, driving forward European industrial resilience and competitiveness, and cultivating innovative ecosystems which will support market-creating breakthroughs.
Horizon Europe also includes key innovations resulting from lessons learned from the previous H2020 framework. Namely, an open science policy has been set in place, with the goal to further advance the diffusion of expert knowledge. New approaches to partnerships, extended association possibilities and the establishment of the European Innovation Council complete the novelties that aim to scale technological breakthroughs, support the market-uptake of innovations and realize the required green and digital transitions. The new strategic approach brings the framework in closer alignment with our own vision as a company and finds us growing towards a partner which can support the totality of Horizon Europe’s ambitions by adhering to our founding mission. That has always been to offer more industries, companies and people the opportunity to fulfil their true potential.
The projects and CORE’s contribution
For CORE, the newly initiated framework marks a new chapter for the technical arm of the team, building on an already highly successful trajectory so far. Strongly positioned in the field of manufacturing transformation with 11 industrial related projects spanning to various other EU funding frameworks, the team has accrued critical expertise in the research and innovation field which has come to be known as ‘factories of the future’. The team is now part of 4 new Horizon projects in the same area of interest: Ambiance (cluster4 – digital, industry and space), s-X-AIPI (cluster4), Circular TwAIn (cluster4), and RE4DY (cluster 4).
Moreover, OPTIWISE (cluster5 – climate, energy and mobility) project, focused on the transition of the maritime industry, completes the set of the new Horizon Europe projects, along with INPERSO (cluster5), a project aiming to bring digital technologies into the Building and Construction sector.
Ambiance project will work to develop and showcase disruptively innovative bio-based products in different sectors and manufacturing processes, while also demonstrating applicability in daily-life products, starring green urban areas that will lead the transition to sustainability.
CORE will be leading the efforts of developing an efficient framework for acquiring, correlating, synchronizing, and processing data, which will be applied in both data-driven and physics-based models. The team will also develop an advanced Decision Support System (DSS), aiming to optimize the machines’ operating parameters, as well as identify possible strong relationships among them. To further optimize the manufacturing parameters, CORE IC will co-lead the development of accurate hybrid Digital Twins, composed by physics-based and data-driven models.
s-X-AIPI will see the development of novel AI applications in the field of process industries. New data pipelines, architecture and realistic datasets from 4 use cases will be coupled with an autonomic manager aiming to create smart solutions which will minimize human-in-the-loop involvement while also exhibiting self-improving abilities.
CORE’s technical contribution will focus on developing algorithms involving quality prediction of products, based on sensorial data, recipe optimization and automating the deployed models’ optimization and re-parametrization, including keeping the human operators in-the-loop. Moreover, our Profit Simulation Tool will be deployed to explore the profitability of the s-X-AIPI business model and simulate the exploitation phase. The team will also be leading the work package relating to the communication and dissemination of the project.
Circular TwAIn, also involving the manufacturing and process industry, will see the development of an AI platform for circular manufacturing value chains, which will support the development of interoperable circular twins for end-to-end sustainability.
CORE will contribute to the design of the reference architecture and the distributed intelligence system, along with developing appropriate #dataspaces for communication exchange and provide AI enabled #digitaltwins based on deep neural networks.
Furthermore, CORE IC will lead the effort of developing an exploitation strategy plan with the aim to maximize the impact of the novel AI Platform towards a more sustainable manufacturing value chain. We will be responsible for ensuring the replicability of the project, while liaising with other AI in manufacturing projects, clusters, and initiatives.
Last, the team will also be leading the Dissemination and Communication activities, expanding the project’s impact and boosting awareness within the defined target groups.
RE4DY project plans to demonstrate how European Industry can jointly create unique data-driven manufacturing and supply networks. The consortium will build on the previous Zero Factory (zero defects, zero breakdowns, zero waste…) framework, to realize large scale distributed data-driven industrial and manufacturing networks.
CORE Innovation Centre will have an active role in the technical design of the digital 4.0 continuum framework architecture, which relates to the cognitive digital twin, as well as the self-service analytics and manufacturing data spaces. CORE IC will also participate in the development of the AI platform and more specifically, in tailoring enriched Machine Learning models via federated learning, and delivering model deployment and integration as part of the digital 4.0 continuum open toolkit. Regarding the use cases, CORE IC will contribute to setting up the pilot use cases and carrying out large scale on-site trials, in order to validate the factory 4.0 operations and produce insightful benchmarking data.
In the exploitation phase, CORE IC will lead the development of the RE4DY exploitation plan, which will outline the roadmap for launching the RE4DY technologies and their market uptake.
OPTIWISE is one of the two cluster 5 (climate, energy and mobility) projects of CORE where the team will be supporting the effort to test and further develop concepts of wind propulsion in maritime applications, while also developing new holistic vessels design, architecture and control methods to significantly improve energy savings in maritime transport.
Our main role will be energy performance monitoring and optimization of wind propelled ships towards decreased emissions and higher energy efficiency. The main tasks include the development of an energy management system (EMS) that will make decisions on the hybrid use of conventional/wind propulsion aiming at increased energy savings. The EMS will be adjusted for the needs of two demo cases of the project. Additionally, CORE will lead the Communication, Dissemination and Exploitation activities aiming to maximize the project’s impact.
INPERSO project will work towards integrating digital technologies into the Building and Construction European sector. Constituting a holistic deep renovation programme of both residential and heritage buildings which tackles challenges throughout a building’s lifecycle, the project aims to bring the Building and Construction sector into the digitalized era.
CORE Innovation Center’s involvement in the project will be quite extentensive, including technical, innovation and communication activities.
Our team will lead the development of a Multi-Stage Energy Consulting System (MuSECS), which will be achieved through the use of Artificial Intelligence and Machine Learning tools combined with energy data from heterogeneous sources as well as information from the energy grid provider and external services. CORE IC will also contribute to the Asset Health Monitoring module which includes condition and anomaly detection.
The team will bring its extensive expertise in the innovation work package where we will apply standardization and certification, ecosystem empowerment efforts, project development cycle and sustainable innovation management. Finally, CORE IC’s communication department will be responsible for crafting a unique digital identity, including the visual identity, document templates and website as well as other setting up other communication channels.