Double grant success for University and leading AI firm Digital Transit Limited

Double grant success for University and leading AI firm Digital Transit Limited

The University of Huddersfield has expanded its collaboration with leading AI-focused business Digital Transit Limited through two new Innovate UK grant-funded research projects.

The funding amounts to £200,000 and focusses on breakthrough uses for AI and digital technologies within industry.

Professor Simon Parkinson from the Department of Computer Science is the University lead on both projects and will be working closely with Dr Howard Parkinson, director of DTL, a global specialist in condition monitoring, safety critical software assessment and cyber security. Dan Basher, a product engineer at DTL, is leading the technical development of the projects at DTL.

The larger of the two projects - Resilient Energy Digital Grid Engine (REDGE) - includes £150,000 of funding over 12 months.

It aims to revolutionise the resilience and efficiency of renewable energy systems through developing an advanced digital twin platform integrating condition and cybersecurity monitoring. This project presents a ground-breaking approach to infrastructure monitoring and analysis, addressing key challenges in the renewable energy sector.

Academic colleagues within the School of Computing and Engineering bring a vast array of expertise to the project. Professor Andrew Ball and Dr Robert Cattley bring expertise in condition monitoring, Professor Wenxian Yang in renewable energy engineering, and Dr Duke Gledhill in Games development.

The second collaboration - Rail AI-Powered Optimisation and Review System (RAPORS) - includes £50,000 of funding over six months.

It aims to leverage AI technologies to enhance the assessment processes for safety-critical software and documentation within the railway industry. This project will automate the review and compliance checks against industry standards - cutting down on what can be a very time-consuming and laborious process across dozens of documents. This work will build on the use of AI for cyber security assessment in rail, led by DTL employee and PhD student, Regan Bolton.

Professor Parkinson, who is Director of the University's Centre for Cyber Security, welcomed the funding success for the University and DTL. Of the REDGE project, he commented: "This project presents a ground-breaking approach to infrastructure monitoring and analysis. Leveraging our existing digital twin technology, we propose a first-of-its-kind immersive environment that seamlessly integrates condition monitoring and security information sources, enabling the analyst to visualise critical information and be alerted to any attack.

"This integration creates a novel analysis platform, allowing analysts to visualise both data streams overlaid on a realistic, 3D representation of the real environment. This unique perspective enables the swift identification and explanation of anomalous cyber and physical behaviour, ultimately leading to faster generation of actionable intelligence.

"What sets the project apart is its focus on integrating robust cybersecurity monitoring directly into the digital twin framework. This integration allows for the continuous monitoring of cybersecurity threats and vulnerabilities, significantly improving the resilience of energy infrastructures against potential cyber-attacks."

Dr Parkinson, whose firm is headquartered at 3M Buckley Innovation Centre next to the University, commented: "We're really pleased to be working closer with the University of Huddersfield on these exciting new projects funded by Innovate UK. The REDGE project is all about making renewable energy systems stronger and more efficient by combining digital twin technology with top-notch cybersecurity. It's a new way of keeping these systems running smoothly and safely.

The RAPORS project is also a game-changer, using AI to make checking safety documents in railways quicker and easier. It'll save a lot of time and make things more reliable. At Digital Transit Limited, we're always looking for practical ways to use new technology, and these projects are a great example of that."

Both projects began in October 2024 and run alongside an existing University research collaboration with DTL - a three-year £456,000 Innovate UK grant-funded project which will enable companies to conduct their own "cyber readiness" checks for the first time using a new software tool.

Innovate UK is the country's national innovation agency, which supports business-led innovation in all sectors and technologies, helping businesses grow through the development and commercialisation of new products, processes, and services.