Institution news
Catherine will be presenting at the upcoming Simulation and Modelling 2024 conference; for a full agenda and to book your place please visit the event website.
Please could you briefly explain your role, involvement, and experience with regards to the Simulation and modelling industry and this event?
Catherine Noakes (CN): I have worked on infection prevention, ventilation and indoor air quality for many years, and simulation has been an important part of understanding how and where people can be exposed to airborne contaminants, and supporting policy decisions and the development of ventilation and air cleaning technologies.
What, in your experience, has been the biggest roadblock for the industry over the past 2-3 years?
CN: A lack of awareness of the risks associated with poorly ventilated buildings. The pandemic significantly raised understanding of the air we breathe, but healthy building design is still overlooked compared to higher profile issues such as net-zero. The two aspects have to go hand in hand.
What key topics are you excited to discuss at this year's conference?
CN: I am interested to discuss how to combine simulation and data in complex real-world settings. One of the greatest challenges in modelling indoor environments is the continuously changing nature including the impact of weather conditions and human behaviour.
What would you say are the areas of innovation across the UK and internationally within the Simulation and modelling industry?
CN: Physics inspired machine learning techniques are likely to revolutionise the next generation of fluid dynamics simulations, however we really need to understand more around the quality and accuracy of the models.
Who else are you most interested in hearing from on the programme?
CN: I am keen to hear Nawal Prinja talk on PINNS and Ryan Goodman on digital twins.
Why is it important for engineers to join this conference?
CN: Engineering simulation is changing rapidly and it is important that even those who are not directly "hands on" in carrying out simulations are aware of the huge potential advances and also risks associated with AI and machine learning approaches. I also hope that the conference can open up minds to areas such as indoor air and healthy buildings where simulation has to consider human behaviour and factors beyond the physics.
The Simulation and Modelling 2024 conference will take place on 25-26 September 2024 in Birmingham
The event is a comprehensive showcase of the latest techniques and technologies available to practitioners and will provide a crucial forum to address common challenges in model development, complexity, fidelity and speed.
Bringing together simulation practitioners and design expert from multiple engineering sectors, attendees will benefit from fresh perspectives and lessons learned from simulation projects across a wide variety of applications.
Key areas for 2024 include multiphysics applications, the use of digital twins, emerging standards, machine learning, AI and data analysis. For a full agenda and to book please visit the website.