Mathematics as a technology unites sectors and creates innovation | Digital - Innovation Origins

“The future depends on the combination of humanities and mathematics.” That’s what Janne Brok, director of Sioux Lime, says.

Photo: Sioux Lime

The company uses mathematics as a technology for optimizing processes. A broad field where different sectors come together. “Innovations start at the intersections between sectors, but especially when it comes to the cooperation between alpha’s and beta’s.”

Sioux Lime, a subsidiary of the service provider Sioux, focuses exclusively on mathematics as a technology. They support companies in various sectors, from logistics to artificial intelligence. According to Janne Brok, the market for the so-called Mathware is continuing to grow every day. “For example, a customer wants to boost the speed of their machine. Then it is possible to rotate the dial so that the machine runs faster, but at some point some components will break down. We are able to use mathematical formulas in order to find out precisely where things go wrong and rectify any problems.”

Mathware is also able to contribute on the basis of emerging technologies such as artificial intelligence en machine learning. “For instance, we have developed an application that allows asbestos particles in samples to be detected more quickly,” Brok explains. “Now, highly educated people are sitting in laboratories all day long looking at images in order to detect asbestos. Machine learning can help with the initial selection. This way, photos can be disregarded that definitely do not show asbestos. That saves a lot of time. It helps to make the process more reliable, cheaper and faster.”...

Service Provider
Sioux Lime started out as one of the departments at the Faculty of Mathematics at Eindhoven University of Technology (TU/e). “There is a lot of academic knowledge available on how to improve processes. However, this is still relatively little used. As a result, there are many opportunities for making products and processes cheaper, faster or better,” Brok says. “Sioux Lime was founded as a service provider in that specific area.” It fits in seamlessly with the services of Sioux, its parent company. These mainly concentrate on software, mechatronics and electronics. “At Lime, the focus is entirely on mathematics as a technology. It can be used across all markets,” she explains.
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Source: Innovation Origins