Engagement in EU projectsProfessor Roger Woods

CTO27 May 2014

About me

CTO of Analytics Engines Ltd.• Accelerated Analytics for Big Data • Technical company direction for company• Monitoring/engaging in funding opportunities for

company

Professor of Embedded Systems, Queen’s University• Leads a research group of 10 people in embedded

systems for image processing and telecommunications

• Considerable experience of computer platforms particularly Field Programmable Gate Arrays (FPGAs) based acceleration

• £2.4M of current grant support

ContentsAnalytics Engines

Review of current EU projects• Handhold• Panorama• Nanostreams

EU project journey• Nanostreams

Misconceptions

Final thoughts

Who we are

Analytics Engines is a leading provider of acceleration products, focussed on providing optimal performance without technology bias.

Our Mission

To improve application performance by enhancing the speed and efficiency of software algorithms through hardware acceleration.

What we do

We provide our suite of accelerators, which can be easily integrated with existing software to provide increased application performance.  This performance boost leads to significant commercial advantage, allowing increasingly complex analytics and enhanced real time processing of Big Data.  

Our History

• Company founded in 2008• Spun out of world leading ECIT Institute at Queens

University Belfast• Commercialising output from a long-term advanced

research programme in hardware acceleration and FPGA processor design

• Deep capabilities in high performance system design, and hybrid data processing platforms

ContentsAnalytics Engines

Review of current EU projects• Handhold• Panorama• Nanostreams

EU project journey• Nanostreams

Misconceptions

Final thoughts

EU projectsHANDHOLD (HANDHeld OLfactory Detector) • Use of sensors/low power embedded computing for improved

mobile detection devices to complement dogs in security.  • Security Theme of FP7

Partners • Ireland (NUI, UCC, Irish Revenue Commissioners, Scorpion Net.) • UK (QUB, Analytics Engines)• Germany (Karlsruhe Inst. Of Tech)• Portugal (Instituto de Novas Technologias)• Defendec Ou (Estonia)

Details• Total cost:  3,495,805€ (April 2012 – August 2015)

EU projects (cont’d)

PANORAMA: Ultra Wide Context Aware Imaging  • A ENIAC framework 7 project (Public-private partnership on

nanoelectronics that brings together ENIAC Member/Associated States, EC and AENEAS (an association representing European R&D actors in this field)).

• Highly sophisticated image processing technology has now has an established role in our lives, • move from ‘single-’ to ‘multi-view’ -> performance

Partners Armines, Analytics Engines, Bosch Security Systems, CMOSIS, CycloMedia Technology, Eindhoven Univ., Grass Valley, IBBT-FMI, INRIA, Medisys, Philips Healthcare, Q-Free, STMicroelectronics, Technolution, Thales Angenieux, University of Catania, University of Leeds

Details• Total cost:  22,800,000€ (April 2012 – August 2015)

EU projects (cont’d)Nanostreams: A Hardware and Software Stack for Real-Time Analytics on Fast Data Streams• A framework 7 ICT project• Data deluge is an unprecedented challenge for the computing

ecosystem• Micro-server architecture and a scalable software stack that

addresses the unique challenges of real-time analytics on streaming data.

Partners QUB, Analytics Engines Ltd, Neueda Consulting Ltd (UK) ACE Associated Compiler Experts B.V., (Netherlands)IBM Research GMBH, Credit Suisse Bank, (Switzerland)Foundation for Research and Technology Hellas (Greece)

Details• Total cost : 4,676,795€ (Sept. 2013 – Aug. 2016)

EU projects (cont’d)Nanostreams: A picture worth a thousand words

ContentsAnalytics Engines

Review of current EU projects• Handhold• Panorama• Nanostreams

EU project journey• Nanostreams

Misconceptions

Final thoughts

How did Nanostreamsstart?Approach from academia at Queen’s University Belfast

Neither an EU ICT Work Programme nor targeted call• Clearly identified challenge that merits investigation from

strong consortium

Critical mass in the financial trading sector in Belfast• Extreme performance requirements, at odds with technology

trends towards energy‐efficient servers

Solutions considered required disruptive changes that span the entire computing software & hardware stack• Not be solved by a university, SME, or even multi‐national• First hint to consider an EU project

How did Nanostreamsevolve?Context• Real‐time analytics on streaming data require extremely high

performance and low latency

Critical for important markets: capital markets, forensics • Currently supported by servers with high total cost of

ownership 

Idea• Can a low‐cost server be used instead?

How did NanostreamsEvolve into an EU project?

Contemplated several funding alternatives• Hard to involve SMEs and industry as funded partners in RCUK• Limited funding, small “demos” supported from instruments like

TSB

Critical mass of expertise available in the UK but important components missing• Compilers for application‐specific processors• Major server vendors not UK‐based

The consortium

ContentsAnalytics Engines

Review of current EU projects• Handhold• Panorama• Nanostreams

EU project journey• Nanostreams

Misconceptions

Final thoughts

Misconceptions

Is EU project involvement too difficult?• Network

• Projects actively need SME involvement• Identify clear goals

• Remain focused on your company’s priorities• Use as opportunity for future R&D

• Avoid major involvement • Don’t lead an EU project (or even workpackage)• Plead admin poverty!

Is EU funding too hard to get?• Projects need SME involvement• Identify strong partners with EU experience

Misconceptions

What are the financial implications?• May fund your proposed R&D plans• Be aware of the funding regulations• Shift towards partial payment upfront

Doesn’t EU projects take too much work/time? It can do but you should…• Focus of what you want/can offer in terms of partnership• Don’t be badgered into doing something you don’t want! • Avoid leading a EU project• Set sensible achievable objectives

ContentsAnalytics Engines

Review of current EU projects• Handhold• Panorama• Nanostreams

EU project journey• Nanostreams

Misconceptions

Final thoughts

Final thoughts

Getting involved• Cordis (http://cordis.europa.eu/)• InvestNI

… more involved• InvestNI• Networking e.g. Linkedin• Attend focused meeting event• Engage with local/national research units

Numerous advantages• Customers• Funding ‘cushion’

Final thoughts

Go for it!

Engagement in EU projectsProfessor Roger Woods

CTO27 May 2014