Register Interest

Thank you for your interest in the Smart Design Innovation Network. Please use the form below to register your interest in joining a working group. A member of the NCC digital team will be in touch to share more information. 

As a working group member, you'll attend quarterly sessions to define the scope of the group and identify the development pathways that will differentiate UK capability. Membership of each group is voluntary, with no fee.

Further details of each working group can be viewed below. 




 

Certification by Analysis

The Certification by Analysis working group aims to reduce reliance on slow and costly physical testing, and undertake more testing in the virtual world. Determining a framework to manage validation, traceability, uncertainty and risk for new virtual testing techniques will build regulatory confidence over time. Transforming how design engineers interact with compliance, standards, and regulatory requirements will also streamline routes to certification.

The group works towards:

  • Delivering the route (Policies, People, Processes and Tools) to achieve certification through analysis.
  • Delivering test techniques and enabling infrastructure to build trust in numerical simulation tools and processes.
  • Developing standards to manage risk and uncertainty to the same level - or higher - than traditional methods.
  • Establishing body of evidence traceability and interrogation techniques to facilitate type certification.

Augmenting Engineering Practices

The Augmenting Engineering Practices working group explores how designers can be augmented by next generation AI tools, and how effective human-AI interaction can be achieved in the context of design. Human-centric techniques have the potential to transform design, expand and accelerate concept solution creativity, and reduce through-life and environmental impact. 

The group works towards:

  • Expanding the use of artificial intelligence capabilities to capture human know-how and support robust decision making.
  • Maximising the exploitation of current and emerging computing platforms.
  • Enabling full lifecycle simulation through the use of integrated, variable fidelity simulation and innovative analysis process.
  • Understanding user psychology and adapting creative front end of design.

Enabling Engineering Collaboration

The Enabling Engineering Collaboration working group analyses innovative approaches to data sharing and model management, developing the concept of an integrated digital thread which can streamline product innovation, drive change management efficiency, and transform supply chain integrations. Central themes include interoperability of IT systems, enterprise model-based thinking, and digital transformation of supply chains.

The group works towards:

  • Delivering innovative approaches to data and model management across supply chains, compatibility, verifiability and IP ownership.
  • Enhancing change management through model-based enterprise standards, innovation and adoption support + increasing digital enablement within the supply chain.
  • Demonstrating effective exploitation of manufacturing and through-life Digital Twins to deliver next generation product innovation.
  • Establishing new techniques for exploitation of workflows and tool chains to scale up collaborative, agile modelling of systems.

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