LMS
Internatinal
LMS is a Belgian company, active in the fields of noise, vibration and durability. It provides software solutions and engineering services related to experimental as well as numerical problem analysis, simulation and solution design. LMS employs about 1000 people worldwide (350 at the HQ and R&D centre in Leuven, Belgium), with a turnover over 100 ME/year.
LMS has experience in training projects as host in ‘Leonardo Da Vinci’, individual ‘Marie Curie’ and ‘Vulcanus’ grants and university co-operations (Master and PhD thesis follow-up) such as VIPROM, WISSLE, SQUIRREL, MADUSE and SIMVIA2. LMS is working with leading research institutes within the framework of international research projects such as the European Community Research Framework programmes or the Flemish government research programmes. At any time, LMS has around 15 major multi-partner research projects ongoing. Many of these projects are executed in the context of cooperation schemes such as the EC framework programmes of EUREKA. LMS was coordinator of several of these projects. LMS also managed the INNOVATION project SPINOSA, developing a multi-objective optimization tool based on Design of Experiments. The result of the latter project was commercialised as the software code ‘OPTIMUS’. LMS has a specific experience with large network projects, being the coordinator of the 28-partners network SEANET.
Of special relevance for ECOQUEST are LMS’s research activities in the context of the FP6 Marie Curie RTN project AETHER, focused on aero- and thermo-acoustic phenomena in key energy sectors, and in the Flemish project CAPRICORN, focusing on aero-acoustics for confined flows.
Specific skills for ECOQUEST
LMS has a long-standing expertise in the development of numerical acoustics prediction models, and in the development of hardware and software for acoustic tests. These tools have already been successfully applied to a number of surface transport applications of direct relevance to the present project. LMS has developed sophisticated tools for the prediction of flow-induced noise that involve a detailed description of the unsteady source field and model the radiation properties of these sources. On the experimental side also, LMS has developed advanced multi-channel acquisition and processing systems that will permit gathering complex and complementary data about the acoustic field. LMS is currently implementing advanced probes for the simultaneous measurement of acoustic pressure and particle velocity, which should provide valuable information about the sources, in particular about their near field.
Expected outcome/exploitable results and ’action plan' to get results in use
The valorization of the project results by LMS is multifold. The first track for exploitation concerns the physical modelling activities of the project, and follows a well established Product Creation Process in which LMS promotes scientific and technological outcomes, from their inception throughout software prototyping, validation benchmarks, performance assessments and optimization, to end with the implementation in the software product. This process, which represents the core of the Simulation Division activities, is backed on one side by customer assessments and cross-validations, and on the other side by a marketing and software deployment infrastructure. The presence in the consortium of final users in the automotive and rail transportation fields is very instrumental in this scheme. Furthermore, the research outcomes ECOQUEST will also be leveraged towards other relevant fields of activity such as the energy sector (e.g. wind turbines) and domestic appliances (e.g. CPU cooling fans).
Secondly, the exploitation of the developped knowledge will also be organised through consulting activities offered by the Engineering Services division of LMS. That division provides counselling and engineering solutions, often based on the Simulation Division software developments (but not always), and addresses sectors of activity wich encompass ground, rail and air transportation, the energy sector, and other manufacturing industries.
Thirdly, the scientific results will be disseminated through
the classical channels: publications in international journals
and conference proceedings, presentations at conferences,
participation to workshops and symposia. Beyond the pure
technical interest, these channels support the marketing
activities and facilitate further the exploitation and
dissemination of the ECOQUEST results by LMS. Finally, LMS will
consider the opportunity to patent research outcomes, in line
with the IPR scheme detailed in the Consortium Agreement, in
accordance with the provisions set forth considering joint
ownership and exploitation of background and foreground
knowledge.