Project looks at parameterisation and optimisation

Vector Fields of Oxford and the University of Southampton have been awarded a Knowledge Transfer Partnership (KTP) project to develop parameterisation and optimisation software.

Vector Fields of Oxford and the University of Southampton have been awarded a Knowledge Transfer Partnership (KTP) project to develop parameterisation and optimisation software.

KTP is the new name for the Teaching Company Scheme, in which Vector Fields and Southampton have previously worked together.

Vector Fields, a world leader in software for electromagnetic and RF/microwave design and simulation was founded at Oxford in 1984.

Its software is used for the design of electrical and electronic equipment including: motors, tapeheads, display tubes, loudspeakers, transformers, generators, body scanners and antennas.

KTP projects promote the transfer of leading edge technology from the academic environment to industry, while ensuring that business requirements are motivating research at the university.

The new project started in October 2004 with the appointment of Glenn Hawe (the KTP Associate) who graduated with a 1st class honours degree in mathematics and physics at the University of Warwick, specialising in quantum measurement.

Although Hawe is an employee of the University of Southampton during the KTP project, he will work at the Vector Fields Kidlington office most of the time.

The Electrical Power Engineering Research Group in the School of Electronics and Computer Science at Southampton is one of the UK's top academic research groups in electrical engineering.

Prof Jan Sykulski, who leads the group, is Internationally recognised in the field of computational electromagnetics and his team has published extensively in the area of design optimisation.

During the project, the novel methods developed by the group will be integrated into the Opera and Concerto (VF's electromagnetic and RF/microwave packages) environments.

The first tasks are to develop an improved software environment for the underlying structure supporting the multiple analyses necessary for optimisation, closely followed by inclusion of optimising routines.

Later in the project, advanced optimisation, including methods for handling multiple objective functions and experimental design will be added, along with improved parameterisation tools in the 3D modeller.

Integration with 3rd party software tools and exploitation of multiprocessor hardware and networks will also form an important part of the developments.

The project is an important strand in Vector Fields' development programme complementing other projects, and the target deliverables will be introduced to the commercial software as they become available.

Current Opera and Concerto users will have access to this leading edge technology soon after it is developed, allowing them to be confident that the electromagnetic design tools from Vector Fields remain "state-of-the-art".

Back to top