AIM project: Núria López leads €4M EU push on AI waste recovery

The only computational project in the portfolio

AIM is the only computational project in the group. Digital twins are virtual replicas of real objects and processes built with computer models. Using artificial intelligence and simulation, AIM will create models linking microscopic-scale processes to the behaviour of whole devices. The twins will be connected to the technologies of the other projects and will support their computational simulations.

Researchers will be able to test ideas virtually, compare approaches on a computer and spot problems before building an industrial-scale recovery device. That could reduce the need for pilot plants, which can be very expensive, and help teams decide, based on computational evidence, which solutions to pursue before real-world testing.

"With AIM we want to understand these systems as a whole, not as separate pieces," said Professor López, the project coordinator at the Catalan Institute of Chemical Research (ICIQ). Combining AI with multiscale simulation, she said, links what happens at the smallest scale to the performance of the full device.

Partners and policy context

The University of Jyväskylä (Finland) and Ruhr University Bochum (Germany) will develop the core simulation methods, while EPFL in Switzerland leads multiscale modelling. Matgenix (Belgium) supplies the AI tools and DIFFER (Netherlands) supports experimental automation. ICIQ will also integrate experimental and computational data, and AGATA Communications (UK) will lead outreach.

The project arrives as Europe works to cut waste and emissions and reduce reliance on fossil resources. It is aligned with the European Green Deal, REPowerEU and the Fit for 55 package.