Engineering an efficient and sustainable future requires building a powerful technological base from which to deliver ambitious ideas.
When it comes to rail car inspection, the automated technology pioneered by US-based digital infrastructure provider Duos Technologies is a game changer.
The company’s machine vision and artificial intelligence systems are able to scan rail cars in real time, even when they’re travelling more than 200 km/hr. Building 360-degree profiles of each car in seconds, the technology alerts maintenance personnel of any anomalies within a minute of detection.
It was an ingenious concept, but bringing it into reality involved partnering with computing solutions company Dell Technologies.
“They came up with an idea at Duos, and Dell Technologies helped them develop and deliver the executable part of that with the technology stack,” said Chris Tottman, Dell’s Territory Account Executive for Western Australia and South Australia”
“We were able to focus on the day-to-day challenges that the engineering team goes through and help save them time and money using our artificial intelligence edge and data centre solutions.”
It’s that kind of partnership Tottman forms that helps the engineers he works with boost the efficiency, quality and sustainability of their project.
“We deal with all forms of engineering: mining, civil, defence, software development. Our mantra is ‘creating technologies that drive human progress’,” he said.
“And Dell supports all aspects of engineering by providing technology that allows engineers to develop a concept, get support to actually make a proof of concept, and then ultimately to produce a product for profit that leads to better, more efficient outcomes for customers.”
The possibilities of AI
When Tottman looks at the trends in the technology space that are shaping the future of the engineering businesses he works with, one clear one stands out.
“Obviously we tend to work a lot with artificial intelligence,” he said.
“Most people on the planet are acutely aware of AI, and companies like Dell are enabling that. We’re trying to drive an intelligent adoption of the technology.”
Tottman has watched AI develop over the past decade from data analytics and machine learning processes to the immensely influential generative AI products now put out by companies like OpenAI.
“We’ve gone through the age of collecting data and now we’re in the analytics age where you start using that data to generate outcomes with automatic computational facilities,” he said.
“In the last six months, I’ve seen AI become prevalent everywhere. And, ultimately, the specific application of AI within a business, especially an engineering business, will be around creating time efficiencies.”
For engineers, though, that means a lot more than using ChatGPT to write quicker emails. AI, Tottman said, is a powerful tool for helping create realistic vision of conceptual ideas in very early stages.
“If you have an idea about what a suspension bridge across a freeway might look like, we can explore how many ways it might be achieved,” he said.
“We’re starting to see the technology used to design some almost artistic bridges, which are then constructed to bear weight. As long as you’re using an AI model that can be validated and traceable, being able to output the mathematical equations underpinning that idea will save you time and complement the team responsible for it.”
A brighter future
Making the most of this efficient, analytics-powered future requires building a powerful technological base to work from. That’s where Tottman and his expertise comes in.
“While our customers are the domain engineers in mining, civil and defence, Dell provides the underlying computing and infrastructure engineering that enables their work,” he said.
“We are an end-to-end portfolio provider, so we have the benefit of being able to control the entire stack and recommend what’s going to be the best fit for the best cost.”
The engineers Tottman works with use an emerging technology stack, and each part of that has requirements that go beyond the straightforward corporate services layer. He looks to find an outcome that fits the requirement and achieves the best return on investment.
He’s also focused on ensuring these solutions are as sustainable as they can be.
“Our technology solutions are intended to be as green as possible, to consume less power than previous generations of infrastructure, and provide the best tooling and access that an engineering community might need to do its job,” Tottman said.
“With an IT equipment stack, power is one of the key things that customers need to consider when making any purchase or investment. We provide technology such as Titanium-certified power supplies, which are highly efficient and result in very little loss of power to heat.”
Dell is committed to implementing circular economy processes into its business wherever possible as well.
“We have had internal project objectives with creating sustainable devices where we will encourage our customers to give laptops back,” Tottman said.
“We absolutely don’t want to see those devices in landfill; we want to take them back and reuse the components in new technology that, by very definition, is going to be evolving over time.”
What excites Tottman about this process of replacing and superseding technology with newer and better technology ideas is that it is only speeding up.
“I’ve seen the compounding of the demand that humanity places on infrastructure, but it’s the emerging technology and the more esoteric ideas on the operations side of a business where all the cool stuff is happening.” he said.
“At Dell, we like to think more holistically about what our customers are trying to achieve. There are so many different ways to achieve an outcome with a technology stack.”
Find out more about how Dell’s technological expertise can help you achieve smarter and more efficient engineering outcomes at the Dell website. Use the passcode: EA for up to 15% discount on selected products.
