Jordan Kyriakidis’s eyes light up and his voice rises when he talks about what the Internet of Things could mean to his company, QRA Corp.
During a recent interview, Kyriakidis outlined the possibilities of QRA’s technology, which helps machine manufacturers detect problems with their designs early in the development process. As machines grow more complex, with more digital and autonomous features, the attractiveness of the QRA technology is bound to increase.
“We started off in aerospace, but we work with other machines like autos and trains,” he said. “And when the Internet of Things gets going, our system will be perfect for it.”
The development of the QRA software began five years ago when Lockheed-Martin, the world’s largest defence contractor, came to Dalhousie University with a problem. It wanted Dal researchers to look into ways to detect design flaws in big machines before the company had sold them.
Kyriakidis has a PhD in theoretical condensed matter physics from the University of Basel in Switzerland and is an associate professor of physics and atmospheric science at Dal. He headed the project, which eventually led to the creation of QRA, which stands for Quantum Research Analytics, to commercialize the team’s work.
“They’re finding the design errors at a very late stage, and at that point it costs a lot of money to fix them.”
Kyriakidis said the problem is that components of machines are often designed in isolation so the manufacturer has no way of knowing how all the parts will work with one another in the real world.
QRA’s tools can analyze and validate how system components are put together and work together, all in the design stage. It can detect any faults before the machine is actually built. These tools are based on rigorous mathematical approaches and can detect errors that conventional testing cannot, said Kyriakidis.
“This ultimately leads to lower development costs and timelines, and higher systems confidence.”
QRA believes a more rigorous systems engineering approach is needed to help create the next generation of robust, safe, software-driven industrial infrastructure.
The next big advance in industrial machines is likely to be the Internet of Things, in which machines communicate with each other and react in real time, carrying out tasks more quickly and accurately than a group of humans could. There are estimates that the segment will be worth $19 trillion by the end of the decade and that 50 billion devices will be connected to each other.
As the Internet of Things becomes a reality, its complexity will increase very rapidly, said Kyriakidis. That will make it more difficult to ensure errors do not infiltrate the machinery and cause possibly catastrophic accidents. QRA’s tools are being developed precisely to help address such problems.
The development of the QRA system has so far cost about $2.5 million, mostly coming from sales to customers.
The three founders — Kyriakidis, Dean Tsaltas and Micah McCurdy — are raising about $4 million in equity and other forms of capital, enough capital to finance the company for about two years. About one-third of the funding will be equity investments, while the remainder will come from customers and a range of programs.
The company now employs 10 people.
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