Zeon advances ‘mathematical model-based’ materials R&D

Tokyo – Zeon Corp. and Japanese technology company QunaSys have signed a business alliance agreement to promote the wider adoption of mathematical model-based development in manufacturing industries.

The agreement brings together Zeon's “knowledge and methodologies” in polymer and materials production with QunaSys's mathematical modelling technology, Zeon announced 27 Oct.

The approach is designed to help researchers “better understand phenomena and improve their decision-making” during materials development.

Under the agreement, the partners will roll out the technology to external companies through joint research, proof-of-concept projects and solutions tailored to individual manufacturers' requirements.

The proposed methodology uses mathematical models as predictive tools as well as “a foundation for supporting researchers' thinking and decision-making.”

This involves defining objectives, breaking down factors, organising hypotheses and creating mathematical models that can be verified and updated during development.

The models, Zeon explained, enable researchers to “rationally determine their next course of action” by understanding underlying phenomena and narrowing down the hypotheses requiring verification.

The approach responds to the increasing complexity of R&D, as researchers draw on experimental data, simulations, artificial intelligence and materials informatics.

According to Zeon, the growing volume of data and analysis results has increased the number of factors and hypotheses researchers must consider.

This, it said, make it “more difficult to capture the essence of complex phenomena.”

The latest agreement builds on a capital and business alliance established between Zeon and QunaSys in March 2022.

That partnership aimed to develop a data management platform enabling technologies such as machine learning, automated experimentation and quantum computing to be applied more rapidly to materials development.