FROM THE DIRECTORS' CHAIRS
Unni Steinsmo, SINTEF's president – CEO
Torbjørn Digernes, NTNU's rector
In the right place at the right time
Published March, 2011
One December morning in 1941, Japanese aircraft bombed Pearl Harbour. The attack led a 27-year-old university professor in California to enlist as a civilian analyst in the United States Air Force. Half a century later, his action has brought benefits to Norway – the land of petroleum.
Among the army of scientists who supported the Allied forces, George Dantzig became a pioneer of operations research, a method that was developed with the aim of supporting good decision-making. The field had originally been brought into being by British scientists who were trying to make sure that the right equipment arrived in the right quantities at the right place on the front – and at the right time!
"GassOpt" demonstrates the power of this sort of collaboration between academia and industry.
Calculations based on operations research played a vital role in deciding the outcome of the war. Ever since, the method has been used to identify the most rational way of exploiting complex transport and production systems. This was the achievement of Dantzig. In 1947, he made a famous mathematical discovery; the simplex algorithm, a technique for numerically solving planning problems. This finding gave us a method that became a "motorway" for subsequent operations analysts.
In the 1990, SINTEF/NTNU scientists developed a simulation tool for Statoil based on Dantzig's work. By combining his method with other well-known theories in a novel way, they created "GassOpt" – a means of visualizing the optimum method of utilizing the transport capacity of the complex network of gas pipelines on the Norwegian continental shelf. According to Statoil, this tool has generated so much added value and insight that it has contributed significant benefits to society.
This particular example is interesting because Dantzig brought together basic and applied research. The American thought of practical applications from day one, and we have been faithful to his attitude. Norwegian industry allowed SINTEF and NTNU to base their calculations on real-life data, and "GassOpt" demonstrates the power of this sort of collaboration between academia and industry.
The research group that developed "GassOpt" was recently nominated to host a new national research centre that aims to provide society with decision-support tools and analysis for the development of a sustainable energy economy. On behalf of the environment, we hope that they will be as successful here as they were with the "GassOpt" project.
