Neil Crabb, CEO, Frontier IP

AquaInSilico, a spin-out from Portugal’s NOVA University, NOVA School of Science and Technology has developed sophisticated algorithms, based on deep knowledge of biological and chemical processes, able to understand and predict how they unfold in different operating conditions.

These include detecting possible problems with processes, often before they can be diagnosed by humans.

This will allow companies, such as oil groups, brewers, pulp, paper, steel makers, food processing and waste recovery businesses and municipal wastewater treatment plants, to tune and adapt their treatment systems more effectively, and is expected to save them up to 25 per cent of their operating costs.

AquaInSilico was established to develop and commercialise the research of Dr Jorge Santos, Dr Mariana Matos and Professor Maria Ascensão Reis of FCT NOVA. This team had developed several research projects in environmental and industrial bioengineering in collaboration with several worldwide industry players.

Dr Jorge Santos, AquaInSilico co-founder, said: “We are very excited to be working with Frontier IP on bringing our tools to the market after 30 years of cutting-edge research. We anticipate that these tools will have a high impact on the wastewater industry, as the sector is moving faster towards digitalisation and circular economy.”

Neil Crabb, Frontier IP chief executive officer, added: “AquaInSilico is a further sign of the strong progress we are making in Portugal - it is our fourth spin out in the country, and the third from our relationship with FCT NOVA. The Company’s ground-breaking software tools could transform wastewater treatment across a wide range of industries and lead to other new technologies being developed.”