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Dr. Michael Grieves is a world-renowned expert in digital twins and organizational digital transformation, focusing on product development, engineering, systems engineering, manufacturing (including additive manufacturing), and operational sustainment. He is the original thinker behind the concept of digital twins and has authored influential books on product lifecycle management and key papers and chapters on digital twins.
Dr. Grieves has provided consultancy and conducted research at prestigious global entities such as NASA, Boeing, Unilever, Newport News Shipbuilding, and General Motors.
With over 50 years of combined executive and technical experience in large corporations and entrepreneurial ventures, Dr. Grieves brings a wealth of knowledge. He has held senior executive positions in Fortune 1000 companies and startups, established and led a national systems integration firm to go public, and chaired audit and compensation committees.
Additionally, his board service spans multiple countries, including the United States, China, and Japan. He holds a bachelor’s science in computer engineering from Michigan State University, an MBA from Oakland University, and a doctorate from Case Western Reserve University.
Virtual and digital twins are often used interchangeably. In fact, according to Dr. Grieves, there is no difference: “Technically, there’s no such thing as a virtual twin. Everything is instantiated in something, whether in atoms, or bits or our mind’s brain synapses,” he says. “I am sort of famous for asking, ‘What is the difference between a digital twin and a virtual twin?’ And the answer is a marketing department.”
However, some companies differentiate to help customers select the type of products or services they need. For example, Dassault Systems explains, “Digital twins are simply a digital form of an object; its virtual version. However, virtual twin experiences, which are what we [..] provide to everyone, from our largest clients in traditional industries to healthcare researchers to individuals redesigning their homes, are much more powerful than digital twins. Virtual twins provide the ability to 3D model everything around you and then test and simulate to ensure your model is perfected.”
With the continuous advancements in technology, the potential applications of digital twins are endless. From manufacturing, healthcare, urban planning, and transportation, digital twins are utilized everywhere: “I started with aerospace and automotive, but now I have citations for almost anything you could think of,” says Dr. Grieves.
“There are digital twins of human hearts, so you can figure out what heart ablation will do. There are digital twins of buildings and cities. I’ve seen it used in archeology, where they create a digital twin of something they’re working on to capture where it is at that particular time. Then, they can destroy it to go down a level for further discovery. Digital twins exist in monetary systems and manufacturing processes.”
In the automotive industry, digital twins simulate vehicle performance and optimize design before physical production begins. In urban planning, digital twins enable city planners to model various scenarios and make informed infrastructure development or disaster preparedness decisions. Transportation authorities also utilize digital twins to monitor traffic flow and identify areas for improvement in real time. “A digital twin is replication and is used anytime I want to know what’s going on without having to be physically next to the thing that I’m interested in,” he says.
There is one exception, though, “The one thing I will mention is we will never have a digital twin of the human mind,” says Dr. Grieves. The complexity of brain functions, consciousness, emotions, and the intricate web of neural connections make it nearly impossible to create an accurate digital twin of the human mind.
Digital twin technology advanced slowly at first but has picked up pace in the last decade: “It now can do what I thought it could do in the early 2000s. When I first proposed the technology, I could see where it would go, but we didn’t have the computing capacity yet to do things like crash testing automobiles in a digital environment, for example,” says Dr. Grieves. “Since about 2015, this has really started to take off, and you have started to see exponential mentions of digital twins. Computing, computing storage, and communications capability have caught up with the idea.”
Integrating Internet of Things (IoT) devices and sensors has allowed real-time data collection and monitoring, making digital twins even more accurate and valuable. Additionally, using artificial intelligence (AI) and machine learning in digital twin development enables predictive capabilities, helping businesses anticipate and prevent issues before they occur.
Moreover, with the emergence of blockchain technology, there is a growing interest in utilizing digital twins in supply chain management. By creating a secure record of each stage of a product’s life cycle on a blockchain ledger, companies can have complete visibility into their supply chain and identify areas for improvement or risk mitigation.
There are many benefits to implementing digital twins. The primary benefits are resource conservation and cost-saving. “If I want to crash test a physical automobile, it’s very expensive and time-consuming. Also, I can only do certain crash tests, such as a front-end crash test, side crash test, etc. With the digital twin, I can do with every point of the compass and every orientation to see where the crumple zones are. With no added expense,” says Dr. Grieves.
He continues, “My whole premise is that information is a replacement for wasting resources, and that’s why digital twins apply to pretty much every. Unless you have no waste at all, you should have a digital twin to make you more effective and efficient.”
Here are some other benefits of using digital twins:
As with any new technology, there are challenges and hurdles to implementing digital town: “The biggest challenge I have noticed so far is cultural. Overeager younger staff members walk into their boss or the board and say, ‘Give me a billion dollars, and I’ll give you a full-blown digital twin.’ And that’s just not necessary. But on the other hand, there is senior level leadership who have never seen anything like this technology before,” explains Dr. Grieves.
“So, since it will cost so much money, and they have never seen it before and have no idea if it will work, the idea gets tabled. So we’re fighting two things: digital natives so wrapped up in the technology that they forgot that it has to also create value or it’s not going to be funded, and senior management who has no idea how this works, and therefore, they just want to do the same thing that they’ve always done.”
Another challenge is the need for significant data and computing power. Building an accurate digital twin requires vast amounts of data from sensors and devices and heavy computing capabilities to process and analyze that data. This can be a barrier for smaller companies or organizations with limited resources. Security is also a concern regarding digital twins, especially in industries like healthcare, where sensitive patient information is involved. It’s essential to ensure secure communication between the physical asset and its digital twin to prevent potential breaches.
Despite these challenges, the potential for digital twins is immense. As technology advances, we may see even more sophisticated applications of digital twins in various industries. “Right now, we are in a phase where digital twins are ad hoc and one-off. If I want to do a digital twin of a whole city, it is very difficult because everybody has their own digital twins, and none of them talk to each other. So, currently, we are headed towards solving that with digital twin interoperability,” predicts Dr. Grieves. “We’re going to move into metaverse capability. You’ll have platforms where you can bring your digital twin, and they will connect with other digital twins.”
This interoperability will significantly increase the potential of digital twins, allowing for more comprehensive and accurate simulations. Additionally, as AI and machine learning advance, digital twins may become even more predictive and self-learning. They could potentially make autonomous decisions based on real-time data and constantly improve their simulations without human intervention. “Digital twins will permeate everything. As more digital natives continue to be born, we see this technology integrated and adopted in places we never imagined, like virtual shopping,” he says.
Overall, digital twins have the potential to revolutionize industries and improve efficiency, sustainability, and decision-making processes. The key is to approach their implementation carefully and focus on value creation rather than just technological capabilities. With proper consideration and utilization, digital twins will be the future of how we design, monitor, and optimize systems in various fields. It is essential for organizations to explore the potential of this technology and stay ahead of the curve in an ever-evolving digital landscape.
For organizations considering implementing digital twins, here are some tips to keep in mind:
“This is an incremental, evolutionary sort of thing,” Dr. Grieves says. “Don’t try to boil the ocean or try to understand it fully. Pick one use case scenario that creates value and look at ways of experimenting with digital twins in that area. Get familiar with them slowly,” he encourages. “This is not a destination. It’s a journey. If you understand the basic concepts, then figure out small wins you can get by moving in this direction.”
With a keen understanding of the challenges and opportunities in higher education, Kimmy Gustafson regularly contributes insightful articles to OnlineEngineeringPrograms.com, providing readers with a comprehensive view on the evolving landscape of engineering education since 2019. She has interviewed many engineering experts on a range of subjects, including geoengineering.
Kimmy has been a freelance writer for more than a decade, writing hundreds of articles on a wide variety of topics such as startups, nonprofits, healthcare, kiteboarding, the outdoors, and higher education. She is passionate about seeing the world and has traveled to over 27 countries. She holds a bachelor’s degree in journalism from the University of Oregon. When not working, she can be found outdoors, parenting, kiteboarding, or cooking.
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