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A couple of years ago, while teaching his daughter about arctic animals, Dr. Soudip Roy Chowdhury realized that some of the animals would soon be extinct — not for natural reasons, but rather as a result of man-made climate change. This realization prompted Chowdhury, an expert in data science and machine learning, to explore new technologies that would reduce industrial carbon footprints through operational efficiency. Thus was born Cupertino, California-based Eugenie.ai, an AI (artificial intelligence) and IIoT (Industrial Internet of Things) startup.
“In Eugenie, we envision a world where industries, communities, and the environment thrive sustainably,” Chowdhury says. “Eugenie wants to democratize the use of advanced AI and IIoT for industrial sustainability — not only for the big enterprises, but also smaller and medium-sized ones.”
To achieve the company’s goal of creating a “planet-sized” impact, Eugenie is building a scalable technology backbone for multiple industries, including energy, manufacturing, and smart cities. Over the next three to five years, the company will build out a universal platform catering to different markets and business segments, addressing their unique needs related to sustainability and efficiency.
“We are at a pivotal moment in history where our actions can determine the quality of life of our future generations,” Chowdhury observes. “Mindful consumption, effective waste management, and being vigilant of the effects of our actions on the planet are priorities we must teach our children.”
He continues: “We have two choices; indulge in the unsustainable ‘business-as-usual’ model and leave barren earth for our next generation, or pass on the gift of nature to them through our discretion and technology. Every human on this earth should consider natural resources as shared assets, and not something they can utilize only for their personal fulfillment.”
Eugenie’s management learned a great deal about empathy from COVID-19, and Chowdhury considers the mental and physical health of his teams to be essential components of building a successful organization. Transparency and fairness at work, and ownership with accountability are its core values. Work-from-home (WFH) and remote work protocols have made building an organizational culture challenging. At the same time, Chowdhury says, Covid underlined the importance of making personal connections.
Eugenie’s patented tools improve both efficiency and asset reliability, not only helping the environment, but saving companies on operational expenses. Thus far, the company has focused on the biggest industrial polluters. The goal is to reduce emissions, waste, and the carbon footprint of machines and industrial processes alike. “By making their processes and assets more efficient, our tools allow our customers to reduce their carbon footprint and save money in the process,” Chowdhury says.
Traditional methods of process efficiency and energy savings involve static shutdowns and preventive maintenance rituals. AI is a newer, data-driven technology designed to optimize energy usage and waste management in daily operations. For example, AI can make asset failure predictions in order to avoid over-usage of energy. By collecting and processing huge amounts of data in real-time, AI can achieve better savings than non-AI systems that involve workers performing tasks manually.
But Eugenie goes a step further, by educating its customers’ operational staff in understanding asset behavior through “Explainable AI” — a pathbreaking approach, according to Chowdhury. He says that his company has turned traditional AI’s black-box approach into a more user-centric one. The foundation of explainability, traceability of insights, and users-first UI — or the augmentation of physics-based insights with the data/AI-based insights — in Eugenie are inspired by the discovery Chowdhury made while speaking with several maintenance and reliability professionals to understand their pain points. The ultimate goal was to develop powerful machine learning algorithms that would be both proactive and user-friendly.
Chowdhury claims that Eugenie’s digital ecosystem is “super easy” to use and unintimidating. Gone are the days when workers had to live in a constant state of panic, he says, fearing that an unexpected shutdown might catch them off-guard. Now, they can just look at Eugenie’s alerts and notifications on their phone.
As the world moves toward a so-called “net-zero” carbon future, Chowdhury thinks that all industrial companies will need to evaluate their own environmental footprint and consider how best to reduce emissions across different operations. Sustainability is now an obligatory requirement in most industries, he observes, and a safer and greener future is a priority for industries, governments, and investors alike.
“The good news is that with the current technological advancements in Greentech and clean tech, as well as the availability of robust solutions like Eugenie, it is possible to make a viable and smooth transition to sustainability,” Chowdhury says. “Since nature’s resources are finite, industry has an obligation to use natural resources, including energy, efficiently.”
Chowdhury may be a scientist, but it is his role as a father that constantly inspires him to be more empathetic and think beyond the present. “I have learned how to simulate and mimic the future to see my daughter’s life when she reaches my age,” he says, albeit a bit wistfully. “She should not have to face any negative consequences on account of my actions. Her inquisitive nature, ability to learn new skills fast, and innate affinity toward nature motivates me every day to become a better human being and better at my work with Eugenie.”
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Photo provided by the author with written permission.