ESGI 2025: Mathematics Meets Industry at the CRM

Over the course of five days, ESGI 2025 turned the CRM into a collaborative lab where mathematics tackled questions raised by industry. From safer autonomous driving systems to smart water resource allocation and the financial uncertainties of wind power, participants worked hands-on with real data, constraints, and expectations. 

From July 14 to 18, the Centre de Recerca Matemàtica (CRM) hosted the 2025 edition of the European Study Group with Industry (ESGI), a long-standing initiative that connects academic researchers with industry professionals to solve complex real-world problems through applied mathematics. The event, co-organised with Math-In and PT-MATHS-IN, brought together participants from across Europe in a dynamic, collaborative workshop format.

Structured around three industrial challenges proposed by Sener Mobility, Cetaqua, and EDP, the workshop offered a unique opportunity to apply advanced mathematical tools to real, unsolved problems in mobility, resource optimisation, and energy.

Real problems. Real constraints. Real-time solutions.

Sener’s challenge focused on developing a next-generation Advanced Driver Assistance System (ADAS) to support safer overtaking manoeuvres, a functionality still absent in most commercial systems. Teams worked with the open-source CARLA simulator to design and test a prototype ADAS, modelling sensor behaviour and constructing diverse virtual driving scenarios involving weather, traffic, and road degradation. The mathematical demands were high: from probabilistic modelling under uncertainty to optimisation under strict performance constraints like reaction time and accuracy.

Cetaqua, the water research and technology centre, asked participants to optimise the combined use of multiple water sources (groundwater, surface water, desalinated, reclaimed, and network water), each with different costs, flows, and qualities. The goal: to meet specific demands while ensuring output quality and respecting environmental and regulatory constraints. The problem required balancing realism and simplicity in a non-linear system where treatment efficiency depends on source quality.

EDP’s challenge addressed the little-understood area of volumetric risk in renewable energy production. Unlike price risk (which can be hedged through Power Purchase Agreements), energy volume is inherently weather-dependent, making revenue streams unpredictable. Participants explored how to model and mitigate this exposure, especially for wind energy, where traditional financial tools fall short in simultaneously managing both price and volume volatility.

Participants came from a wide range of institutions and countries, including Portugal, Spain, Finland, France, Georgia, Norway, and Italy. Teams were composed of early-career and senior researchers, working side-by-side with industry representatives and academic supervisors throughout the week.

The event was guided by a scientific committee made up of Emilio Carrizosa (Universidad de Sevilla – Math-In), Ricardo Enguiça (Instituto Superior de Engenharia de Lisboa – PT-MATHS-IN), Ana Moura (Polytechnic of Porto – PT-MATHS-IN), and David Romero (CRM). The CRM’s Knowledge Transfer Unit (KTU) coordinated the event on the ground.

ESGI proved that mathematics is more than a theoretical pursuit; it’s a powerful tool for navigating real-world complexity, bridging academia and industry.