Dan Yu is Innovation Manager at Siemens Research Hub in Berkeley, where he promotes technology innovation of Web of Systems jointly with universities and global technology partners. The WoS team in covers Industrial Internet of Things for industrial automation, building technology, smart grid and human-robot interactions. He was Founder and General Manager of Siemens Innovation Center in Wuxi, China, where Siemens initiated an innovation platform to jointly address problems in Chinese manufacturing industry with local customers. Prior to his current post, Dan was Technical Manager in Siemens Corporate Technology, a branch of Siemens research in China. Dan got his Master’s degree from Munich University of Technology (TUM). For the significant contribution to industrial identification, he was also recognized as one of Siemens Inventors of the Year in 2010.
Idea behind the Web of Systems (WoS) is to connect the virtual world of data with the real physical world. That works by using web technologies like standardized web protocols to make industrial devices and equipment smart. These smart networked devices interact with and understand one another, because the data they generate and the functions they offer carry its meaning. This enables us to simplify engineering, makes devices and systems more flexible and robust and enables value-added services. Of course this vision is accompanied by lots of technical challenges, which are also addressed in the lecture. The lecture also presented practical ways to make Web of Systems a reality, with inspiring concrete examples to motivate audience to advance innovations in this direction.