Scientific codes are often created for a single, specific application and run locally. This severely limits their impact and usefulness to others. nanoHUB elevates scientific computation into the cloud and provides easy access to users around the globe. This allows scientific tools for various applications as well as the generation of scientific data to converge under one roof. It allows company R&D to become more efficient and accurate in designing products. By tapping into "big data," companies can gain knowledge and insights resulting in significant competitive advantage. This I-Corps project addressed the question of whether an online scientific simulation gateway, such as nanoHUB, has the ability to become part of a self-sustainable ecosystem and whether nanoHUB can grow and thrive within that ecosystem. We evaluated the hypothesis of scientific simulation in the cloud being an effective and useful tool for industry. The initial "technology-oriented" thinking led the team to believe the existing content and underlying technology of nanoHUB are the most valuable assets, and to focus on repackaging them to cater toward industry. However, the various companies interviewed did not show a strong interest in just the technology and the existing content, but in the solutions it could deliver. Guided by the "customer-oriented" approach in the Lean Startup Method, the team focused on industries with high cost of failures that can be addressed by simulation services. This case study supports the premise that a simulation service hub such as nanoHUB can be self-sustainable if its services can dynamically conform to the needs of industry, rather than being a passive vendor. In terms of broader of impacts, nanoHUB has the potential to impact the high-tech community by inducing a fundamental paradigm shift in how scientific simulation and data are used. Small companies, especially fresh startups, need not reinvent the wheel, instead tapping immediately into nanoHUB's vast simulation network on the cloud for their product design - similar to how microelectronic foundries have taken the expensive fab out of the equation and spurred the creation of small, fabless, design-only companies. Companies with access to nanoHUB will become less restricted by local computational resources and more productive with a larger arsenal of simulations tools to provide specific solutions to their problems. This also decreases wasteful investment in building redundant software. When the barrier for companies to enter is lowered, competition increases, resulting in better and cheaper customer electronics.

Last Modified: 07/29/2019
Modified by: Gerhard Klimeck