Two interviews inform about the institute's current developments in machine learning and in the research on Alzheimer's.

• Prof. Dr. Hofmann-Apitius talks about the results of the recently completed flagship project AETIONOMY. This project, funded by the European Commission and the Innovative Medicine Initiative (IMI), has succeeded in developing the first version of a mechanism-based taxonomy for the diseases Alzheimer's and Parkinson's. Hofmann-Apitius hopes that the use of virtual patients will lead to an enormous acceleration of research in this field. Cohorts of virtual patients are created on the computer and their behavior hardly differs from real patients, who are often not available for the necessary investigations.
   

• Prof. Dr. Jochen Garcke describes machine learning as a key technology for cognitive systems, digital assistants, and intelligent products. In Garcke's department, for example, data from vibration sensors on wind turbines has been investigated. Machine learning methods have been used to detect anomalies indicating a layer of ice on the rotor blades. However, it turned out that the data contained additional information indicating future damage, too.

Another article in the annual report describes research and development in the field of so-called digital twins. The article deals with several aspects of this trendsetting topic.

The annual report is available for download:
s.fhg.de/ar1819