TITAN Group, a leading international provider of building materials and solutions, and the Center for Information Technology Research in the Interest of Society and the Banatao Institute (CITRIS) at the University of California, Berkeley (UC Berkeley), have announced a strategic partnership aimed at accelerating the development of innovative digital solutions, using advanced research to explore new opportunities for the building materials industry and to address some of its most pressing challenges.
The two partners will jointly pursue digital research initiatives designed to deliver prototypes with the potential to scale up and catalyse transformation across the industrial sector. The collaboration aims to generate new, publicly accessible knowledge that will benefit the broader research and innovation ecosystem, while having immediate applications in the building materials sector. By combining TITAN’s industry expertise with UC Berkeley’s world-class academic and research capabilities, the partnership creates a powerful bridge between academia and industry, fostering the development of cutting-edge digital solutions.
The initial phase of the joint research effort, launched on 1 September 2025, focuses on advancing ‘digital twins’ for cement plants – an AI-powered technology that creates virtual models of processes, systems, or entire plants, to simulate and optimise operations. Digital twins enable manufacturers to run their plants more efficiently, make faster and smarter decisions, increase productivity and product quality, reduce energy consumption and emissions, and improve safety for their staff. To that end, the initial focus of the collaboration will be on developing optimisation modules for specific parts of the cement manufacturing process, as well as solutions for enhancing the reliability of assets, using the most advanced data science techniques for AI algorithms and simulated models of end-to-end manufacturing processes.
Commenting on the partnership, TITAN Group’s Chief Digital and Strategy Officer Antonios Kyrkos, said: “At TITAN, we have always embraced experimentation in digital innovation, conceiving, piloting, and implementing at scale digital solutions that revolutionise the way we produce and deliver our products. We believe strongly in the power of synergy to unlock opportunities, overcome barriers, and drive progress, and we have a successful model of leveraging academic partnerships to that effect. Our partnership with UC Berkeley and CITRIS will equip us to push boundaries in AI technologies and pave new ground for both the industrial sector and the research ecosystem.”
Alexandre Bayen, CITRIS Director and Liao-Cho Professor of Electrical Engineering and Computer Sciences at UC Berkeley, said: “We are delighted to partner with TITAN Group on this exciting collaboration. CITRIS faculty are eager to develop digital twin technology in the area of cement manufacturing, a novel application for our researchers and one that will ultimately benefit society through more efficient and safer manufacturing in this high-impact industry.”
Costas Spanos, Andrew S. Grove Distinguished Professor Emeritus of Electrical Engineering and Computer Sciences at UC Berkeley, added: “It is with great joy that we embark on our partnership with TITAN Group on what we believe will be the first of a series of projects that will advance digital innovation in the industrial sector and can transform the building materials industry.”
