Seismic imaging algorithm pioneer S-Cube joins global tech elite with award from cloud computing giant AWS
- UK-based S-Cube rubs shoulders with Intel and Siemens as one of a dozen tech companies praised for their boundary-pushing use of AWS’s processing power
- S-Cube’s XWI algorithm harnesses AWS - the world’s biggest cloud provider - to produce the most detailed mapping ever seen of the Earth’s crust
- Technology reveals the structure of the Earth with greater sensitivity and target depths and places S-Cube at the forefront of the emerging carbon storage industry
London, 5th April 2021 - The geophysical imaging company S-Cube is one of just 14 global tech firms to have been named a High Performance Computing Competency Partner by the world’s biggest cloud provider AWS.
The announcement, which lists UK-based S-Cube alongside tech royalty like Intel and Siemens, is a huge coup for the young company, which emerged in 2015 as a spin-off from research at Imperial College London.
S-Cube’s algorithm uses X-Waveform-Inversion (XWI) technology to produce highly detailed sonic images of the Earth’s crust thousands of metres below the seabed. When coupled with the colossal computing power of the cloud, it can see deeper and in greater clarity than any existing technology.
S-Cube’s software is already being used by some of the world’s leading energy companies to pinpoint previously hidden reserves of oil and gas, and to monitor CO2 safe storage in the subsurface.
Carbon capture and storage, in which the carbon dioxide produced by industry or power generation is collected and then buried safely underground, is set to play a critical role in the UK’s commitment to slash its carbon emissions.
The Government is investing £1bn in the sector and Prime Minister Boris Johnson is championing it as a key driver of Britain’s plan for a Green Industrial Revolution.
To provide its solutions, S-Cube partners with oil field operations automation specialist Halliburton and Amazon Web Services, which provides the raw processing power required to run the XWI algorithm at high speed.
Thomas Cousins, Strategic Partnerships and Alliances Manager, Halliburton, added: “We are pleased to see our iEnergy® Partner S-Cube selected for the AWS Competency Programme for High Performance Computing. S-Cube’s achievement will help accelerate the development of advanced Full Waveform Inversion, and further the integration of XWI with Halliburton’s SeisSpace® Software. We believe fully data-driven workflows for subsurface evaluation can enable more rapid adoption of CCUS, an essential component of the energy transition to a low carbon future.”
AWS’s recognition of S-Cube’s pioneering work praises it for helping customers “innovate faster, and be more agile and flexible.”
Nikhil Shah, CEO of S-Cube, commented: “Our XWI algorithm blends deep learning and natural selection to absorb huge amounts of signal data and filter out distractions. Its model evolves organically, weeding out dead ends to produce the truest, clearest picture of conditions deep below the seabed.
“That clarity, coupled with the huge computing power available through our partnership with AWS, gives our clients unmatched speed and certainty - whether they are searching for previously invisible oil or gas reserves, or the best locations to safely store carbon dioxide removed from the atmosphere.
“We’re proud to have been recognised by AWS, and excited to be working with them to turn cloud power into clean power. By connecting XWI to AWS’s fearsome processing power, together we aim to help forward-thinking energy companies lead the way to a carbon neutral future.”