Results Survey & Roadmap to the future
It has been a few months since CEMS acquired ownership of MLU / MicroFEM from dr. Kick Hemker and we are hard at work on the new releases. A survey among the current user base provided us with the future wishes of the users. The survey determined the overall satisfaction among users of both MLU and MicroFEM and surfaced the most wanted improvements. In this news item we present a short overview of the results and a teaser of our plans.
On the topic of satisfaction, it can be said that about 2/3rd of the user satisfaction is good with MLU / MicroFEM, which is great to hear. There is however room for improvement and modernization. Based on the survey results the following improvements are in highest demand:
- Improvements in user interface design
- Visualization & import/export to GIS software
- Make unconfined calculations in MicroFEM easier
These improvements are our top priority on the roadmap. Both MLU and MicroFEM will be converted to a modern, web-based application with the source code converted from Pascal to Rust. MLU is first on our list with a scheduled 2021 release of the new interface followed by MicroFEM in 2022. When both applications are in their new release the improvements on GIS integration will follow (more on this topic later). Besides the user interface and GIS integration, many feature requests showed up through the survey. Some interesting requests mentioned are:
- Interaction with geological models
- Solute & heat transport modelling
- Inverse modelling
- Design of climate adaptation measures such as wadi’s
- MicroFEM should brew fresh coffee in the morning
While we are ambitious in our ideas for MLU / MicroFEM, we can’t promise that all of these features will make it into the release. Especially that last request will be challenging ;).
We share more developments and updates through the CEMS website and LinkedIn channels. Also, note that if you missed the survey you can always contact info@microfem.com for more information and suggestions.