Author Archives: Wim Slagter

Wim Slagter

About Wim Slagter

Lead product manager at ANSYS, Inc. Wim has 18 years of experience in the business of engineering simulation software with management positions in software development, consulting, sales, and product management. Wim holds a PhD degree in Aerospace Engineering from the Technical University of Delft in the Netherlands.

Offering a New Paradigm Shift in CAE?

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What works for manufacturing companies also applies to engineering simulation software providers. In a competitive climate, we all must aim continually for innovation, listen to the voice of our customers, anticipate swiftly changing needs, identify buyer expectations and make appropriate changes. I strongly believe that the parametric licensing and capabilities newly introduced with ANSYS 14.5 are truly innovative, standing out from the rest. They could become a paradigm shift in CAE, as they will make extensive design exploration and robust design a reality.

Given the market forces for increased product performance and integrity, engineering simulation undoubtedly can help manufacturers to evaluate more design ideas and reach the “best” design, one  that works across a range of operating conditions. For that matter, many engineering simulation software providers today do offer design exploration and optimization tools. But despite the need, the adoption of these tools is relatively small. Our product manager for ANSYS DesignXplorer, Simon Pereira, regularly investigates the obstacles to further adoption, and, in each of his reports, the biggest hurdles appear to be unacceptable turnaround times, shortcomings in usability and lack of available licenses. Continue reading →

Trends in (Computer-Aided) Engineering Driving HPC Innovation

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Last Friday, I gave a keynote talk at HP-CAST18 in Hamburg, Germany, about the trends in engineering that are driving HPC innovation. It was my first time joining HP’s worldwide HPC User Group Conference, and I was particularly impressed by HP’s detailed roadmap for new platforms, storage systems and low-energy computing, as well as their progress towards exascale computing.

I felt honored to be invited to speak in front of HP executives, HP technical staff, industry analysts, HP customers and partners. It’s a sign that HP seriously takes into account input from ISVs (independent software vendors, like ANSYS). Basically, my presentation identified some major challenges and trends in (computer-aided) engineering that are driving the demand for more HPC software innovations. Continue reading →

Cutting Design Costs: How Industry Leaders Benefit from Fast and Reliable CFD

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With engineering managers increasingly sensitive to the cost of product design, it is no longer enough to justify engineering software based on gut feelings about its value.  Managers want to see cold, hard return-on-investment numbers before they buy into any technology. Computational fluid dynamics (CFD) software is no exception.

Simulation Softens the Financial Blow of Product Development

image of the Dyson Air Multiplier

Using CFD software, the Dyson team investigated 200 different design iterations, which was 10 times the number that would have been possible if physical prototyping had been the primary design tool.

Any engineer who has used CFD software will likely have a strong sense of its worth as a problem-solving tool. This engineering simulation software can provide solutions to complex fluid flow, heat and mass transfer, chemical reaction and related physical phenomena that would be difficult or even impossible to tackle in any other way. Even when engineers have deeply ingrained product knowledge, they find, more and more, that fluid flow problems have become too complex to solve without CFD software. Yet, capturing CFD’s worth in formal return-on-investment terms can be difficult. The reason why is that one side of the cost–benefit balance sheet is much more obvious than the other.

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China Outpaces U.S. in Race for Fastest Supercomputer – Threat or Opportunity?

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On November 28, 2011, Newsweek reported that China outpaces the U.S. in the race for the fastest supercomputer. Does the U.S. consider this as a threat or opportunity?

Design and manufacturing are central drivers of the global economy.  As part of their product development process, industries as diverse as  automotive, aerospace and defence, electronics, pharmaceutical, biomedical and renewable energy are investing in the ability to model, simulate and process data. This investment drives the technological advancements needed to develop future products and services, and allows regions around the world to maintain their economic positions.

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Seeking a Trusted Partner in CFD

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When you plan to invest time, effort and funding to conduct CFD analyses, how do you ensure that purchasing and applying a CFD solution is a safe, long-term investment? The benefits can be great, but so are the risks.

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New Engineering Paradigms Force New Thinking

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We are seeing a trend that could lead to a revolutionary overhaul in managing innovation.

R&D is increasingly being managed not by OEMs, but by main industry suppliers. These organizations provide fully engineered components by assembling parts, some of them self-developed and others bought from third parties. This scenario is well illustrated by Boeing’s new aircraft B787-8 Dreamliner: More than 50 top-tier suppliers from 135 sites around the world have been working with Boeing to bring innovation and expertise to the program since the early detailed design phase. In this model, it’s important to manage a few critical aspects that are not necessarily new but are growing in importance: Continue reading →

Recognizing the Business Benefits of HPC

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The latest issue of ANSYS Advantage highlights leading organizations that are benefiting from combining high-performance computing (HPC) environments and ANSYS solutions to create large, high-fidelity simulations that would not have been possible a few years ago. Continue reading →